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n Wednesday, September 1, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 322

P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 20 pages | 7 days a week

GOVT DEBT BALLOONS TO P11.6T AT END-JULY CYBER FRAUD IMPERILS PHL DIGITAL ECONOMY By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

@Tyronepiad

RAUD attacks threaten the e-commerce sector— which has been gaining more footing in the Philippines amid the pandemic—but a digital expert warned these do more harm than just revenue losses. The recent surge in e-commerce transactions and spending has prompted an “aggressive increase” in cyber attacks

globally, Vesta Asia Pacific General Manager Shabab Muhaddes told the BusinessMirror. Vesta, a global fraud detection company, noted that payment fraud attempts in the Southeast Asian region are 12 times more than the global average. This has resulted in online merchants losing an average of 1.6 percent in their revenues annually. See “Fraud,” A2

Megaworld Lifestyle Malls has opened its first Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) satellite site in Eastwood City in Quezon City to help facilitate the issuance of International Certificate of Vaccination (ICV), or “yellow cards,” to fully-vaccinated individuals who intend to travel abroad, including departing Overseas Filipino Workers. NONOY LACZA By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE national government’s outstanding debt ballooned to P11.61 trillion as of end-July this year, soaring by 26.7 percent from P9.16 trillion a year ago. See “Debt,” A2

PHL banks’ buffers enough amid Delta By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

HILE the countr y’s path to economic recovery is at risk from

rising Covid-19 cases fueled by the highly transmissible Delta variant, banks in the country are found to have enough cushion to See “Banks,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 50.0400 n japan 0.4554 n UK 68.8450 n HK 6.4267 n CHINA 7.7376 n singapore 37.1989 n australia 36.4992 n EU 59.0472 n SAUDI arabia 13.3422 Source: BSP (31 August 2021)

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

BusinessMirror

Biz groups eager for OK of Creative Industries Act By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @Tyronepiad

HE business groups are looking forward to the passage of the Creative Industries Development Act, which is seen to further expand the creative sector’s economic contribution. In a statement on Tuesday, the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) lauded the progress of the measure in Congress. “With the inclusion of the bill in the House’s list of priorities, we are optimistic that the bill will be reported out to plenary and approved soon,” AmCham Executive Director Ebb Hinchliffe. AmCham said that the “passage of the legislation creating strong institutional

Banks. . .

Continued from A1

weather the current situation. In an analysis published on Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service said Philippine banks continue to have sufficient loan-loss buffers to shield the sector from growing asset risks amid coronavirus resurgence. “Despite a spike in non-performing

bodies, plans and incentives at the national and local level is crucial to achieving the Philippine goal of becoming the top creative economy in the Asean region in terms of size and value by 2030.” Earlier this month, AmCham formed its first Creative Industries Committee with the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines (CECP). Future meetings will tackle the largest creative industry segments: advertising, animation, design film and software. The foreign chamber said that several business groups previously co-sponsored a policy brief recommending the passage of the Creative Industries Act. These include the CECP, Animation Council of the Philippines, AustralianNew Zealand Chamber of Commerce of

loans [NPLs] in the past 18 months, rated Philippines banks still have strong buffers against loan losses after proactively increasing loan-loss provisions in early 2020 in anticipation of increases in problem loans caused by the pandemic,” Moody’s said. “Philippine banks also have sufficiently strong capital to absorb unexpected loan losses. Under a stress scenario where 50 percent of Stage 2 loans become NPLs, the asset-weighted

the Philippines, The British Council, Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Game Developers Association of the Philippines and IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines. In addition, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and US-Asean Business Council also sponsored the policy brief. For its part, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has vowed to support

average for the tangible common equity ratios of rated privately owned commercial banks in the Philippines would still remain above 15 percent in 2023, a strong level,” it added. However, Moody’s said local banks w ill not be spared from the resurgence of Cov id cases. “Philippine banks’ asset quality, which has taken a severe hit from the coronavirus pandemic, will weaken further as a resurgence of coronavirus cases

the creative industry—a sector seen generating high-value activities and job opportunities—in its bid to recover post-pandemic. Trade Undersecretary Rafaelita M. Aldaba said earlier that the DTI Competitiveness and Innovation Group has been implementing a program dedicated to shaping the creative sector. The program aims to scale up creative talents, startups, entrepreneurs and businesses implementing new business models and information technology tools such as artificial intelligence. The creative sector includes audio and audiovisual media, creative services, cultural sites, design, digital interactive media, performing arts, print and publishing, traditional cultural expressions and visual arts.

amid a low vaccination rate delays the country’s economic recovery. Defaults by individuals and small and medium enterprises [SMEs] will drive growth in NPLs,” Moody’s said. And since many retail and SME borrowers will remain under stress as coronavirus cases surge again, Moody’s said banks that are more focused on the retail and SME segments, such as Union Bank of the Philippines and Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), are more vulnerable. The international credit watcher also warned that regulatory forbearance measures are now limited after the expiry of blanket moratorium schemes under Bayanihan Acts 1 and 2 in December 2020. The benefits of the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer Act (FIST Act) are also expected to be limited, as asset management companies are typically used to resolve large corporate loans and may not be as effective in resolving granular retail and SME NPLs, the ratings agency explained. Meanwhile, Moody’s expressed confidence in the Philippine banking system’s long-term potential. “While the pandemic has severely disrupted the Philippines banking system, its long-term growth prospects remain intact because the country has a large, young population that creates a pool of future customers,” Moody’s said. “Further, the growing availability and adoption of digital financial services will help expand the customer bases of financial institutions in the Philippines. The pandemic and a policy push for the adoption of digital financial services has led to exponential increase in digital transactions,” it added.

Boracay casino not my idea—DOF chief Continued from A12 An official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources vowed, however, that gains made by Boracay during its rehabilitation will remain intact. Asked if the efforts of the former Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) to clean up the island and keep it family-friendly were wasted, Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny D. Antiporda said, “Hindi naman! Non-negotiable ‘yung environmental sustainability ng Boracay [Not at all. The environmental sustainability of Boracay is non-negotiable].” Defending Duterte’s stance to allow casinos on the island, Antiporda averred, “We need to accept the sad truth that we need to move heaven and earth to survive in this pandemic.” He added, “We still need to check” if casinos operating before Boracay’s closure will also be allowed to reopen, or just new ones such as the $500-million development of Leisure and Resorts World Corp.-Galaxy Entertainment of Macau. The BIATF’s term expired in May 2021. Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Debt. . .

Continued from A1

Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed the outstanding debt level was also 18.5 percent higher than the P9.795 trillion as of end-2020. Month-on-month, it was also up by 4 percent from P11.166 trillion in June this year. Of the total debt stock, the bulk or 69.9 percent comprised domestic borrowings while the remaining 30.1 percent was sourced externally. Domestic debt has so far reached P8.12 trillion, swelling by 29.8 percent year-on-year from P6.26 trillion in July 2020. Since the start of the year, domestic debt has grown by 21.3 percent from P6.69 trillion as of end-2020 owing to heightened financing requirements. This was also a 2.3-percent uptick from P7.94 trillion in the previous month as a result of the net issuance of government securities. On the other hand, external debt as of end-July this year stood at P3.49 trillion, up by a fifth from P2.91 trillion in July 2020. From the end-2020 level of P3.1 trillion, external debt has already increased by 12.6 percent. Compared to P3.23 trillion in June this year, external debt went up by 8.2 percent due to the net availment of foreign loans. Moreover, the Treasury said both local and third-currency exchange fluctuations against the US Dollar added to the external debt P100.66 billion and P3.39 billion, respectively. Meanwhile, the outstanding guaranteed debt of the national government as of end-July fell to P444.3 billion from P458.83 billion a year ago. It was also down by 3.1 percent from the end-December 2020 level of P458.35 billion. Nonetheless, total guaranteed debt inched up by 1.3 percent month-on-month from P438.6 billion in June this year due to the impact of local and third-currency exchange fluctuations against the US Dollar amounting to P6.07 billion and P1.25 billion, respectively. However, net repayments on both domestic and external guarantees were able to offset P1.62 billion. The government borrows to meet its spending requirements as well as to finance its budget deficit. The economic team sees the national government’s budget deficit this year to reach P1.86 trillion or 9.3 percent of GDP, even higher than the P1.37 trillion or 7.6 percent of GDP in 2020. In 2019, the budget deficit stood at P660.2 billion or 3.4 percent of GDP. Meanwhile, the national government expects its outstanding debt this year to balloon to P11.73 trillion, up by 19.8 percent from P9.795 trillion in 2020. This is also projected to further swell in 2022 to P13.42 trillion. In terms of debt as a percentage of GDP, the debt-to-GDP ratio as of end-2020 rose to 54.6 percent, jumping from a record-low 39.6 percent in 2019. As of end-June this year, the debt-to-GDP ratio already stood at 60.4 percent. Dominguez earlier said the debt-to-GDP ratio this year is projected to rise to 59.1 percent and peak next year at 60.8 percent— slightly above the internationally accepted threshold—before gradually tapering off to 60.7 percent and 59.7 percent in 2023 and 2024. The Department of Finance sees the national government returning to its pre-pandemic debt and budget deficit levels as early as 2024 or by 2025 if the recommended fiscal measures are passed early by the next administration and if the economy quickly recovers.

Fraud. . .

Continued from A1

“While direct fraud loss—the amount that was fraudulently used for the purchase—makes up a significant component of the total cost of fraud, it’s also the catalyst for loss in other operational areas of their business,” Muhaddes stressed. The Vesta official is referring to consumer trust and brand reputation, which can take a hit because of the fraud attacks. The consumers, he said, may see the online payment options as not secured because of the cyber threat. “Not only will consumers refuse to interact with the SMEs [small and medium enterprises] and online retailers in the future, they are also likely to tell others about their experience. This can quickly result in a significant amount of lost revenue,” he explained. Card-not-present (CNP) scam is among the common types of payment fraud the SMEs and online retailers have to deal with, Muhaddes said. This refers to illegal purchases on e-commerce platforms using stolen payment information, he explained. CNP fraud, as suggested by the term, may take place even without physical cards. Another payment fraud cited by the Vesta official is account takeover, which is a form of identity theft. “A successful account takeover attack leads to fraudulent transactions and unauthorized shopping from the victim’s compromised account,” he said, noting that a fraudster, in this case, illegally obtains access to bank, e-commerce site or mobile wallet accounts. To address the payment fraud, retailers may opt to bring in an in-house fraud team to review the transactions. Muhaddes said this could lead to “very inefficient processes and poor decisioning,” in addition to increasing operational costs. He also pointed out that increasing security, on the other hand, may also result in more incidents of false declines. “False declines occur when legitimate transactions are denied. When this happens, a customer is likely to abandon their cart, and/ or never return, leading to lost revenue,” he explained. To better handle cyber security, Muhaddes said the companies need to understand the fraud and acceptance rates, which a technology partner can help them with. “Work with technology partners that can calibrate in real-time between good and bad transactions, drawing on trillions of data points, leveraging behavioral, device, and fraud link analysis to improve performance,” he explained. In a recent report, Ernst & Young Global Ltd. (EY) shared that the digital ecosystem in Southeast Asia is seen to generate revenue opportunities amounting to $23 billion by 2025. EY Asean Regional Managing Partner Liew Nam Soon said that the growth of start-ups and digital natives offering interconnected services—including ride-hailing, food delivery, grocery, logistics and financial services—will support the regional bloc’s digital ecosystem.

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Eastern Communications invites businesses to rethink, optimize and initiate change in its Eastern Transcendence Summit

HE continuing Covid-19 pandemic has led to widespread disruption in how companies do business, with the need to become more agile and to leverage technology to adjust to the pandemic lifestyle. While change can be difficult, Eastern Communications is inviting companies to transcend the old and stride forward as it hosts the Eastern Transcendence Summit. Happening on September 23, 1:00 p.m., the Eastern Transcendence Summit is a virtual event that aims to inspire businesses to take on the challenges of this crisis by redefining their relationship with technology and changing their workplace culture. As one of the premier telecommunications

companies in the Philippines, Eastern Communications has invited top companies and key opinion leaders in information technology to rally leaders to rethink the way they do business, optimize learning and initiate change. One of the keynote speakers is Jonathan Yabut, the Apprentice Asia

Winner and Asia’s leading motivational speaker on topics involving leadership, talent development and office productivity. He is the Founder and CEO of JY Consultancy and Ventures, which operates in 3 key cities: Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Manila, that offers marketing and talent optimization services to startups and Fortune 500 companies in Asia. His topic for the Summit will revolve on “Transcending Business Frontiers in the Now Normal”. The second keynote speaker is Sgt. Lloyd A. Luna, PAFR, widely known as #PambansangInspirasyon, is the first Registered Speaking Professional (RSP)—the highest earned designation given to Filipino professional speakers— and the first Certified Webinar Speaker (CWS) in the Philippines. He is a multi-awarded motivational speaker, an author of 16 best-selling books, a columnist at The Manila Times, and a sergeant at the Philippine Air Force Reserve Command. Currently, he is the Founder and President of Public Speaking Institute and of Stepback, a leadership and culture development company that helps leaders and organizations see the bigger picture in life and at work. In the Summit, Luna will talk about people leadership in “Strength in Unity: Leadership through a Crisis 101.” The Summit will also include several panel discussions among industry experts. The first panel will include resource speakers from the academe, marketing, advertising, and leadership and innovation fields that will tackle “Transcendence & Leadership Redefined by Crisis”. Meanwhile, the second panel composed of digital experts from international providers of ICT solutions such as cybersecurity, collaboration, cloud, and networking will further

EASTERN Communications kicked off their E-Huddle Webinar series Via Eastern, Inspire and Leap Forward with outstanding Keynote Speakers coming from different industries.

expound on Jonathan Yabut’s topic, “Transcending Business Frontiers in the Now Normal”. Finally, Edsel Paglinawan, Head of Product & Innovation of Eastern Communications, and Mike Castañeda, Head of Sales of Eastern Communications, will share how the company aims to co-create the success of its customers in the now normal through its blend of technology and personalized service. In line with the Eastern brand being both “High Tech” and “High Touch” in its delivery of cutting-edge solutions and responsive customer service, Eastern Communications hopes to empower its customers to be fearless in responding to the needs of the times. “As human beings, our instinct is to

look for ways to innovate, to make things better. While this crisis has brought about unprecedented disruption, it’s also an opportunity for companies to redefine the way they do things. As their trusted partner, we are committed to helping businesses of all sizes move forward and bounce back from this pandemic by providing them with more insights and possible solutions to their business challenges,” said Eastern Communications Marketing Division Head, Jedrek Estanislao. Companies interested to join the Eastern Transcendence Summit can register at www.EasternSummit2021.com To learn more about Eastern Communications and its events, visit eastern.com.ph or follow them at facebook.com/easterncommph.

A4 Wednesday, September 1, 2021 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Govt may have relied on ‘flawed’ data on Q4 fish imports–NFARMC official

ISHERIES industry stakeholders lamented the use of “flawed” data by government officials in arriving at the supply shortfall for small pelagic fishes, noting that it resulted in an excessive approved import volume. Rosanna Bernadette Contreras,

who represents the aquaculture sector at the National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (NFARMC), said she expressed her concerns with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data used by government officials to assess the country’ supply situa-

tion for small pelagic fishes. “First of all, the council evaluated the basis for the computation of the shortfall. [Government officials] used PSA data. And the industry knows that the PSA data is lacking, there’s a waterloo in using that data,” Contreras said during a

recent virtual news briefing. “And that is where and why discussions took long,” Contreras, who is also the executive director of Socsksargen Federation of Fishing & Allied Industries Inc., added. Contreras revealed that the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic

Resources (BFAR) presented to the NFARMC a supply deficit of about 45,000 metric tons for the fourth quarter or 15,000 MT for every month of the closed fishing season. Contreras added that the BFAR rounded off the volume to 50,000 MT. Furthermore, Contreras said BFAR also proposed a 15,000 MT import volume for the first quarter to serve as a buffer stock, making the total import volume proposal to 65,000 MT. “Noting that the aquaculture is more positive in contributing to the supply due to the already planned production and investments, we recommended a 30,000 MT import volume for the fourth quarter,” she said. “We told them that we could evaluate first the results of the initial 30,000 MT, if it materializes, then determine afterward if we need to import an additional volume for the first quarter,” she added. Contreras said the NFARMC discussions on the importation took more than seven hours. Norbert Chingcuanco of Feedmix Specialist Inc. and convener of Tugon Kabuhayan agreed with Contreras that the aquaculture sector and municipal fishers could easily fill some of the supply deficit due to the threemonth long closed fishing season for commercial vessels. “Our perspective is that the aquaculture sector and municipal fishers can easily fill the 15,000 MT monthly supply deficit. We can harvest more and they can catch more. We are ready even before,” he said. Chingcuanco also questioned the government for using PSA data to come up with the small pelagic fish supply situation while the agency is in the middle of improving its meth-

odology for fisheries surveys. “We hope that they waited for the new methodology of the PSA before analyzing the situation. But BFAR believed in PSA more than the industry players,” he said during the briefing. “We gave our own supply projections but they discounted it by 20 percent or more,” he added. Chingcuanco revealed that the PSA is increasing the sampling sites for its fisheries survey from 7,000 to about 35,000, which would be implemented by next year. This was revealed during a meeting with PSA and industry players, Chingcuanco said. “PSA itself admitted that they have changed their sampling methodologies, sampling size and questionnaires,” he said. “They admitted that their data does not reflect the reality on the ground. From 7,000 to 35,000 sampling sites that’s a huge jump. PSA met with us and questioned their own system,” he added. Last week, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar greenlighted the 60,000-MT importation of small pelagic fishes, such as galunggong, for wet market sale to augment the country’s domestic supply in anticipation of the closed fishing season. In May, Tugon Kabuhayan urged the government to allow more funds to improve the data collection and production of the PSA to provide policy-makers with a better picture of the country’s fish supply situation. Citing reports from the ground, the group claimed that the PSA’s data on fisheries production are too conservative. For example aquaculture production in Davao doesn’t capture even half of the total output of the aquaculture fishers in the region, the group added. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

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

The World

Thai lawmakers’ no-confidence debate focuses on pandemic

ANGKOK—Thai lawmakers on Tuesday began a no-confidence debate targeting Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and five of his Cabinet members, with the opposition focusing on charges the government bungled its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. The debate is scheduled to last four days, with voting by the lower house set for Saturday. Organizers of ongoing anti-government street protests have vowed to step up their own separate efforts during the debate to force Prayuth out of office. His coalition government is generally expected to turn back this week’s challenge, even though it has come under intense criticism for failing to secure timely and adequate supplies of Covid-19 vaccines. Sompong Amornvivat, leader of the main opposition Pheu Thai party, kicked off the debate with a fierce attack, charging that Prayuth is “a power-crazed arrogant person unsuitable to lead the country.” “If we let him continue his leadership, it will lead to more people being infected and losing their lives,” said Sompong. “There won’t be enough crematoriums in service and there will be no way to stop the spread of the disease.” He drew an objection from a government member of parliament when he said the situation recalled a saying that “A stupid leader will lead us all to death, because a stupid person with power is the worst danger.” This is the third no-confidence debate faced by Prayuth since he came to power after a 2019 general election. He also served as prime minister in a military government in 2014-2019 after seizing power in a coup as army commander. A third wave of the coronavirus arrived in April and spread rapidly, accounting for 97 percent of the more than 1.17 million confirmed cases since the pandemic began, and more than 99 percent of the 11,495 total deaths. Prayuth’s administration was largely successful at keeping the coronavirus at bay last year, although lockdowns and travel restrictions devastated the economy, particularly the key tourism industry, which virtually collapsed after most foreign visitors were barred

entry. The government’s handling of the economy also promises to be a hot subject of debate. “I think everyone can feel the same hopelessness and doubt about how our economy will recover,” Pichai Naripthaphan, deputy leader of the opposition Pheu Thai party, told The Associated Press ahead of the debate. He noted that Thailand’s economy is forecast to grow the slowest this year of all Southeast Asian nations. “We hope that this no-confidence motion will lead to some changes—either a Cabinet reshuffle or the coalition parties’ withdrawal—later.” Digital Economy Minister Chaiwut told reporters ahead of the debate that he is ready to field the opposition’s questions. He said the government is focusing on solving the Covid-19 problems as soon as possible so that people can live their lives normally, and if there is a political change, that effort might falter. “It is not the time to focus on politics,” he said. “If the overall situation improves next year, then we can discuss political changes.” Chaiyun Chaiyaporn, a political scientist at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, said he does not believe the debate can break up the ruling coalition and bring down the government. He suggested that the targeted ministers will be able to successfully defend their handling of the pandemic. “The debate by the opposition parties may reduce Prayuth’s legitimacy among the public, but not among the coalition parties. I think their relationship remains strong,” he said. In addition to Prayuth, the opposition plans to grill government ministers belonging to three main coalition parties. They are Deputy Premier and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob from the Bhumjai Thai Party, Labor Minister Suchat Chomklin and Digital Economy Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn from the ruling Palang Pracharath, and Agriculture Minister Chalermchai Sri-on from the Democrat Party. Prayuth and Anutin will likely bear the brunt of the opposition’s attack, since they are the ones most closely associated with Covid-19 policy. AP

Southeast Asia added 70 million online shoppers during pandemic

he Southeast Asia region, led by Indonesia, added 70 million new online shoppers since the start of the pandemic, according to an annual report by Facebook Inc. and Bain & Co. Surveying more than 16,000 people across Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, the researchers found a rapid pace of digital adoption during the pandemic and related lockdowns. By the end of 2021, they expect each of those countries to have 70 percent or more of its adult population as digital consumers. The jump from 5 percent to 9 percent of online retail penetration also marked faster growth than India, Brazil and China. Online spending per person across the region in 2020 was $238, outpacing earlier forecasts, and is expected to rise to $381 by the end of 2021. The role of social video tripled in importance for online shopping, with 22 percent of respondents now citing it as their top channel for discovery. The research also found online groceries to be the fastest-growing segment, with a majority of consumers planning to either maintain or increase their at-home online spending on that and other categories. “What we see in China and

the US is more of a channel shift from offline to online, whereas in Southeast Asia the growth in consumer spending and retail is driven by online channels,” Magnus Ekbom, chief strategy officer of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Singapore-based unit La zada Group SA, said in the report. About 346 million people in Southeast Asia accessed Facebook daily as of the second quarter of this year. That figure closely mirrors the 350 million forecast to be digital consumers by the end of 2021. The forecast suggests a deceleration of growth after the pandemic-driven surge, as the next 30 million shoppers aren’t expected to come online until 2026. More than 95 percent of respondents accessed the Internet on their smartphones. Internet and tech startups grew to dominate venture capital and private equity funding for the region, commanding 88 percent of deals by value in the first quarter of this year, up from 75 percent a year earlier. Financial technology, or fintech, was the dominant sub-category with 56 percent of tech funding, spanning such services as buy-now-pay-later, peerto-peer lending, digital wallets and cryptocurrency. Bloomberg News

BusinessMirror

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Last troops exit Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war

ASHINGTON—The United States has completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of more than 180 Afghans and 13 US service members, some barely older than the war. Hours ahead of President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline for shutting down a final airlift, and thus ending the US war, Air Force transport planes carried a remaining contingent of troops from Kabul airport late Monday. Thousands of troops had spent a harrowing two weeks protecting the airlift of tens of thousands of Afghans, Americans and others seeking to escape a country once again ruled by Taliban militants. In announcing the completion of the evacuation and war effort. Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said the last planes took off from Kabul airport at 3:29 p.m. Washington time, or one minute before midnight in Kabul. He said a number of American citizens, likely numbering in “the very low hundreds,” were left behind, and that he believes they will still be able to leave the country. Secretary of State Antony Blinken put the number of Americans left behind at under 200, “likely closer to 100,” and said the State Department would keep working to get them out. He praised the military-led evacuation as heroic and historic and said the US diplomatic presence would shift to Doha, Qatar. Biden said military commanders unanimously favored ending the airlift, not extending it. He said he asked Blinken to coordinate with international partners in holding the Taliban to their promise of safe passage for Americans and others who want to leave in the days ahead. The airport had become a UScontrolled island, a last stand in a 20-year war that claimed more than 2,400 American lives. The closing hours of the evacuation were marked by extraordinary drama. American troops faced the daunting task of getting final evacuees onto planes while also getting themselves and some of their equipment out, even as they monitored repeated threats—and at least two actual attacks—by the

Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate. A suicide bombing on Aug. 26 killed 13 American service members and some 169 Afghans. More died in various incidents during the airport evacuation. T he f ina l pu l lout f u lf il led Biden’s pledge to end what he called a “forever war” that began in response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and rural Pennsylvania. His decision, announced in April, reflected a national weariness of the Afghanistan conflict. Now he faces criticism at home and abroad, not so much for ending the war as for his handling of a final evacuation that unfolded in chaos and raised doubts about US credibility. The US war effort at times seemed to grind on with no endgame in mind, little hope for victory and minimal care by Congress for the way tens of billions of dollars were spent for two decades. The human cost piled up—tens of thousands of Americans injured in addition to the dead. More than 1,100 troops from coalition countries and more than 100,000 Afghan forces and civilians died, according to Brown University’s Costs of War project. In Biden’s view the war could have ended 10 years ago with the US killing of Osama bin Laden, whose al-Qaida extremist network planned and executed the 9/11 plot from an Afghanistan sanctuary. Al-Qaida has been vastly diminished, preventing it thus far from again attacking the United States. Congressional committees, whose interest in the war waned over the years, are expected to hold public hearings on what went wrong in the final months of the US withdrawal. Why, for example, did the administration not begin earlier the evacuation of American citizens as well as Afghans who had helped the US war effort and felt vulnerable to retribution by the Taliban? It was not supposed to end this way. The administration’s plan,

after declaring its intention to withdraw all combat troops, was to keep the US Embassy in Kabul open, protected by a force of about 650 US troops, including a contingent that would secure the airport along with partner countries. Washington planned to give the now-defunct Afghan government billions more to prop up its army. Biden now faces doubts about his plan to prevent al-Qaida from regenerating in Afghanistan and of suppressing threats posed by other extremist groups such as the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate. The Taliban are enemies of the Islamic State group but retain links to a diminished al-Qaida. The final US exit included the withdrawal of its diplomats, although the State Department has left open the possibility of resuming some level of diplomacy with the Taliban depending on how they conduct themselves in establishing a government and adhering to international pleas for the protection of human rights. The speed with which the Taliban captured Kabul on August 15 caught the Biden administration by surprise. It forced the US to empty its embassy and frantically accelerate an evacuation effort that featured an extraordinary airlift executed mainly by the US Air Force, with American ground forces protecting the airfield. The airlift began in such chaos that a number of Afghans died on the airfield, including at least one who attempted to cling to the airframe of a C-17 transport plane as it sped down the runway. By the evacuation’s conclusion, well over 100,000 people, mostly Afghans, had been flown to safety. The dangers of carrying out such a mission came into tragic focus last week when the suicide bomber struck outside an airport gate. Speaking shortly after that attack, Biden stuck to his view that ending the war was the right move. He said it was past time for the United States to focus on threats emanating from elsewhere in the world. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “it was time to end a 20-year war.” The war’s start was an echo of a promise President George W. Bush made while standing atop of the rubble in New York City three days after hijacked airliners slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. “The people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!” he declared through a bullhorn. Less than a month later, on Oct. 7, Bush launched the war. The Taliban’s forces were overwhelmed and Kabul fell in a matter of weeks.

A US-installed government led by Hamid Karzai took over and bin Laden and his al-Qaida cohort escaped across the border into Pakistan. The initial plan was to extinguish bin Laden’s al-Qaida, which had used Afghanistan as a staging base for its attack on the United States. The grander ambition was to fight a “Global War on Terrorism” based on the belief that military force could somehow defeat Islamic extremism. Afghanistan was but the first round of that fight. Bush chose to make Iraq the next, invading in 2003 and getting mired in an even deadlier conflict that made Afghanistan a secondary priority until Barack Obama assumed the White House in 2009 and later that year decided to escalate in Afghanistan. Obama pushed US troop levels to 100,000, but the war dragged on though bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in 2011. When Donald Trump entered the White House in 2017 he wanted to withdraw from Afghanistan but was persuaded not only to stay but also to add several thousand US troops and escalate attacks on the Taliban. Two years later his administration was looking for a deal with the Taliban, and in February 2020 the two sides signed an agreement that called for a complete US withdrawal by May 2021. In exchange, the Taliban made a number of promises including a pledge not to attack US troops. Biden weighed advice from members of his national security team who argued for retaining the 2,500 troops who were in Afghanistan by the time he took office in January. But in mid-April he announced his decision to fully withdraw. The Taliban pushed an offensive that by early August toppled key cities, including provincial capitals. The Afghan army largely collapsed, sometimes surrendering rather than taking a final stand, and shortly after President Ashraf Ghani fled the capital, the Taliban rolled into Kabul and assumed control on Aug. 15. Some parts of the country modernized during the US war years, and life for many Afghans, especially women and girls, improved measurably. But Afghanistan remains a tragedy, poor, unstable and with many of its people fearing a return to the brutality the country endured when the Taliban ruled from 1996 to 2001. The US failures were numerous. It degraded but never defeated the Taliban and ultimately failed to build an Afghan military that could hold off the insurgents, despite $83 billion in US spending to train and equip the army. AP

US climate envoy in Japan to push efforts to cut emissions

OKYO—US climate envoy John Kerry met in Tokyo on Tuesday with Japan’s top diplomat to push efforts to fight climate change ahead of a United Nations conference in November. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi highlighted what he said was the importance of getting other major carbon emitters, especially China, to cooperate. “China is the world’s biggest carbon emitter and the number two economy as well, and it is extremely important that we encourage China to firmly fulfill its responsibility to match its place,” Motegi told reporters after his meeting with Kerry.

Motegi added that he hoped Japan and the United States would lead global decarbonizing efforts at the UN conference to be held in Glasgow in late November, known as COP26, and beyond. Kerry was also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, as well as Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama. Kerry arrived in Japan on Monday and will fly out on Tuesday evening to China for more climate talks—his second trip to the country under President Joe Biden’s administration.

Kerry has called on global leaders to work together and accelerate actions needed to curb rising temperatures to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. He urged China to join the US in urgently cutting carbon emissions. China is the world’s top carbon emitter, followed by the United States. Japan is fifth. Many countries have pledged to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2050. Japan has promised to strive to reduce its emissions by 46 percentfrom 2012 levels, up from an earlier target of 26 percent, to achieve carbon neutral-

ity by 2050. China has also set a goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2060. Suga has said Japan will try to push the reduction as high as 50 percentto be in line with the European Union. In order to achieve that target, Japan’s Environment Ministr y is seeking a significant budget increase to promote renewable energy and decarbonizing programs. The Trade and Industry Ministry plans to use large subsidies to promote electric vehicles and wind power generation, according to a draft budget proposal for 2022. AP

BusinessMirror

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

No.

24 INCH GAUGE CONSTRUCTION INC. L4 Blk. 4 Near Kay Buboy Bridge San Dionisio Parañaque City

LEE YEW FEI Marketing Specialist 1.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for coordinating with other marketing and sales professionals to implement innovative campaigns for branding or product launches

Basic Qualification: Ability to work under pressure and motivation to succeed in a competitive environment; Should have a bachelor’s degree in journalism, marketing, communications or a related field; Good communication and interpersonal skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Brief Job Description: Assists clients will all their concerns.

12. Basic Qualification: *Any nationality who can speak and write Chinese fluently. *Preferably 6 months to 1 year customer service experience. *Detailoriented and has the ability to multi-task.

Brief Job Description: Assists clients will all their concerns.

Basic Qualification: *Any nationality who can speak and write Chinese fluently. *Preferably 6 months to 1 year customer service experience. *Detailoriented and has the ability to multi-task.

Brief Job Description: Provides Technical support in Finnish.

13.

Brief Job Description: Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communication in Mandarin Speaking.

UM, SREYNOCH Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking 5.

Brief Job Description: Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communication in Mandarin Speaking.

VONG A MINH Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking 6.

Brief Job Description: Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communication in Mandarin Speaking.

WANG, JUNFEI Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking 7.

Brief Job Description: Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communication in Mandarin Speaking.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend potential products or services to management by collecting customer information and analysing customer needs.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for inbound and outbound calls.

14.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquires

10.

Brief Job Description: Handles the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

Brief Job Description: The Mandarin Deputy Operations Supervisor will be strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goal.

Basic Qualification: Proficient in written and verbal communication in English language and excellent knowledge of Finnish language; Proficient computer and technical skills.

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as a Mandarin Deputy Operations Supervisor, Familiarity, knowledge and awareness on Machinery and Heavy Equipment use by company, Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan.

Basic Qualification: BA or BS degree holder; minimum 2 years customer service support experience (voice, e-mail or chat), Brief Job Description: working with direct Service Support Solution includes diagnosis, resolution consumers preferably in a and reporting of customers’ issues and questions relating B2C environment; native YouTube paid content products. Service tier 1 end user Vietnamese speaker support with escalations to Google in Vietnamese Language Salary Range: Php 90,000 - Php 149,999

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

16.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Proficiency in speaking, reading and writing in Mandarin

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM BUSINESS SERVICES PHILIPPINES, INC. L-2-3, Blk. 45, Alabang Zapote Road Cor. North Bridgeway, Filinvest Corporate City Alabang Muntinlupa City

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

FONG, CHI FONG Customer Service Representative 17.

CUI, AINING Customer Service Specialist 23.

24.

Brief Job Description: Help customer with complaints ang questions, giver customers information about the products and services, take orders and process returns

25.

26.

18.

Brief Job Description: Developing financial and tax strategies by forecasting capital, facilities, and staff requirements of a retail business; overseeing capital request and budgeting processes

27.

28.

20.

Basic Qualification: Have skills in documentation

Brief Job Description: Prepare airline and custom documentation

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

NGOH JIAN TING Chinese Cargo Office Agent

Basic Qualification: Have skills in documentation

Brief Job Description: Prepare airline and custom documentation

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

DIGIVIRTUAL TECH CORPORATION 7/f Ba Lepanto Bldg. 8747 Paseo De Roxas Bel-air Makati City

Brief Job Description: Promptly responding to customer queries via email, live chat, video, phone and social media channels. Immediately escalating serious complains or issues that you are not equipped to deal with LUONG TUAN HOA Customer Service Specialist

Basic Qualification: Excellent speaking, writing and reading in Chinese. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: With atleast 6 months customer service experience / Good in oral communication and written Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Customer service specialist Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

FLY ASIAN INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION Eighty One Newport Blvd. Newport City Va, Brgy. 183 Pasay City

XU, MINGSHUN Marketing Consultant (mandarin Speaking Clients) Brief Job Description: Studying company profile and operations to understand its marketing needs, Implementing a marketing strategy according to objectives and budget.

Basic Qualification: Preferably 6 months experience with the above position. Can multi-task and keen to details. Any nationality who can speak and write Chinese fluently. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

HSBC ELECTRONIC DATA PROCESSING (PHILIPPINES) INC. Filinvest One Building Alabang Zapote Road, Northgate Cyberzone Filinvest City, Alabang Muntinlupa City

31.

LI, SHENG Chinese Cargo Office Agent

Salary Range: Php 90,000 - Php 149,999

DEXIN INTERNATIONAL IMPORT AND EXPORT CORP. 534 Tomas Mapua St. 029 Bgy. 298 Santa Cruz Manila

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Experienced in Sports Retailing industry, sourcing, financial control and e-commerce

DECATHLON PHILIPPINES INC. L2- 2093.1 Level 2 Festival Supermall Corporate Ave. Fcc, Alabang Muntinlupa City GUINARD, ERIC JEAN FRANCOIS Chief Financial Officer

29.

Basic Qualification: Can speak Chinese language

30.

19. Basic Qualification: Has excellent problemsolving and communication skills in MANDARIN, with related BPO experience

Brief Job Description: Develop and create marketing materials and collaborate with the internal teams.

DE AN INTERNATIONAL HOLDING COMPANY INC. Unit La 1&2 Hobbies Of Asia #8 Macapagal Blvd. Brgy. 076 Pasay City

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language

PAAT HUI NGO Mandarin Speaking Marketing Specialist

Basic Qualification: Expertise in marketing and fluent in mandarin speaking

Brief Job Description: Assist/Help customers, Give customers information about product and services

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

ENCORE AMUSEMENT AND GAMING SUPPORT SERVICES CORP. 3f Metlive Metro Park Edsa Ext. Cor. Macapagal Blvd. Brgy. 076 Pasay City

NGO THI LE QUYEN Process Specialist

DA SUCCESS BUSINESS TRADING INCORPORATED 2503 The Finance Centre 26th Street Corner 9th Avenue Fort Bonifacio Taguig City

Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend potential products or services to management by collecting customer information and analysing customer needs.

22.

COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS PHILIPPINES, INC. 2nd, 3rd, And 4th Floors, Science Hub Tower 4 Bldg. Mckinley Hill Cyberpark Fort Bonifacio Taguig City

15.

Brief Job Description: Investigate user problems and prepare reports for developers.

HUANG, WEN Chinese Speaking Marketing Assistant

Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend potential products or services to management by collecting customer information and analysing customer needs.

BIG EMPEROR TECHNOLOGY CORP. Eastfield Center Cbp1, Macapagal Blvd. Brgy. 076 Pasay City WANG, ZHIQIANG Mandarin Customer Relations Officer

EAST CATALYST TRADING CORPORATION 3/f Salcedo One Center 170 Salcedo St. San Lorenzo Makati City

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

ANOC99 CORPORATION 5/f To 10/f Ayala Malls Manila Bay Building D. Macapagal Blvd. Cor. Aseana Street Tambo Parañaque City HU, ZHONGYAN Chinese Customer Service

Salary Range: Php 90,000 - Php 149,999

FU, SHAOPING Mandarin Speaking Computer Support Specialist

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

AMOS AND MARK INTERNATIONAL SERVICES INC. 4/f Unit 2c One Ecom Bldg. Ocean Drive St. Mall Of Asia Complex Subd. Zone 10, Barangay 076, District 1 Pasay City GUO, MIAOMIAO Mandarin Speaking Customer Service Representative

21.

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as a Mandarin Construction HUANG, QINGPU Management Specialist, Mandarin Construction Management Specialist Familiarity, knowledge and awareness on Machinery Brief Job Description: and Heavy Equipment use The Mandarin Construction Management Specialist will by company, Demonstrable be strategist and a leader able to steer the company to experience in developing the most profitable direction while also implementing its strategic business plan. vision, mission and long term goal.

GAO, XINYUAN Mandarin Deputy Operations Supervisor

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Basic Qualification: Ability to work across business units/geographies; cultural sensitivity and expert knowledge in the field of Employee Administration.

CHINA HARBOUR ENGINEERING COMPANY 5/f Rm 501 Ramon Magsaysay Center 1680 Roxas Blvd. 076, Bgy. 699 Malate Manila

8 STONE BUSINESS OUTSOURCING OPC 5-10/f Tower 1 Pitx Kennedy Road Tambo Parañaque City

MAY THU NAING Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking

No.

Salary Range: Php 90,000 - Php 149,999

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend potential products or services to management by collecting customer information and analysing customer needs.

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

CGI (PHILIPPINES) INC. 2/f One World Square Mckinley Hill Pinagsama Taguig City

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

LIM YI CHIAU Customer Service Representative (Chinese Accounts)

Brief Job Description: Responsible for back-end processes around employee on-boarding, hiring, general employee data administration.

OKSANEN, KALLE VALDEMAR Multilingual Service Desk Member

24/7 BUSINESS PROCESSING INC. 5th-6th-7th Flr. 81 Newport Bl Newport City Brgy. 183 Pasay City

LAE LAE KHAING Customer Service Representative (Chinese Accounts)

11.

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION CHANG, YI-CHEN a.k.a. DEBBIE CHANG Employee Central Senior Specialist

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Basic Qualification: WIth atleast 10 years LEONARD, MATTHEW STEWART of relevant experience Vice President - Operations Transformation in securities custody operational role, with Brief Job Description: broad experience in one, or Responding for working in a global strategic program to preferably with a number support the build and development of new technical flat of markets working in the form. operational working in any adile and engage and custody product influence global process and product Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999

INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BANK OF CHINA LIMITED - MANILA BRANCH G/f, 24/f, The Curve Building 32nd St. Cor. 3rd Ave., Bonifacio Global City Fort Bonifacio Taguig City WU, CHENG Operations Manager I 32.

Brief Job Description: Assist the Head of Banking department in all banking related transactions

INGRAM MICRO PHILIPPINES BPO LLC. 12th Floor Three World Square Mckinley Hill Cyber Plaza Bgc Taguig City

Basic Qualification: Can communicate with Chinese clients; fluent in Chinese and English Salary Range: Php 90,000 - Php 149,999

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

MC FARLAND, DAVID SCOTT Director, Go To Market Support 33.

Brief Job Description: Fully responsible for the vision and strategic intent of the respective function and consequential capability development, SLA adherence and overall performance of its functions.

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: At least 10 years of functional experience including a minimum of 5 years position specific experience in Sales Support within a Global Shared Services environment.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls

50.

Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing in mandarin

Basic Qualification: DING, ZHAOYAN Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: DONG, CHENGZHI Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in Mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: HU, SHENGLEI Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: HUANG, FUFENG Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: HUANG, BAOFANG Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in Mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: HUANG, XIUMEI Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in Mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: LYU, AIRONG Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in Mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: TANG, XIAOPO Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: WANG, DALONG Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in Mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

FANG, LI Chinese Customer Service 52.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

LI, JIANCHUN Chinese Customer Service 53.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

LIU, BO Chinese Customer Service 54.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

SU, WEIGUI Chinese Customer Service 55.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

TRISNAWATA Chinese Customer Service 56.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

WANG, BIN Chinese Customer Service 57.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

XU, CHUNFANG Chinese Customer Service 58.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

YE, LINWEI Chinese Customer Service 59.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

LI, YANCHUN Chef Assistant (Fujian Cuisine)

60.

Brief Job Description: Ensuring that food served are of excellent quality and authentic taste are consistently achieved, modifying menus or create new ones that meet quality standards, estimating food requirements and food/labor costs, supervise kitchen staff’s activities, performing other duties assigned by the company.

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

LI, QIUYU Chef Assistant (Xiang Cuisine)

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language

63.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language

64.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Ability to assist and direct kitchen staff in meal preparation, creation, plating and delivery and ensure that kitchen activities operate in a timely manner. Ability to work with minimal to no supervision. Train new kitchen employees to meet restaurant and kitchen standards. Manage the kitchen team in the executive chef's absence. High level of attention to detail. With Experience in Chinese Restaurants. Fluent in the Chinese Language, both oral and written.

Basic Qualification: Ability to produce excellent high-quality Authentic Chinese Food and developing unique and cuisineappropriate menus while staying current on trends HU, YUNTING in the Chinese restaurant Head Chef (Henan Cuisine) industry. Collaborating with the Restaurant/Operations Brief Job Description: Manager to set item prices, Planning and directing food Preparation and culinary Ability to work unsupervised activities, modifying menus or create new ones that and deliver quality work, meet quality standards, estimating food requirements High level of attention to and food/labor costs, supervise kitchen Staff’s activities, detail. With Experience in performing other duties assigned by the Company Chinese Restaurants, Fluent in the Chinese Language, both oral and written, At least 25 years old

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

65.

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language

Basic Qualification: Ability to produce excellent high-quality Authentic Chinese Food and developing unique and cuisineappropriate menus while GAO, FENGRU staying current on trends Head Chef (Xiang Cuisine) in the Chinese restaurant industry. Collaborating with Brief Job Description: the Restaurant/Operations Planning and directing food Preparation and culinary Manager to set item prices, activities, modifying menus or create new ones that Ability to work unsupervised meet quality standards, estimating food requirements and deliver quality work, and food/labor costs, supervise kitchen Staff’s activities, High level of attention to performing other duties assigned by the Company detail. With Experience in Chinese Restaurants, Fluent in the Chinese Language, both oral and written, At least 25 years old

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

66.

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

LI, YUFENG Chef Assistant (Fujian Cuisine)

61.

Basic Qualification: YU, JIAN Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

DING, WENLONG Chinese Customer Service 67.

68.

Basic Qualification: ZHANG, YI Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

ZHANG, YILANG Chef Assistant (Fujian Cuisine) Brief Job Description: Ensuring that food served are of excellent quality and authentic taste are consistently achieved, modifying menus or create new ones that meet quality standards, estimating food requirements and food/labor costs, supervise kitchen staff’s activities, performing other duties assigned by the company.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently in native language and English

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

LIN, QUANWEI Chinese Customer Service 72.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently in native language and English

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

LAN, JINGSI Chinese Customer Service 71.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently in native language and English

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

HUANG, ZHENBIAO Chinese Customer Service 70.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently in native language and English

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

GOU, ENHUA Chinese Customer Service 69.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently in native language and English

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

FU, NINGZONG Chinese Customer Service

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Ability to assist and direct kitchen staff in meal preparation, creation, plating and delivery and ensure that kitchen activities operate in a timely manner. Ability to work with minimal to no supervision. Train new kitchen employees to meet restaurant and kitchen standards. Manage the kitchen team in the executive chef's absence. High level of attention to detail. With Experience in Chinese Restaurants. Fluent in the Chinese Language, both oral and written.

ZHENG, PENG Proficient in computer Mandarin Operation And Maintenance Recording System programming. With excellent Analyst verbal communication skills specifically Mandarin and Brief Job Description: English language Analyze control records and examine workflow documents Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

NEW ORIENTAL CLUB88 CORPORATION 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th/f Pearl Marina Building Pacific Drive Don Galo Parañaque City

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: YANG, JIAQI Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: ZHAO, MINGHUI Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

No.

NATURAL9 CORPORATION Unit 8c-1, 8 Rockwell Building Hidalgo Drive Rockwell Center, Poblacion Makati City

Basic Qualification: WANG, JUAN Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in Mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: YANG, HAOWEN Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Speaking Customer Relations Service Provider reading and writing in Mandarin Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

NEPC POWER CONSTRUCTION CORP. 15/f Cyber One Bldg. Eastwood Cyberpark City Bagumbayan 3 Quezon City

62.

49.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

CHEN, ZHIPENG Chinese Customer Service 51.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

CHEN, CHEN Chinese Customer Service

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. 4th-11th Flr. Nexgen Tower C4 Rd. Edsa Ext. Brgy. 076 Pasay City

Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999

MEGA-WEB TECHNOLOGIES INC. 6,7,8,9,10,11/f Met Live Bldg. Edsa Cor. Macapagal Blvd. Brgy. 076 Pasay City JEON, BYUNGGYU Korean Speaking Customer Service Representative

No.

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently in native language and English

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

BusinessMirror

A8 Wednesday, September 1, 2021

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION LUO, JING Chinese Customer Service

73.

No.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently native language and English

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently inative language and english

89.

90.

79.

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints provide solutions, process customer accounts Salary Range: and file documents Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 SHI, LUOSHUN Chinese Customer Service

80.

81.

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

YANG, RAN Chinese Customer Service 88.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently inative language and english

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints provide solutions, process customer accounts Salary Range: and file documents Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

XU, CHAOFAN Chinese Customer Service 87.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently inative language and english

86.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently inative language and english

85.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently inative language and english

84.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently native language and english

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints provide solutions, process customer accounts Salary Range: and file documents Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

TANG, HUAIDONG Chinese Customer Service 83.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently native language and english

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints provide solutions, process customer accounts Salary Range: and file documents Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

SU, TAO Chinese Customer Service 82.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently native language and english

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English)

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

ZHANG, YULONG Chinese Customer Service 91.

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

ZHONG, BIAO Chinese Customer Service 92.

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English)

No.

LAI, YANXIAO Mandarin Speaking Web System Development Consultant 93.

Brief Job Description: Provides extremely flexible web development services, from full stack solutions to updating existing content, WU, SHUANGLONG Mandarin Speaking Web System Development Consultant Brief Job Description: provides extremely flexible web development services, from full stack solutions to updating existing content

103.

95.

Brief Job Description: Tracking cash flow and financial planning, analysing company's financial strength & weaknesses and responsible for finance and accounting division

Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English)

ZHANG, YANG Chinese Customer Service 104.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English) Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English)

105.

106.

96.

Brief Job Description: Make recommendations for improvement

LIANG, SHISHI Mandarin Customer Service Specialist

108.

109.

110.

Salary Range: Php 500,000 and above

Basic Qualification: Has expertise in managing and consultancy for business management. Can speak Korean and English

98.

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

111.

Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills

99.

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

LI, YANG Chinese Customer Service 100.

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

PENG, SHIJI Chinese Customer Service 101.

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

PU, JIWEN Chinese Customer Service 102.

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Customer support and data base services Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: CUSTOMER SUPPORT AND DATA BASE SERVICES Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Mandarin both oral and written

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Mandarin both oral and written Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Brief Job Description: Customer Service

Basic Qualification: Fluent in Mandarin both oral and written Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Brief Job Description: Managing and distributing information within an office; Answering phones in Mandarin Language to English, etc.

Basic Qualification: Must be fluent in English and Mandarin language; Must have a degree in language courses which specialize in linguistics and translation. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

SANO, JUN Executive Vice President For Operations

Basic Qualification: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Technology, Brief Job Description: Sciences, or other related Oversees the overall operations of the power stations by fields; Post-graduate degree providing leadership and strategic decisions, guidance, an advantage. and instructions to optimize operating capabilities and employing strategies to maximize stakeholder Salary Range: satisfaction and achieve operating targets. Php 500,000 and above

TECSCO GLOBAL SOLUTIONS INC. Flr. No. 2nd-5th, Bldg. No. 2264, Tecsco Tower Bldg. Aurora Blvd. Cor. Edang St., Zone 16 Barangay 149, District 1 Pasay City SUVOR, DANIIL Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Perform customer support via phone, chat and email both in English and their national language

Basic Qualification: Can communicate in English fluently Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

TIAN XIA TECHNOLOGIES INTERNATIONAL, INC. 9/f Pbcom Tower 6795 Ayala Ave. Cor. V.a. Rufino St. Bel-air Makati City LIN, CHUN-TING Chinese Customer Service Representative

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

TEAM ENERGY CORPORATION 25/f W Fifth Avenue Bldg. 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City Fort Bonifacio Taguig City

114. HU, YUHUI Chinese Customer Service

Brief Job Description: Customer Service

CHEN, YE Chinese Translator

113.

SA RIVENDELL GLOBAL SUPPORT, INC. 2741 P. Zamora St. Brgy. 097 Pasay City

Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills

TAO YUAN'S LOVE FOUNDATION INC. 1166 J L Escoda St. 073 Bgy. 673 Ermita Manila

Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999

Basic Qualification: Bachelor's Degree; proficiency in English and of abovementioned language and amenable of any shifts.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

XU, YUHAO Mandarin Customer Service Specialist

Brief Job Description: A content analyst collects, reviews and maintains specific financial market data. The analyst is also responsible for Salary Range: managing queries from internal and external customers. Php 60,000 - Php 89,999

FU, HAIQING Chinese Customer Service

Brief Job Description: Customer Service

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Must have considerable working experience across the accounting and finance department; bachelors degree in business administration, accounting, finance or economics

Basic Qualification: Customer support and data base services

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

WEI, ZHENG Mandarin Customer Service Specialist

112.

97.

Brief Job Description: Customer Service

TIE, YINLONG Mandarin Customer Service Specialist

REFINITIV ASIA PTE. LTD. - PHILIPPINE BRANCH Ground Floor 18/20 Building Upper Mckinley Hill Fort Bonifacio Taguig City BAEK, SAN Content Analyst - Korean

Brief Job Description: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

SPEED QUALITY TECH INC. 3/f Eco Plaza Bldg. 2305 Chino Roces Ave. Extn. Magallanes Makati City

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: 18-55 y/o, with atleast 6 months experience, with good oral and written

Brief Job Description: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills

CHI VINH TANG Vietnamese Customer Service

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: 18-55 y/o, with atleast 6 months experience, with good oral and written

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

ZHANG, JUNCHAO Chinese Customer Service

PHILSEOUL INC. 4/f Yupangco Bldg. 339 Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. Bel-air Makati City

KO, NAMHO Consultant & Accounting Manager

Brief Job Description: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

PHILKO UBINS LTD. CORP. 6/f Unit A Renaissance Tower 1000 Meralco Avenue Ugong Pasig City

WON, WOONJU Treasurer And Chief Financial Officer

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION WU, MAN Chinese Customer Service

107.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: College graduate, preferably 1 year experience in the similar field, speak and write fluently (native language & English)

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

OKKDA ASIA TECHNOLOGY INC. Unit 5b 5/f Marvin Plaza 2153 C. Roces Ave. Pio Del Pilar Makati City

94. Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently native language and english

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints, provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents.

YIN, ZHIBIAO Chinese Customer Service

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION YE, ZHIQUN Chinese Customer Service

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently native language and English

78.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently native language and English

77.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently in native language and English

76.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate preferably 1 year experience the similar field speak and write fluently in native language and English

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 NING, QINGTING Chinese Customer Service

75.

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and inquiries, handling complaints provide solutions, process customer accounts and file documents Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999

LUO, QITIAN Chinese Customer Service 74.

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Brief Job Description: Maintains financial account; recommend potential products and services; attract potential to a customers; contributes to team

Basic Qualification: >at least 19 years old; ability to speak, write and communicate in Chinese Mandarin Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

TRANSCOM WORLDWIDE BV ROHQ #31 Edsa Diliman Bldg. Brgy. Barangka Ilaya Mandaluyong City

SAUNDH, SOHIT Chief Finance Officer 115.

Brief Job Description: To oversee and facilitate Transcom's financial and operational analysis and reporting such that the management is able to make business decisions that support company goals.

Basic Qualification: Possess at least a Bachelor's degree or a professional qualification; With proven track record and expertise spanning over 20 years in senior finance leadership positions with multinational scope in BPO and at least 5 years experience as CFO. Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999 *Date Generated: Aug 31, 2021

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE-NCR Regional Office located at DOLE-NCR Building, 967 Maligaya St., Malate Manila, within 30 days after this publication. Please inform DOLE-NCR if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

A10 Wednesday, September 1, 2021 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

PHL sugar sector faces bitter realities

he Philippines, a long-time supplier of raw sugar to the United States, is currently in a bind due to the sugar supply situation not only in the country but also in other parts of the world. As the pandemic and climate change have upended sugar production in the Philippines and other major sugar-producing countries, local producers this early are urging the government to suspend sugar shipments to the US market for crop year 2021-2022. According to local producers, output in the upcoming crop year is expected to decline, which warrants the temporary suspension of shipments to the US under the tariff rate quota system (See, “SRA board members push for 100% ‘B’ sugar,” in the BusinessMirror, August 30, 2021). The US became a market for Philippine sugar as early as 1796, according to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA). From 1880 to 1889, the country’s sugar exports to the US averaged 200,000 metric tons annually. The development of the Philippine sugar industry was fast-tracked during the American occupation, when the country was allowed to export sugar to the US under preferential terms. However, the decline in the sugar sector’s productivity in recent years is prompting the government, millers and producers to reassess the country’s capacity to fill up Washington’s sugar quota. The Philippines has always managed to supply Washington’s sugar requirement in previous years as the allocation of the country hinges on its historical shipments. However, sugar producers and millers warned that if the problems threatening the sector are not immediately addressed, the country would be hard pressed to fill up the quota in the next three to five years. For one, output has remained stagnant in recent years, making it imperative to expand areas planted with sugarcane. The threat of La Niña has also made it more difficult for sugar producers to increase output as an increase in rainfall could reduce the sugar content of canes grown in affected areas. Unfortunately, La Niña is becoming more frequent, and there is a possibility that major sugar-producing provinces would again experience more rainfall this year, according to the state weather bureau. From 421,358 hectares of farms planted with sugarcane in CY 2016-2017, when the country’s output breached 2.5 million metric tons, the size of sugar plantations shrank to 409,714 hectares in CY 2018-2019, according to SRA data. This prompted sugar millers and producers to ask the national government to put in place a national program that will allow them to improve output despite the rapid decline in combined land area planted with sugarcane. Land consolidation, which has been done via the block-farming program, should be an integral part of this national scheme, given the importance of economies of scale in sugar cultivation. Government must also work with sugar millers and producers to develop other areas where sugarcane may be cultivated. Sugar is one of the country’s major export commodities and is an essential raw material for the manufacture of certain food items, some of which are also exported. Improving the sector’s productivity requires bold and decisive steps, which must be taken soon, given the threat of climate change to local food production. Since 2005

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Aurora C. Ignacio

All About Social Security

oday, September 1, 2021, marks the 64th Anniversary of the Social Security System (SSS). This year’s theme, “Handog sa Miyembro, Serbisyong Makabago,” aptly honors its 40.9 million members and 2.9 million pensioners who have been part of the SSS’ journey towards social security protection. In line with this theme, we are accelerating the digitalization of our core processes and various online facilities, which nowadays is the new norm of transactions. We all know that everyone has different social media and web site accounts depending on what they are interested in and what they can benefit from. There are sites that make you stay connected to your family and friends, sites to watch videos for entertainment, sites to monitor organizational project progress, sites to monitor your finances, and so on. As much as the sites are for enjoyment, there are sites that can be used as tools too. Tools that bring us convenience in doing business transactions with government and private institutions. One of this is the My.SSS portal that can be found in our official web site www.sss.gov.ph. The site is very informative as it gives members various information about SSS, the different programs and services that we offer, advisories, among others.

Recently, we updated our registration process in signing up for My.SSS. We have made it easier so members, young and old, won’t have any difficulty in creating their own account. To register, simply go to the SSS official web site www.sss.gov.ph and click on “Member” under “Portals”. Then click on “Not yet registered in My.SSS.” Certify that you have read the Reminders then proceed with the registration. Fill up the required field such as CRN/SS Number, email address and preferred User ID, surname, given name, middle name and date of birth. Scroll down and continue to fill up the fields for mailing address and foreign mailing address. Select one among the several registration information options: Option 1—savings account number/Citibank Cash card/UBP Quick card or UMID-ATM savings account number registered in SSS; Option 2, which is the mobile number registered in SSS; Option 3 for UMID card; Option 4 for Employer/House-

Dennis Gorecho

D. Edgard A. Cabangon Benjamin V. Ramos Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Rolando M. Manangan

Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines. Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725. Fax line: 813-7025. (Advertising Sales) 893-2019; 817-1351, 817-2807. (Circulation) 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. E-mail: news@businessmirror.com.ph.

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I would like to dedicate this column to all the men and women of SSS who remain dedicated and loyal in providing their services to all our members and pensioners here and across the globe.

hold Employer ID Number; Option 5 for Paid Payment Reference Number/SBR No./Payment Receipt Transaction No.; Option 6 for Date of Loan with Existing Loan Balance; Option 7 for Transaction Number shown in Personal Record/UMID application; or Option 8 for Check Number of any monthly pension of retiree/disability pensioner. Just encode the needed details and answer the “captcha”, click the box before “I accept the Terms of Service” and click “Submit”. An e-mail acknowledging your registration in the SSS web site will be sent to you together with your User ID. Click on the link to be directed to the password setup page. To activate your My.SSS account and nominate your preferred password, simply encode the last 6 digits of your CRN/SS Number then click “Submit” and enter your preferred password. By having your own My.SSS account, not only will you have access to your account records but also have access to the following e-services: Benefit Re-disbursement Module, Disbursement Account Enrollment Module, apply for the different loan programs like salary, calamity and pension loan, adjustment of maternity benefit, request for member data change (simple corrections only),

request records, submit maternity notification and benefit applications such as maternity benefit, retirement and funeral. You may also generate your own Payment Reference Number and access the Simulated Retirement Calculator. Creating your own My.SSS account is useful. Aside from the convenience of having access to your account anytime, you are also empowered to do transactions on your own by filing the applications and monitoring its status online. However, we discourage you from sharing your personal information to anyone as this will compromise your account and may create confidentiality issues. After setting up your account, you can also familiarize yourself with the different services available online. This way, you need not go to the branch office just to file applications when there’s an option to do it online. Take advantage of the convenience our online processes offer, after all, your safety and convenience are what matter most, especially that we are still in the middle of a pandemic. On this note, I would like to dedicate this column to all the men and women of SSS who remain dedicated and loyal in providing their services to all our members and pensioners here and across the globe. Maligayang ika-64 Taong Anibersaryo at Mabuhay tayong lahat!!! Have a great day ahead! Aurora C. Ignacio is SSS president and chief executive officer. We welcome your questions and insights on the topics that we discuss. E-mail mediaaffairs@sss. gov.ph for topics that you might want us to discuss.

Remembering veteran journalist Melo Acuna and the comfort women

Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror

MEMBER OF

SSS@64 and the My.SSS registration

Flowers for Lolas

he recent death of veteran journalist Melo Acuna coincided with the anniversary of the disappearance of the “Lola” comfort woman statue two years ago, an issue close to his heart.

“It’s sad wife and I got to be part of 12,067 new cases”—the message posted by Melo on his wall on August 24, 2021. A day later, he asked prayers that his oxygen level increase to 99, otherwise he will be brought to the ICU.

Sadly, Melo passed away three days later, on August 27, 2021, at 2:30 a.m. at the age of 64. Some friends captured Melo’s character in their postings of love and respect to an iconic figure recognized for his long and distinguished

Melo was one of the instrumental persons behind Flowers-for-Lolas, an alliance supporting the campaign on the issue of comfort women and other victims of sexual violence and slavery during World War II.

media career. Melo touched so many lives with his generous heart, sparking so many great conversations with his soothing voice and endearing humility, and being an inimitable pillar of civil, passionate and enlightening dialogues in the country. Born in Alabat, Quezon on Feb. 8, 1957, Melo is known as a big man with a booming swabe voice that was always radio ready. And he was

always prepared to help colleagues, from connecting sources to sharing his playlists of golden memories on radio. His passing “left a void in the press field” as he was a “great loss to the Fourth Estate.” Melo was one of the instrumental persons behind Flowers-for-Lolas, an alliance supporting the campaign on the issue of comfort women and other victims of sexual violence and slavery during World War II. He organized several media events for the 2-meter-high “Lola” statue installed along Roxas Boulevard, an unnamed woman wearing a traditional Filipino dress, blindfolded, with hands clutched to her chest. The “Lola” statue represents FiliSee “Gorecho,” A11

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Wednesday, September 1, 2021 A11

War is over but not Biden’s Franchising is the best business model Franchise Asia Expo Chairman Afghanistan challenges Federico Moreno shares that if

By Aamer Madhani And Zeke Miller | Associated Press

ASHINGTON—With the final stream of US cargo planes soaring over the peaks of the Hindu Kush, President Joe Biden fulfilled a campaign promise to end America’s longest war, one it could not win. But as the war ended with a chaotic, bloody evacuation that left stranded hundreds of US citizens and thousands of Afghans who had aided the American war effort, the president kept notably out of sight. He left it to a senior military commander and his secretary of state to tell Americans about the final moments of a conflict that ended in resounding American defeat. Biden, for his part, issued a written statement praising US troops who oversaw the airlift of more than 120,000 Afghans, US citizens and allies for their “unmatched courage, professionalism, and resolve.” He said he would have more to say on Tuesday. “Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended,” Biden said in his statement. The muted reaction was informed by a tough reality: The war may be over, but Biden’s Afghanistan problem is not. The president still faces daunting challenges born of the hasty end of the war, including how to help extract as many as 200 Americans and thousands of Afghans left behind, the resettlement of tens of thousands of refugees who were able to flee, and coming congressional scrutiny over how, despite increasingly fraught warnings, the administration was caught flat-footed by the rapid collapse of the Afghan government. Through the withdrawal, Biden showed himself willing to endure what his advisers hope will be shortterm pain for resisting bipartisan and international pressure to extend his Aug. 31 deadline for ending the American military evacuation effort. For more than a decade, Biden has believed in the futility of the conflict and maintained that the routing of Afghanistan’s military by the Taliban was a delayed, if unwelcome, vindication. Turning the page on Afghanistan is a crucial foreign policy objective for Biden, who repeatedly has made the case for redirecting American attention toward growing challenges posed by adversaries China and Russia—and for shifting America’s counterterrorism focus to areas with more potent threats. But in his effort to end the war and reset US priorities, Biden may have also undercut a central premise of his 2020 White House campaign: a promise to usher in an era of greater empathy and collaboration with allies in America’s foreign policy after four years of Trump’s “America first” approach. “For someone who made his name as an empathetic leader, he’s appeared... as quite rational, even coldhearted, in his pursuit of this goal” to end the war, said Jason Lyall, an associate professor of government at Dartmouth College. Allies—including lawmakers from Britain, France, and Germany—chafed at Biden’s insistence on holding fast to the August 31 deadline as they struggled to evacuate their citizens and Afghan allies. Armin Laschet, the leading conservative candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as Germany’s chancellor, called it the “biggest debacle that Nato has suffered since its founding.” At home, Republican lawmakers have called for an investigation into the Biden administration’s handling of the evacuation, and even Democrats have backed inquiries into what went wrong in the fateful last months of the occupation. And at the same time, the massive suicide bombing in the final days of the evacuation that killed 13 US troops and more than 180 Afghans is raising fresh concern about Afghanistan again becoming a breeding ground for terrorists.

Biden blamed his predecessor, Donald Trump, for tying his hands. He repeatedly reminded people that he had inherited an agreement the Republican administration made with the Taliban to withdraw US forces by May of this year. Reneging on the deal, Biden argued, would have put US troops—who before Thursday had gone since February 2020 without a combat fatality in the war—in the Taliban’s crosshairs once again. The president’s advisers also complained that the now-ousted Afghan government led by Ashraf Ghani was resistant to finding a political compromise with the Taliban and made strategic blunders by spreading largely feckless Afghan security forces too thinly. Republicans—and even a few Democratic allies—have offered withering criticism of the administration’s handling of the evacuation, an issue that the GOP is looking to weaponize against Biden. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, said Monday the withdrawal date set by Biden was a political one designed for a photo op. Absent from McCarthy’s criticism was any mention that it was Trump’s White House that had brokered the deal to end the war. “There was a moment in time that had this president listened to his military, there would still be terrorist prisoners inside Bagram, we would be getting every single American out, the military would not have left before the Americans,” McCarthy said. “Every crisis he has faced so far in this administration he has failed.” It remains to be seen if criticism of Biden’s handling of Afghanistan will resonate with voters. An Associated Press-NORC poll conducted earlier in August found that about 6 in 10 Americans said the war there was not worth fighting. An ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted August 27 to 28 found about 6 in 10 Americans disapproving of Biden’s handling of the situation in Afghanistan. That poll also found most said the US should remain in Afghanistan until all Americans and Afghans who aided the US had been evacuated. The poll did not ask whether people approved of withdrawal more generally. After backing the 2001 US invasion, Biden became a skeptic of US nation-building efforts and harbored deep doubts about the Afghan government’s ability to develop the capacity to sustain itself. His opposition to the 2009 “surge” of US troop deployed to Afghanistan when he was vice president put him on the losing side of conflicts with the defense establishment and within the Obama administration. Biden, in recent weeks, told aides that he viewed his counsel against expanding the American involvement more than a decade ago to be one of his proudest moments in public life. But his tendency to speak in absolutes didn’t help his cause. In July, Biden pushed back at concerns that a Taliban takeover of the country would be inevitable. Weeks later, the group toppled the Afghan government. The president also expressed confidence that Americans would not see images reminiscent of the US evacuation from Vietnam at the end of that war in 1975, when photos of helicopters evacuating people from the roof of the US Embassy in Saigon became gripping symbols of US failure. In fact, they saw images of desperate Afghans swarming the Kabul airport—at least one falling to his death after clinging to a departing US aircraft.

Dr. Carl E. Balita

Entrepreneurs’ Footprints

‘T

his pandemic is a perfect storm for the new generation of franchises.” This is the optimistic view of Dr. Samie Lim who is regarded as the Father of Philippine Franchising. Dr. Alegria “Bing” Limjoco, regarded as the Mother of Philippine Franchising, asserts that when the economy is down, entrepreneurs go up. Both of them are evidence-based optimists who are speaking from vision, history, lived experiences, and objective data. They have seen in history how franchising picked up the opportunities out of the past economic crises and recessions.

Why the Golden Age of Franchising The system of franchising uses time, money, connection, experience and market base of the person to serve a particular target community. The two critical requisites to expand a franchise are people (who are the franchisees) and place (a location) where the franchise will operate. Samie Lim believes that there is an abundant pool of prospective franchisees that emerge from the pandemic. These include those who retired and they surely have the financial resources and may have the intention to invest. Also in the list are the many Filipinos who lost their jobs, including the Overseas Filipinos who were repatriated, hopefully with savings and intention to explore the entrepreneurial route instead of finding local employment. There were also thousands of entrepreneurs who had to strategically close business because they happen to be in the wrong business for the pandemic and post-pandemic new normal. Lastly, the quarantine has transformed many “mom-preneurs”—the happy housewives who accidentally shifted to become entrepreneurs with a eureka moment that they are capable of doing business. This dopamine-induced happiness derived from the self-actualizing business experience has an addicting effect, which will drive entrepreneurs to take greater calculated risks. These are the potential franchisees that Samie Lim refers to as ideal for having the time, money, connection, expertise and market base to serve a market. The place to locate and grow business, the second requisite in expanding a franchise, is now widely available and very affordable because

of the many businesses that have closed. Lessors in crisis are bound to lease out locations at a good bargain. Both the disruption, which results to a changing consumer behavior, and the health paranoia of the market have pushed a renaissance where business and commerce will be better located in the new normal. And bringing the products and services closer to the consumer favors franchising because of the brand leverage that entrepreneurs benefit from the franchise model. Samie Lim envisions that the years 2021 through 2025 have the most favorable conditions that will make franchising ideal. He prophesizes this period as the Golden Age of Franchising.

Philippines as the Franchise Hub of Asia

The idea of franchising was incited by Mr. Sergio Ortiz Luiz Jr. who, in 1993, presented to the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) a USAID study citing that franchising was then the business model of the fastest growing businesses. In the same year, the International Franchise Association based in the United States sent 10 franchise experts and brands. The First Franchise Conference subsequently happened in 1994. It was in 1995 when the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) was born, with Samie Lim as Founding President and former Secretary Jose T. Pardo as Chairman. In 2001, PFA hosted the World Franchise Council Meeting and the Asia Pacific Franchise Confederation meetings in Manila. In 2002 and first in Asia, the PFA brought to the country the Certified Franchise Executive Program from the US-based

the franchise business model can survive this pandemic, there is a high probability that it will weather all other challenges in the future.

International Certified Franchise Executive, which annually brings to the country franchise experts to train and certify not only Filipinos but also executives from all over the world. And in 2011, the international franchise meetings were once again hosted by the PFA making the Philippines as the Franchise Hub in Asia. PFA is currently the Secretariat of the Asia Pacific Franchise Confederation and a member of the Working Committee of the World Franchise Council, whose task is to create activities that will advance franchising globally.

Why is Franchising the Best Business Model?

Franchising is the most resilient business model according to Potato Corner Co-founder Jose Magsaysay, which 7-11 Corp. President Victor Paterno describes as more efficient and flexible business model. Such resiliency must have come from what McDonald’s President Kenneth Yang cites as having the brand and the franchisee support each other. Farwa Hombre of Farron Café illustrates franchising like a well-oiled machine with reliable structure and system that work and replicated for success aligned with high level of brand awareness, which is derived from the synergistic relationship within the franchise system. This is what Dina Stalder refers to as the track record of the franchisor, which is reason enough for the franchisee not to reinvent the wheel. Franchise Asia Expo Chairman Federico Moreno shares that if the franchise business model can survive this pandemic, there is a high probability that it will weather all other challenges in the future.

The Biggest Franchise Show in Asia

The Philippine Franchise Association presents the biggest franchise show in Asia this September. It will showcase a wide variety of franchise investment opportunities as well as learning sessions for franchise industry practitioners. The Virtual Franchise Asia Expo will be on September

Gorecho. . .

continued from A10

pino women’s dignity and stands as “a reminder that wars of aggression must always be opposed, and that sexual slavery and violence should never happen again to any woman, anywhere at any time.” If it is a reminder of a painful past, the “Lola” statue honors the memory, courage and resilience of these Filipino women. Four months after its installation in December 2017, Melo monitored through his facebook account the events that led to the dismantling of the statue under cover of darkness on April 27, 2018 by the DPWH, allegedly for a drainage improvement project, but seen as submission to protests from Japan. Issues of historical revisionism and the government’s submission to Japanese policy were raised by concerned groups led by the Flowers-for-Lolas as they condemned the removal of the statue. President Duterte earlier remarked the state would not want to “antagonize” other countries. Tulay Foundation again commissioned artist Jonas Roces to make the necessary repair, thus “Lola” was placed under his custody for safekeeping until the Flowers-for-Lolas finds her a “home.” Her new home should have been the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran. However, despite several followups on the formal turnover of the “Lola” statue back to Tulay for its reinstallation initially on August 18,

then August 25, 2019, Roces failed to do so. Ultimately, Roces told Tulay that the “Lola” statue was taken by unidentified men from his art studio in Cainta, Rizal. That day was my last face-to-face encounter with Melo. Despite the lockdown, Melo con-

tinued hosting the “ Tapatan sa Aristocrat” and the “Wednesday Roundtable at Lido” media forums through online platforms. I told him that I was his “dakilang kaladkarin” as the impromptu resource person on several issues like seafarers, comfort women, activism, politics, Visiting Forces Agreement

8 to 11 while the virtual Franchise Asia Conference is scheduled on September 21 to 23. Registration to the Expo is free. With the theme, Igniting Recovery, Franchise Asia Philippines 2021 is designed to inspire the Filipino nation to rise up from the challenges of the pandemic and pivot to where the opportunities lie. PFA Chairman Richard Sanz acknowledges that the past two years have been difficult, but he rallies entrepreneurs to not let these difficulties weigh them down. PFA President Sherill Quintana encourages everyone to keep their dreams alive and points at the many opportunities that are still out there. The Virtual Expo is a one-stop shop of franchise and other business investment opportunities for aspiring franchisees who dream of becoming their own boss or seasoned entrepreneurs and investors who want to diversify their investments. The said event will also feature the webinars on How to Invest in the Right Franchise, How to Franchise Your Business, and the Five Ways to Grow Profits. The Franchise Asia Virtual Conference, meanwhile, will feature more than 20 curated sessions, more than 10 area-focus tracks and more than 30 international subject matter experts. It is designed to help the delegates prepare for the future of franchising. One of the most awaited sessions is the C-Suite Forum, which will feature some of the big names and thought leaders in the franchising sector and related industries. Among the topics that will be discussed are Staying Competitive While Managing Cashflow, Shaping the Future of Work, Growing Your Brand Globally, The Future of Supply Chain, Franchise Development in the New Normal: How to Succeed, Developing a Growth Mindset for Franchisees, and many more. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat will be the keynote speakers during the event. Franchise Asia Philippines 2021 is made possible through the support of BPI, PLDT Enterprise, InLife Health Care and other partners. Interested parties may please e-mail pfa@pfa.org.ph or visit www. pfa.org.ph. For feedback, please send e-mail to drcarlbalita@yahoo.com.

(VFA), environment, among others. He would usually call me the night before his event, inviting me to be present although my name was already included in his poster. Melo also often asked my help when he needs to form a panel for maritime issues, especially those affecting the seafarers and during the annual National Seafarers Day. One of his recent online media forums on the VFA with the United States touched on the bases agreement. I gave a historical perspective on the VFA by narrating my experience with the campaign during the 1990s against the renewal of the US military bases treaty. As the photographer of the Philippine Collegian, I covered several mass actions involving UP students, including the historic Lakbayan in March 1991, a three-day 96-kilometer march from the UP Diliman campus to the Clark Airbase in Pampanga. I was even one of his guests on August 16, 2021 in Tapatan sa Aristocrat on the proposed Department of Overseas Filipinos, as I described myself in our chat as “manggugulo lang.” A week later, he was gone. Social media is buzzing continuously and is chocking with Covid stories. It is more saddening if the Covid death statistics include a close friend like Melo Acuna.

Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0917-5025808 or 0908-8665786.

A12 Wednesday, September 1, 2021

‘₧819-M PPE funds in ’22 must remain with DOH’

IKENING the questioned outsourcing of pandemic-related supplies to two controversial agencies to asking a “clueless male to buy the best woman’s bra,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto has cautioned the Department of Health, which plans to spend P819 million to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) in 2022, not to repeat its mistake of transferring billions to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management or the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC). The PS-DBM is now the focus

of a Senate inquiry into the wholesale transfer to that office of P42 billion in DOH funds in 2020, for buying PPEs at the first peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Senators are also looking into other funds lodged with PITC.

The PS-DBM and PITC are semiautonomous agencies under the Departments of Budget and of Trade and Industry, respectively, and this setup of outsourcing procurement is seen to defeat the legal mandate to boost the capacity of the internal procurement offices in state agen-

cies. Senators also objected to the parking of billions in funding in PITC, especially, to skirt a requirement to return unobligated funds to the National Treasury at year’s end. On Tuesday, Recto recommended that the Duterte government order full disclosure of the specifications and “buy Filipino.” The Senate President Pro Tempore said DOH plans to buy 758,700 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) next year at an average cost of P1,079 each. The P819 million needed for the purchase has been included in the 2022 national budget. In a statement, the senator prodded the DOH to “buy the PPEs and shun

the trend of paying the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management [PS-DBM] or the Philippine International Trading Corp. [PITC] to do the procurement.” The senator told the DOH itself to buy it, noting that its doctors and nurses are the ones that will use it, and therefore it is in the best position to know what exactly to buy. Moreover, Recto noted that “asking PS [DBM] and PITC to buy is like asking a clueless male to buy the best woman’s bra.” He added: “If DOH will do the procurement, it will save money from not having to pay a commission to PS or PITC, which could jack up costs by 5 percent.” Butch Fernandez

No Charter ban on Duterte VP run—Guevarra

USTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra has broached the possibility that President Duterte might again become the Chief Executive even after his Palace term, if he pushes through with his plan to seek the VP post in the May 2022 elections, and the elected President needs replacing for any of the constitutionally ordained reasons. Guevarra, a guest speaker of the Rotary Clubs of Makati, Cebu and Davao, said during the virtual open forum that President Duterte would

not be violating the Constitution if he seeks the VP post after his term. If Duterte wins and becomes the next vice president, then he would likely assume the presidency in case the elected President in 2022 dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated. “That is precisely the role of the vice president, to take over if the elected president dies in office, becomes permanently incapacitated or resigns. That is the role of the vice president, and people are expected to understand that that will happen

should they vote for a particular person, to the position of vice president,” the Justice Secretary added. Guevarra noted that Duterte would not be the first President to run for a lower post, noting that former presidents Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Joseph Estrada were elected to lower positions in government. Arroyo, who was Chief Executive from 2001 to 2010, joined the House of Representatives, and became House Speaker from 2018 until 2019. After ending his brief term as

President from 1998 to 2001, Estrada ran and won as Manila mayor, from 2013 until 2019 “There is nothing in the wording of our present Constitution that prohibits the sitting President from running for the position of vice president. What the Constitution expressly prohibits is for him to be reelected and when we speak of re-election, we are talking about the same position as what he is currently holding . . ..That is clear in the Constitution,” Guevarra explained. Joel R. San Juan

MICHAEL YANG SUBPOENAED ANEW BY SENATE PROBERS

ENATE probers are issuing another summons for a former presidential adviser believed to hold the key to the questioned award of P8.7-billion in personal protective equipment (PPE) contract, after he skipped an earlier Blue Ribbon inquiry. In a report to Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the investigating Blue Ribbon Committee on Public Accountability, probers confirmed they are summoning anew former Presidential adviser Michael Yang who was earlier linked to a company that cornered bulk of the PPE transactions, but had denied any involvement. Reports reaching Senate probers indicated, however, the businessman and ex-presidential adviser had ties to some of the firms that cornered the PPE purchases in 2020. This, as confirmed formal invitations and subpoenas are being served to witnesses to ensure their appearance at the next hearing of the Blue Ribbon, whose chairman, Gordon, called the inquiry to look into the Commission on Audit (COA) report of “deficiencies” in the DOH management of over P62 billion in funds in 2020. The senators’ attention was drawn to the COA-questioned transfer of P42 billion in DOH funds to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), without a memorandum of agreement. Justifying the fund transfer before the Blue Ribbon last week, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III claimed

Namfrel to Comelec: Consider reforms for conduct of ’22 polls By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

“RE-FORMATTED” election ballot as well as the correct use of digital signature are among the measures currently being pushed by the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) to make the outcome of the 2022 National and Local Election (NLE) more transparent and credible. In a virtual briefing on Tuesday, Namfrel Secretary General Eric Alvia said they are urging the Commission on Elections to do away with its traditional scheme of arranging the surname of the candidates in the ballots in alphabetical order.

Assigned numbers

INSTEAD they want the candidates to be chronologically arranged based on unique numbers assigned to each candidate and parties or their representatives, which will be randomly assigned by the Comelec before the start of the campaign period. Namfrel said based on its informal study, which covered 50 volunteers, people were able to vote three times faster with their proposed ballot scheme than using the existing arrangement used by Comelec. “We were able to find out that voters are able to more easily remember the numbers [associated with their preferred candidates]; at the same time it will also be beneficial for those who are unable to read or write well,” Alvia said. He noted their proposed scheme will also remove the advantage of name recall as well as pre-election campaigning since the numbers assigned to the candidates will be made known prior to the campaign period.

Technical enhancements

NAMFREL also recommended several technical enhancements in the conduct of the 2022 polls. Among them: for Comelec to use open source licensing softwares for

its automated election instead of the “proprietary” licensed software being required by the manufacturer of the vote counting machines (VCM) used by the poll body. Namfrel said this will make Comelec’s procurement of the said software “more competitive, less costly, and more transparent.” It also wants Comelec to adopt an end-to-end use of election mark-up language (EML) when transmitting election results. Currently, the poll body’s VCMs convert election results, which are in EML format, to comma-separated values (CSV), before it is once again converted to EML when it reaches the servers of stakeholders such as the media, political parties, and election monitoring organizations. It noted that the format conversion causes delays in the release of election returns, such as the “7-hour glitch” that created so much controversy in the 2019 polls.

QR codes and digital signatures

NAMFREL also wants Comelec to consider printing quick response (QR) codes for election returns and the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT). It noted the QR codes will allow stakeholders to efficiently audit the election results even in the polling precincts with the use of mobile phones. Last, the election watchdog urged Comelec to use unique digital signatures, which come from the election boards instead of the signatures issued by the Comelec main office. “Adopting said proposal could ensure that electronic results can be verified as authentic, even if the VCM results were not able to be transmitted electronically, as is the case in many parts of the Philippines where internet signal is still poor,” Namfrel said in a statement. Alvia said they submitted their consolidated proposal to the Comelec advisory council in June and they hope the poll body will implement it in the 2022 NLE.

the DOH was swamped with other bidding chores at the peak of the pandemic, and thus had to outsource procurement to PS-DBM. Probers said the secretariat initially served the formal invitations to “resource persons” to attend the previous hearing, but others did not show up in last week’s hearing prompting the issuance of subpoenas. Committee sources said that in the case of Mr. Yang, his office accepted the subpoena but the staff said he could not be contacted. Yang appearing at the Senate inquiry is held unlikely after probers received documentation linking him to the PS-DBM purchase of allegedly overpriced medical supplies. Video obtained by Senate probers, from state-run station RTVM showed, Gordon noted, Michael Yang presenting to President Duterte the officials of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation that supplied government P8.67 billion worth of medicines to contain the pandemic last year. Pharmally has raised alarm bells because it turned out to be a company incorporated only in 2019, with paid-up capital of P625,000, but it cornered over P8 billion in contracts. In contrast, several Filipino firms, notably garment makers that were requested by government to retrofit operations because of the then global shortage of PPEs, did not bag a single contract from DOH, losing out to a clutch of mostly Chinese suppliers. The onlyFilipinofirmthatbaggedcontracts, Pharmally,turnedouttohavequestionable credentials. Butch Fernandez

Boracay casino not my idea— DOF chief

‘N

OT my call.” Thus said Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III when asked if he was behind President Duterte’s shift in policy to allow casinos on Boracay Island, supposedly to raise more government revenues. “Although our revenues are up, so are our expenditures to the extent that our fiscal deficit is still very elevated,” Dominguez told the BusinessMirror in a Viber message. Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed government actually underspent in the first half of the year at just P2.21 trillion, or 9.6 percent below the P2.44-trillion cap for the period. Revenues rose to P1.49 trillion, exceeding the P1.42-trillion target for the period, thus resulting in a fiscal deficit of some P716 billion in the first six months to June. This was 30 percent lower than the P1.02-trillion cap for the period. Also, the DOF reported the tax effort increased over half a percentage point to 14.74 percent in the first half of the year, hewing closely to the 14.86 percent recorded in the same period in 2019, prior to the pandemic. (See, “Tax effort improves in H1 despite pandemic,” August 30, 2021, in the BusinessMirror.) In a public briefing on August 26, Duterte said he has “encourage[d] the opening of a gamble house in Boracay for tourists,” to raise funds for government operations. “Forgive me for the contradiction. We don’t have any money now, so I will get it from wherever I can. If it’s from gaming, then so be it.”

‘Sustainability is non-negotiable’

The announcement has rattled Boracay residents and business owners, especially after they suffered through the island’s six-month closure and government rehabilitation that has yet to be completed. (See, “BIATF officials seem blindsided by Duterte announcement allowing casinos in Boracay,” in the BusinessMirror, August 30, 2021.) Continued on A2

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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Wednesday, September 1, 2021 B1

More Filipinos seen tapping digital platforms by year-end By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

@TyronPiad

ajority of Filipino consumers are expected to go digital by the end of the year, according to a report by Bain & Company and Facebook, which also indicated that Southeast Asia saw the fastest e-commerce growth in the Asia-Pacific region. The report noted that nearly 8 in 10 Filipino consumers will shift to digital platforms when transacting before the year ends and that Southeast Asia will have 350 million digital consumers by year-end, higher than last year’s 310 million.

Fi lipino d ig ita l consumers shop on an average of nearly 8 web sites this year, from 4.3 in 2020. Over 80 percent of them said they are open to paying a premium of up to 10 percent for sustainable and socially responsible products. T he repor t ind icated t hat

Southeast Asia’s digital retail share rose to 85 percent year-on-year, which is better than China’s 5 percent, Brazil’s 14 percent, and India’s 10 percent. Spending on digital platforms per person also improved by 60 percent compared to last year. The joint study sees overall e-commerce sales doubling by 2026. “It’s clear that the pandemic continues to push people online at an aggressive pace. People in Southeast Asia are forming new habits related to online discovery, consideration and purchase. For both new and established brands, these shifts signal the need to rethink traditional e-commerce experiences and find creative ways to inspire and connect with customers online,” said Benjamin Joe, Facebook South-

east Asia vice president. In Southeast Asia, the study revealed that 45 percent of consumers are opting to use online platforms as their primary purchase channel. They are also willing to discover new products and services, with 51 percent claiming to have purchased for the first time from a previously unknown store. Consumers in the region have a “wider range of categories online” for their purchases, the report said. They are shopping for an average of 8.1 categories, a 60-percent uptick from 5.1 a year ago. The report expects that about 86 percent of in-home food delivery will remain even after the pandemic. “The moment has arrived for brands to take advantage of Southeast Asia’s [SEA’s] paradigm shift in consumer behaviors. The most successful brand owners will focus on strategies to both capitalize on a postpandemic digital boom in the region and insulate themselves from ensuing digital disruptions,” said Praneeth Yendamuri, Partner in Bain & Company’s Consumer Products Practice. The report is based on a survey of around 16,700 digital consumers across the region.

Globe upgrades network in Cavite By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

lobe Telecom Inc. said on Tuesday it has completed its modernization program in key locations in Cavite and Laguna and that its subscribers in the two provinces now experience improved telco service. Joel Agustin, the company’s SVP for Program Delivery, said Globe has completed 265 site upgrades in 11 towns and cities in Cavite and three areas in Laguna from 3G to the new standard of mobile data, 4G LTE. These include sites in General Trias City, Dasmariñas City, Bacoor City, Naic, Cavite City, Trece Martires City, Carmona, Gen. Mariano Alvarez, Tanza and Rosario. Efforts are also underway to modernize other sites in Alfonso, Amadeo, Gen. E. Aguinaldo, Indang, Magallanes, Maragondon, Mendez, Tagaytay City, Silang, Talisay and Ternate. In Laguna, Globe has also mod-

ernized sites in Biñan, San Pedro and Sta. Rosa, Laguna to include one 5G tower. “These modernization efforts were intended to better serve our customers in upper Cavite and Laguna. The site upgrades will bring better connectivity and experience to our customers especially now that classes have started for private schools, colleges and universities in these provinces,” he said. Agustin noted that subscribers must also upgrade their sim cards to 5G-ready 4G sims for them to enjoy improved services. “Updating a sim card is free and customers will get to keep their old numbers. 4G LTE capable devices are also available at Globe Stores. Customers can check through online these affordable mobile phones for the meantime due to existing quarantine protocols.” Agustin said Globe has been providing better services to its subscribers citing reports from

Ookla, which indicated that Globe had the most consistent mobile network in the Philippines. The company raised its capital expenditures (capex) for 2021 by almost a tenth to P76 billion after its board approved additional network projects for the remainder of the year. Rizza Maniego-Eala, the company’s CFO, said that the board has approved additional network projects amounting to P18 billion, but noted that the actual impact on the programmed capex for the year is only P6 billion. Globe earlier programmed a capex of P70 billion, already a 16-percent increase from the P60.3billion capex in 2020. In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Globe announced that it will spend 88 percent of the budget on

‘Stop investing in Money Game Hub’ By VG Cabuag @villygc

he Securities and Exchange Com m i ssion (SEC ) h a s warned the public against dealing with Money Game Hub or MGH Trading OPC as it is engaged in unauthorized investment-taking activities. MGH Trading, a one-person corporation headed by Alexander Salvador, is a perfume-distribution company, but it entices the public to invest at least P500 in its company and promises a return of seven times or up to P3,500 in just 40 days. Its investment packages include an amount of P500 through P50,000, but a member can earn more if he can recruit more people into the system with commission rates of between 20 percent to 50 percent. It also has a casino feature in which joining member will have a free spin in its roulette or cash payments into the company.

“The public is hereby informed that Money Game Hub is not registered as a corporation and partnership. However, MGH Trading is registered with the commission as a one-person corporation. Nonetheless, both Money Game Hub, MGH Trading are not authorized to solicit investments from the public as they did not secure prior registration and/or license to solicit investments from the commission,” the agency said. The SEC urged the public to stop investing in MGH. The agency also said those involved in the operation of the company will be reported to the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The agency said MGH may have a certificate of incorporation from the SEC, but the document does not constitute an authority or license for the corporation to engage in activities such as solicitation of investments, issuance of investments contracts, offering and sale of investment contracts that require a secondary license.

As MGH’s schemes involve the sale of securities to the public, the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) requires that these securities must be registered and that the corporation and its agents must have a registration and license to sell from the agency. Those who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents of MGH to invest in their investment schemes, including solicitations or recruitment through the internet may be prosecuted and held criminally liable under the SRC. They can be fined a maximum of P5 million and a maximum imprisonment of 21 years. “Also, those who invite or recruit others to join or invest in such venture or offer investment contracts or securities to the public may incur criminal liability, or otherwise be sanctioned or penalized accordingly,” the SEC said.

data, 6 percent on business support, 5 percent on core requirements, and a percentage on miscellaneous investments.

SMPC remits ₧1.7B in royalties to govt By Lenie Lectura @llectura

ONSUNJI-led Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) has turned over nearly P1.7 billion in royalty payment to the Department of Energy (DOE) in the second quarter. Of the amount, more than P1 billion will be retained by the national government. The remaining amount will go to the host local government units (LGUs) of the SMPC mine site. The Local Government Code of 1991 entitles LGUs to a 40-percent share of royalty proceeds from petroleum, coal, geothermal, hydrothermal and wind resources. The province of Antique will receive P136 million while the municipality of Caluya and Barangay Semirara will receive around P300 million and P230 million, respectively. SMPC is the only vertically-integrated power producer in the country that mines its own fuel. The largest domestic coal producer, it supplies af-

fordable fuel to power plants, cement factories and other industrial facilities across the Philippines. It was able to generate the record-setting quarterly payment to the DOE after recognizing P14.8 billion in revenues on the back of all-time high coal sales and higher average selling prices. “ The pandemic has taken a significant toll on our country. We hope that our contribution can help boost our government’s response against Covid-19,” said SMPC President and COO Maria Cristina C. Gotianun. DMCI Holdings Inc., SMPC’s parent company, reported that its net income jumped almost five times to P9.5 billion in the first semester, from the P2 billion it reported last year. Semirara Mining contributed P3.7 billion, a near threefold increase from P1.3 billion owing to its all-time high coal production in the first quarter, all-time high shipments in the second quarter, and the strong rebound in coal and electricity spot prices.

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

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Apollo Global raises nearly ₧1B from follow-on offering By VG Cabuag

@villygc

pollo Global Capital Inc., the parent company of black sand miner JDVC Resources Corp., has completed its follow-on offering (FOO) worth nearly P1 billion. The company said on Tuesday it completed the offering of 12.35 common shares, priced at P0.08 per share or proceeds of P988 million. The shares were listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). “Now that this FOO has jumpstarted the company’s quest to commence operations, I hope that all other factors will fall into place because the company’s investors have long-awaited and deserve positive developments on this front,” PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said in his welcome remarks during the listing ceremony. As a result of the FOO, the company’s outstanding and listed shares will increase to 292.68 billion common shares from 280.33 billion shares. Apollo Global shares fell 4.4 percent on Tuesday to close at P0.109 apiece. Proceeds from the offer will be used for the acquisition of a 49-percent stake in Poet Blue Ocean, a special purpose vehicle, which owns the MB Siphon I vessel that will be used for the offshore mining activities of JDVC Resources Corp. The company indicated in its prospectus that weather permitting and once all the necessary environment protection equipment and ecologically balanced offshore mining protection gears have been purchased, the MB Siphon Vessel I is estimated to start operations on or before April 30, 2022. The company will also allocate part of the proceeds for the purchase of envi-

Photo shows (from left, by row) PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon, APL President Vittorio Paulo P. Lim; Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Emilio B. Aquino, PSE Chairman Jose T. Pardo and APL Chairman Salvador Santos-Ocampo; APL Director Lloyd Reagan C. Taboso, APL Director and CFO Christopher C. Go, APL Director and Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera-Dy; PSE Director Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro (ret.), APL Director John Oliver L. Pascual, APL Director and Treasurer Edwin T. Lim and PSE Treasurer Omelita J. Tiangco; PSE Corporate Secretary Atty. Aissa V. Encarnacion, APL Director David M. De La Cruz, APL COO Ricardo L. Saludo, APL Director Norman L. de Leon; PSE COO Atty. Roel A. Refran, APL Independent Directors George O. Chua Cham and Edward William Sy Tan; Investment & Capital Corporation of the Philippines (ICCP) Chairman Guillermo D. Luchangco, ICCP President Valentino S. Bagatsing, PSE Issuer Regulation Division Head Atty. Marigel B. Garcia, ICCP Managing Director J. Mariano P. Ocampo and APL Compliance Officer Lucky T. Uy. Contributed Photo

ronmental and ecological mitigating measures, equipment and insurance, as well as for general corporate purposes. Apollo Global is mainly invested in JDVC, which is undertaking a large-scale, offshore black sand mining project off the coast of Cagayan. The company engaged Investment and Capital Corporation of the Philippines as issue manager and underwriter for the offer. The company owns 90.47 percent of JDVC Resources, which was established to undertake offshore large-scale magnetite mining and other mineral resources in Cagayan. It holds Mineral Production Sharing Agreement No. 338-2010-II-OMR

Amended-A covering 1,897.02 hectares for the conduct of research and mining operations in the area. Apollo Global has earlier asked the PSE to limit its foreign ownership to 40 percent from 100 percent since the exploration for and exploitation of minerals in the Philippines under mineral and operating agreements with the government may only be conducted by Philippine nationals. “Considering the foregoing and for the purpose of complying with the foreign ownership limit applicable to JDVC, the foreign ownership in the company should not exceed 40 percent of the company’s outstanding capital stock entitled to vote,” it said.

Prime Infra makes leadership changes to support growth strategy

rime Infrastructure Holdings, Inc. (Prime Infra), the core infrastructure arm of the Razon group, announced strategic leadership changes aimed towards continued rapid growth in its key operating businesses. J.V. Emmanuel De Dios, chief executive officer (CEO) of Prime Metro BMD Corp.

(PrimeBMD), will take up a new challenge as he joins the Manila Water Co. (MWC) as its new president and CEO effective September 1. Enrique Razon Jr. will remain as MWC Chairman. Sebastian Lacson, Prime Infra’s senior project director leading waste-to-fuel initiatives, assumes the concurrent role of PrimeBMD

CEO. Hans Christian Lopez, deputy project director of WawaJVCo, moves to PrimeBMD as Chief Operating Officer. The executive changes strengthen Prime Infra’s leadership across its business units as it continues to expand its portfolio. Early this year, Prime Infra acquired the controlling stake in East Zone water concessionaire MWC. “We look forward to this leadership transition that will significantly contribute to creating opportunities for synergies and enhance growth prospects across our portfolio of companies,” said Guillaume Lucci, president of Prime Infra. Prime Infra is a company focused on investment, development, and operation of critical infrastructure in emerging markets worldwide. Currently, its infrastructure assets include both renewable and sustainable energy, water, and construction, but will soon expand to other industries as part of its commitment to build better lives and resilient economies. “The strong expertise and extensive experience of these seasoned professionals will successfully drive our business units into further growth, resulting in enhanced value both for our business partners and the communities that we serve,” said Lucci. As the new President and CEO of MWC, De Dios will drive the new MWC strategy which is envisioned to result in significant growth both domestically and internationally. Lacson, who will continue to manage the waste-to-fuel project of Prime Infra, will also oversee the next expansion phase of PrimeBMD. Lacson will be closely supported on the delivery side by Lopez.

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Entrepreneur

Govt and ADB projects boost income of poor Bohol residents

T least two rice mills, a virgin coconut oil facility, and a multi-commodity solar dryer have been put up in the Wahig Inabanga River Basin in Bohol, uplifting the livelihood among Philippines’s poorest upland communities. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has put up the rice mills as part of a project protecting the watershed around Wahig Inabanga River. Water Inabanga is the largest and most important river in Region 7 (Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Siquijor). It is recognized as a watershed reservation under Proclamation 468. It has a huge potential source of water for agricultural, commercial, industrial, and household uses. The National Irrigation Administration has also constructed a dam to provide irrigation to about 5,000 hectares of agricultural land in four valley towns here (Sierra Bullones, Pilar, Dagohoy, and San Miguel). The dam also supplies the domestic water needs of 637,097 households. The rice mills are now managed by the people’s organization (PO) of DAFA and MVEGEGRO (Matinao Vegetable Growers Association). A separate all-weather dryer facility has been put up for the KUFFARD (Kauswagan United Farmers for Forest and Agro-Forest Resources Development) and the multi-commodity solar tunnel dryer for COMASFARMA (Confraternity of Mayana Small Farmers). Since these facilities have been constructed, around 2,700 beneficiaries have enjoyed their production of nearly 450,000 kilos of palay, corn, cassava, and assorted fish. The DENR project—Integrated Natural Resource and Environmental Management Program (INREMP)— has also put up a virgin coconut oil facility to enhance the livelihood source of the communities. For the fishing residents, a fish pen coral in the area has been constructed. INREMP has allocated P17.7 million for these livelihood projects totaling to 66 units. These have a total of 52 PO beneficiaries. For their water supply, a concrete water reservoir and a water system transformer have been constructed. While the upland communities are helping the government in natural resource management as they protect the forests and mountains, INREMP provided them with the farm-to-market road (FMR). These FMRs are desperately needed by the upland communities in order to transport their agricultural goods to the market from the mountains. Such roads, among around 15 rural infrastructure projects, have been constructed with the help of local government units in the towns of Danao, Inabanga, Trinidad, San Miguel, and Talibon, among others. INREMP is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with a counterpart fund from the Philippine government. As the project nears completion, a total of 4,316.67 hectares of forestland has been properly put under NRM. This consists of the following: n 758 hectares of reforestation with a contract cost of P19.169 million, benefitting 24 POs; n 1,439 hectares of agroforestry area, with a contract cost of P43.684 million, benefitting 47 POs; and n 1,644 hectares of Assisted Natural Regeneration area with a contract cost of P46.625 million, benefitting 30 POs. n There is also a conservation farming area of 331 hectares with a contract cost of P19.8 million and 30 PO beneficiaries. n A total of 134 hectares of commercial tree planting area has been put up, benefitting five POs.

BusinessMirror

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Wednesday, September 1, 2021 B3

Empowering Filipino enterprises: The IExport success story in time of Covid By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

@brownindio

Contributor

oosting the capacity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) serves as a growth driver for businesses amid the pandemic. Take for example the success story of 1Export, a one-stop export platform, which has recently announced generating P25 million in revenues, approximately P8 million of which were from exports made to Seafood City, the Filipino supermarket chain that operates all over North America. Mel Nava, founder and CEO of 1Export acknowledged it as turning point not only for her company but to the Filipino entrepreneurs as well. “While we’re very proud of this economic milestone, we take most pride in what this means for hundreds of individual Filipino small businesses. They are now able to reach markets they previously did not have access to, giving them more customers, revenue, and growth at a time when they need it the most,” Nava told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail interview. Moreover, Nava pointed out that 1Export accounted for 0.2 percent of the total Philippine exports as of June 2021. Nevertheless, the company does not have plans to stop. “It goes without saying that the pandemic has and continues to significantly affect the Philippine economy. But as we move forward and accept the business landscape

in the new normal, 1Export is happy to contribute to the country’s recovery by circulating business transactions through exports and helping businesses expand their horizons,” Nava explained.

Reaching out to the world

SO far, 1Export has exported Filipino products to 17 countries, including but not limited to the US, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Nava said they are hoping to enter the markets of Russian and other European countries as they have expressed to buy Philippine-made products. In the US alone, Nava said, products will be displayed in 15 different states throughout Seafood City. 1Export’s work with Seafood City will even give Filipino MSMEs access to 80 percent of the US population, an unprecedented opportunity to enter one of the world’s most lucrative markets. Finally, Filipino MSME products will be displayed to 800 stores, including major retailers and distributors around the world, both online and offline. Through 1Export, Nava said the goal is to help local MSMEs to compete on a world stage, as well as bring unprecedented opportunities to Filipinos both at home and abroad. Whether it’s a business looking to ex-

Nava pointed out. 1Export is also h a r nessing t he power of technology to make documentation and processes easier, helping businesses stay compliant and up-to-date on the exporting requirements of various countries. Aside from taking care of the minute details of exporting, 1Export also offers exporting consultations and preliminary meetings for businesses looking to explore their options. 1Export is running on a cloud-based platform that streamlines the export compliance process for MSMEs. IExport founder and CEO Mel Nava strikes a pose in a recent pictorial. Moreover, it also built a platform for overseas Filiport beloved Filipino snacks or raw pinos to be able to source products materials, she said, 1Export aims to directly from local producers/manuhelp enterprises by providing a solufacturers. tion that takes care of processes like Nava pointed out that it’s not documentation, labeling, order proonly the business owners themselves cessing, and more. who benefit from 1Export’s work. So Though MSMEs make up about far, 1Export has 450 supplier part99 percent of all businesses in the ners throughout the Philippines, all Philippines and generate over half of whom employ about 5,000 people of total employment, Nava laments total and create job opportunities that many MSMEs have to deal with nationwide. cumbersome processes that some “Caravan by 1Export is our bid discourages them to carry on. “A to lower the barrier of entry to laundry list of requirements and entrepreneurship. Now you don’t old-fashioned processes give entreneed to source and import a myripreneurs the notion that they can’t ad of Filipino products all on your succeed when it comes to exports,”

own in order to get started. All you need is our platform and the desire to bring more homegrown Filipino products to your community,” Nava said. Nava said 1Export’s revenues come from a sales commission from all export sales conducted via the platform. “We earn from our B2B [1Exprot Trade] clients as well as our B2B2C [Caravan]. We recently launched a logistics service [Ship it by 1Export],” she said. 1Export is currently present in 17 markets, and expects to close the year having exported to 25 markets. “In the near term, we will enter 60 countries and aim to export approximately P 500 million by the end of 2022,” she said.

The birth of 1Export

1Export started work on the platform in February 2019 and started beta testing in the fourth quarter in 2019 and was officially launched in December 2019 during an export congress spearheaded by the Department of Trade and Industry. “Exporting is a time consuming and highly complex process. We developed the platform in order to empower businesses to go beyond the domestic market,” Nava said. 1Export’s expertise on the exporting industry comes from the time they spent simply building their knowledge base. Majority of the early years were dedicated to familiarizing themselves with the different requirements and processes in each market they entered, even if it meant they started out without first making any profit. In due time, however, 1Export quickly grew from just two employees to a cross-functional team of 26 people.

MRSGI elevates market status of Pinoy MSMES DAR taps social media

roducts made by Philippine micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are a model of competitiveness and diversity, reflecting the innovativeness and ingenuity of Filipino entrepreneurs. For MSME owners to compete effectively with other mainstream brands, it is just a matter of making their highquality offerings easily available to customers. This market access is what Mayette’s Native Food Products, KXC Enterprises, and Dielle’s Apiary and Meadery Inc. have found in the ongoing Bayanihang Metro x Go Lokal!. The program is an initiative of Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. (MRSGI) as a strategic partner of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Go Lokal!program. Mayette’s, KXC, and Dielle’s are among the initiative’s various participating MSMEs this year. Their products are currently being showcased in MRSGI’s two flagship supermarket branches, Metro Market! Market! in Taguig City and Metro Ayala Center Cebu. According to Marietta Bernales, owner of Mayette’s, the joint initiative is vital to raising consumer awareness and paving the way for strong local community patronage. “Our goal is to introduce our products to a wider

market through Go Lokal! and get more feedback so we can improve our products. We hope we could place our products in every Metro Retail store in the country,” Bernales said. The small business offers some of Samar’s traditional delicacies such as the delicious and crunchy Corioso, which is made with the freshest ingredients and has no preservatives and artificial flavoring. Best with both hot and cold drinks, Mayette’s Corioso is ideal for health-conscious consumers. Its delicacies also include tablea, pure cacao, queso, taro karlang, sweet potato, and banana chips. Completing its line of healthy products are turmeric and ginger tea. Mayette’s has been joining several Department of Trade and Industry-led trade fairs in Samar and the Eastern Visayas region when it became acquainted with Bayanihang Metro x Go Lokal!. Similarly, Dielle’s Apiary sees the program as an opportunity for small businesses to connect with and win new customers. “We have been part of the Go Lokal! program for a while already, and we have witnessed how much Filipinos appreciate all locally made products,” Luke Macababbad, manager of Dielle’s, said. “We have different customers in various places in our country, but one

Go Lokal! products on display at the Metro Supermarket in Market! Market! Taguig.

thing in common is they love our products for being locally made and more so for their amazing taste and creative packaging and labeling.” Dielle’s produces and supplies quality mead (honey wine), fruit wines (melomel), and other honey-based products. Coming from the Old English word “meodu,” mead is said to enjoy a mystical, magical, and healing reputation. Likewise for KXC, a company that offers seafood cracklings, which is a healthier alternative to pork chicharon, the Bayanihang Metro x Go Lokal! initiative is an ideal venue to gain market traction. KXC aims to offer its seafood cracklings to athletes because these are rich in protein; the elderly because of their low cholesterol content; and the adventurous who want to try exotic food. Additionally, given the uniqueness of its products, it is eyeing to make its seafood cracklings available in stores located in malls and popular tourist destinations in the country, among others. “Since our product is new in the market and the people are not yet aware that they are already available in select groceries, the promotional strategy, including social-media posts, of Metro Retail Stores is helping us introduce our company, products, and people to more customers. Due to the pandemic, our potential market has narrowed down, but since we started selling again in April 2021, MRSGI has helped us to get back on track,” Glazel Capa, owner of KXC, said. Bayanihang Metro x Go Lokal! is in line with DTI’s efforts to showcase the innovative products of Filipino entrepreneurs through its partnership with select retail partners. MRSGI reiterated its unwavering and continuous support for the sector’s development, and is committed to implementing major activities to feature and attract consumers’ attention to Philippine products.

to market ARBOs’ yield

Some of the products featured on the ARBO Merkado Facebook Page Shop. ARBO Merkado was officially launched on Friday, August 27, 2021, to help agrarian reform beneficiary organizations reach a wider market and increase their income amid the pandemic. PNA photo from ARBO Merkado FB page

By Perla Lena

Philippine News Agency

OILO CITY—The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) 6 (Western Visayas) launched on Friday an online platform to showcase the products of its agrarian reform beneficiary organizations (ARBOs) and help them reach a wider market amid the pandemic. The ARBO Merkado Facebook Page Shop is a marketing strategy designed not only for local clients,but outside the region as well, DAR-6 Director, lawyer Sheila B. Enciso, said in an interview on Saturday. “Initially we have 29 ARBOS to benefit. We encourage them to post their products [on] Facebook,” Enciso said, adding the products range from food to non-food items that are well-packaged to make them more enticing to buyers. She said the DAR noticed that in some cases, the middlemen earn more by enhancing the packaging of products that they buy from the Comprehen-

sive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) beneficiaries or buy in bulk and retail. The new page features pictures of the products and comes with a price and contact details for those who want to order. Buyers can also communicate with the seller for the shipment of the products. Enciso said through the page, the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARB), through the ARBOs, could directly deal with buyers, eliminating the middlemen. “When the buyers see the product and the price, they might consider buying directly from the source,” she said. The launch of the online platform was among the events that highlighted the virtual ARB Summit with the theme “Benepisyaryo sang Programa para sa Repormang Agraryo, Bida Kontra Pandemya”. During the summit, the ARBs were also apprised of various programs and services, such as financing, insurance, and livelihood support, made available through DAR’s partner agencies.

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Wednesday, September 1, 2021 • Editor: Dennis D. Estopace

Inflation likely picked up again in August, BSP says

By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

HE growth of consumer prices likely accelerated anew in August this year after slowing down in the previous month, the central bank governor told reporters on Tuesday. In a message to reporters, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said inflation in the country will still hover above the ceiling of the government’s 2-percent

to 4-percent target range for the year. In particular, Diokno said inflation likely settled within the 4.1 percent to 4.9 percent range in August. The July inflation print was

at 4 percent. The governor said higher prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), electricity and key food items were the sources of upward price pressures during the period. Diokno added that the depreciation of the peso also played a role in inflationary pressures during the month. “These could be offset in part by the decline in domestic petroleum and rice prices,” the governor said. In its August monetary policy meeting, the BSP pushed through with maintaining monetary policy settings despite revising their inflation assumption upward for the year. BSP officials said inflation is expected to average at 4.1 percent for 2021. For next year up to 2023, in-

₧15B in T-bills awarded; rates moved sideways By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

flation is expected to average at 3.1 percent, returning back to the midpoint of the target range. Also in its statement on the net outflow of foreign portfolio investments (FPI) in July, the BSP the relatively high inflation in 2021 was among the factors as to why there were the higher withdrawals of investments during the month. Diokno vowed that the BSP will remain vigilant on the price front and its effect on economic recovery. “Moving forward, the BSP will continue to monitor emerging price developments to help ensure that its primary mandate of price stability conducive to balanced and sustainable economic growth is achieved,” the governor said.

Pinoys less patient in opening accounts online–poll

ILIPINOS lean toward simpler and shorter processes for online bank account opening, as a recent survey from an international data analytics company show that majority of Filipinos will abandon long online banking account applications. In particular, a 2021 Digital Banking Survey of Fair Isaac Corp. (Fico) showed that three in five people expect to answer 10 questions or less in the account-opening procedure or they will abandon the entire process. One in five Filipinos will drop out if asked more than five questions. The survey also showed that consumer patience with account appli-

cations varied according to product. Filipinos had the highest expectations for completing applications in 10 questions or less, for “buy now, pay later” products at 65 percent, savings accounts at 62 percent and transaction accounts at 60 percent. According to Fico, this expectation was significantly higher than other countries in the survey saying just about 41 percent of United Kingdom consumers and 51 percent of Australian consumers expected to answer 10 questions or less when opening a transaction account. “Where there is friction there is opportunity, as the quote goes,”

Global currency rally faces US payrolls test

A weak dollar has spurred a rally in global currencies. However, its momentum is relative to the US jobs market. Bloomberg News

rally in global currencies driven by a weaker dollar will have to clear a hurdle from the US jobs data this week to extend its rebound. New Zealand’s dollar, South Korea’s won and South Africa’s rand led gains in major currencies on Tuesday amid broad weakness in the greenback. The dollar has fallen 0.6 percent against the euro since Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday that the central bank could start scaling back asset purchases this year while holding borrowing costs. He sounded a note of caution, however, about employment levels. “Markets continue to liquidate long-dollar positions following Powell’s Jackson Hole speech last week,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. “Friday’s nonfarm payrolls will be a key data print for markets,” and a much better-than-expected number could halt the dollar’s decline, he said. A strong US employment report could increase the chance that the Fed will kick off tapering as soon as

next month, according to NatWest Markets Plc. That would bode ill for higher-yielding emerging-market assets. Growth in US payrolls probably slowed in August after increasing by the most in almost a year the previous month, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The Bloomberg Euro Index is heading for its eighth straight day of gains, the longest streak since March 2020, when the coronavirus crisis turned global. South Africa’s rand has led emerging-market currency advances in the past week, turning around a monthly performance that was the worst within the group. A technical chart signals a further drop in the US currency. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index has slid below an upward trend-line support that connects lows in June and August amid bearish momentum, as shown by technical indicators such as MACD and stochastics oscillator. “Markets are no longer worried about Fed taper and rate hikes,” said Qi Gao, a currency strategist at Scotiabank in Singapore. Bloomberg News

Aashish Sharma, senior director of decision management solutions for FICO in Asia Pacific, said. “Either you solve it for your customers today, or a competitor will do it tomorrow.” Sharma added that “consumers want banks to find answers to application questions through technology approaches such as improved identity checks, transaction history analysis, open banking and government databases.” The survey also showed that Filipinos who open an account digitally prefer to carry out the process entirely in their chosen channel, whether it be smartphone or web site.

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This means that if customers are asked to move out of channel to prove their identities, many of them will abandon the application, either giving up on opening an account completely or by going to a competitor. Of those who don’t immediately abandon, up to an additional 32 percent will delay the process. “The survey found that any disruption matters. Asking people to scan and e-mail documents or use a separate identity portal causes almost as much application abandonment as asking them to visit branches or mail in documents,” Fico said. Bianca Cuaresma

HE Bureau of the Treasury once again fully awarded P15 billion in Treasury Bills (Tbills) on Monday. Average rates moved sideways and were all lower than the secondary benchmark rates. Nonetheless, the auction was more than thrice oversubscribed, with total bids for the debt papers amounting to P55.2 billion. The Treasury did not immediately respond to queries following the auction. But, according to a bond trader, the rates moved sideways because the demand and supply did not change, adding that the current levels are still aligned against the curve. The 91-day T-bill’s average rate was unchanged at 1.077 percent. The tenor attracted total tenders of P15.58 billion, more than triple the P5-billion offer. Unlike the 91-day T-bills, the 182day tenor’s average rate fell to 1.405 percent, down by 0.3 basis points from the previous auction’s 1.408 percent. Investors’ bids for the security hit P22.65 billion, more than four times the P5-billion offer. Lastly, the 364-day T-bills fetched a slightly higher average rate at 1.616 percent, a 0.4-basis point rise from 1.612 percent in the last auction. Bids for the debt paper reached P16.96 billion, more than thrice the P5-billion offering. For this month, the Treasury is set to borrow a total of P250 billion from the local debt market, higher than the P200 billion program in August. Broken down, P175 billion will be raised through auctioning off Treasury Bonds while the remaining P75 billion will be generated via the

sale of T-bills. This year, the national government programmed to borrow a total of P3.1-trillion, of which around 75 percent is expected to be raised through domestic sources. The government borrows to meet its spending requirements as well as to finance its budget deficit. The economic team sees the national government’s budget deficit this year to reach P1.86 trillion or 9.3 percent of GDP, even higher than the P1.37 trillion or 7.6 percent of GDP in 2020. In 2019, the budget deficit stood at P660.2 billion or 3.4 percent of GDP. Meanwhile, the national government’s outstanding debt this year is also expected to reach by the end of this year to balloon to P11.73 trillion, up by 19.8 percent from P9.795 trillion in 2020. This is also projected to further swell in 2022 to P13.42 trillion. As of end-July this year, the national government’s outstanding debt has already piled up to P11.61 trillion, swelling by 26.7 percent from P9.16 trillion a year ago. As a percentage of GDP, the debtto-GDP ratio this year is projected to further rise to 59.1 percent and peak next year at 60.8 percent—slightly above the internationally accepted threshold—before gradually tapering off to 60.7 percent and 59.7 percent in 2023 and 2024. Prior to the pandemic, the government notched a record-low debt-toGDP ratio of 39.6 percent in 2019. The Department of Finance sees the national government returning to its pre-pandemic debt and budget deficit levels as early as 2024 or by 2025 if the recommended fiscal measures are passed early by the next administration and if the economy quickly recovers.

Duties, taxes from fuel marking hit ₧280.48 billion

LMOST two years since the start of the fuel marking program, the government has so far collected P280.48 billion in duties and taxes. The government has injected fuel markers on 28.8 billion liters of fuel from September 2019 to August 26 this year, according to data from the Bureau of Customs (BoC) submitted to the Department of Finance last Monday. In the same period, the BoC raked in P250.7 billion in duties and taxes from the fuel marking program. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s tax haul from the fuel marking program reached P29.78 billion from December 2019 to July 22 this year.

Petron Corp. still had the biggest volume of marked fuel, cornering 23 percent or 6.58 billion liters out of the total. By fuel type, diesel comprised the biggest chunk of marked fuel at 60.9 percent or P17.55 billion liters. This was followed by gasoline (38.6 percent or 11.1 billion liters), and kerosene (0.5 percent or 153 million liters). Per region, Luzon got the lion’s share of marked fuel, with 21.14 billion liters or 73.4 percent of the total. Next to Luzon is Mindanao with 6.1 billion liters or 21.2 percent and Visayas with 1.56 billion liters or 5.4 percent. Trailing Petron in the list of 25 participating companies are: Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. with 5.45

Lazada, sellers grow capital via new deal

B Finance Co. Inc. announced it has partnered with Lazada E-Services Philippines Inc. to make multipurpose loans of up to P500,000 easily available to Filipino Lazada marketplace sellers. “Through this partnership, Lazada micro- and official sellers can avail of SB Finance’s multi-purpose loans through a hassle-free application and with a low introductory interest rate of 1.89 percent,” SB Finance said in a statement. The firm added that sellers may avail of up to 12 months installment and can expect funds to be credited to their accounts within three banking days.” According to SB Finance, the multi-purpose loan can expand the seller’s product list, add more stock and hire additional manpower. Through a statement, SB Finance President and CEO Abigail Marie D. Casanova expressed optimism “that with

this convenient loan product available to sellers, bouncing back is possible.” “Many small businesses had to close their physical stores and have gone online. With the shift of consumer behavior to online shopping, the demand for e-commerce businesses expanded,” Casanova was quoted in the statement as saying. “We hope to help sellers gain more access to capital to grow their business with this partnership we’ve sealed with Lazada.” “Through this partnership with SB Finance, we’re happy that we are able to provide our sellers with access to multipurpose loans that help them finance their online business,” Lazada Philippines CEO Ray Alimurung was quoted in the statement as saying. “Our core mission at Lazada is to uplift Filipino MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises], help them grow and scale in the digital space.”

billion liters; Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc. (2.99 billion liters); Seaoil Philippines Inc. (2.31 billion liters); and, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. (2.29 billion liters). House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda has acknowledged that the fuel marking program has helped lower smuggling. The lawmaker noted that the government lost P357 billion due to fuel smuggling from 2010 to 2019. However, Salceda said foregone revenues are still rising as Republic Act 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law, raised taxes on fuel products in 2018. Under the Train law, petroleum products that are refined, manufac-

tured, or imported to the Philippines such as, but not limited to, unleaded premium gasoline, kerosene, and diesel shall be marked by an official marking agent after payment of taxes and duties. The fuel-marking program was launched with the aim of halting illegal importation, manufacturing, and other fraudulent activities relating to the use and sale of petroleum products in the country. Fuel marking makes use of a unique chemical marker that can be embedded at a molecular level in petroleum products—gasoline, diesel, and kerosene—thereby enabling authorities to test, identify and distinguish petroleum products with paid excise taxes. Bernadette D. Nicolas

Facebook, Xiaomi eye India’s $1-trillion digital loan market

NDIA’S digital loan market is becoming a battleground for companies from Facebook Inc. to Xiaomi Corp., seeking a foothold in what’s set to be a $1-trillion industry. Facebook this month said India would be the first country where it rolls out its small business loan program offering loans via a partner to firms that advertise on its platform. The loans will range from 500,000 rupees ($6,720) to 5 million rupees with interest rates of 17 percent-20 percent, potentially without collateral. The social media giant’s foray into India coincides with Xiaomi’s, the Chinese maker of everything from rice cookers to gaming monitors, plans to offer loans, credit cards and insurance products in partnership with some of the nation’s biggest banks and startup digital lenders, the Press Trust of India reported, citing local head Manu Jain.

Digital rise

ON Tuesday, Prosus NV said it agreed to acquire Indian online payments service BillDesk for 345 billion rupees ($4.7 billion), making its largest global acquisition to date in the Asian nation.

The European investment powerhouse’s PayU unit struck a deal to buy the 11-year-old startup, creating a digital payments giant with a total volume of $147 billion, and taking Prosus’s investment in India to more than $10 billion to date. Amazon.com also made its maiden investment in the country’s wealth management sector this month, participating in a $40 million round by fintech startup Smallcase Technologies Pvt. Alphabet Inc.’s Google is also upping its game. After offering wealth management products such as digital gold, mutual funds on its popular Google Pay platform, it’s now tied up with small Indian lenders for opening time deposits for its customers. India’s digital payments market is drawing the attention of some of techs biggest names after online transactions surged during the pandemic and traditional lenders turned cautious following a rise in bad debt. Digital lending is expected to treble to $350 billion by 2023 and reach a total of $1 trillion in the five years since 2019, according to estimates from the Boston Consulting Group. Bloomberg News

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Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Head in the clouds— pitfalls of eLearning PREMIUM lifestyle brand Aldo is offering massive discounts on selected items.

AMAZING DEALS FOR THE TAKING WE all love a deal, especially during difficult times. The good news is that SM Deals has amazing bargains, discounts and offers you can avail of at just one click. SM Deals (www.facebook.com/SMDealsOfficial) is the one-stop source for all shopping and dining discounts, promos and coupons you can enjoy only at SM, where it is pouring deals. There are exciting fashion and beauty discounts on major brands, as well as treats from your favorite restaurants. Techies will love HALO’s Buy One, Take One offer on laptop bags and sleeves, as well as Huawei’s special of up to 50 percent on spare parts when you get your gadget repaired. Riders will hit the road in style with P1,000 worth of accessories for every purchase of Moto’s shifter helmet. Some deals are even unexpected, but nevertheless delightful. Use your China Bank credit card for a minimum single receipt installment of P25,000 and get a free shopping code of P1,000, which you can redeem at The SM Store, Power Mac, S&R and the Bistro Group. Learning how to drive? You can get five hours of driving lessons for free when you enroll in select Smart Driving courses. Even completing a product presentation of Cocolife gives you a chance to win up to P20,000, care packages and Share Treats rewards. SM Deals offers a wide array of options when availing of the discounts. At www.smdeals.com, customers may present the vouchers when they visit the participating store at their selected SM Supermall. Selected stores also offer curbside pickup, where they can directly order from Viber and drive through the designated area in SM Supermalls to pick up their orders. SM Deals can also be availed through SM Malls Online.

WEAR YOUR PRIDE

THE London-based clothing brand COS (www.cosstores. com) celebrates the spirit of living and loving authentically together with artist Coco Capitán. Discover the T-shirt capsule collection by Coco, featuring three unique designs in her signature handwriting style to share messages of love, freedom and inclusivity. “ALWAYS LOVE BECAUSE LOVE IS ALWAYS LOVE” is a shout-out to love in all its forms, available at COS Manila SM Aura Premier. Two other designs—“A BOYFRIEND CALLED MY GIRLFRIEND” and “WOULD YOU BE MY BOYFRIEND GIRL QUEER FRIEND?”—explore gender orientations, inspired by Coco’s personal relationships, available in COS EU and the US. The designs are embroidered onto an organic heavyweight cotton T-shirt to lend a boxy, structured fit, and will be available in unisex sizing. Alongside the T-shirts, a special edition of the repurposed cotton tote will also be available. Featuring the colors of the Progress Pride flag, the tote utilizes excess cotton from the brand’s production process—durable, made to replace disposable packaging and 100 percent recyclable. The brand stands with the LGBT+ community, committed to building a brand where everyone is free to be themselves, whomever they choose to love. Funds raised from the sales of these products will be donated to Philippine-based LGBT+ organizations, such as Galang (www.galangphilippines. org), a female-led non-profit organization working with and for economically disadvantaged LGBTQI; and Love Yourself (www.loveyourself.ph), a non-profit LGBT organization that provides safe spaces and services for the sexual, mental and transgender community in the Philippines.

ITH the extension of alternative work arrangements and the majority of employees working from home, most organizations have invested, or are planning to invest, in a learning management system (LMS) to meet the training needs of its work force. These classrooms in the cloud provide efficient on-demand content which organizations are hoping will alleviate the dearth in training and development. While it is a good idea, not everything can be converted into online content. In a bid to hitch the bandwagon of eLearning, some have resorted to just converting their PowerPoint presentations into videos with narrations here and there, without considering how learners will react to it because the focus is more on content generation than on measurable learning outcomes. You end up with so many learning materials without any clear goal of where the learner is supposed to go. A majority of the eLearning content I have seen these days focuses more on information overload than actually helping learners learn. Not all learning materials can be converted into an eLearning course. It is best to use eLearning for those courses whose learning outcomes are knowledge and applications of concepts to real-life situations. And even if you do use it for applying concepts, the course designer needs to incorporate scenario-based learning to not only ensure that concepts are not only applied in similar situations but also allow for learners to apply them whenever it is applicable. This means course designers need to be immersed in the daily activities of the target learners and use those experiences in the course. The online course has to mimic the same set of scenarios a learner would normally face. One pitfall of developing eLearning courses is when it is disjointed from what learners actually experience. To remedy this, course designers need to be immersed and trained in what learners do, and in the software they will use in developing the eLearning content. Not all course designers have those skills. You need to invest in training your course designers to make content that is not only relatable but also interesting. Which brings me to eLearning that learners find boring. And since eLearning is done at the learner’s pace, this could lead to multitasking several screens at the same time. Several studies have discovered that the average adult attention span is 8 seconds, while some have claimed that it depends on the task. However, place yourself in front of a computer, or your mobile device, and take a text-based eLearning—how long do you think would last before you switch screens and read something else? Not

everyone manages their time properly to handle their own schedules, much less be self-disciplined for at-your-own-pace learning materials. If your eLearning is not interesting, it could become more costly to maintain it and ineffective in equipping your employees. An advantage to eLearning is that the path of learning is determined by the learner. This assumes that the learner is mature enough to identify their training needs, or the organization has a clear development plan for their employees. If not, learners will end up taking courses that have no direct benefit to their work, or, worse, use this as an excuse to not do their work. In a recent meeting with managers on what their training needs are for a new program in the organization, some spoke up and admitted they actually did not know what they needed to learn since it was an entirely new program. When an organization does not have a clear succession plan or a concrete career development program, eLearning could become more of a distraction than the solution to a business problem. In a previous company, when we were looking at the implementation of our mobile-based LMS, we realized that this also meant providing the connectivity for employees’ mobile phones which created another problem on network security. Another pitfall of eLearning is the availability of a reliable Internet connection—be it in the workplace or for employees. True, materials can be accessed using mobile devices, but with the current state of Internet speeds in the country, this limits the available content that can be displayed in mobile devices. This means that videos and highly interactive and gamified content will have to wait when speeds are up to par

with their requirements. This also begs the question of who can access these eLearning materials. While it is true that most people have mobile devices today, it does not mean they have the capacity to access these eLearning materials. Some mobile devices may not have the capacity to run the necessary applications to have the intended learning experience. If the materials can only be accessed through a computer, you further limit the target audience for your materials, making eLearning ineffectual as a learning solution. Another danger to eLearning is the lack of interaction with others. People learn in isolation as they navigate a course on their own. In the early days of distance learning, learners were required to read materials and answer case studies so that when the class meets, it is assumed you have something to contribute to the discussion. Nowadays, a common eLearning course means going through a series of videos and interactive quizzes (if you are lucky), or a series of articles you need to read. These lack the interaction necessary to foment ideas and critical thinking, especially when one encounters an opposing view. If an eLearning course is not designed properly, there is the danger of disillusionment when a learner discovers that the theory they learned in class does not apply to the real world. eLearning has its advantages but when done incorrectly, it can become a crutch more than a stepping stone. Knowing which materials can be done through eLearning is the first step in understanding that not everything can be learned online. At the end of the day, it still depends on the learner why they are taking the online course and what they hope to achieve from taking it. ■

The consulting business booms just as consultants disappear BY MATTHEW BOYLE Bloomberg News MCDONALD’S isn’t the only company looking hard for workers these days—so is McKinsey. Nearly 2-in-3 consulting firms say they’re short-staffed, and 1-in-5 are turning down work as a result, according to a survey from Source Global Research, which provides research and analysis for the professionalservices industry. More than half of respondents said retention has become a bigger problem in 2021 compared with the end of last year, while about half said recruiting has also become more difficult. “Demand is growing fast, and they don’t have enough workers,” said Fiona Czerniawska, Source Global Research’s founder and managing director. “The biggest reason why clients abandon a project is that firms don’t have the right capabilities.” While the survey’s findings mirror all sectors of the economy, the shortage of consultants is notable as those firms are perennially among the most sought-after employers thanks to challenging, globe-spanning work that includes mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring and big technology implementations—not to mention generous benefits and high pay. Meanwhile, business is booming, due to the uncertainty wrought by the pandemic. Marsh &

McLennan, which owns consultants Mercer and Oliver Wyman as well as its namesake risk and insurance business, reported a 12 percent quarterly gain in consulting revenue, beating analysts’ estimates. That creates the awkward phenomenon of consultancies charged with mapping the future of thousands of employees having difficulty finding their own. BUGGING OUT A SURGE in clients’ demand was among the top reasons for the talent shortage, the firms said in the Source survey, along with rivals poaching staff. Another reason: Quality consultants have left the industry amid the pandemic. For some, remote working has also made consulting less attractive than it used to be, when so-called road warriors spent much of their time in airports and hotels, jetting from one client to the next. High-powered consulting careers aren’t as desirable as they once were for graduates with a more entrepreneurial bent than earlier generations, or who want to work for companies with socially conscious values. Peter Dalack, a 2020 graduate of Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, said the consultant’s life didn’t appeal to him as “they make recommendations

and they’re not around to see the implementation of them.” The travel was also a turnoff for Dalack, a self-described homebody. Instead, he’s working in a supply-chain leadership development program at medical-device maker Philips. FRESH TACTICS CONSULTANTS, usually a big campus presence, shifted to virtual meetings and interviews during the pandemic. Some are widening their nets far beyond the Ivies to recruit workers with two-year degrees, Czerniawska said. Bain & Co. is recruiting throughout the year rather than just when students arrive in September, said Keith Bevans, its head of global consultant recruiting. Bain is also luring people from corporate jobs and part-time MBA programs, as well as doctoral candidates. “The pandemic has created an opportunity to innovate in ways that are long overdue,” Bevans said. The agencies need new approaches because “consulting as a career is not as attractive as it was 10 or 15 years ago,” said Tom Rodenhauser, managing partner of Kennedy Research Reports, which tracks the industry. “The sheer size of the global firms, and their reliance on recruiting from the same B-school ponds, taxes the talent pipeline. Also, consulting isn’t as impactful in a ‘change the world’ type of way as other careers. They’re not creating Uber or Tesla.”

PHOTO BY LARA FAR ON UNSPLASH

B6 Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Bayad powers bills payment capability of VIA.com

NutriAsia wins 2 gold and 1 bronze awards at the 2021 Stevie Awards

UTRIASIA, the Philippines’ leading manufacturer and distributor of condiments and sauces, won big at the 18th International Business Awards, raking in three Stevie Awards for exemplary initiatives. The company won two Gold Stevie Awards and one Bronze Stevie Award, which will be given in a virtual ceremony to be held on December 8 later this year. NutriAsia’s Gold Stevie Awards haul were for its Bring Your Own Bote (BYOB) initiative and Locally Superfruits. BYOB won the Gold Stevie Award for Environmental Campaign of the Year for allowing consumers to participate and contribute to a sustainable zero-waste system. BYOB allows consumers to purchase or refill their favorite NutriAsia products with reusable containers in various stores located around Metro Manila, minimizing the amount of singleuse plastic waste. Judges lauded the promotion of refilling of condiments. rather than using sachets. Locally Superfruits won the Gold Stevie Award for Marketing Campaign of the Year by providing Filipino consumers with locally sourced nutrient-dense and vitamin-filled fruit juices to address the health need in time of the pandemic. The campaign not only provided consumers natural health benefits through its juice products, it also provided an outlet for Filipinos to support the livelihoods of local fruit farmers and communities,

which are both important especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The judges noted how the brand was able to identify the market gap and came up with a convenient and nutritious product. Meanwhile, NutriAsia’s HomeSchool initiative won the Bronze Stevie Award for Corporate Responsibility Campaign of the Year. Through HomeSchool, NutriAsia provided edutainment resources for Filipino students on various subjects such as as science, health, nutrition, and local fruits. HomeSchool was cited by judges as a valuable education initiative during the pandemic, and how the brand brought value to the community through the campaign. “We are extremely grateful to the International Business Awards for their

recognition of our efforts and initiatives to enrich the lives of our consumers. We assure Filipinos that we will continue to serve up more of the Masarap, Masaya moments they have come to expect from us,” said James Lim, NutriAsia’s Head of Corporate Marketing and Communications. The Stevie Awards are among the business world’s most coveted prizes, give n to organizations, corporations, and individuals in more than 60 countries by judging committees comprised of international luminaries in various fields. NutriAsia’s achievements are a testament to the company’s commitment to always giving its consumers Masarap, Masaya moments, through ground breaking campaigns that resonate with the Filipino market and beyond.

Converge introduces industry-pioneering ICT solutions to Business Enterprises in Cebu City businesses with the innovative ICT tools that they will need to survive and thrive in their respective industries,” said Converge SME Group - National Sales Head, Blue Aldridge. “These first in the Philippine market innovations for SMEs allow owners to take full control of their internet bandwidth requirements and enable flexibility, cost-efficiencies, and better experiences not only to the business but also to their valued customers,” Aldridge added.

Cebu Enterprise Roadshow: Converge Interchange

HE business-to-consumer (B2C) arm of the Converge ICT Solutions Inc., is hosting a Cebu Roadshow -- a month-long series of online events to introduce the brand and showcase its lineup of products and services to different business communities and industry associations such as the Philippine Association of Building Administrators, Inc. (PABA-Cebu), Chamber of Real Estate and Builders' Associations Inc. (CREBA - Cebu Chapter), and Cebu Hotels Information Technology Association (CHITA), to name a few. The Cebu Roadshow will help educate business enterprises with the right tools to empower digital transformation, provide solutions for work efficiencies, and enable business sustainability, especially during this pandemic. “We are very glad to expand and excited for our kababayans in Cebu to #ExperienceBetter as we bring our services to the Visayas regions. This milestone is in line with our mission to bring world-class internet connection to the majority of Filipinos across the Philippines. We continuously offer superior, differentiated products, and exceptional service at the best price

in the market,” said Converge Chief Operations Officer, Jesus Romero.

Cebu SME Roadshow: Let’s Talk FlexiBIZness

THE pandemic has taken its toll on small and medium-sized businesses, forcing them to adapt to digitalization at a much quicker pace. With an effort to help these MSMEs find the right solution to their business needs, Converge SME group has launched Let’s Talk FlexiBIZness, an interactive online event, introducing the various products and services available for any type of business. One of the services introduced was flexiBIZ Daytime. Businesses can experience double the bandwidth from 7:00AM - 6:59PM, which is often the peak working hours within a regular business day. Converge flexiBIZ Daytime is highly recommended for businesses with offices that mainly operate during the day such as educational institutions, hotels, food services, and other industries relating to wholesale, retail, and trade. “We see a lot of unserved MSME markets here in Metro Cebu and Converge is doing its best to provide

SIMILARLY, the Corporate and Enterprise group of Converge also has Converge Interchange, a series of online events to showcase its range of ICT solutions designed to boost business’ connectivity and productivity. These breakthrough innovations have no parallel among the competitors’ offerings in the Philippines today, allowing Converge to gain a foothold in the enterprise category. Converge Head of Product Management and Network Solutions, Gilbert Virtucio, discussed several industry-pioneering solutions such as Dedicated Internet Access - Time of Day. This allows customers to get the same quality of the premium internet service with double the subscribed bandwidth when needed, either night or day. It is flexible and offers the best value for money ideal for government offices, educational institutions, and other industries that do not require high internet bandwidth 24/7. DIA Time of Day has 2 plans available for the market: (I) Daytime plan which starts from 7 AM to 6:59 PM and (II) Nighttime plan which starts at 7 PM to 6:59 AM, with bandwidth options from 2 Mbps/4 Mbps to 5Gbps/10 Gbps. For inquiries or more information about Converge and its services and ICT solutions, email: MSME: smeinquiry@ convergeict.com and Corporate and Enterprise: enterprisesales@convergeict.com

AYAD, the country’s trusted brand and authority in payments, recently partnered with VIA.com, the first B2B and corporate travel portal established in the Philippines to bring trustworthy financial services to more Filipinos. VIA.com is an online reservations system that enables travel agents to easily surf schedules, check fares and make instant bookings for flights, hotels and holidays, ferries and travel insurance in one platform. More than 10,000 travel agents operating in over 180 cities and municipalities are registered in its network. Similar to Bayad’s more than 60,000 payment touchpoints nationwide, VIA.com agents can now process different bills from electricity, water, internet, cable, telephone, government fees, loan payments, and more. Customers can also pay their Meralco, Smart, PLDT, and Converge bills thru VIA.com agents, processed real-time.

According to VIA.com President, Ramesh Samineni, “This partnership yields added advantages for our partner travel agents who can now offer financial services leveraging Bayad’s network and ecosystem. For us, it is a strategic move to augment our service offerings and strengthen our business as we look forward to the post-pandemic recovery of the global travel industry.” Bayad President and CEO, Lawrence Ferrer points out, “Both Bayad and VIA. com are geared toward continuous business innovation. With our combined strength and expertise, we are able to empower small and medium enterprises - local travel agents to broaden their services so that they can attract more customers. At the same time, they also help us amplify our network reach and presence across the country.” To be part of Bayad’s extensive channel network, contact groupaccountsbizdev@ bayad.comor call +63 998 963 7881.

Toyota PH will be postponing the 2nd race weekend of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Vios Cup

EADING mobility company Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP), organizer of the long-running one-make-race series TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Vios Cup, has announced changes in the race schedule for the 2021 season. Debuting last July after a 2020 hiatus, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Vios Cup is slated to resume with its second of three legs on September 11, 2021. However due to the current quarantine protocols and increase in COVID-19 cases in the country, TMP has decided to move the second race weekend on October 16 to prioritize the health and safety of participants. This also allows racers and teams to have more time to prepare for the races. “As committed when we opened the 2021 race season, the safety and well-being of our participants and partners will be our top priority. In view of the current surge in COVID-19

cases and the enforcement of new quarantine guidelines, we decided it is best for everyone to move the 2nd leg originally scheduled on September 11 to a latter date - October 16,“ said TMP President Atsuhiro Okamoto. “We look forward to seeing you on the next race weekend in October. For now, we would like to remind everyone to stay safe and strictly follow safety and precautionary measures,” he added. While waiting for the second leg, race fans can rewatch the action from the first race weekend on TMP’s official Facebook and Youtube channels - Toyota Motor Philippines and Toyota Gazoo Racing PH. The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Vios Cup 2021 was organized in cooperation with Bridgestone, official fuel partner Petron, supported by Motul. Other sponsors are Brembo, Denso, AVT, 3M, OMP, Tuason Racing, and ROTA.

Essential know how when booking hotels

HE local travel industry is slowly getting back into full swing and options are now available for us to plan our next essential stay. However, with the different quarantine scenarios being implemented across the country, it can get confusing and stressful at times to know what exactly is needed before making a reservation. RedDoorz, Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing technology-driven hotel management brand, offers some essential know-hows for travelers to help make our bookings even more convenient and safer.

Ensure your hotel is fully accredited

BEFORE clicking that confirmation button, it is important to know if your hotel has made all the necessary requirements guaranteeing you a safe and quality stay. All RedDoorz properties follow a set of operational standards and are accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT). Plus, with over 260 hotels nationwide, a RedDoorz property is readily accessible for your essential stays.

Ask about your hotel’s safety precautions

In response to the pandemic and to help speed up the travel industry’s recovery, RedDoorz launched HygienePass - a certification program that provides a standardized and rigorous health and safety protocol for all hoteliers to follow. The HygienePass initiative is a hallmark of good hygiene and sanitation that always ensures guests a safe and clean stay with its enhanced measures that are implemented across all approved hotels.

Take advantage of online booking discounts and perks from your phone

With the RedDoorz mobile app, you can avail of their “Best Price Promise” that guarantees the price of your stay is the

lowest in the market or in any other booking platform. Other exclusive offers include room upgrades, add-on meals, extended hours stay, and airport pick-ups. RedDoorz also offers flexible stay options for those needing to rebook or postpone, and customers even have more convenient ways to settle their bills with multiple payment options via credit/debit card, PayMaya, GCash, or on location.

Check if you’re a part of a loyalty program

Hotels offer a lot of freebies for loyal customers who rebook. For only Php 400, you can join RedDoorz’s RedClub program where members can enjoy 24/7 customer support for all essential stays - whatever problem or need, a RedDoorz representative will be one call away. Other perks also include unlocking more hotel rooms discounts and getting RedCash rebates that can be used to book future stays. Since the start of the pandemic, RedDoorz has routinely made efforts to help those most affected and improved service guarantee offers to make their stay more accommodating. This year, the hotel management brand extended their service to welcome home modern heroes in the essential industries such as call center agents, seafarers, security personnel, and bankers. Visit the official RedDoorz website or download the RedDoorz: Hotel Booking App from the App Store or Play Store.

BusinessMirror

Editor: Tet Andolong

Wednesday, September 1, 2021 B7

Amaia, SMDC promote working, living, and relaxing in their projects

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4 reasons to switch to induction stove

Induction stoves deliver better performance at very low heat settings, translating to savings in energy and cost.

Amaia Steps The Junction Place will rise on 1.7 hectares of land and will offer recreational amenities that help foster strong communal bonds among residents.

ICE Tower aerial shot. ICE Tower RESO is a mixed-used township community that remains one of the best areas for property investment in Metro Manila

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

roperty titans Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and SM Development Corp. (SMDC) have been developing projects that emphasize working, living, and relaxing in response to the challenging times brought by the Covid-19. Notwithstanding, the two developers have responded to the Herculean odds by providing these needs of the market that promote a work-life balance in their respective projects. Amaia Land, the affordable housing unit of ALI, recently held a groundbreaking at the Junction Place Estate with its first Aria tower in Novaliches Quezon, City. Aside from the regular amenities being consistently provided by Amaia, the Junction Place Estate is also being positioned as a great platform for homegrown, small, and medium enterprises to grow and thrive. This promotes inclusivity as 99.5 percent of registered businesses in the country belong to the SME segment. The company said the Junction Place Estate will develop an efficient ecosystem that will create connections to the neighborhood and to other hubs in Quezon City and beyond. “With its wide array of residential and recreational components, The Junction Place responds to the needs of surrounding communities, promotes a sustainable way of living, and brings further progress to Novaliches,” Amaia said in a press statement. Amaia will also introduce refreshing possibilities and a breath of fresh air in an

urban and bustling location. “We bring in our signature expertise in building masterplanned, sustainable communities to this promising location, an Ayala Land development with generous open spaces and pedestrian walkways. It offers the community a green, walkable, and organized development with enhanced transport access, and residential spaces that offer relaxation and tranquility for its residents,” Amaia explained. Moreover, the Junction Place Estate will also feature green, walkable, and organized development complemented with enhanced transport access and residential spaces that ensure relaxation and tranquility for its residents. To rise on 1.7 hectares of land, Amaia Steps’ Junction Place Estate will offer recreational amenities that help foster strong communal bonds among residents as they indulge in healthy and active lifestyles. Among these will be a swimming pool, basketball court, play area and linear park. The Junction Place Estate will also have access to the planned Mega Manila Subway as well as multi-modal transport hubs and terminals. A side from sma l l business ow ners,

Amaia also aims to target young professiona ls, gover nment employees, sma l l business owners, families of OFWs, and starter families—a fast-rising market of condo dwellers seeking homes that will accommodate their progressive and modern lifestyles. Being in the affordable market and backed by ALI’s track record, Amaia is guaranteed to capture a big portion of the market. Once completed, Aria, its first building, will have 9 f loors and 208 units that will range in size from 23 to 48 sq m Studio, Deluxe, and Premier.

ICE Tower

SMDC offers a unique project that encourages its residents to live, work and play. Interestingly, the concept reminds us of the setup of Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs in the Binondo area where the first f loor of the house is allotted for their business while the second f loor and the rest are for residential purposes. In a recent webinar, SMDC said the ICE Tower Residential Offices RESO promotes an entrepreneurial lifestyle with “spaces for success” that integrates the picture-perfect shift between home life and professional duty, offering the luxury and comforts of a premium condominium development, while providing facilities expected of a professional office address. As a result. ICE Tower will function as an enabler for entrepreneurs to build from the ground up to a full-blown enterprise. The project becomes more significant as it is fully integrated into the Mall of Asia (MOA) complex. The property is in the preselling phase and has a target completion date of end-2024. The “live at work ” idea is a real deal with its full glass façade inspired by the symmetry and smooth glossy surface of the ice. The development sits on a 3,859 sq.m.

W Group Inc. champions sustainability beyond BGC, inks renewable-energy deal for its carrageenan business in Laguna

eading property firm W Group Inc. reaffirms its commitment to environmental sustainability with W Hydrocolloids Inc.’s (WHI) recent partnership with First Gen Corp. WHI, the group’s seaweed and carrageenan subsidiary, inked a deal with the power generation company for the supply of renewable energy to its manufacturing facility in Laguna. The aforementioned deal—done under WHI’s carrageenan exporter arm Philippine Bio-Industries Inc. (PBI)—is expected to enhance the company’s operations and contribute to the firm’s thrust for sustainability and environmental efficiency. This move further aligns WHI and W Group’s efforts with the sustainability efforts of its multinational customers overseas and makes PBI the first carrageenan factory in the Philippines to run on 100% clean energy. “We are very excited to embark on this new journey to diversify and broaden our efforts to champion sustainability across our subsidiaries. It is high time that we explore other initiatives beyond the operation and development of our iconic green properties in Bonifacio Global City as we push further towards achieving our environmental goals in the company,” said W Group’s Chief Executive Officer Francis Wee. Under the year-long contract, First Gen’s licensed retail electricity supplier Bac-Man Geothermal Inc. (BGI) will supply 650 kilowatts of electricity from a geothermal power

plant in the Bicol region to fulfill the monthly requirement of WHI’s Laguna facility. About 20 percent of WHI’s carrageenan business comes from its plant in Calamba, which plays a big role in the company’s supply accessibility in the Luzon region. WHI is also in the process of securing

the renewable-energy supply for its Cavite plant in Carmona, which is expected to be completed by December 2021. This ongoing initiative aligns with the national government’s Green Energy Option Program under the energy department. “This partnership is a big step towards

property, with 844 units in two bedroom, one bedroom, and studio configuration. Each space is designed with the needs of the modern business person in mind. Connectivity is not a problem as fiberoptic technology will provide unit owners quick access to the Internet for those important online client meetings. It guarantees unhampered work with a 100 percent backup power system. Meanwhile, access to natural light and ventilation will make for a healthy work environment that maximizes creativity, production, and performance. ICE Tower RESO provides easy access to functional spaces, office machines, and executive services at the Business Hub to enhance the efficiency of entrepreneurs and their employees while lowering monthly expenses. Fully-equipped meeting rooms and a board room can be used as training rooms, virtual rooms, and ideation rooms. A spacious function hall can host a company event or a product launch. There are designated working spaces as well that are made comfortable yet professional. It promotes networking for entrepreneurs in the upscale ambiance of the Social Hub. If the stress level breaches capacity, go for a quick workout at the Fitness Hub. Other recreational facilities of the property include the resort-styled Central Pool, and the Sky Lounge at the roof deck, which offers a panoramic view of the Manila Bay and MOA Complex. Located at the corner of Sunrise Drive and Edsa extension at the Mall of Asia Complex, the 60-hectare ICE Tower RESO is a mixed-use township community that remains one of the best areas for property investment in Metro Manila. ICE Tower RESO will be professionally managed and maintained by Greenmist Property Management Corp. with its comprehensive residential and office property services.

the company’s conscious effort to lower our carbon footprint and minimize the impact of carbon pollution in our environment. We support the global efforts of our partners abroad, particularly in the EU, who are ramping up their sustainability initiatives in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030,’’ added Wee. Apart from sourcing clean energy, PBI also improved its manpower operations and machineries, and expanded its warehouse capacity to sustain operations amid the strict implementation of the lockdown in the region. Additionally, the company strengthened its technical and financial assistance to its seaweed farmers, along with the improvement of adequate wastewater or effluent controls to protect the surrounding environment and local communities. PBI is one of the country’s leading manufacturers of carrageenan, a product widely used in the food and beverage industry worldwide. The plant has been in operation since 1992 and is the first fully-automated facility in Asia using patented European technology to produce refined carrageenan from local seaweed raw materials. PBI operates under W Hydrocolloids Inc., a subsidiary of W Group Inc. Earlier this year, W Group was awarded the ISO 9001:2015 certification for its exemplary implementation of their quality management system and operations across its properties. It has also achieved a LEED Gold certification for its W CityCenter in BGC, reinforcing its core principle of integrating and implementing sustainable practices in all its businesses. For more information on W Group projects, visit www.wgroup.com.ph and to learn more about W Group’s food ingredients business, W Hydrocolloids, visit www.rico.com.ph.

a n y household s a re now switching to induction cooker because of their sleek design and promise of a smokeless heating method. But there is more to induction stoves than these two attractive qualities. If you’re curious and want to find out why many have shifted, Midea, the world’s largest manufacturer of home appliances, shares these important advantages:

More precise control. One of the biggest benefits of induction stove is that it provides more temperature range and better performance at very low heat settings. For example, Midea’s 1600W (P2,232) Induction Cooker or the Midea 2100W Glass Touch Induction Cooker (P2,995) feature eight stage power settings with six cooking functions, which means you won’t need to gauge the right temperature for frying, boiling, or steaming because it will do the work for you. Moreover, the heat control feature means that the temperature remain consistent throughout cooking time and cooking results are repeatable if you use the same settings. It’s energy efficient. In gas and electric ranges, energy is converted to heat then directed to the pots and pans, so it takes longer to cook or heat food. Whereas for induction stove, the energy is directly supplied to the cookware, which makes cooking time faster. This ultimately translates to savings in energy and cost. It’s easier to clean. Since induction stove emit little heat, food that spills onto the stove does not burn. So even with a splatter of oil or spilled sauce from food, it can easily be cleaned up by wiping the surface with cloth or sponge. Midea’s 1600W Induction Cooker and Midea 2100W Glass Touch Induction Cooker (P2,995) feature a hardened glass and scratch-proof surface, reducing chances of wear and tear from use over the years. Plus, it’s portable with a four-hour timer so you can bring it for outdoor dining with family or friends. It’s safer. Because induction stoves do not produce f lames, the chances of grease fires or gas leaks are close to none. Induction stoves immediately shut off when the cookware is removed, reducing chances of accidentally leaving it on or getting burned when you’re done cooking. Midea’s 1600W Induction Cooker and the Midea 2100W Glass Touch Induction Cooker (P2,995) are also safe around kids because of its 4D Splash Proof Protection, and Auto Safety Shut Off feature. So, if you’re looking for a cooking method that’s safer, and saves time and energy, Midea’s 1600W Induction Cooker or the Midea 2100W Glass Touch Induction Cooker (P2,995) is your best bet! For more information about Midea’s home appliance solutions or to avail of exciting deals, visit www.mideaph.com. You can also shop for products exclusively available on our official stores at Lazada (www.lazada.com.ph/midea) and Shopee (www.shopee.ph/mideaphilippines).

Sports

Barredo: PHL Tokyo campaign marked with unique challenges

BusinessMirror

| Wednesday, September 1, 2021

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Afghan Rasouli gets his chance in Paralympics

OKYO—Afghan athlete Hossain Rasouli finally got his chance Tuesday to participate in the Paralympics. Rasouli and teammate Zakia Khudadadi got to Tokyo on Saturday after being evacuated from Kabul. They arrived a week late, and since then the two-person team have been sequestered in the Paralympic Village for privacy and safety reasons. They have also declined to speak to the media, before or after events. Hossain is primarily a sprinter but arrived too late for his event. So he tried the long jump in the T47 class, his only event at these Games. Predictably, he finished last in the 13-man competition with a jump of 4.46 meters. The winning jump wzas 7.46 meters by Cuban Robiel Yankiel Sol Cervantes. International Paralympic Committee (IPC) spokesman Craig Spence said he spoke to Rasouli on Monday but declined to share much information. “He was super excited to be competing,” Spence said. “He had done long jump previously, but it was his first long jump in a major competition. It was a very special occasion. That’s as much as I’ll say.” Khudadadi is set to become the first female Afghan athlete to compete in the Paralympics since 2004. She will challenge in the women’s 44-49-kilogram weight category in taekwondo on Thursday. The Afghan athletes were met in Tokyo at the Paralympic Village on the weekend by IPC president Andrew Parsons. Their arrival came less than two weeks after the IPC was informed the Afghan team could not travel to Tokyo, a move, Parsons said, “that broke the hearts of all involved in the Paralympic movement and left both athletes devastated.” Parsons said that announcement started a “major global operation that led to their safe evacuation from Afghanistan” and arrival in Japan via France. The new star in Paralympic sprinting is Germany’s Felix Streng, who took gold in a photo finish on Monday night with a winning tie of 10.76 seconds. Sherman Isidro Guity Guity of Costa Rica was second in 10.78. Two sprinters tied for third in 10.79—Britain’s Jonnie Peacock and Johannes Floors of Germany. Both will get bronze medals. Peacock was the two-time defending champion in the event. His winning time five years ago in Rio de Janeiro was 10.81. which he bettered in Tokyo, but it still only yielded bronze. “It feels amazing,” Streng said. “I am so happy I could execute the race and win in such a strong, competitive field. We want to show that we are competitive, that track and field para sport is amazing.” Peacock was reflective. “My girlfriend told me it was going to be about the best racer and I have to give it to Felix,” Peacock said. “He was the best racer today.” AP

AFGHANISTAN’S Hossain Rasouli competes in the men’s T47 long jump event. AP

S A veteran of six straight Paralympics, including the Tokyo edition, Philippine Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo noted that each participation of Filipino para athletes in the Games posed unique challenges. But the trials and tests that the Philippine campaigners faced in their build-up to and taking part in the Tokyo Paralympic Games have been the toughest of them all, according to Barredo, who, while refusing to make excuses, blamed the Covid-19 pandemic as the culprit for their ordeal. From the training, qualifying form and up to the point they actually had to compete in Tokyo, the virus has hounded the national para athletes at virtually every turn, he pointed out. “While our able-bodied national athletes had problems of their own in finding facilities to train for the Tokyo Olympics, it came doubly hard for our national para athletes,” rued Barredo. “We needed not only accessible training

YAP CAN’T WAIT TO PLAY AGAIN

By Josef Ramos

T won’t be until Thursday when two-time Most Valuable Player James Yap gets the chance to see action for Rain or Shine in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) that resumes on Wednesday in a semi-bubble setup at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym in Bacolor, Pampanga. “I am still conditioning myself in the last five days after undergoing a minor knee operation,” Yap told BusinessMirror on Tuesday. “And I am becoming more confident to play because of coach Chris [Gavina]. He gives me a lot of encouragement.” A 17-year veteran, Yap underwent arthroscopic procedure to keep his left knee in top form last April. “I have to be 100 percent once I decide to

return,” he said. “I think it’s just a matter of time.” That matter of time could be on Thursday when the Elasto Painters take on the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters at 4:35 p.m. Rain or Shine was 4-2 won-lost and Phoenix was 1-4 when the Philippine Cup was halted last August 3 because of the rising cases of Covid-19 infections. The league played its 46th season at the Ynares Arena but couldn’t resume its 46th season because of the heightened restrictions in Metro Manila. PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial, however, got the go-signal from the national government and Pampanga local government unit to resume play on Wednesday. TNT Tropang Giga (30) clashes with winless Blackwater (0-4) at 12:30 p.m., San Miguel Beer (3-1) collides with Terrafirma (0-4) at 3 p.m. and Meralco (4-1) faces Magnolia (4-0) at 6 p.m. Marcial and the members of the PBA board of governors thanked Pampanga Governor Dennis Pineda, Pampanga Third District Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. and the members of the DHVSU board

of trustees for supporting the league’s return to action. Each member of the PBA family tested negative for the virus on Monday thus resulting to the season’s resumption in Pampanga, which is classified as a modified general community quarantine area. Yap, 39, said he wants to win a championship in the last of his extended three-year contract with Rain or Shine. “My goal is to bring my team to the semifinals. But if you’ll ask me, I want to win a championship and it’s doable,” said Yap, a seven-time PBA champion who last played November last year in his team’s losing effort to Ginebra in the Clark bubble. “I still have a few days left in practice before I regain my overall form.” Gavina welcomed the return of the former University of the East hotshot. “It’s another offensive weapon that I can utilize,” said Gavina, adding that his main focus for now is to allow Yap to feel the game. “We’re hoping to bring the best version of James, we’re hoping also to get his stamina, timing and game chemistry, but he looks good. He is mentally prepared.” Thursday’s other game pits a now Kiefer Ravena-less NLEX (2-2) against Alaska (2-3) at 2 p.m. Ravena left for Japan last Wednesday to complete his

JAMES YAP hasn’t played since November last year.

negotiations with the Shiga Lakestars in the Japanese B. League. The former Ateneo standout will be resuming his playing career in Japan, but is still obliged to fulfill his obligations with NLEX and the PBA in the Philippine Cup.

Murray calls Tsitsipas breaks ‘nonsense’

EW YORK—Andy Murray is aware that Stefanos Tsitsipas has a growing reputation for pushing the boundaries when it comes to taking breaks during a match.

ANDY MURRAY couldn’t hide his frustration. AP

Weightlifting’s future uncertain DID we see the last of Hidilyn Diaz’s heroics in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics? That her golden lift on July 26 was her swan song? So, to be sure, frame that historic moment now

Murray expected that to be an issue during their first-round match at the US Open—and, when it was, that didn’t sit well. Not at all. Murray figures there was enough for him to deal with in Monday’s high heat and humidity:

in your mind like a laminated memento that lasts forever? But why is that? Weightlifting is in serious danger of getting scrapped in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Olympic officials, led by President Thomas of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), had actually allowed the sport in Tokyo 2020 only out of pity. The reason being that the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) had been wracked by internal strife, corruption and doping scandals in the run-up to Tokyo 2020. IWF officialdom were to blame. So, why punish the athletes for the fault of their leaders? Good thing Bach sided with the athletes. Thanks to him as Hidilyn Diaz’s Tokyo victory gave the Philippines its first Olympic gold medal after a 97year wait. Barely three weeks after the Tokyo Olympics, IWF

He’s 34. He’s got an artificial hip. He’s ranked 112th after a series of health issues. At one point, he tumbled to the ground, losing his balance in sweat-soaked shoes and leaving splotches on the blue court from his soggy clothing. So as the contest stretched to almost five hours, Murray did not appreciate that Tsitsipas took a medical timeout after the third set and made a lengthy visit to the locker room after the fourth. Following an entertaining, back-and-forth 2-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss to Tsitsipas, Murray complained about what he considered unfair gamesmanship by the French Open runner-up and announced: “I lost respect for him.”

“It’s nonsense. And he knows it, as well,” said Murray, who is nearly a decade—and a pair of hip operations—removed from a US Open championship. Told of Murray’s displeasure, the just-turned-23 Tsitsipas said: “If there’s something that he has to tell me, we should speak, the two of us, to kind of understand what went wrong. I don’t think I broke any rules.” The whole thing lent some intrigue to the proceedings as the year’s last Grand Slam tournament got underway with fans in the stands at full capacity—the combined attendance for the day and night sessions was 53,783—a year after all spectators were

came up with a new Constitution that allowed three athletes and 30 percent women inclusion to the new Board. After the convention of the 133-member federation IWF, interim president Dr. Michael Irani said: “To have a Constitution adopted in just 10 months during the pandemic is a real demonstration of the IWF’s determination to move towards a brighter future that is based on solid foundations.” Said Pyrros Dimas, the legendary Greek weightlifter: “I see happy faces…I hope everything will be the same from here to the future.” In the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics, more than 30 athletes were stripped of their medals for doping as corruption marked the 45-year IWF reign of Tamas Ajan as secretary general for 25 years and as president for 20 years. He is accused of doping cover-up, bribery schemes and an unexplained $10 million in missing funds. He denied any wrongdoing. But vice president Nicu Vlad

BARREDO

venues but also accessible accommodations for them. “We practically had no training in 2020 due to the pandemic because our national para athletes were forced to leave the PhilSports Complex in Pasig City where they trained and had their quarters because it was converted into a quarantine facility,” he said. “We understand this reality. It is what it is.” So he was grateful that the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) was able to support and sustain them in looking for separate training bubbles for all six Paralympic-bound athletes for a month or two to do actual workouts before they were scheduled to leave for the Japanese capital. “In fairness, we have nothing to say but thank PSC chairman [William] Butch Ramirez for the all-out support they have given our athletes including their separate bubble training before leaving for Tokyo,” Barredo stressed. Barredo thought that they had left their troubles behind in Manila when key members of the contingent were grounded because they tested positive for the virus before leaving for Tokyo. Among them were powerlifter Achelle Guion, her coach Antonio Taguibao and chef de mission Francisco “Kiko” Diaz. But misfortune dogged the contingent to Tokyo when discus thrower Jeanette Aceveda and athletic coach Bernard Buen were infected after undergoing tests, depriving her of the chance of becoming the first visuallyimpaired Filipino athlete to compete in the meet for the world’s top para athletes. “I really felt sorry for her because this is a disability we share,” Barredo bared. “It would have been an inspiration to visuallyimpaired Filipinos that despite all of the challenges it could be done to compete in the Paralympics. It would have been bragging rights for her for being the first.” The PPC chief disclosed that although the athlete was upset for a while, she has gotten over the issue and vowed to do her best to make it back to the 2024 Paris Paralympics. “Her plight, in a nutshell, is what the entire team has suffered,” he said. “It’s a very frustrating and upsetting situation that is out of our control.” He was proud of what swimmers Ernie Gawilan, Gary Bejino, and wheelchair racer Jerrold Mangliwan had achieved so far despite the adversities in Tokyo. “Ernie was able to improve his personal bests in his events despite the limited training while Jerrold, except for his disqualification in the men’s 400-meter finals, has also been able to improve a lot, particularly in the 1,500-meter race,” Barredo noted of the two Rio Paralympics veterans. “Gary is a bit raw this being his first Paralympics. But given more rigorous training and exposure, we expect him to do better in international competition and, hopefully, qualify for the Paris Paralympic Games in 2024,” he said.

banned because of the coronavirus pandemic. “When we didn’t have a crowd,” reigning champion Naomi Osaka said after beating Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-1 at night, “I know it felt quite lonely for me.” That was Osaka’s first Grand Slam match since she pulled out of the French Open in late May for a mental health break. She played rather well, compiling a 34-10 edge in total winners and saving all eight break points Bouzkova earned. AP

and board member Hasan Akkus were suspended in June for obstructing doping probes. So scandal-ridden was the IWF that Canadian Christine Girard won her gold from the 2012 London Games when lifters from Kazakhstan and Russia, who placed ahead of her, were both disqualified for the same substance, the steroid stanozolol. Bach will preside over an IOC meet on September 8 in Tokyo to decide on the fate of weightlifting in Paris 2024. Let’s pray the sport gets a reprieve—and keep alive Hidilyn Diaz’s hopes of retaining her crown in Paris. THAT’S IT I’m glad to see Naomi Osaka back to defend her US Open tennis crown. More than her return, I’m happy, too, that she has finally realized the wisdom behind granting media interviews after a match. She has grown up?...Condolences to the loved ones of Admiral Ben Lista (ret.), who succumbed to Covid-19 yesterday at St. Luke’s. Rest in peace, apo.