BusinessMirror September 06, 2020

ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS

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Sunday, September 6, 2020

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PLANTDEMIC www.businessmirror.com.ph

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Covid-19 crisis gives agriculture sector a chance for a longneeded reboot, as food security challenges spur creative means for problem solving.

Vol. 15 No. 332 | P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 12 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

VERY crisis is an opportunity— and the Covid-19 pandemic is no exception. Agriculture industry experts and stakeholders pointed out that the Covid-19 pandemic is the right time to review government policies and investments in rebooting the decadeslong neglected sector.

And if indeed the agriculture sector could drive the Philippine economy’s recovery post-pandemic— as what economists and experts pointed out—then a stronger collaboration between the public and private sector is critical in doing so.

This is what resource persons emphasized during the webinar recently organized by the BusinessMirror and Fiera de Manila Inc. on food security challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

If there’s one thing certain that planners for pandemic scenarios must never forget, it’s simply this: the impact of Covid-19 on food security and the economy would linger for years. That’s one of the constant reminders at the webinar on “Challenges in Food Security” by Cold Chain Association of the Philippines Inc. (CCAP) President Anthony S. Dizon.

IVONNE WIERINK | DREAMSTIME.COM

Continued on A2

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.5320

n JAPAN 0.4573 n UK 64.4651 n HK 6.2623 n CHINA 7.0881 n SINGAPORE 35.5572 n AUSTRALIA 35.2876 n EU 57.5201 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.9408

Source: BSP (September 4, 2020)

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, September 6, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PLANTDEMIC Continued from A1

“Drastic problems require drastic solutions,” he said. “Food security problems are bound to get worse before they get better, particularly as we continue to struggle against Covid-19, African Swine Fever, avian influenza, among others,” he added.

One problem highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic was food wastage, something seen arising from the lack of data to guide production intentions and low consumption by Filipinos of high-value crops, according to the resource persons.

Dizon lamented that there is no available supply demand data that would properly guide farmers’ planting practices even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

This is usually one of the culprits for why oversupply of certain commodities happens—as farmers produce what they deem is profitable without guidance on whether there is an available market for them.

The issue worsened since demand for food products plunged during the Covid-19 as the hotel, restaurant and industrial (HRI) industry partially shut down due to movement restrictions and lockdowns imposed by the government.

Dizon added that the lack of post-harvest facilities is also one reason the country wastes a lot of food.

Excess raw crops or commodities could have been used to produce a value-added product, such as the case of cabbage in the North that could be turned into kimchi.

The oversupply and food wastage issues have indeed prompted the government to implement certain measures to others this decades-long problem. For one, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has allotted at least P20 million to construct a processing facility in Benguet to produce kimchi.

No less than the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization has pointed out that reducing food wastage is one way to boost food supply during the Covid-19 pandemic, when production and supply chain is disrupted.

According to Dizon, one of the problems in the food production areas is that farmers produce a single variety of commodity that serves a singular purpose, resulting in saturation of the market, hence, excess supply that is unusable for other purposes.

“Our problems really lie on the production areas so we need to have a rationalized, concerted effort in unifying production efforts to make sure we produce enough of the right food,” Dizon said.

He cited as example the problem of tomatoes in Nueva Vizcaya.

“They suffered oversupply because they planted cherry tomato varieties which are only used by households; they cannot be processed into tomato pastes. If it was a dif-

ferent variety then if the household market is saturated then it could be sold to processors to be turned into tomato pastes.”

Dizon also sees a need to improve farming practices, particularly on how commodities are packaged and handled when being transported to market destinations.

Dizon explained that vegetables are still being wrapped in plastic, which he noted results in 30 percent wastage of green leafy vegetables.

Vegetables

DR. MARY ANN SAYOC, East West Seed Public Affairs lead, sees a huge room for improvement in terms of per capita vegetable consumption in the country, which could reduce food wastage, especially among vegetable crops.

Sayoc said veggie consumption in the past five years has grown to 41 kilograms from 39 kilograms. This, she noted, is already a significant improvement, driven by growing consciousness among consumers to eat healthy foods and availability of produce in the market.

Sayoc pointed out that consumers still drive agricultural production as farmers would produce what the market needs; hence, the need for proper guidance from the government.

“We have a lot of varieties that farmers can choose from. That’s why we need a good integration of production and consumption in

the market,” she said.

Sayoc still sees a huge need for expanded consumer education, which could help boost Filipinos’ per capita consumption of vegetables. This consumer education campaign, she pointed out, should start targeting kids to cultivate their palate toward eating vegetables.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Kristine Y. Evangelista agreed that market-driven production is important since it would mean that farmers would have an assured market and profit for their produce.

BusinessMirror columnist and economist Prof. Rene Ofreneo pointed out that an integrated approach on investing in agriculture is needed to reduce food wastage across the value chain.

Ofreneo emphasized that for the longest time, the country still lacks cold storage facilities, especially for perishable products like vegetables.

“Sino magkukumpas? Sino magbabaston? [Who will serve as the conductor? Or the whip?] That’s why we need an integrated approach to do these changes in terms of investments and policies in the farm sector,” he added.

Localized food production

ONE issue that drew attention during the Covid-19 pandemic was the need of local government units or areas to have sufficient food supply.

One of the immediate solutions identified in this was the rise of urban gardening or farming, as witness the sudden popularity of quarantine farming, even in condos, giving rise to what are dubbed plantitos and plantitas.

While the growing trend has helped give bored, mostly young people, more worthwhile things to engage in during quarantine, it’s been noted that such practice means producing food only for household consumption, thus needlessly sidelining the opportunities for venturing into agribusiness and selling products or bartering with other urban food producers, Dizon said.

“If all of you in a community produces okra then there is no opportunity for barter,” he said.

Evangelista explained that, indeed, bigger support for localized production is one of the things that the DA is pushing.

She explained that one way to achieve such is through farm consolidation and clustering, which is now a banner program of the DA. “This is the direction we feel is right with LGUs being our partners in achieving food sufficiency and crop diversification. This is not only to ensure that there is food on the table but there is livelihood for the constituents as well,” Evangelista said.

Sayoc agreed that there is now more emphasis on improving regional food production after the country saw how Covid-19-induced

lockdowns disrupted the supply chain, with produce not reaching its market destinations.

“The pandemic prevented traders from coming in, bringing their produce out of their provinces, out of their towns. There we saw the importance of growing your own food or having local food productions,” she said.

Ofreneo noted that some “forward-looking” mayors were able to address the food problems of their constituents by procuring directly from farmers and boosting their own production.

“In the absence of a national land use plan, the role of food production is devolved mainly to LGUs. At their levels, they can do a mapping of what crops they should produce,” he said.

Ofreneo also emphasized the need to review the government’s policies and programs toward agriculture, such as the clamor for deregulation of industries in a time when countries are adopting more protectionist measures to ensure sufficient food stockpile amid uncertainties brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“There is nothing wrong about trading with the world. What is wrong is trading with the world without a clear goal or plan,” he said.

Ofreneo proposed that the government have a holistic review of its “Build, Build, Build” program and align some of the proposed projects toward boosting the agriculture sector.

Business owners tap into savings to withstand pandemic

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By Joyce M. Rosenberg The Associated Press

EW YORK—When the coronavirus outbreak forced cruise lines to cancel trips to Alaska, it wiped out Midgi Moore’s tour business, leaving her with thousands of dollars in deposits to refund.

Moore’s company, Juneau Food Tours, didn’t have enough cash on hand. So, she withdrew $30,000 from her retirement account—a painful decision for a 56-year-old starting to look forward to the day when she can stop working.

“It was a gut punch,” Moore says.

Many business owners are tapping the money they socked into personal savings and retirement accounts to withstand the pandemic. For some, like Moore, there are big expenses coming due, while for others it’s a way to offset the losses and stay afloat until the virus eases its grip.

Owners are trying to keep their businesses alive at a critical time for the US economy. Small businesses employ nearly half the nation’s work force. In April, payroll provider ADP reported nearly 20 million jobs were lost at US companies and said more than half were at businesses employing under 500 people. Many economists expect a sizable portion of those job losses will be permanent.

Shuttered

A REPORT issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that 2 percent of small businesses surveyed had shut down permanently in March, a number that certainly has increased since, meaning it’s likely hundreds of thousands of businesses have failed. The government’s Paycheck Protection Program helped by giving out more than 5.2 million loans to small businesses and non-prof-

its. But owners and advocates say struggling companies need more help from Congress, and lawmakers themselves are urging the Federal Reserve to expand its lending to small and medium-sized businesses.

How many owners have raided savings to shore up their companies during the pandemic is also unclear; in surveys, the number has varied widely from 4 percent to about 20 percent. Even owners with companies outside the stricken restaurant, retailing and travel industries have needed extra funds as high unemployment and a weakened economy made consumers and companies cautious about spending.

Out of pocket

ALISSA KELLY is forgoing most of her salary and has taken nearly $15,000 out of savings to keep her Las Vegas-based publicity firm running. Kelly says she lost almost all her clients in the entertainment and restaurant industries within hours back in March.

Kelly, owner of PR Plus, was forced to lay off two of seven staffers and cut other expenses. A loan from the Paycheck Protection Program helped cover payroll for about two months. Kelly was able to get some new clients, but there was still a shortfall and she didn’t want to take on a bank loan.

Luckily, Kelly didn’t have to touch her retirement account; she and her husband had put money aside for a rainy day.

CHICAGO Alderman Tom Tunney poses inside his main Ann Sather restaurant, September 1, 2020, in Chicago. Tunney estimates he’s put $250,000 of his own money into running his three Ann Sather restaurants. AP/CHARLES REX ARBOGAST

“Who would have known it would have been for this type of emergency,” she says.

Cracking open a nest egg is not a step owners take lightly; it’s a gamble that the business will recover and they’ll replenish their savings. For many it’s a better alternative than borrowing—they don’t want the burden of debt, especially during an uncertain economy. And as many owners have discovered during the virus outbreak, even a government relief loan might not fully make up for lost cash flow.

John Holloway saw sales at his life insurance website increase when news about the coronavirus broke during the winter, but business plunged when Americans retreated to their homes in March. A loan from the government “helped a bit but was quickly in and out,” says Holloway, co-founder of NoExam.com.

Holloway and his business partner each turned to personal

savings to live on. Holloway estimates he’s taken between $25,000 and $30,000 out of retirement and emergency fund accounts to pay his family’s expenses.

Silver lining

HOLLOWAY says withdrawing the money made him feel like he was going backward. But business has been improving and that makes him optimistic.

“I’m banking on the longterm outlook for the business. It might in the future potentially be sold. That in my mind is where we’d be making up some of that money,” he says.

Up in Alaska, Moore has started two other businesses and plans to get a job this winter, hoping that will help her not only replace the savings she pumped into Juneau Food Tours but also create reserves for her companies.

Juneau Food Tours gets most of its revenue from cruise ship pas-

sengers who take tours of restaurants and bars in Alaska’s capital; more than 1.3 million people took Alaskan cruises during the 2019 cruise season, according to the industry group Alaska Travel Industry Association. Moore is aware she can’t count on revenue from cruise-goers for some time.

“I’m not planning for a big rebound in 2021. I’m looking at 2022,” she says.

Soul searching

BUSINESs owners have varying strategies when it comes to savings. Those with retirement plans for their employees usually are savers, and those with children are likely to be putting money away for college tuition. But some owners see their companies as their investment. They plow profits back into their business rather than save; they expect to fund their retirement with the eventual sale of their companies.

Financial advisers recommend owners do some soul-searching before dipping into savings.

“It comes down to trying to be realistic with yourself. It’s looking at not only, are you going to be able to replenish what you’re going to take out, it’s also looking at the missed savings that you would have hopefully captured if we weren’t going through a global pandemic,” says Jennifer Myers, president of Sagevest Wealth Management in McLean, Virginia.

Tom Tunney’s three Ann Sather restaurants are breakfast, brunch and lunch stalwarts in their Chicago neighborhoods. Social-distancing requirements have curtailed revenue and the government loan Tunney got was quickly spent paying staff.

Tunney, who’s also an alderman in the Chicago City Council, estimates he’s put $250,000 of his own money into running the restaurants. He dipped into proceeds of real-estate sales to replace his lost revenue, and says he’s prepared to continue tapping savings until business returns to normal.

“My community and my business are everything, pretty much my family,” Tunney says.

When the pandemic slammed the tourism industry, attorney Tina Willis had fewer clients at her practice in Orlando, Florida. She specializes in personal injury cases, and many clients are tourists who have accidents while on vacation.

Willis has $5,000 in expenses each month and dipped into her retirement savings to help cover them, something she expects to have to keep doing in the coming months.

While Orlando theme parks like Walt Disney World and Universal Studios are open, attendance is still a fraction of normal levels.

“We expect that the downturn will probably last at least until next spring in our business,” she says.

Willis is also working at cutting costs; she expects to close her office when her lease is up in November.

“I can’t keep spending $60,000 a year,” she says.

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

The World

A currency war is the last thing the world needs now

By Mark Gilbert & Marcus Ashworth

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Bloomberg Opinion

t’s our currency, but it’s your problem,” John Connally, Richard Nixon’s treasury secretary, told the world in 1971. Four decades later, the dollar’s weakness threatens to incite a full-blown currency war that could distract policy-makers from their key task of mending the post-pandemic global economy.

The US currency has been on a downward trend for several months. The Federal Reserve’s recent shift to an even more dovish stance—saying that it will allow inflation and the labor market to run hotter for longer than previously—looks set to exacerbate the dollar’s decline.

“Had the changes to monetary-policy goals and strategy we made in the new statement been in place several years ago, it is likely that accommodation would have been withdrawn later, and the gains would have been greater,” Fed Governor Lael Brainard said in a speech. In other words, the US central bank will delay tapping the interest-rate brake for longer in future.

The strategy adaptation, announced last week

by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell after a yearlong review, will embolden traders who were already speculating on dollar weakness and have raised their bets on the euro to record levels.

The euro’s steady ascent against the currencies of its main trading partners is clearly starting to make the European Central Bank a bit nervous, prompting its chief economist, Philip Lane, to make a rare and limited verbal intervention earlier this week.

“The euro-dollar rate does matter,” Lane said on Tuesday. “If there are forces moving the euro-dollar rate around, that feeds into our global and European forecasts and that in turn does feed into our monetary policy setting.”

Lane’s gentle attempt to jawbone the euro lower suggests that the ECB is uncomfortable with a value for the common currency of more than $1.20, the level it briefly breached for the first time in two years before his comments drove it down—and bang in line with its average value since it was introduced in 1999.

The ECB’s pain is easy to name. The stronger the euro, the greater the disinflationary effects as foreign goods cost less. Imported deflation, often from China, has been a persistent factor in keeping inflation subdued in many developed economies.

The guardian of monetary stability in the euro bloc has very few options left to meet its inflation target, as it already has deeply negative interest rates and a vast quantitative

easing program. The euro area is now technically in actual deflation, after headline consumer prices declined by an annual -0.2 percent in August. There are several mitigating factors that perhaps exaggerate this dip, but more worrying for policy-makers is the substantial drop in core inflation to just 0.4 percent.

The data risk making a mockery of the ECB’s own policy review, which is expected to make the seismic shift in dropping the current “below but close to 2 percent”inflation target in favor of an explicit 2 percent.

Diverging inflation expectations between the US and Europe go a long way to explaining the 6-percent rise in the value of the common currency against the greenback this year. The euro five-year forward inflation swap index at 1.22 percent is nearly a full percentage point below its dollar equivalent at 2.14 percent.

For its part, the Fed is effectively conducting a policy of benign neglect in the currency market, having provided almost limitless access to dollar liquidity for central banks around the world during the pandemic. For the benefit of its own economy, and for much of the developing world, the US central bank is in no rush to reverse that.

That leaves the ECB fighting a battle to keep a lid on its own currency against a wall of indifference. Moreover, history suggests that central banks are relatively powerless to change the market value of their currencies.

Japan spent almost $80 billion between January 1999 and April 2000 in a failed effort to stop its currency appreciating against the dollar. During that period, the yen strengthened to as high as 101.46 per dollar from a low of almost 125 yen. The advance only halted once traders began to question Japan’s economy, and didn’t reverse until evidence of a slowdown become irrefutable.

And it’s 20 years since the ECB intervened unilaterally in the currency market. Back in November 2000, it was trying to resuscitate the euro, which had dropped to a low of 82.30 US cents a few weeks prior to three solo efforts at market manipulation. By the end of the year, the currency had crawled to about 94 cents, but only because traders became less enamored of the prospects for the US economy.

With the Fed still perceived as having more monetary-policy ammunition available than its peers, the dollar still looks like a one-way downward bet, albeit in an increasingly crowded trade. Unless that outlook changes, the ECB will have to endure further euro gains—and resist the urge to go on the offensive, verbally or otherwise, or risk inflaming cross-border economic tensions at a time when the global outlook is perilously fragile.

BusinessMirror

Sunday, September 6, 2020

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‘Decoupling with US would cut China’s growth to 3.5%’

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he worsening conflict between China and the United States has damaged bilateral trade, but a complete decoupling between the two largest global economies would be even more damaging to China’s longterm growth prospects, according to Bloomberg Economics.

The country’s potential growth rate could fall to about 3.5 percent in 2030 if it decouples with the US, Bloomberg Economists Tom Orlik and Bjorn van Roye wrote in a note. That’s down from the current forecast of 4.5 percent, which assumes relations remain broadly unchanged.

Such a decoupling—defined as ending the flow of trade and technology that boosts growth potential—would have a much larger impact on China than on the United States as China gains more from cross-border exchanges of ideas and innovations. The US

potential growth rate would be 1.4 percent in 2030 instead of the current forecast of 1.6 percent, the research estimates.

In this scenario, China’s productivity growth will slow due to the stop in technology transfer, and capital spending could also be weaker. However, the results won’t be catastrophic as the country has substantially narrowed its technology gap with advanced economies over the last 20 years, the study published on Thursday argued.

“If China moved to increase domestic funding for research and development, and expanded

Cargoes awaiting shipment at a Chinese port. Bloomberg photo

its ties with other advanced economies, it could hope to offset a significant amount of the drag,” the economists wrote.

China already looks to be preparing for less connection with the global economy. President Xi Jinping’s new strategy positions the domestic economy as the main driver of growth, seeking to insulate the nation from a slowing global economy and rising hostility. While the details still need to be fleshed out, it’s clear

China wants more self-reliance in advanced manufacturing and technology innovation.

China would face even more disastrous consequences if the US can coordinate its key allies, such as Japan, South Korea, Germany and France, to also decouple. In that case, China’s growth potential could fall to 1.6 percent in 2030, and it would be harder for Beijing to offset with countervailing policies, according to the forecasts.

Bloomberg News

The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, September 6, 2020

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Depression, anxiety spike amid coronavirus and turbulent times

By Lindsey Tanner

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AP Medical Writer

ental-health therapists’ caseloads are bulging. Waiting lists for appointments are growing. And anxiety and depression are rising among Americans amid the coronavirus crisis, research suggests.

In the latest study to suggest an uptick, half of US adults surveyed reported at least some signs of depression, such as hopelessness, feeling like a failure or getting little pleasure from doing things. That’s double the rate from a different survey two years ago, Boston University researchers said on Wednesday in the medical journal JAMA Network Open.

The study did not ask about any diagnosis they might have received, and for many people, the problem is mostly angst rather than full-blown psychiatric illness. But experts say the feeling is genuine and deserving of professional help.

For some people, it stems from lost loved ones and the financial distress and social isolation the outbreak has caused. Experts say Americans are also feeling anxiety over the racial and political upheaval of the past few months, though the BU study was conducted before the recent tumult.

“There is no question that many people in the US and worldwide are experiencing real and often distressing emotional reactions to the Covid-19 pandemic and, in some cases, to contracting the virus,’’ said psychiatrist Dr. Ronald Pies, a retired professor at SUNY Upstate Medical

University.

The global outbreak has caused more than 850,000 deaths and almost 26 million confirmed infections. US cases total 6 million, with about 185,000 deaths. The crisis has also thrown millions out of work, crippled the economy and forced shutdowns of bars, restaurants, theaters and gyms.

Calls from March through July to the US government-funded Disaster Distress Helpline, which offers counseling and emotional support, surged 335 percent from the same period last year.

“Helpline counselors have reported callers expressing feelings of isolation and interpersonal concerns related to physical distancing such as being cut off from social supports,” said Hannah Collins, a spokeswoman for Vibrant Emotional Health, a group that runs the helpline.

While not all calls are Covid-19related, many people have sought help for anxiety and fear about getting the virus, distress over being diagnosed, or anguish over the illness or death of a loved one, she said.

The BU study involved a survey of 1,440 US adults questioned about

In this June 1, 2020, file photo, a woman looks through a window at a near-empty terminal at an airport in Atlanta. Anxiety and depression are rising among Americans compared with before the pandemic, research suggests. Half of those surveyed in a study released on September 2 reported at least some signs of depression. AP/Charlie Riedel

depression symptoms in early April. Symptoms were most common in young adults, low-income participants and in those who reported several outbreak-related troubles, including financial problems, lost jobs or Covid-19 deaths of relatives. Almost 1,000 participants had experienced at least of three such struggles.

The study results echo research from China early in the outbreak, and studies done during the Ebola and SARS crises and after major hurricanes and 9/11, said lead author Dr. Sandro Galea, a BU public health expert.

The survey was done before the US spike in civil unrest, including the May 24 death of George Floyd, who authorities say was killed when a Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee on his neck for several minutes. But Galea said that other studies have shown in-

creases in depression symptoms after traumatic events and that it is likely the unrest has contributed to American angst.

At Cityscape Counseling in Chicago, the new client caseload jumped from 95 to 148 over the past two months, said Executive Director Chelsea Hudson. The group’s 17 therapists see about 500 clients a week, and Hudson said she has hired two more therapists to deal with the increased demand.

“We see a lot of single young professionals. I think it’s been especially tough on them. The isolation, lack of connection, often enhances depression,” she said.

Hudson said many clients are distressed about social justice issues. With more free time, she said, they are paying more attention to the news, and Chicago has been hit by vandalism and protests over killings by police.

She said there is “a general consensus in the mental-health field on our need to be ready to brush up on our trauma training. Right now people are still in a state of shock.”

Wendy Zirbel of Dodge County, Wisconsin, said she developed anxiety and depression after testing positive for the virus in June. She said that was partly from getting sick—she still has breathing and memory troubles—and partly from her husband’s reaction.

“He thought Covid was a joke and that it’s all Democrats trying to get Trump out of office,” she said. “It still hurts.”

Zirbel, 45, said she spent days in tears, and her doctor prescribed an antidepressant.

“It was just overwhelming for a couple of weeks. I just couldn’t function,” she said. “That’s totally not me.

I’m usually the one that’s making people laugh.”

The first therapist she called had a waiting list. She is hoping sessions with the one she found will help.

“I need someone to help me get the tools to cope,” she said.

Todd Creager, a Southern California therapist who specializes in relationship troubles, has upped his weekly workload from 22 hours of therapy to 30 to handle increased demand. He is seeing anxiety, depression and stress related to financial woes brought on by the pandemic. And in some cases, virus-related shutdowns have amplified existing strife.

“In the past, people could get distracted by going to concerts and dinners. Now their problems are kind of staring them in the face,” he said. “I’ve heard people say, ‘This pandemic has made me realize how toxic my relationship is.’” AP

Once-unsafe streets now provide students refuge from pandemic

By Cedar Attanasio

The Associated Press/Report for America

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EW YORK—A public school in Brooklyn is looking to show how classes can be moved outside to more safely facilitate in-person learning.

Teachers and parents at Public School 15 in the Red Hook neighborhood took to the street outside their campus on Wednesday to demonstrate one way outdoor learning could work.

From afar, the demonstration looked like a street fair or a farmer’s market.

Past a crossing guard, a traffic barricade and a handwashing station, teachers held lessons with children under 10, who sat on cushions on asphalt.

“Teachers and principals and parents are modeling outdoor learning, and fighting to get more of it and soon,” said City Council Member Brad Lander, who has been polling school districts on their desire for outdoor schooling since July.

The demonstration follows a deal on Tuesday between Mayor Bill de Blasio and unions representing school staff and administrators, who had been talking about a possible strike out of concern that the school system wasn’t ready to safely start the school year. In a compromise, the start of mixed in-person and online learning

Pre-school teacher Mikki Laugier instructs students as they participate in an outdoor learning demonstration to display methods schools can use to continue on-site education during the coronavirus pandemic, on September 2, at P.S. 15 in the Brooklyn borough of New York. AP/John Minchillo

was delayed for several days, and city officials promised to test 10 percent-20 percent of students and staff for the virus each month.

If New York City schools open their classrooms to students as planned on September 21, it will be the largest district to have pupils physically in school buildings during the pandemic.

Schools like P.S. 15 have completed surveys on their furniture and street permitting needs in recent days as part of

a last-minute effort by the city to support outdoor learning.

The city’s Department of Education is not expected to respond to the requests before school starts.

The idea of educating students outside in Red Hook would have once raised serious safety concerns.

P.S. 15 is also known as the Patrick F. Daly School, named after a principal who was killed by a stray bullet in 1992 when the neighborhood was infested with violent drug gangs. These

days it is exponentially safer, like the rest of the city.

Eighth grader Lina Rosario, of M.S. 839, is looking forward to getting out of the house and seeing her friends again.

“I was sitting at home and it was really boring,” she said of the online learning that started in March, as her mother watched the demonstration outside P.S. 15. “It got really old, really quickly.”

Naila Rosario, 39, copresident of the PTA at Lina Rosario’s school, says she feels

comfortable with the security measures—a guard at each end of the block—and says streetside classrooms aren’t that different from outdoor school events she’s seen at her school in previous years.

Schools across the country have decided to delay in-person schooling as late as January, citing ventilation issues or lack of space to ensure social distancing.

Supporters of outdoor schooling in Red Hook say that outdoor classrooms can happen on any street with few resources.

The tents used in the demonstration could be vulnerable to wind. The cold might make lessons impossible for a few months. But questions remain as to whether schools can sprawl into city streets while protecting students, and what, if any funding may be available for amenities like tents to protect students from the rain.

But Lander, the city council member, argues that some degree of increased outdoor space is possible and useful.

“I think even when it gets really quite cold that kids and teachers would much rather come outside and eat their lunch outdoors than stay sitting at their desks, in the same desk they’ve been sitting at in the same room, with their masks off,” Lander said. AP

www.businessmirror.com.ph

UN chief urges Japan and others to meet goals on climate change

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he United Nations chief urged Japan and other wealthy nations on Thursday to give up their reliance on coal and other fossil fuels and commit to investments in green energy as they recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made the appeal in an address to an online climate conference hosted by Japan.

Guterres noted that many countries are using the opportunity of the pandemic to double down on green energy and other initiatives, aiming to attain a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the preindustrial average.

“We are facing two critical crises, Covid and climate change,” he said in pre-recorded remarks. He said he hoped the meeting would “leave future generations with the hope that this moment is the true turning point for people and the planet.”

A major UN Climate Change Conference due to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, this November was postponed due to the pandemic. Dubbed COP26, it is to be held there in early November 2021.

Japan’s Environment Ministry has led an initiative called the Online Platform for Sustainable and Resilient Recovery from Covid-19, or “Platform for Redesign 2020.” Its web site says it is a hub that collates countries’ climate and other environmental policies and actions that are planned and implemented in the context of recovery from Covid-19.

Guterres noted that Japan’s advanced technology in many fields should make it a leader in shifting to renewable energy and urged it to stop financing construction of coalfired power plants.

The top priorities, he said, are prioritizing “green” jobs, ending subsidies for use of fossil fuels and taking energy and climate-change issues into account in all decisions.

“Clean energy delivers more jobs, cleaner air, better health and stronger economic growth,” Guterres said.

“It makes no sense economically to burn money on coal plants that will soon become stranded assets,” he added. “There is simply no rational case for coal power in any investment plan.”

Japan scaled back its ambitions for shifting to renewable energy after the massive March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown disasters in the northeastern Tohoku region led it to close down its nuclear power plants for safety overhauls.

Some have restarted but most have not. In the meantime, the country has made up for lost power generating capacity by boosting use of coal, oil and gas, ramping up use of solar power and reducing waste.

The government also has sought to export its expertise and technology by helping to finance construction of coal-fired power plants.

Guterres said the goals of halving global emissions by 2030 and achieving “carbon neutrality” by 2050—key to limiting global warming—were achievable, “but we are currently off track.”

He urged countries participating in the conference to come up with more ambitious plans and long-term strategies before COP26 next year.

In comments delivered on the web site Platform for Redesign 2020, Japan’s environment minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, said the endeavor aims to help countries “redesign their economic and social systems in this time of dual crises.”

The pandemic has slowed most activities, he noted, but “climate change gives us no time to waste.”

“Our task is not to return to the pre-pandemic world, but to build back better,” he said. AP

Science

BusinessMirror

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

Sunday

Sunday, September 6, 2020 A5

DOST Chief’s target: PHL in top 1/3 of global innovation ranking by 2022 T

By Lyn Resurreccion

he Philippines’ jump to 50 in its ranking in Global Innovation Index (GII) from 54 in 2019, or 50 ranks improvement from its 100 rank in 2014, a mere six years ago, was announced on September 2.

But just two days after the worldwide simultaneous announcement of the rankings, Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña expressed his “modest target of 43rd rank” for the Philippines or “to reach the top onethird in the ranking” by 2022.

De la Peña announced his target during the webinar on September 4 on the “Overview of the Philippine Ranking in the Global Innovation Index 2020” that was attended by Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, other government officials and World Intellectual Property Office executives.

“We believe that with our wholeof-government approach [WOGA] and now whole-of-nation approach we can climb up to a higher level,» he said.

Stating how the Philippines reached its 50 rank, he said the country’s rise in ranking, which he called a “victorious” event, “was not an accident” “This is a culmination of our strategy in putting innovovation at the center stage of our policy-making initiative which fortified out capacity as a country to be to strong, resilient and adaptable to change,” he said.

“This is the result of our whole-ofgovernment approach, and at this time we call it a whole-of-nation approach.

We credit the results coming from private business and industry sector, from the academe from everyone, from all the stakeholders,” he said.

The GII is jointly developed by Cornell University, Insead, and the World Intellectual Property Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations. This year, the 13th edition of the GII is themed: “Who Will Finance Innovation?”

Impact of GII ranking on new normal

At a separate webinar with the media on September 2, when asked about the impact of the Philippines’ GII ranking during the new normal amid the pandemic, de la Peña said it “would generate a bigger level of confidence both in terms of our investors and those who would like to invest here in our country.”

He said the GII ranking, like other rankings, “brings more confidence to our country. The higher the ranking the better.”

He said this is the time when we need to give hope and inspiration to people, particularly the young.

“Hearing good news out of the daily depressing news is something we are proud to give,” he added.

He explained that in the past few year the interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses has increased.

From 30,000 level in applications for scholarship exams six years ago has increased to 130,000 applications.

But more importantly, he said, having a higher GII will give some ideas to the young on how to use innovation to improve lives, even to create wealth.

“We have many young people who have accumulated wealth honestly through their innovation-led businesses,” de la Peña said.

He said the government has been trying to encourage tech-based enterprises that are science based, and “if people will know that we are doing good in terms of innovation, it can encourage people to go and try technology-based business.”

He pointed out, though, that not all innovations that are productive will need big investments.

“What is important is that you try to determine which market you are targeting and whether your innovation will meet the demand of

A screenshot of a page of the report on the Philippines’ innovation performance, “Filipinnovation: Financing science for the people,” written by Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña. It is part of the 2020 Global Innovation Index. Lyn Resurreccion

the market,” he explained.

“Today we are experiencing a very different environment and this calls for a lot of changes. Even the enterprises that we are assisting are trying to repurpose or reorient to adjust to the new environment. This calls for a lot of innovative or creative ideas,” de la Peña added.

Low input, big output

In the September 2 webinar, Undersecretar y Rowena Cr istina Guevara noted that in ter ms of I n no v at ion I nput s , t he Ph i l ip pines ranked 70, but it ranked 41 in ter ms of Innovation Out put.

T hat means, she said that “Filipinos are ef f icient innovators. We have more out put even w ith less input.”

She explained that the country improved its ranking despite the low budget because it has “a lot of human resource in S&T.” She said that 13 years ago the

number of MS and PhD graduates of Department of Science and Technology (DOST) scholarships was about 17 only but it increased in the last four years to 400 to 500 MS and PhD graduates.

“They are the source of innovations all over the country,” she said.

She added: “Even with a limited budget of DOST, but because we are targeting specific sectors and we have the harmonized research and development [R&D] agenda, and we have been putting up centers for R&D all over the country, all of these contributed to where we are now in our ranking.”

De la Peña added that innovations in the country are coming from different stakeholders. He also gave credit to universities that are into R&D and are aligning into the harmonized national R&D agenda.

Filipinnovation

De la Peña, one of the authors

featured in the GII 2020 who wrote Chapter 8 of the report on “Filipinnovation: Financing science for the people,” highlighted how the Philippines attained its sustained growth in innovation.

He said the Philippines’ scoring above average in almost all innovation dimensions was a result of various DOST contributions to inclusive innovation.

On top of which is the Filipinnovation program since 2007, where the whole-of-government approach (WOGA) to inclusive innovation was jointly decided by the DOST, Department of Trade and Industry, the National Economic Development Authority, together with representatives from the academe, industry and civil society organizations.

To support national development and sustainable economic growth, WOGA was applied in creating the Philippine Innovation Act in 2019.

Science for Change

The other program that contributed to the rise in innovation climate in the country is the DOST-Science for Change Program (S4CP). It took the lead in government programs in funding innovation efforts through massive increase in investments in science and technology, human resource and development, and R&D projects.

The S4CP sub-program that was created to accelerate science technology and innovation (STI) in the country to keep up with global developments was the Niche Centers in the Regions for R&D Program (NICER). It provides grants to academic institutions in the regions to catalyze and promote regional economic development.

As of August 2020, DOST has established 23 NICERs in 16 regions for a total funding of P852 million.

The centers cover the priority areas/

commodity/product in agriculture, aquatic and marine, environment, industry, energy, emerging technology and health.

Another S4C Program, dubbed as Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine Economy, encourages academe-industry collaborations to conduct research.

To date, the program has forged 49 partnerships with P222 million total grants awarded to 32 academe and 50 industry partners. As a continuing initiative,

Human resource development

Since 2007, the DOST-Science Education Institute has been implementing two graduate scholarship programs for science and engineering called the Accelerated Science and Technology Human Resource Development Program and the Engineering Research and Development for Technology.

Starting from just 17 graduates in 2008, DOST-SEI has produced 400 to 500 MS and PhD graduates per year in the last four years.

The Balik Scientist Program is another program that highly contributed to the country’s innovation. This program facilitates Filipino experts working abroad to return to the Philippines and share their expertise with students, teachers and local industry players.

The result of these efforts is evidenced in the country’s innovation profile showing top 25 rankings for indicators, such as Graduates in science and engineering, Market capitalization, Research talent in business enterprises and High-technology manufacturing.

Guevara said: “ With the high marks achieved by our country in the latest GII, R&D provides us the opportunity to change and mold the shape of our country’s recovery from the pandemic.”

Flying car, anyone?

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This Japanese prototype of the singleseater flying car Skydrive SD-03 successfully completed the first test flight in early August this year. SKYDRIVE

By Recto Mercene

he long-dreamed of flying cars are around the corner, which are considered “the most significant aviation development since the advent of the jet age 60 years ago.”

Were it not for the coronavirus pandemic, the world would have seen a dozen models debuting in major cities.

However, Japan has beaten the rest of the pack, launching in Tokyo in the last week of August the single-seater SD-03 flying car prototype, operated by a test pilot.

The company, SkyDrive Inc., was backed by auto giant Toyota, construction company Obayashi, electronics company NEC, petroleum conglomerate Eneos, the Development Bank of Japan and others.

SkyDrive SD-03, inspired by Luke Skywalker’s Land Speeder and the X-wing Fighter of Star Wars fame, reportedly will morph into a two-seater commercial model by 2023.

Many of the big names in aircraft and car manufacturing industries, including a long list of startups, are entering the race toward producing consumer-ready flying cars and air taxis.

Porsche and Boeing estimated that commercial passenger drones will hit the market around 2025, and several concept models are supposedly ready for takeoff as early as 2021.

Flying cars on trial

China-made Ehang 184 is claimed to be the first passenger drone.

The PAL-V Liberty model looks like more car than aircraft.

Out of 20 models on the list, here are five flying cars undergoing trials.

1. AeroMobil, a Slovak prototype roadable aircraft, designed by Štefan Klein and first flown in 2013. It was produced by AeroMobil s.r.o.

2. Personal Air and Land Vehicle (PAL-V), a Dutch company, is involved in the development of the first commercial flying car, the PAL-V Liberty. It is a compact two-person aircraft that can travel on public roads.

3. Ehang 184 is claimed to be the first passenger drone. China-made, it is an autonomous copter, which costs between $200,000 and $300,000. It can carry passengers up to 260 pounds for 23 minutes on a single charge.

4. Terrafugia TF-X is an autonomous flying car under development by Boston-based Terrafugia.

The TF-X seats four passengers and uses an engine combined with two electric motors for propulsion.

5. Audi Pop.Up Next is a conceptual unmanned flying electric vehicle that can move both on the ground and through the air.

It was jointly developed by German automaker Audi AG and Airbus, the company that designs Italdesign Giugiaro. It was first presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 2018.

AeroMobil has its model originally set to be released this year with a price tag of $1.2 million to $1.6 million.

However, the cost is expected to dramatically go down once commercial scale is attained. The median average is $300,000, but manufacturers aim their product to equal an SUV, which is between $20,000 to $50,000.

Models

A flying car could be brought out of the garage and driven off to work. Some may require a short runway, or the street itself.

Some models have wing-like contraption that extends from somewhere in the body where the rotors are attached, and the vehicle takes to the air after gaining speed.

Honeywell’s flying car concept is named Urban Air Mobility (UAM).

Honeywell is at the leading edge of this revolution in UAM transportation and, in 2019, has partnered with Vertical Aerospace to provide flight deck technologies for UAM. The company is designing the future landing pads in homes or offices.

There are also models that do not convert into cars—such as the hexacopter with tilting rotors; octocopter with rear propeller; single-rotor gyrocopter; folding-wing short takeoff and landing (STOL); quadcopter with tilting rotors; Volocopter 18-rotor copter; or the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle.

The MIT Technical Review published drone-like models with anywhere from 4 rotors to 18 rotors keeping them aloft. Most are fixed-wing craft with propellers that point upwards for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), and tilt forward for flight.

Artificial intelligence

These models have become a reality at the precise confluence of several factors: the development of artificial intelligence, the availability of lithium-ion battery, the mass production of composite materials, such as carbon fiber, and the advances in avionics.

At the moment, an hour-long flight could be achieved by a flying car before it recharges.

Dramatic advances in battery technology, like those used in Tesla cars, would hopefully extend their flight time and distance.

At the moment, some vehicles could be powered by a combination of turbine and electric power, and for a start, pilot-assisted.

Eventually, majority of these vehicle would be completely autonomous for complete safety—like parachutes—and could run on battery power alone.

Filipino-made VTOL

Kyxz Mendoza, a Filipino engineer and hobbyist, came up with Milenya, a VTOL ultralight aircraft.

He has partnered with an Australian company, Star 8 International, in developing his “multicopter”/ flying vehicle, the Koncepto Milenya.

Slovakia-based AeroMobil hybrid flying cars are designed to take off from a runway, like a plane, but has the ability to morph into a car-like vehicle to drive on the road.

They plan to develop commercial versions and has eyed Hong Kong, Europe and Australia as markets.

Star 8 CEO and President Jacob Maimon, said they plan to call it "“electric manned aerial vehicle,” which can accommodate two passengers with a combined weight of 200 kg that hover up in mid-air for about an hour.

USA Today said Paramount Miami World Center, developer of the $600 million, 60-story complex, installed an observation deck at the top that doubles as a landing pad for VTOL vehicles. The tower was set to have its grand opening early this year.

Age of urban air mobility

Honeywell said the age of urban air mobility is upon us and the company is ready to lend its expertise in providing combined technologies in autonomous flight, avionics, electric and hybridelectric propulsion, detect-and-avoid systems, actuation, flight infrastructure and connectivity.

These are the unique needs of unmanned aerial systems and UAM vehicles. Some or all of these latest technologies are incorporated in any of the dozens of tiny aerial vehicles that are about to be offered to the public.

Honeywell’s 100-year-plus history and deep pocket give it the pioneering edge in the newest game in town.

“UAM represents the biggest disruption in aviation since the dawn of the jet age in the 1960s,”said Michael Cervenka, CEO of Vertical Aerospace.

Not far behind

Airbus and Boeing are not far behind. Both have projects under way and smaller companies follow in their wake.

However, the timeline for the launch of flying cars and drones have been impacted by the pandemic.

Germany’s Volocopter has originally planned

to start trials of a flying taxi in Singapore this year.

Uber has claimed it will start test runs next year for a service between Frisco, Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth airpor. It also plans to start commercial flights in 2023, MIT Technical Review said.

Porsche and Boeing's subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences, will work together to develop a luxury electric flying car that can fly short hops across cities.

Aurora has been hard at work at testing its first autonomous electric aircraft in October 2019.

Robotaxis ready by 2025

Auto and tech industry experts predict it will take at least 12 years before fully autonomous flying cars are sold to private buyers.

Industry insiders, however, think robotaxis will not be ready for widespread public use until 2025.

The paramount concern of flying car builders at the moment is safety because a single accident would set back the fledgling industry by God knows how long.

Also, aviation bodies have yet to come up with new rules and regulations to address their specific needs, such as noise abatement, pollution, and aerial tracks like those used by commercial airplanes.

Greener than e-cars

“These fantasy-like vehicles are encroaching on the outer fringes of reality,” according to a new study in Nature.

It said that for some journeys, flying cars could eventually be greener than even electric road cars as they are cutting emissions, while also reducing traffic on increasingly busy roads.

Some are even predicting that it would surpass the autonomous electric cars in popularity, which had to deal with many obstructions, like people, other cars and lamp posts.

And yes, in the sky, there are no obstructions once an altitude is sufficiently reached.

Faith A6 Sunday, September 6, 2020

Sunday

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

Prelates welcome anew 10% capacity in Masses under GCQ

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atholic prelates welcomed the government’s decision to allow again 10-percent capacity in religious gatherings in areas under the general community quarantine (GCQ) amid the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Volunteers disinfect the Santisima Trinidad Parish in Malate, Manila, from possible coronavirus that might linger on surfaces. However, the parish, which is under construction, does not yet hold public Masses, although it has been holding online Masses and parishioners can pray inside the Church. Facebook

Manila Apostolic Administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo said they will follow the requirements set by the government in opening religious activities including public Masses to the faithful.

“Thank God and they [InterAgency Task Force officials] allow [the 10-percent seating capacity] again. We are happy and we will comply with the requirements,” he said in a text message.

Mea nwh i le, Cubao Bi shop

Honesto Ongtioco said “ it is a welcome blessing.”

“Some parishioners have been asking about the number of people who can attend our Masses.

We see our services as essential since our people need some support system when we talk of stress, psychological needs, or support,” he said.

Prior to the easing of restrictions in religious gatherings, only 10 people are allowed to at-

tend Eucharistic Celebration in Churches under GCQ. O n Tue s d ay, P re s id e nt i a l Spokesman Harr y Roque said religious gatherings can resume in GCQ areas, including Metro Manila, but will be limited to 10 percent of the Church’s seating capacity.

Besides the National Capital Region, the provinces of Bulacan and Batangas, and the cities of Tacloban and Bacolod would still be under GCQ until September 30.

Iligan City in Lanao del Norte was placed under modified enhanced community quarantine while the rest of the country was put under modified GCQ. The measure came as many Filipinos look forward to Christmas as early as September, as the Philippines is known as among countries around the world that have the longest celebration of the season.

‘Keep faith amid pandemic’

Meanwhile, Daet Bishop Rex Andrew Alarcon on Saturday urged Filipinos to keep the faith and believe that God would see them through Covid-19 pandemic.

“What we are in right now makes us realize our limitations and these are many. It also shows us that if we are alone, we will not be able to handle it,” Alarcon said in an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas.

“There are many challenges.

We need to help each other and believe because God has given us the capacity to face adversities

and even in difficult times, you can make a difference,” he added.

Alarcon, chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Youth of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said the crisis being faced by the country, as well as the world, has triggered mental health problems, which at times end up in attempts to end one’s life.

Because of the limitations brought about by the pandemic, he said, many people suffer from depression, sadness and being alone, owing to the absence of interaction with colleagues and friends.

Alarcon noted the importance of looking after one’s mental health by taking care of the body, through the intake of nutritious food, and satisfying the heart, by adopting a positive perspective and disposition in life.

“What we are eating, what we are putting inside our bodies, should be the same with what we put in our hearts and minds. What do we keep in our mind[s]? Anger, pity, worries. So they should have much more positive thoughts and nurture a healthy disposition, what we also called a healthy realism. While we still have hope and faith, we are also realistic that what situation we are in right now will not change overnight,” Alarcon added.

Since the onset of the community quarantine in March due to the pandemic, the National Center for Mental Health has been receiving 300 to 400 phone calls per month from people experiencing different mental health problems. PNA

Vaccine vs religious beliefs: Legal arguments for Covid-19 lawsuits

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he longer Covid-19 rages on, the more the United States appears to be hanging its hopes on the development and rapid, mass distribution of a vaccine.

Getting a safe and effective vaccine out to the public could be a game changer, health experts believe. But stopping the virus’s spread will only happen if enough people choose—or are required—to get vaccinated.

However, while some people may see it as their “patriotic duty” to get vaccinated, others won’t.

Opponents may challenge vaccination requirements based on claims of religious liberty or under specific laws that would allow for a religious exemption from any Covid-19 vaccine mandates.

In some states, including Indiana and Massachusetts, there are laws allowing parents to cite religious reasons to opt out of childhood immunization requirements.

As a public health lawyer and ethicist who has researched issues related to vaccination policy, I’m often asked about the role a vaccine mandate could play in our Covid-19 response.

My answer is a common lawyer’s response: “It depends,” as this question raises numerous questions of its own.

‘Safe and effective?’

Whether or not a vaccine mandate is appropriate will depend upon how safe the vaccine is determined to be, what it protects against and how well it offers protection.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn has been adamant that the agency “will not cut corners” in their vaccine review process, and that the decision “will be based on science and data.” Any suggestion otherwise would damage public trust.

But public hesitancy to vaccines was already one of the biggest global public health concerns even before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Added to this are the vaccine misinformation and conspiracies that have flourished during the epidemic.

These may explain why 35 percent of Americans say they will not get the vaccine.

While troubling, it’s unclear how many in this camp will keep that opinion if Covid-related illnesses, injuries and disruptions to our lives continue, and a vaccine becomes readily available.

And we do not know enough about Covid-19 immunity yet to know what share of the

A nurse (right) gives a volunteer from Harpersville, New York, an injection as a study of a possible Covid-19 vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., gets under way in Binghamton, New York, on July 27. AP/Hans Pennink

population would need to be vaccinated for a community to achieve herd immunity and stop the virus’ spread.

A mandate may not be necessary, although those refusing vaccination tend to cluster, leaving potential pockets of continued vulnerability.

‘If/then’ mandates

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said he would be “pretty surprised” if vaccination became mandatory for any part of the population.

But other experts have raised the possibility of a vaccine being mandatory as part of a “if/then” proposition—in other words, someone can only do something if they are first vaccinated.

For example, proof of vaccination could be required to engage in certain jobs, such as prison staff or line workers in meat processing plants.

Some businesses, such as nursing homes and hospitals might require vaccination for those who work with certain high-risk populations.

It also could be required to gain access to certain spaces, such as schools or sporting events, or to qualify for certain benefits, like freedom to travel to other states without having to quarantine.

These types of rules already exist, for example, in many universities, which require students living in dorms be vaccinated against meningitis.

Another approach would be to mandate the vaccine for certain populations based upon risk characteristics, such as those who live in

nursing homes.

Under these scenarios, would religious or personal exemptions override any mandate? That depends on who issues the mandate.

Recent guidance from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suggests that a request to be exempted from an employer’s flu vaccination mandate based on “sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observances” would be protected under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The guidance doesn’t explicitly state that the same rule would apply for Covid-19—because there is no Covid-19 vaccine at this time—but it seems clear that the commission would prefer that “employers consider simply encouraging employees” to get vaccinated.

That said, there is a provision under the law that would allow businesses not to honor this exemption if it created “undue hardship.”

In care facilities, where employees interact regularly with vulnerable populations, employers likely will be able to make “undue hardship” arguments and prevent exemptions.

But people working in a typical office environment, or in a service industry position, would probably be able to make a religion-based claim to opt out.

It gets a little more complicated when it comes to any state-issued vaccine mandate. A number of states have created laws protecting religious rights beyond the First Amendment.

Florida and Texas, for example, allow

parents to opt their children out of school vaccinations citing deeply held religious beliefs or philosophical opposition.

Twenty-one states have religious freedom laws prohibiting even minimal interference with residents’ right to practice their faith.

In states with these laws, legislatures may need to amend the statute to avoid challenges and allow for universal vaccination mandates for adults.

These exemptions for religious beliefs are political choices. There are no Constitutional or ethical obligations to require an opt out to a vaccine that may be key to stopping a pandemic, should a state wish to prioritize protecting their residents from Covid-19 through mandating vaccination.

Even during this pandemic, most courts, including the Supreme Court, have been hesitant to interfere with the decisions made by state officials taking steps to keep the community safe from a dangerous outbreak.

As Chief Justice John G. Roberts recently described, these are emergency circumstances “fraught with medical and scientific uncertainties,” and moment-to-moment management of such situations are best left to the elected officials who are directly accountable to the public.

‘No liberty to expose community’

A requirement that someone be vaccinated imposes a greater burden on personal liberty than, say, having to attend Church virtually as opposed to in person.

However, as the Supreme Court stated in 1941, “The right to practice religion freely does not include liberty to expose the community...to communicable disease.”

Justice Antonin Scalia, speaking for the court nearly 50 years later, came to a similar conclusion that laws advancing civic obligations, such as compulsory vaccination, may override claims of religious freedom.

In any case, as Fauci alludes to: Talk of a mandate may be moot. Almost two-thirds of the American public have said they would get the vaccine if it were available today. Should a safe, effective vaccine be developed, there will likely be tremendous demand to get the shot.

But should states or businesses feel it is necessary to require vaccination to bring about the end of the pandemic, I believe it is likely that courts will support them in these protective efforts.

Ross D. Silverman/The Conversation

Pope: Use pandemic to give the environment a vital ‘rest’

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ATICAN CITY—The Covid-19 pandemic has shown how the Earth can recover “if we allow it to rest” and must spur people to adopt simpler lifestyles to help a planet “groaning” under the constant demand for economic growth, Pope Francis said this past week.

In his latest urgent appeal to help a fragile environment, Francis also renewed his call for the cancellation of the debts of the most vulnerable countries. Such action would be just, he said, since rich countries have exploited poorer nations’ natural resources.

“In some ways, the current pandemic has led us to rediscover simpler and sustainable lifestyles,” Francis said in a written message.

“Already we can see how the Earth can recover if we allow it to rest: the air becomes cleaner, the waters clearer, and animals have returned to many places from where they had previously disappeared,” he wrote. “The pandemic has brought us to a crossroads.”

The pontiff urged people to seize the opportunity to reflect on their habits of energy usage, consumption, transportation and diet.

Until now, “constant demand for growth and an endless cycle of production and consumption are exhausting the natural world,” the pope said, adding, “Creation is groaning.”

People must be aware of their rightful place in nature, never thinking themselves masters of what Francis described as the “interconnected web of life.”

Disintegrating biodiversity, climate disasters and the “unjust impact of the current pandemic on the poor and the vulnerable” amount to a “wakeup call in the face of our rampant greed and consumption,” the pope wrote.

Francis hailed “our indigenous brothers and sisters who live in harmony with the land and its multiple forms of life.”

He urged protection for these communities from companies, particularly multinational ones, which carry out “destructive extraction” of such resources as fossil fuels, minerals and timber.

Citing the medical, social and economic crises triggered by the pandemic, Francis said it was “time for restorative justice.”

“We also need to ensure that the recovery packages being developed and deployed at global, regional and national levels must be regeneration packages,” Francis said, without naming any particular nations or regions.

Drawing attention to Earth’s fragility is a hallmark of Francis’s papacy. He poignantly stressed people’s pressing responsibilities to heal and care for the environment in a 2015 encyclical.

The pontiff issued his appeal on to mark the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, an annual occasion that was established for Christians in the wake of the encyclical Laudato Si’ (Praise Be to You!).

Francis invited all nations to “adopt more ambitious national targets to reduce emissions” harming the environment. AP

Hindu god Ganesh fest

A devotee wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus offers prayers before immersing an idol of elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha on the final day of Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Hyderabad, India, on September 1. The festival is a celebration of the birth of Ganesha, the Hindu god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. AP/Mahesh Kumar A.

Religious tourism hit hard by pandemic as sites close, pilgrimages on hold

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eligious tourism is among the oldest forms of planned travel and to this day remains a huge industry. About 300 million to 330 million tourists visit the world’s key religious sites every year, according to a 2017 estimate. Some 600 million national and international religious trips are made around the world, generating around $18 billion in global revenues.

It makes up a sizeable chunk of an overall tourism sector that has been significantly affected by the spread of the coronavirus, with 63.8 percent of travelers reducing their travel plans as a result.

Concern of all faiths

As Covid-19 evolved to become a global pandemic, governments across the globe closed sacred sites and temporarily banned religious travel.

It has affected popular destinations of all faiths.

Jerusalem, Vatican City and Mecca—which attract millions of Jewish, Christian and Muslim visitors, respectively, annually—are among the worst affected.

Likewise, Buddhist sites, such as Nepal’s Lumbini Temples and India’s Mahabodhi Temple, as well as the Hindu temple of Kashi Vishwanath, have seen a slump in visitors.

This has had huge financial implications for the host countries.

For example, last year approximately 2.5 million Muslims from around the world performed the hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, with nearly 2 million coming from outside of Saudi Arabia.

However, this year only around 10,000 people were expected to do the pilgrimage while observing social distancing measures.

The Saudi Kingdom usually earns $12 billion per year from the hajj and the Umrah—a minor pilgrimage that can be done anytime during the year.

The pilgrimages are seen as a way to diversify the economy from being reliant on the oil sector.

Year-round religious visits contributes to 20 percent of the kingdom’s nonoil GDP and around 7 percent of the total GDP. The Saudi Kingdom’s economy is already reeling from the impact of low oil prices, which have led to a budget deficit. It is expected to shrink by 6.8 percent in 2020.

Religion and revenues

Saudi Arabia is far from alone. Jordan, which hosts 35 Islamic sites and shrines and 34 Christian holy sites, has closed its borders because of Covid-19.

Tourism accounts for about 15 percent of the country’s GDP and sustains an estimated 55,000 jobs.

Last year more than 1 million travelers visited Wadi Musa, the Jordanian Valley of Moses—an important site where Moses is said to have produced water from a rock. Up to 80 percent of people’s income in the area relies on tourism.

Tourism revenues in Jordan dropped by 10.7 percent to $1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2020 as the pandemic spread.

It is a similar story across the Middle East.

In Iran, only 20,000 domestic tourists and 66 foreign tourists visited Yazd—a United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) world heritage site that dates back to AD 224—between March and June 2020.

The site is a holy place for followers of Islam, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. The number of tourists this year represents just 1 percent of the figure for the previous year.

In June, just 5,800 people visited Israel, a religiously important destination for Christians, Muslims and Jews alike, compared to 365,000 for the same month in 2019.

It is expected that the pandemic will result in a $1.16-billion damage to the country’s tourism industry, according to the Israel Hotel Association.

For some prominent individual sites of pilgrimage, the loss of revenue has been devastating—and it is an experience shared across the globe.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in France usually welcomes up to 5 million visitors every year. But in order to curtail the spread in France, the shrine closed, offering only virtual pilgrimages. It has reportedly resulted in a deficit of $9.06 million for the sanctuary.

Many places of pilgrimage support a whole industry in travel, transport and accommodation, and all that has taken a hit.

For the entire travel industry, this unprecedented crisis has resulted in a $2.7-trillion drop in revenue and job losses in excess of 100 million in 2020.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimates that for the year, international arrivals will be down by between 850 million to 1.1 billion, depending on when borders fully reopen.

Spiritual well-being

And it isn’t just about the financial hit. Uncertainty and anxiety related to Covid-19 also affects people’s psychological and mental health. Many people indulge in religious tourism for reasons of spiritual comfort or to pray for forgiveness or salvation.

For others it is a way to demonstrate their devotion to a faith. In some religions, there is a belief that all individuals who are healthy and financially able to should undertake a journey to their respective holy sites at least once in their lifetime.

This is true, for example, for Muslims and participation in the hajj.

As such, people may have put away savings their entire life and planned for years for such a trip. Having to abandon these plans due to travel restrictions or the closure of religious sites can be particularly distressing.

Government subsidies and relief packages, along with the implementation of comprehensive safety and recovery measures, can help revive customer trust and lead to increased travel.

But as scholars of the travel industry, we do believe that due to the ongoing travel restrictions and a slump in confidence in travel amid the pandemic, countries with a heavy reliance on tourism will likely continue to face challenges.

And the uncertainty and possibility of newer waves of virus may further dent the tourism industry, including religious travel. Faizan Ali/The Conversation

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

BFAR, USAID host workshop to battle illegal fishing in PHL

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he governments of the Philippines and the United States recently held a workshop to measure and understand the negative impacts of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the country.

Supported by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Fish Right program, experts from the University of the Philippines School of Statistics facilitated the online workshop on September 2 and 3, the US Embassy said in a news release.

It brought together 135 participants from various sectors to increase their understanding on IUU fishing at a national level.

“This exercise is a critical first step to understanding the complex global threat that IUU fishing represents to ocean health and maritime security,” said US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission John Law during the opening session of the workshop.

“I commend the Philippine government as it continues to ramp up its efforts against IUU fishing through investment in multi-stakeholder and interagency actions,” Law added.

“As we cope and recover from this pandemic, we need to ensure our food security, while at the same time consider our natural capital—our fish stocks and their habitats,“ said Undersecretary for Fisheries and BFAR National Director Eduardo Gongona.

He said this is the bluer normal they want “to achieve toward the vision of a food secured and resilient Philippines with prosperous farmers and fishers. We cannot afford to lose our fish to IUU fishing.”

IUU fishing is a far-reaching and complex issue that threatens ocean health and maritime security of nations.

While it is believed to be widespread in the Philippines, its magnitude, prevalence and impacts are yet to be accurately quantified.

The workshop aims to help bolster the Philippine government’s efforts to reduce IUU fishing in the country.

It said quantifying the losses to harmful fishing practices will enable fisheries managers to use the best available data to inform fishery policies. This will be undertaken through the collaboration of BFAR and USAID in developing an IUU Fishing Index and Threat Assessment Tool that local governments can use to produce a more standard metric of IUU fishing throughout the country.

Sustainable and responsible fisheries management is foundational to the journey to a “bluer normal” leading to a prosperous, secure and resilient Philippines.

These efforts demonstrate the long-term partnership and joint strategic vision of the US and Philippine governments to combat IUU fishing and enhance the well-being of millions of Filipinos who depend on fisheries for food and livelihoods, the news release said.

A7

PHILIPPINE EAGLES GEOTHERMICA AND SAMBISIG AT JURONG BIRD PARK

An evolving love story in Singapore

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By Jonathan L. Mayuga

fter one year and two months since they were transferred from the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City to the Jurong Bird Park in Singapore, the Philippine eagle pair—Geothermica and Sambisig— is now well adapted to their new environment and may well be on the way to renewing a not-so-old and familiar feeling toward each other.

Astoundingly, despite what can be considered an unwanted breakup, the mutual attraction between the two eagles which began in 2018 before their journey to Singapore as “Ambassadors for Philippine Biodiversity,” is back and is getting stronger, even as they are still living separately at the Birds of Prey Enclosure that was especially constructed for the majestic birds.

At the Jurong Bird Park, its staff members are hoping to see Geo and Sam, their nicknames, finally getting to know each other more and becoming “more than friends”—and finally having their first egg soon.

All this with the hope of producing offsprings and helping save the Philippine national bird from extinction within the 10-year period that they are allowed to remain in Singapore.

Unique species

The Philippine eagle is a unique species. They pair for life and both parents are needed to hatch an egg, feed and nurture the young until it is ready to fly and leave its nest to find its own territory.

It takes at least two years for a pair to breed a single chick, hence, making breeding a tough job for both parents.

A Philippine eagle chick is said to be vulnerable and may succumb to disease as it is exposed to the elements and the brutal jungle environment.

Wildlife loan agreement

Geo and Sam were flown to Singapore in June 2019 as part of a Wildlife Loan Agreement between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and

Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

This was the first time that the government allowed the Philippine eagle to be loaned, highlighting the bilateral diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The arrival of the eagles to Singapore on June 5, 2019, also coincided with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Singapore, DENR Assistant Secretary Ricardo Calderon said in a telephone interview on August 18.

The Wildlife Loan Agreement with Singapore, he said, is also a way of promoting the country’s iconic bird. “Like the bald eagle of America, the Philippines has the Philippine eagle. One of the largest bird of preys in the world,” said Calderon, the concurrent director of the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) .

In good hands

Calderon said the eagles appear to be in good hands, and is satisfied with the way the eagles are being cared for.

“So far, they are in good condition.

The habitat and enclosures are good and there are dedicated people for the breeding of the eagles,” Calderon said in a mix of English and Filipino.

He bared that the Wildlife Reserves Singapore is planning to transfer the eagles to a bigger and better enclosure, which will be helpful in the pairing of the rare eagle pair.

Captive-breeding program

The partnership between the Philippines and Singapore is part of a conservation strategy to save the endemic Philippine species from

trimming, both eagles remain healthy and strong.

Geo has had the opportunity to practice his hunting skill and killed some iguanas and monitor lizards.

Lovers’ quarrel

Geothermica and Sambisig at Jurong Bird Park in Singapore. Photo from Philippine Eagle Foundation

extinction by breeding the eagles outside the Philippines.

Besides massive habitat loss and being hunted to the brink of extinction, the threat of deadly zoonotic diseases, such as avian influenza, is real, Calderon said.

It is believed that only around 400 pairs of the iconic bird of prey is left in the wild, and a deadly virus that cause avian flu could cause their extinction.

Hence, the need for a second metapopulation other than the Philippine Eagle Center, which has a successful captive-breeding program, came as insurance of sorts, he said.

Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview on August 26.

The PEF is the DENR’s partner in the conservation of the Philippine eagle. It manages the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City and is credited for the successful captive-breeding program of one of the world’s rarest birds.

Ibañez said before they were flown to Singapore, the two were starting to bond and are, in fact, close to being “a pair” However, because they will be sent to Singapore, the breeding efforts were stopped.

ZIMS ID

Good health, good diet

Upon their arrival in Singapore, both eagles received local ID’s in Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), Kimberly Wee, of the Jurong Bird Park’s Avian Department, said in the annual report to the DENR by Wildlife Reserves Singapore on July 23.

ZIMS is an online database of captive animals under human care in Singapore. It acts as a zoological data collection and management software and contains information on more than 22,000 species and 10 million individual animals.

The database covers a wide range of information and is used to help zoological institutions managing captive animals, Wee said.

Love history

17-y e ar- old Geo, t he ma le eagle, is younger than Sam by a year. Both were hatched at the Philippine Eagle Center.

The two were previously introduced to other partners but with no success, Jayson Ibañez, director for Research and Conservation at the

Both eagles are properly taken cared of by their Singapore caretakers. Before their transfer to the Asean country, the PEF trained a team from the Jurong Bird Park for a week to learn how to care for the pair of the world’s largest birds of prey.

According to Wee, the eagles are fed once a day, with a maximum of 300 grams of meat—either of goat, horse, quail and rat. The eagles rejected rabbit meat which was initially offered by their caretakers.

“The indigestible parts of their animal [feed], such as the bones and fur, get regurgitated into small pellets called ‘castings.’

These castings can be regularly found in the eagles’ [excrement] and are a good sign that the eagle is eating and digesting its food well,” Wee said.

To ensure they remain healthy, they are fed with a mineral supplement containing vitamin D3 once a week.

Except for Sam, whose overgrown beak had to be “fixed” via

According to Wee, on the first few months of their arrival, Geo and Sam were seen bickering a few times a day.

“They fight by launching, talons first, onto the adjoining mesh in an attempt to grab the other. They are protected from each other by the double mesh, which prevents them from being able to physically touch or grab onto each other,” she said.

But as time went on, the number of these incidents has decreased. Wee said the fights rarely occur recently.

“They have been seen showing signs of bonding, and can be occasionally be seen either sitting or eating together peacefully,” We observed.

Moreover, Wee said the eagles can now regularly be seen “exhibiting natural behaviors, such as eating, preening, sun/rain bathing and vocalizing in the presence of people.”

Better facility, habitat

PEF Executive Director Dennis Salvador expects Geo and Sam to reunite but it will take time, he said in a telephone interview on August 27.

However, with their history together, Salvador is confident that Sam and Geo will eventually get along and become a pair and breed.

He expects the breeding effort to improve and gain headway as the Wildlife Reser ves Singapore plans to transfer the two to a bigger facility.

With the Jurong Bird Park team, being properly trained by the PEF to do the job, Salvador is confident that the breeding program will succeed.

In case of failure, in case Geo and Sam relationship will not work and produce offspring, he said the DENR and PEF may eventually decide to pick another partner for either of the two eagles.

However, he remains confident that with the positive development reported by the Wildlife Resources Singapore, everything is looking good.

Salvador said it is now up to the eagles’ caretakers to decide the right time for Geo and Sam to be brought together in one enclosure and make their breeding happen.

Endangered tamaraw killed in Mindoro; poachers escape

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tamaraw, a critically endangered species, was shot and butchered by poachers who escaped apprehending authorities recently.

Alert rangers spotted the poachers drying meat near the base of Mt. McGowen inside the Mounts Iglit-Baco National Park (MIBNP) on August 28, said a news release from the United Nations Development Programme’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (UNDP-Biofin).

Two poachers were quickly surrounded and caught by park rangers and wardens, while a third escaped.

Two pugakang (homemade shotguns) were confiscated, as well as a sack of tamaraw meat, to be dried and illegally sold as tapa , or buffalo bush jerky.

“We’ll eat some of the meat and sell the rest on the market,” remarked one of the poachers in Filipino.

After three hours in custody, the two apprehended poachers ran off and escaped into the jungle.

The tamaraw is the world’s most endangered buffalo species and is considered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered, the highest risk-rating for any species.

Tamaraw Conservation Program (TCP) and park rangers recover fresh strips of tamaraw meat being dried as tapa (beef jerky). The meat came from a tamaraw bull which was approximately six years old. Tamaraw Conservation Programme

Only around 600 tamaraw are left worldwide, most found in four isolated areas in Mindoro.

They are legally protected under the Wildlife Act, or Republic Act 9147. Killing endangered wildlife entails up to 12 years of jail time plus a fine of up to P1 million.

“Poachers might be using the Covid-19 lockdown as an opportunity to illegally enter

our country’s protected areas and hunt animals.

Rest assured that our rangers won’t stand for this. We’ll see to it that these poachers are prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” vowed Tamaraw Conservation Program (TCP) Head Neil Anthony del Mundo.

Dedicated rangers and wardens of TCP and MIBNP have been conserving the tamaraw for decades. From less than 100 animals in 1969,

the number increased to about 600.

D espite being underequipped and underfunded, TCP’s rangers and wardens continue patrolling forestland to protect the tamaraw—facing armed poachers, snakes, leeches, flash floods and hidden animal traps on a daily basis.

Just one of TCP’s 24 rangers is a regular employee with benefits. One ranger plus 32 of the 35 park wardens recently lost their jobs when the park closed due to the pandemic.

“DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] strongly condemns this act of slaughtering endangered wildlife,” said DENR Assistant Secretary Ricardo Calderon.

“Nothing, not even the pandemic, is an excuse to kill legally protected wildlife for no one is above the law. We will work with both the DENR Mimaropa and the TCP to ensure that poachers get the punishment they deserve. Let this serve as a lesson for would-be poachers,” Calderon said.

The UNDP-Biofin and the DENR, and allies like PH Parks and Biodiversity have recently launched #TogetherforTamaraws and the Tamaraw Society to raise cash gifts for the rangers, particularly those most affected by the pandemic.

“Our tamaraw frontliners, who in spite of losing incomes due to the pandemic, continue their daily patrols without expectation of compensation just to ensure the safety of our tamaraw,” said Biofin Philippines Project Manager Anabelle Plantilla.

“It is high time and urgent that budgetary resources for environmental protection and enforcement be given utmost priority for protected areas, which are home to critically endangered and threatened species like the tamaraw,” Plantilla added.

Biofin hopes to raise approximately P1.149 million by October 2020 to help secure the sorely needed allowances and provisions for the tamaraw frontliners until January 2021. Plantilla enjoins everyone “to help the tamaraw frontliners by supporting #TogetherforTamaraws.”

“UNDP Philippines continues to support the rangers and wardens through the #TogetherforTamaraws campaign. Now more than ever, we need to join efforts to protect the tamaraw—a species in danger of extinction. We must protect what is left of our collective respect for life on Earth,” said UNDP Philippines Resident Representative Enrico Gaveglia.

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 Sunday, September 6, 2020

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By Stephen Wade The Associated Press

OKYO—The Tokyo Olympics are already the most expensive Summer Games on record with costs set to go higher, a wide-ranging study from Britain’s University of Oxford indicates.

The Tokyo cost overrun already exceeds 200 percent, lead author Bent Flyvbjerg explained in an interview with The Associated Press. This is even before several billion more dollars are added on from the one-year delay from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Flyvbjerg is an economist at Oxford’s Said Business School. His entire study is available here, and it’s set to be published on September 15 in the journal Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. It’s titled “Regression to the Tail: Why the Olympics Blow Up.” Tokyo, postponed until July 23, 2021, is only a small part of the focus. The study—the third in a series following editions 2012 and 2016—looks at Olympic costs since 1960 and finds they keep increasing despite claims by the International Olympic Committee that costs are being cut.

Flyvbjerg cites many reasons for the rising costs and cost overruns, and offers solutions for the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The vast majority of costs are picked up by governments with the IOC contributing only a small portion.

“The Olympics offer the highest level of risk a city can take on,” Flyvbjerg told AP. “The trend cannot continue. No city will want to do this because it’s just too expensive, putting themselves into a debt that most cities cannot afford.”

In his paper, Flyvbjerg cites Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, whose city is to hold the 2028 Olympics following Paris in 2024.

“Most cities, unless you have a government that’s willing to go into debt or pay the subsidy of what this costs, most cities will never say ‘yes’ to the Olympics again unless they find the right model,” he quotes Garcetti as saying.

By the right model, Garcetti means lower costs.

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

MOST EXPENSIVE SUMMER GAMES Tracking Olympic costs is difficult, a dense maze of overlap and debate. Politicians and organizers always argue over what are—and what are not—Olympic expenses.

Flyvbjerg writes: “Unfortunatley, Olympics officials and hosts often misinform about the costs and cost overruns of the Games.... We therefore cannot count on organizers, the IOC, and governments to provide us with reliable information about the real costs, cost overruns, and cost risks of the Olympic Games.”

Flyvbjerg looks only at costs to operate the games—the operating costs and capital costs—the cost to build sports venues. He leaves out a third category, which is usually many times larger: renovating roads, building airports, and what he calls “sprucing up projects,” which also fall to taxpayers.

“Our estimates are conservative because there are lots of costs that are hidden that we can’t get into,” Flyvbjerg said. “And there are lots of costs we decided not to include because it’s too complex. We include the things we can get the most reliable numbers for and we do it in the same way for each city that we study.”

He also excludes the cost of debt, and the future cost of running sports venues after the Olympics leave, and inflation.

According to the Oxford numbers. Tokyo’s spending is at $15.84 billion, already surpassing the 2012 London Olympics, which were the most expensive summer games to date at $14.95

Abe

Tokyo organizers want Abe to stay

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A PHOTOGRAPHER takes photos of the lantern containing the Olympic Flame in Tokyo. AP

billion. He expects several billion more from the cost of the one-year delay.

Tokyo organizers say officially they are spending $12.6 billion. However, a national auditor says the actual costs are twice that high, made up of some expenses that the Oxford study omits because they are not constant between different Olympics.

Tokyo said the cost would be $7.3 billion when it won the bid in 2013.

“They [IOC] obviously don’t like our results, but it’s very difficult to counter a piece of rigorous research like this,” Flyvbjerg said.

“And they haven’t done that, and they can’t do that. Our research is a problem for them.”

In an e-mail to The Associated Press, the IOC said it had not seen the latest Oxford study and declined to comment.It referenced another study by Mainz and Sorbonne universities.

This study also found Olympic cost overruns but said they were in line with other large-scale projects. Flyvbjerg’s study finds they are not.

Flyvbjerg said he has been in touch on and

off with the IOC and had sent a colleague to an IOC workshop. He said a major reason for the rising costs is that the IOC does not pay for them. He also cited rising security costs, and moving the games around the world. He calls this the “Eternal Beginner Syndrome” with new host cities starting basically from scratch.

He’s said the IOC has tried recently to rein in costs, but the effort is “too little, too late.”

“They [IOC] define the specs but don’t pay for them,”Flyvbjerg said. “This is pretty similar to you and I giving the specs for a house that we are going to live in, but we don’t have to pay for it. How do you think we’d spend? We’d gold-plate it. This is what has happened over time.”

Flyvbjerg said he’s relish a chance to sit and talk with IOC President Thomas Bach. He calls himself a fan of the Olympics.

“It’s not that the IOC hasn’t been willing to talk, or I am not willing to talk,”he said. “We certainly are. We have communicated in writing to keep the IOC informed. But yes, we would like to sit down with Thomas Bach.”

RGANIZERS of next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games are hoping Shinzō Abe will continue to help with preparations for the postponed event even after he steps down as Prime Minister, according to Tokyo 2020 Chief Executive Toshirō Mutō.

Abe announced his resignation last week, citing health problems, and his successor could be announced as early as September 16.

The 65-year-old, who suffers from ulcerative colitis, is to receive new and more prolonged treatment.

Abe’s departure with less than a year to go until the opening of the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics has dealt a considerable blow to organizers, but Mutō is hopeful the departing Prime Minister will remain involved.

“Abe was very active in our winning bid of the Tokyo Olympics. He also made the difficult decision of postponing the Games by a year,” Mutō said. “It would be very encouraging for us if he could continue to guide us in our efforts with countering the coronavirus and hosting the Olympics, even after he steps down.”

Abe had been heavily involved in both Tokyo 2020’s preparations for the Games, pushed back to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the Japanese capital’s successful bid.

He addressed International Olympic Committee (IOC) members at the 2013 Session in Buenos Aires, where Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, and is thought to have allayed fears over the Fukushima nuclear accident.

At the Rio 2016 Closing Ceremony, he appeared dressed as the popular Nintendo character Mario in one of the evening’s most memorable moments.

As the coronavirus crisis came to dominate the buildup to the Games, it was Abe and IOC President Thomas Bach who agreed to postpone the event until 2021. Insidethegames

Tradition shelved at Kentucky Derby due to pandemic

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OUISVILLE, Kentucky—Change is slow in coming to the Kentucky Derby. From being run on the first Saturday in May to the playing of “My Old Kentucky Home” since 1921, tradition rules America’s most famous race.

Custom is getting a swift kick in 2020.

The coronavirus pandemic forced the 146th Derby to be pushed back to Labor Day weekend, the first time since 1945 that it won’t be held on its usual May date.

The 17-horse field will break from a new starting gate on Saturday, one to be used only for the Derby. It fits 20 horses, the typical size of the field, which is slightly smaller this year.

Derby horses have previously been loaded into two gates—a main gate for the first 14 runners and an auxiliary gate for the rest. Churchill Downs began using starting gates in 1930—the first electronically operated 14-stall gate was introduced in 1941. The track has used the auxiliary gate for the past 22 years.

“In the horse world, anything new no one wants to try,” said starter Scott Jordan, who presses the button that springs the gate simultaneously in the Derby. “They don’t like change.”

Most American racetracks use 14-horse gates because there’s rarely more than that in a given race. Overseas, it’s common to have fields of 20 or more.

The new Derby gate, designed by an Australian company, was modified slightly to make room for an assistant starter in the gate with a horse after loading. Their job is to keep the horse under control and hold its head straight when the gate springs open.

Overseas, it’s common for a jockey to be alone in the gate and responsible for getting his horse off to a solid start.

“The starter is so important,” said trainer Bob Baffert, a five-time Derby winner.

The partitions between the horses are narrower in the new gate, which puts the

horses standing closer together.

“When they leave there if you break a step slow, there’ll be a lot of bouncing out of there,” Baffert said.

Tiz the Law, the early 3-5 Derby favorite, and 5-1 second choice Honor A. P. have stood in the new gate this week to familiarize themselves with it. Other Derby runners will visit the gate before Saturday.

Perhaps the biggest change with the new gate is that horses in the No. 1 and No. 20 posts would move in about 10-15 feet on each end, Jordan said.

It’s the result of the length of the gate being shorter than the two other gates combined and also takes into account the wide gap that existed between the two old gates.

It would have helped Lookin At Lucky, the Derby favorite in 2010. He got pinned to the rail coming out of the gate and had nowhere to go until making a late run and finishing sixth.

The Derby field was reduced to 17 after King Guillermo was scratched Thursday because of a fever. As a result, posts No. 1, 2 and 20 will be vacant.

However, the horses still keep their same post position numbers.

Finnick the Fierce drew the No. 1 post, but will move in two spots. The chestnut gelding is missing his right eye, the result of a congenital cataract, so he won’t see the rest of the field on his right.

Authentic drew the No. 20 post, but he’ll move in one spot, giving him less ground to make up as the field sprints away from the gate.

“For those two horses, it’s a real advantage,” Jordan said.

Jordan has one advantage this year.

Without the noise from 150,000 raucous fans, he’ll be able to hear his gate crew yelling if a horse isn’t ready. Any other year, he’d have to watch for their frantic hand signals. AP

CREWS prepare a new starting gate at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. AP

Dating corona-style leads to love connections, even marriage

2

BusinessMirror SEPTEMBER 6, 2020 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

YOUR MUSI

CAREER RESURGENCE

Natalie Taylor makes headlines in 2020 after five-year old single becomes an unlikely hit... in TikTok

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By Stephanie Joy Ching

VER time, the video-sharing mobile app TikTok has proven itself to be a hitmaker in its own way.

From putting musical theatre songs into the mainstream to revisiting old hits, the app has encouraged people to reinterpret songs and even chart a new direction for careers.

Natalie Taylor

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Alabama native Natalie Taylor experienced one such change when her 2015 song, “Surrender,” started garnering more streams on Spotify.

Curious about the sudden surge, she soon learned that the song had become viral on TikTok over the course of a few months.

“It’s a whole different ball game from what I was used to,” she said of the app, “I’m not a hundred percent sure how to work it yet, but it’s great.

It’s another way to get music out there. I watched so many videos and it’s amazing because I got to see different interpretations of the song,” The runaway resurgence of “Surrender” proved to be a massive blessing, as it helped her secure a deal with Sony Music. The song also received not just one but two remixed versions courtesy of Danish DJ Martin Jensen and Italian producer Kina, who were able to elevate the emotional beats of the song while still managing to keep all the elements that made it Natalie’s.

“I love the remix,” she gushed, “It was really fun to see a different take on the emotional side. It was cool to get that opportunity to have a new take on the song, and I love it,” Despite her newfound success, Natalie states that she will not change her approach to music, reasoning that she wants to keep her music “true” to who she is.

“I think I would continue doing my own thing, I try to only release music that I believe in, and that’s who I am as an artist,” she said.

Raised in Alabama and currently based in Tennessee, Natalie “lived and breathed” country music, particularly 90’s country and R&B. “I guess that’s my main source

of influence, but I really listen to everything,” she said.

Inspired by the likes of Lionel Ritchie and Dixie Chicks, Natalie tried her hand at songwriting during her late teens, eventually discovering her talent for penning emotional, heartfelt songs.

“My natural way of writing songs is on the emotional side, but I would love to sing other styles,” she shared, “I’m totally open to that,” After meeting her husband, former Paramore guitarist Jon Howard, they started doing music together, which put Natalie’s work into the public eye. Pretty soon, she started doing MTV shows and had her work featured on many TV series and films. Her genre-busting sound and heartfelt lyrics were perfect audio backdrops for popular TV

series like Jane the Virgin and World of Dance.

With her sudden rise back into the public eye thanks to TikTok, Natalie Taylor says she’s now more inspired to create more music that will resonate more with music especially during rough times like this ongoing pandemic.

“Surrender” and its remix versions by Martin Jensen and Kina are available on all major streaming platforms.

IC

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

BUSINESS

3

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

DOING HIS ‘HOMEWORK’ Zild Benitez soundtracks our time in quarantine

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T’S great to be young, almost famous and talented. But what will those gifts do when you wake up one day and you have to stay at home for the foreseeable future?

Defiance may come at a hefty price to freedom, even to your dear life.

Zild Benitez, lead vocalist, keyboardist and bassist for young band de jour IV of Spades, found out early on life in quarantine has its unique, first of its kind challenges. He said, “It’s tough and drowning. The hardest part of this lockdown is having no control what’s happening inside my head and my surroundings. It’s hard to handle yourself and your burden for other people who are suffering more.”

Most likely, some of those ‘other people’ are fans and fellow musicians whose otherwise normal lives got overturned inside out in the name of protecting the larger population from an invisible deadly enemy.

Everything’s suddenly on hold even as IV of Spade trio of Badjao De Castro, Blaster Salonga and Zild himself tapped their online platforms to promote their activities while in quarantine.

Zild found the time to produce and release his own solo album titled Homework Machine. He confided that he created the record to keep himself occupied and avoid what described as an “extreme ride of emotions.”

Zild further explained that he wrote everything as though tomorrow’s not coming.

He spelled out the concept

behind the album thus: “Write fictional stories. Write personal experiences. Write everything.”

“Be like a child. Don’t overthink everything,” he added.

The album starts with the rocking “Sinungaling” that suggests “Di ko matantiya, buhay ng nangamngamba.” That would be a first clue that Zild’s debut isn’t the homespun, done in isolation personal project it’s expected to be. It dares to take a sideways spin at the fears and dreads of these pandemic times.

Follow-up “Bakit?” moves to an electro beat that should get rumps shaking in cramped

Zild benitez

rooms everywhere.

“Dila,” while winking at the mothership, is the great single IV of Spades didn’t write. So does “Habulan,” a slow starter that eventually radiates a brimful of spine tingling hooks.

“Alalahanin” reminds of Rupert Holmes “Terminal” at intro but it gradually unveils its own magnetic charm. Pure pop powers “Iiwanan ang Lahat” to a feverish next wave finesse.

Toy sounds is one other idea that Zild mentioned to

foreground his first album.

Unless you knew that beforehand, all those computer bleeps and ghostly squiggles won’t interfere with the fun listening to the entire album.

They sound like afterthoughts, coming out of the sonic woodwork to adorn a shower of exquisite melodies and sturdy rhythms.

Zild intimated that he had few reservations doing new songs outside of the safety of the band.

He elaborated, “I really wanted to make something that I haven’t done before, and I think the first thing that came into my mind is creating something all by myself.

“Honestly, there are times that you tend to forget who you are and start believing what people say they think of you. I can say that I’m starting to know myself once again.”

His voyage of self-discovery is not just some trivial assignment. Rather, Homework Machine is a master work that unleashes the great OPM album in emergency times.

You should be listening to it for an enjoyable ride from here to come what may.

Dating corona-style leads to love connections, even marriage

By Leanne Italie The Associated Press

N

EW YORK—If there’s one thing the pandemic hasn’t canceled, it’s the search for love.

Throughout the health emergency, daters have taken to apps, web sites and matchmaking services in search of connection, with more meeting in person as the crisis drags on at a time when every touch is calculated and fraught.

Some daters insist on safety precautions before leaping into offline meetups. Others take no precautions, relying on mutual trust. A lucky few are on the ultimate step, marriage.

In March, the popular dating app Hinge experienced a 30-percent increase over January and February in messages sent among users. In June, compared to the same month last year, there was a 13-percent increase in the number of dates—virtual and in person—in the US and UK, said Logan Ury, chief researcher for the app.

Ury said the resolve to reach out amid coronavirus chaos is strong.

“Daters are feeling creative. They’re feeling resilient, and they’re not willing to put a year of their love life on hold because of the global pandemic,” Ury said.

Look no further than Jordan and Brittany Tyler in Allegan, Michigan, as evidence of that.

Jordan, an adjunct professor of communications at Western Michigan University, and Brittany, who supervises a program for autistic youth, had both been divorced about a year when the pandemic hit. Neither had dated online before they signed up for Match.com.

Jordan and Brittany signed up for Match.com, started texting March 18 and were wed by July. AP “When the lockdown happened, an alert went off on my phone and it sounded liked The Purge or something,” Brittany laughed.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to die alone.’”

Both had dated their exes for several years before marrying. Not this time.

The two started texting March 18. They were wed by July after spending much of quarantine together after a romantic date March 24 at Jordan’s place. He made gluten-free pasta from scratch and threw steaks on the grill. They watched the movie P.S. I Love You and shared a kiss less than two hours after meeting in person for the first time.

Jordan’s winning line when they hopped from text to the physical world?

“I said, ‘Hey, if you come have dinner with me, I’m stocked up on toilet paper.

I’ll give you a free roll,” he joked. “It was worth the risk.”

Dawoon Kang, cofounder of another popular dating app, Coffee Meets Bagel, said the company’s “slow dating” approach, in contrast to endless swiping, seems to appeal to users during the pandemic. The bulk

of the app’s users are between 25 and 39 years old.

“We’re seeing an all-time chat rate,” Kang said. “In mid-March, after the lockdowns, 90 percent plus of our daters told us they had completely stopped going on dates in person.”

During brainstorming sessions with users since the pandemic began, Kang learned that many yearned for community and a way to ease their loneliness, regardless of whether that led to dates. In response, Coffee Meets Bagel added twice-weekly Zoom meetups of 50 to 100 people from late April to late June.

“Now, people are actually starting to meet up in person, but they’re taking longer and being more selective since there’s more at risk,” she said.

In Washington, D.C., 25-year-old communications consultant Carlos Zavala has been spending time on Tinder and Bumble but has yet to go on a date in person. He had stopped using the sites in December, but reactivated his accounts in April because: “I was going stir crazy being home with the

family.”

Only recently has he felt comfortable, with Covid-19 rates dropping in his area, considering going out with someone in person.

“I’ve seen that our conversations do get more personal faster than usual,” Zavala said. “In the beginning, I considered not dating, but then I realized this actually is making a lot of people be more real with what they want and cuts through all the b.s.”

Zavala’s experience resonates with many corona daters, said Yue Xu, a former relationship coach and cohost of the podcast “Dateable.”

“People are having deeper connections,” she said. “People are bonding over maybe feeling alone, feeling helpless, feeling a sense of loss. So that initial bond is pretty strong, even though these relationships may not last.”

Alina Mayes, senior matchmaker for the luxury firm Selective Search, said that at the beginning of the pandemic, the idea among affluent, older core users was to find someone to quarantine with. Most were used to vetting prospective mates offline with a one-on-one matchmaker, and had to settle in to virtual matchmaking, she said.

“But we’ve been busier than ever,” Mayes said.

Selective Search charges an average of $50,000 to $150,000 per client. The average age of clients hovers in the mid-50s.

Meeting up in person is back on for many, Mayes said, with a shift against “gauging physical chemistry right away towards more concern over mutual interests, shared experiences and stronger emotional connections.”

As for breaking social distance to hug, kiss or have sex, Mayes laughed: “There’s been some of that. It’s just taking longer.

This pandemic and lockdown have really put things into perspective.”

UP Mindanao debaters tops first Asian online debate tourney

By Manuel T. Cayon

D

AVAO CITY—The UP Mindanao Debate Society team emerged as champions in the first edition of The Novice Debate (TND) last month, the UP Mindanao said.

Frederick Omalza, an alumnus of the Bachelor of Science in Biology program, and Michael John Galendez, a second-year BS Agribusiness Economics student, triumphed in a 5-2 split decision with convincing rebuttals to a motion for capable individuals to forgo nonessential activities in times of crisis.

“We argued that people in vulner-

The UP Mindanao Debate Society team members Frederick Omalza (left) and Michael John Galendez able situations need alternatives to avoid psychological degradation and for people to help in ways they can be most effective,” Galendez said.

The Omalza-Galendez duo survived rigorous elimination rounds. In the semifinals, they won by unanimous decision against a Malaysian team in their opposition to the motion for the

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United States to intervene in the IndiaChina conflict.

“We argued that the US should not intervene because it has the potential to give a strategic excuse for the Chinese Communist Party to legitimize further military actions in the Himalayas,” Galendez said.

The UP Mindanao Debate Society previously competed and placed in various regional and national debate competitions, including the Mindanao International Humanitarian Law Debates 2017 where they emerged as champions. Omalza was awarded 4th Best Judge in the Taiwan Debate Open 2019.

TND adapts the British ParliaSeptember 6, 2020

mentary format with 40 teams from debate institutions all over Asia. This year’s maiden edition, carried out online, span motions in philosophy, law, international relations, crisis, pop culture, technology, and tourism.

Novice debaters have not participated in major international debate tournaments.

TND is organized by the Malaysiabased group WOLCE, or Way of Life Consolidated Education. According to Vishal Sidhu, chief executive officer of WOLCE, the company began teaching debating and public speaking skills in Malaysia, but is now expanding its scope to Asia and hopes to reach the rest of the world.