BusinessMirror September 09, 2021

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MECQ FLIPFLOP HURT BIZ www.businessmirror.com.ph

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Thursday, September 9, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 330

P.  |     | 7 DAYS A WEEK

CONFIDENCE—GROUPS A PROGRAM led by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to inoculate over 400,000 workers from the construction and manufacturing sectors kicks off on Wednesday (September 8, 2021), with the aim of boosting employment recovery under the “Reform, Rebound, Recover: One Million Jobs for 2021.” NONIE REYES

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B T J C. P

@Tyronepiad

HE last-minute decision to shift to a more restrictive quarantine measure in the National Capital Region (NCR) dented the business sector’s trust in the government’s Covid-19 response, a private sector leader said.

George T. Barcelon, LegislativeExecutive Development Advisory Council private sector representative, told the BM that the “sudden backtracking to MECQ [modified enhanced community quarantine] doesn’t reflect well on government authorities.”

Metro Manila’s lockdown measure was supposed to be eased to general community quarantine (GCQ) with alert level scheme beginning Wednesday; the capital was also subject to pilot testing of granular lockdown measure.

On Tuesday, however, the Covid-19 Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) said the MECQ was instead

extended until September 15 for NCR, deferring the implementation of the previously announced measure.

“Some sectors [that] were already in the process of preparation [workers and supplies] are disappointed,” he lamented. “Next time they will not trust [an] announcement until later.”

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said that the government should be “prudent” in its pronouncement on quarantine protocols given its impact on the business and the public.

S “MECQ,” A

Despite robust tax take, Bayanihan 3 funds hang B B D. N @BNicolasBM

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INANCE Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the government’s “healthy” tax collections and inflows from dividends of state-run firms are still “insufficient” to fund a deficit-neutral P175-billion Bayanihan 3 or the third stimulus package.

While they have yet to find counterpart funding for Bayanihan 3, Dominguez said having the third stimulus package is still “not C  A

DOMINGUEZ: “The problem that we have with additional expenditure at this time is that our expected fiscal deficit is already at 9.3 percent of GDP. That is extremely high.”

PESO EXCHANGE RATES ■ US 49.9480

PHL’S NET JOB LOSS IN PANDEMIC NOW NEARLY A MILLION, SAYS NEDA

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EARLY a million Filipinos lost their jobs since the pandemic began, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In a budget presentation at the Senate of the Philippines on Wednesday, Neda said after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released the latest employment numbers, it found that there was a decline of 3.4 million jobs between June and July.

With that, the net job loss of the economy is 800,000.

This means these were the jobs that were lost between January 2020 and July 2021.

“Job creation is highly correlated with the level of quarantine and lately, the heightened risk due to the Delta variant,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said.

“As a result, our net employment creation since the start of the pandemic is down by 800,000. Hopefully, as we manage the Delta variant, we can reverse this in the coming months,” he also said.

Based on the presentation, when the country moved to lower quarantine restriction levels, there was job creation.

The largest number of jobs created was recorded when the country moved from ECQ in April 2020 to GCQ in July 2020, reaching 7.5 million jobs.

The largest decline in job creation was observed when the country moved toward higher restriction levels. The largest number of jobs lost was

recorded when the country locked down in April—when a total of 8.7 million jobs were lost.

Chua also said there was a net job creation between January and June 2021: a positive 2.5 million jobs created. However, given the latest preliminary results of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) in July, the country lost the second highest number of jobs since April last year as the economy shed 3.4 million jobs.

He traced the loss of jobs to the decline in farm employment, triggered by the rainy season, and concerns of workers about catching the Delta variant of the virus.

“The imposition of the MECQ in high-risk areas including NCR since August 21, is actually our proactive response to balance the needs of the people, whether these be from Covid or non-Covid concerns, including their other sickness and hunger as we also manage the spread of the more contagious delta variant,” Chua said at the hearing.

Youth employment

IN the same Senate hearing, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the economy’s recovery rests on the country’s young population.

The average age of Filipinos is 25-year-old, the demographic sweet spot of the country.

However, based on the latest data from the LFS, the number of youth Not in Employment, Education, and S “PHL’,” A

Infra blueprint focuses more projects on poorer regions B C U. O @caiordinario

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HE Duterte administration is drawing up a blueprint that will allow the next administration to roll out more infrastructure projects in poor regions, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In the Philippine Economic Briefing on Tuesday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said the list of priorities is being drawn up together with efforts to address the Covid-19 pandemic and address present issues. The list includes more responsive infrastructure; innovation; Climate Change; and regional equity. The last priority aims to ensure that poor regions see more infrastructure investment under the next administration.

“The National Economic and Development Authority has listed some top priorities which we are working on now, as foundations for the next administration,” Chua said. “For instance, on regional equity, we are working hard to improve the regional distribution of infrastructure.”

Based on a chart Chua shared during his presentation, per capita spending under the three-year rolling infrastructure plan (TRIP) was not as responsive to the needs of poor regions. The chart showed that the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) received over P80,000 per capita worth of infrastructure even if the poverty rate there was only around 10 percent.

However, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)—where poverty was around 60 percent—received infrastructure investments worth a little over P40,000 per capita.

“This chart gives you the regions of the Philippines correlated with poverty incidents to determine

which parts of the Philippines would need further support in terms of infrastructure programs, which are our priorities,” Chua said.

Multiplier

THIS priority is crucial given the multiplier effect associated with construction: a multiplier effect of 2.3 for Output, and 3.9 for Employment, according to Chua.

This means for every peso spent on construction, the country benefits P2.3. In terms of jobs, 3.9 jobs can be generated for every million peso spent in the sector.

Chua said this is the key driver of the Philippine economy’s ability to generate jobs. Infrastructure, he said, has accounted for 1 to 2 percentage points of Philippine economic growth prior to the pandemic.

He noted that in the latest Labor Force Survey, some 4.3 million jobs were recorded in Construction and this is one reason for the strong job creation despite the pandemic.

“Build, Build, Build Program or our infrastructure program will help restimulate the economy and bring back jobs. One of the key drivers of our economy and job creation has been infrastructure given the strong multiplier effects,” Chua said.

The government aims to spend around 5 percent of GDP on infrastructure in the medium term. On average, Chua expects the government to spend 5.3 percent of GDP on infrastructure between 2021 and 2024.

Based on data Chua provided, the government targets to spend 5.8 percent of GDP for infrastructure in 2022; 5.3 percent in 2023; 5.1 percent in 2025.

Digital infra

APART from physical infrastrucS “I,” A

■ JAPAN 0.4530 ■ UK 68.8733 ■ HK 6.4244 ■ CHINA 7.7235 ■ SINGAPORE 37.1168 ■ AUSTRALIA 36.8966 ■ EU 59.1734 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 13.3180

Source: BSP (September 8, 2021)

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News BusinessMirror

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Infra...

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ture, the government is also keen on completing the registration of 50 million to 70 million Filipinos in the National ID, he said.

Data showed that as of September 2021, some 41.97 million Filipinos have completed Step 1 or the demographic data collection and 28.68 million completed Step 2 or the biometric capture.

Around 1.58 million Filipinos have also completed Step 3 of the National ID, where they are issued PhilSys Numbers and their PhilIDs. Chua added that some 5.296 million poor Filipinos were also able to create bank accounts after completing Step 2.

“Apart from the infrastructure program, we are focusing on digital infrastructure, and the National ID is one of our highest priorities. The National ID has been given by the President the highest directive to accelerate our project to provide all Filipinos with a valid proof of identity,” Chua said.

Moving forward, Chua said the government is working toward recovering from the pandemic. He assured the government is better equipped to sustain its positive growth in the second quarter.

MECQ...

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“Authorities must be careful in recklessly raising public expectations that will not be matched by the outcome. There is a risk that it might cause disappointment followed by frustrations and could trigger depression and despair,” PCCI Acting President Edgardo G. Lacson said in a statement.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Duterte won’t ease up on Gordon as Blue Ribbon inquiry rolls on

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B S P. M

@sam_medenilla

OURS after senators grilled anew the health secretary and issued arrest warrants for contempt on six persons summoned to a probe on pandemic fund use, President Duterte zeroed in anew on Blue Ribbon committee Chairman Sen. Richard Gordon, whom he called out for alleged lack of transparency in Philippine Red Cross matters.

In his public address late Tuesday, Duterte took another swipe at Gordon, concurrent PRC chairman, for the lawmaker’s alleged failure to

comply with its mandate of regularly submitting PRC’s financial reports to the Executive department.

Lacson said that the “cancelation of the implementation of granular lockdown diminishes the credibility of official policy announcements.”

Makati Business Club Francisco Alcuaz Jr., meanwhile, said that the “government must have good reason to defer, hopefully due to new information rather than incomplete staff work.”

“There is a cost to uncertainty, yes, but there is a bigger cost to wrong policy,” he told the BUSINESSMIRROR, calling for a science-backed

policy for community quarantine guidelines.

Reimbursement for small biz

AKBAYAN Party-list, in a statement on Wednesday, compelled the government to reimburse the small businesses’ losses due to the last-minute decision to keep NCR under MECQ. Akbayan First Nominee Perci Cendaña explained that the government’s “carelessness and impulsive actions” resulted in businesses such as restaurants, including their employees, losing resources and savings as they prepare for

He demanded that the PRC submit its financial records so it could be scrutinized by state auditors.

Last week, Duterte first sought an audit by COA of Red Cross in an apparent bid to level the playing field—he defended Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Chinese businessman Michael Yang, both dragged into the inquiry sparked by a COA report. Duterte was then sternly reminded by Gordon and critics that the Red Cross is a humanitarian organization, and like all Red Cross chapters around the world, is examined by reputable audit firms.

COA also said auditing the Red Cross was not part of its mandate.

On Tuesday night, however, Duterte was undaunted, saying, “I am going to ask for the copies of the audit so that we can go over it and compare it with the copies of the audit of COA [Commission on Audit].”

Duterte added, “Anyway under the law, it’s all public documents. We can dwell on it, delve on it, and find out if you have been faithful to your country and to your office.”

He maintained PRC is still subject to state audit since it gets funding from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).

Malacañang earlier said it wants the President to know if the PRC is providing the mandated discounts in its Covid-19 testing.

Duterte started berating PRC since Gordon heads the Blue Ribbon Committee in the Senate, which is currently investigating the “deficiencies” flagged by COA in its 2020 report, notably DOH’s transfer, on Duque’s orders, of P42 billion of its funds to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), where it outsourced purchase of personal protective equipment.

The President said the resource persons from the Executive department, who were invited in Tuesday’s fourth hearing, were not properly treated by some senators.

Duterte particularly singled out Gordon for his alleged “adversarial” line of questioning, where he usually cut in whenever the invited source persons are explaining their position.

the supposed GCQ. In a recent community quarantine guideline, outdoor and indoor dine-in services in NCR are not allowed during MECQ. Take-out delivery for restaurants, however, is 100-percent allowed.

“The IATF must reimburse small businesses that incurred losses due to its ’laban-bawi’ quarantine protocols. This kind of negligence and thoughtlessness from the government hurts everyone, especially small enterprises and their workers who are trying their best to survive despite the pandemic,” Cendaña said.

While the Akbayan official understood the need to heighten restrictions, he explained that an “early heads up” should be given by the government.

‘A disruption’

‘Bakuna bubble’

THE Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) stressed the need to conduct further discussions on creating a “bakuna bubble” or micro-herd immunity to allow more mobility for the vaccinated population.

The IATF should consider the new pilot proposal right away, MAP President Aurelio R. Montinola III said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We must immediately change the ‘health mostly’ narrative and action plan to combat the Covid-19 pandemic after 18 futile months of using a community quarantine lockdown approach,” he said.

Montinola said the rollout of the vaccination program should be parallel with the initiatives to restore the labor force to safely reopen the economy.

“For now, the ‘bakuna bubble’ approach seems to be the appropriate middle ground for the Metro Manila mayors and the long-suffering NCR economic engine. Additional treatment capacity and improved contact tracing likewise go hand in hand,” he added.

WITH the recent announcement of granular lockdown measure pilot testing, the PCCI said that any form of lockdown measure is still “disruptive to business.”

“It is a tacit admission by authorities that they will henceforth abandon the intermittent and harmful regional lockdown protocol.

Yet, it must be recognized by authorities that a lockdown, whether region wide or granular, remains disruptive and a disincentive to business operations,” Lacson said in a recent statement.

But he pointed out that implementing granular lockdown will allow both essential and non-essential businesses to operate under certain health guidelines, which he cited as an upside. Lacson said the business group is also asking for a full opening of the economy even if the herd immunity threshold is not yet achieved. Citing health experts’ claims, he said achieving herd immunity is “impossible” due to the virus mutation, leaving the vaccine “behind the curve.”

“The Covid-19 virus and its variants will be here forever but it can be contained by simply observing prescribed health protocols of masking, handwashing, and social distancing,” Lacson said.

Semicon industry

THE semiconductor and electronics sector, meanwhile, is not worried by the sudden MECQ shift. Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. (Seipi) President Danilo Lachica told the BUSINESSMIRROR they “are not affected too much” because the sector is allowed 100-percent operational capacity given that it is an essential industry.

However, he said that a potential concern is the transportation of workers coming from Metro Manila.

“I believe it’s [MECQ] the right decision to protect people,” he said.

KARL KENDRICK T. CHUA

PHL’s...

C  A

Training (NEET) soared 2,242.6 percent which translates to an increase of 885,000 in July 2021.

In July 2021, NEET or those aged 15 to 24 year olds reached 925,000, significantly higher than the 39,000 recorded in July 2020.

Further, youth who are not in the labor force increased 8.3 percent or 1.015 million to 13.234 million in July 2021 from 12.219 million in July 2020.

The PSA data also showed an 11.9-percent increase in the number of young Filipinos considered underemployed. These young Filipinos are employed but are still looking for additional work to augment their income.

Data showed 1.065 million Filipinos aged 15 to 24 years old who are looking for additional sources of income in July 2021, an increase of 114,000 from the 951,000 recorded in July 2020.

The preliminary data also showed almost half a million young Filipinos were new entrants to the labor force in July 2021, a 58.8-percent increase in the number of new entrants.

PSA said 1.246 million young Filipinos joined the ranks of the labor force in July 2021, up by 462,000 from the 784,000 in July 2020.

Meanwhile, there was a 15.1-percent decline, or 1.173 million, in the number of young Filipino workers to 6.605 million in July 2021 from 7.778 million in July 2020.

The number of employed youth also declined 7.4 percent (less 448,000 workers) to 5.591 million in July 2021 from 6.039 million in July 2020.

The data also showed a 41.7-percent decline or 725,000 fewer youth workers who became unemployed in July 2021. A total of 1.158 million young workers were unemployed, a decline from the 1.739 million in July 2020.

Cai Ordinario

Despite robust tax take, Bayanihan 3 funds hang C  A

out of the question.”

The finance chief said he is even willing to recommend for President Duterte’s approval of additional spending for Bayanihan 3 if they find a counterpart funding that will make the expenditure “close to fiscally neutral as possible.”

At the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) briefing with the Senate Committee on Finance on the proposed P5.024-trillion national budget for 2022, Dominguez said, “The problem that we have with additional expenditure at this time is that our expected fiscal deficit is already at 9.3 percent of GDP. That is extremely high.”

He added: “And at this point in time, although our tax collections are healthy, although our inflows from the dividends of our GOCCs are healthy, they are still insufficient to fund even the amount of P175 billion, which we have determined would be appropriate for funding the mitigation of hunger among our citizens. So we’ve been working at this for the last six or seven months, but the revenues to make it fiscally neutral are just not there at the moment.”

As of end-July this year, government’s revenue collections reached P1.75 trillion, or 4 percent higher than the P1.69 trillion in the same period in 2020. Meanwhile, government-owned and -controlled corporations have so far remitted P51.7 billion in dividends to the Bureau of the Treasury.

While revenue collection is projected to hit P2.88 trillion this year, expenditures are also seen to rise to P4.74 trillion. This is expected to result in a budget deficit of P1.86 trillion this year, prompting the government to borrow more from both domestic and foreign sources.

Pogo proceeds

WHEN asked by Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Sonny Angara whether the Department of Finance would be willing to earmark the proceeds from taxes from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogos), Dominguez said the Pogo taxes have not been collected yet. But should the Pogo tax bill be passed, Dominguez said they are willing to have the proceeds from Pogo taxes earmarked for Bayanihan 3.

In the same briefing, Dominguez also revealed that they will suggest to the Inter-Agency Task

Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) at the next meeting a further reopening of the economy.

However, large businesses would be required to provide weekly testing and tracing.

He made the remark after Senator Cynthia Villar urged Dominguez to push for greater mobility for vaccinated people to help businesses, especially the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) amid the pandemic.

Dominguez said he got the idea of testing by the private sector from Senator Villar from their talk Tuesday night.

“I agree that, you know, vaccinated people should be provided more mobility than others. In fact, I have asked my colleagues, my like-minded colleagues in the IATF in the next meeting to suggest that we open more the economy, but require the businesses, particularly the larger businesses, to provide weekly testing and tracing; and move towards a rational approach to managing the containment of the virus. So I’ve asked my colleagues to please support that idea that we open but we increase testing by asking the companies to do the testing,” he said.

The Nation BusinessMirror

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

A4 Thursday, September 9, 2021 A3

PNP hunt down cohorts of traffickers Jolina displaces 12K in 4 regions in ₧4.3-billion Central Luzon drug haul T

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By Rene Acosta

he National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Wednesday reported that bad weather caused by Typhoon Jolina has so far affected 2,753 families or 12,213 individuals in four regions.

In its update, the NDRRMC said these individuals are from 65 villages in Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, and Eastern Visayas.

It added that 1,995 families or 8,600 individuals are being aided in 55 evacuation centers.

In a Laging Handa briefing, NDRRMC Executive Director Ricardo Jalad reported that 12 fishermen were rescued off Sto. Nino, Samar, while another five are still missing.

“Meron pang pinaghahanap na limang mangingisda. Sila ay naabutan ng bagyo na nasa laot pa lamang [there are still search operations ongoing for the five missing fishermen. The typhoon caught while they were at sea],” he added.

So far, Jalad said no death or injury have so far been attributed to the typhoon.

@reneacostaBM

he Philippine National Police (PNP) will run after the cohorts of the foreign drug traffickers who died in Zambales and the three others who were arrested in Bataan in order to put a lid on their illegal operations in the country.

PNP chief General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar also ordered police units to assist the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the conduct of intelligence gathering against the remnants of the group of Xu Youhua, who was among those who died in the operation in Candelaria, Zambales, on Tuesday.

Eleazar said Xu was one of the biggest shabu importers in the Philippines and was a member of a transnational drug trafficking organization.

Xu and three other Chinese died after they shot it out with law enforcers where some 500 kilos of shabu worth P4.3 billion was seized. The haul was the biggest so far for this year

for the government.

Aside from Xu, those who died during the shootout were Gao Manzhu, 49; Hong Jianshe, 58 and Eddie Tan, 60, all from Fujian, China.

Eleazar said Xu and his group were known distributors of illegal drugs in Luzon, particularly in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Region 4.

A few hours after the operation, three other Chinese were also arrested in Barangay Tipo, Hermosa, Bataan in a hot pursuit operation where at least 80 kilos more of shabu worth at least P544 million was seized.

“There were some personalities who were monitored leaving the area of operation in Cande-

Farm damage at initial P179.57M Philippine National Police chief General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar oversees the arrest of three Chinese nationals in Hermosa, Bataan, following the slaying four other compatriots belonging to a big-time illegal drugs group led mostly by Chinese nationals. The joint operations with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency yielded a whopping P4.3 billion worth of shabu. Nonie Reyes

laria and the operating teams responded quickly to intercept the fleeing suspects who were among the subjects of the operation,” Eleazar said.

Arrested in the operation were Qing Chang Zhou, 37, who uses the Filipino name Ricky Chou; Cai Cai Bin, 49, with Filipino name James/Joseph Chua and Longcai Chang, 45. All of them are natives of Fujian, China and residents of Binondo, Manila.

Sinopharm highlights readiness to make 2-B vax doses/year for PHL, rest of the world

By Rory Visco

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Contributor

COMPANY that distributes China-made Sinopharm anti-Covid shots said the bio-medical facility that manufactures Sinopharm vaccine in China could churn out at least 2 billion vaccines per year.

According to Abdul Razaq Siddiq, president of 2 World Traders Inc., the company that will bring in the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine to the Philippines, the Sinopharm manufacturer in China can churn out 2 billion vaccines annually through its state-ofthe-art facilities.

This, he said, is something that other bigger-name vaccine brands cannot match. “Sinopharm vaccines are also the safest and highly efficacious. So far, we haven’t heard any serious side effects during or after vaccine events in any of the countries where Sinopharm is being used,” Siddiq claimed.

He added that based on a Food and Drug Administration adverse reaction report, there were more than 60,000 side effects monitored for the six other

vaccine brands being used in the country, but none for the 1 million donated Sinopharm vaccines until today, whether serious or non-serious events.

High effectivity

Also, Siddiq said the Sinopharm vaccine has high effectivity even against the highly transmissible Delta variant.

Right now, he said, they are only allowed to sell directly to national governments, or even to local government units via a tripartite agreement.

As for the Philippines, the procurement of Sinopharm vaccines for the Philippines is still under negotiations so there is still no specific timeline when the Sinopharm vaccines will finally reach Philippine soil.

“We are just awaiting word from the Philippine government when a procurement agreement will be signed, and we are already negotiating with Sinopharm’s manufacturer in China to reserve ‘millions’ of vaccines specifically for the Philippines,” he said.

The company’s mission is to save lives, according to Siddiq, and right now, they are also con-

ducting clinical trials for other products that will help save lives.

Halal-certified

Siddiq said Sinopharm is also halal-certified, which is good for Muslim Filipinos.

He also belied claims of lack of transparency on the part of Sinovac, adding that other big companies also face criticism.

He said volumes of literature and data are already available on the Internet, and which they can also provide to the public when needed.

It can be recalled that President Duterte used Sinopharm Covid inoculation, which was administered last May 3, 2021.

He got his second dose on July 12, 2021, or about 10 weeks later, which is way past the recommended interval of at least three weeks.

Sinophar m was g iven an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the Food and Drug Administration last June 8, 2021, and was also given an EUA by the World Health Organization.

The vaccine is made by Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China National Biotec Group.

DOJ reports increase in Covid cases among employees in ’21

By Joel R. San Juan

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@jrsanjuan1573

HE Department of Justice (DOJ) has recorded a drastic increase in the number of Covid-19 infections among its employees this year as compared to last year.

From a total of 18 reported cases in 2020, the DOJ said there were 90 cases already reported as of September 7, 2021.

A total of 79 employees have

recovered from the infection while there are still nine active cases. It reported two deaths so far this year.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the DOJ main office has only recorded 108 people infected with the virus.

The agency also continues to provide protection for its officials and personnel by making Covid-19 vaccines available for them.

The DOJ said 78 percent or 631 of its 804 total employees have been fully vaccinated, while 7 percent or 54 employees have already received their first dose.

The DOJ, since last year, has initiated measures to ensure the proper health protocols are observed to stem the spread of the pandemic, such as limiting the number of employees reporting to the office, and using the online or e-filing of complaints.

The operation was a result of the cooperation and information sharing of the PNP, the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Bureau of Customs and PDEA. Eleazar also ordered local police forces and the PNP Maritime Group to strengthen the security measures in coastal areas to prevent the entry of illegal drugs.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday said the damage caused by Typhoon Jolina to the agriculture sector has reached P179.57 million, affecting 52,609 hectares of farms with an estimated production loss of 8,855 metric tons.

The DA added that the values are still subject to validation and the figures were based on the initial assessment conducted by its Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center. The latest DA report showed that about 61,828 farmers were affected by the typhoon damage.

The initial damage and losses reported by the DA were all recorded in the rice sector.

The DA said it has available assistance to affected farmers and fisherfolk that include a quick response fund for rehabilitation and provision of rice, corn and vegetable seeds.

The DA added that drugs and biologics for livestock and poultry are also available.

Furthermore, affected Filipino farmers may avail of the Survival and Recovery Loan Program of Agricultural Credit Policy Council. The DA added that the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation has available funds to indemnify affected farmers.

270,000 Meralco customers affected

Around 270,000 customers of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) experienced power outage due to Severe Tropical Storm Jolina.

The utility firm said on Wednesday afternoon that outages occurred in the southern part of its franchise, affecting around 270,000 customers. Majority of these are from the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, and Cavite.

Earlier, around 500,000 customers were also affected by the automatic load dropping (ALD) when 730 megawatts (MW) of capacity from San Lorenzo, San Gabriel, and Avion natural gas power plants were isolated due to the tripping of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’s (NGCP) Batangas-Makban line. The ALD lasted for 11 minutes and all affected circuits were restored by 11:10 a.m.

Meralco Vice President for Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga said Meralco crews are working 24/7 to restore power at the soonest possible time.

The NGCP, meanwhile, reported that five transmission lines are unavailable as of Wednesday afternoon.

These are the Bay-Calamba 69kV line, Paranas-Borongan-Quinapondan 69kV line, Sta. Rita-Quinapondan 69kV line, Calbayog-Bliss 69kV line, and one 230kV line.

NGCP said it has mobilized its line crews and is currently conducting patrols to inspect and assess the impact of the severe tropical storm to its operations and facilities.

The Department of Energy has yet to release a report as of press time.

PNA, Jasper Arcalas and Lenie Lectura

A4 Thursday, September 9, 2021

Economy BusinessMirror

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

Recto reminds Palace, Congress to restore ‘Buy Filipino’ in budget law

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

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ENATE President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto reminded Congress and the Duterte administration to restore the “Buy Filipino” provision in the annual budget, starting with the bulk purchase of protective face masks against Covid.

The senator rued the bulk purchase of “billions of pesos of personal protective equipment [PPE], face shields and masks from China—when better quality locally produced ones were available at a far lower price.”

In a news statement issued on Wednesday, the Senate President Pro Tempore stressed the need for Congress to restore the “Buy Filipino”

provision in the national budget.

The lawmaker lamented that the provision, long adopted in the general appropriations laws proposed and signed by previous presidents from Ferdinand Marcos to Benigno Aquino III, “disappeared in the 2014 national budget.”

“Before its scrapping,” Recto recalled, “the Buy Filipino provision mandates government to prioritize

the procurement of Philippine-made products.”

The Senate President Pro Tempore stressed that the Buy Filipino provision should be “put back in the national budget to help struggling domestic manufacturers keep operating and meet payroll during the pandemic.”

He stressed that if the Buy Filipino provision was part of the 2020 national budget, “foreign carpetbaggers” would not have been able to corner government’s bulk procurement of face shields, PPEs and masks last year.

“It would have provided some deterrence,” Recto said.

The senator suggested that “in the wake of the calamitous domination by a fly-bynight, undercapitalized, zero track record foreign-owned company in a big PS-DBMDOH [Procurement Service—Department of Budget and Management—Department of Health] contract, a united Senate should reinstate the Buy Philippine-made provision in the 2022 national budget.”

Recto asserted that “pandemic or not, there is a vibrant domestic manufacturing industry that can supply the government’s annual shopping list of supplies and equipment.”

Depicting the government as a big supplies and equipment buyer, with a budget in

the hundreds of billions annually, he notes the annual purchases range “from soap to cars, from paper to guns, [that] government buys these in bulk.”

Recto recalled that when the Buy Filipino provision made its last appearance in the 2013 General Appropriations Act, it stated that “priority shall be given to the purchase of locally produced and manufactured materials to be undertaken either by administration or by contract.”

Covered by the rule, he noted, were “foreign-assisted projects whose covering loan agreements expressly allow or do not prohibit the same.”

If the quality of the locally produced a nd ma nufact ured mater ia l is sub standard compared with its imported counterpart, he added, then importation was also allowed.

Recto added: “The third exception was if no locally produced and manufactured material is available as certified by the Department of Trade and Industry.”

“As you can see,” he noted, “it was a balanced rule,” adding that “while preference was stipulated, it was not a blanket mandate to buy pricey local lemons simply because they’re made by Filipinos.”

POEA extends validity OFWs’ work certificate affected by pandemic curbs

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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VERSEAS Filipino workers (OFW) affected by the recent lockdowns and travel restrictions due to the pandemic can now extend the validity of their overseas employment certificate (OEC) for free.

In an advisory, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) disclosed it has decided to provide the said service since “force majeure” events delayed the deployment of many OFWs. Some of them have OECs which have already expired before they could be allowed to leave to their destination country.

An OEC is a document issued by POEA to OFWs to allow them to work abroad.

POEA Administrator Bernard P. Olalia said the OFWs, who would like to avail of the extension in the Landbase Center for

Licensed Recruitment Agency and Seabase Center for Licensed Manning Agency.

It will also be made available in the Balik-Manggagawa Processing Division for Balik-Manggagawa; Regional Centers and Satellite Offices; and Labor Assistance Center at the airports on the date of departure.

“The concerned POEA centers/office shall evaluate the worker’s employment document in compliance with POEA rules and regulations and validate the available records in the POEA System,” Olalia said.

He said the applicants should bring the copy of their expired OEC; approved signed employment contract, valid and appropriate visa/work permit; and passport (valid at least six months from the date of the intended departure).

“Upon evaluation and verification, the expired OECs shall be stamped ‘CLEARED’ and deemed revalidated,” Olalia said.

Dismantling of fish cages, pens to benefit marginal fishermen

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

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@jonlmayuga

UBSISTENCE fishermen and those who could not afford the cost of fishing farther out in the open seas will be the primary beneficiaries of the plan to dismantle illegal fish cages and pens in Manila Bay, officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

“With these illegal fish pens and fish cages out of the picture, small fishermen with no motorized fishing boats have more areas to fish in Manila Bay,” DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny D. Antiporda said.

Interviewed by the BusinessMirror, the official maintained that clearing Manila Bay of illegal structures is mandated by no less than the Supreme Court, which compels 13 government agencies, including the DENR to rehabilitate Manila Bay. Fish cages and pens, and the use of styrofoam, Antiporda said, is causing environmental pollution and contributes to the degradation of Manila Bay.

The official added that there are now methods of growing mussels and oysters that do not require the use of bamboo poles and styrofoam, which are among the bulk of the garbage hauled by the DENR during a recent coastal clean up activity along Roxas Boulevard and some areas in Cavite Province recently.

Antiporda’s sentiment was echoed

by DENR Calabarzon Regional Executive Director and Manila Bay Site Coordinating and Management Office (MBSCMO)-4 Regional Coordinator, Nilo B. Tamoria who said the dismantling will allow small fishermen access to their traditional fishing ground long occupied by these illegal structures in Manila Bay. MBSCMO-4 Deputy Regional Coordinator, Cynthia N. Rozaldo also backed Tamoria’s statement, explaining that the local small-scale fisherfolk will be affected positively once the illegal fish cages, fish pens, and “baklad” are removed from the waters of Cavite City, Kawit and Noveleta, Cavite.

Most of the illegal fishing structures installed in the said areas, she said, are owned by big industries. “There are spaces in between fish cages and pens, however, the chances for our small fisherfolk to catch fishes within those areas are little as most fishes are already trapped in the said fishing structures,” she explained.

“The only places where small fisherfolk could have a good catch are in farther areas where big fishing structures are no longer present. It would cost them some gasoline going back and forth,” she emphasized.

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EU delegation to PHL announces Oct opening of virtual education fair 2021

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

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ESPITE the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Union Delegation to the Philippines said the pursuit of higher education should not stop.

The EU Delegation to the Philippines, in collaboration with the EU Member States’ Embassies, education services and institutes, announced that this year’s “Virtual European Higher Education Fair 2021,” or EHEF 2021, will be slated on October 1 and 2, 2021.

Since last year, the fair has embraced the digital transformation by staging the most exciting higher education fair online. This makes the event more accessible to Filipino students, academicians, researchers and university officials from across the country.

This year’s theme, “Go Higher with EU,” puts the spotlight into the EU as the Fair becomes the Filipino youth’s gateway to excellence in higher education.

The EU is known as one of the world’s ultimate hubs for cross-fertilization of ideas, cutting-edge technology and innovation coming from its many outstanding higher education institutions.

The EHEF 2021 provides the best platform to link members of the academe from the Philippines to the best higher education institutions from the EU. This year’s online fair will feature webinars on specialized courses and programs, research and mobility opportunities.

Country presentations and live chats with European Higher Education Institutions’ representatives, alumni, and scholars will be available to provide quick and easy information about the higher education systems in the EU. Virtual meeting rooms will be set up for Philippine higher education institutions and their EU counterparts.

As EHEF 2021 goes virtual, it also goes regional for the second time and in real-time.

Regional partner institutions for this year include Wesleyan University (Luzon), Silliman University (Visayas), and Xavier University–Ateneo de Cagayan (Mindanao), which will host clustered presentations for students and other members of the academe. University partners for this year are the following: University of the Cordilleras, Lyceum of the Philippines Universit yBatangas, St Louis University, Rizal Technological University, Trinity University of Asia, Visayas State University, Jose Rizal Memorial State University and Mindanao State University’s (Marawi) College of Public Affairs.

The Fair is supported by Campus Erasmus and the Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities.

The Virtual EHEF 2021 is organized by the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines, together with EU Member States’ Embassies, education services and Institutes and in collaboration with the Commission on Higher Education.

Survey: PHL online shoppers worry over safety, security of e-commerce

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

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@Tyronepiad

NLINE shoppers in the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia identified safety and security as primary concerns for electronic and mobile commerce, according to a survey.

In a report by end-to-end transaction guarantee platform Vesta, it revealed that consumers seek solutions that can enhance protection against fraud when making their online purchases.

“Our survey has revealed that safety and security remains a top concern among online shoppers and there is an unspoken expectation of merchants to put in place the right solutions,” Vesta Asia Pacific General Manager Shabab Muhaddes said.

Citing a report, Vesta noted that one in three Southeast Asian consumers was victimized by digital fraud amid the surge of online shopping and internet activity in pandemic.

Account sharing, the fraud management firm noted, increases the likelihood of online fraud for the consumers.

As such, the survey found out that 68 percent of the Filipino consumers do not share retail account; the figure is higher for Sin-

gapore at 81 percent. The survey in Indonesia, however, revealed that 57 percent of the online shoppers share retail accounts with family or friends.

Other cybersecurity risks cited

by Vesta include account takeover, identity theft and account compromise.

Vesta Philippines Country Director James Melon said that the majority or 73 percent of the local online shoppers even look into past reviews to gauge the level of security of an online site.

“There is a need to work closely with merchants to strengthen its fraud identification capability to improve overall customer journey and trust, as well as the merchants’ reputation. This will help drive further growth in the Philippines’s e-Commerce hotbed,” Melon added.

To better handle cybersecurity, Muhaddes previously told the BusinessMirror that the companies

need to understand the fraud and acceptance rates, which a technology partner can help them with.

“Work with technology partners that can calibrate in real-time between good and bad transactions, drawing on trillions of data points, leveraging behavioral, device, and fraud link analysis to improve performance,” he explained.

Meanwhile, nearly half of the respondents dealt with payment concerns in the last 12 months, Vesta said.

The top concern across all payment methods is multiple verification and authentication, one in three of respondents citing it. This is followed by declined payments without valid reasons, which was the experience for 22 percent of the surveyed consumers.

Vesta explained the mentioned cases may cause payment friction, which can drive customers away.

“Payment friction can frustrate customers who already buy from

multiple brands and will not hesitate to shop at another site that offers a smoother online shopping experience,” the fraud management firm said.

In fact, the survey showed that almost six in 10 online shoppers across the three countries would cancel their purchase if there were a problem during the transaction.

Over 50 percent of the consumers that experienced payment problems will also warn their family and friends about the online merchant.

Vesta stressed this will lead to further losses on the part of the business.

“Overall, the results of this survey indicate an obvious and urgent need for sophisticated solutions that offer a better protection against fraud, drive higher approvals while enabling a seamless consumer payment experience,” Muhaddes said.

The survey has over 4,300 respondents across the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia.

Comelec eyeing online voting for overseas Pinoys in ’25 polls

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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HE Commission on Elections (Comelec) is eyeing to launch online overseas voting in the 2025 elections.

Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said the plan would depend on the outcome of their ongoing testing of the scheme.

She noted it will also take some time to institutionalize the news plan since it will need necessary

legislation from Congress.

“If this test is successful, I have no doubt that the senators and congressmen will fully support mobile voting apps in the future,” Guanzon said in a virtual news briefing last Wednesday.

Currently, overseas absentee voters cast their votes in person in Philippine posts abroad or via mail.

Comelec’s Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV), which is headed

by Guanzon, is currently testing

‘Running like headless chickens’? NTF defends push back of GCQ-ALS in NCR

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ONCERNS raised by affected local government units (LGU) caused the postponement of the implementation of a new general community quarantine (GCQ) with the new Alert Level System (ALS) in the National Capital Region (NCR).

National Task Force Against Covid-19 spokesman Restituto Padilla Jr. disclosed some of the issues pointed out by some Metro Manila mayors were still not addressed in the draft guidelines for the implementation of the new scheme.

This prompted the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to reset the start of the implementation of the GCQ and ALS from September 8, 2021 to September 15, 2021.

“The rollout of the pilot of the quarantine will be slightly delayed until the guidelines are disseminated completely,” Padilla said in a television interview on Wednesday.

T he abr upt polic y decision drew cr iticisms, particularly from the business sector, since

it left them and their workers unprepared for the prolonged modified enhanced communit y quarantine (MECQ ) in NCR .

Padilla sought for the understanding of the affected businesses for the delay, which he said, may only last for a few days in exchange for detailed guidelines for the GCQ and ALS. “Once the comprehensive guidelines come out, it will be easily understood by many people as well as those who will implement it,” Padilla said.

Further more, he said the e x tended st r ic t qu a ra nt i ne restr iction would give more t ime for hea lt h- care faci l ities in NCR to cope w ith the surge in Cov id-19 cases in the region.

Members of the IATF are pushing for the implementation of the GCQ with ALS in NCR, wherein the lockdowns will be granular instead of region wide since it is expected to minimize the spread of infections without disrupting the operations of most businesses.

Samuel P. Medenilla

Arbitral court favors PHL govt in case filed by MPTC… Continued from A12 Separately, the tribunal also ruled to terminate the case of Cavitex as its arbitration claims have also been withdrawn.

To recall, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and the Department of Transportation agreed in 2018 to drop the arbitration cases for both Nlex and Cavitex, as they have agreed to implement the toll increases “gradually.”

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Thursday, September 9, 2021 A5

In 2016, Nlex and Cavitex sought compensation for P3.877 billion in foregone revenues due to the delayed implementation of their toll increases since 2011.

“The government has been very gracious in approving our long-overdue tariff adjustments and we are grateful for their support for our various expansion efforts. We are prepared to set our

differences aside and are united with them in our common goal of enabling sustainable growth at a time when our country needs it the most. Bearing in mind the concerns of all our stakeholders, we will continue to work with our partners in government for mutually beneficial resolutions to our outstanding petitions,” Franco said.

the Internet-based voting scheme of election service provider Voatz Inc. It will also be testing the similar systems of Indra and Smartmatic.

Guanzon said among the criteria they will consider to measure the success of the testing are its security features, accessibility to voters, and its cost.

There are about 1.4 million registered overseas absentee voters, who may avail of the new mode of voting currently being studied by Comelec.

TheBroa

Business

A6 Thursday, September 9, 2021• www.businessmirror.com.ph

China seen as strange near centennial of dip F

By Recto L. Mercene

@rectomercene

OR three-quarters of a century, Philippine foreign policy has been tied to the apron of Uncle Sam, a legacy that seems hard to cast by a people colonized and ruled by the most powerful country in the Atomic and post-Atomic Ages.

W h e n P r e s i d e nt R o d r i g o Duterte announced on February 11, 2020 that he was terminating the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States, officials from Malacañang argued this was the latest step in the long process of breaking free from Washington.

Duterte’s termination of the agreement is seen by some Filipino patriots as the latest step in its long quest for Philippine sovereignty. Will the feisty Mayor of Davao, who has built his reputation as a no-nonsense drug and crime buster succeed at last when, prior to him, many presidents attempted but failed?

According to Victoria Reyes, an assistant professor of sociology at the University ,f California, Riverside, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. seemed to imply in a tweet that this was a bargaining tactic intended to force the US into an unspecified concession. Reyes is author of “Global Borderlands: Fantasy, Violence and Empire in Subic Bay, Philippines.”

Goal together

REYES opined that Duterte has a history of threatening to cancel trainings between American and Filipino military but not following through on those threats.

“However, this announcement was not just an off-the-cuff statement to the media. It came through official channels and specified the 180-day notice that is required when one party terminates the agreement,” Reyes said.

Still, Duterte appeared to blink first: On July 20, the President announced the restoration of the VFA. US Defense Secretary Lloyd James Austin III and Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana shook hands at Camp Aguinaldo to officially mark the event.

“The Philippines is restoring a military agreement with the United States that makes it easier for US forces to move in and out the country and signals to China a renewed commitment to the 70-year-old US-Philippine alliance,” a report by CNN said.

Originally signed in 1988, the VFA gives US military aircraft and vessels free entry into the Philippines and relaxes visa

restrictions for US military personnel. It is seen as important to Washington being able to act to protect the Philippines under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the two nations.

Duterte had previously vowed to terminate the agreement but had repeatedly pushed back the expiration date, maintaining it until the end of the year.

Austin welcomed Duterte’s decision to reverse course, thanking the President for his decision to fully restore the agreement.

“A strong, resilient US-Philippines alliance will remain vital to the security, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific,” Austin said. “A fully restored VFA will help us achieve that goal together.”

Exerting sovereigny

THE Philippines was once home to two of America’s largest military bases outside US geographical borders: Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Station.

Washington also exerted control through its military bases— two would become the American military’s largest overseas bases— following a 1947 Military Bases Agreement (MBA) between the two countries.

In 1992, the Philippine Senate rejected an extension of the MBA, which was set to expire. Although some claimed that the Philippines kicked out the US military, finally exerting sovereignty over its former colonial overlord, US forces never really left. Instead, they remained in the Philippines on a visiting basis.

T his v isiting presence was due to the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which outlined the rights and responsibilities of the United States regarding American military personnel in the Phi lippines. A lthough

Filipino judges ruled that the VFA was constitutional, controversy continued to surround it and US military personnel in the Philippines.

The significance of the VFA controversy was put to test by the alleged rape of a Filipino with the pseudonym “Nicole” by US serviceman Lance Corporal Daniel Smith and the 2014 killing of Jennifer Laude, a transgender Filipino, by US serviceman Joseph Pemberton.

There was a struggle over which country maintained custody of the accused before, during and after their trials, and which country could dictate the terms of their detainment. The VFA theoretically covered such eventualities; but ambiguities enabled US officials to detain Smith even though Philippine officials requested custody.

Trading overlords

DUTERTE has long courted China.

He decided not to pursue The Hague’s decision rejecting China’s claims to islands in the South China Sea that the Philippines has historically claimed sovereignty over, in part because Chinese President Xi Jinping offered Manila a deal in exchange for ignoring the ruling. But Chinese aid runs the real serious risk that the Philippines would trade one overlord for another.

For the Philippines to truly move forward as a sovereign nation, officials need to build up its own economy and defense and not turn to outside forces to fill these gaps.

The gaps are seen in perception, especially after Donald Trump ascended to the US presidency six months after Duterte’s victory in the May 2016 elections.

While Trump’s first months in office have had a major impact on worldwide perceptions of the US,

people in the Philippines still like the US and have confidence in its leader. But Filipinos also share positive views of China and its leader, Xi Jinping. Overall, however, the perception gap between the US and China in the Philippines is narrowing.

In ter ms of i nter n at ion a l threats, as government forces continue to battle Islamic militants in the south of the country, seven-inten Filipinos say that ISIS poses a major threat to their country.

While ISIS is named as the top threat in the Philippines, many in the country also see climate change (65 percent) and cyberattacks (64 percent) as major security concerns for their country.

And nearly half (47 percent) name China’s power and influence as a major threat, almost double the share of people in the Philippines who name the US as a major threat (25 percent).

Winning minds

DOMESTICALLY, despite international concerns leveled by various governments regarding Duterte’s controversial clashes with drug cartels and potential human rights violations, the Filipino leader and his policies have become popular, especially a year in office.

Fully 86 percent have a favorable view of Duterte, a 2017 report

by Pew Research Center revealed.

About 78 percent of a thousand adults the think-tank polled support his handling of the illegaldrugs issue and 62 percent say that the Philippine government is making progress in its anti-drug campaign.

Meanwhile, 78 percent believe the current economic situation is good and 57 percent are satisfied with the direction of the country, a 21-percentage-point increase from 2014, the last time this question

was asked in the Philippines, the report said.

Duterte and his “war” on drugs garnered widespread approval, the survey revealed.

While large majorities of both less-educated and more-educated Filipinos approve of Duterte’s handling of the illegal-drugs issue, these two groups differ in their views of the government’s overall progress in its fight against drugs.

Filipinos with a secondary education or above (70 percent) are much more likely than those with a below-secondary education (49 percent) to say that the government is making progress in its campaign against illegal drugs.

Equilibrium sought

THE Philippines is one of 16 official major non-NATO allies of the US. The two countries have maintained a strong military relationship for decades.

But Duterte has made it a point to court the favor of China, sometimes at the cost of distancing his country from the US. Duterte’s balancing act between the two powers has received mostly positive reviews: 63 percent of Filipinos approve of his handling of relations with the US and 53 percent approve of how he’s handled relations with China.

In the Philippines, the public is still more favorable toward the US than China. Roughly eight-inten (78 percent) have a positive view of the US, compared with 55 percent for China. But positive feelings toward the US are down 14 percentage points since 2015 (when Barack Obama was the US president), which coincides with a global decline in US favorability at the beginning of the Trump era.

On the other hand, favorable opinion of China has changed little since 2015 and is up 17 points

aderLook

sMirror

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Thursday, September 9, 2021

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e bedfellow as PHL-US iplomatic relations Less trust

THOUGH there are no significant differences in support for either the US or China across most demographic groups, those with a favorable view of Duterte are more likely to rate China positively (57 percent) than those who view the president unfavorably (40 percent).

Opinions about which country is the world’s leading economic power are also shifting in the Philippines. While 49 percent still consider the US the world’s top economic power, this is down from 66 percent compared to 2015.

Meanwhile, the share of the public naming China has risen from 14 percent to 25 percent in that same time period.

Filipinos’ levels of trust in American and Chinese leadership have also started to converge since 2015; trust in China’s Xi Jinping has remained stable, but Filipinos have much less trust in Trump than they did in Obama. In 2015, there was a 43-point gap between confidence in Obama (94 percent) and confidence in Xi (51 percent) to do the right thing in world affairs. Now, there is just a 16-point gap between Trump (69 percent) and Xi (53 percent).

Across the 37 countries surveyed in 2017, the Philippines was the country where Trump enjoys his highest confidence ratings— and is also the one that has some of the highest ratings globally for Xi. Filipinos support US military presence and the slow embrace of China. Both the US and China have their share of issues that have, at times, caused tensions with the Philippines.

Lots of issues

SINCE the Philippines gained independence from the US in 1946, the US has maintained some military presence on the islands. And despite vocal protests by some Filipinos, three-quarters say that having US military personnel based in the Philippines is a good thing for the country, while just 20 percent say it is a bad thing.

This view holds across demographic groups, and even among those who hold an unfavorable view of the US, a majority (63 percent) say that having US military personnel based in the Philippines is good for their country, the Pew Research Center’s study revealed.

In recent years, the Philippines and China have feuded over territory in the South China Sea, including tense naval standoffs and an international court ruling in favor of the Philippines. Fully 82 percent of Filipinos say that territorial disputes between the two countries are a big problem.

However, Xi and Duterte have made efforts to improve bilateral relations, and this appears to be paying dividends for China. Twothirds of Filipinos (67 percent) now say it is more important to have a strong economic relationship with China than it is to be tough with China on territorial disputes, while 28 percent say the opposite.

This represents a significant shift since 2015, when Filipinos were split between the two approaches to Chinese relations (43 percent favored stronger economic relationship with China and 41 percent wanted to be tougher on territorial disputes) and nine-inten viewed the territorial disputes as a big problem.

Relations strong

THERE is general agreement that

strong economic relations are preferable to being tough with China on territorial disputes across demographic groups. However, those who view Duterte favorably are much more inclined to support the economic approach (69 percent) than are those who hold him in an unfavorable light (53 percent).

While Filipinos generally favor the pursuit of a less-tense relationship with China, the threat of conflict still exists, given the ongoing territorial disputes. In the event that a serious military conflict did occur between the Philippines and China, 68 percent believe the US would use military force to defend their country.

Even among those who hold the US in an unfavorable light, a majority (58 percent) believe that the US would use military force to defend the Philippines.

Meanwhile, a majority of Americans (58 percent) say that the US should use military force to defend their Asian allies against China in the event of a serious conflict.

Economy, trade

A MONG e ig ht i nter n at ion a l concerns tested, topmost on the minds of Filipinos is the threat of the Islamic militant group known as ISIS, whose affiliates operate in the southern parts of the island nation. Seven-in-ten say ISIS poses a major threat to the country.

Fi l ipinos a re a lso wor r ied about globa l c l im ate c h a nge (65 percent major threat) and cyberattacks from other countries (64 percent). Young people ages 18 to 29 are much more concerned about climate change (77 percent) and cyberattacks (71 percent) than are those ages 50 and older (58 percent and 51 percent respectively). About

half of Filipinos are also worried about China’s power and inf luence, a lmost double the proportion who say Russia (26 percent) or the US (25 percent) are a major threat.

Mea nwh i le, A nd rea C h loe Wong, writing for the “Global China Asia Prospects,” said Duterte’s wobbly relationship with China brought about by several negative developments had mellowed with the Philippines’s membership in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and its participation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

In fact, China remained the Philippines’s biggest source of imports, with a 20.8-percent share in January 2017; payments recorded at $1,552 billion. This reflected an increase of 26.4 percent from $1,228 billion in January 2016. Meanwhile, revenues from the Philippine exports to China reached $501.2 million, generating a total bilateral trade value of $2,053 billion.

For the Philippines, these active bilateral trade and recent regional developments will benefit its domestic economy while improving diplomatic relations.

For China, such initiatives will further elevate its economic inf luence in the region while neutralizing its image of bellicosity in asserting its maritime claims.

Chinese ties

THE Philippines also gained positive momentum in renewing political and security ties with China.

Despite the favorable arbitration ruling, because of its weak naval capabilities the Philippines cannot enforce it s m a r it i me r ights and cha l lenge the Chinese Coast Guard bar r icading in the Scarborough Shoa l.

It was not until Duterte’s state

visit to China that Filipino fishermen were able to return to the area and resume their fishing activities after four years of Chinese prohibition. Moreover, high-level bilateral dialogue regarding maritime disputes has resumed following Duterte’s participation in the BRI Summit in Beijing last May. The warming up of bilateral ties after years of frosty relations can be attributed to Duterte’s pragmatic policy. Evidently, he departed from the Aquino administration’s defiance against Chinese assertiveness in the West Philippine Sea. Instead, Duterte opted to cooperate with China in managing tensions in the area by not taking any military action after the court’s ruling, while amassing various economic concessions in the process. He considered that focusing more on the trade and economic aspects of the Philippines’s relations with China would ultimately benefit the Filipino people more than insisting on national maritime claims that it cannot impose.

Tactic used

ALTHOUGH his approach may appear to be an “opportunistic economic tactic,” Wong wrote that Duterte’s foreign policy adjustments have a logical basis that reflects his calculating and business-like approach.

The Duterte administration touts an “independent foreign policy” that seeks to move the Philippines away from its dependence on the US. While the US is its long-standing ally, the Philippines under Duterte is pushing to deepen relations with other equally-important partners such as Japan. It also seeks to strengthen relations with non-democratic

countries that hold divergent political values, such as Russia.

Although the Philippines is a long-standing democracy, its increasing interaction with Russia reflects Duterte’s pragmatic foreign policy and accommodating posture that emphasizes concrete bilateral dealings rather than ideological engagements.

Opinion influence

THE Philippines also strives to steer clear of big power rivalries and seeks to cooperate with various countries that will potentially bring in economic benefits, regardless of any looming political issues.

W hile the Chinese government has welcomed this positive breakthrough in bilateral relations, public opinion in the Philippines is divided on whether or not this was a sound move by the Duterte administration. But the general perception is that Duterte’s accommodating policy towards China has temporarily de-escalated maritime tensions and enhanced trade ties.

As a small power, the Philippines considers this a welcome step towards a more peaceful environment for economic development.

In the long term, it is imperative that the Philippines be accommodating yet vigilant in its relations with China under its still-ambiguous, yet-to-be-operationalized “independent foreign policy.” Given the shift in its foreign policy, the challenge for the Philippines under Duterte is to be consistently cautious in its policy implementation.

Foreign policy must be supervised by established institutions in order to put a check on decisions based on personal impulses, which have been the trademark of the Duterte administration so far.

BM graphics: Job Ruzgal

since 2014, when most Filipinos were concerned that territorial disputes with China could lead to a military conflict.

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Thursday, September 9, 2021

TheWorld BusinessMirror

US infection rate vastly underestimated—study

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he true number of US infections at the end of 2020 was more than 100 million, just under a third of the population and far more than the 20 million previously reported, according to a study cited by the National Institutes of Health.

Many cases were undetected because of limited testing and asymptomatic infections early in the pandemic.

The study, by researchers at Columbia University, used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how many people tested positive for SARSCoV-2 antibodies, which indicate past infections. The researchers calculated that just 11 percent of all cases were confirmed by a positive test result in March 2020.

The death toll topped 650,000 in the US, which hit the 70 percent vaccination threshold in early August, four weeks beyond President Joe Biden’s target. The spread of the Delta variant caused another surge of infections in the US over the last month and accelerated vaccinations. But hesitancy among many Americans has left the nation well behind many other countries for inoculation. Biden plans on Thursday to address efforts to curb the pandemic.

The Biden administration plans to distribute one-time $600 pandemic relief payments to US meatpacking and farm workers.

The move expands an agriculture aid program that so far mostly has benefited farm owners to include a low-income,

largely immigrant food-chain workforce. The plan sets aside as much as $700 million for the aid, to be distributed through state agencies, tribal entities and nonprofit groups.

Key developments:

Australia’s Victoria to lift regional lockdown

The Australian state of Victoria will end its lockdown of all regional areas outside Melbourne except for one council zone with high case numbers, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told a press conference Wednesday.

Lockdown will end for all parts of regional Victoria except for Greater Shepparton. The regions will have movement restrictions eased with venues also allowed to open with numbers caps. Schools will also re-open.

Vietnam may ease some travel curbs

Vietnam’s health ministry is considering relaxing travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people on a trial basis in some unspecified

southern localities, the government website reported.

Separately, Ho Chi Minh City plans green cards for vaccinated residents and will ease social distancing curbs for those partially and fully inoculated, Tuoi Tre reported, citing the city’s mayor.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s central bank ordered commercial banks to continue to delay payments for some loans until June 30, 2022, to help businesses hurt by the pandemic, the State Bank of Vietnam said.

Central bank also asked lenders to exempt or reduce interest payments on some loans until June 2022.

IMF approves $600 million loan to Tanzania

The International Monetary Fund approved nearly $600 million in emergency lending for Tanzania’s health system and economic-recovery efforts as the nation battles the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The fund’s executive board approved a total of $567 million in funds—$189 million under the Rapid Credit Facility and $378 million under the Rapid Financing Instrument. The resources will help pay for the nation’s “urgent balance of payment needs” stemming from the virus, the IMF said.

South Korea plans ‘living with virus’

The chief of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the country will be ready by the end of October to shift its strategy from suppressing Covid-19 to managing it while living a normal life, Yonhap reported on Tuesday.

KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong told lawmakers during a parliament session that

KDCA aims to complete the work of fully inoculating 90 percent of the elderly and 80 percent of adults by end of October.

Indonesia allows J&J, CanSino shots

The government has issued emergency use authorization for Covid-19 vaccines made by CanSino Biologics Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, Bisnis Indonesia reported, citing the food and drug regulator.

Both shots will be administered to people aged 18 years and older.

Japan plans to extend virus emergencies

The Japanese government is making arrangements to extend the state of emergencies in areas including Tokyo to the end of September, the Asahi newspaper reported, citing several unidentified officials. The emergencies are scheduled to expire Sept. 12.

Myanmar seeks 24 million doses by November

Myanmar’s junta said it wants to receive 10 million doses each in September and October and 4 million in November. The country targeted vaccinating half its population by year-end.

J&J shot halves health worker infections

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine cut the risk of getting infected by about half, according to a trial of almost half a million health workers in South Africa. The vast majority of the breakthrough infections were mild, the study’s co-leader said, citing unpublished data.

The Sisonke study included several weeks when South Africa was going through a third wave of coronavirus infections, spurred by the Delta variant. Bloomberg News

Pope, patriarch and Canterbury abbot issue joint climate appeal

R

OME—The world’s top Christian leaders— Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians—on Tuesday issued a joint appeal for delegates at the upcoming UN climate summit to “listen to the cry of the Earth” and make sacrifices to save the planet.

In their first-ever joint statement, the three Christian clerics said the coronavirus pandemic gave political leaders an unprecedented opportunity to rethink the global economy and make it more sustainable and socially just for the poor.

“We must decide what kind of world we want to leave to future generations,” said the statement from Francis,

Archbishop Justin Welby of the Anglican Communion and the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. But in the statement, they also noted that the threat is no longer far off.

“The extreme weather and natural disasters of recent months reveal afresh to us with great force and at great human cost that climate change is not only a future challenge, but an immediate and urgent matter of survival,” they said.

The statement sought to give a sense of urgency to the upcoming UN climate summit, which Francis at least is expected to attend in person.

The conference, known as COP26, is scheduled for early

November in Glasgow, Scotland.

“This is the first time that the three of us feel compelled to address together the urgency of environmental sustainability, its impact on persistent poverty, and the importance of global cooperation,” they wrote.

Individuals have a role to play, but leaders bear the greatest responsibility to take courageous decisions in Glasgow, the statement said.

“We say: choose peoplecentered profits; make shortterm sacrifices to safeguard all our futures; become leaders in the transition to just and sustainable economies.”

The statement was dated September 1, when their churches celebrate the world day for the care of creation.

There was no official explanation for why it was released a week late, though the Vatican is essentially closed for business in August, suggesting summer holidays might have been to blame.

While the joint statement was a first, Francis has frequently cited Bartholomew’s teachings on the environment, including in his landmark 2015 environmental encyclical “Praised Be.” Welby, a former oil executive, has spoken out about the moral crisis of climate change though his Church of England has declined to divest fully from carbon-intensive companies arguing that it can force greater change on the fossil fuel industry as a shareholder. AP

16 die as floods swamp hospital in central Mexico

T

ULA, Mexico—Torrential rains in central Mexico suddenly f looded a hospital early Tuesday, killing 16 patients, possibly due to the loss of oxygen equipment as the power went out, the national Social Security Institute said.

A video posted on the agency’s social media feed said about 40 other patients survived as waters rose swiftly in downtown Tula,

about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of Mexico City, and flooded the public hospital around 6 a.m.

Video recorded inside the hospital showed knee-deep water as staff frantically tried to move patients.

Later Tuesday, emergency personnel evacuated the hospital, loading patients into ambulances to be taken to other health centers.

IMSS Director Zoé Robledo

said the waters k nocked out power to the area as well as the hospital’s generators.

He said the hospital had been caring for 56 patients, about half of them suffering from Covid-19.

Rescue teams of firefighters and soldiers steered boats through Tula’s streets rescuing people from flooded homes.

The town’s central market was completely flooded. In one loca-

tion beside the river, a jumble of semi-trailers, buses, tanker trucks and cars lodged against each other semi-submerged at odd angles in rushing water.

Residents carried boxes and bags of salvaged belongings to higher ground.

Tula Mayor Manuel Hernández Badillo said at a news conference, “Today the important thing is saving lives.” AP

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

Indonesia prison fire kills 41 drug inmates, 80 hospitalized

J

AK ARTA, Indonesia—A massive fire raged through an overcrowded prison near Indonesia’s capital early Wednesday, killing at least 41 inmates and injuring 80 others.

T he f ires had been e x t inguished for about two hours and hundreds of police and soldiers were deployed around the prison to prevent prisoners from escaping, Jakarta Police Chief Fadil Imran told reporters near the scene.

Televised footage showed firefighters battling to extinguish orange flames while black smoke billowed from the compound. Dozens of bodies in orange bags were laid in a room of Tangerang prison on the outskirts of Jakarta.

“The situation is now under control,” Imran said, adding that at least 41 inmates were killed and

80 are hospitalized, eight of them with severe burns.

Authorities are still investigating the cause but the preliminary investigation pointed to a short circuit in one of the block’s cell, Imran said.

Ta ngera ng pr ison wa s de signed to house 1,225 inmates but has more than 2,000, said R i k a Apr i a nt i, spokesperson for the corrections department at the Justice Ministry. Block C, where the fire occurred, was stuffed full of 122 convicts.

She said 15 prison officers guarding the area were unhurt.

Jailbreaks and riots that led to fire are common in Indonesia, where overcrowding has become a problem in prisons that are struggling with poor funding and large numbers of people arrested in a war on illegal drugs. AP

HK police arrest defiant Tiananmen vigil leaders

H

ONG KONG—Hong Kong police on Wednesday arrested four leaders of the group that organized the city’s annual Tiananmen Square commemorations after they refused to cooperate in a national security investigation, the group said.

The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China had openly challenged the enforcement of a 14-month-old national security law, saying police were arbitrarily labeling pro-democracy organizations as foreign agents.

Chow Hang-tung, one of the four arrested and a vice-chair of the alliance, began a series of posts on Facebook shortly before 7 a.m., starting with two Facebook livestreams during which she says that some people have been ringing the doorbell. Chow, a lawyer, appears to be in her office, and muffled shouting could be heard in the background.

“The worst thing about being arrested is that I’ve not changed into a new set of clothes or brushed my teeth, will my breath overwhelm the national security police?” she wrote in one post.

The alliance is best known for organizing candlelight vigils in Hong Kong on the anniversary of China’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. The event was attended annually by massive crowds, and was the only large-scale public commemoration of the June 4 crackdown on Chinese soil.

Authorities have banned the vigils for the past two years, citing public health risks due to the pandemic, although critics believe the ban is part of an ongoing crackdown on dissent in the city following months of anti-government protests in 2019.

A lliance leaders delivered a letter to police Tuesday rejecting a request for details of the group’s operations and finances. Police earlier warned that failure to comply could result in a fine of up to 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($12,900) and six months in jail.

Police on Wednesday confirmed that they arrested three men and one woman aged between 36 and 57 for failing to provide information in accordance with the national security law. Police did not identify them.

Dozens of pro-democracy activists have been arrested since the implementation of the national security law, which outlaws secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion.

Critics say the law completes the rolling back of freedoms not found on the mainland that Hong Kong was promised it could keep for 50

years after being handed over from Britain, such as freedom of speech and assembly.

Many pro-democracy organizations have disbanded due to safety concerns, such as the Civil Human Rights Front, known for organizing mass protests on July 1, the day in 1997 that the former British colony was handed over to China. Other groups that have disbanded include the Professional Teachers’ Union, a pro-democracy trade union for teachers.

The Hong Kong Alliance is one of the few outspoken prodemocracy groups in the city that has yet to officially announce its dissolution.

Chow had been scheduled to represent pro-democracy activist Gwyneth Ho in court for a bail hearing, and wrote on Facebook that it’s regrettable she won’t be able to attend. She also posted a photo of the waterfront view outside her office, saying she’s taking a look at it for the last time.

Chow also asked if anyone had any parting words for her. In less than three hours, supporters left more than 500 comments telling her to take care and thanking her for her work at the alliance.

The three others arrested are Leung Kam-wai, Chan Dor-wai and Tang Ngok-kwan, the group said.

The three, together with Chow, are members of the alliance’s standing committee.

The leaders said Tuesday that the police do not have a right to request information from the group because it is not a foreign agent and that authorities did not provide sufficient justification in their request.

“This association believes that the issuance of the letter has no legal basis, so we will not provide any information requested in the letter,” the committee said.

Police are investigating the alliance for allegedly working for foreign interests.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Tuesday that law enforcement agents may request information from suspected foreign agents or foreign political organizations in accordance with the law.

“If someone openly says that they will flout the law, they can’t call themselves a civic society group,” Lam said.

Several of the alliance’s leaders, including lawyer Albert Ho and activist Lee Cheuk-yan, are already behind bars after being convicted for their roles in unauthorized assemblies.

Members of the alliance were meant to meet on September 25 to discuss and vote on whether or not to disband in a general meeting. The alliance said Wednesday that the meeting will proceed. AP

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2 Australian ministers begin 4-nation visit ending in US

C

A NBER R A , Aust ra l i a— Australia’s foreign and defense ministers are visiting Indonesia, India, South Korea and the United States to bolster economic and security relationships within the Asia-Pacific region, where tensions are rising with China.

Fo r e i g n M i n i s t e r M a r i s e Pay ne a nd Defense Minister Peter Dutton left Australia on Wednesday despite pandemic restrictions, which continue to make overseas travel rare for government officials.

The trip will prepare for Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s visit to Washington, D.C., later this month to meet with US, Indian and Japanese leaders in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.

China has called the so-called Quad an attempt to contain its ambitions.

Payne and Dutton will have their inaugural meeting with their Indian counterparts while in New Delhi.

They will discuss economic security, cybersecurity, climate, critical technology and supply chains, Payne said in statement.

Australia wants to strike a free trade deal with Quad partner India to reduce its economic reliance on an increasingly hostile China.

Australian special trade envoy for India and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott said last month that an India-Australia free trade deal would signal the “democratic world’s tilt away from China.”

The trip by the Australian ministers “strongly reinforces Australia’s active engagement in our region,” a government statement said.

Australia’s tough quarantine restrictions for international visitors mean that Payne and Dutton will meet US Secretar y of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in the United States. The two countries normally take turns hosting the annua l meeting , which was held in Washington, D.C., last year.

Dutton, who was infected with the coronavirus during a Washington, D.C., visit last year when he was minister for home affairs, said his upcoming US trip is an important opportunity to build on an already-strong defense relationship near the 70th anniversary of the signing of their bilateral defense treaty.

Payne said one of the most pressing issues to be discussed in all four countries is cooperation on the region’s recovery from the pandemic. AP

Early stumble as El Salvador starts Bitcoin as currency

S

AN SALVADOR, El Salvador—El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender on Tuesday, but the rollout stumbled in its first hours and President Nayib Bukele said the digital wallet used for transactions was not functioning.

For part of the morning, El Salvador’s president became tech support for a nation stepping into the world of cryptocurrency. Bukele marshaled his Twitter account— with more than 2.8 million followers—to walk users through what was happening.

Bukele explained that the digital wallet Chivo had been disconnected while server capacity was increased.

The president said it was a relatively simple problem. “We prefer to correct it before we connect it again,” Bukele said. He encouraged followers to download the app and leave comments about how it was going.

Meanwhile, the value of Bitcoi n plu m meted ea rly Tues day, dropping from more than $52,000 per coin to $42,000, before recovering about half of that loss—an example of the volatility that worries many.

The government has promised to install 200 Chivo automatic tellers and 50 Bitcoin attention centers.

The Associated Press visited one of the automatic tellers in San Salvador’s historic center, where attendants waited to help citizens, who initially didn’t show much interest.

Asked if he had downloaded the Chivo app, Emanuel Ceballos, said he had not. “I don’t know if I’m going to do it, I still have doubts about using that currency.”

José Martín Tenorio said he was interested in Bitcoin, but had not downloaded the app either. “I’m running to work. Maybe at home tonight.”

In Santa Tecla, a San Salvador suburb, young attendants were waiting to assist people at a help center.

Denis Rivera arrived with a friend because they had been trying to download the digital wallet app without success.

He said he didn’t understand why some people “have been scandalized” by Bitcoin. “We’ve been using debit and credit cards for years and it’s the same, electronic money,” he said.

He was in favor of it and planned to use the $30 offered by the government as an incentive to try it out. “I’m going to see how efficient it is and practical it can be and based on that decide if I keep using it or not.”

José Luis Hernández, owner of a barbershop in the area, came looking for information.

“I have a small business and I want to know how to use the application and how are the rates and all of that,” Hernández said.

The AP confirmed that at least three international fast food chain restaurants were accepting Bitcoin payments.

David Gerard, author of “Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain,” said Tuesday’s Bitcoin volatility likely had little to nothing to do with El Salvador. “My first guess was shenanigans, because it’s always shenanigans,” Gerard said via e-mail.

“Bitcoin basically doesn’t respond to market forces or regulatory announcements,” Gerard said. “That sort of price pattern, where it crashes hugely in minutes then goes back up again, is usually one of the big guys burning the margin traders.”

Because Bitcoin is so thinly traded, it could also have been a big holder making a large sale to have cash, thus sending the market for a ride, Gerard said.

Three face-to-face public opinion surveys performed recently showed that most Salvadorans did not agree with the government’s decision to make Bitcoin legal currency. Bitcoin joins the US dollar as El Salvador’s official currencies.

In June the Legislative Assembly enacted the Bitcoin law, and the Central American Bank for E conom ic I nteg rat ion i s providing the government with technical assistance.

The law says that Bitcoin can be used for any transaction and any business with the technological capacity to do so must accept payment in the cryptocurrency. AP

Thursday, September 9, 2021

A9

Bulgaria, EU’s least vaccinated nation, faces deadly virus surge

V

ELIKO TARNOVO, Bulgaria— Standing outside the rundown public hospital in Bulgaria’s northern town of Veliko Tarnovo, the vaccination unit’s chief nurse voices a sad reality about her fellow citizens: “They don’t believe in vaccines.”

Bulgaria has one of the highest coronavirus death rates in the 27-nation European Union and is facing a new, rapid surge of infections due to the more infectious Delta variant. Despite that, people in this Balkan nation are the most hesitant in the bloc to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

Only 20 percent of adults in Bulgaria, which has a population of 7 million, have so far been fully vaccinated. That puts it last in the EU, which has an average of 69 percent fully vaccinated.

“We are open every day,” Yordanka Minekova, the chief vaccination nurse who has worked at the hospital for 35 years, told The Associated Press. “But people who want to be vaccinated are very few.”

Krasimira Nikolova, a 52-yearold restaurant worker, has chosen not to get vaccinated, saying she has doubts over the effectiveness of the available vaccines.

“I don’t believe vaccines work,” she told the AP. “Hospitals are full of people who are vaccinated...

I already had the virus. I don’t believe it’s so dangerous. I have

other health issues and if it was that dangerous, I would probably be dead already.”

But Sibila Marinova, manager of Veliko Tarnovo’s intensive care unit, says all 10 beds in its Covid-19 ICU ward are occupied and she feels angry that so many Bulgarians are refusing to get jabbed.

“100 percent of the ICU patients are unvaccinated,” she told the AP, adding that staff shortages are only piling on more pressure.

Bulgaria has access to all four of the vaccines approved by the EU—Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson&Johnson. But since the start of the pandemic, more than 19,000 people in Bulgaria have died of Covid-19, the EU’s third-highest death rate, behind only the Czech Republic and Hungary. In the last week, an average of 41 people have died each day.

Bulgaria’s largely failed inoculation campaign now risks putting the country’s ailing health care system under serious strain.

In response, the government i mposed t ighter rest r ic t ions Tuesday. Restaurants and cafés

must close at 11 p.m. and their tables are limited to six people.

Nightclubs have been shuttered and cinemas and theaters are limited to half capacity. Outdoors sports arenas are limited to 30 percent capacity. “ T he low vacc inat ion rate forces us to impose these measures,” Health Minister Stoycho Katsarov said.

Despite being in a vulnerable age group, 71-year-old retiree Zhelyazko Marinov doesn’t want to get vaccinated.

“I think I’m healthy enough and have a good natural immunity,” he said.

He gets most of his information about the vaccines from TV and Facebook, but said he could be persuaded to get vaccinated.

“If I were deprived of some rights and freedoms, I would get vaccinated,” he said. “For example, if I cannot travel without a vaccine certificate.”

Mar iya Sharkova, a public health law specialist, believes that Bulgaria’s worryingly low vaccine uptake is the result of residents’ low trust in official institutions, along with fake news about the shots, political instability and a weak national vaccination campaign.

“In Bulgaria, we don’t have good health literacy,” she told the AP. “Many people choose to believe conspiracy theories and fake news.”

Only vaccines that are mandatory in Bulgaria—such as measles, mumps and rubella—have a high uptake. Sharkova said some blame has to lie with the government’s

vaccination program.

“They didn’t build any strategy on how to fight vaccine hesitancy,” she said. “We didn’t have any real information campaign for the vaccines. The ministry of health relies mainly on announcements on the ministry’s website, and I don’t think anyone actually goes on and reads it.”

“The best policy for such hesitant countries and populations as ours are mandatory vaccines,” said Sharkova, who is dismayed that national TV channels often invite vaccine-skeptic doctors to be on their programs.

But making Covid-19 vaccines mandatory could risk further polarizing the issue, she said.

Hriska Zhelyazkova, a 67-year-old military officer from the coastal city of Burgas, says he distrusts vaccines because “they were created so quickly.”

“I think my body would do well if I contracted the virus,” he said.

“I get information from the Internet, [and] read the opinions of virologists.”

Still, he said he may get vaccinated if authorities slap tougher restrictions on unvaccinated people.

Back at the Veliko Tarnovo hospital, pro-vaccination drawings colored by children hang on the walls. “You are our superheroes,” one caption read.

But Minekova, the vaccination nurse, isn’t optimistic about the future.

“Somehow, I think it’s too late,” she said. “The right moment has been missed. I don’t see a way right now to solve this.” AP

Powerful earthquake near Mexico’s Acapulco kills 1 F M

CIA veteran: al-Qaida will rebuild within Afghanistan

EXICO CITY—A powerful earthquake struck near t he Pacif ic resort city of Acapulco on Tuesday night, killing at least one person and causing buildings to rock and sway in Mexico City hundreds of kilometers away.

The US Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7 and was centered 17 kilometers (about 10 miles) northeast of Acapulco.

Guerrero state Gov. Hector Astudillo told Milenio Television late Tuesday night that one person had been killed by a falling post in the town of Coyuca de Benitez near Acapulco.

“We heard loud noise from the building, noise from the windows, things fell inside the house, t he power went out,” said Sergio Flores, an Acapulco resident reached by phone. “We heard leaking water, the water went out of the pool and you heard people screaming, ver y ner vous people.”

Flores said all he could do when it started shaking was hug his wife. He saw people leaving hotels around the bay and some running into parking decks to remove their cars, fearing a collapse.

“We were all worried about some change in the sea, but so far authorities have not said anything about a tsunami alert,” he said.

Astudillo said the tsunami alert center had not registered any variations in the sea level. The Pacific

Tsunami Warning Center later said the threat of potential waves had passed.

The mayor of Acapulco, Adela Román, said in statement to the television news outlet Milenio that “there is no really serious situation” so far and no reports of casualties. “ T here are ner vous brea kdowns; people are worried because there have been aftershocks,” she said, adding that there are “many gas leaks in many places” as well as some landslides and fallen walls.

Before the first death was reported, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said via Twitter that authorities in the four states that most felt the earthquake told him there were no victims or serious damage beyond some collapsed walls and falling rocks.

“Fortunately there is not serious damage,” he said.

Mexico’s National Civil Defense said it was conducting reviews in 10 states, but had not received reports of victims nor serious damage.

In Mexico City, more than 320 kilometers (nearly 200 miles) away, the ground shook for nearly a minute in some parts of the capital, but the quake was less evident in other parts. Some people evacuated their buildings briefly, but most quickly went back inside on a rainy night.

“I was at home with my mom and my dogs and the seismic alert started to sound,” said Claudia

Guarneros, a makeup artist. “My mother was in another room and I started to call her. The house started moving and in the last part of the earthquake the power went out and we couldn’t see anything, we just saw some things falling.”

Mexico City authorities said there were no early reports of significant damage in the city, though electricity was knocked out in some neighborhoods. Some broken windows in a downtown high rise covered the sidewalk in glass.

Arturo Hernández stood outside the relatively new apartment building he moved into just three years ago. Beside it stood a taller building abandoned since the magnitude-7.1 earthquake of Sept. 19, 2017, in neighboring Puebla state that caused major damage in the capital.

Hernández heard the seismic alarm and made it outside before the ground began to shake. The abandoned building next to his continued to crack and moan for three minutes after the shaking stopped, he said. Asked if he had worried about the damaged building next door, he said, “Always, always.”

Tuesday’s earthquake occurred four years to the day after a magnitude-8.2 earthquake that struck off the coast of Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas, largely destroying the town of Juchitan in neighboring Oaxaca state and killing dozens. AP

ALLS CHURCH, Va.—The CIA man who briefed President George W. Bush on Sept. 11, 2001, and later President Barack Obama on the intelligence that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden said Tuesday that he’s convinced the Taliban will invite al-Qaida to rebuild in Afghanistan. “ T here is no doubt in my mind,” said Michael Morell, who twice served as acting CIA director. “I believe that the Taliban will give safe haven to al-Qaida, and I believe it will be al-Qaida’s intention to again build its capability so that they can attack us here at home.”

Morell spoke at an online forum sponsored by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, which is holding multiple panels this week to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Counterterrorism efforts fall into a pattern, Morell said, in which their capabilities can be easily degraded by a focused effort, but easily rebuilt when that focus fades. He pointed to the time in 2002 and 2003 when the US shifted its focus to Iraq, which he said led to a resurgent al-Qaida prompting attacks in Madrid in 2004, London in 2005 and elsewhere.

“When our focus got shifted to Iraq al-Qaida started bouncing back,” Morell said.

He said that if al-Qaida establishes a safe haven in Afghanistan, it can be hard to develop the kind of tactical intelligence that makes it possible to take action against them. He said the US will have to apply the lessons it learned over the last 20 years. AP

A10 Thursday, September 9, 2021 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

No global recovery without decent jobs

T

he economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to contribute to global unemployment of more than 200 million people next year, with women and youth workers worst hit, according to UN labor experts.

The International Labor Organization also maintained in a new report that although the world’s nations “will emerge” from the ongoing health crisis, “five years of progress towards the eradication of working poverty have been undone” nonetheless. “We’ve gone backwards big time,” said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder. “Working poverty is back to 2015 levels; that means that when the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda was set, we’re back to the starting line.”

ILO said the worst affected regions in the first half of 2021 were Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, all victims of uneven recovery. They’ve seen estimated working-hour losses exceed 8 percent in the first quarter and 6 percent in the second quarter, far higher than the global average of 4.8 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively.

Pandemic-related disruptions also brought “catastrophic consequences” for the world’s 2 billion informal sector workers. ILO said that compared to 2019, an additional 108 million workers worldwide are now categorized as “poor” or “extremely poor”—meaning they and their families live on the equivalent of less than $3 per person, per day. “While signs of economic recovery are appearing as vaccine campaigns are ramped up, the recovery is likely to be uneven and fragile,” Ryder said.

In the Philippines, our employment rate in July 2021 was placed at 93.1 percent. The Philippine Statistics Authority said this is the highest employment rate since the start of the pandemic in April 2020. The employment rate in July 2020 was reported at 90 percent. In terms of magnitude, employed persons were estimated at 41.7 million in July 2021 or 3.4 million lower than the estimate in June 2021 at 45.1 million, and 0.4 million more than the estimate for July 2020 at 41.3 million.

PSA said the number of unemployed Filipinos in July 2021 declined to 3.1 million persons who are 15 years and older. The July figure is 1.5 million lower than the 4.6 million unemployed in July 2020 (See, Ranks of jobless Filipinos lower in July, but more are underemployed—PSA, in the BusinessMirror, September 7, 2021). “Unemployment rate in July 2021 was estimated at 6.9 percent and it is the lowest since April 2020,” PSA said.

However, the PSA figure masks an important pandemic-related development: As Covid infections surge, cautious Filipinos give up looking for work.

Thus, labor force participation rate went down to 59.8 percent in July, or 44.74 million Filipinos, compared to 65 percent or 48.84 million in June.

The PSA reported an increase in the number of underemployed persons in July 2021. Data showed these were estimated at 8.7 million or 20.9 percent of the 41.7 million employed individuals during the period. This is the highest underemployment rate since April 2020. The number of the visibly underemployed or those working less than 40 hours in a week but still expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their current job, or to have a new job with longer working hours, was estimated at 4.5 million or 10.8 percent of the total employed persons.

For the invisibly underemployed or those working at least 40 hours in a week but still expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have a new job with longer working hours, the number reached 4.2 million or 10 percent of the total employed persons.

ILO said global unemployment is expected hit 205 million in 2022. “Without a deliberate effort to accelerate the creation of decent jobs, and support the most vulnerable members of society and the recovery of the hardest-hit economic sectors, the lingering effects of the pandemic could be with us for years in the form of lost human and economic potential and higher poverty and inequality,” said Ryder. “We need a comprehensive and coordinated strategy, based on human-centered policies, and backed by action and funding. There can be no real recovery without a recovery of decent jobs.”

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John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

E

ven a casual understanding of history would determine that the catastrophe of World War I was the result of a multitude of bilateral agreements and treaties between the European nations. About 20 million—equally divided between military and civilian—deaths occurred primarily because “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

About a year after the war ended, the first step towards “preventing war through collective security and settling disputes” came with the formation of the League of Nations.

The League did pretty well resolving problems over the Åland Islands and Upper Silesia.

Of course, World War II cancelled out any semblance of success about multilateral “peace organizations.”

But hope is eternal, and the United Nations sought to guarantee that there would never—at least in Europe—be war between countries.

That has been mostly true as long as you do not count the Bosnian genocide and maybe Russia’s take-

over of Crimea.

On the non-European front, the UN has had problems bringing international cooperation for peace in Africa, with Russia in Afghanistan, the US in Vietnam, and the border disputes with India, Pakistan, and China.

The world has added in the past 70 years the European Union, Nato, the World Economic Forum, the G-7, G-15, and G-20 groups, as well as numerous other groups ending in ‘TO’ —Treaty Organizations.

A 17th devotion written by John Donne includes the poem “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of

the main” which as applied to nations is a clear reading on “globalism” that all countries are connected. “Globalism” is the Silk Road that connected Asia and Europe.

But “globalization” is a thickening of globalism whereby “what you do affects me” and therefore I have the right, even the obligation to tell you what to do and not do. The problem is that people—ordinary citizens—in one country do not like being told what to do by people in another country.

We know how to bring about total cooperation among nations: an alien invasion. Remember the movie Independence Day? Nobel Prize laureate Paul Krugman: “If we discovered that space aliens were planning to attack, and we needed a massive build-up to counter the space alien threat, and inflation and budget deficits took secondary place to that, this [economic] slump would be over in 18 months.”

But to “save the world” as in the movie 2012, the “G-7” (plus China, of course) makes all the decisions. None of the Indian Dalit class or residents (now former) of the Payatas dumpsite were on board the arks to continue humanity.

Aliens are unpredictable. But we know it is only a whimsical conspiracy theory to believe the Covid pandemic

was planned. However, it is a truth that the “G-7” (plus China, of course) are calling all the shots.

The WHO and CDC decide the health protocols. Organizations like Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations through COVAX “accelerate the development and manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.”

The Great Reset is the name of the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, held in June 2020, with the theme of rebuilding society and the economy following the Covid-19 pandemic.

May 15, 2020 from WEF: “Covid-19 offers an opportunity to ‘reset and reshape’ the world in a way that is more aligned with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.”

It is probably comforting to know that a group of global experts have decided to determine the future of the world. Or maybe not.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis provided by AAA Southeast Equities Inc.

US-built databases a potential tool of Taliban repression

By Frank Bajak | AP Technology Writer

B

OSTON—Over two decades, the United States and its allies spent hundreds of millions of dollars building databases for the Afghan people. The nobly stated goal: Promote law and order and government accountability and modernize a war-ravaged land.

T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Senior Editors

Creative Director Chief Photographer

The great Covid reset

But in the Taliban’s lightning seizure of power, most of that digital apparatus—including biometrics for verifying identities—apparently fell into Taliban hands. Built with few data-protection safeguards, it risks becoming the high-tech jackboots of a surveillance state. As the Taliban get their governing feet, there are worries it will be used for social control and to punish perceived foes.

Putting such data to work constructively—boosting education, empowering women, battling corruption—requires democratic stability, and these systems were not architected for the prospect of defeat.

“It is a terrible irony,” said Frank Pasquale, Brooklyn Law School scholar of surveillance technologies.

“It’s a real object lesson in ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions.’”

Since Kabul fell August 15, indications have emerged that government data may have been used in Taliban efforts to identify and intimidate Afghans who worked with the US forces.

People are getting ominous and threatening phone calls, texts and

WhatsApp messages, said Neesha Suarez, constituent services director for Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, an Iraq War veteran whose office is trying to help stranded Afghans who worked with the US find a way out.

A 27-year-old US contractor in Kabul told The Associated Press he and co-workers who developed a US-funded database used to manage army and police payrolls got phone calls summoning them to the Defense Ministry. He is in hiding, changing his location daily, he said, asking not to be identified for his safety.

In victory, the Taliban’s leaders say they are not interested in retribution. Restoring international aid and getting foreign-held assets unfrozen are a priority. There are few signs of the draconian restrictions – especially on women—they imposed when they ruled from 1996 to 2001.

There are also no indications that Afghans who worked with Americans have been systematically persecuted.

Ali Karimi, a University of Pennsylvania scholar, is among Afghans

unready to trust the Taliban. He worries the databases will give rigid fundamentalist theocrats, known during their insurgency for ruthlessly killing enemy collaborators, “the same capability as an average US government agency when it comes to surveillance and interception.”

The Taliban are on notice that the world will be watching how they wield the data.

All Afghans—and their international partners—have an obligation together to ensure sensitive government data only be used for “development purposes” and not for policing or social control by the Taliban or to serve other governments in the region, said Nader Nadery, a peace negotiator and head of the civil service commission in the former government.

Uncertain for the moment is the fate of one of the most sensitive databases, the one used to pay soldiers and police.

The Afghan Personnel and Pay System has data on more than 700,000 security forces members dating back 40 years, said a senior security official from the fallen government. Its more than 40 data fields include birth dates, phone numbers, fathers’ and grandfathers’ names, fingerprints and iris and face scans, said two Afghan contractors who worked on it, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

Only authorized users can access that system, so if the Taliban can’t find one, they can be expected to try to hack it, said the former official, who asked not to be identified for fear of the safety of relatives in Kabul. He expected Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service, long the Taliban’s patron, to render technical assistance. US analysts expect Chinese, Russian and Iranian intelligence also to offer such services.

Originally conceived to fight payroll fraud, that system was supposed to interface eventually with a powerful database at the Defense and Interior ministries modeled on one the Pentagon created in 2004 to achieve “identity dominance” by collecting fingerprints and iris and face scans in combat areas.

But the homegrown Afghanistan Automated Biometric Identification Database grew from a tool to vet army and police recruits for loyalty to contain 8.5 million records, including on government foes and the civilian population. When Kabul fell it was being upgraded, along with a similar database in Iraq, under a $75 million contract signed in 2018.

US officials say it was secured before the Taliban could access it.

Before the US pullout, the entire database was erased with militarygrade data-wiping software, said William Graves, chief engineer at See “US-built” A13

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

China chases ‘rejuvenation’ with control of tycoons, society

Dear DOH, fund cancer patients. Love, Toots

By Joe McDonald | Associated Press

B

EIJING —An avalanche of changes launched by China’s ruling Communist Party has jolted everyone from tech billionaires to school kids. Behind them: President Xi Jinping’s vision of making a more powerful, prosperous country by reviving revolutionary ideals, with more economic equality and tighter party control over society and entrepreneurs.

Since taking power in 2012, Xi has called for the party to return to its “original mission” as China’s economic, social and cultural leader and carry out the “rejuvenation of the great Chinese nation.”

The party has spent the decade since then silencing dissent and tightening political control. Now, after 40 years of growth that transformed China into the world’s factory but left a gulf between a wealthy elite and the poor majority, the party is promising to spread prosperity more evenly and is pressing private companies to pay for social welfare and back Beijing’s ambition to become a global technology competitor.

To support its plans, Xi’s government is trying to create what it deems a more wholesome society by reducing children’s access to online games and banning “sissy men” who are deemed insufficiently masculine from TV. Chinese leaders want to “direct the constructive energies of all people in one laser-focused direction selected by the party,” Andrew Nathan, a Chinese politics specialist at Columbia University, said in an e-mail.

Beijing has launched anti-monopoly and data security crackdowns to tighten its control over Internet giants, including e-commerce platform Alibaba Group and games and social media operator Tencent Holdings Ltd., that looked too big and potentially independent.

In response, their billionaire founders have scrambled to show loyalty by promising to share their wealth under Xi’s vaguely defined “common prosperity” initiative to narrow the income gap in a country with more billionaires than the United States.

Xi has yet to give details, but in a society where every political term is scrutinized for significance, the name revives a 1950s propaganda slogan under Mao Zedong, the founder of the communist government.

Xi is reviving the “utopian ideal” of early communist leaders, said Willy Lam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “But of course, huge question marks have arisen, because this will hurt the most creative and lucrative parts of the economy.”

Alibaba, Tencent and others have pledged tens of billions of dollars for job creation and social welfare initiatives. They say they will invest in developing processor chips and other technologies cited by Beijing as priorities.

The party’s anti-monopoly enforcement and crackdown on how companies handle information about customers are similar to Western regulation. But the abrupt, heavyhanded way changes have been imposed is prompting warnings that Beijing is threatening innovation and economic growth, which already is declining. Jittery foreign investors have knocked more than $300 billion off Tencent’s stock market value and billions more off other companies.

“I expect that over the next year or two we are likely to see a very rocky relationship develop between the political elite and the business elite,” Michael Pettis, a finance professor at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Business, said in a report.

Chinese officials say the public, consumers and entrepreneurs will benefit from higher incomes and more regulatory oversight of corporate giants. Parents welcome curbs announced last month that limit children under 18 to three hours of online games a week and only on weekends and Friday night.

“I feel this is a good rule,” said Li Zhanguo, the father of an 8-yearold boy and a 4-year-old girl in the central city of Zhengzhou. “Games

still have some addictive mechanisms. We can’t count on children’s self-control.”

The crackdowns reflect party efforts to control a rapidly evolving society of 1.4 billion people.

Some 1 million members of mostly Muslim ethnic groups have been forced into detention camps in the northwest. Officials deny accusations of abuses including forced abortions and say the camps are for job training and to combat extremism.

A surveillance initiative dubbed Social Credit aims to track every person and company in China and punish violations ranging from dealing with business partners that violate environmental rules to littering.

“Our responsibility is to unite and lead the entire party and people of all ethnic groups, take the baton of history and to work hard to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Xi said when he and the six other members of the new party Standing Committee appeared in public for the first time in November 2012.

The party Central Committee shifted its economic emphasis “from efficiency to fairness” in late 2020, a researcher at a Beijing think tank wrote in August in Caixin, China’s most prominent business magazine.

The party moved from “early prosperity for some to ‘common prosperity’” and “from capital to labor,” wrote Luo Zhiheng of Yuekai Securities Research Institute. He said leaders are emphasizing science, technology and manufacturing over finance and real estate.

Prominent economists have tried to reassure entrepreneurs.

“It is impossible to achieve common prosperity through ‘robbing the rich and helping the poor,’” the dean of the school of economics at Shanghai’s Fudan University, Zhang Jun, told the news outlet The Paper on August 4.

The 1979 launch of market-style economic reform under then-leader Deng Xiaoping prompted predictions abroad that China would evolve into a more open, possibly even democratic society.

The Communist Party allowed freer movement and encourages Internet use for business and education. But leaders reject changes to a one-party dictatorship that copied its political structure from the Soviet Union and watch entrepreneurs closely. Beijing controls all media and tries to limit what China’s public sees online.

As the previous decade’s economic boom fades, “Xi sees himself as the only person capable of recreating the momentum,” said June Teufel Dreyer, a Chinese politics specialist at the University of Miami.

Party members who worry reforms might weaken political control appear to have decided China’s rise is permanent and liberalization is no longer needed, said Edward Friedman, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin.

That means “anti-totalitarian elements of the reform agenda could be rolled back,” Friedman said in an e-mail. “That is what Xi is doing, as manifest in his attack on purportedly gay and girlie culture as a supposed threat to a so-called virile militarism.”

An August 29 commentary by an obscure writer, Li Guangman, described “common prosperity” as a “profound revolution.” Writing on the WeChat message service, Li said financial markets would “no longer be a paradise for capitalists to get rich overnight” and said the party’s next targets might include high housing and health care costs.

AP researcher Chen Si in Shanghai contributed to this report.

Thursday, September 9, 2021 A11

Susan V. Ople

Scribbles

‘T

oots” is my nickname. I was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer last year, and had breast surgery to remove the tumor done, two weeks before our first-ever enhanced community quaratine in March of last year. This column is dedicated to all the brave cancer patients that I have met, and the doctors, nurses, radiologists and medical workers that continue to care for them amid this global pandemic.

Listen up, DOH. I know you’re busy but….

Why in God’s holy name did you exclude a specific and separate allocation in your proposed 2022 national budget for the country’s cancer fund?

Aren’t you supposed to be on the side of indigent cancer patients who troop to government hospitals hoping for your help to get their tumors removed? And how about the children? Kids who can’t even spell the word “cancer” and yet are waitlisted for chemotherapy, braving Covid-19 and the rains, just to have a fighting chance for a next birthday? Don’t you have any idea what these kids and their parents are going through?

I am sure that you do, Department of Health (DOH). Your department is run by a doctor and is primarily tasked by the State to ensure quality health care for all Filipinos. And yet, you failed all cancer patients and survivors, the people who were most jubilant over the passage of the can-

cer act in 2019—because you made funding for cancer programs invisible to the eye, obliterating all progress made in support of a more robust cancer prevention, screening, and treatment programs. Why include your proposed funding for cancer programs with equally vital concerns under the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases?

Why would you do that, knowing that cancer is the second leading cause of death for Filipinos with 62,300 deaths tallied last year? As such, a separate budget would enable our legislators, health and cancer specialists and cancer patients and survivors track the progress of such spending in curbing this disease. I cannot comprehend the callousness of this omission; the sheer barrenness of compassion for cancer patients that have already so much to bear on their weary shoulders.

I have been in that place where chemotherapy is done, and you

crawl into bed afterwards, hit by a fatigue that only sleep can cure. I have gone through radiation, like being in a giant microwave, with the heat broiling the inside, anticipating that intermittent whirring sound, while praying for healthy organs to be spared. I count myself blessed and lucky enough to make it through all the prescribed treatments. But what about my fellow cancer patients who can’t afford to have their tumors removed?

What about Rowena, a street vendor from Bulacan, who has been diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer? She scrounges for transport fare every time she has an appointment to see her surgeon at the East Avenue Medical Center. She sells “kwekkwek” and siomai in a pushcart to earn a living. Whenever she misses a day of work to follow up on her surgery and chemotherapy, her family goes hungry.

On top of missing several days of work and raising funds to get to Manila and back, she is now required to have a swab test, which for a street vendor is quite expensive. Rowena is now in a state of financial inertia, and scared witless of that tumor that remains alive and growing day by day.

Under the Cancer Act, patients like Rowena would have access to funds to assist patients in gaining timely access to required services from screening, diagnosis to rehabilitation and reintegration. That was the intent of the authors of the NICCA. Instead, the DOH chose to embed funds to fight cancer into a lumpsum budget for non-communicable diseases. Kung baga, makiki-

hati lang sa iba, sa kabila ng nakasaad sa batas.

Sen. Nancy Binay slammed the DOH for this move. “The DOH should have taken our cue when we allocated P620-million last year for cancer.

That’s the law and a long-term priority. Instead of moving forward, this is a step back that we should correct.

When survival matters, you don’t make lifelines invisible.”

The Cancer Coalition of the Philippines has this to say: “It is disconcerting and disappointing, that the proposed 2022 National Expenditure Program of the DOH has failed to include the mandated line items on the National Integrated Cancer Control Program and the Cancer Assistance Fund. This is a direct violation of the provision, as stated in Republic Act 11215 or the NICCA. It also contravenes Rule X, Section 35 [Appropriations] of the IRR.” “Further, the absence of a separate fund for the Cancer Assistance Fund, at a time when patients need it most, is alarming and life-threatening to cancer patients, already struggling with diminished assistance from PCSO, DSWD, Malasakit and nongovernment charity organizations.”

DOH, you tell us to wear face shields and we follow. The law tells you to allot a separate and distinct budget for cancer patients, and you bail out on us.

Shame on you.

Susan V. Ople heads the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, a nonprofit organization that deals with labor and migration issues.

She also represents the OFW sector in the InterAgency Council Against Trafficking.

Efforts grow to stamp out use of parasite drug for Covid-19

By Matthew Perrone

AP Health Writer

W

ASHINGTON—Health experts and medical groups are pushing to stamp out the growing use of a decades-old parasite drug to treat Covid-19, warning that it can cause harmful side effects and that there’s little evidence it helps.

With a fourth wave of infections, more Americans are turning to ivermectin, a cheap drug used to kill worms and other parasites in humans and animals.

Federal health officials have seen a surge in prescriptions this summer, accompanied by worrying increases in reported overdoses. The drug was even given to inmates at a jail in northwest Arkansas for Covid-19, despite federal warnings against that use. On Wednesday, podcaster Joe Rogan, who has been dismissive of the Covid-19 vaccine, announced he had tested positive for the virus and was taking the medication.

Ivermectin has been promoted by Republican lawmakers, conservative talk show hosts and some doctors, amplified via social media to millions of Americans who remain resistant to getting vaccinated. It has also been widely used in other countries,

US-built. . .

continued from A12

the Pentagon’s biometrics project management office. Similarly, 20 years of data collected from telecommunications and Internet intercepts since 2001 by Afghanistan’s intelligence agency were wiped clean, said the former Afghan security official.

Among crucial databases that remained are the Afghanistan Financial Management Information System, which held extensive details on foreign contractors, and an Economy Ministry database that compiled all international development and aid agency funding sources, the former security official said.

Then there is the data—with iris scans and fingerprints for about 9 million Afghans—controlled by the National Statistics and Information Agency. A biometric scan has been required in recent years to obtain a passport or a driver’s license and to take a civil service or university

including India and Brazil.

This week, the top US professional groups for doctors and pharmacists appealed for an “immediate end” to the drug’s use outside of research.

“We are urging physicians, pharmacists, and other prescribers— trusted healthcare professionals in their communities—to warn patients against the use of ivermectin outside of FDA-approved indications and guidance,” said the American Medical Association and two pharmacist groups.

Large studies are now underway in the US and overseas to determine if the drug has any effect on preventing or blunting Covid-19.

The latest plea follows similar warnings from federal and state regulators who are tracking side effects and hospital admissions tied to the drug.

Louisiana and Washington issued alerts after an uptick in calls to poison control centers. Some animal feed supply stores have run out of the drug because of people buying the veterinary form to try and treat Covid-19.

“There’s just not any good evidence right now suggesting this is a good treatment for treating or preventing Covid-19,” said Randy

McDonough, a pharmacist in Iowa City, Iowa.

Ivermectin is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat infections of roundworms and other tiny parasites in humans and animals like cows, horses and dogs. Tablets are used for internal parasites while ointments are used to treat head lice and other skin infections. The generic drug works by paralyzing the worms and killing their offspring.

The FDA has tried to debunk online claims that animal-strength versions of the drug can help fight Covid-19.

“Taking large doses of this drug is dangerous and can cause serious harm,” the FDA warned in a public advisory. The drug can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, delirium and even death, said the agency.

Dr. David Boulware of the University of Minnesota says the drug’s side effects are mild at two or even three times the usual human dose.

But formulations for farm animals might contain 1,000 times what’s safe for humans.

“It’s pretty easy to get into toxic levels,” said Boulware, an infectious disease specialist. “All these concentrated doses that are meant for a 2,000 pound horse can certainly

get people sick or hospitalized for toxicity.”

Boulware says he prescribes the drug to patients a few times a year in the US and more routinely when working in countries where intestinal parasites are common. But he and other experts have been alarmed by the explosive growth in US ivermectin prescribing.

By mid-August US pharmacies were filling 88,000 weekly prescriptions for the medication, a 24-fold increase from pre-Covid levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, US poison control centers have seen a five-fold increase in emergency calls related to the drug, with some incidents requiring hospitalization.

The CDC citedone case of a man who drank an injectable form of ivermectin intended for cattle. He suffered hallucinations, confusion, tremors and other side effects before being hospitalized for nine days.

The World Health Organization, the National Institutes of Health and other medical experts have also recommended against using it outside of carefully controlled patient studies.

An NIH panel found “insufficient evidence” for or against the drug for Covid-19, calling for more large, well-designed trials.

entrance exam.

Western aid organizations led by the World Bank, one of the funders, praised the data’s utility for empowering women, especially in registering land ownership and obtaining bank loans. The agency was working to create electronic national IDs, known as e-Tazkira, in an unfinished project somewhat modeled on India’s biometrically enabled Aadhaar national ID. “That’s the treasure chest,” said a Western election assistance official, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize future missions.

It is unclear whether voter registration databases—records on more than 8 million Afghans—are in Taliban hands, the official said.

Full printouts were made during the 2019 presidential elections, though the biometric records used then for anti-fraud voter verification were retained by the German technology provider. After 2018 parliamentary elections, 5,000 portable biometric

handhelds used for verification went inexplicably missing.

Yet another database the Taliban inherit contains iris and face scans and fingerprints on 420,000 government employees—another antifraud measure—which Nadery oversaw as civil service commissioner. It was eventually to have been merged with the e-Tazkira database, he said.

On August 3, a government website touted the digital accomplishments of President Ashraf Ghani, who would soon flee into exile, saying biometric information on “all civil servants, from every corner of the country” would allow them to them to be linked “under one umbrella” with banks and cellphone carriers for electronic payment. UN agencies have also collected biometrics on Afghans for food distribution and refugee tracking.

The central agglomeration of such personal data is exactly what worries the 37 digital civil liberties groups who signed an Aug. 25 letter calling for the urgent shutdown and erasure,

where possible, of Afghanistan’s “digital identity tool,” among other measures. The letter said authoritarian regimes have exploited such data “to target vulnerable people” and digitized, searchable databases amplify the risks. Disputes over including ethnicity and religion in the e-Tazkira database—for fear it could put digital bullseyes on minorities, as China has done in repressing its ethnic Uyghurs—delayed its creation for most of a decade.

John Woodward, a Boston University professor and former CIA officer who pioneered the Pentagon’s biometric collection, is worried about intelligence agencies hostile to the United States getting access to the data troves.

“ISI [Pakistani intelligence] would be interested to know who worked for the Americans,” said Woodward, and China, Russia and Iran have their own agendas. Their agents certainly have the technical chops to break into password-protected databases.

A12 Thursday, September 9, 2021

‘Delta factor came after ’22 budget plans on vaccines’

T

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) conceded that their proposed P45.37 billion budget for Covid-19 vaccines for 2022 would have to be augmented for the country to achieve a higher level of herd immunity due to the spread of the Delta variant.

DBM Officer-In-Charge Tina Marie Canda admitted on Wednesday that the preparations for the proposed 2022 national budget came ahead of discussions on the more contagious variant.

“When the budget was prepared way back in April or May, there was no discussion at that time regarding the Delta variant, regarding inoculating our citizens 18 years old and below,” Canda said during the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) briefing with the Senate Committee on Finance on the proposed 2022 national budget.

“The funding for the doses at that time given the information we had was limited to that amount. However, with this new information, certain adjustments we admit must be done to the Department of Health [budget],” she said.

Canda made the response after Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto

wondered aloud whether the budget for Covid-19 vaccines is sufficient to cover the possible increase in the number of people needing to be inoculated, including those below 18, for the country to vaccinate as much as 90 percent of the population given the threat of the Delta variant.

Recto raised the question to DBM after Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua cited, in the same briefing, new studies suggesting that countries may now need to achieve more than 70 percent of herd immunity because of the Delta variant.

“Initially I understand that 70 percent would be needed for herd immunity, but because of the Delta variant, there are now new studies suggesting, either a higher level of herd immunity or learning to accept that this virus may become endemic, meaning, it may not disappear soon. Thus, requiring annual shots as if

it were a flu,” Chua said. “So, that is the evolving thinking, and I understand the budget for next year has allocation for booster shots. Of course, we are monitoring this and trying to understand the direction on how we deal with the vaccination strategy.”

Senator Joel Villanueva also pointed out that the proposed P45.37-billion budget for vaccine booster shots as submitted by the DBM to Congress was less compared to the P104 billion proposed by the Department of Health.

Villanueva also echoed the other House members’ concern that the budget for booster shots was lodged under Unprogrammed Appropriations, meaning, this purpose will only be funded if the government has excess revenues.

Dominguez: Supply issue

FOR his part, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said it is the supply problem with Covid-19 vaccines that hinders the vaccination program.

For the first week of September, the finance chief said the country only got 3.5 million doses, which is even less than half of the 9 million doses that the country needs every week to inoculate its population. Moreover, Dominguez pointed out the government has already done its part in setting aside the money up to ordering and negotiating for the vaccines, but it is the pharmaceutical

companies who needed to step up.

“You know what we need to, to inoculate everybody is 9 million doses, arriving a week. Okay. We have already ordered it. We have set aside the money for it. Now it is up to the pharmas to deliver,” he said.

Based on the current trend, Dominguez also said it “looks probable” for the country to vaccinate 77 million people by the first quarter of next year but this still depends on the supply of vaccines.

He indicated some suppliers of vaccine in the private sector encountered problems resulting in some delays, but added there were other vaccine suppliers ready to fill the gap. The supply of Sinovac, account for 50 percent of overall deliveries to the country, is stable, meanwhile.

For his part, Secretary Chua of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reported that as of September 7, at least 36.2 million doses of the vaccine were already injected while 15.3 million Filipinos were injected with the second dose from the 20.9 million injected with the first dose.

For this year, Dominguez said they expect a total of 195.67 million doses to cover 100.83 million individuals, of which 52.79 million has already been delivered as of September 7.

With Butch Fernandez

END OF AN ERA: AFTER 70 YEARS, AUTOMATIC CENTRE SHUTS DOWN

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @Tyronepiad

A

PPLIANCE store Automatic Centre was not spared by the pandemic, announcing the closure of retail stores by October after over 70 years of operations.

“Due to the significant challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, Automatic Appliances Inc. has decided to close its appliance retail stores effective Oct. 10 2021,” Geoffrey Lim, its president, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Lim vowed to “honor all our obligations and ensure a smooth transition and closing process while exploring options to keep the 70+ year ‘Automatic Centre’ mission/legacy of ‘helping improve the quality of life of the Filipino family’ alive.” He also thanked the public for their support through the years.

The appliance store’s portfolio includes over 25 brands, including Apple, Devant, JBL, Koppel, Mitsubishi Air, Panasonic, Samsung, Carrier, Fujidenzo, Whirlpool, Oppo, Realme, Philips, LG and Sony.

Its offerings include television and audio equipment, refrigerator, freezer, air conditioner, washer and kitchen appliance.

According to its web site, the Automatic Centre opened its first outlet, a 40-square-meter store, along Avenida Rizal, Manila, in 1946 after the war. Then, among its product offerings were transistor radios, light bulbs, wires, sockets and other electrical supplies.

Given the anticipated demand, the company continued to stock up inventory.

It eventually opened its 200-square-meter branch at the Makati Commercial Center in 1964, introducing the concept of appliance super marketing.

Currently, Automatic Centre has 18 outlets in Metro Manila and one in Cebu City.

Jobs data crucial in monetary policy response–Diokno

By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

B

ANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Benjamin Diokno said the country’s employment numbers continue to be one of the crucial factors being assessed when crafting monetary policy response and timing, especially during the pandemic.

In a message to reporters following the release of the country’s July employment data this week, Diokno said the Labor Force Survey shows that the country’s recovery is still shaky, thus still potentially needing sustained accommodative monetary policy in the short term.

“Results of the July 2021 Labor Force Survey indicate two things. First, as shown by the drop in the unemployment rate to its lowest level since the onset of the pandemic, the Philippine economy continues to progress in its economic recovery process,” Diokno said.

“Second, with the increase in the underemployment rate and drop in the labor force participation rate compared with the previous month’s figures, the recovery process comes with short-term challenges,” he added.

Preliminary results of the Labor Force Survey released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said there were 3.1 million unemployed and 8.7 million underemployed Filipinos during the month.

Diokno said it is crucial for the country to recover positively in terms of employment rate before they start considering winding up their accommodative monetary policy.

“The BSP has done a lot to support the economy amid the crisis.… The BSP will continue to support the economy for as long as necessary, until we see evidence of robust and sustained economic recovery, as reflected partly in the employment situation,” the Central Bank chief said.

At the height of the pandemic, the BSP cut its interest rates to a historic low of 2 percent. The BSP also implemented other monetary measures which, in total, infused over P2.2 trillion of liquidity in the economy’s stream.

“We are committed to help the Philippines build on its nascent economic recovery, toward a better post-Covid-19 economy. This is consistent with the BSP’ primary objective of maintaining price stability conducive to a balanced and sustainable growth of the economy and employment,” Diokno said.

VOTER applicants troop to the Comelec office in Arroceros, Manila, as registration resumed in the National Capital Region just 23 days before the deadline. Despite appeals from many sectors, Comelec stuck to the September 30 voter registration deadline. The list-up was disrupted by Covid-driven hard lockdowns. ROY DOMINGO

Arbitral court favors PHL govt in case filed by MPTC

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

T

HE Permanent Court of Arbitration has ruled in favor of the Philippine government in the arbitration case filed by Nlex Corp. It likewise ordered the termination of the arbitration case filed

by Cavitex Infrastructure Corp.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. President

Rodrigo E. Franco said the group respects the decision of the court and vowed to continue helping the government in accelerating infrastructure development to help the economy bounce back from the ill effects of the pandemic.

“Given that the toll rate adjustments subject of this case are already being implemented, we wish to reiterate that we respect the Tribunal’s decision. For

now, we believe that it is best for us to focus on supporting our government’s efforts to end the pandemic and do our part in accelerating economic recovery through infrastructure developments,” he said.

The court decided to set aside the Nlex claim for compensation and damages arising from the delayed toll rate adjustments for 2012 and 2014. The govern-

ment, however, allowed it to implement the increase in toll in March 2019.

“We have noted the present government’s policy to fairly evaluate requests for toll adjustments and will take this in consideration as we continue to closely cooperate with government agencies for the implementation of vital infrastructure projects,” Franco said.

Continued on A5

Companies BusinessMirror

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Thursday, September 9, 2021

B1

SMC Global Power to offer $100-M perpetual securities

By Lenie Lectura

S

@llectura

MC Global Power Holdings Corp.

(SMCGP) is raising $100 million from the issuance of additional senior perpetual capital securities to finance its proposed 1,313 megawatt (MW) combined cycle power plant in Batangas.

Its board approved on Wednesday the issuance of additional securities of at least $100 million or an amount as management may determine, subject to prevailing market conditions.

“The additional securities shall be consolidated and form a single series with the existing $600,000,000.00

senior perpetual capital securities issued on June 9, 2021. It will be constituted by a supplemental trust deed, which shall supplement the trust deed of the original securities, and listed in the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited,” it said in a filing.

The proceeds of the additional securities, the company said, will be used “primarily for investments in the 1,313.1MW Batangas Combined Cycle Power Plant and related assets or for general corporate purposes.”

Standard Chartered Bank and Mizuho Securities Asia Limited were tapped as joint lead managers for the issuance of the additional securities.

Excellent Energy Resources Inc. (EERI), a subsidiary of SMC Global, will also put up a 1,200MW combined cycle power plant in Ilijan, Batangas. The output of the plant will be supplied to the Manila Electric Co. after the EERI won a competitive auction for a 20-year power supply agreement with the utility firm.

The power facility will be ready by November 2024.

SMC Global Power, the power unit of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), said it plans to build

solar power facilities in combination with battery energy storage systems (BESS) facilities. Commercial operations of the facilities may start in 2023.

The company has earmarked $1 billion for the construction of 31 BESS with a capacity of 1,000MW. SMC President Ramon S. Ang said the power firm is moving away from building new coal power facilities, despite new technologies that make them cleaner.

“It’s a company direction that is in line with all the major sustainability initiatives we have undertaken these past couple of years,” Ang said.

The direction for SMCGP it to add more renewables into its power portfolio utilizing technologies that will significantly cut its carbon footprint while continuously addressing the country’s need for reliable and affordable power.

‘LRWC unit’s accreditation gets nod’

By VG Cabuag @villygc

L

eisure and Resorts World Corp. (LRWC), an operator of various hotel and gaming sites in the Philippines, on Wednesday said its unit, Total Gamezone Extreme Inc. (TGXI), has been given the go-ahead by the country’s gaming regulator to commence operations.

The company said in its disclosure that state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has approved the accreditation of Total Gamezone as an electronic games system service provider with its EGS brand Gamezone.

“TGXI officially launched its own electronic gaming system and remote gaming platform,” LRWC said.

“As most businesses switch to a work from home scheme, and social distancing protocols being imposed

due to the Covid-19 pandemic, LRWC also strives its way in this new normal by continuing to provide services to its customers through TGXI’s remote electronic gaming.”

LRWC’s electronic gaming system and remote gaming platform was initially launched on July 15.

The system aims to provide players with a convenient platform wherein players can play online anytime. The system is also available on some of the physical sites of TGXI. The platform is accessible to all registered players of TGXI and offers a variety of games, such as Habanero, CQ9, Pocket Game Soft and Playground Technology. Some additional new games are also coming along the way, the company said.

LRWC posted an attributable net loss of P358.3 million in the first semester, narrower than the previous year’s loss of P500.9 million. The improvement is mainly due to the

significant decline in costs which was partially offset by the decline in gross gaming revenue brought about by the closure of its sites due to strict health protocols.

Gross profit fell by more than a third to P530.27 million from last year’s P834.44 million mainly due to the reduction in gaming revenue from all segments.

“All casino and retail sites were closed from mid-March 2020. After submission of strategic return to work guidelines and safety operation measures, we were able to open 10 Retail sites with 50 percent occupancy by the end of June and open 3 sites of Blue Chip by the middle of June,” the company said.

Gross revenues from the casino business declined by 62 percent to P294.04 million from last year’s P781.7 million as its income from junket operations fell by 100 percent.

PNB taps Adobe Sign to hasten digital shift

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

T

he Philippine National Bank (PNB) announced on Wednesday that it has selected Adobe Sign as the bank’s electronic signature solution to improve digital document workflows amid the shift to electronic transactions.

In an effort to “pivot” its strategies towards increased digitization in the “new normal,” PNB said its latest collaboration with Adobe Sign is part of their scheme to adopt paperless processes and reduce its reliance on wet signatures.

“PNB has selected Adobe Sign, Microsoft’s preferred e-signature solution, as it integrates seamlessly with the bank’s existing Microsoft IT infrastructure – making the end-to-end change process easier and more efficient across the organization, flattening the learning curve for employees,” the bank said in a statement.

This partnership makes PNB the first Adobe Sign customer in the Philippines to be hosted on the Microsoft Azure Southeast Asia region data center in Singapore.

PNB said the implementation of Adobe Sign will lower the risk of paper documents being damaged, lost, or stolen and help the

BusinessMirror file photo

bank save time and cost, and operate more sustainably across the organization.

According to Adobe’s Total Economic Impact study, on average, reducing manual signature steps saves employees 1.5 hours per transaction. Also, reducing the use of paper documents saves $6 per transaction.

“What matters most is the assurance that privacy and safety measures are in place to protect our customers’ well-being when they transact with us. For that, we partner closely with local regulators and our digital ecosystem partners, such as Adobe, to ensure clients’ safety and security throughout our digitization efforts. And this initiative

is compliant to the Philippines’s E-Commerce Act of 2000,” PNB President and CEO Wick Veloso added.

Adobe Managing Director of Southeast Asia Simon Dale, meanwhile, said the company has put together a team to work closely with PNB to upskill their officers with adequate training to ensure long-term success.

With the partnership, the bank said it is set to introduce new digital capabilities for customers to have the option of both physical and digital signing experiences.

This, according to the bank, offers enhanced efficiency and security to help customers stay safe and healthy while enjoying uninterrupted critical services.

ABS-CBN brings hit movies to Singapore

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

A

BS- CBN Cor p. said on Wednesday it has partnered with Cathay CineHome, t he st re a m i ng v ide o rental service of leading cinema operator Cathay Cineplexes in Singapore.

In a statement, the Lopezled conglomerate said the partnership between its subsidiary A BS - CBN Austra lia Pt y. Ltd. and Cathay CineHome allows subscribers in Singapore to rent Filipino box office hits for as low as S$4.98.

Cathay CineHome is the digital extension of the Cathay Cineplexes, a streaming service for videoon-demand (VOD) for movies in Singapore. The streaming service was launched in 2020 to serve as a complementary platform to the cinema exhibition business, by creating additional viewing opportunities for movie lovers.

“ABS-CBN focuses on reinventing how we can deliver our content to Filipinos and nonFilipinos in Southeast Asia. The pa ndem ic h a s t remendou sly changed our lifestyles and, for our audience, that includes not

being able to enjoy films in movie theatres. True to ABS-CBN’s commitment to bring news and entertainment around the world, we are proud to be partnering with Cathay CineHome with whom we share a vision of reaching as many households in Singapore,” said Maribel Hernaez, ABS-CBN Australia’s Managing Director for the Asia Pacific.

Membership to Cathay CineHome is free. The platform’s pay-per-view rental model provides viewers with the choice of watching their favorite shows on smart TVs, computers, tablets, and mobile devices.

“Cathay CineHome is honored to partner with ABS-CBN Australia to offer more Filipino movies to film lovers in Singapore. Filipino films are some of the most creative and commercially successful films that are being made in the region and it is great that more people will be able to enjoy these films through the streaming service,” said mm2 Asia Group CEO Chang Long Jong.

A BS- CBN is strengthening its distribution and streaming services after its franchise for broadcasting was not renewed

by Congress in 2020.

B2

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Companies BusinessMirror

Groups urge Lazada, Shopee to adopt zero-waste scheme

E

nvironmental groups called on e-commerce giants Lazada and Shopee to revamp their packaging scheme amid the spike in plastic waste, especially since the upcoming holiday season will drive demand for consumer goods.

Jefferson Chua, Greenpeace Philippines consultant, said the digital platforms should apply a zero-waste approach in their operations as e-commerce is expected to expand even more.

“The rise of online shopping during pandemic has also shown us that e-commerce is now really part of the new normal. By heeding the people’s call to reveal, reduce and redesign, Lazada and

Shopee can lead the way to provide Filipinos a better normal e-commerce experience,” he said during a press conference on Wednesday.

Chua said that the “the mounds of unnecessary plastic waste produced through each order burden our households and communities.”

Lazada and Shopee should not pass on all the responsibility to its consumers when it comes to seg-

regating and disposing of plastic waste, he said. The e-commerce platforms, Chua said, have the capital and resources to implement sustainable solutions.

“While both companies have publicized efforts to implement more ‘eco-friendly’ practices, their plastic packaging spree continues,” environmental groups said in a statement.

The Greenpeace official urged the digital marketplaces to be transparent on how much waste they produce for accountability.

This, as he asked them to “show and strengthen internal mechanisms that are focused on environmental sustainability.”

It is also ideal to set a reduction target in terms of waste, he said, in addition to rationalizing packaging schemes.

Chua said Lazada and Shopee

should “redesign systems on e-commerce packaging to make it more environmentally sustainable.”

JuanBag Founder R achel le Lacanlale said using reusable packaging is both doable and beneficial for the business. JuanBag is a returnable and reusable packaging provider. “ I f bu si nesses sh i f t t hei r thinking from focusing on profit alone to prioritizing the needs of people and the planet, we can design and innovate new systems that don’t sacrifice the well-being of communities and the environment,” she said.

Last November 2020, the Youth Strike for Climate Philippines launched an online petition urging Lazada and Shopee to adopt a zero-waste approach. It has garnered over 14,000 signatures.

Manuel T. Cayon, Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

mutual funds

September 8, 2021 NAV One Year Three Year Five Year

per share

Return*

Y-T-D Return

Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a

222.42

13.78%

-4.94%

-3.53%

-2.11%

ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a

1.5351

42.4%

1.77%

2%

16.92%

ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.0514

16.44%

-8.98%

-6.4%

-2.6%

Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.7395 10.42%

-6.72% n.a.

-8.01%

First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.7657 10.84%

-3.35% n.a.

First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a

3.25%

4.96

17.84%

-2.6%

-1.56%

0.38%

First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a

0.7436

13.23%

-4.61%

-5.39%

MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a

98.96

20.3%

-4.93% n.a.

-2.92%

PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a

45.5018

16.19%

-3.43%

-2.24%

-2.87%

Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a

478.33

13.55%

-3%

-2.67%

-2.18%

Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d

1.0938

24.54% n.a. n.a.

-0.32%

Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a

1.2037

20.31%

-2.02%

-1.18%

3.04%

Philequity Fund, Inc. -a

34.5772

17.95%

-2.64%

-1.15%

-0.55%

15.22% n.a. n.a.

-2.63%

Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a

0.889

Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a

4.6772

17%

-2.75%

-1.5%

Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a

781.63

16.95%

-2.7%

-1.72%

-2.5%

Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a

0.7073

17.16%

-6.72%

-4.81%

-1.61%

Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.5917

16.06%

-0.89%

-2.38%

-4.83%

-2.74%

Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.8925 16.53%

-3.04%

-1.76%

-2.75%

United Fund, Inc. -a

-3.03%

-0.77%

-1.26%

-2.52%

-1.09%

3.2772

17.73%

-2.13%

Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 104.9661

16.96%

-2.41%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities $1.2176

15.23%

6.61%

5.71%

1.22%

Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.8698

ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

23.34%

13.17%

12.08%

11.78%

Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a

1.6852

7.87%

0.03%

-1.33%

0.99%

ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a

2.215

8.15%

-0.75%

-1.24%

-3.08%

First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.6206

9.53%

0.56%

-0.02%

-0.24%

First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.193

11.75% n.a. n.a.

NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a

1.9626

7.27%

1.74%

0.59%

-0.07%

PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a

3.6969

6.87%

0.91%

-0.66%

-2.41%

Philam Fund, Inc. -a

16.5469

7.26%

0.99%

-0.63%

-2.3%

Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a

2.0633

8.51%

-0.43%

-0.42%

-1.47%

Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.5606 9.55%

-1.45%

-1.31%

-0.35%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.9867

5.99% n.a. n.a.

-3.51%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.9072

9.22% n.a. n.a.

-4.42%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.8944

11.12% n.a. n.a.

-4.15%

Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a

0.8987

12.2%

-1.86%

-1.6%

1.24%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a

$0.03835

-1.87%

3.03%

1.21%

-1.97%

PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b

$1.1164

7.13%

2.53%

3.32%

-2.94%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $4.8653 17.21%

10.02%

8.47%

7.81%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a $1.2352 7.89%

5.84%

4.5%

2.75%

Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a

373.12

1.41%

3.05%

2.42%

0.55%

ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.9284

-1.04%

1.16%

0.18%

1.48%

Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a

3.2393

1.23%

3.46%

4.22%

0.77%

Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a

2.2611

-1.72%

2.14%

1.29%

-1.52%

First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4404 -0.51%

3.22%

1.68%

-0.52%

Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a

4.4837

-3.96%

4.45%

1.13%

-3.26%

Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a

1.32

0.73%

4.02%

2.71%

-0.09%

Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a

3.9869

0.9%

4.78%

2.03%

-0.35%

Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.0382

0.1%

4.94%

1.57%

-0.36%

-2.82%

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

September 8, 2021

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALs

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK COL FINANCIAL FIRST ABACUS FERRONOUX HLDG FILIPINO FUND IREMIT NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH

43.55 114.3 83.55 24.3 9.21 45.45 20.35 55.5 20 112 84.4 4.29 0.6 3.4 6.54 1.27 0.65 235.2

44 115 83.6 24.4 9.25 45.5 20.4 56.2 20.1 112.5 84.5 4.32 0.64 3.49 7.89 1.31 0.69 238

44 114.8 83.5 24.15 9.25 45.1 20.4 56.2 20.05 112.5 84.2 4.29 0.6 3.07 6.51 1.21 0.64 239.4

44 115.5 83.75 24.4 9.29 45.5 20.45 56.2 20.2 113 85 4.32 0.6 3.62 6.51 1.31 0.65 239.4

43.55 114.3 83.25 24.15 9.17 45.1 20.3 56.2 20 112 84.2 4.29 0.6 3.07 6.51 1.21 0.64 238

43.55 114.3 83.6 24.3 9.21 45.5 20.3 56.2 20 112 84.5 4.32 0.6 3.4 6.51 1.31 0.65 238

4,900 1,115,980 906,160 41,500 101,400 1,689,900 139,200 440 29,800 647,110 47,320 44,000 5,000 655,000 1,000 93,000 25,000 1,020

215,555 127,887,678 75,737,465 1,006,880 934,123 76,779,265 2,828,600 24,728 599,565 72,637,673 4,005,457.50 189,650 3,000 2,263,710 6,510 112,630 16,150 243,802

INDUSTRIAL

AC ENERGY ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PETROENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER AGRINURTURE AXELUM CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT FRUITAS HLDG GINEBRA JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR MAXS GROUP MG HLDG MONDE NISSIN SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CONCRETE A CONCRETE B CEMEX HLDG EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CROWN ASIA EUROMED MABUHAY VINYL PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

9.97 1.16 28.75 0.61 31.75 78.25 292 17.98 3.15 3.94 12.6 19.54 13.24 5.35 2.69 13.76 26.45 13.54 8.3 16.7 79.5 0.65 1.24 107 200.4 28.35 6.5 0.219 17.2 7.71 0.91 4.45 1.34 0.128 143.9 0.79 2.32 48.45 50.15 1.26 14.3 8.11 6.75 6.24 14.1 0.98 1.31 1.69 1.72 5.3 5.4 23 2.58 8.48 0.93 1.19 4.47

10 1.17 28.95 0.62 31.8 78.3 292.2 18 3.16 4.04 12.78 19.62 13.26 5.39 2.75 13.8 26.55 13.62 8.31 16.84 79.7 0.66 1.25 107.1 202 29.4 6.55 0.22 17.22 7.98 0.92 4.57 1.42 0.129 144.5 0.8 2.44 52.35 62.7 1.28 14.46 8.2 6.76 6.25 14.2 0.99 1.32 1.7 1.79 5.45 5.46 23.1 2.6 8.5 0.94 1.2 4.48

9.99 1.17 28.65 0.62 31.85 78.4 290 17.92 3.15 3.98 12.62 19.52 13.44 5.4 2.7 13.76 26.2 13.7 8.39 17.08 79 0.66 1.25 105.5 201.2 28.35 6.55 0.224 17.5 7.9 0.9 4.45 1.41 0.129 145.8 0.79 2.35 52.95 62.7 1.31 14.46 8 7 6.22 14.8 0.99 1.36 1.7 1.73 5.2 5.46 23 2.55 8.68 0.94 1.2 4.62

10.14 1.19 29.25 0.62 31.95 79 292 18 3.17 4.05 12.78 19.68 13.44 5.41 2.77 13.76 26.45 13.7 8.39 17.1 79.5 0.66 1.25 107.8 203.4 28.35 6.55 0.224 17.5 7.98 0.95 4.45 1.41 0.13 146 0.79 2.35 53 62.7 1.32 14.46 8.2 7 6.25 14.8 0.99 1.36 1.71 1.79 5.45 5.46 23.25 2.63 8.68 0.94 1.2 4.62

9.94 1.15 28.5 0.6 31.8 78.25 289.4 17.92 3.12 3.98 12.62 19.5 13.16 5.23 2.7 13.7 25.8 13.4 8.28 16.48 78.5 0.65 1.21 105.3 200 28.35 6.45 0.22 17.12 7.7 0.89 4.45 1.41 0.129 142.8 0.78 2.35 48.1 62.7 1.26 14.46 8 6.69 6.21 14.2 0.99 1.31 1.7 1.72 5.2 5.4 23 2.54 8.5 0.93 1.18 4.44

10 1.17 28.95 0.61 31.8 78.3 292 18 3.16 4.04 12.78 19.54 13.24 5.39 2.74 13.76 26.45 13.62 8.31 16.7 79.5 0.65 1.25 107 200.4 28.35 6.45 0.22 17.2 7.7 0.92 4.45 1.41 0.129 144.5 0.79 2.35 52.8 62.7 1.27 14.46 8.2 6.76 6.25 14.2 0.99 1.31 1.7 1.72 5.45 5.4 23 2.6 8.5 0.94 1.2 4.48

23,786,800 766,000 3,083,000 12,136,000 1,568,500 60,450 467,280 264,300 2,360,000 104,000 10,800 1,017,600 62,700 133,000 444,000 2,300 981,200 98,700 1,978,300 14,427,500 50,560 28,000 10,843,000 31,970 332,730 200 25,400 260,000 22,209,000 43,300 7,659,000 5,000 5,000 2,400,000 886,230 1,053,000 20,000 1,220 200 2,501,000 1,400 192,300 318,500 474,100 77,100 15,000 2,496,000 109,000 19,000 5,000 48,100 65,300 3,651,000 429,700 39,000 284,000 2,069,000

237,715,520 889,560 88,996,865 7,351,780 49,956,110 4,740,283.50 136,269,224 4,752,286 7,439,020 417,660 137,204 19,882,088 830,632 712,000 1,206,770 31,630 25,761,600 1,335,378 16,465,218 244,130,810 4,004,106 18,310 13,330,200 3,405,758 66,810,606 5,670 165,280 57,420 383,873,066 339,896 6,970,300 22,250 7,050 309,770 127,898,002 824,990 47,000 60,484 12,540 3,204,120 20,244 1,558,644 2,161,968 2,952,541 1,095,480 14,850 3,308,760 185,450 32,850 27,078 259,934 1,502,025 9,489,000 3,662,538 36,460 339,220 9,320,140

HOLDING & FRIMS

ABACORE CAPITAL ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL AYALA LAND LOG ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FJ PRINCE A FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP METRO PAC INV PACIFICA HLDG PRIME MEDIA REPUBLIC GLASS SOLID GROUP SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

1.04 6.07 815 44.5 10.3 5.15 6.75 0.99 0.56 0.55 5.05 6.51 7.6 2.68 0.295 573.5 64 0.75 3.24 9.15 3.89 3.06 2.04 2.51 1.16 1,020 116 0.69 133.3 0.26 0.195

1.05 6.28 816.5 44.55 10.36 5.16 6.94 1 0.57 0.58 5.07 6.56 7.77 2.95 0.31 574 64.95 0.76 3.29 9.16 3.9 3.14 2.05 2.78 1.18 1,025 117.5 0.7 134.8 0.27 0.2

1.04 6.29 812 44.5 10.66 5.27 6.9 1 0.57 0.58 5.15 6.49 7.78 2.8 0.295 574 64.1 0.82 3.25 9.36 3.88 3.05 2 2.79 1.2 1,000 114 0.7 134.9 0.265 0.2

1.06 6.29 819 44.65 10.66 5.3 6.9 1 0.57 0.58 5.15 6.57 7.78 2.8 0.31 574 65 0.87 3.25 9.47 3.91 3.14 2.04 2.79 1.2 1,027 117.5 0.7 134.9 0.265 0.2

1.03 6.29 806 43.8 10.3 5.08 6.9 0.98 0.56 0.58 5 6.48 7.77 2.8 0.295 560 63.55 0.75 3.2 9.1 3.84 3.05 1.97 2.79 1.19 996.5 113.8 0.68 134.9 0.265 0.2

1.05 6.29 815 44.5 10.3 5.16 6.9 0.99 0.57 0.58 5.07 6.51 7.77 2.8 0.31 574 64.95 0.75 3.25 9.15 3.9 3.14 2.04 2.79 1.19 1,025 117.5 0.7 134.9 0.265 0.2

2,290,000 100 337,680 1,459,300 2,670,300 3,278,900 13,400 2,578,000 345,000 14,000 1,527,700 14,164,000 6,000 3,000 170,000 192,110 1,177,510 12,094,000 1,064,000 15,080,900 11,932,000 9,000 115,000 68,000 127,000 273,160 244,250 48,000 100 80,000 100,000

2,392,260 629 274,854,175 64,802,435 27,611,996 16,927,849 92,460 2,553,450 196,230 8,120 7,678,932 92,200,999 46,660 8,400 50,300 109,535,505 76,277,523 9,818,960 3,407,830 139,883,516 46,360,640 27,810 231,800 189,720 151,170 278,058,230 28,209,135 33,200 13,490 21,200 20,000

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.66 0.68 0.66 0.66 0.65 0.66 113,000 74,470 ANCHOR LAND 6.98 7.53 6.98 6.98 6.98 6.98 100 698 AYALA LAND 33.15 33.8 33.3 33.8 32.65 33.8 11,840,800 393,653,640 ARANETA PROP 1.08 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.06 1.1 151,000 161,740 AREIT RT 38.1 38.4 38.45 38.5 38.1 38.1 356,000 13,645,425 BELLE CORP 1.37 1.38 1.38 1.38 1.36 1.36 330,000 452,380 A BROWN 0.85 0.87 0.85 0.87 0.84 0.87 462,000 392,690 CITYLAND DEVT 0.77 0.79 0.77 0.79 0.77 0.79 491,000 380,320 CROWN EQUITIES 0.12 0.123 0.123 0.123 0.12 0.123 23,980,000 2,878,960 CEBU HLDG 6.1 6.29 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 4,700 28,670 CEB LANDMASTERS 3.24 3.27 3.27 3.29 3.23 3.24 1,338,000 4,366,460 CENTURY PROP 0.455 0.46 0.455 0.465 0.45 0.46 7,040,000 3,245,700 DOUBLEDRAGON 10.14 10.16 10.2 10.2 10.1 10.16 59,600 605,844 DDMP RT 1.79 1.8 1.78 1.8 1.78 1.8 5,861,000 10,472,370 DM WENCESLAO 6.5 6.57 6.45 6.5 6.45 6.5 127,000 820,065 EMPIRE EAST 0.28 0.285 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 320,000 89,600 EVER GOTESCO 0.475 0.48 0.46 0.485 0.445 0.48 96,980,000 45,538,650 FILINVEST RT 7.26 7.3 7.27 7.32 7.26 7.26 5,284,400 38,486,208 FILINVEST LAND 1.1 1.11 1.09 1.11 1.09 1.11 1,979,000 2,177,060 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.17 1.18 1.18 1.23 1.12 1.17 9,429,000 11,087,130 8990 HLDG 7.3 7.48 7.41 7.49 7.41 7.49 21,000 156,957 PHIL INFRADEV 1.21 1.23 1.21 1.24 1.21 1.22 297,000 360,210 CITY AND LAND 1.27 1.28 1.3 1.3 1.28 1.28 119,000 152,560 MEGAWORLD 2.92 2.93 2.9 2.93 2.87 2.93 15,611,000 45,460,240 MRC ALLIED 0.315 0.325 0.33 0.33 0.315 0.315 22,070,000 7,028,500 PHIL ESTATES 0.53 0.54 0.55 0.55 0.53 0.54 1,905,000 1,010,830 PRIMEX CORP 2.01 2.06 2.01 2.12 2 2.01 158,000 319,390 ROBINSONS LAND 16.78 16.8 16.82 16.96 16.8 16.8 1,842,000 30,974,116 PHIL REALTY 0.26 0.265 0.265 0.27 0.255 0.265 2,290,000 598,500 ROCKWELL 1.51 1.53 1.53 1.53 1.53 1.53 7,000 10,710 SHANG PROP 2.61 2.64 2.61 2.64 2.61 2.64 31,000 81,140 STA LUCIA LAND 2.9 2.95 2.99 3 2.85 2.95 535,000 1,562,430 SM PRIME HLDG 33.9 33.95 33.8 34.2 33.55 33.95 5,003,900 169,789,890 VISTAMALLS 3.66 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 3,000 11,100 SUNTRUST HOME 1.74 1.75 1.7 1.84 1.7 1.74 18,257,000 32,546,730 VISTA LAND 3.58 3.62 3.59 3.63 3.52 3.62 342,000 1,222,870

SERVICES ABS CBN 10.9 10.92 10.9 10.92 10.86 10.9 118,300 1,288,038 GMA NETWORK 13.12 13.14 13.4 13.46 13.12 13.12 949,800 12,572,658 GLOBE TELECOM 2,790 2,802 2,790 2,814 2,770 2,790 100,115 279,880,990 PLDT 1,462 1,471 1,450 1,472 1,425 1,471 245,725 355,791,215 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.111 0.112 0.112 0.113 0.111 0.112 92,990,000 10,386,370 CONVERGE 31.75 31.85 32 32.3 31.75 31.75 6,892,400 220,192,410 DFNN INC 3.84 3.85 3.92 3.93 3.83 3.85 292,000 1,140,060 DITO CME HLDG 8.82 8.84 8.82 8.97 8.68 8.84 6,377,600 56,065,846 NOW CORP 2.05 2.06 2.04 2.06 2.02 2.05 639,000 1,305,740 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.38 0.385 0.385 0.39 0.375 0.385 11,120,000 4,215,550 PHILWEB 2.26 2.29 2.19 2.3 2.19 2.29 562,000 1,259,820 2GO GROUP 8.03 8.19 8.2 8.2 8.03 8.03 61,100 493,972 ASIAN TERMINALS 14.08 14.1 14.1 14.1 14 14.1 6,000 84,500 CHELSEA 2.53 2.55 2.52 2.55 2.52 2.55 253,000 639,110 CEBU AIR 43.8 43.85 44 44 43.7 43.85 154,800 6,780,470 INTL CONTAINER 185.9 186.5 181 186.5 177.5 186.5 1,596,880 293,899,242 LBC EXPRESS 16.1 16.2 16.22 16.22 16.1 16.1 3,900 63,176 MACROASIA 4.63 4.66 4.65 4.74 4.61 4.66 659,000 3,061,030 METROALLIANCE A 1.68 1.79 1.68 1.79 1.68 1.68 42,000 71,490 HARBOR STAR 1.05 1.08 1.1 1.1 1.05 1.08 58,000 62,960 ACESITE HOTEL 1.62 1.64 1.62 1.64 1.62 1.64 33,000 53,480 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.095 0.096 0.097 0.097 0.094 0.096 31,180,000 2,979,540 DISCOVERY WORLD 2.24 2.25 2.22 2.25 2.22 2.25 24,000 53,970 WATERFRONT 0.52 0.54 0.52 0.54 0.52 0.54 547,000 290,250 CENTRO ESCOLAR 6.56 7.01 6.52 7.04 6.52 7.04 2,000 13,811 IPEOPLE 6.82 7.23 6.95 6.95 6.82 6.82 1,900 13,080 STI HLDG 0.35 0.355 0.36 0.36 0.355 0.355 110,000 39,500 BERJAYA 5.78 5.79 5.7 5.89 5.63 5.8 353,300 2,021,439 BLOOMBERRY 6.13 6.15 6.4 6.4 6.12 6.13 2,040,700 12,641,210 PACIFIC ONLINE 2.15 2.23 2.33 2.33 2.1 2.23 206,000 447,430 LEISURE AND RES 1.85 1.86 1.85 1.85 1.82 1.85 967,000 1,784,970 PH RESORTS GRP 1.55 1.57 1.57 1.57 1.55 1.57 445,000 693,870 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.43 0.435 0.435 0.44 0.425 0.43 6,200,000 2,690,200 ALLHOME 8.99 9 8.93 9.1 8.82 9 573,900 5,155,859 METRO RETAIL 1.28 1.3 1.28 1.29 1.27 1.28 267,000 342,520 PUREGOLD 42.8 42.85 42.5 43.1 42.1 42.85 1,512,500 64,626,160 ROBINSONS RTL 49.85 49.9 50.65 50.65 49.9 49.9 991,500 49,530,325 PHIL SEVEN CORP 87 87.2 87.2 87.2 87 87.2 7,370 642,484 SSI GROUP 1.14 1.16 1.14 1.17 1.13 1.16 239,000 274,890 WILCON DEPOT 27 27.5 26.35 27.5 26.05 27.5 1,406,100 37,502,220 EASYCALL 5.17 5.4 5.17 5.49 5.17 5.4 3,500 18,584 GOLDEN MV 465 477.6 465 477.6 465 477.6 540 257,652 IPM HLDG 6.9 7.1 6.85 6.85 6.85 6.85 500 3,425 PRMIERE HORIZON 1.1 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.07 1.11 26,994,000 29,627,580 SBS PHIL CORP 4.3 4.4 4.35 4.35 4.35 4.35 1,000 4,350

-215,555 -8,072,905 -18,884,585 -34,056.00 10,988,800 130,660 -14,135 -49,681,394 154,228 -7,000 36,300 22,786,792 40,950 13,878,415 -4,082,710 -8,286,905 184,555.50 53,585,152 -906,662 -1,716,980 -7,460,718 13,440 -118,428 8,010 4,081,250 43,200 -12,625,979 -22,535,726.00 -515,338.50 -972 -1,159,816 -39,000 -92,976,426 1,540,710 6,450 45,025,429 -24,000 -1,010,641 713,767 -94,630 250,700 72,690 -2,656,654.00 46,210 228,520.00 1,206,350 629 65,486,760 -12,994,375 -13,587,506.00 -764,608 -377,522 6,213,894 11,379,935 15,415,552 3,200 -63,869,078.00 -3,855,270 36,104,397.50 9,577,798 -60,731,730 8,027,685 13,800.00 8,400 93,940 11,910 -272,290 -55,100 223,110.00 -918,170 -242,900 -14,600,561 149,140 43,570 -23,219 2,560 18,659,180 297,400 -42,400 -108,350.00 -12,679,038 -10,710 236,200 43,960,690.00 -195,680 71,630 13,905,230 -125,429,440 -208,360 -70,518,210 1,109,120 -1,377,297 20,400 34,450 122,100 35,383.00 -817,065 62,102,590 149,640 79,240 35,950 8,550 -241,730 8,900 9,200 15,550 1,636,056 -226,650 23,284,945 -721,920 -564,184 17,300 4,907,405 -2,169,040 -

MINING & OIL ATOK 6.9 7.15 6.85 7.23 6.85 7.17 459,700 3,228,607 -65,980 APEX MINING 1.49 1.5 1.49 1.5 1.49 1.49 771,000 1,149,590 ATLAS MINING 6.46 6.5 6.46 6.51 6.43 6.46 1,093,900 7,081,531 6,466 Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.2212 1.27% 5.18% 2.38% 0.47% BENGUET A 5.1 5.15 4.96 5.1 4.96 5.1 94,800 482,967 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.29 0.3 0.285 0.3 0.285 0.295 510,000 150,200 Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.7518 0.49% 4.48% 1.69% -0.18% CENTURY PEAK 2.7 2.85 2.48 2.7 2.47 2.7 2,935,000 7,453,650 7,438,570 DIZON MINES 6.02 6.39 6.02 6.02 6.02 6.02 5,100 30,702 6,020 Primarily invested in foreign currency securities FERRONICKEL 2.14 2.15 2.15 2.16 2.1 2.14 4,416,000 9,392,560 1,308,400 GEOGRACE 0.275 0.28 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 800,000 216,000 ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $488.26 2.01% 3.16% 2.09% 0.91% LEPANTO A 0.14 0.141 0.141 0.141 0.139 0.14 6,830,000 953,140 ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є220.74 1.65% 1.17% 0.8% 0.71% LEPANTO B 0.143 0.149 0.149 0.149 0.149 0.149 10,000 1,490 MANILA MINING A 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 21,900,000 219,000 ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2083 -2.45% 2.57% 1.41% -5.63% MANILA MINING B 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 1,900,000 19,000 MARCVENTURES 0.96 0.97 0.96 0.97 0.96 0.97 211,000 202,570 First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0262 - 0.76% 1.85% 0.86% -1.5% NIHAO 1.21 1.24 1.19 1.24 1.19 1.24 178,000 214,740 NICKEL ASIA 5.89 5.9 5.93 5.96 5.85 5.9 1,581,200 9,332,599 348,560 PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.0541 -3.3% 2.57% -1.05% -3.53% OMICO CORP 0.385 0.395 0.38 0.395 0.38 0.395 20,000 7,750 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.89 0.9 0.92 0.92 0.88 0.9 432,000 387,610 Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.5314 1.34% 5.37% 1.93% -0.17% PX MINING 5.75 5.8 5.88 5.88 5.66 5.8 509,100 2,918,551 41,899 SEMIRARA MINING 18.08 18.1 18 18.2 17.96 18.1 4,098,300 74,105,876 21,408,980 Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0631163 3.4% 3.54% 2.1% 1.28% UNITED PARAGON 0.0076 0.0077 0.0076 0.0076 0.0076 0.0076 9,000,000 68,400 ACE ENEXOR 15.4 15.58 15.8 16 15.3 15.4 74,600 1,159,198 Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.2027 -0.71% 3.33% 0.75% -0.65% ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 21,900,000 240,900 ORNTL PETROL B 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 500,000 5,500 Money Market Funds PHILODRILL 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 10,400,000 106,700 PXP ENERGY 6.72 6.77 7 7.1 6.77 6.77 941,800 6,506,310 102,830 Primarily invested in Peso securities

PREFFERED ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 130.67 1.29% 2.98% 2.55% 0.66% AC PREF B1 520 538 520.5 520.5 520 520 1,000 520,005 ALCO PREF B 101 101.1 100.7 101 100.7 101 3,460 349,160 First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0548 1.01% n.a. n.a.

0.64% CEB PREF 43.2 43.3 43.2 43.25 43.2 43.2 98,500 4,259,985 -4,169,265 CPG PREF A 102 102.9 102.9 102.9 102.9 102.9 4,600 473,340 Sun Life Prosperity Peso Starter Fund, Inc. -a,1 1.3091 1.54% 2.77% 2.55% 0.96% DD PREF 100.7 101 100.7 101 100.7 101 3,860 389,659 GTCAP PREF B 1,022 1,045 1,025 1,025 1,025 1,025 200 205,000 Primarily invested in foreign currency securities MWIDE PREF 100.8 101 101 101 100.8 101 3,980 401,956 -327,240 PNX PREF 3B 105 106 106 106 104.5 106 12,290 1,286,812 Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0585 0.98% 1.59% n.a.

0.58% PNX PREF 4 1,005 1,007 1,008 1,008 1,000 1,007 11,225 11,247,435 PCOR PREF 3B 1,160 1,168 1,168 1,168 1,168 1,168 15 17,520 Feeder Funds SMC PREF 2F 79.2 79.4 79.4 79.4 79.4 79.4 1,000 79,400 SMC PREF 2J 76.7 77 76.7 76.7 76.7 76.7 7,910 606,697 Primarily invested in Peso securities SMC PREF 2K 76.05 76.75 76.75 76.75 76.75 76.75 390 29,932.50 -

Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a,d 1.3598 34.04% n.a. n.a.

20.38% PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 10.4 10.78 10.4 10.4 10.4 10.4 110,400 1,148,160 -1,148,160 Primarily invested in foreign currency securities GMA HLDG PDR 12.22 12.26 12.46 12.46 12.22 12.22 35,700 437,454 12,220

ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -a,d $1 5.26% n.a. n.a.

2.04%

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 0.56 0.57 0.58 0.6 0.56 0.56 833,000 477,770 -17,400 TECH WARRANT 1.45 1.46 1.43 1.49 1.42 1.46 4,793,000 6,979,840 146,000 a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU).

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES 1 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 2 - Launch date is November 15, 2019. 3 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019.

ALTUS PROP 19.4 19.94 19.22 19.94 19.14 19.94 13,400 260,218 5,766 ITALPINAS 2.01 2.03 2.03 2.03 2 2.02 120,000 242,100 6,060 4 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.). 5 - Launch date is December 09, 2019.

KEPWEALTH 4.16 4.17 4.16 4.16 4.16 4.16 2,000 8,320 6 - Re-classified into a Bond Fund starting February 21, 2020 (Formerly a Money Market Fund). 7 - Launch date is July 6, 2020.

MERRYMART 3.96 3.98 4.1 4.1 3.95 3.96 5,363,000 21,531,970 -1,154,940

"While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 104.6 105.5 104.8 105.5 104.5 105.5 28,320 2,973,989 20,906 newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Thursday, September 9, 2021 B3

Group urges govt to liberalize fish industry

T

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

he government should liberalize the fisheries industry and allow the entry of more imported fish products to help the Philippines achieve food security, an industry group said.

The Fisheries and Aquaculture Board of the Philippines (FAB) on Wednesday said the long-term solution to the country’s fish supply woes is to “open up” the fisheries sector.

“We are hoping for a rice trade liberalization-like law for the fish industry as well. The long-term so-

lution is to request a review of RA [Republic Act] 8850, a review for everything, in this case, importation as a solution to food security,” FAB Chairperson Chingling Tanco said during a virtual press briefing.

Tanco’s statement was supported by the findings of a study that the

FAB commissioned regarding the status of the country’s fish supply.

The study, which was conducted

by Karlo Adriano of the Ateneo de Manila University, indicated that one of the long-term solutions to the fish supply problem is the liberalization of the industry.

For Adriano, liberalization means the easing of the quantitative restriction (QR) imposed on the sector and addressing the limited number of importers that may bring fish into the country to sell.

“R A 8850 stressed that the country can achieve fish security in three ways: first, pure local production; second, a combination of local production plus imports; and third, through pure importation,” he said during the virtual briefing.

Adriano said only 22 importers are eligible to import fish for the

domestic market under Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) 259. The importers are all commercial fishers.

He noted that the number of fish importers eligible under FAO 259 pales in comparison to the number of accredited meat importers pegged at 500.

This, Adriano said, discourages competition in the fish industry and gives players more control over supply and prices. “They can really have some sort of monopoly power.”

He said one of the results of his study, which was also a recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), is to pattern the fish importation scheme after the meat import system.

“Basically, it will be done on a first-come, first-served basis and importers will just apply for sanitary and phytosanitary import clear-

DA to lawmakers: Enact law that will ensure funding for FMR program

T

he Department of Agriculture (DA) urged lawmakers to pass a measure that will ensure funding for the government’s farm-to-market (FMR) infrastructure program after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) slashed the budget for it by more than half.

During a hearing on the DA’s budget for 2022, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar was asked by lawmakers why the budget for FMR was cut by 57.7 percent to P4.98 billion.

Lawmakers present during the House Committee of Appropriations meeting also noted that the allocation for the FMR program for next year was just 6.97 percent of the DA’s

proposed budget of P71.438 billion.

The budget for the FMR program this year under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) is P11.719 billion.

Dar told lawmakers that the budget for the FMR was reduced due to the Mandanas-Garcia ruling, which will take effect in the next fiscal year.

“The budget given by the DBM under the NEP [National Expenditure Program] for FMR [in 2022] is P4.9 billion. Our view on that is that the other budget was transferred to the local government units [LGUs]; that’s our understanding,” he said during Wednesday’s hearing.

Dar’s response led to questions related to the capacity and capability of LGUs to handle and continue

the FMR program. The agriculture chief said he is not sure if the LGUs are ready to implement it.

Because of this, Dar sought the support of lawmakers to restore the slashed FMR fund lodged in the DA’s budget.

“We propose a better approach which is to legislate the FMR program. This is the suggestion of the DA to sustain the funding for the FMR which will enhance countryside development,” he said.

Last year, Dar said the DA wants to construct more FMRs to spur economic activity, particularly farm production. The DA allocated P5 billion for construction of more FMRs out of its P24-billion Bayanihan budget.

The President’s economic team considers FMRs as “game changers” for the agriculture sector, despite not having any FMRs in the list of the government’s flagship projects, the National Economic and Development Authority said in 2019.

Under Chapter 8 of the Public Investment Program (PIP) 20172022, the government will spend P682.39 billion for projects that seek to expand economic opportunities in agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

The construction and rehabilitation of FMRs, the PIP stated, will improve the transport of agricultural products and increase in job opportunity for local farmers.

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

MINDANAO AGRI PROJECT On September 2, Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhiko Koshikawa participated online in the exit conference of the Mindanao Sustainable Agrarian and

Agriculture Development (MinSAAD) Project. The ceremony held in General Santos City was also attended by Honorable Agrarian Reform Secretary John R. Castriciones, Mindanao Development Authority Undersecretary Janet Lopoz , and JICA Philippines Chief Representative Eigo Azukizawa also attended online. The MinSAAD Project is a 6 billion yen loan fund from the Government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency. It started implementation in 2012 and was completed in 2020. Through this project, farm-to-market roads, bridges, irrigation facilities, post harvest infrastructure, rural water supply and agricultural capacity building support benefited more than 69,000 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries in the targeted 12 settlement areas in Regions 10, 11 and 12. Contributed Photo

ance,” he said.

“In the paper, I actually recommended the removal of the duration to import fish during certain periods.

Actually, our recommendation is to open up importation for fish and let the market decide, just like in the [rice industry].”

Adriano said the government does not have the flexibility to immediately address fish supply issues under existing import rules. FAO 259 allows the import of fish only during the closed fishing season.

He also said the limited number of fish importers is stifling market competition while the quantitative restrictions are curtailing supply, thus resulting in higher prices.

Based on official government data, Adriano said fish inflation slows down whenever the country imports more fish. For instance, fish

inflation was at 12 percent in 2018, when the country imported 15,228 metric tons (MT) of fish. In contrast, fish inflation was only at 4.2 percent in November and December 2019, after the country bought 132,158 MT of imported fish.

Based on his study, Adriano said the country’s annual shortfall of round scad or galunggong is estimated at 436,560 MT. Due to this, Adriano’s study proposed the import of 200,000 MT of small pelagic fish from October to March. Adriano’s proposal was supported by the FAB and the Neda.

Last month, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar greenlighted the purchase of 60,000 MT of imported small pelagic fishes, such as galunggong, to augment the country’s supply in anticipation of the closed fishing season.

Sagip Saka Act to help solve high food prices–solon

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ITH August inflation rate rising to 4.9 percent, the highest since January 2019, Senator Francis N. Pangilinan said his Sagip Saka Act will help stabilize food prices especially amid the pandemic.

“Ngayong mataas ang presyo ng mga bilihin, kailangan na nating paigtingin pa ang pagpapatupad ng Sagip Saka Act para makatulong sa pagbaba ng presyo ng mga pagkain [With the rise in prices, the Sagip Saka Act must be implemented more determinedly to help lower the price of food],” Pangilinan said after the Philippine Statistics Authority on Tuesday released the August inflation rate.

At the Senate budget briefing by the government economic team on Wednesday, Pangilinan pointed out that as job losses in agriculture constitute the biggest job loss last year, the Sagip Saka Act will also help address employment.

Signed into law in April 2019, Sagip Saka Act mandates local government units (LGUs) and national and local government agencies to buy directly from accredited farmers and fisherfolk cooperatives.

This way, Pangilinan said the process could do away with the use of middlemen, thus giving farmers and fishermen bigger income while making agricultural products more affordable for consumers.

“Apektado rin ng pandemya ang ating mga magsasaka. Pero kung kikita sila dahil sa kanila bibili at hindi sa mga dayuhang magsasaka ang ating gobyerno, mas ma-eengganyo silang magsaka pa. Pag marami silang ani, mas marami silang benta sa mas mura ang presyo [Our food producers are also affected by the pandemic. But if they earn because our government buys from them instead of from foreigners, they will be more encouraged to farm. If they have a lot of harvest, they will be able to sell more at lower prices].

Everybody happy,” he said.

“Sa tulong ng batas na ito, bababa rin ang presyo ng pagkain, lalaki kita ng mga magsasaka at masisiguro ang sapat na supply ng pagkain sa bansa, na lubhang napakahalaga ngayong pandemya [With the help of this law, food prices will go down, farmers’ income will go up, and the country’s food supply will be ensured—which are important in this pandemic].”

Since the law’s passage, a total of 443 LGUs have purchased agricultural products directly from farmers and fisherfolk as of November 30, 2020.

Citing government data, Pangilinan said food purchase using the direct purchase feature of Sagip Saka increased to P2.737 billion in November 2020 from P2.592 billion in July 2020.

Coco cooperative Australia agriculture labor crisis deepens as lockdowns drag on gets two trucks W from government

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he Department of Agriculture (DA) recently donated two trucks to the Sarangani Vegetables Seed Growers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SAVESEGROW-MPC) to help improve the hauling services of the coconut farmer-members.

Composed of a delivery and a hauling truck, the donation is part of the P23-million sub-project that the Malungon-based cooperative received from the DA’s Philippine Rural Development Project-Investment in Rural Enterprise Agri-fishery Project (PRDP I-REAP).

Based on the project, 100 percent of the unhusked coconuts produced by the farmers will be procured by the cooperative, dehusked, and 96 percent will be sold to the Century Pacific Agricultural Ventures Inc. in General Santos City. The remaining 4 percent will be processed into white copra.

“Coconut is a high value crop and the trucks greatly help in upgrading the commodity’s value chain. If the required standard quality of coconut products for delivery can be maintained, this will command a higher price, cut labor costs, and improve the income of farmers,” said Sarangani Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon.

He said this is the season for the agriculture sector to thrive as an essential industry as it plays a big part in the development and health of the province.

DA-Region 12 office lauded the Sarangani Provincial Government for having four approved World Bank PRDP I-REAP projects.

ith more than half of Australia’s population currently in lockdown due to outbreaks of the delta Covid-19 strain, tight rules on movement and state border closures are posing serious challenges for the A$66billion ($49 billion) agriculture industry for the second year in a row.

Already facing a labor shortage due to border closures to international visitors, further restrictions on inter-state travel will obstruct the flow of contract workers who follow the summer harvest cycle, which is due to start in Queensland before progressing down to Victoria. Industry groups fear that the challenges could derail what is tipped to be another stellar crop this season, with Australia expected to produce 54.8 million tons of winter grains, about a third above the 10-year average to 2020-21.

“A disaster situation will occur if the limited number of harvest workers are stopped from moving back and forth across the border,” National Farmers’ Federation Chief Executive Tony Mahar said in an August statement.

Australia has long relied on foreign laborers in its agriculture industry to compensate for its shrinking and aging work force. The federal government has attempted to plug labor gaps over the course of the pandemic by organizing chartered planes to fly workers from Pacific island nations in pilot programs, but the numbers

A seasonal worker harvests checks Valencia oranges during a harvest at an orchard near Griffith, New South Wales, Australia, on October 8, 2020. Bloomberg News

are nowhere near the level needed to fill the estimated monthly shortfall of up to 24,000 this summer, according to Ernst & Young LLP. Canberra said last month it would start offering agricultural visas to overseas workers over the next three years, but with little information on which partner countries are involved and how the program will work with the current caps on international arrivals it may not be enough to

address the immediate shortages.

The government has also attempted to attract backpackers, who must complete at least three months of agricultural work for a two-year working-holiday stay, with the offer of a visa extension on the completion of a longer farm stint. Still, the number of those workers has plunged from 160,000 pre-pandemic to less than 40,000, leaving some crops unsown or left to rot last season.

“Last year, people were planning a long way ahead to procure people to employ, and it was tight,” said Michael Whitehead, head of agribusiness research at ANZ Banking Group Ltd. This year, the unpredictability of the delta strain has made it more challenging to do so, he said. The grain, fruit and meat processing sectors would all be affected by the logistical difficulties, he added.

While producers can apply for special permission to cross between some states, the national farming industry group in its statement chided cumbersome bureaucracy and called the situation “stateism gone mad.” Some workers have said that they were turned away at borders despite being in possession of agricultural permits.

The Western Australian government last week spiked a plan to parachute in foreign laborers to assist with the wheat harvest, nixing any hope of relief as the state has doubled down on its hard border stance that bars entry to workers from the rest of the country.

In addition to labor issues, the border rules also make access to heavy-machinery operators more “challenging,” Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said Tuesday.

Some farmers rely on sharing essential equipment with producers in other states with the southward progression of the harvest. Bloomberg News

Envoys&Expats BusinessMirror

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Thursday, September 9, 2021

AUSTRALIA ASSISTS Ambassador Steven J. Robinson AO (from left) chats with Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. and Health Undersecretary Leopoldo J. Vega during the turnover ceremony of 100 oxygen concentrators late in August. Robinson said his government will donate more in the coming weeks. PNA/ROBERT OSWALD P. ALFILER

TAIWAN DONATES The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China/Taiwan, in cooperation with the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), has donated 200 oxygen concentrators worth about P6.5 million, which were handed over to the Department of Health.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (right) presented the donation to MECO’s Resident Representative Gilberto Lauengco. TAIPEI ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL OFFICE-MANILA

PHL, Denmark friendship reach ‘significant milestone’

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HIS month the Royal Danish Embassy in Manila and the Philippine Embassy in Copenhagen are commemorating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between their respective countries.

Bilateral ties were established on September 28, 1946 and have continued to deepen across multiple fronts from the friendship and collaboration of both nations.

According to the Danish Embassy, the theme for the celebration is “Partners in Progress for Sustainable

Growth,” as Denmark and the Philippines commit toward sustainable development, which serves as one of the primary anchors of their two-way partnership. This mutual thrust is artistically captured in the 75th year logo, which depicts windmills with wind blades emulating the shapes

of two local flowers: the sampaguita and the daisy.

Through the month-long celebration, the embassies will feature short videos from companies and personalities across political, economic, and cultural sectors which exemplify the ties between the two countries. Thus, despite challenges brought about by the prolonged global pandemic, the significant milestone will be celebrated—albeit online.

“When the Philippines established diplomatic relations with Denmark, we were starting to rebuild from the [destructive] impact of the last world war,” said Ambassador Leo Herrera-Lim. “...As we face a different global challenge, we share with the Danish people our commitment to sustainable development, fair and free trade, [as well as] the ideals of

democracy. Anchored on strong foundations, we look forward to even stronger and deeper ties between our countries and our people.”

For her part, Ambassador Grete Sillasen stated: “We celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Denmark in a rapidly changing world, and under the impact of a global pandemic. So [there is much reason for both to] cherish our long-standing friendship, and to continue to develop our partnership for just and sustainable development. Please, join us for a month of virtual celebrations.”

Follow the pages of the Royal Danish Embassy in Manila and the Philippine Embassy in Copenhagen on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to join the month-long celebration.

Australia announces new biz partnerships for gender equality, improved mental health

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HE Embassy of Australia recently announced two new business partnerships in the Philippines under its Business Partnerships Platform (BPP), which supports direct links between the Australian government and businesses to promote inclusive recovery from the pandemic, while also providing sustainable commercial returns.

“By partnering with businesses, the Australian government can

help provide vital work and income opportunities that will foster...inclusive economic recovery of the Philippines and the Indo-Pacific region,” said Ambassador Steven J. Robinson AO. The two new business partnerships are: Data upskilling for freelance workers: A partnership with leading online data upskilling firm Eskwelabs and the largest entrepreneurship and freelancing network for stay-at-home moth-

China to support local medical waste mngt

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MBASSADOR Huang Xilian recently revealed that the Chinese government will provide $1.07 million to support medical waste management efforts in the Philippines during the pandemic.

In a Facebook post, Huang said the project, funded under the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund, aims to “effectively improve” the country’s response to the health emergency in the areas of waste management and preparedness.

Specifically, the envoy said the project would provide “appropriate healthcare waste treatment facilities” to two hospitals, as well as provide capacitybuilding on waste management and knowledge sharing from China’s healthcare professionals, local government

staff, and other essential service providers. “I would like to extend my deep appreciation to UNDP [United Nations Development Programme] and relevant government departments of the Philippines for all the efforts on this project,” he said.

It was not yet mentioned, however, which hospitals will benefit from the aid.

Late in July, Huang said China will “donate more and [substantially] increase” the supply of vaccines to the Philippines.

In 2010 the UNDP and Chinese government signed the agreement on strengthening South-South cooperation, which marked the first time China signed an agreement with a multilateral partner, according to the UN agency. Raymond Carl Dela Cruz/PNA

ers in the country FHMoms, it aims to provide women-freelance workers who have been impacted by the health crisis, with skills needed for high-value digital work opportunities that are increasingly in demand in the modern economy.

Digital mental health services: A partnership with Mind You Mental Health, a mental health technology company providing mental health services to staff

of large companies in the Philippines, which aims to significantly increase availability of psychological services in the country to better support Filipinos who are suffering from mental illnesses.

According to the embassy, the BPP reflects the importance of the private sector in pandemic recovery. For more information, visit www.thebpp.com.au, and follow its Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram as well as YouTube accounts.

New Swedish envoy arrives

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WEDEN’S Embassy announced the recent arrival of its ambassador to the Philippines.

In a statement, Ambassador Annika Thunborg looks forward to working with Filipino partners in further advancing the relations of her country, and that of her assignment.

“I am very pleased to have arrived in Manila, and look very much forward to working in the Philippines in the years to come,” she said. “I will continue to promote closer and stronger bilateral relations between our two nations— including in the areas of exports and investments, sustainable solutions and innovation, and values such as human rights, gender equality, and the rule of law.”

THUNBORG FB: EMBASSY OF SWEDEN

Thunborg previously served as Sweden’s ambassador to Mexico, and had worked with multilateral issues in Geneva, Vienna and New York where the diplomat forged close ties with colleagues from the Philippines.

She is Sweden’s second envoy to be assigned in the country since its embassy reopened in Manila in 2016. She will be taking over from Ambassador Harald Fries. Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA

www.businessmirror.com.ph

UAE PITCHES IN Acting Chargé d’Affaires of the United Arab Emirates Embassy Khalid Alhajeri (left) and Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Assistant Secretary Wilben Mayor, who is also National Task Force Against Covid-19 subtask group chief, welcome the arrival of the first shipment of Sinopharm vaccines at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in August. PNA/AVITO DALAN

More than allies

By John Law

Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of the United States

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S my time in the Philippines draws to a close, I consider with hope the future of our countries’ bilateral relationship. I smile as I remember how quickly Manila came to feel like home—thanks to the hospitality and bayanihan spirit of the Filipinos.

Above all, I reflect on the deeply moving moments I had been privileged to witness: from meeting Filipino heroes at the Day of Valor in Bataan, honoring World War II veterans with the United States Congressional Gold Medals, to the extraordinary efforts of today’s frontliners battling the pandemic.

The US will continue to do all in its power to help the Philippines prevail in its fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 through vaccine donations, medical equipment, and public health assistance. To date our country has donated more than 13 million vaccine doses locally through COVAX. Millions more will come; the Philippines will receive 44 million vaccine doses from the facility.

I am heartened by each delivery of these life-saving vaccines, which are saving lives and bolstering confidence that together, we will overcome this terrible pandemic. Our support goes beyond vaccines to include over P1.38 billion in assistance, including ventilators, intensive-care units beds, personal protective equipment, and training sessions.

Historically, our security alliance has been the backbone of US-Philippine relations. We deeply appreciate President Duterte’s decision to restore the Visiting Forces Agreement. It is key to the operational effectiveness of our Mutual Defense Treaty, the 70th anniversary of which we commemorate this year. We believe our alliance strengthens both countries’ operational readiness, deters conflicts, and defends a peaceful, stable, rules-based order throughout the region. The recent visits by our defense secretary and the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command highlight our unwavering commitment to our oldest treaty ally in the region.

September marks Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month—a timely reminder that a strong maritime presence includes much more than traditional security. During the past three years our cooperation has promoted the economic and environmental sustainability of

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the West Philippine Sea, whose resources are critical to Filipino livelihoods and to the nation’s prosperity.

USAID’s Fish Right program has advanced best-practice fishery and maritime resource management and curtailed illegal, u nrepor ted a nd u nreg u l ated fishing in Philippine waters. Together, we are supporting innovative approaches to reduce ocean pollution, protect sensitive marine environmental areas, and strengthen global maritime scientific research. It is very inspiring to see creative ideas pursued by the next generation of Filipino leaders, such as the team from Agusan del Norte that won the Department of State’s 2021 regional “Haquathon” competition.

I am confident our security alliance and cooperative partnership will continue to thrive in the years to come, and that our countries will grow ever more secure and prosperous. My optimism is rooted in something far more profound and lasting than our shared political and economic interests; it springs from the hearts of our two peoples. We are more than allies: We are friends and family.

The ties between Americans and Filipinos stretch back over a century, refreshed each day by the close bonds among millions of our countrymen. My wife and I feel very fortunate to have experienced the warmth and friendship with so many Filipinos we have met throughout this beautiful country. Though we could stay only a few years, we are so happy we could call this land our home, if only for a while. These friendships and memories we will take with us, and cherish always.

It has been an immense privilege to serve in the Philippines these past three years, and I leave deeply grateful to the Filipino people for their kindness and friendship. Salamat, hanggang sa muli!

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Parentlife BusinessMirror

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Thursday, September 9, 2021

B5

Donate a book, share the joy of learning

Do video games level up kids’ money skills?

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By Kimberly Palmer NerdWallet

VERY few days, my eight-year-old son, Neal, asks if he can “earn something” on Roblox, a popular online video game platform. That’s his way of suggesting I buy him Robux, the platform’s currency, in exchange for him doing a chore or extra academic assignment.

While I usually decline these requests, his persistence made me wonder if the games are teaching him some personal finance lessons, such as how to budget a scarce resource—Robux—and whether his practice in this virtual world could help him navigate the real one. Will he be less likely to squander actual dollars if he’s already practiced stretching his Robux budget?

Some experts answer with an emphatic “yes.”

Mark Mazzu is a former banker and stockbroker who teaches at the online educational platform Outschool.

He uses Minecraft, another popular video game, to help kids learn about economics.

“You see them trade naturally; they get that.

Negotiating, trading, buying, selling—it’s fantastic,” he says.

But financial literacy experts also say that whether kids really pick up money lessons through video games depends largely on how parents talk with them about their online experience. Here are four conversations to have to help your video-game-loving kids develop real money skills.

HOW TO BUILD A FINANCIAL SAFETY NET IN his online classes, Mazzu raises the issue of how to keep money safe with his students. “I ask them, ‘What does a bank do?’ and transition into a Minecraft discussion. ‘How do you keep your things safe inside of Minecraft?’” In the game, players use chests, for example, which keeps valuable items safe—much like a bank account does.

That can lead to a discussion about saving money.

Mazzu suggests framing it in a relatable way: “If you go and get 64 pieces of coal or cobblestone, you don’t want to use all of the stuff you find. You want to put it away. Why don’t you put 10 percent away in a chest and use the rest?” Mazzu says. “It’s a great way to teach kids how to save,” he adds.

THE REWARDS AND CHALLENGES OF BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR Laura Vanderkam, author of Off the Clock and mother of five children under 15, says her kids picked up money lessons from the Roblox game Theme Park Tycoon, where players build and run an amusement park.

“There are a lot of actual business allocation decisions that are not the sort of thing kids would get the chance to do in real life, unless you’re running a serious lemonade stand,” Vanderkam says.

She says parents can drive home those lessons by asking their kids about the games and drawing realworld parallels.

“People get obsessed with the negative aspects of screen time, but there are a lot of cool lessons to be learned,” Vanderkam says.

THE VALUE OF MONEY Susan Beacham, CEO and founder of Money Savvy Generation, a financial education company, warns that video games often emphasize superficial purchases, like virtual decorations or dressing an avatar. However, she says that they can also offer parents a way to broach the uncomfortable topic of money with their kids.

Parents can bring up games’ shortcomings, such as currency that can only be spent, not invested, donated or saved in an interest-bearing account, for example.

“If you want them to learn a lesson, you have to talk with them about it,” she says.

Beacham also suggests having kids earn money or

use their allowance to buy virtual currency for gameplaying.

“Kids will take your money all day long. You have to create scarcity and make them face a choice. When they spend their own money, it’s different,” she says.

Then, she suggests following up afterward and asking if they think the cost was worth the benefit. “Now you’re teaching your child about money and value.”

THE public who regularly make a stop at The SM Store can continue to share the joys of learning with children who need them most through the store’s Donate a Book campaign, which is now ongoing at select branches nationwide until September 30, 2021.

While face-to-face classes have yet to resume, schooling certainly extends beyond the campus. And the public’s book donations will go a long way, as these will be very helpful to partner public schools and libraries around the country. Here is how one can share your gift of knowledge: n Visit the Donate a Book booths at participating branches of The SM Store at Metro Manila, North Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. n Donate new or preloved books. All books are welcome, especially storybooks, educational and hobby books that can help spark a child’s curiosity, imagination, and knowledge. n Donate and match with Learning Is Fun books that are available at The SM Store. LIF offers a wide range of books from toddler to adult categories such as activity books, early learning educational books, cookbooks, reference books, storybooks, inspirational books, and game and toy books. Being the participating partner of the said campaign, the company will donate the same number of books sold during the program period. n School supplies are also welcome. Shoppers can also donate notebook packs of six and school sets that include a backpack, notebooks, rulers, and pens that are available at The SM Stationery section.

In exchange, shoppers will receive a P100 discount coupon for every donation made.

The Donate a Book campaign began in 1998 as one of SM Foundation’s groundbreaking mall-based programs. It has since been part of the SM Store’s community programs since 2015, collecting and distributing almost 800,000 books and learning materials through the generosity of The SM Store customers.

HOW TO BUDGET AND MAKE TRADE-OFFS Jeff Haynes, senior editor of web and video games at Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that promotes safe technology and media for children and families, says the money lessons can start even before the game is played. Kids have to consider how much games cost and why they prefer one game to another.

“Whether you’re asking for it for a present or saving up for a title you want, there is an allocation of funds and negotiation with your parents,” he says.

Many popular games involve virtual stores, merchants and a set amount of funds to buy things like a crown or skin for your avatar. Players have to consider how to earn enough coins to acquire items they want, Haynes says.

Haynes suggests parents drive home those tradeoffs by asking questions: “Why is this something you want for this game over something else? How are you going to save up to get it?”

Now, when Neal asks me for Robux, I think about how to make sure he truly earns that currency. I want him to internalize the idea that Robux, like real money, is a scarce resource and not something to take for granted. In addition to having him earn the Robux through chores or extra homework, I ask him to explain to me what he’s getting out of the purchase and why it’s worth the cost.

For his part, he told me he thinks this strategy is working: “It teaches me not to use up too much Robux, and in Tycoon games, I learned how to save up for really expensive things.” n

Shoppers can share the gift of knowledge with less fortunate children through the Donate a Book campaign now ongoing at selected SM Stores nationwide until September 30.

Kids from Balanga Elementary School are very happy to receive the donated books.

Art provides timely help

LAST April, I shared that one of the three ways I employ to manage my anxiety in this pandemic is art.

The first quarter of the year had just ended and I was planning for a more hopeful latter half especially at work. Then, in just a few months, the cases started to go up again. I have experienced from people close to me how much heavier this has affected them, especially on an emotional level.

Starting in June, I delved into art a bit deeper. I wrote deeper poetry and produced my own version of more “cath-art-ic” art. I even started a personal art blog, which is public, but which I have shared to only less than five people. One of the first works I finished is called “Un-infinity,” which has a corresponding poem written about it found at www.mycsart.com. I

cannot explain it, but as much as there is more to worry about and work on, I feel the time I spend in art to be at its most effective is when I pour out the heaviness in my heart and the worries over this unknown horizon of a recovery. I can say that it continuously and positively pushes me to produce better output in the different facets of my life.

This is why I am so happy that various organizations have been positively helping the community through art.

The J. Amado Araneta Foundation (JAAF), the social development arm of the Araneta Group, is conducting a series of online art therapy sessions to select youth participants and medical frontliners in response to ill effects of the pandemic.

Titled “I am Visible: Mental Wellness Through Art Therapy,” the project—which was organized via a grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts—started with its first online session via Zoom on August 7. More online art therapy sessions will be held on September 11 and 18.

“I am Visible” aims to acknowledge the mental health crisis happening in the country today, which is being exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic. Among those affected are students who deal with stress and depression given the current online learning set-up, and doctors and community health workers who deal

with burnout and anxiety from longer working hours and various work hazards.

“This is one of the bold and major undertakings of JAAF for 2021. We have taken steps to help address a growing issue of the society—mental health. We have targeted vulnerable groups, which happen to be within our circle of influence and even beyond,” said JAAF executive director Diane Romero.

JAAF partners with the Makati Medical Center Foundation for “I am Visible,” with the latter providing facilitators and identified doctorparticipants. Joining the program as art coaches are artists Rene Canlas and Julius Legaspi, who will introduce the medium of drawing and painting in pencil, pastel, watercolor and acrylic paints.

The program will end with an online exhibit to be launched on October 10, which is designated as World Mental Health Day. It will be curated by art teacher Jonah Mari Valenzuela, who has 15 years of art teaching experience with Xavier School Manila.

The virtual exhibit will be hosted on the web site of Araneta City’s art museum, Gateway Gallery, which spearheads the “I am Visible” project. It will open with a Curator’s Talk to be livestreamed on the JAAF and Gateway Gallery Facebook pages. The exhibit will be up until January 10, 2022.

Another organization has utilized art to help a very worthy cause. Fundacion Sansó, in partnership with Museo Pambata, launched a fund-raising event in aid of the temporary closure of the popular children’s museum in Manila.

To ensure the continuation of the museum’s service to the Filipino children, the nonprofit organization preserving the artistic legacy of Juvenal Sansó sold two limited-edition giclee’s made by Sansó, titled Golden Bloom and Wandering Dream, to raise funds for Museo Pambata. In these trying times, museums aiding other museums become a beacon of hope that shines through this period of crisis and great change.

“Since last year, children have been studying within the safety of their homes. Museo Pambata has been highly affected without their usual support from busloads of children who normally visit the museum to experience their educational exhibitions and programs. Acting in this current community, Fundacion Sansó reached out for the continuation of Museo Pambata’s programs as they cling on to the new normal.” Fundacion Sansó director Ricky Francisco said. The fundraiser, Flowers for the Children, started last November. Then in June, Fundacion Sansó officially turned the proceeds over to Museo Pambata in an event streamed live on their Facebook page.

B6 Thursday, September 9, 2021

Cinema under the stars embargoed anew

Converge earns two Global Economics Awards for innovation and excellence

CONVERGE has gained international recognition in the Global Economics Awards 2021 where it won the Best ICT Solutions Provider under the Technology Awards Category, while CEO and Co-Founder Dennis Anthony H. Uy was awarded the Best Entrepreneur - ICT under the Leadership Awards Category.

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ONVERGE ICT Solutions Inc., the country’s only pure fiber broadband provider, has again gained international recognition for its drive towards technological innovation and excellence at the Global Economics Awards 2021 where it bagged two prestigious titles.

Converge was recognized as the Best ICT Solutions Provider under the Technology Awards Category and their CEO and Co-Founder Dennis Anthony H. Uy was awarded Best Entrepreneur - ICT under the Leadership Awards Category.

“Converge continues to provide superior fiber internet services across the Philippines for Filipinos to continue experiencing better internet,” said Converge CEO and CoFounder Dennis Anthony Uy. “These awards

are a testament to how the company remains committed to live by its mandate of serving the unserved and underserved communities in the Philippines.”

The Global Economics Awards recognizes key players in the different sectors of businesses and provides a global recognition and outreach to its recipients.

The award-giving body undergoes stringent deliberations and evaluations that determine who is fit for the different categories of this program.

The Technology Category aims to recognize the digital transformations enabled by technological innovations of enterprises, while the Leadership Category recognizes the achievement of individuals who show exceptional leadership and serve

as an inspiration to others in their field.

This stands as a testament to Converge’s existence as a beacon of excellence in the global telecommunications industry.

The Global Economics Limited is a renowned, UK-based print and online publication that aims to share thoughtful and detailed analyses of current issues in various business sectors around the world. They provide an all-inclusive, insightful, and updated coverage of commercial and investment banking, wealth management and advisory sectors. They also take on other sectors of the market that comprises insurance, real estate, technology, and energy industries that follow business and management trends around the world.

“May this award be an inspiration for others to continue their hard work and passion in serving the people in their own fields,” Uy noted.

“We have realized early on that quality broadband connectivity is crucial in our people’s lives and the growth and development of our country. This is the reason why Converge endeavored to build a worldclass digital highway that empowers Filipinos and the country,” he added.

Converge has embarked into a massive expansion program to fiberpower more Filipinos with a goal to reach 55% of the Philippine households by 2025. As of the latter part of June 2021, the fiber broadband network of Converge has passed over eight million homes as it expanded beyond Luzon and started serving Visayas and Mindanao with pure fiber broadband services.

For more information, visit the Converge website at www.convergeict.com

Globe Business welcomes Entrepreneur and Technology Visionary Jonathan De Luzuriaga as newest ambassador

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LL signs point to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector as one of the fastest growing industries in the country today, buoyed by the rapid digitalization across the Philippines.

At this critical time of recovery when businesses are pivoting their operations to leverage technology and adapt to shifting consumer behavior, mentorship and guidance from experts is valued.

Responding to this call, Globe Business announced the recent appointment of Jonathan De Luzuriaga as its brand ambassador for ICT. “With an entrepreneur’s keen understanding of how successful businesses operate, and a clear vision of the spaces where the ICT industry needs to play to help local businesses thrive, his role as Globe Business ambassador will be valuable in co-creating solutions both at an industry level and business operations level,” said KD Dizon, MSME Group Head of Globe Business, who welcomed the partnership as a sign of the company’s commitment to fostering a culture of innovation and tech adoption amongst MSMEs in order to help uplift the lives of their customers.

Paving the way for the Philippine Software Industry with Jonathan De Luzuriaga

A CHANGE-MAKER in the ICT world and a long-time partner of Globe Business, De Luzuriaga’s passion for technology has led him to initiate positive and potentially industry-wide changes that benefit system integrators and independent software vendors, smaller start-up tech companies and even the local economy.

Foremost among his objectives is to support the local ICT industry’s drive to attain and sustain global leadership in market share, mindshare, and innovation. Meanwhile, as President of the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), he leads the nation’s efforts in building successful inbound and outbound missions to Asia and other parts of the world while seeking

new ways to strengthen and increase the competitiveness of the local digital economy to help businesses grow and uplift the lives of the Filipinos.

“There is no time like the present.

Businesses must take advantage of the wide variety of digital solutions readily available to all of us. There is a forecast that the ICT sector will grow by 5% from now till 2022, which further underlines the importance of organizations transitioning to digital. This is why I’m glad to partner with Globe Business because it doesn’t just provide MSMEs like us the right technology suited for our operations, but we also share the same vision of bringing the way forward for the Philippine tech industry,” said De Luzuriaga.

The IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines reported that the IT-BPM industry demonstrated resilience in the face of unprecedented global disruption, adding 23,000 jobs and generating revenues of US$26.7 billion in 2020, a 1.4% increase from the previous year (2019).

De Luzuriaga also established a technology hub in Negros Occidental called Spring Valley Tech Corp, which is pegged as the local counterpart of California’s Silicon Valley. It is a self-sustaining city in the highly progressive town of Bago that fosters a community of professionals and learners who produce digital innovations supported by Globe Business ICT solutions.

Forging a digitally advanced Philippines with Globe Business

GLOBE Business supports System Integrators (SIs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) as a partner that provides connectivity and ICT solutions, which they need to grow their business.

Among these solutions are Direct Internet for connectivity; Collaboration Tools for convenient file sharing and increased productivity; Globe Labs Application Programming Interface (APIs) for streamlined and efficient customer communications; and Cloud Solutions for safe and secured long-term cloud storage.

Meanwhile, to increase the local MSMEs’ digital literacy, Globe Business has teamed up with the PSIA for a series of learning sessions to impart key industry insights to these tech businesses.

MSMEs can sign up and participate in several Globe Business webinars such as the Cybersecurity Masterclass happening on September 23, the GSummit on September 18, and various Globe Partner Network Events.

To learn more about Globe Business' portfolio of digital solutions for MSMEs, please visit our website at glbe.co/ infocomm or sign up to talk to an account manager at https://go.mybusinessacademy. ph/ICTMonthOffers-JDLArticle

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S much as the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and the Cinemalaya Foundation, Inc. (CFI) wanted to push through with the Cinema Under the Stars, the current pandemic situation and the heightened IATF quarantine protocols on public gathering have compelled the Organizing Committee to withhold the outdoor cinema until further notice.

Originally scheduled on September 2 to 4, 2021, the hybrid outdoor cinema was part of the new programming for the 17th edition of the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, still ongoing until September 5 via ktx.ph and CCP Vimeo channel.

While the committee acknowledges the clamor and excitement for the outdoor cinema, the safe and enjoyable viewing of the public is just as paramount.

The CUTS is considered a “movable feast” because the dates are highly flexible and changeable in response to the government safety protocols, as well as inclement weather

conditions. It evolves and adjusts to the nuances of the times. he team behind CUTS is ready to roll out this much-anticipated event when the situation turns around.

“This is an example of the changes we foresee (and are ready for) for live events and major public gatherings in the coming months, even years. You are part of this change and we hope that you will be with us as we move forward to the better normal. We thank our audience for their understanding, appreciation and continued patronage.

Please watch out for updates and announcements on CUTS. Until then, we urge the public to follow health protocols and stay safe in the confines of your homes,” said CCP Artistic Director and Cinemalaya Festival Director Chris Millado.

Follow the official CCP and Cinemalaya social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Visit the CCP and Cinemalaya websites for more information and updates.

Concepcion: Cebu’s “Bakuna Bubble,” proves that jumpstarting the economy is needed now

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N a meeting organized by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion, Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama shared the details of the implementation of Executive Order (EO) 138, highlighting the importance and focus of vaccinating essential workers together with granting vaccinated individuals access to various establishments, such as dine-in services in restaurants, salons, and other personal care services. The said EO speaks of the city’s initiative to protect not only the lives but the livelihood of their constituents.

During the discussion, Concepcion said that the bakuna bubble that is being in force in Cebu City proves that opening the economy is needed urgently. “It is good to see Cebu City open its own economy to those who are already protected with vaccines. This is a good signal for other local government units to also follow the said measure,” Concepcion said.

“Other cities and municipalities can also follow this model,” he added.

Recently, Concepcion proposed to only allow vaccinated individuals to enter a wide array of establishments in Metro Manila, since they are less susceptible to risks associated with COVID-19 infections.

“We have to use the vaccinated to drive the economy. We have to re-open the economy and do away with endless reimposition of lockdowns. With that calculated risk, it is very clear that we can move forward at the very least. We have to stand up in this pandemic and the damage from the Delta variant,” Concepcion stressed.

Meanwhile, Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama shared that the implementation of the said policy in their locality is a move to support both the health and economy of Cebu City.

“This is a paradigm shift. We want to move heaven and earth to have these people get vaccinated. This is our way to do so and protect my constituents,” Rama said.

He also shared that the said policy being implemented in Cebu City is also a call for other cities and municipalities across the country to replicate the said measure. “We actually want others to replicate our policy for everyone’s benefit,” Rama explained.

On the other hand, Concepcion shared to Rama the current situation of our hospitals in Metro Manila. “Most of those who are being hospitalized are the unvaccinated. We cannot just simply wait for them to pile up in our hospitals,” he shared.

Rama then gave an update of the current situation of hospitals in their locality. “The situation is the same for us. That is why we are implementing this. We also want to protect them. We have to realize that the ‘general welfare of the people is the supreme law,” he shared.

This supports Concepcion’s recent statement on implementing his proposal to restrict mobility of the unvaccinated if this will contribute to the attainment of ‘common good.’ “We have to err on the side of caution.

This is not a discrimination issue, but a health issue. That’s what we all have to realize. We have to protect the unvaccinated, while also considering the economy. This is the best way forward,” Concepcion ended.

It was also mentioned in the said discussion that those included in the health and wellness sector, such as gyms, will soon be integrated in the implementation.

Also present in the said discussion of Concepcion and Rama are various stakeholders from Cebu and industry sectors such as the restaurant, salon, health and wellness, and retail. The said measure being implemented in Cebu is a proof of collective call and collaboration of different sectors in the society.

Lio Estate vaccinates El Nido tourism frontliners

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O help restore traveler confidence amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Lio Tourism Estate recently vaccinated its tourism frontliners and workers in El Nido, one of the country’s top destinations.

The DOT targets to inoculate over 30,000 tourism workers in El Nido, Coron, San Vicente, and Puerto Princesa City within the next few months.

Leading the ceremonial event were Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat, National Action Plan Against COVID-19 deputy chief secretary Vince Dizon, Palawan governor Jose Alvarez, and El

Nido mayor Edna Lim. In line with the DOT’s mass vaccination program at Lio Estate, Ten Knots Development Corp. launched its own drive where 600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines purchased through the Ayala Vaccination and Immunization Program (AVIP) which were used for its employees and their dependents, as well the El Nido community.

Despite the challenges facing the industry, Palawan was cited as the “World’s Best Island” in 2020 by renowned publication, Travel + Leisure, and remains to be one of the top PH destinations to visit.

Editor: Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

Health&Fitness BusinessMirror

The Delta variant— a global perspective

By Rory Visco Contributor

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here’s no doubt already that in the Philippines, Covid-19’s Delta variant has clearly overtaken the formerly dominant Alpha variant in terms of transmissibility. Over the past week, new record highs in daily infections were logged in just a matter of days, resulting in hospitals inundated with a tsunami of Covid-19 cases. Many of them have already driven away patients due to the lack of Covid-19 beds in the Emergency Room and the ICUs. Sadly, many of them perish before they can be properly attended to. But is the Philippines the only one undergoing this predicament? Surely not. But how do countries deal with the debilitating Delta?

During the recent University of the Philippines webinar, “Delta Variant: What is happening around the world?” Dr. Franco Felizarta, Infectious Disease and Internal Medicine Specialist, UP Medical Alumni Society in America (UPMASA) provided an update on the US experience.

He said the variant’s transmissibility went up from the previous 5.8 people to as high as 9.5, and herd immunity is now at 80-90 percent. He said all vaccines are effective in reducing severe cases, hospitalization and deaths by at least 85 percent.

“Breakthrough infections will not be uncommon but will be milder with decreased secondary transmission.”

Dominant variant

In the US, Delta clearly became the dominant variant with 99 percent of cases compared to less than two months ago, and hospitalization and deaths continue to rise. He attributed this to the large number of areas, particularly the US southern states, whose population are still unvaccinated.

He cited a study made in Singapore, which showed that the increased transmissibility of Delta is due to its higher viral load compared to other variants.

For breakthrough infections, Dr. Felizarta pointed out that the viral load remains high for the unvaccinated but there’s a severe drop for vaccinated individuals since they are more protected from severe disease infection or hospitalization.

As for Japan’s Delta variant situation, Atsuro Tsutsumi, a Professor at the United Nations University—International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) in Malaysia and the Kanazawa University in Japan, pointed to Aichi Prefecture, one of the biggest cities in Japan, where cases doubled to 18 percent from eight percent the week before, most likely because of the Delta variant.

He said estimates from Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases said the Delta variant accounted for around 70 percent of the total new infections in late July in Tokyo and 80 percent in Okinawa prefecture, with latest news saying it reached up to 90 percent. He said more stringent control measures are required to curb the variant’s transmissibility.

Poster case

From a communications standpoint, Roy Wadia, Communications Adviser, United Nations, said Thailand was considered a “poster” case for Covid-19 management and response due to its earlier successes against Covid-19. The arrival of Delta, however, changed the situation.

Wadia said studies that looked into the failure of the vaccine policy in Thailand, once considered the best recovering country to being the worst, and attributed this to complacency. Due to the concerns about the vaccines’ side effects, the country’s public health experts “did not consider vaccines as necessary and did not consider the economic impact of this decision.”

He said the Delta variant is now the dominant strain, accounting for 78 percent of infections in Thailand, infecting many including the young, and the health-care system was overwhelmed. However, volunteerism is stepping up now, especially in the countryside. The government has increased its vaccination rollout using the homegrown and by importing other vaccine brands, with Thailand’s Health Ministry looking at 120 million jabs by 2022, while current caseloads are going down.

“Thailand is not out of the woods yet. Delta will continue to circulate, with new variants circulating, the country is opening up although economic recovery may be slow but luckily, Thailand will have more vaccines in the year ahead.”

Small outbreak

For Dr. Chun-Yu Lin, consultant for Covid-19 Pandemic (Delta variant), of Kaohsiung City government, said a small outbreak of the Delta variant started in late June and was caused by returning travelers from Peru.

Contact tracing was immediately started and all contacts were quarantined. Heavy testing was conducted and village lockdowns were implemented in the country.

To control the Delta variant’s entry, Taiwan implemented strict border controls to maintain the low number of cases but high number of deaths. “This may be because of short response time in May, inadequate medical equipment and manpower, and some undiscovered cases,” Dr. Lin said.

Taiwan, he said, uses three vaccine brands: Moderna, AstraZeneca and local brand Medigen, while Pfizer will come in by September. The first dose of the vaccination was done on 46 percent of the population but only five percent had their second shot.

He cited major concerns, moving forward with the Delta variant, among which is how long can the antibodies the vaccines carry last and how it will protect them against the Delta and all the other variants.

Game changer

Finally, for the Philippines, Dr. John Wong, Epidemiologist and Senior Technical Advisor, EpiMetrics, Inc., said the Delta variant is a game changer, with herd immunity beginning to be out of reach. There’s a need to change in mindset, from eradicating the virus to preventing severe disease and death and prioritize the elderly and improve vaccine supply and availability.

As for herd immunity being out of reach, this may be due to the failure of vaccines to transmit blocking, the Delta variant being more transmissible and probably resistant, uneven vaccine rollout, waning vaccine immunity among the elderly and those with comorbidities, and changing people’s behavior. “You cannot have herd immunity if there’s unevenness in vaccination, plus changes in risky behavior—not wearing masks, etc.—will lead to more breakthrough infections also,” Dr. Wong said.

He also proposed a threephase vaccination strategy to get more people vaccinated. For the willing but not yet vaccinated, they just need to be assured of a steady vaccine supply. For the undecided, this is where vaccine education comes. For the unwilling, “soft mandates” like wearing of face masks and regular testing when going back to work can be imposed.

“Eventually, Covid-19 may be something like influenza. It will be endemic, always there but because of vaccination, there will be much lower percentage of hospitalization or deaths, while those vaccinated can carry on with their daily lives: no more lockdowns/quarantines, people and children can go back to work and school, there will be fewer controls, and also live safely.”

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12-B vaccines available by end 2021; pharmas renew call for vaccine equity

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By Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

he manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines are expected to pass the 7.5 billion dose mark by the end of September.

Vaccine manufacturers worldwide are now producing 1.5 billion doses per month and this is expected to continue to grow. By the end of 2021, vaccine production is expected to reach 12 billion. Barring any obstacles, by June 2022 total vaccine production is estimated to reach over 24 billion by which time vaccine supplies will most likely outstrip global demand.

At a press conference held Tuesday evening Manila time, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) said the successful vaccine manufacturing scale up has been achieved due to a steady increase in production, supply chain and voluntary tech transfer agreements with partners across the world.

“By January 2022, there will be sufficient vaccines produced for every adult on every continent,” said Thomas Cueni, IFPMA Director General, who cited data provided by Airfinity.

Airfinity is a science information and analytics company. Its goal is to improve global scientific knowledge sharing. By “listening to science as it unfolds and enriching the earliest data signals from multiple channels,” Airfinity offers a different source of predictive forecasts that enable decision makers to understand the implications of new scientific developments.

Booster shots

According to Airfinity, even if G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US) decide to vaccinate teenagers and adults and give booster shots to at-risk populations, there would still be over 1.2 billion doses available for redistribution in 2021 alone.

“This means that each month, for

the foreseeable year, over 200 million doses would be, with effective planning, available for low- and lowermiddle-income countries,” Cueni said.

Dr. Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer and IFPMA Vice President, said Pfizer had been producing 200 million doses of vaccines in general before the pandemic. Initially, he pegged their production at 500 million doses “and then we went to 1.3 billion doses just about the turn of the year and we are very confident right now that we are going to make three billion doses by the end of the year.”

“We were able to achieve this because of a lot of things—sleepless nights and the efforts of thousands of people who are doing everything to ensure that everything works smoothly,” he said, adding that while Pfizer already had the infrastructure to fasttrack production, the only bottleneck that it encountered was the unavailability of raw materials.

“In order to secure more and more raw materials, we literally had to create new suppliers and we extended financial and technical support to them. The second thing is that Pfizer has been doing this for the last 172 years now and we were founded for the scale up of chemicals for the manufacture of medicines so we have very significant expertise in doing that,” Dr. Bourla said.

Technology transfer

When asked about the manufacturing capacity of Johnson and Johnson, Dr. Paul Stoffels, Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer, said the company started to scale up manufacturing the vaccine parallel with research and develop-

ment early last year. Since the vaccine makes use of a disabled adenovirus, this requires special equipment that needed to be installed in all production plants “in record time.”

“Our strategy of focusing on technology transfer brought us to partnering with Aspen Pharmacare in South Africa. Aspen is now in full production and we anticipate that all supplies produced in Aspen from now on will go to COVAX countries and the African union,” he said.

He added that Johnson and Johnson has also started transferring its technology to Biological E Limited (BioE) in India. BioE is into substance production so the active material for the vaccine is currently being validated. Once the partnership is in full force, Dr. Stoffels expects that more than 50 percent of the produced vaccines will be delivered to lower and middle-income countries.

Vaccine equity

In view of the upscale in the manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccines, IFPMA renewed its call to governments to shift their attention to delivering vaccine equity including dose sharing.

In May 2021, IFPMA had committed to expend every effort to make additional uncommitted Covid-19 doses available to low- and lowermiddle-income countries (LMICs) and to support governments that have significant domestic supplies of vaccines doses to share their doses to LMICs in a responsible and timely way through COVAX or through other mechanisms.

“Thanks to the steady vaccine manufacturing output, projections show that it is possible to vaccinate the whole adult population of the world by June 2022. This, however, requires governments to strategically release doses so that vaccines leave the production lines and reach the people who need them most,” Cueni said.

“Such vaccine deployment requires urgent political leadership and coordinated action to remove delivery and administration bottlenecks in many environments especially as mRNA

Covid-19 should not separate moms from newborns, say health agencies

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

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ssential Intrapartum Newborn Care (EINC) or Unang Yakap is more important now more than ever in protecting mothers and newborns, especially among mothers who are suspected or confirmed for Covid-19 exposure or infection.

The Department of Health (DOH) said it is one with the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) and the Philippine Society of Newborn Medicine (PSNbM) in the advocacy of keeping mothers and infants together during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As part of the healthcare system and the public, it is our duty to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding practices for a Healthy Pilipinas,” the DOH said.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and World Food Programme (WFP) have emphasized that the most effective way to save newborn lives is still through EINC and the promotion and protection of breastfeeding while strictly following precautions for infection prevention and control (IPC).

Since last year, UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA, and WFP urged the DOH, public health and clinical experts, professional societies, and all others involved in guidelines and policy development, funding, planning, and implementing the emergency response in the Philippines to avoid “unnecessary illness and death by ensuring that EINC and breastfeeding are not sacrificed while preventing the spread of infection.”

The UN agencies reiterated that placing newborn babies in immediate skin-to-skin contact with their mothers keep them warm, prevents exposure to diseases, and helps establish breastfeeding as a life-saving measure, especially during emergencies, including the Covid-19 outbreak.

Babies who drink only their moth-

er’s breastmilk receive antibodies from their mothers that protect them from potentially deadly infections like pneumonia, diarrhea and sepsis.

In fact, Unang Yakap and exclusive breastfeeding are vital to IPC measures. With proper IPC, protection from infection becomes stronger, especially during challenging circumstances and emergencies.

Kangaroo mother care

The PSNbM, in accordance with the most current recommendations of WHO, Unicef and DOH on the care on the newborn during the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, has recommended strict IPC at all levels of care.

Meanwhile, as with all confirmed or suspected Covid-19 cases, symptomatic mothers who are breastfeeding or practicing skin-to-skin contact or kangaroo mother care should observe hand hygiene and basic IPC measures.

The UN agencies stressed that when performing skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding, and any activities that involve touching or being close to the baby, infected mothers must use a medical mask, wash their hands properly before and after contact with the child, and routinely clean and disinfect surfaces which the mother has touched.

Likewise, they said that mothers should also receive the right support and guidance on proper infection and prevention control measures.

Death among babies

During emergency situations, the rates of disease and death among babies and children are higher than for any other age group.

The younger the child, the higher the risk, leaving babies under six months most vulnerable.

Babies who drink formula from an unsterile bottle or teat, or made with unclean water, can become very sick with diarrhea and die within a few hours.

The UN agencies noted that mortality is particularly high when there is a prevalence of communicable diseases and diarrhea combined with high rates of undernutrition.

Appropriate infant and young child feeding—both breastfeeding and complementary feeding—and care are fundamental in preventing malnutrition and mortality among infants and young children.

“The practice of IPC does not have to conflict with EINC and breastfeeding. In fact, EINC and breastfeeding protect against infection as long as mothers observe the basic steps to prevent the spread of coronavirus and other pathogens.”

Meanwhile, Maternal, Infant and Young Child Feeding counselling, basic psychosocial support, and practical feeding support should be provided to all pregnant women and mothers with infants and young children, whether they or their infants and young children have suspected or confirmed Covid-19.

“In addition, all pregnant mothers should have access to a safe birth, antenatal and postnatal care including postpartum family planning, and screening tests in accordance with national guidelines, especially in areas with high numbers of confirmed Covid-19 cases where access to services for pregnant women, women in labor and delivery, and lactating women is negatively impacted,” the UN agencies said.

They also called on community leaders to practice IPC in all settings and recognize the benefits of Unang Yakap and breastfeeding.

“Further, the UN agencies call on community leaders to create or strengthen networks for mothers to receive safe delivery care, and to monitor and report any donations by all breastmilk substitutes or infant formula manufacturers and all groups that may undermine breastfeeding,” they concluded.

vaccines might make up 40 percent of the additional doses available,” he added.

As such IFPMA renewed its commitment “to support country readiness, and partner with government on Covid-10 vaccine deployment particularly in LMICs, to ensure that they are ready and able to deploy available doses within their shelf life.”

Strong protection vs Delta

Even in the face of the Delta variant, the current authorized vaccines show “continued strong protection from infection and excellent effectiveness against hospitalization and death.”

Both Drs. Bourla and Stoff les agreed that the current versions of the Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson vaccines were efficacious against the Delta variant and that there was no need to develop newer versions for the time being.

Dr. Bourla, however, revealed that Pfizer is currently developing a version of the Covid-19 vaccine that is tailored to the Delta variant “but my prediction is that we will not need it.”

“I think the data will demonstrate that the current one is highly efficacious. The reason why we are developing a Delta variant specific vaccine is because we do not want to take any chances,” he said. “Everything indicates that we will not be needing it but just in case, we are making one.”

He added that Pfizer had already developed a vaccine for the Beta Covid-19 variant “which we are submitting to the Food and Drug Administration. It is clear that we will not use it and we will shelve that.”

“If there are concerns, we will be building in parallel a new version of the vaccine that is tailor made for the variant. The process will take less than 100 days for us, 95 days from end to end so the idea is that we will always stay ahead of the variant,” Dr. Bourla said.

For his part. Dr. Stoffles said they have tested the Johnson and Johnson vaccine at the moment and “it seems to be holding up very fine.” “There is no need at the moment to be worried,” he said.

Herbalife Nutrition launches waste diversion initiative

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erbalife Nutrition Philippines has partnered with Green Antz Builders Inc. for its waste diversion initiative, the Herbalife Nutrition Go Green Recycling Program. The program is in line with the premier global nutrition company’s commitment to environmental sustainability.

“We are taking a proactive stance in promoting environmental sustainability through proper waste diversion in the Go Green Recycling Program,” said Sridhar Rajagopalan, Senior Director, Sub-Region General Manager of Herbalife Nutrition Philippines during the program’s virtual launch. “We are trying to ensure the active participation of our employees and members to support this green effort. The primary purpose of the recycling program is to promote better waste diversion and create awareness of the need to conserve and protect the environment.”

Waste diversion involves the recycling and reuse of materials that would other wise just be thrown away in dump sites and landfills.

Herbalife Nutrition employees and members are encouraged to drop off empty Herbalife Nutrition product canisters and bottles at designated Go Green bins, such as the one in the Herbalife Nutrition head office in Bonifacio Global City.

Rajagopalan shared that Herbalife Nutrition has chosen to partner with Green Antz because of the company’s track record in manufacturing green building materials.

“Herbalife Nutrition has found a very reliable partner in Green Antz for its waste diversion project, turning empty plastic Herbalife canisters and bottles into green building materials. We can learn from each other’s practices and improve our efficiencies,” he said.

Sports

LEYLAH’S ROCKIN’ N’ ROLLIN’ AT 19

BusinessMirror

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| Thursday, September 9, 2021 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

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SENATE President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III (fifth from left) leads a ceremony at the Senate Session Hall on Monday honoring Philippine Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino (third from left) for his valuable leadership that resulted to the Philippines winning its first gold medal—as well as two silvers and one bronze—at the Tokyo Olympics. Senator Panfilo Lacson sponsors Senate Resolution 850 that honors Tolentino. Also in photo are (from left) Senator Joel Villanueva, boxing silver medalist Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam, boxing bronze medalist Eumir Felix Marcial and Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri and Francis Tolentino.

DRENCHED IN FESTIVITY T

By Josef Ramos

AGAYTAY City once again rolled out the red carpet for the country’s medalists in the Tokyo Olympics with the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) General Assembly honoring gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz and co. with “festivity and gratitude,” not to mention another round of cash bonuses from the country’s highest sports authority.

“We concluded a POC General Assembly [GA] under a theme of ‘festivity and gratitude,’” POC President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said. “The GA is celebrated with a festivity under the presence of our Olympic medalists who were actually and physically handed their incentive checks from the POC.” No amount of heavy rain and strong wind from Typhoon Jolina could prevent the POC from conducting its first post-Olympics

GA, which was highlighted by Tolentino handing out cash incentives not only to the medalists but to all 19 athletes who competed in Tokyo.

Diaz, who ended the country’s close-to-a-century gold medal search by ruling the women’s -55 kgs class of weightlifting in Tokyo, received P3 million, while silver medalists Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam and bronze medalist Eumir Felix Marcials, all boxers, got P2 million and P1 million, respectively.

The 15 other athletes in Tokyo also got bonuses of P500,000 each, while Tolentino thanked President Rodrigo Duterte, the Senate and House of Representatives for similarly honoring the medalists with Presidential Merit, Order of LapuLapu, Senate Medal of

Excellence and Congressional Medal of Excellence awards.

Tolentino also praised House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco for giving Diaz P3 million, Paalam and Petecio P2 million each and Marcial P1 million on Tuesday, as well as the Senate which separately gifted Diaz P1 million, Petecio and Paalam P500,000 each and Marcial P400,000 on Monday.

The POC also recognized the support given by tycoons Manuel V. Pangilinan (Smart and PLDT) and Ramon S. Ang of San Miguel Corporation and AirAsia.

The Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas and Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines were also recognized for honing their athletes to Olympic success.

“HD’s [Hidilyn Diaz] message sends an inspiration to us all—that medals are within the reach of every athlete, given the outstanding support of the NSAs [national sports associations], the POC and government,” Tolentino

SMB inflicts TNT’s 1st loss in PHL Cup

UAAP Varsity Channel unfurls

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HE University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) in partnership with Cignal TV will launch the UAAP Varsity Channel.

A first-of-its-kind channel with 24/7-access to everything about UAAP, the groundbreaking sports channel kicked off on Cignal TV Channel 263 (HD) and SatLite Channel 55 on Wednesday and will be available for open viewing to all new and active subscribers until October 15.

UAAP fans could also access the channel through Cignal’s OTT platform, Cignal Play.

Under the slogan “Get in the Game,” the UAAP Varsity Channel initially offers a rich archive of the best UAAP games from 20 years ago giving non-stop basketball, volleyball, football and cheerdance action, along with other league events.

The channel will also launch original magazine shows which will feature current athletes and some of the biggest UAAP legends.

“The UAAP Varsity Channel is Cignal’s answer to the clamor from countless UAAP fans for unlimited access to their favorite teams and players and a chance to relive the best moments in UAAP

history any time of the day across multiple platforms,” said Robert Galang, Cignal TV’s President and CEO. “To launch a channel when there are no games yet is testament to the strength of the league made possible by the blood, sweat and tears of each and every student athlete,” UAAP Executive Director Atty. Rebo Saguisag said.

Ongoing saga PARDON my ongoing fascination with l’affaire Angela Lee and Denice Zamboanga in the dramatic stage of ONE Championship.

But definitely, the last word has not been written on this atomic bomb of an issue in the atomweight class of ONE’s women’s division. And we’re here to catch the latest sparks.

For context, Denice Zamboanga, formerly known as “The Menace,” now called “Lycan Queen,” absorbed the first loss of her brilliant career in last Friday’s ONE: Empower, the history-making, all-female fight card of Asia’s biggest media property. In a tightly fought contest—with Zamboanga showing a ferocity that has been her trademark in the ONE Circle, and her opponent

said. “Any negativity in the meeting had no place in the festive environment.”

Tagaytay City first welcomed the Olympic medalists three weeks ago when they were presented their respective four house-and-lot units given to them as a gift by Tolentino.

The other Olympians were pole vaulter EJ Obiena, boxer Irish Magno, runner Kristina Knott, golfers Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan, Juvic Pagunsan, shooter Jayson Valdez, weightlifter Erleen Aldo, swimmers Luke Gebbie and Remedy Rule, gymnast Carlos Yulo, judoka Kiyomi Watanabe, rower Cris Nievarez, skateboarder Margielyn Didal and taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa.

A total of 42 out of the 52 POC regular members attended the assembly either physically at the Grandmasters Café or online. Those present underwent Antigen tests and wore face masks and face shields and observed social distancing throughout the proceedings.

EW YORK—When Leylah Fernandez wins a pivotal point at the US Open— and she’s won enough of them to become the tournament’s youngest semifinalist since Maria Sharapova in 2005—the teenager with the exciting game and enthusiasm to match raises her right fist or windmills her arms, firing up herself and the crowd.

What often happens next, after good points or bad, is just as important to the success of the unseeded Filipino-Canadian left-hander with the quick reflexes: She’ll turn her back to the court and her opponent, face the wall behind the baseline for a few moments, gather herself and repeat whatever that day’s mantra of choice is.

During Tuesday’s 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) victory against No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina in Arthur Ashe Stadium, which followed wins over past US Open champions and former No. 1s Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber, Fernandez focused on self-belief.

“I was only thinking of trusting myself, trusting my game. After every point, win or lose, I would always tell myself, ‘Trust my game. Go for my shots. Just see where the ball goes,’” said Fernandez, who turned 19 on Monday and had never been past the third round in her previous halfdozen major appearances. “I see what I’m feeling. I see if there’s one phrase that really catches me or that makes me more motivated than the others. I just keep it throughout the match.”

It’s working.

Another Canadian moved into the semifinals when 21-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime’s opponent Tuesday night, 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, stopped playing in the second set while trailing 6-3, 3-1 because of an issue with a muscle in his right leg.

Alcaraz was coming off two five-set wins in a row—including against No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas —that made him the youngest male quarterfinalist in New York since 1963.

“It’s really tough to end a great tournament like this,” Alcaraz said,

T

ERRENCE ROMEO and Marcio Lassiter put their act together in powering San Miguel Beer to a dominating 83-67 win over TNT, on Wednesday in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym in Bacolor, Pampanga Romeo and Lassiter led San Miguel Beer’s furious attack in the first quarter with a combined 15 points as they rushed to a 24-10 lead entering the second period.

The Beermen sustained their early charge in the following quarters, registering an insurmountable 64-37 cushion late in the third canto.

San Miguel Beer was never threatened the rest of the way to

improve its record to 4-2 wonlost while sending TNT to its first setback in seven games.

“The sense of urgency was there,” said San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria, whose team recovered from an embarrassing 104-110 defeat to Terrafirma last September 1. “It’s a big win for us. I’m really thankful to the players because they really wanted to win this game.”

Lassiter scattered 19 points and six rebounds, while Moala Tautuaa and CJ Perez had 13 points each.

June Mar Fajardo added eight points and 17 rebounds for the Beermen.

“This is the first time that I saw June Mar laugh,” Austria said.

Magnolia rallied past NLEX, 112-105, in double overtime also on Wednesday to earn at least a quarterfinal playoff berth.

Ian Sangalang scored 21 points, including two baskets in the second overtime that gave the Hotshots a 108-104 breather with 3:41 left.

Magnolia hiked its record to 5-2.

Calvin Abueva fouled out in the

fourth quarter but still top scored for Magnolia with 23 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth doubledouble in the conference. Paul Lee added 18 points, while Mark Andy Barroca tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Aris Dionisio came off the bench with 11 points.

Magnolia had a chance to win in regulation, but Barroca split free throws in the final minute for a 94-all score.

Dionisio’s step back threepointer forced the second overtime at 104-all.

NLEX dropped to a 4-3 win-loss record.

“but I had no choice.”

The 12th-seeded AugerAliassime is the first man from Canada to reach the US Open semifinals and plays No. 2 Daniil Medvedev next. Medvedev, a 25-year-old from Russia, earned a spot in the final four at Flushing Meadows for the third consecutive year by stopping the surprising run of Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 7-5.

With no players from the United States left to pull for, US Open fans are adopting their neighbors from the North—although the 73rd-ranked Fernandez actually is based in Florida after being born in Montreal to a Filipino Canadian mother and an Ecuadorian father.

Fernandez’s father is also her coach but isn’t in New York; he stayed home for what Fernandez called “personal reasons” and is offering tips in daily phone conversations.

“I called him right after the match, when I went to the locker room,” she said. “He honestly told me that I put him through hell and back with this match.”

And the spectators loved every minute of it.

“Thanks to you, I was able to push through today,” she told the crowd after edging Svitolina, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist who’s been to two Grand Slam semifinals, including at the 2019 US Open. Truth is, Fernandez likes the spotlight.

Asked whether she’s more nervous against a top player in a big arena or a lower-ranked player at a smaller site, her reply was simple: “There’s no difference.”

Hard to argue that right now.

It was touch-and-go down the stretch—even after Fernandez grabbed the opening set, even after she led 5-2 in the third. One way in which she held a clear advantage: Of points that lasted more than eight shots, Fernandez won 26, Svitolina 16.

Five times, Fernandez was two points from winning but failed to collect the next point. Finally, at 5-all in the tiebreaker, she moved to match point when she smacked a down-the-line passing shot that got past Svitolina with the help of a bounce off the net tape.

Fernandez gestured as if to say, “Sorry about that,” while Svitolina put a hand to her mouth in dismay.

“A little bit lucky,” Fernandez said later. “But I’ll take all the luck I can get.” AP LEYLAH FERNANDEZ drops to her knees at the baseline and covers her face after slaying a third giant at Flushing Meadows.

TROI SANTOS

Josef Ramos

TERRENCE ROMEO delivers the goods for the Beermen.

Seo Hee Ham frustrating her attempts at a decisive finish—the judges awarded the win to the South Korean.

Social media erupted with a collective howl. Denice fans shouted “Robbery!” “Hold up!” Others called it a “cooking show.” In the post-fight press conference, Denice, wearing a facemask, couldn’t hold back her tears.

“I’m so speechless right now. For me I clearly won the fight. I can’t accept and I’m disappointed with the judges’ decision,” the former 8-0 record holder said, haltingly, after her untainted slate fell to 8-1.

Her shock and frustration were expressed eloquently by her body language, though her face was veiled conveniently by a mask.

If she could have one wish that night that would offer her a bit of solace, what would it be? “If they can review my fight and re-decide on who really won, that would be great,” she expressed. “She didn’t do anything, I had control. I even took her striking. I can’t believe the outcome.”

MMA fans, mostly Filipino, took the cudgels for Zamboanga online, fighting for her with passion all across cyberspace. The furor over the outcome raged all night long and well into pre-dawn hours. The Lycan Queen proved two things: her fan base was huge, ardent and committed. And women’s MMA was not just an accent in a male-dominated sport. It had arrived.

So loud was the uproar that the next day no less than ONE Founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong said his piece.

“I thought Denice Zamboanga edged out Seo Hee

Ham for the victory in a close fight,” Sityodtong said unequivocably. But he also added, “While I disagree with the judges on this one, I can understand why they scored the bout for Ham. It was a very close fight with Ham landing the cleaner, heavier punches with damage and Denice controlling the cage work, takedowns and ground action.”

“Despite the loss, I definitely want to see Denice vs.

Angela for the world title!” Sityodtong concluded.

Although she was not at all present in the ring, Angela Lee, the reigning atomweight queen in the ONE universe did not escape the fans’ outrage. Known to have an ongoing verbal battle with the Pinay contender ever since Zamboanga commented that she vacate her belt because she was not in the position to defend it, Lee popped not a few catty remarks herself against Zamboanga. The latest, and the one most remembered by Pinoy fans, was her underhanded dig when she picked Ham to beat Zamboanga in the first round of the Grand Prix.

Quick to douse the fire, ONE Championship announced that the result of the match between Zamboanga-Ham would be placed under formal review by the Competition Committee. At least for now, the fans are appeased and Denice, though still ruing her tainted record, sees a ray of hope.

Wednesday, the Lee siblings—Angela, Christian and Victoria—had an International Media Day where Christian and Victoria, the youngest Lee in the Circle so far, were to talk about their upcoming joint

appearance in the next ONE event: Revolution, set on September 24. Angela was there solely to comment on the Zamboanga-Ham fight.

Media wasted no time in asking the reigning champ to comment on the outcome of the fight. “It’s hard to say.

It was a close fight. [But it looked like] Denice edging out the victory,” she conceded somewhat. She also said she was most interested in Stamp Fairtex’s and Ritu Phogat’s fortunes in the Grand Prix.

But she was asked a question that brought the beef with Zamboanga up on the surface again. “A champion is supposed to defend the title at least once a year, but you’ve been on a two year vacation already [because of your pregnancy]. Is it because you are the Poster Girl of ONE Championship, that is why you never thought of vacating the title?”

The Champ reiterated her stand. She had worked so hard to get to where she is. She is not going to just have the belt taken away from her. Besides, these are abnormal times, so the at-least-once-a-year-defense rule can be relaxed a bit. She is working on coming back in due time, stronger than ever.

Perhaps ONE does consider Angela Lee to be a special, special star, and we agree. But perhaps ONE is also an organization that truly values women and assures them that women can be women, get pregnant, bear children and still carry on where they left off.

The Empower event was a testament to the value and power of women in male-dominated MMA. Denice Zamboanga can’t wait to prove that against Lee.