BusinessMirror September 23, 2021

RCEP ‘on track’ for ’22 implementation B T J C. P @Tyronepiad

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HE Asean community and its free trade agreement (FTA) partners are on course to enforce one of the biggest economic trade pacts by early next year, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Wednesday.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the parties of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are looking forward to implementing the mega trade deal, as this will

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facilitate further crossborder business activities.

“The Asean and its FTA Partners also remain on track to implement the Agreement

by January 1, 2022,” he said in a virtual event on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, President Duterte ratified the RCEP document. It will be brought to the Senate for concurrence “soon,” Lopez said.

The trade agreement was signed by 10 memberstates and five Asean FTA partners—Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New

Zealand—in November last year. The RCEP region accounts for 29 percent or $25.8 trillion of the global gross domestic product, 30 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent ($12.7 trillion) of global trade in goods and services.

Trade Assistant Secretary Allan B. Gepty said the regional bloc also accounts for half of the global manufacturing output and automotive products; and 70 percent of the electronic products.

Both Lopez and Gepty underscored the importance

of RCEP as this promotes regional economic integration, strengthening the recovery efforts of the country amid the pandemic.

Among the perks cited under the deal are better market access on goods, services and investments. “[We] should view RCEP not just as a plain trade agreement that provides enhanced market access and stable business environment, but as a strategic tool to sustain the region’s economic advantage,” Gepty said.

S “RCEP,” A

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BSP PUSHING SPEEDY PASSAGE OF REVISED CHARTER FOR PDIC B B C @BcuaresmaBM

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MOTORISTS pass by an electric vehicle charging station on Edsa. The Philippines aims to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by 75 percent by 2030 as part of its responsibility to mitigate the global climate crisis. NONIE REYES

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B C U. O

@caiordinario

HE fragile recovery of the Philippine economy continues to make its prepandemic growth trend elusive, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In its Asian Development Outlook Update (ADOU), the Manilabased multilateral development bank maintained its growth and inflation expectations for the Philippines.

However, based on ADB data, the Philippines’s GDP growth remains 14.9 percent below its prepandemic growth trend, the lowest

among Southeast Asian countries.

The average growth in Southeast Asia is still 8.6 percent below its prepandemic trend.

“The forecast is not that GDP will be 8.6 percent below prepandemic levels; rather, GDP was growing along a trend line, and

HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said it is currently working with various sectors of the government toward the swift passage of amendments to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) charter.

In a briefing on Wednesday, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said the proposed amendments to the PDIC Charter are expected to improve coordination between the bank regulator, and the deposit insurer and bank receiver. This is seen to strengthen supervision of banks and support financial stability.

As such, the BSP is working alongside Congress, the Department of Finance, and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) to expedite the passage.

In particular, Diokno said the BSP is confident that the proposed amendments will further enhance PDIC’s capacity to promote and safeguard the interests of the depositing public, and effectively perform its mandate as deposit insurer and liquidator of banks.

Diokno cited four important provisions that are crucial inclusions in the amendments.

First, the governor said the authority should be granted to the PDIC Board to raise the maximum deposit insurance coverage to an amount indexed to inflation or in consideration of other economic factors.

“We believe that this will give PDIC the flexibility to implement its mandate as the country’s deposit insurer.

More importantly, this will provide additional safeguard to the depositing public,” the governor said.

Second, the governor calls for changes in PDIC’s organizational structure and the attachment of PDIC to BSP. Currently, PDIC is attached to the Department of Finance (DOF).

Third, the amendment should include the consolidation of certain powers of the PDIC to BSP. “This will prevent overlapping functions that should be with BSP as the primary regulator of banks,” Diokno said.

And fourth, amendments C  A

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Senate rushes bill correcting BIR rule on schools’ tax

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HE Senate approved on second reading on Wednesday a measure amending the tax code in order to reverse the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s controversial circular that increased by 150 percent the corporate income tax (CIT) of proprietary private schools already reeling from the pandemic.

Late Tuesday, it ended deliberations on the clarificatory SB 2407 that was authored by Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara to correct the BIR’s misrepresentation of lawmakers’ intent in crafting

the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE).

And, with the apparent unanimous mood in the Senate to champion the appeal of desperate private schools, Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri projected second and third reading approval as soon as possible.

Angara filed the amendatory bill soon after the BIR issued a circular after the passage of CREATE, which slapped proprietary schools with a 150-percent CIT hike.

Because of the pandemic lock-

PESO EXCHANGE RATES ■ US 50.1330

RECTO: “If you recall, CREATE was marketed as the law that will save distressed companies from sinking in a sea of red ink.”

downs’ impact on business, CREATE had granted relief to all other businesses buy reducing their CIT rates from 30 percent to 25 percent.

The BIR circular put the schools on par with the businesses, but by slapping them with 25-percent tax, it effectively brought up the taxes they have been paying, or 10 percent—or a 150-percent hike.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Tuesday paved the way for plenary deliberations inC  A

■ JAPAN 0.4591 ■ UK 68.4967 ■ HK 6.4386 ■ CHINA 7.7532 ■ SINGAPORE 37.0752 ■ AUSTRALIA 36.2612 ■ EU 58.7960 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 13.3681

Source: BSP (September 22, 2021)

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Thursday, September 23, 2021

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After slump to record lows, credit activity seen better for rest of year TRADE Assistant Secretary Allan B. Gepty

RCEP...

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Apart from market access, Gepty said the Philippines also will benefit from a “more stable and predictable business environment” under the FTA. It will also bode well for the consumers as the competition is expected to bring down prices of goods, he added.

“For these reasons, the Philippines needs to be part of the RCEP free trade area lest it will be left not only in a disadvantaged position but it will be missing a lot of growth opportunities both in trade and investments,” Gepty said.

Lopez earlier urged the local industries to maximize the opportunities with RCEP.

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B B C

@BcuaresmaBM

REDIT activity is expected to improve in the coming months after slumping to record lows in the previous months due to banks’ risk aversion during the global health crisis.

In a briefing on Wednesday, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said credit activity in the country is expected to improve in the coming months amid the accommodative monetary policy, the national government’s accelerated vaccination program, and implementation of

granular lockdowns in the National Capital Region.

“This view is also consistent with the results of the latest banking industry survey which showed that credit outlook remains positive with double-digit growth in the next two years,” Diokno added.

Bank lending first collapsed into

the contraction territory in December 2020 by 0.7 percent as the restrictions brought about by the pandemic affected the local banking industry. In comparison, the Philippines’s bank lending grew 13.6 percent before the onslaught of the global health crisis in March 2020.

Earlier this month, the BSP reported that bank lending contracted by 0.7 percent in July this year, slowing down from the 2-percent fall in the previous month.

Diokno also said that their latest assessment shows that the local banking system remained “stable and supportive” amid the pandemic. “The positive performance of the Philippine banking system is evidenced by sustained growth in its assets, deposits, and capital, as

well as ample capital and liquidity buffers and loan loss reserves,” Diokno said. Based on end-July 2021 preliminary BSP data, banks’ total assets grew by 5.4 percent year-onyear to P19.8 trillion.

Bank assets were primarily in the form of loans and portfolio investments. Funding was sourced largely from deposits, which grew by 7.2 percent to P15.4 trillion.

“The BSP will continue to adopt policy reforms on risk governance aimed at promoting the continued safety and soundness of the financial system against the backdrop of rapid advancements in technological innovations, an evolving financial ecosystem, and the increasing attention towards the attainment of social and environmental goals,” Diokno said.

BSP PUSHING SPEEDY PASSAGE OF REVISED CHARTER FOR PDIC C  A

that aim to strengthen and expand certain powers of PDIC should be included, particularly wider deposit insurance coverage to include Islamic banks and non-bank BSFIs offering deposit products, authority to extend financial assistance to Islamic banks, and designation of PDIC as receiver of closed nonbank BSP-supervised financial institutions.

Currently, there are proposed measures on the PDIC Charter amendments in both houses of Congress. In the House of Representatives, House Bill 8818 was approved on third and final reading on March 25, 2021.

Meanwhile, Senate Bill 2365 was filed last August 25 to substitute Senate Bill 2089 and 1260 and is scheduled for second reading in the plenary.

Senate rushes bill correcting BIR rule on schools’ tax C  A

troducing remedial legislation on the Tax on Proprietary Educational Institutions, embodied in Committee Report 311 on Senate Bill 2407.

“If you recall, CREATE was marketed as the law that will save distressed companies from sinking

in a sea of red ink,” Recto noted, adding: “How such will be achieved can be found in the title of the bill itself: of using tax incentives for corporate recovery.”

The senator added: “But what if a certain provision of the law designed to reduce taxes is interpreted as increasing it? Then it is like

throwing a life vest made of lead to a drowning man. Which is what revenue officials did when they issued the revenue regulations on how they would implement CREATE’s specific provisions on private schools.”

Recto recalled that with the BIR’s implementing rule (IRR), “instead of getting a tax cut, private schools will be getting a tax hike, the only sector to suffer that fate.

It is as if everyone was given a vaccine against Covid, but you were given the deadly virus itself.”

Noting that proprietary educational institutions have been pay-

ing a preferential tax rate of 10 percent since 1953. He added the Senate and the House, in response to the financial straits of private schools, slashed this to 1 percent for three years, from July 1, 2020 until June 30, 2023.

“But for reasons hard to fathom, BIR’s IRR raised this rate to 25 percent, so that the intended 90-percent tax reduction became a 150-percent tax increase,” adds Recto, ruing that “what was meant to be a stimulant transmogrified into a poison pill, a provision that was designed to evade bankruptcy would now seem to effect it.”

The lawmaker said BIR refused to correct itself, “so the only cure left to overturn the questionable fruit of ‘legislation by IRR’ is for Congress to pass a legislation that will cure the said provision of its editorial ambiguity.”

He further clarified that “this bill boils down to removing the vagueness caused by a missing comma. Another reminder that when crafting tax laws, syntax matters. Because when the language of a tax provision can be subjected to multiple interpretations, citizens and common sense always lose to collections.” Butch Fernandez

FRAGILE PHL RECOVERY STALLING GROWTH—ADB C  A

then Covid-19 happened. While economies continue to grow, they are still below that prepandemic trend,” Abdul Abiad, director of Macroeconomics Research at ADB’s Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department told the BM in an email.

Other Southeast Asian countries also posted growth rates that are below their prepandemic growth trend. Data showed Cambodia’s growth is still 12.1 percent below its prepandemic GDP growth; Thailand, 11.1 percent; Lao PDR at 9.1 percent.

Malaysia is also seeing growth that is 7.7 percent lower than its prepandemic growth; Indonesia, 6.6 percent; Singapore, 4.4 percent; and Vietnam, 3.9 percent.

Only Timor-Leste and Brunei Darussalam are growing above their prepandemic growth by 2.3 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

Growth, inflation projections MEANWHILE, ADB said it maintained its projection for the country’s GDP growth at 4.5 percent in 2021 and 5.5 percent in 2022.

The bank’s inflation outlook for the country was also maintained at 4.1 percent this year and 3.5 percent next year.

“The main risk to the outlook is the spread of more contagious Covid-19 variants, leading to the reimposition of strict quarantines and stalling economic recovery,” the ADOU stated.

ADB noted that the country’s daily Covid-19 cases have been spiking since July 2021 due to highly transmissible new variants.

The report noted that from less than 6,000 daily infections in May and June, cases had risen to over 18,000 a day by early September, with total cases reaching 2.2 million.

On Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) declared that the

Delta variant is now the dominant virus strain in the Philippines. (See:

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/ 09/20/its-official-delta-is-now-dominant-virus-strain-in-phl/)

In order to respond, the ADB noted that the government has adopted a new quarantine scheme using 5 alert levels. This was piloted in Metro Manila this month.

The government earlier said the new scheme will be better than the current community quarantine classification system, wherein there are still Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (APOR). (See

story here: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2021/08/26/dilg-granularlockdowns-to-replace-quarantine-restrictions/)

Under the community quarantine classification system, an area is placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), modified ECQ (MECQ), general community quarantine (GCQ), and modified GCQ, depending on several factors, which include health-care utilization rate and daily attack rate.

“It specifies the businesses and establishments that will be allowed to operate at certain capacity rates and gives mobility guidelines, including activities open for vaccinated individuals,” ADB explained.

The ADB also considered the national government’s efforts in continuing its public infrastructure spending, improving consumer confidence, and progress in the national Covid-19 vaccination program.

Public infrastructure disbursements rose 39.1 percent year-onyear in July, and the government is on track to achieve its target of raising infrastructure spending to at least 5 percent of GDP in 2021 and 2022, up from 4.8 percent in 2020.

The government has focused on vaccinating Filipinos living in main urban areas such as Metro Manila, which records the highest incidences of Covid-19 cases.

As of September 15, 2021, ADB said 84 percent of Metro Manila

residents aged 18 and older, or 8.2 million people, have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and 63 percent have been fully vaccinated.

Overall, ADB said as of mid-September, 22 million people nationwide had received a first jab and 17.7 million were fully vaccinated.

“The economy has regained its footing and is on the right growth path. But the recovery remains fragile due to the threat posed by more infectious Covid-19 variants,” said ADB Philippines Country Director Kelly Bird.

“Vaccination remains key to the economy’s safe reopening. We are actively supporting the government’s efforts to achieve its national vaccination targets through our health-related assistance,” Bird said.

ADB forecasts growth of 7.1 percent this year, according to an update of its flagship economic publication, Asian Development Outlook (ADO) Update 2021.

That compares with a projection of 7.3 percent in April. The growth outlook for 2022 is raised to 5.4 percent from 5.3 percent.

ADB said new Covid-19 variants, renewed local outbreaks, the reinstatement of various levels of restrictions and lockdowns, and slow and uneven vaccine rollouts are weighing down the region’s prospects.

Covid-19 cases in developing Asia have risen since the Delta variant of the virus emerged in April.

New daily cases peaked at 430,000 in May. More than 163,000 new daily cases were recorded on August 31.

Meanwhile, vaccination progress in developing Asia remains uneven and lags behind that of advanced economies.

As of August 31, 2021, 28.7 percent of the region’s population had full vaccine protection, compared with 51.8-percent coverage in the United States and 58 percent in the European Union.

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Tugade says no toll hike amid contagion

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

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HE Department of Transportation (DOTr) aims to strike a balance between public welfare amid a health crisis and the right of investors in expressways for a reasonable return.

Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said his group understands that expressway operators need revenues to sustain their operators, but noted that public interest is always paramount.

“We can approve the increase, but we don’t have to implement it immediately. It is a balancing act between public interest and the profitability of our expressway operators,” he said.

Tugade emphasized that there will be “no toll hike amid the Covid-19 pandemic.”

“We understand the need of operators to increase the toll in order to sustain their funding requirements.

But we also need to put public interest ahead due to the pandemic. We need to strike a good balance,” he said.

Tugade chairs the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB). He is part of a possible Senatorial slate of the PDP-Laban in the coming elections.

Asked about the upcoming elections, Tugade simply said he will first “focus on finishing the various development projects” of his agency.

“Let’s just cross the bridge, sabi nga, when we get there. But in the meantime, my priority is putting into place the projects which we could finish, can finish, and should finish within this very limited time,” Tugade said.

DOLE releases ₧59-M aid for 5K informal workers in NCR

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VER P59 million worth of financial assistance was disbursed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to benefit around 5,000 informal sector workers in the National Capital Region (NCR).

In a news statement issued last Wednesday, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III disclosed of the said amount, P21.17 million was used for the implementation of their “BikeCination Project” in Pasay City.

The project provides free bikes and mobile phones with load cards to help vaccinated informal sector workers engage in food delivery services.

Bello explained this is part of their initiative to encourage more people to be inoculated against Covid-19.

DOLE also allocated P35.43 million to pay the wages of the 3,551 beneficiaries of its Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program in Marikina, Pateros, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Pasig and Manila.

TUPAD is DOLE’s emergency employment program for informal sector workers.

Its beneficiaries are paid the minimum wage in exchange for work, which lasts between 10 and 15 days.

Samuel P. Medenilla

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Thursday, September 23, 2021 A3

DepEd memo tackles major challenge in remote learning: Online ‘cheating’

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

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HE Department of Education (DepEd), upholding its mandate to holistically educate learners, has vowed to maintain academic honesty while upholding every learner’s integrity.

“DepEd does not and will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty,” DepEd stressed.

DepEd Memorandum 2021-395, signed by Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado M. San Antonio and sent to all the regional directors on September 20, cited the most recent controversy on cheating as publicized via Facebook.

Thus, the following were stressed and must be always underscored in all possible means: 1. Academic honesty—foundational element of learning and a fundamental principle of all academic institutions.

“Violations of the principle deprive learners of the opportunity to gain a confident command of the material they are credited with knowing, degrade the learning process, and demean the learning quality that the Department is committed to promote.”

2. Academic dishonesty—defined as any conduct that obstructs the evaluation of a learner’s progress by misrepresenting the work being assessed and evaluated, as well as the learner’s actual knowledge.

3. Academic dishonesty can take many forms, which can be broadly classified as cheating, plagiarism, fabrication or falsification, and sabotage.

The DepEd also stated that contract cheating is also prohibited for it is “another form of academic dishonesty,” which may happen in any of the following situations:

Unpaid assistance from friends or family members to complete the work in place of the learners

A paper that has been taken

from a free essay web site and is being used as the learner’s own work

An academic assignment done for a fee by a third-party service “As self-directed learning materials, the self-learning modules [SLMs] are given to learners to allow them to manage their learning through the different formative assessments.

Although these are not graded and are used to monitor learning progress and prepare learners for summative assessments, cheating on the answers to the SLMs has become prevalent online,” DepEd stressed.

While the SLMs have key to correction, the DepEd said that as an inherent feature of self-instructional materials, “it is not intended to be used to cheat and bypass authentic learning. Regardless of the design of the SLMs and the extent of freedom in the online space, cheating cannot be justified under any circumstance.”

To eradicate this form of cheating, the regional offices are highly

encouraged to take the following immediate actions to protect academic integrity and ensure the veracity of learners’ assessment results: a. Conduct orientation with parents to raise awareness on the existence of FB pages that promote cheating, encourage their support against academic dishonesty, and explain the repercussions of cheating to the learning and values of their children. b. Ensure proactive transparency of the assessment and grading system to parents and learners in order to promote understanding of the purpose of formative assessments in the SLMs. c. Monitor the learner’s online activity and warn them against membership in any online cheating platform. d. Encourage teachers to write up a contract about academic dishonesty and explain the contents to the learners and parents and have them both sign the contract. Then, if learners are

caught cheating, the teacher can pull out the contract and act accordingly. e. Develop Self-learning Activities (SLAs) or the Learning Activity Sheets (LAS) that require learners to analyze information, craft creative presentations, or explain their thinking. These shall be validated by the School Division Office or School Learning Resource Team.

“The department recognizes the limitations of managing assessments in the current learning setup; however, teachers, parents, and school heads are highly encouraged to seek out opportunities to teach academic integrity among learners and discourage them from feeding on laziness and instant gratification, as this will generate devastating effects on their values. Nonetheless, when dealing with academic dishonesty, teachers, parents, and school heads should use caution, exercise good judgment, and treat learners with respect and fairness.”

Veritas survey shows 72% opposition FOTN classifies Internet to Duterte’s plan to run for VP in 2022 in PHL as ‘partially free’

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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VER 70 percent of Filipinos are against President Duterte running for vice president (VP) in the 2022 polls, according to a new survey of Churchrun Radio Veritas.

In its latest Veritas Truth Survey (VTS), Radio Veritas said 72 percent of its 1,200 respondents nationwide said that they do not approve of Duterte’s plan to join the vice presidential race.

“In contrast, 25 percent of the respondents are in support of President Duterte’s possible VP run while the remaining 3 percent remains undecided on this issue,” VTS head sociologist Clifford T. Sorita said in a news

statement issued on Wednesday.

This developed as some groups questioned the legality of Duterte’s possible VP candidacy, citing a provision of the Constitution, which, they said, states a president may no longer be eligible to run for an elective post.

Those who support Duterte’s VP bid, however, noted the prohibition only applies if a president will seek reelection for the same position.

Duterte announced last month he plans to run for vice president under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDPLaban Cusi Wing).

Radio Veritas President Fr. Anton Pascual said he hopes Duterte will take note of the result of the survey and reconsider filing his Certificate

of Candidacy (COC) next month.

He noted the decision would determine his long-term public image.

“It will either show a graceful exit of a leader, who would hand over the reins to the next generation of leaders, or it would show someone who has already reached the pinnacle of one’s political career by already serving as president still hanging onto power,” Pascual said.

The survey, which was conducted fromJuly3toSeptember3,2021,makes use of a stratified sample of respondents for a +/-3 percent margin of error.

The sur vey was conducted through text-based and online data gathering of pre-existing and onground databases from previous face-to-face surveys.

DOJ chief to comply with order to probe deeper into ‘deadly’ anti-illegal drug ops

By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

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USTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Wednesday said he would heed President Duterte’s directive during his speech before the United States General Assembly (UNGA) for the justice department to dig deeper into drug-related cases where deaths occurred and bring to justice those who are accountable.

Guevarra noted that the President’s speech before the UN showed his commitment to prosecute police officers who resorted to extrajudicial killings and other irregularities in the implementation of his drug war campaign.

Duterte told the UNGA that he has instructed the Department of Justice and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to review the conduct of the government’s campaign against illegal drugs and to make accountable those who acted beyond what

the law requires.

Guevarra said despite the limited time, the President was able to inform the UN that there has been no let-up in the quest to review drug war cases of the PNP that resulted in deaths.

“PRRD [President Duterte] just had a few minutes to speak. So every sentence counted. His instruction to the DOJ and the PNP to review the conduct of the campaign against illegal drugs, together with the succeeding statement that those found to have acted beyond bounds during operations shall be made accountable before our laws, is a clear directive to pursue with greater vigor the ongoing review of drug death cases and to commence legal actions if found warranted,” the justice chief said.

In light of this, Guevarra said he is scheduled to meet with the leadership of the PNP early next week to discuss the findings of the DOJ review panel on the 52 drug war cases that resulted in death to determine

if there was criminal liability on the part of the enforcers.

“We will sit down with the PNP Chief [Gen. Guillermo Eleazar] in the next few days to discuss our report as well as the President’s directive given at the UN General Assembly,” Guevarra said.

“Based on what he said, the President wants the DOJ to take further action, in collaboration with the PNP,” he added.

When asked what “further action” meant, Guevarra said it could mean “[to] determine criminal liability.”

The justice chief, however, assured to make public the results of the DOJ panel’s review of the drug cases but would have to discuss the report with the PNP first. “We’ll inform all of you. We just want to do things the proper way,” he said.

Last week, the DOJ submitted the panel’s findings and recommendation to President Duterte but the latter has yet to comment on it.

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

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HE Philippines is one of the countries in the world where you can be jailed for posting on social media, according to Washington-based Freedom House.

Based on the Freedom on the Net (FOTN) 2021 report titled The Global Drive to Control Big Tech, Freedom House said the Philippines is one of at least 55 countries where governments have investigated, arrested, or convicted people for their socialmedia posts.

Freedom House gave the Philippines a FOTN score of 65 categorizing Internet freedom in the country as only “partially free.” A score of 100 means the Internet is free while a score of zero means it is not free.

“Free expression is under unprecedented strain around the world. In 56 countries, a record 80 percent of those covered by Freedom on the Net, people were arrested or convicted for their online speech.

Several governments this year also imposed especially egregious sentences,” Freedom House said.

The FOTN score was based on three broad categories—obstacles to access; limits to content; and violations of user rights.

Obstacles to access meant assessing infrastructural, economic, and political barriers to access; government decisions to shut off connectivity or block specific applications or technologies; legal, regulatory, and ownership control over Internet service providers; and independence of regulatory bodies.

Limits to content examines legal regulations on content; technical filtering and blocking of web sites; other forms of censorship and self-censorship; the vibrancy and diversity of the online environment; and the use of digital tools for civic mobilization.

The last category of violating user rights details legal protections

and restrictions on free expression; surveillance and privacy; and legal and extralegal repercussions for online activities, such as prosecution, extralegal harassment and physical attacks, or cyber attacks.

“A small number of governments rolled back problematic pandemicrelated states of emergency that had unduly restricted free expression, while others ended overly broad data-sharing programs,” Freedom House said.

“Upon renewing its Covid-19 emergency powers in September 2020, the government of the Philippines omitted previous provisions that had criminalized online speech,” it, however, added.

The data also showed that at least one occurrence of a cited control on Internet freedom was observed in the country during the report’s coverage period of June 2020 to May 2021.

These controls included progovernment commentators manipulating online discussions; passing new laws or directives increasing censorship or punishment; and passing a new law or directive increasing surveillance or restricting anonymity.

There were also instances when a blogger or ICT user was arrested, imprisoned, or in prolonged detention for political or social content; a blogger or ICT user physically attacked or killed—including being placed in custody; and technical attacks against government critics or human-rights organizations.

Countries that posted the top 10 highest Internet freedom scores were Iceland, Estonia, Canada, Costa Rica, Taiwan, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Georgia, and Japan.

Those with the least freedom were China, Iran, Myanmar, Cuba, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Ethiopia.

Countries that saw no key Internet controls were Canada, Costa Rica, Estonia, France, Iceland, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Mayor Sara creates special unit to boost alternative learning system in Davao City for OSY, adult learners

By Manuel T. Cayon

@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

D

AVAO CITY—Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has created a unit for alternative learning system (ALS) in the city in a bid to to encourage the out-of school youth and adults te enroll and improve their educational attainment.

Duterte-Carpio issued on Sep-

tember 20, 2021 Executive Order 46, otherwise known as “An Executive Order Creating The Alternative Learning Systems Unit of Davao City, Defining Its Functions, And For Other Purposes.”

The EO would address the difficulty among a number of Filipino children and youth to avail of formal basic education or those who are unable to sustain school attendance, and eventually drop

out of school despite the increasing accessibility of formal basic education.

“There is a need to create an Alternative Learning System Unit of this city in order to facilitate the Alternative Learning System-Education Skills Training [hereinafter referred to as ‘ALS-EST Program in the city’],” she said.

The ALS is one of the mode of the Department of Education’s of-

fer of flexible learning options, which also includes the alternative delivery codes, to help address the pressing concern, the city information office said.

The ALS Unit shall be composed of the city mayor as chairperson, Sangguniang Panlungsod chairperson on the Committee of Education as co-chairman, and the Public Schools District Supervisor and Division Alternative Learning

System Focal Person as focal persons. The members are the Public Employment Service Office, City Information Technology Center, Schools Division Superintendent, Department of Education-Region 11, Association of Barangay Captain (ABC) president; and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) president.

The unit would formulate programs, policies, and strategies for the implementation of the ALS-

EST Program in the city, prepare short, medium, and long term plans in relation to the implementation of the programs, policies, and strategies of the ALS-EST Program in the city.

The unit would recommend allocation of resources and ensure appropriate funds for the ALS and to closely monitor the number of outof-school youth in every barangay of this city.

A4 Thursday, September 23, 2021 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

DOE moves to create PHL strategic petroleum reserve

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE Department of Energy (DOE) has moved to lessen the country’s dependence on imported crude oil and finished petroleum products with the issuance of a circular that seeks to establish the Philippine Strategic Petroleum Reserve Program (PSPRP).

The agency said on Wednesday that Department Circular 2021-09-0028 “will help bring the country closer to attaining

energy security.”

In 2019, the DOE had already directed the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC), under DOE

Memorandum Order MO2019-110001, to conduct a feasibility study for the establishment of a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

The SPR consists of large stockpiles of crude oil as well as petroleum products, stored in facilities located around the country—and possibly overseas—that are released during periods of local or international oil supply disruptions.

The new DOE circular, meanwhile, serves as the implementing guidelines for the establishment of the PSPRP, with the PNOC and DOE jointly implementing the program.

Through the circular, the DOE seeks to establish a governmentowned reserve of crude oil, finished petroleum products and biofuel to be utilized in the event of a severe

international supply interruption or to implement the Targeted Fuel Relief Program.

Under the circular, the PNOC is tasked to acquire the necessary storage and blending capacity by construction, lease, or other acquisition options based on the agreed minimum and maximum volume level determined by the feasibility study.

The SPR study will be undertaken within18 months and be approved within two months once received by the DOE. PNOC will forge supply contracts to secure the necessary volume to attain the objective of PSPRP. It will also be in charge in the distribution-from the transport logistics down to the fuel discharge to the end-consumers.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DTI sticks to plan for full-scale vaccine manufacturing facility

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @TyronePiad

T

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reiterated its long-term plan of setting up a full-scale vaccine manufacturing plant in the country to meet local pharmaceutical needs.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said at a virtual event on Wednesday that the government is looking forward to establishing beyond filland-finish vaccine manufacturing operations locally.

“In the longer term, the [Philippine] government is also planning to establish a full-scale vaccine manufacturing facility,” he said. “This is critical in giving the country a sense of security and self-sufficiency to address current and future health emergencies and pandemics.”

Lopez said the DTI has been inviting foreign pharmaceutical companies to invest in the country and make the Philippines their manufacturing hub in Asia.

This is in line with the trade department’s goal of strengthening the pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity in the country to supply vaccine doses and generic medicines, Lopez said, noting it can make them affordable and equitable.

“Our country is a good source of natural ingredients and herbs that are being used in pharmaceuticals worldwide. These companies can benefit from our country’s young and technologically-skilled manpower, strong government support, good policy environment, and regulatory incentives,” the DTI chief said.

“With the cooperation of all sectors concerned, our generics industry can be able to contribute significantly to the health and recovery needs especially of the mar-

ginalized sectors,” he added.

Lopez shared that the Board of Investments has discussed with seven vaccine manufacturers to set up facilities.

Four of these companies, representing three projects, are in progress, he said, noting they are in negotiations with potential foreign manufacturers and technology providers.

These potential foreign partners are from India, Korea, China, Taiwan, United States and Australia.

Lopez shared that Glovax Biotech, which teamed up with a Korean manufacturer to produce EuCorVac-19 vaccines, eyes to start its fill-andfinish vaccine manufacturing operations by second or third quarter of next year.

The trade official reminded the vaccine manufacturers would be granted tax incentives under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act. Some of the perks include availment of income tax holidays of four to seven years, depending on the level of technology and location of the project. This will then be followed by 10 years of enhanced deductions or 5-percent special corporate income tax for export-oriented firms.

In addition, Lopez said that the DTI, along with the Anti-Red Tape Authority and other government agencies, has streamlined the processing of permits and clearances for local vaccine manufacturing applications.

“As we continue to push for local manufacturing of vaccines, we also encourage our fellow citizens to get vaccinated. This will not only help protect us and our families from Covid-19, but also help sustain jobs for our local producers and manufacturers once production begins,” he concluded.

₧73-M pooled fund to address teen pregnancy scrapped by lawmakers

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

T

HE Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) on Wednesday revealed that lawmakers in the House of Representatives have scrapped a P73 million budget allotted to address teenage pregnancy in the country.

Popcom Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III told the BusinessMirror that the funds that were scrapped included P50 million for Popcom; P20 million for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and P3 million for the National Council for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

Perez said the funds were supposed to be pooled by the three agencies to deal with teenage pregnancies from a multi-sectoral perspective.

However, no hearing was called to scrutinize the proposal leading the scrapping of the funds.

“We proposed a convergence budget for the social protection program for teen moms and their children. The DBM [Department of Budget and Management] was not able to act on these due to administrative issues, which DBM only recently clarified despite our submission. They asked us to appeal to the House Appropriations [Committee] instead,” Perez explained.

“We were supposed to have a technical budget hearing in June after our submission, but they never called for one. They decided on their own that there were deficiencies and disapproved of the submission,” he added.

Perez said if the funds will not be granted, Popcom, the Department of Health (DOH) and the National Youth Commission (NYC) would have to stretch their budgets in order to reach 166,000 teenage mothers and their children.

These agencies will also reach out to local government units (LGUs) to help them include social protection for teen mothers as part of the budgets of the Sangguniang Kabataan and various LGUs.

“Yes, Popcom in particular will provide support to them,” Perez, who is also the country’s undersecretary for Population and Development, said.

During the budget hearing of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), which is the head agency of the Popcom, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo said teenage pregnancies have decreased. She presented data which showed teenage pregnancies reached 183,000 in 2018; 196,478 in 2017; and 203,085 in 2016.

During the plenary deliberations, Albay Rep. Jose Sarte Salceda who is the sponsor of the Neda budget said teenage pregnancies were at 180,000 in 2019. However, teenage pregnancies among younger children are on the rise.

Salceda said girls aged 10 to 14 years old delivered seven live births everyday as of 2019. Based on that estimate, there were 2,555 children born to children in that year.

Official government data showed babies born to adolescent mothers those younger than 20 years old reached 180,916 and was more than three times of babies sired by adolescent fathers at 52,734 based on the 2019 births statistics only released in January 2021.

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data also showed that “highrisk” age of pregnancy covering the age group 17 years old and younger accounted for 3.7 percent of births and, notably, 35 years old and over accounting for 15.8 percent.

Childbearing in these age groups, PSA said, is more likely to have complications during pregnancy and labor that may result in higher morbidity and mortality to both mother and child.

About 10.7 percent of the births in 2019 were to mothers aged 15 to 19 years old, while around 16 percent were to mothers 35 years old and over. Moreover, the adolescent birth rate, or the number of births to women ages 15 to 19 per 1,000 women in that age group was 34 per 1,000 women in 2019.

News BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Northern Luzon ARBOs thrive despite contagion

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

S

MALL businesses of agrarian reform beneficiary organizations (ARBO) in Ilocos Region continue to grow amid the adverse economic impact of Covid-19, an official of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said on Wednesday.

In a news statement, DAR-Ilocos Regional Director Primo Lara reported that from January 2021 to August 2021, ARBOs’ market sales increased by 193 percent compared to the same period last year.

“We are happy and proud of the ARBOs because this is the biggest increase recorded in the entire Philippines,” Lara said.

Compared to the market revenue of ARBOs of P54.7 million in 2020, they year sold up to P105.3 million this year.

“As a result, the Ilocos Region has one of the highest market revenues in the country,” Lara added.

DAR Assistant Regional Director Ma. Ana Francisco said the department assists ARBOs in their product development and agribusiness ventures.

“We help these ARBOs by providing [them] facilities and equipment for their products, we link them to buyers, and we also provide training on entrepreneurship,” Francisco said.

Among the many DAR-assisted ARBOs of Pangasinan, the Bantog Samahang Nayong Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Asingan earned P29.1 million from January to July 2021.

“This ARBO engages in raising carabaos. They [earn their income] by selling dairy products mainly, fresh milk and yogurt to school cafeterias and grocery stores,” Francisco said.

CA confirms Mendoza’s reappointment to JBC

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

T

HE congressional Commission on A ppoi nt ment s (C A) confirmed on Wednesday the return of former Supreme Court Justice Jose Catral Mendoza to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), representing retired justices.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, chairman of the CA’s JBC committee, endorsed Mendoza’s reappointment, citingtheunanimous backing by all 12 senators sitting in the bicameral body.

Taking the floor at the CA plenary confirmation, Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon cited the “good performance of the JBC under the guidance” of Justice Mendoza since 2017.

Drilon added that in the same period during Mendoza’s watch, the JBC attained 90 percent of its target despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last July 9, Mendoza’s first term as member of JBC expired and was reappointed for a second term on the same day by President Duterte, with the new JBC appointment ending on July 9, 2025.

Thursday, September 23, 2021 A5

RestoPH pushes easing of vaccination requirement for workers under AL 4

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @TyronePiad

T

HE food service sector is asking the government to ease the vaccination requirement for their employees under the Alert Level System (ALS) as many still find it difficult to secure Covid-19 shots.

Restaurant Owners of the Philippines (RestoPH) President Eric Teng said at a Laging Handa briefing on Wednesday said that not all restaurants may be able to comply with the vaccination requirement set by ALS to be allowed 10-percent indoor capacity during Alert 4.

“Sana naman po maintindihan at

mabalanse natin ang problema ng restaurant industry. Gusto naman po ng lahat na makapagbukas na bakunado ang staff kaya lang po ’yung ibang lugar po, mga empleyado, sa barangay nila, nahihirapan po silang makakuha ng vaccine. [Hopefully, they can understand and gauge the concerns of the restaurant industry. While everyone wants to open with all their employees fully vaccinated, some staff members cannot get inoculated in their barangays],” he said.

Metro Manila is currently under Alert 4.

Based on the latest guidelines, indoor and outdoor dine-in capacity for restaurants are allowed at 10 percent

Measure requires mandatory inoculation against Covid-19

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

W

ITH the continuous arrival of anti-Covid shots, the chairperson of the House Committee on People’s Participation has recently filed a bill requiring mandatory inoculation to all eligible recipients.

In filing House Bill 10249 last Monday, Rep. Florida P. Robes of the lone district of San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan, said her proposal mandates that Covid-19 vaccines must be administered to all Filipinos and residents of the Philippines who are fit enough to receive the vaccine.

Under the bill, all expenses for the Covid-19 vaccines shall be fully subsidized by the government. Private companies may also procure vaccines for their employees as long as they are given for free to their employees.

The bill, however, exempts persons with conflicting religious belief or with medical condition that would make vaccination detrimental to his/her health as certified by a duly licensed physician.

It also provides an anti-discriminatory clause, which prohibits discrimination against those who refuse to get vaccinated for religious belief or health reason or cause the loss of their employment or enrollment in any educational institution.

All those who have been fully vac-

cinated shall be given a Vaccine Pass as proof of their full vaccination status, which may be used to access any public tourism resort, accommodation, assembly or amusement center.

Those who have no valid reason to refuse vaccination shall be imposed a penalty of imprisonment of up to 30 days and/or a fine of P10,000.

Citing World Health Organization (WHO), Robes said vaccines are one of the most effective tools for protecting people against Covid-19, and that it has postulated that it is not uncommon for governments and institutions to implement mandatory vaccination of Covid-19.

The lawmaker said the Philippines had also been implementing a mandatory vaccination program for infants and children.

“We have Republic Act 10152 which is an act providing for the mandatory basic immunization services for infants and children and Republic Act 7846 which requires compulsory immunization against Hepatitis-B for infants and children below eight years old,” she said.

“In the face of worldwide pandemic that is ravaging our country, it is crucial to implement a mandatory Covid-19 vaccination program for people who are eligible to get the vaccines in order to protect ourselves and our families but enable us to regain our economic foothold and resume our lives,” she added.

and 30 percent capacity under Alert 4, respectively, given that their workers are fully vaccinated. The indoor dine-in services are only allowed for fully vaccinated customers.

While Teng appreciated the 10-percent indoor capacity, he is looking forward to when the alert level is brought down to Alert 3 to allow more operations.

Indoor dine-in capacity is allowed at 30 percent regardless of the vaccination status, while al fresco dining is permitted at 100 percent under Alert 3.

The restaurant operators are pinning their hopes on so-called “revenge dining,” especially during

the upcoming Christmas season.

Teng said customers have been coming in the restaurants amid the pandemic during celebrations like birthdays and Valentine’s day, especially if the employees are fully vaccinated.

He is expecting more customer traffic given that the many has been in isolation for over a year now.

“So, once [the customers are] comfortable...then I’m sure they will come out again. There will be revenge dining maybe even revenge shopping, revenge vacation...” he said.

Still, the RestoPH head said they will not open if it is too risky for the customers.

PSA official clarifies ₧4.5-B unobligated fund in ‘21 budget

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

T

HE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) remains confident that it would still be able to spend the P4.5 billion, which is currently unobligated in their budget for this year.

On Wednesday, National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa told the BusinessMirror that the amount is as of June 2021 and represents a 57.6 percent obligation rate of its 2021 budget.

On Tuesday evening during the budget deliberations, Quezon City Rep. Jose Christopher Y. Belmonte chided PSA for the low obligation rate of its 2021 budget. The budget deliberations of the PSA were subsequently deferred at the plenary.

“This indicates that it is possible for PSA to attain a 100 percent obligation rate by December 2021. This unobligated balance includes the payment for mandatory expenses that are due until the end of the year [e.g., salaries, utilities, office rental, etc.],” Mapa explained.

“We will coordinate and wait for further instructions from the House Committee on Appropriations on how to proceed,” he also said regarding the deferment of the PSA budget deliberations.

Mapa explained that the unobligated budget would also include funds for activities/expenses undergoing the procurement process.

These include scheduled trainings, seminars and travels that are affected by the pandemic and restrictions.

Further, he said that since June 2021, the PSA has already obligated additional P2.5 billion as of August 31, 2021 for various projects or activities and operations.

Of this P2.5 billion, around P533 million is for the National ID; P5 million for the Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS); and P183 million for the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), among others.

He also clarified that out of the unobligated allotment of P4.5 billion, only P1.65 billion or 37 percent is for the implementation of the National ID. Belmonte also raised concerns regarding the results of the recent Census ofPopulationandHousing(CPH)where the population of some barangays in Quezon City dropped by 50 percent.

Earlier, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said the city’s population increased by just 23,932 or 0.17 percent annually to 2.96 million from 2.94 million over a five-year period.

“The concerned office for the 2020 CPH, along with the PSA National Capital Region Regional Office, will

DUTERTE also briefly discussed his administration’s efforts in holding accountable government uniformed personnel, who may have violated the law, in their campaign against illegal drugs.

“I have instructed the Department of Justice and the Philippine National Police to review the conduct of our campaign against illegal drugs.

Those found to have acted beyond

coordinate with the Office of Belmonte to discuss the concerns raised,” Mapa told the BusinessMirror.

During the plenary deliberations, PSA said that despite constraints in undertaking the National ID, they are committed to register 92 million Filipinos in the PhilSys by next year.

Last week, the PSA said local quarantine restrictions have proven to be among the major challenges in implementing the National ID. PSA Deputy National Statistician of the PhilSys Registry Office Rosalinda P. Bautista said the PSA “lost close to 4,000 foregone registrations” due to local mobility restrictions.

However, Bautista said, the PSA continues its effort to register more Filipinos in the National ID. As of September 10, 42 million, PSA has completed Step 1 for demographic data capture; 30 million, Step 2 for biometric data capture; and over 1.7 million have received their IDs. The PhilSys registration has also been able to provide poor and unbanked Filipinos the opportunity to open a bank account when they complete their Step 2 registration through LandBank.

As of September 10, Bautista said, over 5 million Filipinos have already opened new LandBank accounts during their National ID Step 2 registration.

Senate panel endorses OP’s Senators OK bill on voter registration ₧8.1-billion 2022 allotment extension to Oct. 31 on 2nd reading

A

SENATE sub-committee on finance endorsed for the senators’ approval Malacañang’s proposed P8.128-billion budget for the Office of the President (OP) in 2022, nearly P4 million lower compared to the President’s budget this year.

However, tucked into the presidential annual budget for 2022 is P4.5-billion “confidential and intelligence” fund, same as this year.

Under questioning by Senator Nancy Binay, senators were told this was also the same amount since 2020.

Lawmakers were, likewise, informed that P2.95 billion were already recorded as disbursed and cash

advances from this year budget as of September 30.

Also included in the approved disbursement was P751.17 million from the budget of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS).

Before the sub-committee moves to endorse its approval, Binay asked the PMS officers about reports on depositing P36 million in the controversial Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).

According to Undersecretary Ferdinand Cui Jr., they coordinated closely with PS-DBM to facilitate the delivery of the office supplies. Butch Fernandez

T

HE Senate approved on second reading on Wednesday a bill extending voter registration way ahead of the upcoming 2022 national and local elections.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, with 22 other senators signing up as coauthors, earlier filed the enabling legislation following the adoption of a concurrent resolution endorsed by Senate and the House of Representatives, asking the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to extend voter registration.

As passed, the remedial legislation extends the voter registration period to October 31, 2021, a month after the current deadline of September 30, 2021 set

by Comelec.

“Given that the registration period was suspended for over five months due to various community lockdowns across the country, it is only right that we push the deadline back, and give our people a chance to come out and register, and exercise their right of suffrage,” Zubiri said.

Just last month, it was pointed out the Comelec reported that

Duterte: UN needs to change to meet global crisis, injustice Drug war

The restaurateurs previously asked for the establishment of a lending facility for the food and beverage industry as part of their proposed revitalization program. The credit facility, Teng said, may be offered to dine-in only restaurants, bars, cafes and kiosks with seating capacity as they were likely to be the hardest hit in the industry during this crisis.

Teng also requested for the landlords offering rent concessions or rent discounts to food service sector to be granted tax holidays. He explained this will allow the restaurants to remain functional during and after the pandemic, aiding their recovery.

bounds during operations shall be made accountable before our laws,” Duterte said. He said he is ready to cooperate with the United Nations as long as it will be in a “constructive engagement.”

“The imposition of one’s will over another—no matter how noble the intent—has never worked in the past and it never will in the future,” Duterte said.

Duterte’s administration is cur-

rently facing an investigation from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the killings of thousands of drug suspects.

Duterte repeatedly said he will not cooperate with the ICC probe, which he sees as an attack on the country’s sovereignty.

Refugee aid

DUTERTE also appealed to UN member countries to assist refugees from

countries currently facing political turmoil. Despite its limited resources, he said the country opened its doors to Afghan nationals, who fled Afghanistan after it was taken over by the Taliban earlier this year.

He said the country is coordinating with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to help Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, which is currently suffering political upheaval.

“The Philippines has limited re-

61 million Filipinos have already registered, but noted this falls short of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s projected voting population of 73.3 million.

“Ready naman pong bumoto ang mamamayang Pilipino,” Zubiri assured, adding, “Maghapon silang pumipila sa registration centers. Pero kulang po talaga ang oras.”

The Senate Majority leader pleaded: “Let’s give our people a chance to come out and register, dahil requisite iyan sa karapatan nilang bumoto at makibahagi sa ating demokrasya.” Butch Fernandez

continued from a12

sources during these extraordinary times. But what we can do for humanity and to uplift human dignity, we will,” Duterte said.

International law

LAST, Duterte also reiterated his position on how the 1982 UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and the 2016 arbitral award should be used to resolve the existing territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

“The award must be seen for what it is—a benefit across the world to all those who subscribe to the majesty of the law,” Duterte said.

“No amount of blatant disregard of any country no matter how big and powerful can diminish the Arbitral Awards’ importance,” he added.

Among the countries currently existing claims in the area are Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and China.

TheBroa

Business

A6 Thursday, September 23, 2021• www.businessmirror.com.ph

PHL esports sector the Ancients’ vs gam C

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas & Rizal Raoul Reyes

OMPETITIVE electronic gaming or esports in the Philippines is on a winning streak: raising the flag in international competitions, winning its inaugural gold medals in the Southeast Asian games and booming corporate investments.

That was two years ago; when millions played League of Legends (LoL) and the stand alone sequel to the popular Defense of the Ancients, DOTA 2. Long before the domestic esports industry, a rising leader in the region, faced an unexpected game-changer of all game-changers: the Covid-19 pandemic.

So noted by Irymarc “Tryke” A. Gutierrez, a Philippine esports industry pioneer and co-founder and CEO of Tier One Entertainment.

For Gutierrez, the coronavirus disease of 2019 was a game-changer both for the good and the bad.

Jolted by Covid

GUTIERREZ pointed out that the pandemic accelerated the country’s digital revolution, which was expected to take more than a decade, into a 5-to-9-year period.

“The pandemic forced people to be online, to operate businesses virtually and everyone learned how to work virtually. All of those things made everyone become really ‘tech savvy,’” Gutierrez told the BusinessMirror.

Lloyd R. Manaloto, First Vice President and Head of Corporate Marketing and Strategy at Smart Communications Inc., thinks along Gutierrez’s line. With people forced to stay at home, the gaming industry saw a sudden boom in the player base as Filipinos sought not only to kill boredom but to connect with friends and loved ones, Manaloto told the BusinessMirror.

He emphasized that this connection provided by gaming—albeit digital—showed that “physical distancing does not mean social distancing.”

“The pandemic has witnessed the rise of major games doubling (or even quadrupling) their active user base, while new games started to gain traction during the same period,” Manaloto told the BusinessMirror. “ T he sense of commu n it y brought about by online video games made lockdowns more bearable to a lot of players—a real-life evidence that physical distancing does not mean social distancing,” he added.

Aspiring players

THE pandemic did not only provide a safe haven for non-gamer Filipinos but also pave the way for aspiring competitive players to stage their potential and skills, Manaloto explained.

“With people staying at home, a lot of new gamers emerged from the pandemic discovering a newfound passion for esports and honing their skills to become better players,” he said, adding that the recent recognition received by esports as a legitimate title game

such as in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games inspired more Filipinos to turn professional.

Manaloto explained that Filipino gamers, even non-competitive ones, also found a new outlet to showcase their skills, talents and even charisma by creating online content through streaming and other-related platforms.

“With online video games having a surge of popularity, the audience and resources have grown as well. The esports community is constantly growing and evolving,” he said.

“Gamers are presented with new opportunities to express their passion for esports – by participating in tournaments as professional athletes, by creating content as streamers or ‘shoutcasters,’ or by casually playing for their personal enjoyment,” Manaloto added.

For Gutierrez, the work-fromhome setup that most businesses adapted today is “a paradise in disguise” for esports players, who have been living in such set-up even before the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This has been our life for the longest time. We are living in a paradise,” he said.

“And personally, I can say that esports players naturally build tough mentally. There are one million gamers and we are talking about the top 1 percent that can get through the toxicity, challenges and grind that comes with being the best,” he added when the BusinessMirror asked how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the mental health of esports players.

Intense training

MARLON Marcelo, deputy executive director at Philippine Esports Organization (Peso), classifies online gaming into simply gaming (casual gamers) and esports.

“Esports is part of gaming where the best players around the world play against each other for world championship,” Marcelo explained.

Interestingly, Esports athletes have an advantage over regular gamers as these professionals have sharp mental skills and superb motor skills.

Esport athletes are more calculating than traditional athletes in the sense that they must have a good degree of eye-hand coordination.

Playing esport is not a moonlight cruise. Professionals spend as much as from 10 hours to 15 hours sitting straight in front of a computer or console training, which easily adds up to 40 hours to 80 hours—the same amount of hours that traditional sports athletes put into training.

According to Marcelo, the Philippines has 52.8 million gamers

per 2020 data. Mobile gamers are the biggest group (74 percent), while 65 percent are using personal computers (PCs) and 45 percent are users of gaming consoles. Players’ age range starts at 16 years old, Marcelo said.

He added that mobile gamers spend two hours to three hours in gaming on a daily basis while PC users average an hour to two hours.

With this scenario, a lot of coaches recommend that esports pro players balance their job with general physical and fitness activities such as weightlifting and cardio, and maintain a healthy diet as well. They are also encouraged to engage in physical activities so it would help them prevent neck, back and hand injuries.

Rising segment

GUTIER R EZ describes online streaming as one of the biggest rising segments of the esports space as it provides a more accessible way for gamers to connect with their fans and interested people about gaming, may it be casual or competitive.

“One ‘Ghost Wrecker,’ one Bianca Yao, one Alodia Gosiengfiao, playing games with 5,000 to 10,000 viewers—that’s very dynamic. Those streamers help the industry to educate the people about gaming,” he said. “We now have a lot of gaming evangelists.”

Gamers and popular streamers Elyson “Ghost Wrecker” Caranza and Bianca Yao are talents of Tier One Entertainment, which Gutierrez co-founded with Gosiengfiao, the country’s recognized “Queen of Cosplay.”

The combined number of Facebook followers of Ghost Wrecker, Yao (also known as “Biancake”) and Gosiengfiao is about 13 percent of the country’s total population (109 million, 2020) or about 14.65 million. Gosiengfiao’s Facebook page alone has 6.5 million followers.

For Gutierrez, the top three mobile games today in the Philippines are “Mobile Legends,” “Call of Duty: Mobile” and “LoL: Wild Rift.” For the PC category it is “Valorant,” a first-person shooter multiplayer game.

Unraveling opportunities

“SHOUTCASTER” Caisam Nopueto believes esports will also bring a lot of career opportunities to Filipinos, especially those belonging to members of the Generation Y and Generation Z. In a webinar organized by Acer Philippines Inc., Nopueto, known as “Wolf” in shoutcasting, pointed out that esports offers the same extensive line of work whether playing the game, coaching players or organizing events.

Nopueto urges the people passionate about esports to give a try as a shoutcaster. He says it is just like covering traditional sports programs wherein commentators or announcers describe a blow-byblow account of the games. “ We hear t hem descr ibing what’s going on during team fights or any aspect of action that we viewers cannot see for ourselves,” he said.

Online streaming also opened the doors for everyone to become a professional gamer, just like Ghost Wrecker, who recently became a member of a “Mobile Legends” team, Gutierrez shared.

Scrambling for ways

FOR an industry that was born

and raised by the digital space, Covid-19 was still a boss-level enemy to confront.

For one, esports-related tournaments and events were closed and physical events remain prohibited until today.

“The stakeholders in the eventsplace are not as liquid as before today. Right now, deal sizes, which are mostly online, are smaller compared to physical events,” Gutierrez told the BusinessMirror.

“If you think about the logistical hell that comes with physical events: it’s hell moving people from one place to another, with all the requirements and permits needed as well as tests. It’s hell,” he added.

But if there was one industry

that could make a quick turnaround with the digital environment being braced under the socalled “Pandemic Normal” or “New Normal,” it would be esports.

“Lockdowns have left tournament organizers scrambling for new ways and workarounds to keep the scene going,” Manaloto said.

“Unfazed by these limitations, esports practitioners have quickly adapted to this new normal to continue engaging both players and fans, on the back of esports being a truly digital-first space,” he added.

Like what a video game requires of players, the esports industry became flexible and adopted methods in terms of tournaments to survive. Purely digital compe-

titions were livestreamed at the comfort of people’s homes while some utilized hybrid formats e.g., a bubble where esports athletes compete physically sans spectators.

Decline, engagement

MANALOTO expressed surprise that despite losing the crowdfilled stadiums with thousands of spectators, esports tournaments saw a rise in viewership.

“This method is actually quite familiar to most of the people that came on early in this space.

This is how esports started to grow decades ago and how grassroots tournaments are still being done now to a degree,” he told the BusinessMirror.

“With this transformation,

aderLook

sMirror

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Thursday, September 23, 2021

A7

vows to ‘Defend me-changer Covid-19 into cellphones more than PCs. T hrough mobile phones they learned how to appreciate esports,” Gutierrez told the BusinessMirror. “Before, esports was all about PC games. Today, it is about mobile games.”

Looped in

ONLINE social networking platform provider Twitter Inc. sees a bright potential for Esports in the Philippines.

Maurizio Barbie, Head of Sports and Gaming Partnerships, Southeast Asia and Greater China at Twitter, told the BusinessMirror that the current pandemic has enabled Twitter to become the “stadium for gamers and fans to connect and talk about the latest

games, happenings and trends within the Esports community.”

“We’re seeing Filipinos ‘tweeting’ their support and following their favorite esports teams, personalities, even the casters around the world,” Barbie added.

With the majority of people stuck in their homes, Barbie believes the pandemic has helped Twitter to grow. It started during the pandemic last year when there was a 75-percent increase in the growth of conversations regarding gaming and esports compared to the results in 2019. Now in the first half of 2021, there has been an 18-percent increase in tweets about gaming year-on-year.

According to the company’s insights for the first half of 2021,

the Philippines ranked 6th on countries tweeting the most about gaming. It was three notches compared to 2020 wherein the Philippines placed ninth.

In terms of helping Filipinos express their love for the game, Barbie said the growth momentum will continue to grow as they enjoy and explore more about esports and gaming in general.

a major cont r ibutor to t he 2 bi l l ion t weets about ga m ing globa l ly.

“Perhaps, being at home for the year sparked their interest in esports and online games,” Barbie said.

Based on Twitter’s research, the first half of 2021 indicated that Filipinos tweet about Valorant the most next to “Genshin Impact,” an open-world action game. Other popular games for Filipinos are LoL and DotA 2, which are in the top 10 list in the Philippines, Twitter data revealed.

Apart from the games, Filipinos are known to be vocal in supporting their favorite esports teams.

For the same period in 2021, local teams like TNC Predator is one of the most tweeted about esports teams in the Philippines.

To heighten their excitement and experience, Barbie said there are Twitter features such as topics wherein they can follow particular gaming topics such as Dota. So tweets related to these topics will appear in their timeline without the need to follow specific accounts, he explained.

Owning Twitterverse

BA SED on the activ it y and conversat ions among Fi l ipinos on t he pl at for m, Ba rbie is seeing a posit ive out look on t he st ate of Espor ts in t he cou nt r y as more Fi l ipinos a re t weet ing in 2021 compa red to 2020 wh ic h enabled t he Ph i l ippines to be

Place to go to

BARBIE said “Twitter Spaces” has been generating interest from the gaming community so far.

He cited the case of Ranboo, an American who’s been famous for his Minecraft content. Although he is streaming regularly on Twitter Spaces, people still got hyped up when Ranboo went live on Twitter Spaces.

“This shows how conversations on Twitter help in keeping the gaming spirit alive; and we hope to see the same trend in the Philippines soon,” he said.

Barbie sees higher growth for Twitter in the second half of 2021 and beyond.

Leagues are ramping up since the beginning of the year so while we are still staying safe at home and Twitter will continue to be the go-to place for gamers and fans to talk about what’s happening in esports, he said.

Barbie said gaming and esports brought a sense of levity and entertainment to a rather mundane stay at home and allowed people to connect and bond with each other during the pandemic.

Although Twitter is not directly a gaming space, it functions as a gathering place for enthusiasts. He said people go to Twitter to bond with the community and conduct discussions among themselves.

“We believe it is only on Twitter where you can get gaming conversations as vibrant, honest and authentic as what we are seeing now,” he said.

Esports future

BM graphics: Job Ruzgal | freepik.com/pikisuperstar

coupled with new ways to engage fans with vibrant and interactive experiences, viewership numbers have actually increased despite the pandemic,” Manaloto said.

He added that data suggests this trend will continue in the coming years, “even as we see more fans pack stadiums in international competitions.”

A manifestation of the prodigious growth in viewership brought about by the pandemic was the over 2.2-million peak viewers that the “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup 2021” hit in July with matches involving Philippine teams having the most views.

“Esports made the big gest jump after people invested more

MOV ING for wa rd, Ma na loto sees esports as a more lucrative venture for sponsorships—both in terms of teams and tournaments—compared to traditional sports due to “wide and diverse” audience reach.

“Sponsoring esports tournaments and teams presents the same opportunities as taking part in traditional competitive sports leagues in terms of visibility and reach, but with the added and understated advantage of the audience being a demographic that continues to get younger as it grows,” he told the BusinessMirror. “ The same cannot be said for traditional sports where we see

Dota 2 player ‘Genetix’ rests gaming console

J

airus D.E. Lopez, the “Defense of the Ancients” (DOTA) player known as “Genetix,” passed away on September 21 due to myocardial infarction. He was born on September 23, 1989 in Caloocan as the only child to Josefina D.E. Lopez (19512012) and Hercules Lopez (1952-2018).

He is survived by Jenica Ocampo, his live-in partner for nearly five years today. He was an awesome graphic artist who loved to eat beef pares, boneless chicken and pancit canton.

He will be remembered by his closest friends as "Genetix", the competitive player who grinded for 10 years to reach his goal of achieving the second-highest rank in Dota 2: Divine. He achieved it this year.

He will be laid to rest on September 25 at the Manila North Cemetery, beside those of his parents and grandmother. He turned 32 today (September 23).

the average of their fanbase getting older over time,” he added.

Manaloto pointed out that the rise of online streaming by both professional and casual gamers was also an opportunity for companies and brands to connect to more audience.

“We, as brands, can not only attach ourselves to the performance of the teams in rankings and tournaments but also in the more human interaction that these players have with their fan base,” he said.

Zooming ahead

ACCORDING to Manaloto, data would also suggest that a vast majority of gamers, esports fans and athletes are always early adapters of new technologies and innovations in connectivity, content consumption and devices.

This, he added, “makes them an invaluable audience for companies that continue to push the boundaries in communications and product.”

For Gutierrez, the growth of esports would remain unstoppable in the coming years, both in terms of capturing corporate investments and marketing and driving its audience and fanbase to the roof.

“Traditional sports is technically non-existent in Southeast Asia. All this money poured in the sports IPs will eventually transfer somewhere, and that could be esports,” he said, noting that corporate brands have ventured into esports.

And not only esports would rake in profits and provide a new era of entertainment to everyone, but it will also—at its very core—connect people.

“Esports is going to be the center of everything. Esports is the culture that will bind this digital world out of all the happenings,” he said. “This will bind us, like what sports did before.”

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Thursday, September 23, 2021

The World BusinessMirror

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

‘The world must wake up’: Daunting tasks face UN as 76th Session opens

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By Edith M. Lederer

EW YORK—In person and on screen, world leaders returned to the United Nations’ foremost gathering for the first time in the pandemic era on Tuesday with a formidable, diplomacy-packed agenda and a sharply worded warning from the international organization’s leader: “We face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetime.”

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres rang the alarm in his annual state-ofthe-world speech at the opening of the UN General Assembly’s high-level meeting for leaders of its 193 member nations. More than 100 heads of state and government kept away by Covid-19 are returning to the UN in person for the first time in two years. But with the pandemic still raging, about 60 will deliver pre-recorded statements over coming days.

“We are on the edge of an abyss— and moving in the wrong direction,” Guterres said. “I’m here to sound the alarm. The world must wake up.”

Guterres said the world has never been more threatened and divided.

People may lose faith not only in their governments and institutions, he said, but in basic values when they see their human rights curtailed, corruption, the reality of their harsh lives, no future for their children—and “when they see billionaires joyriding to space while millions go hungry on Earth.”

Nevertheless, the UN chief said he has hope.

Guterres urged world leaders to bridge six “great divides”: promote peace and end conflicts, restore trust between the richer north and developing south on tackling global warming, reduce the gap between rich and poor,

promote gender equality, ensure that the half of humanity that has no access to the Internet is connected by 2030, and tackle the generational divide by giving young people “a seat at the table.”

Other pressing issues on the agenda of world leaders include rising US-China tensions, Afghanistan’s unsettled future under its new Taliban rulers and ongoing conflicts in Yemen, Syria and Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region.

The three most closely watched speakers on Tuesday morning are US President Joe Biden, appearing at the UN for the first time since his defeat of Donald Trump in the US election last November; Chinese President Xi Jinping, who in a surprise move will deliver a video address; and Iran’s recently elected hardline President Ebrahim Raisi.

The General Assembly’s president, Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives, opened debate by challenging delegates to rise to the occasion. “There are moments in time that are turning points,” he said.

“This is one such moment.”

In his speech, Biden, too, called this moment “an inflection point in history” and said that for the United States to prosper, it “must also engage deeply with the rest of the world.”

He urged “relentless diplomacy” and global cooperation on Covid-19,

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly on, September 21, at United Nations headquarters in New York.

Eduardo Munoz/Pool Photo via AP

climate change and human rights abuses, pledged to work with allies, and said the United States is “not seeking a new Cold War.” Biden was almost certainly responding to Secretary-General Guterres’ warning in an AP interview over the weekend that the world could be plunged into a new and probably more dangerous Cold War unless the United States and China repair their “totally dysfunctional” relationship.

The US president’s pledge to work with allies follows sharp criticism from France, America’s oldest ally, for the Biden administration’s secret deal announced last week to provide nuclearpowered submarine to Australia with UK support, upending a French-Australia contract worth at least $66 billion to build a dozen French conventional diesel-electric submarines.

Ahead of the opening, Guterres warned the world could be plunged into a new and probably more dangerous Cold War unless the United States and China repair their “totally dysfunctional” relationship.

The UN chief said in an interview this weekend with The Associated Press that Washington and Beijing should be cooperating on the climate crisis and negotiating on trade and technology, but “unfortunately, today we only have confrontation” including over human rights and

geostrategic problems mainly in the South China Sea. Biden, in his speech, insisted he was “not seeing a new Cold War or a world divided” and said Washington is ready to work with any nation, “even if we have intense disagreement in other areas.”

French Foreign Minister JeanYves Le Drian told a news conference Monday that there is a “crisis of trust” between the United States and France, as well as Europe, which has been excluded from the new USUK-Australia alliance focused on the Indo-Pacific and aimed at confrontation with China. He said Europeans “should not be left behind,” and need to define their own strategic interests.

On the latest speakers list released earlier this month, China’s speech was supposed to be delivered on Friday by a deputy prime minister. But the UN confirmed Monday that Xi will give the country’s video address instead.

His speech and any comments about the US rivalry are certain to be closely watched and analyzed: China’s presence in the world, and its relationship with the United States, affect most every corner of the planet.

By tradition, the first country to speak was Brazil, whose president, Jair Bolsonaro, rebuffed criticism of his administration’s handling of the pandemic and touted recent data indicating less

Amazon deforestation. He said he was seeking to counter the image of Brazil portrayed in the media, touting it as a great place for investment and praising his pandemic welfare program, which helped avoid a worse recession last year.

He said that his government has successfully distributed first doses to the majority of adults, but doesn’t support vaccine passports or forcing anyone to have a shot. Bolsonaro has said several times in the past week that he remains unvaccinated.

“By November, everyone who chooses to be vaccinated in Brazil will be attended to,” Bolsonaro told the General Assembly.

He also doubled-down on “early treatment” methods such as hydroxychloroquine, without naming the drug.

Brazil’s government continued promoting the antimalarial long after scientists roundly dismissed it as ineffective against Covid-19.

Alarm over global warming was a common theme in speeches. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, president of the tiny Indian Ocean island nation of the Maldives, said further rising temperatures are a “death sentence” for his country.

“One overarching fact remains.

The state of environmental ruin small island states endure now, will without a doubt catch up with bigger nations sooner than later. There is no guarantee of survival for any one nation in a world where the Maldives cease to exist,” Solih warned.

Nonetheless, he said: “This organization still represents the pinnacle of what concerted diplomacy can achieve.”

Guterres, in his opening speech, pointed to “supersized glaring inequalities” sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic, climate alarm bells “ringing at fever pitch,” upheavals from Afghanistan to Ethiopia and Yemen thwarting global peace, a surge of mistrust and misinformation “polarizing people and paralyzing societies” and human rights “under fire.”

The solidarity of nations to tackle these and other crises “is missing in action just when we need it most,” he said. “Instead of humility in the face of these epic challenges, we see hubris.” AP

Racism, climate and divisions ‘Dose of hope’: Biden pushing rich nations to share vaccine top UN agenda as leaders meet

U

NITED NATIONS—Racism, the climate crisis and the world’s worsening divisions will take center stage at the United Nations on Wednesday, a day after the UN chief issued a grim warning that “we are on the edge of an abyss.”

For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began, more than two dozen world leaders appeared in person at the UN General Assembly on the opening day of their annual high-level meeting. The atmosphere was somber, angry and dire.

China’s President Xi Jinping warned that “the world has entered a period of new turbulence and transformation.”

Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö said: “We are indeed at a critical juncture.”

And Costa Rica’s President Carlos Alvarado Quesada declared: “The future is raising its voice at us: Less military weaponry, more investment in peace!”

Speaker after speaker at Tuesday’s opening of the nearly week-long meeting decried the inequalities and deep divisions that have prevented united global action to end the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed nearly 4.6 million lives and is still raging, and the failure to sufficiently tackle the climate crisis threatening the planet.

Covid-19 and climate are certain to remain top issues for heads of state and government. But Wednesday’s UN agenda will first turn the spotlight on the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the controversial UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, which was dominated by clashes over the Middle East and the

legacy of slavery.

The US and Israel walked out during the meeting over a draft resolution that singled out Israel for criticism and likened Zionism to racism—a provision that was eventually dropped. Twenty countries are boycotting Wednesday’s commemoration, according to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which urged more countries to join them “in continuing to fight racism, bigotry, and anti-Semitism.”

Following the commemoration, heads of state will start delivering their annual addresses again in the vast General Assembly hall. Speakers include King Abdullah II of Jordan, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Perhaps the harshest assessment of the current global crisis came from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who opened his state of the world address sounding an “alarm” that “the world must wake up.”

“Our world has never been more threatened or more divided,” he said.

“We face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetimes.”

“We are on the edge of an abyss— and moving in the wrong direction,” the secretary-general warned.

Guterres pointed to “supersized glaring inequalities” in addressing Covid-19, “climate alarm bells ... ringing at fever pitch,” upheavals from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Yemen and beyond thwarting peace, and “a surge of mistrust and misinformation (that) is polarizing people and paralyzing societies.” AP

P

resident Joe Biden is set to push well-off nations to do more to get the Covid-19 pandemic under control around the world, as world leaders, aid groups and global health organizations sound the alarm about the slow pace of global vaccinations.

Biden is convening a virtual vaccine summit on Wednesday, timed to coincide with this week’s UN General Assembly, to prod more nations to follow the lead of the US, which has donated more doses than any other. According to a person familiar with the matter, Biden was set to announce a significant new purchase of vaccines to share with the world, and to set targets for other nations to hit. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview Biden’s remarks.

But even the American response has come under criticism for being too modest, particularly as the Biden administration advocates for providing booster shots to tens of millions of Americans before vulnerable people in poorer nations have received even a first dose.

“We have observed failures of multilateralism to respond in an equitable, coordinated way to the most acute moments. The existing gaps between nations with regard to the vaccination process are unheard of,” Colombian President Iván Duque said.

In his own remarks at the UN, Biden took credit on Tuesday for sharing more than 160 million Covid-19 vaccine doses with other countries, including 130 million surplus doses and the first installments of more than 500 million shots the US is purchasing for the rest of the world.

“Planes carrying vaccines from the

United States have already landed in 100 countries, bringing people all over the world a little dose of hope, as one American nurse termed it to me,” Biden said. “A dose of hope direct from the American people—and importantly, no strings attached.”

Biden planned to announce additional American commitments on Wednesday and was set to call on the rest of the world to “commit to a higher level of ambition” as well.

But world leaders made clear in advance it was not enough. Chilean President Sebastian Piñera said the “triumph” of speedy vaccine development was offset by political “failure” that produced inequitable distribution. “In science, cooperation prevailed; in politics, individualism. In science, shared information reigned; in politics, reserve. In science, teamwork predominated; in politics, isolated effort,” Piñera said.

The World Health Organization has long decried vaccine inequity between rich and poor countries.

It says only 15 percent of promised donations of vaccines—from rich countries that have access to large quantities of them—have been delivered. In a statement last week looking ahead to the General Assembly, the UN health agency said it wants countries to fulfill their dose-sharing pledges “immediately” and make shots available for vaccine deployment programs that benefit poor countries and Africa in particular.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted Monday that his agency wants the UN meeting to help ensure vaccine equity and equal access to Covid-19 tools, im-

proved preparedness for pandemics, and renewed efforts to achieve UN goals more broadly.

“We want to see greater action on access to the doses for the countries that really need them,” said Dr. Margaret Harris, a WHO spokeswoman, at a UN briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

COVAX, the UN-backed program to ship vaccines to all countries, whether rich or poor, has been struggling with production hiccups, supply shortages, and a near-cornering of the market for vaccines by wealthy nations that have struck—and continue to strike— bilateral deals to buy doses from big pharmaceutical manufacturers.

WHO has repeatedly called for “solidarity,” urged Big Pharma companies that make vaccines to prioritize COVAX and make public their supply schedules, and appealed to wealthy countries to avoid broad rollouts of booster shots so that doses can be made available to healthcare workers and vulnerable people in the developing world. Such calls have largely gone ignored.

COVAX has missed nearly all of its vaccine-sharing targets. Its managers also have repeatedly downsized their ambitions to ship vaccines by the end of this year—from an original target of some 2 billion doses worldwide to hopes for 1.4 billion now—and even that mark could be missed.

At a news conference last week, Dr. Seth Berkley, the CEO of Gavi, a private-public partnership that runs COVAX, called the program “the largest and most complex vaccine rollout in history” and acknowledged: “I think we all know that the global response has not been good enough.” AP

ADB: Asia below pre-pandemic levels as variants slow rebound

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eveloping economies in Asia will likely grow at a slower pace than earlier expected due to prolonged Covid-19 outbreaks and uneven progress in vaccinations, the Asian Development Bank said in a report Wednesday.

The regional lender lowered its outlook for economic growth to reflect renewed coronavirus outbreaks as variants spread, prompting fresh pandemic precautions.

The Manila-based ADB expects 7.1 percent growth in 2021, falling to 5.4 percent in 2022. The forecast in April was for 7.3 percent growth this year and 5.3 percent in 2022.

Most regional economies will remain below their pre-pandemic levels into 2022, and some of the losses from the crisis will be permanent, ADB economists said.

“Support for businesses and households will continue to be important for the economic recovery,” Joseph Zveglich, the bank ’s acting chief economist, said in an online briefing.

The forecast for China’s growth remained at 8.1 percent in 2021, with growth expected to slow to 5.5 percent in 2022. The country where the virus was first reported in 2019 has adopted a “zero tolerance” policy that has kept outbreaks under control and life in much of the country close to normal.

But as is true for much of the region, the country is discouraging travel inside its borders and allowing only minimal international travel.

The outlook for other parts of Asia, where outbreaks have been more severe, was less upbeat.

Growth in Southeast Asia is forecast at 3.1 percent this year, despite the rebound effect from a contraction in 2020. In 2022, the ADB expects the region’s economy to expand at a 5.0 percent pace.

In South Asia, where outbreaks flared in the spring, the ADB expects economic growth of 8.8 percent this year and 7.0 percent next year.

T he economists forecast only moderate inf lation despite widespread concern that surging prices for oil and other commodities and products could prompt central banks to cut back on the massive support they have provided since the pandemic hit in early 2020.

The ADB put inf lation for Asia at 2.2 percent in 2021 and 2.7 percent next year.

Financial r isks also appeared moderate, despite concerns that a potential default by China’s biggest real estate developer might spill into world markets, the economists said.

The situation surrounding Evergrande Group, a private developer that is struggling to meet tens of billions of dollars of debt obligations, merits “careful monitoring,” said Abdul Abiad, director of the ADB’s macroeconomic research department.

But Chinese banks have ample capital reser ves and the government is likely to inter vene to stem t he fa l lout if it defau lts on its debts, he said.

The economists likewise said they do not see significant risk of market meltdowns, or “taper tantrums” in reaction to a tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve.

Nearly two years into the pandemic, the Fed has said it only expects to begin raising current ultra-low interest rates in 2023. And ample stimulus from central banks will help insulate economies as they ease back on such support, he said.

“Normalization will come, but we don’t think it’s a near-term risk,” Abiad said.

A more pressing concern is the slow and uneven pace of vaccine rollouts.

The 46 countries covered in the ADB report had only 27.8 percent of their populations fully vaccinated

by August 31, the report said. Rates vary widely from about 80 percent in Singapore to less than 10 percent in Myanmar, Pakistan and Vietnam. AP

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The World

Erdogan says refugee crisis from climate change coming

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E W YOR K—P resa g i ng “ hundreds of millions” of climate change refugees, Turkey’s president said Tuesday at the UN General Assembly that the world needs to find a way to contend with its existing refugees who are f leeing conf lict.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that Turkey, which he says “embraces close to four million Syrians,” cannot take in any more migrants. He reiterated that sentiment in the context of Afghanistan, telling delegates it was time for all stakeholders to share responsibility.

“As a country that saved human dignity in the Syrian crisis, we no longer have the potential nor the tolerance to absorb new immigration waves,” Erdogan said.

Without elaborating, he promised Turkey would fulfill its “fraternal duty” to Afghanistan and called upon the international community to present help and solidarity.

Erdogan returned to the concept of displacement throughout his nearly half-hour speech. Turkey, which is scheduled to hold presidential elections in 2023, is currently experiencing a tide of anti-migrant sentiment as its economy struggles.

“In many places, people are collectively preparing to go to other places, to migrate,” Erdogan said. “The world has still not found a solution to the refugee problem caused by conflictprone crisis regions such as Syria and Afghanistan.”

He cited moves from the first lady’s recycling project to increased forest assets and announced Turkey would finally submit the 2015 Paris climate agreement to its parliament for ratification next month, just before the Glasgow conference. Turkey, which wants to be reclassified as a developing instead of developed country to avoid harsher climate targets, had been among a handful of holdouts.

Erdogan aimed to contrast Turkey’s steps with those of larger countries— exhorting “whoever has done the most damage” to contribute the most to the fight against climate change—but has come under criticism in Turkey for his own approaches to the problem. The leader of Turkey’s main opposition party accused Erdogan of ignoring warnings about global warming after deadly wildfires ravaged the south this summer.

He gave brief mention to two issues of territorial sovereignty Turkey has played a role in: Nagorno-Karabakh and Cyprus.

Erdogan celebrated Azerbaijan’s reclamation of control over most of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia following a weekslong war last year, saying it “enabled the opening of new windows of opportunity in the region for lasting peace.” Turkey and Azerbaijan have long enjoyed mutual affinity, just as Turkey and Armenia have long held mutual enmity. The Turkish government supported Azerbaijan in the flareup.

Cyprus, meanwhile, is ethnically divided between the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south and the Turkish Cypriot north, which only Turkey recognizes as an independent state. Erdogan called each half “co-owners of the island,” but decried how the Turkish Cypriot leader was denied a platform at the General Assembly.

Erdogan reiterated his push for multilateralism, invoking the name of his recently published book “A Fairer World is Possible” toward the idea of strengthening the General Assembly and tempering the power of the five permanent UN Security Council members.

He touted the Turkevi Center, a newly built New York skyscraper across from the UN that houses Turkey’s diplomatic mission and consulate, as a sign of Turkey’s commitment to the international body. AP

Global traders given Evergrande reprieve as PBOC adds liquidity

G

lobal markets were offered a reprieve from Evergrande contagion fears on Wednesday as China’s central bank boosted liquidity and investors mulled over a vaguely-worded statement from the troubled developer about an interest payment.

The CSI 300 Index pared opening losses of as much as 1.9 percent after an Evergrande unit said a coupon payment had been resolved with bondholders in private negotiations.

An injection of short-term cash by the People’s Bank of China lent support to fragile sentiment, helping steady risk assets beyond the world’s secondlargest economy.

“I think we may be seeing a temporary reprieve with some repayments aiding to provide a betterthan-expected situation than many would expect,” said Jun Rong Yeap, a market strategist at IG Asia Pte. “This also comes along with some injection of short-term funds by the PBOC, which suggests that they are monitoring the situation closely and are ready to step in if the economy comes under risks.”

US equity futures reversed early losses to push higher in Asia trading, while the yen—a traditional haven for investors—retreated. Chinese government bonds rallied, with the yield on 10-year notes on track to hit the lowest in about two weeks.

Still, analysts were left grasping for details after the Evergrande unit didn’t specify how much interest it would pay or when. Some were speculating the company struck a deal with noteholders to postpone interest payments without having to label the move a default.

The developer also has an interest payment due Thursday on one of its dollar notes.

Global investors had been on tenterhooks this week awaiting the reaction of Chinese traders to concerns about Asia’s biggest junk bond issuer and a crackdown on the country’s realestate sector. Some $6.7 billion was wiped off the value of Hong Kong’s four top property giants on Monday amid a worldwide risk asset selloff that ensnared even stocks with less tangible links to China.

Investors are also closely watching how Beijing plans to deal with the situation surrounding the world’s most-indebted developer. The China Business News, owned by the staterun Shanghai Media Group, urged authorities to manage the pace of tackling risks in the property sector and set up a “fire wall” between the industry and the financial system, in a Tuesday editorial.

Evergrande has about 2 trillion yuan ($309 billion) in assets—equivalent to 2 percent of China’s gross domestic product, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. calculations.

The company’s onshore property unit will make an interest payment for a yuan bond maturing in 2025 on Thursday, the exchange filing said. Meanwhile, China’s central bank injected 120 billion yuan into the banking system through reverse repurchase agreements, exceeding the 30 billion yuan of maturities on Wednesday.

The news on the repayment “will be helpful and hopefully suppress some of the inevitable volatility and downside after the holiday break,” said Gary Dugan, chief executive officer at the Global CIO Office. “For confidence to return more meaningfully, it will need the market to see sight of the broad restructuring plans for Evergrande.” Bloomberg News

Thursday, September 23, 2021

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China, US unveil separate big steps to fight climate change

By Seth Borenstein & Christina Larson

T

AP Science Writers

he two biggest economies and largest carbon polluters in the world announced separate financial attacks on climate change Tuesday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country will no longer fund coalfired power plants abroad, surprising the world on climate for the second straight year at the UN General Assembly. That came hours after US President Joe Biden announced a plan to double financial aid to poorer nations to $11.4 billion by 2024 so those countries could switch to cleaner energy and cope with global warming’s worsening impacts. That puts rich nations close to within reach of a long-promised but not realized goal of $100 billion a year in climate help for developing nations.

“This is an absolutely seminal moment,” said Xinyue Ma, an expert on energy development finance at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center.

This could provide some momentum going into major climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, in less than six weeks, experts said. Running up to the historic 2015 Paris climate deal, a joint US-China agreement kickstarted successful negotiations.

This time, with China-US relations dicey, the two nations made their announcements separately, hours and thousands of miles apart.

“Today was a really good day for the world,” United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting the upcoming climate negotiations, told Vice President Kamala Harris.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has made a frenetic push this week for bigger efforts to curb climate change called the two announcements welcome news, but said “we still have a long way to go” to make the Glasgow meeting successful.

Depending on when China’s new coal policy goes into effect, it could

shutter 47 planned power plants in 20 developing countries that use the fuel that emits the most heat-trapping gases, about the same amount of coal power as from Germany, according to the European climate think-tank E3G. “It’s a big deal. China was the only significant funder of overseas coal left. This announcement essentially ends all public support for coal globally,” said Joanna Lewis, an expert on China, energy and climate at Georgetown University. “This is the announcement many have been waiting for.”

From 2013 to 2019, data showed that China was financing 13 percent of coal-fired power capacity built outside China—“far and away the largest public financier,” said Kevin Gallagher, who directs the Boston University center. Japan and South Korea announced earlier this year that they were getting out of the coalfinancing business.

With all three countries pulling out of financing coal abroad “that sends a signal to the global economy. This is a sector that’s fast becoming a stranded asset,” Gallagher said.

While this is a big step it is not quite a death knell for coal, said Byford Tsang, a policy analyst for E3G. That’s because China last year added as much new coal power domestically as was just potentially cancelled abroad, he said.

Tsang cautioned that the onesentence line in Xi’s speech that mentioned this new policy lacked details like effective dates and whether it applied to private funding as well as public funding.

What also matters is when China stops building new coal plants at home

China’s President Xi Jinping remotely addresses the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in a pre-recorded message on, September 21, at UN headquarters. AP/Mary Altaffe and shutters old ones, Tsang said.

That will be part of a push in the G-20 meetings in Italy next month, he said.

“The Chinese are going to respond to international pressure, rather than just American bilateral pressure right now,” said Deborah Seligsohn, an expert on China’s politics and energy at Villanova University.

“A coal-free energy mix is still decades in the future” because coal power plants typically operate for 50 years or more, said Stanford University environment director Chris Field.

Many nations that are trying to build their economies—including top polluters China and India—have long argued they needed to industrialize with fossil fuels, like developed nations had already done. Starting in 2009 and then with “a grand bargain” in 2015 in Paris, richer nations promised $100 billion a year in financial help to poorer nations to make the switch from dirty to clean fuel, World Resources Institute climate finance expert Joe Thwaites said.

But as of 2019, the richer nations were only providing $80 billion a year, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

So when rich nations like the United States asked poorer ones to do more “it gives any other country a very easy retort,” Thwaites said: “‘You took out commitments and you haven’t delivered on those either.’”

In April, Biden announced he would

double the Obama era financial aid pledge of $2.85 billion a year to $5.7 billion. On Tuesday he announced that he hopes to double that to $11.4 billion a year starting in 2024, but he does need passage from Congress.

The European Union has been doling out $24.5 billion a year with the European Commission recently upping that to more than $4.7 billion over seven years. “The Europeans are doing a lot more and the Americans are lagging behind,” Thwaites said.

He said several studies calculate that based on the US economy, population and carbon pollution, it should be contributing 40 percent to 47 percent of the $100 billion fund to be doing its fair share.

But Congressional Republicans aren’t convinced. “We shouldn’t be contributing to a fund that picks winners and losers and further subsidizes China in the process,” said Rep. Garret Graves, R-Louisiana, the ranking Republican on the House Climate Committee.

The time for global grandstanding is over, said Princeton University climate science and international affairs professor Michael Oppenheimer said.

“It’s what’s happening on the ground that matters.”

“Accelerating the global phase out of coal is the single most important step” to keeping the Paris agreement’s key warming limit within reach, said UN chief Guterres. AP

Moon pushes peace, reconciliation with North Korea after missile tests

N

ever once mentioning missiles, South Korean President Moon Jae -in aga in pushed for peace and reconciliation with North Korea at the United Nations on Tuesday, a week after recent missile testing on both ends of the peninsula renewed tensions between the two rivals.

Addressing the UN General Assembly in person in New York on Tuesday, Moon reiterated his push for a denuclearized coexistence and “co-prosperity” for the two countries that ended the three-year Korean War in a 1953 armistice that halted the fighting but never led to a formal declaration of peace.

“North Korea, for its part, must brace for changes that benefit the era of global community,” Moon said in his address at the largest gathering of world leaders. “I expect that the international community...remain always ready and willing to reach out to North Korea in a cooperative spirit.”

A week ago, both countries tested ballistic missiles hours apart, underscoring rising tensions. South Korea’s tests included its first of a submarinelaunched ballistic missile, which came after the South Korean and Japanese militaries said North Korea had fired two ballistic missiles into the sea.

As Moon claimed South Korea’s growing missile capabilities will serve as a “sure deterrence” against North Korean provocations, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned of a “complete destruction” of

Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in speaks at the 76th Session of the General Assembly at UN Headquarters on September 21. Timothy A. Clary/Pool Photo via AP bilateral relations if Moon continued with what she described as slander of North Korea.

The back and forth unfolded as North Korea made waves this month with nuclear-capable missiles hidden in trains that can be launched anywhere along a railway, a new cruise missile resembling the US Tomahawk that can be potentially topped with atomic warheads and the apparent resumption of fuel production for potential nuclear bombs.

But on Tuesday, Moon made no note of missiles testing before the General Assembly, instead focusing on the fact that this year’s gathering marked the 30th anniversary of both countries being admitted to the United Nations.

“With the joint accession to the UN, the two Koreas both recognized

that they were two separate nations, different in systems and ideologies,” Moon said. “However, such was never meant to perpetuate the division.

For when we acknowledged and respected each other, only then could we set out on a path to exchange, reconciliation and unification.”

Moon also repeated some of the same pleas from his speech last year, including pushing for a formal endof-war declaration. He suggested the region would be better positioned to handle the Covid-19 pandemic if the North would join the Moon-proposed Northeast Asia Cooperation for Health Security. AP

A10 Thursday, September 23, 2021 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Cold War Two?

F

rom 1947 at the end of World War 2 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics—and their allies—were locked in a geopolitical, ideological, and economic conflict known as the Cold War. Though the parties were technically at peace, the period was characterized by an aggressive arms race, proxy wars, and ideological bids for world dominance. The conflict was called “Cold War” because neither the USSR nor the US officially declared war on each other.

In June 1950, the Cold War’s first military action began when the Sovietbacked North Korean People’s Army invaded its pro-Western neighbor to the south. US officials feared this was the first step in a communist campaign to take over the world, and they decided nonintervention was not an option. As a result, the Cold War split the world into two rival sides that came into conflict with each other in many parts of the world. The Cold War has left the world with a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons, particularly in the US and in Russia.

From the Associated Press: “Warning of a potential new Cold War, the head of the United Nations implored China and the United States to repair their “completely dysfunctional” relationship before problems between the two large and deeply influential countries spill over even further into the rest of the planet.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a new Cold War could be more perilous because the Soviet-US antipathy created clear rules, and both sides were conscious of the risk of nuclear destruction. That produced back channels “to guarantee that things would not get out of control.”

Dr. Alan Dupont, CEO of the geopolitical risk consultancy the Cognoscenti Group, said the clashing geopolitical ambitions of the US and China are fueling a rivalry that could be even more dangerous than the original Cold War. In an article published by The Diplomat—The US-China Cold War Has Already Started—Dupont said the shift from cooperation to strategic rivalry has triggered an intensifying debate about whether the world is on the precipice of a new Cold War. To bolster his thesis, Dupont cited six clear parallels with the Cold War. First, US-China rivalry is between the world’s two most powerful states, one a liberal democracy and the other avowedly communist. Second, it is a systemwide contest for supremacy. Third, it is about values as well as power. Fourth, it will be a multi-decade struggle for global ascendancy. Fifth, a second geopolitical bifurcation of the world is likely. Sixth, neither side wants a full-scale military confrontation.

A common misperception is that mounting differences over trade and technology are primarily responsible for the spike in hostilities. But while important in themselves, the US-China trade and tech wars are symptomatic of a deeper and more dangerous geopolitical divide rooted in their clashing strategic ambitions and contrasting political systems, according to Dupont.

“Beijing thinks Washington is bent on containing China to prolong the declining power of the United States while denying China its rightful place in the sun. Americans increasingly believe that Beijing is threatening US security interests, undermining its prosperity, interfering in its democracy, and challenging its values. Anti-China sentiment unites an otherwise divided and partisan Washington,” he said.

The core problem in US-China relations is their diametrically opposed political systems and associated values, compounded by their sense of exceptionalism. But the main contest between the US and China is economic, which means that trade, investment, technology, and strategic industries are central to the rivalry.

Although more corrosive than explosive, the conflict would usher in an extended period of great power competition that could roll back the gains from more than 70 years of trade liberalization, disrupt global supply chains, Balkanize the Internet, and divide the world into two mutually incompatible political systems, Dupont said.

Although a Cold War is below the threshold of a military confrontation, it could result in one unless carefully managed.

Fortunately, we are still in the foothills of a second Cold War rather than its frigid heights. Dupont said there is still time to flatten the spiking hostility curve. Those who argue that a democracy and an authoritarian state can never find the requisite accommodations ignore the lessons of history, he said, adding that “despite their differences and a few close calls, the US and the Soviet Union found ways to work together and avoid a major war during their multi-decade confrontation.”

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

China’s problem is not our problem?

ow that we are approaching the official start of the 2022 election season, it appears that the main topic for the past 18 months—Covid—may now become more important as it relates to the election. Maybe that is an indication that the pandemic is drawing to a close. Or maybe not.

China’s regional neighbors, if and when its economy continues to weaken, will suffer like those left outside the fence in a zombie movie. The Philippines will endure just as before because this economy, unlike many others, does not need China as a customer. As one person puts it, “We sell fruits to China, that’s it, nothing manufactured, bananas as in chimp food.”

I gave a brief economic lecture back in 1993 when a question from a former Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps asked about China. Its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita then was around $400 versus $8,500 now. Little did I think China would go from “Zero to Hero” in 30 years. Is this cycle going to reverse?

I speak a lot about China, and this is the reason why. If you were holding Philippine pesos (which of course we all were) on July 11, 1997, you could have bought one US dollar with about P25. On the following Monday, that US dollar cost 18 percent more in peso terms.

“Everyone” knew that the Asian Financial Crisis was inevitable. The

only people that did not know were the ordinary folk, as usual. Even the US Central Intelligence Agency was warning that South Korea and the rest of the “Asian Tigers” were going to collapse. It was a “Done deal.”

Even in the “basket case” of the Philippines, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Gabriel Singson knew in May 1997 that Thailand had taken billions of US dollars from its foreign reserves to defend the Thai baht. BSP in mid-May 1997 raised the overnight borrowing rate to 13 percent.

On July 2, 1997, the day the baht was devalued, the BSP increased its overnight borrowing rate to 24 percent.

Then to 32 percent the next week.

Inflation is ravaging the world.

What was thought of as simply a matter of measurement from an

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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However, while the nation ponders the question of who begins leading in June 2022 for the next six years, the world will continue on its merry journey without much of a flicker of interest about the next Philippine president. Except for “Pacquiao faces toughest fight yet in run for Philippines presidency” as the senator stands in the global political sunlight.

This is probably the first time a nation’s “presidentiable” was introduced as a candidate in the international press bare-chested wearing shorts. That may be a truly “Onli In Da Pilipins.”

We do have other issues beyond local “Covid politics” going into 2022 that may be much more serious.

Bring them home, please

N his speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, President Duterte said: “We call for the abolition of all structures that allow the exploitation and oppression of migrant workers.”

Both Saudi Arabia and the Philippines must work together to show a commonality of interest in favor of migrant workers’ rights. As the old saying goes, action speaks louder than words. To the leaders of both countries, we ask, please bring home the three remaining OFWs. Their families are waiting. And these women cannot take it anymore.

“The Kafala system is one such behemoth that chains the weak, the desperate, and the voiceless to an existence of unimaginable suffering. Nothing can justify the continued existence of this unjust system.”

Here is one concrete and current case that showcases the injustice that comes with the Kafala or sponsorship system, particularly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Last April, upon setting foot in her Saudi employer’s house, Analyn already felt that something was wrong. The head housekeeper, a Filipina, led her to a bathroom where she was asked to strip, to ensure that there were no concealed items in her clothes. The house was a mansion, with three floors and seven rooms.

There were 10 domestic workers, five of whom came from the Philippines.

basis. The five Filipino OFWs had families back home seeking help. The labor attaché admitted to this writer and OFW advocate via Zoom that the general was, in his words, “tough,” “very powerful.” He said his office wrote letters to various Saudi agencies, but no action was taken. While listening to the labor attaché, I felt annoyed. My annoyance stemmed from one single fact: despite his frustration, he never even sought the help of the labor department, his home agency. If the labor secretary had been informed of such challenges that led to the prolonged abuse of our domestic workers, wouldn’t he have contacted the Saudi Embassy in Manila to ask for its immediate intervention?

How did the five OFWs manage to make it out of the general’s household alive? They decided to convince

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua

Susan V. Ople

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All five overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) reported to the “mayordoma,” Anita Cielo, who has been in that household for years.

In her employment contract, Analyn’s job was that of a domestic worker. In reality, she was assigned to the 25-year-old daughter of her employer, who was an influential retired general. The daughter, according to Analyn, was a drug user.

Analyn’s job, aside from cleaning the daughter’s room and other areas assigned to her, was to roll the narcotics, either shabu or marijuana. Tired by day and with the daughter up all night, Analyn wanted to come home within weeks of just being there.

The general’s household was a mansion of terror, with the general, his wife, daughter, and the mayordoma serving every slap, on a daily

extremely low 2020 that would be temporary is now a firestorm.

“Turkish inflation rate jumps to 19.25 percent.” “US inflation hits a 30-year high.” “UK inflation rate posts biggest increase since records began.” “Japan’s wholesale inflation hovers near 13-year high.”

“German inflation jumps to its highest level in a quarter-century.”

Even “Russia’s Inflation Hits New 5-Year High.”

The fact is that economically speaking, China has been the “Adult in the room” with stable policies and a “seemingly” stable economy. Every economy has taken a big hit in the last 18 months. However, “The bigger they are the harder they fall.”

The Chinese economy started showing signs of unraveling about the same time (wink, wink) that Jack Ma was eliminated as the poster boy for Chinese economic success.

In 2008, the US had GDP of $17 trillion when Lehman collapsed, with a total system debt of about 1.7 times ($29 trillion) the GDP. Now, China is entering this period of weakness with over $50 trillion worth of credit in their system and an annual GDP at around $15 trillion. China is at 3.6x its GDP. China will weather the storm as both South Korea and Thailand See “Mangun” A11

the general to let them leave, otherwise a video of their daughter taking drugs would circulate in the Philippines. Their employer relented, letting them go in batches, and not all at once.

These courageous five, as I call them, are: Cristina Quiachon, Analyn Villena, Ely Mae Ocampo, Annaliza Parayno and Mary Grace Bag-O. Upon their arrival, they reached out to the Blas F. Ople Policy Center for assistance and to share their stories. We have since had Zoom and coordination meetings with various government agencies, including the Commission on Human Rights, to ensure that their case can be reviewed so that operational gaps could be addressed, and for complaints to be served against those that led or contributed to these workers’ maltreatment.

What kind of operational gaps?

For example, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office Riyadh chose to facilitate a settlement with the general instead of demanding that all OFWs under his employ be turned over to our embassy. By focusing on the financial settlement, the pressure to have all OFWs released took a backseat.

When that line was crossed, it became a matter of financials rather than saving the lives of those remaining. And the financials were paltry.

See “Ople” A11

Opinion BusinessMirror

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International Day of Peace 2021: Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world

By Gustavo Gonzalez

A

ccording to a recent report by the UN Secretary General, “we are at an inflection point in our history” with humanity facing an urgent choice between a breakdown or a breakthrough. The coronavirus, conflict and climate change are wrecking havoc and undermining our ability to reach development goals.

Poverty, discrimination and violence mean that millions of people around the world are denied “health, safety, a vaccination against disease, clean water to drink, a plate of food or a seat in a classroom.”

Our Common Agenda emphasizes the need for solidarity and cooperation to address these and other challenges facing the world today.

Central to this, the UN Secretary General calls for a revival of the social contract—the arrangements and understandings of how people find solutions to shared problems, manage risks, deliver public goods, and implement norms and values.

Mirroring the UN Secretary General’s call, the global theme for the International Day of Peace, celebrated on September 21 every year, is “Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world.” This reflects an increasing understanding that the essence of peace cannot be found in Security Council resolutions or treaties but is about the myriad of large and small actions and decisions that impact on individuals, families and communities. An equitable and sustainable world is one where people have access to food, to security, to education and health, and to justice. Where people are empowered to participate in decisions that affect them, and consider their impact on the environment. Consequently, efforts towards peace must address a broad range of factors that drive conflict and inequality.

In the Philippines, an increasing number of joint interventions bring together different areas of expertise from within the UN system to collaborate with national actors in the search for comprehensive solutions for current challenges. For example, by implementing programs to strengthen social protection systems and resilience in BARMM, the UN is contributing to ongoing government efforts to reach the most vulnerable groups and build more peaceful societies where the rights of all citizens are protected and realized. Efforts to resolve the conflict in BARMM ultimately hinges not only on transformation to nonviolent means of expressing grievances, but also on the government’s ability to provide social protection, to empower people, and to overcome patterns of discrimination and marginalization.

Global experience has shown that women, youth and other often overlooked groups are critical stakeholders who have much to contribute at all stages of peacebuilding. When we insist on inclusive processes that give space to a wide range of community voices, we ensure that agreements are meaningful for those who have been most impacted by conflict—by

Ople. . .

continued from A10

For the five OFWs, each received an envelope containing 12,000 riyals.

Out of the 12,000, only 4,500 or the equivalent of P60,000 went to the OFWs’ pockets. The rest was used to buy air tickets to facilitate their immediate exit from the country. Mas mahal pa ang ticket kesa sa tinanggap na pera para sa paghihirap na dinanas ng mga workers.

As I write this column, three other kasambahays remain in that household.

Under the Kafala system, none of these three would be able to come home without the permission of the sponsor, no less than the general.

They who hit and hurt and curse, still have the power to deny an abused

The world, and the Philippines, is at an inflection point—but inflection points provide us with opportunities to step up and make the right choices, internationally and within countries.

When we recover better for a more equitable and sustainable world, we also lay the foundation for development, human rights and peace. paving the way for schools, livelihoods and the freedom to exercise one’s culture. This must also include protecting those who speak out against injustice, for the protection of the environment or to secure fair working conditions. These are all steps that are needed to restore the social contract.

The human rights framework provides a vehicle for such participatory approaches, and the interdependence between human rights and peace is increasingly recognized internationally. Placing human rights at the center of peace and reconciliation efforts can help to address underlying causes of conflict, such as poverty, inequality and discrimination. It also contributes to a victimfocused approach that promotes rule of law and justice. A society without violence is in a better position to provide a high level of respect for its political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights.

The Philippines is in many ways a microcosm of the many challenges that are the starting point of Our Common Agenda. Climate change, internal conflict and the impact of coronavirus hamper progress towards no poverty, zero hunger and good health. The government, through social protection initiatives, job creation and other initiatives in the Philippine Development Plan (2017 -2022) is taking steps towards addressing some of these challenges, and the United Nations is ready to support these efforts.

The world, and the Philippines, is at an inflection point—but inflection points provide us with opportunities to step up and make the right choices, internationally and within countries.

When we recover better for a more equitable and sustainable world, we also lay the foundation for development, human rights and peace.

Gustavo Gonzalez is the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the Philippines.

and trafficked OFW the right to come home.

Thankfully, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has embarked on monumental reforms meant to protect foreign workers, especially foreign domestic workers. Both Saudi Arabia and the Philippines must work together to show a commonality of interest in favor of migrant workers’ rights. As the old saying goes, action speaks louder than words.

To the leaders of both countries, we ask, please bring home the three remaining OFWs. Their families are waiting. And these women cannot take it anymore.

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.

Power crisis looms Val A. Villanueva

Businesswise

D

uring a virtual forum on August 17, the Department of Energy (DOE) warned of “thin power reserves” that could likely coincide with the 2022 general election on May 9, 2022, with the temperature expected to peak around that time.

Although Energy Undersecretary Wimpy Fuentebella assured the forum attendees that “‘blackouts are unlikely to happen,” netizens were quick to speculate that the DOE under Secretary Alfonso Cusi, one of President Duterte’s close allies and party mates, was already conditioning the minds of the public that something amiss could happen come election time.

The thinning of power reserves usually happens yearly when the country experiences higher temperature during the dry season. This could result in higher demand and lack of water for the hydro plants, which could force plant outages. In assuring that no power interruption would happen during the election, Fuentebella said: “We have been looking at this very early on, so the preparation is quite early.” In 2018, Cusi had signed a circular creating a task force that would ensure reliable power supply during the election.

This year, when demand exceeded available power supply, Luzon was placed under red alert for three straight days, from May 31 to June 2. The Luzon grid had lost capacity amounting to 1,372 megawatts because of the paralysis of unit 2 of the Pagbilao coal-fired plant; units 1 and 2 of the GNPower Mariveles Energy Center’s coal-fired plant, and unit 2 of the Calaca coal-fired plant. When three units of the San Roque power plant went offline, the grid also lost some 435 MW. The result was a total of 2,126 MW diminished yield from power plants, including the 484 MW from KEPCO Ilijan Corp.’s gas-fired

plant. In addition 1,642 MW from other coal, oil-based, and renewables plants were deemed “de-rated.”

Cusi put the blame on the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), saying the privately owned consortium of Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp., Calaca High Power Corp., and the State Grid Corporation of China, was “consistently noncompliant” with the requirement to secure “firm” contracts for ancillary services, which commit the supplier to deliver, unlike in the case of “nonfirm” contracts where power companies have a leeway to not deliver.

The claim was rejected by lawmakers who pointed out that the DOE was solely responsible for the brownouts because it failed to design ways that would have stabilized the country’s power supply. Senators Franklin Drilon, Sherwin Gatchalian, Aquilino Pimentel III, and Francis Pangilinan expressed dismay over what they thought was the DOE dodging any accountability for the debacle.

This just highlights the dire warning of experts that the Philippines is facing mounting energy crisis as a result of the depletion of the Malampaya gas fields, which account for 30 percent of Luzon’s energy consumption. While pandemic concerns are virtually putting the power crisis in the back burner, 2024—the year that Malampaya is expected to exhaust all of its reserves—is looming. The situation is worsened, not only by an ever-increasing population, but by the Duterte-mandated infrastructure boom and staggering electricity costs.

Thursday, September 23, 2021 A11

The expected power crisis will most likely be inherited by a new government. No doubt, the global pandemic will further complicate efforts to achieve energy supply for the country.

The new administration should be well-equipped in balancing pressing concerns: from battling the coronavirus to lifting the Philippines from the economic pit it has fallen in the past six years.

Experts calculate that an additional capacity of around 43 gigawatts is needed by 2040. Sadly, the Philippines lags behind schedule in working out doable solutions. At present, the country’s energy mix is composed of coal (47 percent); natural gas (22 percent); renewable energy sources, such as hydro, geothermal, wind, and solar (24 percent), and oil-based (6.2 percent) with existing power reserves at 23GW. Last month, Cusi reiterated his directive to strengthen efforts to achieve power security targets, focusing on optimizing the capabilities of the liquefied natural gas sector, “[f] rom importing the gas, establishing the necessary infrastructure to help the sector progress from its current infancy stage, and seeing the country develop into a leading LNG hub in Asia.”

Records from the DOE-Natural Gas Division show that several LNG terminal projects have already been issued with Notices to Proceed.These projects are: Excelerate Energy L.P.’s Floating Storage Regasification Unit Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal project; Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Company of Manila, Inc.’s Floating Storage Unit and Onshore Regasification, as well as its 60,000 cubic meter buffer LNG storage tank project; Shell Energy Philippines, Inc.’s FSRU Terminal project; Vires Energy Corp.’s FSRU terminal and FGEN LNG Corp.’s Interim FRSU and LNG Terminal project.

But what looks like a positive development in Cusi’s LNG target is the

expected commissioning of the first phase of Energy World Corp.’s LNG Pagbilao hub and its 400 megawatt capacity in mid-2022.

The project, hounded by yearslong bureaucratic red tape and lack of government support, is mostly built, while the important transmission line and switching station to connect the plant to the main grid are on track for completion by June 2022, with major roadblocks to completion recently resolved. Once operational, EWC intends to install a 200MW steam turbine. Similarly, final stages of development of its 2-metric-tonsper-annum LNG facility are on track for initial production by late 2022.

Actually, the Pagbilao LNG plant has been 95 percent complete for a long time now. The only thing that was keeping it from operating is an infrastructure that would have allowed it to export power. Had it been given all the necessary assistance as a courtesy to a foreign investor, which has invested millions of dollars in the project, EWC’s LNG plant could have started exporting power years ago.

The NGCP, mandated to encourage power producers to export power on a first-come-first-served basis, had rejected EWC’s request to hook its plant—notwithstanding that it was technically feasible to do so—to the existing power plant because of the opposition of TeaM Energy, operator of the Pagbilao coal-fired plant.

The expected power crisis will most likely be inherited by a new government. No doubt, the global pandemic will further complicate efforts to achieve energy supply for the country. The new administration should be well-equipped in balancing pressing concerns: from battling the coronavirus to lifting the Philippines from the economic pit it has fallen in the past six years.

Whoever takes over the reins of the country should pursue all practical solutions that would benefit every sector. The task is gargantuan and the challenge is formidable. Our nation needs a leadership that is all at once competent, bold, prudent, collaborative, decisive, just, and most importantly ethical.

‘Soul-crushing’: US Covid-19 deaths are topping 1,900 a day

By Heather Hollingsworth | Associated Press

C

ovid-19 deaths in the United States have climbed to an average of more than 1,900 a day for the first time since early March, with experts saying the virus is preying largely on a distinct group: 71 million unvaccinated Americans.

The increasingly lethal turn has filled hospitals, complicated the start of the school year, delayed the return to offices and demoralized health care workers.

“It is devastating,” said Dr. Dena Hubbard, a pediatrician in the Kansas City, Missouri, area who has cared for babies delivered prematurely by cesarean section in a last-ditch effort to save their mothers, some of whom died. For health workers, the deaths, combined with misinformation and disbelief about the virus, have been “heart-wrenching, soul-crushing.”

Twenty-two people died in one week alone at CoxHealth hospitals in the Springfield-Branson area, a level almost as high as that of all of Chicago. West Virginia has had more deaths in the first three weeks of September—340—than in the previous three months combined.

Georgia is averaging 125 dead per day, more than California or other more populous states.

“I’ve got to tell you, a guy has got to wonder if we are ever going to see the end of it or not,” said Collin Follis, who is the coroner in Missouri’s Madison County and works at a funeral home.

The nation was stunned back in December when it was witnessing

Mangun. . .

continued from A10

eventually did from 1997. But the biggest losers back then were companies

3,000 deaths a day. But that was when almost no one was vaccinated.

Now, nearly 64 percent of the US population has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. And yet, average deaths per day have climbed 40% over the past two weeks, from 1,387 to 1,947, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Health experts say the vast majority of the hospitalized and dead have been unvaccinated. While some vaccinated people have suffered breakthrough infections, those tend to be mild.

The number of vaccine-eligible Americans who have yet to get a shot has been put at more than 70 million.

“There is a very real risk you’ll end up in the hospital or even in the obituary pages,” Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, chief medical officer for the Ohio Department of Health, said to the unvaccinated. “Don’t become a statistic when there is a simple, safe and effective alternative to go out today and get vaccinated.”

Many low-vaccination communities also have high rates of conditions like obesity and diabetes, said Dr. William Moss of Johns Hopkins.

And that combination—along with the more contagious Delta variant— has proved lethal. like US plane-maker Boeing and Danish pig farmers, both selling to Asia.

China’s regional neighbors, if and when its economy continues to weaken, will suffer like those left outside the fence in a zombie

Dr. Greg Martin, who is president of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and practices mostly at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, said the staff is buckling under the strain. “I think everyone in 2020 thought we would get through this. No one really thought that we would still be seeing this the same way in 2021,” he said.

“I think this is a real failure of society and our most egregious sin to be at this stage where we have hospitals overwhelmed, ICUs overwhelmed and hitting this mark in terms of deaths per day,” Moss lamented.

New cases of the coronavirus per day in the US have dropped since the start of September and are now running at about 139,000. But deaths typically take longer to fall because victims often linger for weeks before succumbing.

In Kansas, 65-year-old cattleman Mike Limon thought he had beaten Covid-19 and went back to work for a few days. But the virus had “fried” his lungs and he died last week, said his grandson, Cadin Limon, 22, of Wichita.He said his grandfather didn’t get vaccinated for fear of a bad reaction, and he hasn’t gotten the shot either for the same reason, though serious side effects have proved extremely rare.

He described his grandfather as a “man of faith.”

“Sixty-five is still pretty young,” the young man said. “I know that. It movie. The Philippines will endure just as before because this economy, unlike many others, does not need China as a customer. As one person puts it, “We sell fruits to China, that’s it, nothing manufactured,

seems sudden and unexpected, but Covid didn’t surprise God. His death wasn’t a surprise to God. The God I serve is bigger than that.”

Cases are falling in West Virginia from pandemic highs, but deaths and hospitalizations are expected to continue increasing for as many as six more weeks, said retired National Guard Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, who leads the state’s coronavirus task force.

Dr. Greg Martin, who is president of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and practices mostly at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, said the staff is buckling under the strain.

“I think everyone in 2020 thought we would get through this. No one really thought that we would still be seeing this the same way in 2021,” he said. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon activated the state’s National Guard on Tuesday to provide assistance to hospitals dealing with a surge of Covid-19 patients.

In Oklahoma, Hillcrest South Hospital in Tulsa is among several medical centers around the country to add temporary morgues. Deaths are at an all-time high there, at three to four times the number it would see in a non-Covid-19 world, said Bennett Geister, hospital CEO. He said the staff there, too, is worn out.

“They didn’t sign up to be ICU nurses only to have people pass away on them,” he said. “They signed up to be ICU nurses to take people to recovery and heal people from the brink of death.” bananas as in chimp food.”

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.

A12 Thursday, September 23, 2021

‘PITC HAS OUTLIVED USE, MUST BE ABOLISHED’

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

A

LEADER of the House of Representatives is pushing for the passage of a bill abolishing the Philippine International Trading Corp.

(PITC), which is attached to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

In House Bill 10221, Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro said the PITC was created under Presidential Decree No. 252 to establish and pursue trade with “socialist and other centrally planned economy countries.”

However, the lawmaker said there are only two such economies—Cuba and North Korea.

Also, he added that trade liberalization and the passage of Republic Act No. 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act, have made the PITC irrelevant and redundant.

The bill mandates the DTI to take over the functions of the

PITC upon the latter’s abolition.

The measure mandates payment to affected personnel of separation or retirement benefits. Funds transferred to the PITC and which have remained unused would be returned to the source agencies.

Also, Rodriguez’s bill seek the disbandment of PITC as a state-owned corporation, which has been hounded by “issues and controversies, including the transfer of P11 billion from 2014 to 2020 by various source agencies, which funds remained unused as of December 2020.”

“These transfers were made to increase the budget utilization rate of government agencies, as funds transferred to the PITC are considered obligated and disbursed already,” he said in a statement.

He said there are also reports that source agencies are using the interest earnings of billions they turn over to the PITC for bonuses and other emoluments.

Duterte: UN needs to change to meet global crisis, injustice

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

P

RESIDENT Duterte called for reforms in the United Nations (UN) to help address global crises and injustices.

In his pre-recorded video statement during the High Level Debate of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) last Wednesday, Philippine standard time, Duterte admonished the UN, particularly its security council, for its lack of transparency and respect for democratic principles.

“Democracy and transparency are concepts that reverberate in the halls of the UN. But ironically, the security council—the pinnacle of your structure—violates every tenet of these values,” Duterte said.

The UN Security Council currently has 15 members. Five of these—China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States of America—are permanent members.

The non-permanent members, which are elected every two years, are Estonia, India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Niger, Norway, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia, and Vietnam.

The council has power to issue binding resolutions among UN members countries, which could be vetoed by the five permanent members.

Duterte said the scheme “no longer reflects the political and economic realities of the world” and should be changed for the UN to effectively govern.

“If the UN is to lead the world in its many crises we face,things need to change. The UN must empower itself by reforming itself. Therein lies the hope of humanity,” Duterte said.

Vaccine hoarding

FOREMOST of such crisis, Duterte said, is the ongoing “hoarding” by some developed countries of lifesaving Covid-19 vaccines.

He expressed shock at how some rich countries are now considering giving booster shots to their citizens, while developing nations are stuck with vaccine shortages.

“This is shocking beyond belief and must be condemned for what it is—a selfish act that can neither

PS-DBM to return ₧10.9-B idle funds by end-’21 or ’22

T

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE Procurement ServiceDepartment of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) vowed to return by the end of this year or early next year P10.87 billion in “dormant” interagency transferred funds flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA).

During the Senate Committee on Finance’s hearing on the proposed 2022 budget of DBM, PSDBM Administrative and Finance director Joshua Laure said they have already started the process of reverting the funds to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

“Inter na l ly, being the OIC [Officer-In-Charge]-Director of the Admin and Finance Group, we set a deadline at the end of this year to remit all these funds to BTr and we have started doing so; [our process is] continuous, but obviously [there are several] agencies [involved here] and we are starting with the biggest

ones down to the smallest; so our target is by the end of this year. If not, by the first quarter of 2022 but rest assured the process is ongoing,” Laure said, partly in Filipino.

In its 2020 Financial Audit of PSDBM, COA said the amount refers to interagency transferred funds and other payables pertaining to advances for common-use supplies and equipment (CSE) which remained undelivered or unutilized and dormant for years.

According to COA, this deprived the government of funds it could have used in the implementation of its projects or programs.

The state auditor’s findings also showed that the bulk of the amount, or P8.95 billion, now has an “aging” or four years and above while the remaining P1.92 billion were aging for two to three years.

Moreover, the lion’s share of the funds or P10.5 billion came from national government agencies. Those which came from government-owned and -controlled corporations and local government units amounted to P331.32 m i l l ion a nd P35.73 m i l l ion, respectively.

Budget OIC and Undersecretary Tina Canda said both the agencies and the PS-DBM are “to blame” for having unused funds.

For one, Canda said PS-DBM is benefitting from the interest that they earn from the parked funds.

“On the part of PS, it is to the advantage of the Procurement Service. Why? They earn interest so even if I don’t do procurement, I will earn interest,” Canda said.

“Actually it does not help the system altogether,” she added.

She noted that there was a time when even funds for nonCSE were transferred by agencies to the PS-DBM, which she said is not in line with the mandate of

the agency.

At one point, parked funds in PS-DBM reached P333 billion during the last period of the Aquino administration and the first part of the Duterte administration.

Canda explained how this happened: back then, there were items for certain projects of infrastructure agencies, which cannot be obligated on the part of the implementing agency. She said most of these items were for the projects of the Department of Transportation, which “were not moving.”

“So the PS became a parking [venue] then. Second, there are controversial items in the budget of the agency, which by tradition they cannot purchase because of the nature of transaction. This specifically I would mention probably fire trucks. They are always wrought with considerations not related to procurement so what the Bureau of Fire [Protection] does is to move the funds to PS,” she said.

Bills have already been filed in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to abolish PS-DBM, as the Senate continues to investigate the procurement of a l leged ly over pr iced medical supplies from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.

be justified rationally nor morally,” Duterte said.

To ensure equitable distribution of vaccines, Duterte said the Philippine government committed US$1 million to UN’s Covax facility.

“The plain fact is—this pandemic will not end unless the virus is defeated everywhere. Vaccines are key to achieving this,” Duterte said.

Global injustice

DUTERTE also raised the issue of “injustice” caused by climate change to developing countries, which tend to suffer the most from it despite having the least contribution to its creation.

He said while developing countries are helping to bring down global carbon emissions, the said efforts “will be rendered useless if the biggest polluters—past and present—chose to do business as usual.”

“We therefore appeal for urgent climate actions especially for those who could truly tip the balance.

Developed countries must perform their long-standing commitment to climate financing, technology transfer, and capacity building in the developing world. This is a moral obligation that cannot be avoided,” Duterte said.

Resolving climate change, he said, should not be “at the expense of developing countries’ economic vitality.”

Kafala abolition

DURING his speech, Duterte also called for abolition of “structures that allow exploitation and abuse of migrant workers,” including the Kafala system.

Kafala is a practice in most Middle East nations wherein a migrant worker is required to get a sponsor before they could work in these countries.

The scheme is prone to abuse since the sponsors could exert unreasonable control on the movement and employment of migrant workers.

“Nothing could justify the continued existence of this unjust system.

While reforms have been made, the Kafala system must be dismantled sooner or later in the name of justice and basic decency,” Duterte said.

Continued on A5

RESTAURANTS at SM Aura Premier in Taguig City are seen with dining areas marked to comply with health protocols for indoor dining. Under Alert Level 4, restaurants are allowed to open for dine-in but only at 10-percent capacity for indoor seating, and only for fully vaccinated customers. ROY DOMINGO

More biz groups push fully liberalized transport, telco

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @Tyronepiad

M

OR E bu si ness g roups joined the call to fully liberalize the sectors outside of the natural monopolies, including the transportation, telecommunications and power generation, to make the country more attractive as an investment destination.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, several business groups said that three sectors should not be defined as public utilities as they will be subjected to 40-percent foreign ownership restriction.

“There has never been a time when we need more foreign direct investments [FDI] such as now as we work towards the common objectives of recovery and sustainable progress,” they said. The Senate is currently deliberating on the bill

amending the 80-year-old Public Service Act (PSA), which covers the public utilities.

The current bill identifies the distribution of electricity; transmission of electricity; and water pipeline distribution systems and sewerage pipeline systems as public utility. But other public services may be considered as public utility given certain criteria, including their being a natural monopoly.

“Our position on transport and telecom has been affirmed by the results from many consultations among exporters, manufacturers, SMEs [small and medium enterprises] and other business stakeholders who all had strongly clamored for this reform,” the groups said.

In addition, the business groups backed the Electric Power Industry Reform Act which opens the sector to local and 100-percent foreign pri-

vate investors. They said this can help meet the energy demand in several industries, including the fuel-intensive manufacturing sectors.

Full liberalization of the said sectors is also seen to address the roadblocks to developing supply chains in the country as it will potentially allow more investments without the restrictions.

The business groups cited the following as primary concerns: “high inter-island shipping rates, expensive and unreliable internet connection, unreliable power supply, and inadequacy of infrastructure.”

The organizations stressed the “need of urgent and massive upgrade to speed up and improve our telecommunications system,” which has been pronounced amid the pandemic.

They lamented the usual scenarios of service interruptions, technical

glitches and lack of internet access, among others. “Every second the Philippines is offline because of the inability of our current providers to keep us connected is a second that the Philippines is closed for business,” they added.

The business groups told the Senate to be “bold” in making the decision related to PSA amendments. “We have seen how timely and appropriate policy decisions elsewhere have led to significant positive results and these are inspirations that we can learn from and adopt,” they said.

The joint statement was signed by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., Employers Confederation of the Philippines, Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines and Export Development Council.

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION 8 STONE BUSINESS OUTSOURCING OPC 5-10/f Tower 1 Pitx Kennedy Road Tambo Parañaque City No.

PHAM MANH TUAN Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking 1.

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

WEN, MEICAI Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking 2.

Brief Job Description: Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communication in Mandarin Speaking HOU, DONGWEN Marketing Staff Mandarin Speaking

3.

Brief Job Description: Monitor, review and report on all Marketing activity and result.

JIANG, XIAOMING Marketing Staff Mandarin Speaking

4.

Brief Job Description: Monitor, review and report on all Marketing activity and result.

ZHOU, TAO Marketing Staff Mandarin Speaking

5.

Brief Job Description: Monitor, review and report on all Marketing activity and result.

ZHOU, YINGYING Marketing Staff Mandarin Speaking

6.

Brief Job Description: Monitor, review and report on all Marketing activity and result.

ACCENTURE, INC. 7f Robinsons Cybergate Tower 1 Pioneer St Mandaluyong City

TESZ, PIOTR Application Development Analyst

7.

Brief Job Description: Contribute to various tasks to develop and improve natural language processing. This includes; developing, maintaining and improving NLP. Training and or evaluate NLP or dialogue systems, identify errors/ regressions and propose solutions. Contributing to various NLP tasks assigned to the team. Creating, reviewing, annotating NLP linguistic data

DAMBI, EDUARDO ERNESTO XAVIER Collection Support Analyst 8.

Brief Job Description: Execute order to cash processes with FTR (first time right) quality, efficiency and focus on overall continuous process improvement.

KOROLEVA, ELENA SW/AP/cloud Tech Support Specialist

9.

Brief Job Description: Provide support the client in relation to the management of their third-party vendor partner’s launch. Conducts close collaboration with operations, engineering, and finance groups to create or document technical solutions and resolve customer and vendor-related issues through technical troubleshooting in Russian and English languages.

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend potential products or services to management by collecting customer information and analyzing customer needs Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend potential products or services to management by collecting customer information and analyzing customer needs Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Analyze the productivity of the Marketing plans and projects, recommend to Senior Management Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Analyze the productivity of the Marketing plans and projects, recommend to Senior Management Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Analyze the productivity of the Marketing plans and projects, recommend to Senior Management Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Analyze the productivity of the Marketing plans and projects, recommend to Senior Management Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Native level speaker of German language and fluent in English. Minimum of bachelor’s degree in linguistics, computation linguistics or related discipline. Ability to quickly grasp technical concepts, learn inhouse tools. Keen interest in technology. Keen interest in NLP, linguistics and linguistic resources.

Attention to detail and good organization and communication skills.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Must be able to communicate, write and read Thai fluently; minimum of 2-year experience in order to cash is required.

Experience in any of these skills is preferred but not required: sales, billing, cash application, manage contracts, credit management, collections, reconciliations, responding to queries (voice and query capability). Experience in any accounting erp (oracle, sap, etc.).

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Solid ability to gather, document and execute detailed specifications from high-level requirements.

Strong analytical skills, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.

Good at documenting new processes and keeping documentation up to date.

Excellent written and spoken interpersonal communication skills. Able to communicate complex technical issues clearly to a variety of audiences.

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

KIM, HEE EUN Transaction Processing Analyst

10.

Brief Job Description: Preform data entry and research in various systems and tracking tools. Apply knowledge of processes and related systems to assist in identifying, assessing and resolving issued/problems. Assess and resolve non-standard and standard issues or problems. Seek advice and escalate issues when faced with tasks/problems outside the scope of the work.

MBOMBO, DIDIER MOKEMBA Transaction Processing Analyst

11.

Brief Job Description: Preform data entry and research in various systems and tracing tools. Apply knowledge of processes and related systems to assist in identifying, assessing and resolving issued/problems. Assess and resolve non-standard and standard issues or problems. Seek advice and escalate issues when faced with tasks/problems outside the scope of the work.

Basic Qualification: Graduate of 4-year course in business, finance or management preferred; computer literate and proficient in use of MS office; good oral and communication skills in English and must be fluent in Japanese and Korean.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Complexity (degree of difficulty of an assignment or the level of problem-solving assessment and resolution required, as measured by degree of problem-solving, strategic vs.

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

ALL OUT MULTI-MEDIA SOLUTIONS CORP. Unit 2302-a West Tower Pse Centre, Exchange Road Ortigas Center, San Antonio Pasig City

No.

12.

13.

14.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION AN, SAEMI Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage Korean customer queries/complaints LEE, HANNURI Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage Korean customer queries/complaints KIM, EUNJOO Marketing Consultant Brief Job Description: Manage the promotion and services of the company offers

Thursday, September 23, 2021

A13

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing Korean and English Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing Korean and English Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading and writing Korean and English

No.

WANG, KUNMING Chinese Customer Service Officer 29.

30.

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

ANOC99 CORPORATION 5/f To 10/f Ayala Malls Manila Bay Building D. Macapagal Blvd. Cor. Aseana Street Tambo Parañaque City Basic Qualification: CHEN, JUNHUA Able to speak, read and write Chinese Customer Service Chinese language 15.

Brief Job Description: Salary Range: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 BIGCAT SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS, INC. 18/f Pbcom Tower, 6795 Ayala Avenue Cor. Rufino Street Salcedo Vill. Bel-air Makati City Basic Qualification: Bachelor’s degree in MERY Accounting, Finance, Bahasa Indonesian Language-officer Fund Management Management, or any 16.

Business course.

Brief Job Description: Must ensure their funds’ reporting requirements are met.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 BOXER TECHNOLOGY CORP. 35/f Unit 1,2 And 4 Eco Tower Bldg. 32nd St. Cor. 9th Ave. Fort Bonifacio Taguig City CUI, CHENYANG Basic Qualification: Translator/interpreter Can read and speak fluently Mandarin and English 17.

Brief Job Description: language.

Reads through or listens to material in one language etc., and converts it into a second language, making sure to Salary Range: preserve the original meaning.

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 CHINA INTERNATIONAL WATER AND ELECTRIC CORP. (BRANCH OFFICE) 1350 11/f Suite 1106 Ermita Center Bldg. Roxas Blvd., 072 Bgy. 668 Ermita Manila Basic Qualification: PAN, WENTING Bachelor degree.

Administrative Officer/interpreter Excellent verbal / written communication (English/ 18.

Brief Job Description: Mandarin) Translate English report to Chinese report. Prepare reports and accomplishments Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 FU, LI Basic Qualification: Assistant Project Manager Bachelor degree. Similar management experience 19.

Brief Job Description: Perform cost analysis of a project. Work closely to project Salary Range: manager Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 YANG, LIANG Basic Qualification: Lead Estimator Bachelor’s degree, similar management experience 20.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for managing, estimating, review of design of Salary Range: general tender works Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: DING, KE Bachelor degree. 7-10 yrs Management Officer experience in construction 21. management Brief Job Description: Admin technical adviser. Manage and supervise company Salary Range: operation / budget Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: FANG, LIWEI Bachelor degree.

Management Support Analyst Excellent verbal / written communication (English/ 22.

Brief Job Description: Mandarin) Research and analyze. Provide support to resolve issues with the company management Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 ZHANG, ZE Basic Qualification: Quantity Surveyor Supervisor Bachelor’s degree, similar management experience 23.

Brief Job Description: Preparation of contracts, feasibility study of client request, Salary Range: supervise site visits Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 CONCENTRIX SERVICES CORPORATION 18th, 20th, 21st Floor, Tera Tower Bridgetown Along C-5 Road Ugong Norte Quezon City Basic Qualification: High school diploma MASVINDIP KAUR GURDIP SINGH with three to six months Advisor I, Customer Service experience with strong 24. computer navigation skills Brief Job Description: and PC knowledge.

Provide customer service for Google clients.

Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999 DATACLICK INTERNATIONAL CORP. E. Rodriguez St. Roxas Blvd. St. Barangay 003 Pasay City GUAN, YOUJUN Chinese Customer Service Officer Basic Qualification: A Chinese and Fluent in Brief Job Description: Chinese writing and speaking 25.

The Chinese Customer Service Officer is a first point of language contact for the company’s Chinese clients. The primary role of Chinese Customer Service Officer within the team Salary Range: is to respond to a variety Chinese client’s requests and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 inquiries via telephone or via live chat HE, CHENG Chinese Customer Service Officer Basic Qualification: A Chinese and Fluent in Brief Job Description: Chinese writing and speaking 26.

The Chinese Customer Service Officer is a first point of language contact for the company’s Chinese clients. The primary role of Chinese Customer Service Officer within the team Salary Range: is to respond to a variety Chinese client’s requests and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 inquiries via telephone or via live chat LI, LIUBIN Chinese Customer Service Officer Basic Qualification: A Chinese and Fluent in Brief Job Description: Chinese writing and speaking 27.

The Chinese Customer Service Officer is a first point of language contact for the company’s Chinese clients. The primary role of Chinese Customer Service Officer within the team Salary Range: is to respond to a variety Chinese client’s requests and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 inquiries via telephone or via live chat LING, HE Chinese Customer Service Officer Basic Qualification: A Chinese and Fluent in Brief Job Description: Chinese writing and speaking 28.

The Chinese Customer Service Officer is a first point of language contact for the company’s Chinese clients. The primary role of Chinese Customer Service Officer within the team Salary Range: is to respond to a variety Chinese client’s requests and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 inquiries via telephone or via live chat

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

31.

32.

Brief Job Description: The Chinese Customer Service Officer is a first point of contact for the company’s Chinese clients. The primary role of Chinese Customer Service Officer within the team is to respond to a variety Chinese client’s requests and inquiries via telephone or via live chat WANG, LEI Chinese Customer Service Officer Brief Job Description: The Chinese Customer Service Officer is a first point of contact for the company’s Chinese clients. The primary role of Chinese Customer Service Officer within the team is to respond to a variety Chinese client’s requests and inquiries via telephone or via live chat WANG, MINGYU Chinese Customer Service Officer Brief Job Description: The Chinese Customer Service Officer is a first point of contact for the company’s Chinese clients. The primary role of Chinese Customer Service Officer within the team is to respond to a variety Chinese client’s requests and inquiries via telephone or via live chat YANG, TING Chinese Customer Service Officer Brief Job Description: The Chinese Customer Service Officer is a first point of contact for the company’s Chinese clients. The primary role of Chinese Customer Service Officer within the team is to respond to a variety Chinese client’s requests and inquiries via telephone or via live chat ZHANG, CHENGYANG Chinese Customer Service Officer

Brief Job Description: The Chinese Customer Service Officer is a first point of contact for the company’s Chinese clients. The primary role of Chinese Customer Service Officer within the team is to respond to a variety Chinese client’s requests and inquiries via telephone or via live chat DAXIFA CORPORATION Mpire Center 93 West Avenue Project 7 Bungad 1 Quezon City 33.

CHEN, CANHONG Mandarin Speaking Customer Service Representative 34.

Brief Job Description: Delivering excellent customer services and managing the needs of customer through phone calls and Emails CHEN, YAYA Mandarin Speaking Customer Service Representative

35.

Brief Job Description: Delivering excellent customer services and managing the needs of customer through phone calls and Emails WANG, XING Mandarin Speaking Customer Service Representative

36.

Brief Job Description: Delivering excellent customer services and managing the needs of customer through phone calls and Emails WU, JIANGPENG Mandarin Speaking Customer Service Representative

37.

Brief Job Description: Delivering excellent customer services and managing the needs of customer through phone calls and Emails ZHANG, YINGCHAO Mandarin Speaking Customer Service Representative

38.

Brief Job Description: Delivering excellent customer services and managing the needs of customer through phone calls and Emails

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: A Chinese and Fluent in Chinese writing and speaking language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: A Chinese and Fluent in Chinese writing and speaking language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: A Chinese and Fluent in Chinese writing and speaking language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: A Chinese and Fluent in Chinese writing and speaking language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: A Chinese and Fluent in Chinese writing and speaking language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Delivering excellent customer services and managing the needs of customer through phone calls and Emails Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Delivering excellent customer services and managing the needs of customer through phone calls and Emails Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Ability to communicate fluently in Mandarin Chinese with customers Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Delivering excellent customer services and managing the needs of customer through phone calls and Emails Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Abilty to communicate fluently in Mandarin chinese with customers Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

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

39.

40.

LUO, MINGWEI Chinese Cargo Office Agent

Basic Qualification: Have skills in documentation

Brief Job Description: Prepare airline and custom documentation

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

WANG, WEI Chinese Cargo Office Agent

Basic Qualification: Have skills in documentation

Brief Job Description: Prepare airline and custom documentation

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

EASTERN GOLD CORPORATION 503 Nueva St Binondo Manila

LIN, JIAXIAN Marketing And Sales Agent 41.

Brief Job Description: Researches and develops various marketing strategies for products and services and implements marketing plans and works to meet sales quotas

SU, YULIANG Marketing And Sales Agent 42.

Brief Job Description: Researches and develops various marketing strategies for products and services and implements marketing plans and works to meet sales quotas

YU, YANGMIAO Marketing And Sales Agent 43.

Brief Job Description: Researches and develops various marketing strategies for products and services and implements marketing plans and works to meet sales quotas

Basic Qualification: Can contributes information, ideas, and research to help develop marketing strategies; can help to detail, design, and implement marketing plans for each product or service being offered.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Can contributes information, ideas, and research to help develop marketing strategies; can help to detail, design, and implement marketing plans for each product or service being offered.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Can contributes information, ideas, and research to help develop marketing strategies; can help to detail, design, and implement marketing plans for each product or service being offered.

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

BusinessMirror

A14 Thursday, September 23, 2021

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION ZHANG, YAPING Marketing And Sales Agent

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Brief Job Description: Researches and develops various marketing strategies for products and services and implements marketing plans and works to meet sales quotas

FANG, MUCAI Senior Marketing Specialist 45.

Brief Job Description: Looking after the budget of the marketing department and making sure the budget spend is delivering a return on investment. Managing the design and production of promotional materials, such as websites and brochures.

PLOUFFE, ROBERT JOSEPH Senior Marketing Specialist 46.

Brief Job Description: Looking after the budget of the marketing department and making sure the budget spend is delivering a return on investment. Managing the design and production of promotional materials, such as websites and brochures.

FOKUSI CONSTRUCTION INC. #5 Carlo Drive Sta. Maria Industrial Estate Bagumbayan Taguig City CHEN, KE Project Manager 47.

Brief Job Description: Develop a detailed project plan to monitor and track progress

FRONTIER POINT MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS INC. 29/f Techzone Bldg. Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. San Antonio Makati City CHO, CHIH-PING Mandarin Operations Specialist 48.

Brief Job Description: Responsible in answering customer questions about product and services of the company.

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: Can contributes information, ideas, and research to help develop marketing strategies; can help to detail, design, and implement marketing plans for each product or service being offered.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Can work harmoniously with executive team such as the marketing director or managing director to set the marketing strategy for the business. Must be willing to hire and manage junior marketing team that includes PR and creative staff . Able to speak and communicate using mandarin is an advantage Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Can work harmoniously with executive team such as the marketing director or managing director to set the marketing strategy for the business. Must be willing to hire and manage junior marketing team that includes PR and creative staff . Able to speak and communicate using mandarin is an advantage Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: College graduate; must be fluent in English and mandarin Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Proficiency in English Mandarin and other multilingual language, Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

GLOBALLGA BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING Ground Level, Level 2-5 Floor Silver City 4, Ortigas East Ugong Pasig City Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend CHEN, LI potential products or services Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking to management by collecting 49. customer information and Brief Job Description: analyzing customer needs Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communication in Mandarin speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend CHEN, GUOXIONG potential products or services Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking to management by collecting customer information and 50.

Brief Job Description: analyzing customer needs.

Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communications in Mandarin Speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend DINH THI MUI potential products or services Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking to management by collecting 51. customer information and Brief Job Description: analyzing customer needs Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communication in Mandarin speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend FU, PEIJUN potential products or services Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking to management by collecting 52. customer information and Brief Job Description: analyzing customer needs.

Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communications in Mandarin Speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend HUANG, ZHANQIANG potential products or services Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking to management by collecting 53. customer information and Brief Job Description: analyzing customer needs.

Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communications in Mandarin Speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend HUANG, ZHANFEI potential products or services Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking to management by collecting 54. customer information and Brief Job Description: analyzing customer needs.

Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communications in Mandarin Speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend JIN, CHENG potential products or services Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking to management by collecting 55. customer information and Brief Job Description: analyzing customer needs Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communication in Mandarin speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend NGUYEN THI MAI HUONG potential products or services Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking to management by collecting customer information and 56.

Brief Job Description: analyzing customer needs.

Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communications in Mandarin Speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 TAN, XIANHANG Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking 57.

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

WEN, ZHULIN Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking 58.

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

XIE, PING Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking 59.

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

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

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

No.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION XIONG, JIALING Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking

60.

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

YU, LIMENG Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking 61.

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

QIAO, RUN Marketing Staff Mandarin Speaking 62.

Brief Job Description: Monitor, review and report on all marketing activity and result

YA, HANWEN Marketing Staff Mandarin Speaking 63.

Brief Job Description: Monitor, review and report on all marketing activity and result

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend potential products or services to management by collecting customer information and analyzing customer needs.

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

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Analyze the productivity of the marketing plans and projects, recommends optimization to senior management Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Analyze the productivity of the marketing plans and projects, recommends optimization to senior management

76.

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

Brief Job Description: IT support specialists provides organizations with information technology support to optimize operational efficiency. Their duties include resolving technical issues, maintaining hardware and software installations, and improving systems.

KIM, YIHYEON Marketing Specialist

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

Brief Job Description: Marketing specialists help develop, execute, and monitor marketing programs across a variety of channels. Their work includes researching the market, analyzing trends to help define the organization’s marketing strategy, and providing advice as to how to best reach the target market.

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

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

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

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

HAMMERTIME CONSTRUCTION INC. Unit 203-s3 2nd Flr. Fbr Arcade Bldg. #317 Katipunan Ave. Loyola Heights 3 Quezon City Basic Qualification: PI, ZHIBING At least three (3) years Senior Site Coordinator of experience as a site coordinator; fluent in 64.

Brief Job Description: Mandarin/basic English Plan and coordinate all management aspects of the project at site Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 JDB MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTANCY CORP. 107 T & D House Magallanes St. 069, Bgy. 655 Intramuros Manila CHEN, ZHIHAO Basic Qualification: Strategic And Facilitation Officer Must be fluent in Chinese language.

65.

Brief Job Description: Your primary function is to help the company and its Salary Range: Chinese clients to generate more income for the company. Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 CHEN, TONGLIN Basic Qualification: Strategic And Facilitation Officer Must be fluent in Chinese language.

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Brief Job Description: Your primary function is to help the company and its Salary Range: Chinese clients to generate more income for the company. Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 FANG, XINBAO Basic Qualification: Strategic And Facilitation Officer Must be fluent in Chinese language.

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Brief Job Description: Your primary function is to help the company and its Salary Range: Chinese clients to generate more income for the company. Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 YU, HAILONG Basic Qualification: Strategic And Facilitation Officer Must be fluent in Chinese language.

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Brief Job Description: Your primary function is to help the company and its Salary Range: Chinese clients to generate more income for the company. Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 KP JOEUN CONSULTANCY INC Unit 7 Goldland Millenia Tower Escriva Drive Ortigas Center San Antonio Pasig City Basic Qualification: LEE, DAEYEON Proficient in speaking, Marketing Officer reading and writing Korean 69. and English Brief Job Description: Develop and implement marketing plan for Korean market Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 LOKFAN PROPERTIES INC. 88b (mezzanine-a) D. Aquino St., Barangay 050 District 2 Caloocan City Basic Qualification: FAN, KENG HONG Able to communicate and Property Manager translate Chinese language to English on verbal 70.

Brief Job Description: communication and contracts Responsible for planning and overseeing properties and or investment management Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: KANG, YONGQING Communicate and translate Property Manager Chinese language to English on verbal communication 71.

Brief Job Description: and contracts Responsible for planning and overseeing properties and or investment management Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: ZHOU, HONGXU Able to communicate and Property Manager translate Chinese language to English on verbal 72.

Brief Job Description: communication and contracts Responsible for planning and overseeing properties and or investment management Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 MAGKING SERVICES CORPORATION Unit 5d Rose Industries Bldg. #11, Pioneer Street Kapitolyo Pasig City Basic Qualification: KIM, JEONGCHAN Must be Bachelor’s / college Customer Support Representative degree in any fields, at least 1-2 yeras of working Brief Job Description: experience in the related 73.

Customer Support Representative are responsible for position, ability to maintain managing various customer issues depending on account high level of confidentiality. assignment; can be related to billing and collections support.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: LEE, HA YOUNG Must be Bachelor’s/ College Customer Support Representative Degree in any fields, at least 1-2 yrs. of working Brief Job Description: experience in the related 74.

Customer Support Representatives are responsible for positions, ability to maintain managing various customer issues depending on account high level of confidentiality. assignment: transactions can be related to billing and collections support, client inquiries.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: PARK, JUNKYU Must be Bachelor’s / college Customer Support Representative degree in any fields, at least 1-2 yeras of working Brief Job Description: experience in the related 75.

Customer Support Representative are responsible for position, ability to maintain managing various customer issues depending on account high level of confidentiality. assignment; can be related to billing and collections support.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 YOUN, JOO HOON IT Support Specialist

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Basic Qualification: Must be Bachelor’s / college degree in any fields, at least 1-2 yeras of working experience in the related position, ability to maintain high level of confidentiality.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Must be Bachelor’s / College Degree in any fields, at least 1-2 yrs of working experience in the related positions, ability to maintain high level of confidentiality.

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

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NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION CAI, YUFENG Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries CHEN, JUNQIAO Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries DONG, XUAN Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries FAN, TAICHUAN Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries GAO, XINJUN Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries GUO, HUAZHOU Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries HAO, YAOJIN Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries HU, HUAJIN Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries HUANG, XINYU Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries HUANG, ZHAOQIANG Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries LE THI HONG THUY Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries LE VAN TRONG Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries LI, BAILING Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries LIU, RONGXU Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries LUO, ZHILING Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries NGUYEN VAN TUAN Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services SHEN, YONGQIANG Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries SUN, LUOSHI Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries WANG, CHUNDONG Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries XIAN, YAOHUA Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries XU, YANBIN Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries ZHUO, XIAOYA Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries JIANG, KANGKANG Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

MUSES INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE VISUAL DESIGN CORPORATION Unit No. 2c, Flr. No. 4, One E-com Bldg. Ocean Drive, Mall Of Asia Complex Zone 10, Brgy. 076 Pasay City Basic Qualification: YIN, YANJIE Creative and strategic thinker Mandarin Accounts Manager with strong management skills, able to speak 101.

Brief Job Description: Mandarin.

Be on top of overall project management for assigned accounts.

Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999 Basic Qualification: LI, YINCHAO Excellent presentation skills, Mandarin Project Coordinator well-versed with design and 102. creative concepts.

Brief Job Description: Keeping track and reporting on the progress of the project. Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999 Basic Qualification: TANG, LEI Excellent presentation skills, Mandarin Project Coordinator well-versed with design and 103. creative concepts.

Brief Job Description: Keeping track and reporting on the progress of the project. Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999 NEW ORIENTAL CLUB88 CORPORATION Sky Garage Bldg. Aseana Avenue, Entertainment City Tambo Parañaque City

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ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.

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NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION LI, ZHIKUAN Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

NOONA BUSINESS CONSULTING SERVICES INC. 10th & 31st Floor Ore Central Tower 9th Ave. Cor. 31st St., Bgc Fort Bonifacio Taguig City

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106.

TENG, DEYONG Mandarin Marketing Specialist Brief Job Description: Create reports from market research TONG, CHAO Mandarin Marketing Specialist Brief Job Description: Create reports from market research

Basic Qualification: Excellent in Mandarin language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Excellent in Mandarin language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

OTSUKA (PHILIPPINES) PHARMACEUTICAL, INC. 3/f King’s Court Ii Bldg. 2129 Don Chino Roces Ave. Pio Del Pilar Makati City HAYASHI, TAIGA Basic Qualification: Vice President Manager 107.

Brief Job Description: Salary Range: Sales of Pharmaceutical Products Php 150,000 - Php 499,999 PROCTER & GAMBLE PHILIPPINES BUSINESS SERVICES, INC. 11th Flr. Seven Neo Bldg. 5th Ave. Crescent Parkwest, Bgc Fort Bonifacio Taguig City KELECHI KANU, ONYEMA ANNE Basic Qualification: Global Mobility Services Regional Director, Asia, Middle 18 years of experience in East & Africa And Greater China International Operations of Consumer Products Company 108.

Brief Job Description: and expert in relocation Provide International Assignment Policy Delivery support regional governance. to regional HR, Market leaders and line managers.

Manage the Asia, Middles East & Africa and Greater China Salary Range: International Assignment Coordinator Php 150,000 - Php 499,999 RED DOT MARKETING AND BRANDING INC. Unit 1514 Burgundy Transpacific Place Taft Ave. 079, Bgy. 727 Malate Manila

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ZHANG, WUSHUANG Mandarin Customer Service Brief Job Description: Responsible for handling service support calls

RICECASH ASIA PHILIPPINES, INC. 26/f Yuchengco Tower, Rcbc Plaza Ayala Ave. Bel-air Makati City FANG, MING Deposit Assistant Manager (Multi-lingual) 110.

Brief Job Description: Assist in managing deposits team, reports and evaluating associated

Basic Qualification: Proficient in speaking, reading, and writing in Mandarin Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Fluent in Native Mandarin and English, able to manage risk associated with deposit operations Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999

RIGHT CHOICE FINANCE CORP. 5e-1 Electra House Bldg. 115-117 Esteban Street San Lorenzo Makati City Basic Qualification: CHEN, SIJIA College graduate, fluent in Chinese Customer Service Representative English, preferably 6mos1year customer service 111.

Brief Job Description: experience Answering inquiries, resolving problems, fulfilling requests and maintaining data base Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: LIU, BAIHAO College graduate, fluent in Chinese Customer Service Representative English, preferably 6mos1year customer service 112.

Brief Job Description: experience Answering inquiries, resolving problems, fulfilling requests and maintaining data base Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: SHI, ZEJUN College graduate, fluent in Chinese Customer Service Representative English, preferably 6mos1year customer service 113.

Brief Job Description: experience Answering inquiries, resolving problems, fulfilling requests and maintaining data base Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: WANG, JINHUO College graduate, fluent in Chinese Customer Service Representative English, preferably 6mos1year customer service 114.

Brief Job Description: experience Answering inquiries, resolving problems, fulfilling requests and maintaining data base Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: YANG, YINGLI College graduate, fluent in Chinese Customer Service Representative English, preferably 6mos1year customer service 115.

Brief Job Description: experience Answering inquiries, resolving problems, fulfilling requests and maintaining data base Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: ZHOU, HAOTIAN College graduate, fluent in Chinese Customer Service Representative English, preferably 6mos1year customer service 116.

Brief Job Description: experience Answering inquiries, resolving problems, fulfilling requests and maintaining data base Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 S AND C CONSULTANCY INC. U-214 Manila Executive Regency 1200 J Bocobo St. 072, Bgy. 670 Ermita Manila Basic Qualification: WEI, XUEKE Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Human Resource Specialist reading and writing in 117.

Mandarin.

Brief Job Description: Recruiting staff who can speak Mandarin, Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 SECURE SMARTER SERVICES INC. Unit A 9/ F Bpi-philam Life Bldg. 6811 Ayala Ave. Bel-air Makati City Basic Qualification: YANG, SISI Proficient in writing, reading Chinese Speaking Site Technician and speaking Chinese 118.

Brief Job Description: Salary Range: Responsible for customer status and monitoring updates Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: BUI DUY HUY Proficient in writing, reading Vietnam Speaking Site Technician and speaking Vietnamese 119.

Brief Job Description: Salary Range: Responsible for customer status and monitoring updates Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 SHEARWATER HEALTH ADVISORS, INC. 35th Flr. Net Park Bonifacio Global City Fort Bonifacio Taguig City MANGAL, SURINDER Senior Operations Director 120.

Brief Job Description: Head the assigned vertical or department and/or any new or existing vertical or department based on the Company’s operational or business need. Be accountable for the effectiveness of clinical operations, compliance with contractual requirements, and other applicable standards, and achievement of affordability initiatives.

Basic Qualification: Graduate of business related course Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999

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NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION DESGRANGES, PHILIPPE Track & 3rd Rail Design Engineering Manager

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Brief Job Description: Focus on driving the production and review of the truck and 3rd rail design for swit and accurate implementation and interpretation of engineering data, performance of detailed designs, track layouts and other interfacing designs, review and driving shop drawings and specifications.

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Brief Job Description: Maintain the operation of electronic gaming devices

SLL BUILDER AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION U-2c 4/f One E-com Ctr. Bldg. Ocean Dr. Brgy. 076 Pasay City

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TEO LIEW KWANG Bilingual Marketing Specialist Brief Job Description: Construction Facade Installation

Basic Qualification: Must be expert in installing and developing software and hardware communications Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

SMC MASS RAIL TRANSIT 7 INC. #40, 3/f San Miguel Building San Miguel Avenue Brgy. Wack-wack Mandaluyong City

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XIE, MANLI Chinese IT Specialist Brief Job Description: Maintain the operation of electronic gaming devices

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ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: Graduate of Engineering course preferably in Civil Engineering or related courses. Fifteen(15) years of professional experience with minimum of five(5) years in Railway engineering

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Salary Range: Php 500,000 and above

SOLIDLEISURE SOLUTIONS INC. Unit 2602-d & 2603-a West Tower Psec Exchange Road, Ortigas Center San Antonio Pasig City Basic Qualification: CHEN, ZHOUDING Proficient in speaking, Mandarin Technical Support reading, and writing in Mandarin.

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Brief Job Description: Monitoring and maintaining computer systems and Salary Range: networks.

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 T ONE CHINA CONSTRUCTION THIRD BUREAU CORPORATION 99 Dasmarinas St. 026 Bgy.282 San Nicolas Manila LIU, YANG Basic Qualification: Chinese Commercial Consultant For High Rise Bldg.

Ensure the completion of project on cost 124.

Brief Job Description: To superb communication and interpersonal skills with Salary Range: high computer proficiency.

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 WU, YONGQUAN Basic Qualification: Chinese Commercial Consultant For High Rise Bldg.

Ensure the completion of project on cost 125.

Brief Job Description: To superb communication and interpersonal skills with Salary Range: high computer proficiency.

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 XUE, MING Basic Qualification: Chinese Commercial Consultant For High Rise Bldg.

Ensure the completion of project on cost 126.

Brief Job Description: To superb communication and interpersonal skills with Salary Range: high computer proficiency.

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: CHEN, FUJUN Knowledge in construction Chinese Structural Consultant For High Rise Bldg. procedures and processes from project conception to 127.

Brief Job Description: completion.

To oversee building structures based on technical specifications.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: WU, YUNKAI Knowledge in construction Chinese Structural Consultant For High Rise Bldg. procedures and processes from project conception to 128.

Brief Job Description: completion.

To oversee building structures based on technical specifications.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: ZHANG, YUCHENG Knowledge in construction Chinese Structural Consultant For High Rise Bldg. procedures and processes from project conception to 129.

Brief Job Description: completion.

To oversee building structures based on technical specifications.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: TAN, FUGUI Knowledge in creating, Chinese Technical Consultant For High Rise Bldg. analyzing and repairing large130. scale distributed systems.

Brief Job Description: To design, develop, implement and test technical solutions Salary Range: based on business requirement.

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 THEOS CYBER SOLUTIONS INC. U-1201 One World Place 32nd St. Cor. 9th Ave., Bgc Fort Bonifacio Taguig City PERRIN, FELIX JOCELYN LUCIEN Basic Qualification: Senior Cybersecurity Consultant Must be a trusted cyber security advisor 131.

Brief Job Description: Provide cybersecurity consulting services to the company’s Salary Range: client Php 150,000 - Php 499,999 TRIVES TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION Tower 4 Bayport West Naia Garden Residence, Naia Road Tambo Parañaque City Basic Qualification: LAI SOON POH Able to speak and write in Malaysian Customer Support Representative Mandarin/Fukien and at least college level with related BPO 132.

Brief Job Description: experience.

Supports customers by providing helpful information, answering questions and responding to complaints.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: RICKY WONG Able to speak and write in Malaysian Customer Support Representative Mandarin/Fukien and at least college level with related BPO 133.

Brief Job Description: experience.

Supports customers by providing helpful information, answering questions and responding to complaints.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: YU, KE Able to speak and write in Mandarin Customer Support Representative Mandarin/Fukien and at least college level with related BPO 134.

Brief Job Description: experience.

Supports customers by providing helpful information, answering questions and responding to complaints.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: ZHAO, ERBO Able to speak and write in Mandarin Customer Support Representative Mandarin/Fukien and at least college level with related BPO 135.

Brief Job Description: experience.

Supports customers by providing helpful information, answering questions and responding to complaints.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 VERTEX DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Dd Dragon Plaza Dd Meridian P Edsa Ext. Cor. Macapagal Ave. Brgy. 076 Pasay City Basic Qualification: 300 vacancy/ college CHEN, JIANDE graduate with experience in Chinese IT Specialist maintaining gaming devices, 136. fluent in Mandarin & English Brief Job Description: speaking.

Maintain the operation of electronic device Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: 300 Vacancy college Graduate DUAN, LINDI with experience in maintain Chinese IT Specialist gaming devices fluent in 137.

Mandarin and English Brief Job Description: speaking Maintain the operation of electronic gaming devices Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: 300 Vacancy college Graduate LI, HAISHAN with experience in maintain Chinese IT Specialist gaming devices fluent in 138.

Mandarin and English Brief Job Description: speaking Maintain the operation of electronic gaming devices Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 LIANG, CAIDAN Chinese IT Specialist

Thursday, September 23, 2021

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NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

XUN, PANPAN Chinese IT Specialist Brief Job Description: Maintain the operation of electronic gaming devices

NGUYEN VAN SON IT Specialist Brief Job Description: Maintain the operation of electronic gaming devices

SAI SAN PHONE IT Specialist Brief Job Description: Maintain the operation of electronic gaming devices

TUN MYINT OO IT Specialist Brief Job Description: Maintain the operation of electronic gaming devices

WNS GLOBAL SERVICES PHILIPPINES, INC. 9/f 1880 Bldg. Eastwood City Cyberpark Bagumbayan Quezon City NAMBIAR, SHIBU SURENDRAN Senior Group Manager- Operations 145.

Brief Job Description: Customer & client facing & strive to deliver excellent customer experience, drive continuous improvement experiments through team & harvest ideas GHIELMETTI, MICHELE Senior Group Manager-operations

146.

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: 300 Vacancy college Graduate with experience in maintain gaming devices fluent 300 Vacancy college Graduate with experience in maintain gaming devices fluent in mandarin and english speaking in mandarin and english speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: 300 Vacancy college Graduate with experience in maintain gaming devices fluent 300 Vacancy college Graduate with experience in maintain gaming devices fluent in mandarin and english speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: 300 Vacancy college Graduate with experience in maintain gaming devices fluent 300 Vacancy college Graduate with experience in maintain gaming devices fluent in mandarin and english speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: 300 Vacancy college Graduate with experience in maintain gaming devices fluent 300 Vacancy college Graduate with experience in maintain gaming devices fluent in mandarin and english speaking in mandarin and english speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Blackbelt Experience of 2 years and above Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999 Basic Qualification: Experience of 2 years and above.

Brief Job Description: Customer & client strive to deliver excellent customer Salary Range: experience drive continuous improvement experiments Php 150,000 - Php 499,999 through your team & harvest ideas.

ZIMI TECH, INC. 29th/f Burgundy Corporate Tower Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. Pio Del Pilar Makati City FERRY WAHYUDI Basic Qualification: Bahasa Language Customer Service Representative Proficient in writing, reading and speaking in both English 147.

Brief Job Description: and Korean/ Bahasa/Chinese.

Professionally handle incoming request from customers and ensure that issues are resolve both promptly and Salary Range: thoroughly Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 FRANSHEN Basic Qualification: Bahasa Language Customer Service Representative Proficient in writing, reading and speaking in both English Brief Job Description: and Korean/ Bahasa/Chinese.

148.

Professionally handle incoming request from customers and ensure that issues are resolve both promptly and Salary Range: thoroughly Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 MICHEAL Basic Qualification: Bahasa Language Customer Service Representative Proficient in writing, reading and speaking in both English 149.

Brief Job Description: and Korean/ Bahasa/Chinese.

Professionally handle incoming request from customers and ensure that issues are resolve both promptly and Salary Range: thoroughly Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 ONGAH WINARTO Basic Qualification: Bahasa Language Customer Service Representative Proficient in writing, reading and speaking in both English Brief Job Description: and Korean/ Bahasa/Chinese.

150.

Professionally handle incoming request from customers and ensure that issues are resolve both promptly and Salary Range: thoroughly Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 RICKY PRATAMA Basic Qualification: Bahasa Language Customer Service Representative Proficient in writing, reading and speaking in both English 151.

Brief Job Description: and Korean/ Bahasa/Chinese.

Professionally handle incoming request from customers and ensure that issues are resolve both promptly and Salary Range: thoroughly Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 SONNY INDRA WIDJAYA Basic Qualification: Bahasa Language Customer Service Representative Proficient in writing, reading and speaking in both English 152.

Brief Job Description: and Korean/ Bahasa/Chinese.

Professionally handle incoming request from customers and ensure that issues are resolve both promptly and Salary Range: thoroughly Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 LEE, YOUN JU Basic Qualification: Korean Language Customer Service Representative Proficient in writing, reading and speaking in both English 153.

Brief Job Description: and Korean/ Bahasa/Chinese.

Professionally handle incoming request from customers and ensure that issues are resolve both promptly and Salary Range: thoroughly Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 ZONAC AND SHIBATA SERVICES INC. 4/f Pbcom Tower 6795 Ayala Ave. Cor. Rufino St. Bel-air Makati City DELY KUSUMA Chinese Language Customer Service Representative 154.

Brief Job Description: Identify and assess customer’s needs to achieve satisfaction HENDRI Chinese Language Customer Service Representative

155.

Brief Job Description: Identify and assess customer’s needs to achieve satisfaction TU QUE LINH Finance Officer

156.

Brief Job Description: Responsible in maintaining the balance between spreadsheet and bank accounts.

Basic Qualification: Great communication skills and must be fluent in chinese and english language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Great communication skills and must be fluent in chinese and english language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Proficiency in English , Mandarin and other multilingual language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: 300 Vacancy college Graduate with experience in maintain gaming devices fluent in Mandarin and English speaking

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE-NCR Regional Office located at DOLE-NCR Building, 967 Maligaya St., Malate Manila, within 30 days after this publication.

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

Please inform DOLE-NCR if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

Basic Qualification: 300 Vacancy college Graduate with experience in maintain gaming devices fluent 300 Vacancy college Graduate with experience in maintain gaming devices fluent in mandarin and english speaking in mandarin and english speaking Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

*Date Generated: Sep 22, 2021

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Companies BusinessMirror

Thursday, September 23, 2021

B1

‘VAT on digital transactions to support recovery efforts’

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By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

@joveemarie

o generate revenues from new sources to fund the country’s pandemic recovery efforts, the House of Representatives has endorsed for Senate approval a bill imposing value-added tax (VAT) on digital transactions in the Philippines.

Voting 167 affirmative, 6 negative and 1 abstention, lawmakers approved on third and final reading House Bill 7425 to level the playing field between traditional and digital businesses by clarifying the imposition of VAT on digital service providers.

The bill clarifies the imposition of VAT on electronic or online sale of services such as: on-

line advertisement services and provision for digital advertising space; digital services in exchange for a regular subscription fee; and supply of other electronic and online services that can be delivered through the internet.

The bill also provides a clear definition of a liable digital service provider (DSP) and requires non-resident DSPs to collect and

remit the VAT on the transactions that pass through its platform.

Non-resident DSPs will also be required to register for VAT if gross sales or receipts for the past year have exceeded P3 million.

The bill exempts books and other pr inted mater ia ls that are sold electronically or online from VAT. The measure provides a transition period of 180 days from the effectivity of the proposal to enable the Bureau of Internal Revenue to establish implementation systems before VAT is imposed on DSPs. Earlier, House Committee on Economic Affairs Chairperson and AA MBIS - OWA Par t y-list Rep. Sharon Garin said the government is expected to gain P10 billion upon the enactment of the measure which can be used to fund Covid-19 response projects and “galvanize the country’s economic performance.”

Also, she said the measure is set to foster fair competition and provide equal footing between traditional and digital businesses by clarifying the imposition of VAT on digital service providers.

Garin clarified that the tax to be imposed will only be on transnational digital transactions and that there is no expected increase in the price of online transactions for locally-established service providers.

House Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda, one of the principal authors of the bill, has said the bill meant to introduce tax parity between resident companies and non-resident digital companies.

“We will not be taxing small businesses. Ever yone making P250,000 in annual income will be exempt. Everyone accredited under the Barangay Micro Businesses and Enterprises [BMBE] law will be exempt,” Salceda added.

GCash financial services post gains

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

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inancial technology platform GCash said on Wednesday its “inclusive growth” services have grown over the last six months, adding that this momentum pushes the company to “offer more innovations” moving forward.

Martha Sazon, the company’s president, said GSave, the savings product of GCash, has almost doubled its assets under management (AUM) to P9 billion from P5 billion “in just six months.”

GInvest, the investment product of GCash, was able to “capture 70 percent of the domestic market of total Unit Investment Trust Fund accounts” in just six months.

GInsure, the micro insurance service of GCash, now “accounts for a third of all new insurance policies issued in the Philippines.”

Also, GCredit, the company’s inhouse lending service, now disburses an average of P1 billion worth of credit per month. As of end-June it has disbursed a total of P15 billion worth of credit to users.

“As a driver of financial inclusion, our objective is clear, and that is to ease the friction being experienced by unbanked and underserved Filipinos. That said, we are also a highly collaborative institution. Financial organizations that share the same vision are welcome to partner with us; we seek to enable rather than compete with them as we work towards financial inclusion” Sazon said.

GCash is piloting GLoan, a new service that allows qualified users to borrow as much as P25,000, with repayment spread over 12 months.

Sazon said the service is “doing well and has shown the fastest growing revenue for its category.”

GCash is the largest mobile wallet in the Philippines with over 46 million users. “ We have enjoyed massive growth in our financial services through innovative fintech solutions and strategic partnerships, regardless of licenses. We also have the edge on experience and technology as we’ve been promoting financial services since we started. We have a very positive growth outlook in the years to come,” Sazon said.

‘PHL must tap renewable energy sources’

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

E

nergy industry stakeholders said decisive action is key to making the Philippines energy independent and resilient.

During the recent webinar, “Energy in Sustainability: Renewable Energ y Solut ions at the Core of Climate Crisis,” conducted by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) in partnership with the Philippine Energy Independence Council (PEIC), they noted that the country’s 53-percent energy sufficiency level must improve by tapping into renewable energy resources.

AC Energy President and PEIC board member Eric Francia said the Philippines must become energy independent. “An opportunity that the country has set is to increase its target renewables output from 21 percent to 35 percent by 2030. Renewables definitely have a major, major role to play. Energy independence is a critical imperative in this day and age.”

PEIC Secretary Antonio Gabriel La Viña said the Philippines is in “a stage of climate justice and no longer a stage of mitigation.

The decision must be done in a just way.”

BusinessMirror file photo

Don Paulino, President of PEIC, also said progress can be achieved by an informed collaboration between the government and the private sector. “There needs to be an active request and participation by other people in the country. We need to demand from our leaders, whether it’s the public, the government, or the private sector, to think about climate change.

We need to make sure that public issues on energy are properly discussed so that by 2040, 2050, we’ll actually be carbon neutral as a country.”

Attorney Paola Alvarez, Department of Finance Assistant Secretary, expressed the urgency of climate change action. “The Philippines is at the forefront of a global movement seeking climate justice. We look forward to more

collaboration with our international partners and the private sector to achieve our climate ambition. We have only one planet and all of us must act decisively today in order to save it.”

Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella drew focus on the technical developments in the country’s energy sector that help the country move towards a more sustainable future.

“We have emphasized the competitive renewable energy zones,” he said. “It’s where to put these renewable energy developments that are already easier to connect to the grid so that we can reach our goals, and rolling out the green energy option for the contracting of the smaller plants and partnering them directly to contestable customers.”

PNB to unveil 2 new global feeder funds

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

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he Philippine National Bank (PNB) announced that it is launching two new global feeder funds which will allow local investors to diversify their investments, especially towards sustainable financing.

The bank said the two new global feeder funds support companies with strong sustainability roadmaps.

The first fund is the PNB World Perspectives Equity Feeder Fund, which gives investors access to high-quality global companies with sustainable growth through its target fund, the Franklin Global Growth Fund.

The other one is the PNB US Equity Sustainability Leaders Feeder Fund, which allows clients to invest in US companies with superior Environmental, Social, and (Corporate) Governance (ESG) characteristics through its target fund, the Legg Mason ClearBridge US Equity Sustainability Leaders Fund.

PNB said this fund puts great value in ESG and incorporates it in

the investment selection process, as opposed to simply considering the potential profitability of securities.

PNB President and CEO Wick Veloso said PNB’s Trust Banking Group is making these funds available to local investors who are looking to achieve long-term capital growth by investing at least 90 percent of their assets in a target fund.

For the new funds, PNB has partnered with Franklin Templeton, a global leader in asset management with more than seven decades of experience and with over $1.5 trillion in assets under management (AUM).

PNB President and CEO Wick Veloso said PNB’s Trust Banking Group is making these funds available to Filipino investors who are looking to achieve longterm capital growth by investing at least 90 percent of their assets in a target fund.

“We understand the needs of some of our clients who have aggressive risk appetites or those who want to invest in global equities,” Veloso said.

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Thursday, September 23, 2021

SEC permanently revokes KingABC Lending’s license

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By VG Cabuag

@villygc

he Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has permanently revoked the certificate of authority (CA) of KingABC Lending Corp. to operate a lending company for engaging in unfair debt collection practices.

In a resolution dated August 2, the agency’s Corporate Governance and Finance Department (CGFD) has junked the motion for reconsideration filed by KingABC for lack of merit. The said company operates online lending platforms Pondo Loan, Start Loan, Green Loan and Loan Club.

“The department reiterates that the business of lending is imbued with public interest. As such, the commission is mandated to see to it that only lending companies that are serious in their compliance with the laws, rules, and regulations

are allowed to operate,” according to the resolution, which became final and executory after KingABC failed to file an appeal within the allowed period.

The agency issued the revocation order on June 7 after finding that KingABC has committed 15 violations of an SEC memorandum circular 18 issued in 2019, which prohibits unfair debt collection practices among financing and lending companies.

The SEC found KingABC to have threatened borrowers with shaming on social media by publishing their names as scam-

mers and contacting people in the borrowers’ contact list despite not being named as co-makers or guarantors.

KingABC also used obscenities, insults, or profane language in its debt collection, and threatened to sue borrowers based on made-up legal bases, the SEC said.

The agency has previously penalized KingABC for its first and second violations of the said regulation. A third violation merits the imposition of a monetary fine, suspension, or revocation of the company’s certificate of authority, depending on the facts, circumstances, and gravity of the case.

Aside from KingABC’s 15 violations, the agency noted 53 more complaints have been filed against the company for its debt collection practices.

The SEC’s memorandum circular was issued September 8, 2019, as part of its response to several complaints for unreasonable, abusive and unfair practices that lending and financing companies employed to collect debt from borrowers.

In its appeal, KingABC argued that the 15 complaints merely contained allega-

tions without proof, and that the volume of complaints by itself was not sufficient to justify the revocation of its CA, given that the SEC circular requires proof of those allegations.

The SEC, however, maintained that the evidence on record more than adequately supported the revocation of KingABC’s documents, emphasizing that during its investigation, the company itself admitted that its agents committed “unlawful and unauthorized” and “unrighteous misconduct” towards its borrowers.

“A review of all the screenshots of messages submitted by the 15 complainants, including the 53 others who also filed complaints against the respondents reveal commonalities and recurring patterns, including the substance of the threats and sentence construction of the said messages,” the resolution read.

“To a reasonable mind, all these pieces of evidence prove respondent committed 15 violations of SEC MC 18. Thus, it was only apt for the CGFD to find respondent guilty of violating SEC MC 18 and impose the penalty of revocation of its license.”

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Nlex fast-tracking connector project

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lex Corp. is targeting to complete the first 5 kilometers of the Nlex Connector in the first quarter of 2022, as it is now “halfway through” its construction.

Luigi L. Bautista, the company’s president, said construction activities at the first 5-kilometer section of the Nlex Connector are now “moving forward” after the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) committed to fast-track the delivery of the right of way (ROW) for the road.

“We are pleased that the construction activities are moving forward with the construction progress standing at 45 percent. Thanks to our government partner, DPWH, for securing the ROW requirements,” he said.

The first section of the connector road runs from Caloocan Interchange to Espana Boulevard.

“We are targeting to deliver the full right-of-way for this section by next month so we can further accelerate the project,” Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said.

The first section is being built inside the Philippine National Railways ROW and passes through urbanized areas between Harbor Link-Caloocan Interchange along C3 Road/5th Ave. and España Blvd. in Sampaloc, Manila.

Bautista said his group is using the Indonesian technology called Sosrobahu in launching coping beams or pierheads in certain portions of the Nlex Connector as this rotating device enables the construction of expressways above existing roads with minimum disturbance to traffic. Lorenz S. Marasigan

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Thursday, September 23, 2021 B3

‘Rice imports to rise on economic recovery’

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

he Philippines, the world’s second-largest buyer of rice, would expand its rice imports by 10 percent to 2.2 million metric tons (MMT) in market year (MY) 2021-2022, according to an international report.

A Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain) report raised its rice import forecast for the Philippines in the current MY “due to expected improving economic conditions and an upturn in Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance [SPS-IC] issuances.”

“In July and August of 2021, the Bureau of Plant Industry [BPI] issued 885 SPS-ICs representing 642,811 MT [metric tons], compared to 379 SPS-ICs and 273,643 MT during the same period in 2020,” according to the Gain report prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in Manila.

Its import forecast for MY 20212022 was similar to its projection for calendar year 2022.

Rice imports in MY 2020-2021 declined by 18.36 percent from 2.45 MMT recorded in MY 2019-2020.

The USDA-FAS Manila kept its milled rice production forecast for the Philippines in MY 2021-2022 at 12.3 MMT since overall crop conditions in the first quarter of the MY are not “substantially different” compared to the same period a year ago.

“However, there is a substantial difference in comparison to the same period of 2019,” USDA-FAS Manila said in the Gain report.

The USDA-FAS Manila main-

tained its rice production forecast for the Philippines in line with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) chart from USDA/FAS/ Global Agricultural and Disaster Assessment System.

“NDVI is a graphical indicator that can be used to analyze remote sensing measurements, often from a space platform, assessing whether or not the target being observed contains live green vegetation,” it said.

The USDA-FAS Manila also noted that over 40,000 MT of rice were lost in areas around Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Visayas due to Typhoon Jolina.The Department of Agriculture (DA) said total rice supply this year could reach 17.71 MMT. The Philippines could end the year with a rice surplus of 3.314 MMT as total demand is pegged at only 14.398 MMT. Of the total supply, about 13.294 MMT would come from local production, a record high, while imports would account for 2.085 MMT, based on the DA’s latest projections.

In the same report, the USDAFAS Manila raised its corn production forecast for MY 2021-2022 by 150,000 MT to 8.15 MMT from its

An employee drives a forklift truck past bags of rice stored in a Yingpaiboon Rice Mill Ltd. warehouse in the Samrong district of Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, on November 8, 2016. Thailand is one of the Philippines’s major suppliers of rice. Bloomberg News

previous estimate of 8 MMT. “Post raises MY21/22 corn production by 150,000 MT to 8.15 MMT based on industry contacts reporting good July-September crop conditions and minimal effects from recent typhoons,” it said.

“Moreover, the overall NDVI

chart indicates corn areas during this period are not substantially different from the same period a year earlier.”

Despite the upward revision to the corn production forecast, the estimated volume for MY 2021-2022 is still 2.42 percent lower than the

NMIS report: PHL frozen pork inventory still above 70,000 MT

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he influx of pork imports and the lockdowns imposed in Metro Manila and key Philippine cities have caused the country’s frozen pork inventory to remain above the 70,000-metric ton (MT) level for the fourth straight week in midSeptember.

Latest National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) data showed that as of September 13, nationwide frozen pork inventory in cold storages reached 75,882.49 MT, slightly lower than the 76,046.43 MT recorded on September 6.

Bulk, or about 73,767.39 MT, of the total frozen pork inventory was imported while the remaining volume of 2,115.10 MT came from local producers.

Data from the attached agency of

the Department of Agriculture indicated that the volume of imported pork in cold storage facilities was slightly higher than the previous week’s 73,718.52 MT while that of local pork fell from the previous week’s 2,327.91 MT. Anthony S. Dizon, president of the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines, said frozen pork inventory remains above the 70,000-MT level due to pork import arrivals under the government’s minimum access volume plus (MAV+) program and the build-up in cold storage facilities due to the recent lockdowns. Under the MAV+ program, which sought to boost domestic supply, the government will allow traders to bring in some 200,000 MT of imported pork at lower tariffs.

Last month, Metro Manila was placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), previously the country’s strictest lockdown measure, from August 6 to 20. The restriction imposed on Metro Manila was eased to a modified ECQ (MECQ) from August 21 until September 15.

“The current inventory is expected since imports under the MAV plus have started to arrive, which is estimated by government authorities to be around 35,000 MT a month,” Dizon told the BusinessMirror.

“Also, the recent MECQ resulted in the build-up of inventory since there is no market pull as dine-in for restaurants was restricted. There was little to no demand at all.”

The BusinessMirror earlier reported that the Philippines approved

the importation of 1.717 million MT of meat products as of end-August— more than double than last year’s volume—driven by the country’s dire need for pork supply.

The volume was based on the total number of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPS-ICs) approved and issued by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) for meat imports from January to August.

The volume, based on latest BAI data, was 107 percent higher than the 828,892.915 MT approved for importation in the same period of last year.

BAI data showed that pork imports accounted for half of the approved SPSICs during the eight-month period or about 837,955.337 MT, which was triple the 276,424.228 MT approved a year ago. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

‘Takeover of crop insurance agency unfair to planters’

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aking the cudgels for farmers, former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos questioned the takeover of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) from the Department of Agriculture (DA) by the Department of Finance (DOF).

“Bakit kailangang i-transfer sa DOF…eh, ang DA ang mas nakaaalam sa mga kaganapan sa agricultural sector? Nasa DA ang lahat ng pertinent data tungkol sa naturang sector. ‘Di ba ang PCIC was formed to provide insurance protection to farmers against losses arising from natural disasters, plant diseases, and pest infestation?” he pointed out.

The former lawmaker noted that farmers, through the Federation of Free Farmers, have expressed apprehension that under the DOF, the PCIC’s priority will shift to fiscal and monetary concerns which

may not necessarily be supportive of the needs of farmers and the DA. “Dapat ikonsidera rin ang agam-agam ng ating mga magsasaka dahil sila ang sektor na apektado dito sa paglipat na ito. Dapat ay kinunsulta sila,” Marcos said, adding that the lack of consultation was one of the sentiments that farmers raised.

Marcos said there is a need to review Executive Order 148 which transferred the PCIC to the DOF for “policy and program coordination, and general supervision,” allegedly in a bid to ensure that government assets and resources are used effectively.

For its part, the DOF on Sunday

‘Ignoring climate change may decimate Europe’s economy’

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failure to introduce policies to mitigate climate change could significantly lower Europe’s economic output by the end of the century, according to the European Central Bank (ECB).

If no regulation is enacted and natural disasters become more frequent and severe as a result, the region’s gross domestic product could decrease by 10 percent by 2100 compared to a scenario where governments act, the Frankfurtbased institution said in the results of its firstever economy-wide climate stress test.

The ECB also said that even a disorderly transition to a more sustainable economy—featuring delayed, abrupt policy action and higher risk of disasters—would still be less costly than not acting at all.

“Without policies to transition to a greener economy, physical risks will increase over time,” ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said. “They will increase non-linearly, and due to the irreversible nature of climate change, this increase will continue over time. It is essential to transi-

tion early on and gradually.”

Other findings from its assessment published on Wednesday include: n The average corporate-loan portfolio of a euro-area bank is 8 percent more likely to default in 2050 under a scenario where climate change is not addressed than under an orderly transition n Portfolios most vulnerable to climate risk are 30 percent more likely to default in 2050 compared with 2020 under a no-transition scenario n Bigger banks hold over 50 percent more exposures to companies that are highly vulnerable to climate risk than smaller lenders n Banks located in southern European countries such as Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain and Malta are significantly more exposed to companies that face high physical risks n The top 10 percent most polluting portfolios finance almost 65 percent of total emissions and 4 percent of banks finance about 45 percent of all emissions. Bloomberg News

announced that it is no longer keen on privatizing the crop insurance firm but is mulling over involving the private sector for reinsurance.

It added that involving the private sector in reinsurance would bode well for farmers because reinsurance will most likely allow the expansion of coverage to more farmers and more crops and livestock.

record-high 8.352 MMT posted in the previous market year.

“Corn production for MY 20/21 was adjusted to 8.352 MMT to reflect final PSA data, marking a record year for Philippine corn production.

Likewise, area harvested for MY 20/21 was updated to 2.573 million hectares,” it said.

The USDA-FAS Manila also revised upward its corn feed and residual demand consumption forecast for the current MY 2021-2022 by 150,000 MT to 6.65 MMT due to “an expected 2-percent increase in poultry feed demand.” The country’s corn feed and residual demand in the previous MY 2020-2021 was pegged at 6.75 MMT. “Industry contacts report a surge in egg production due to some former piggery owners shifting to layer production when their farms were affected by African swine fever [ASF],” it said.

“Hog feed demand will remain flat throughout 2022 due to the continued damaging effects of ASF on the local hog herd. There have been additional outbreaks in areas around Luzon which were previously the country’s top-producing provinces.”

Envoys&Expats BusinessMirror

B4

Thursday, September 23, 2021

PHL, France reaffirm alliance in 2nd political consultations

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HE Philippines and France renewed commitments to deepen bilateral cooperation in various fields, as officials from both sides convened virtually for their second round of political consultations on September 16.

The Philippine delegation, led by Foreign Affairs Acting Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and Asean Affairs Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro and the French side, represented by the Ministry for Europe-Foreign Affairs Director for Asia and Oceania Bertrand Lortholary, shared updates on developments in their respective countries, particularly on their national vaccination strategies, the importance of harnessing multilateral cooperation during the ongoing global health crisis, and exploring a bilateral agreement on health cooperation.

Lazaro conveyed the country’s

appreciation to the French government for facilitating the transfer of a Filipino national from Afghanistan, and discussed the Philippines’s priorities as coordinator of Asean-EU relations for 2021 to 2024, as well as ways to maximize the Asean-France Development Partnership.

The two sides also reviewed outcomes of the recently concluded ninth Philippine-France Joint Economic Committee meeting, and discussed ways to bolster bilateral economic cooperation despite the pandemic. They likewise underscored the significance of upholding freedom of navigation and over-

ACTING Undersecretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro (from top left, clockwise), Director Bertrand Lortholary, Ambassador Michèle Boccoz and Assistant Secretary Jaime Victor Ledda DFA-OEA

flight, then pointed out the value of the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention, with emphasis on the importance of concluding an effective and substantive Code of Conduct.

Both sides also looked forward to organizing a series of local-based events to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of PhilippineFrench diplomatic relations in 2022.

Lazaro was joined by European Affairs Assistant Secretary Jaime Victor Ledda, Asean Affairs Assistant Secretary and incoming ambassador of the Philippines to France Junever Mahilum-West, Chargé d’Affaires Aileen Mendiola-Rau of the Philippine Embassy in Paris, and Commercial Counselor Froilan Pamintuan of the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Paris.

France will host the next round of bilateral consultations.

France, UK seek Asean’s support to protect lands, oceans by 2030 R

ESPONDING to the planet’s unprecedented rate of biodiversity loss, France and the United Kingdom are seeking the support of the Asean in calling for more ambitious international action to protect terrestrial and marine habitats all over the world.

In the “Better Understanding of the 30x30 Target (Protected and Conserved Area Management)” virtual roundtable on September 9 organized jointly by the British Embassy-Manila, the Embassy of France to the Philippines and to Micronesia, as well as the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), speakers from government and civil-society organizations underscored the urgency of protecting at least 30 percent of the Earth’s lands, and at least 30 percent of the global ocean by 2030—known as the “30x30 target”—in an effort to abate the loss of habitats which threatens the existence of at least 1 million plant and animal species all over the world.

During the virtual event, Maldives Minister of State for Environment Dr. Abdulla Naseer, as well as Coordinator of the Republic of Palau’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Environment Gwendalyn Sisior, shared their respective countries’ best practices in biodiversity conservation and marine protection.

Later, Dr. Madhu Rao, senior advisor at the Wildlife Conservation Society, presented the benefits of the 30x30 target to the region.

Experts cited evidence—including a 2020 report drafted by more than 100 economists and scientists—which highlighted ways the economic benefits of protecting at least 30 percent of terrestrial and

marine habitats would outweigh the financial costs, and could therefore provide benefits for both biodiversity conservation and people.

‘Ambitious, achievable’

FRANCE, UK, and Costa Rica are leading the call for a global 30x30 target to be included within the post2020 Global Biodiversity Framework that will be concluded at the upcoming 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15). To raise global support for this target, the UK leads the Global Ocean Alliance of countries in support of a target to protect at least 30 percent of the global oceans by 2030. The UK is also ocean cochair, alongside France and Costa Rica, of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, which champions the 30x30 target for both land and ocean.

“The science-based 30x30 target is an ambitious, but achievable goal,” said Ambassador of France to the Philippines Michèle Boccoz. “While each country is encouraged to set and work toward their own targets, the success of this initiative lies in reaching the common objective of 30 percent of protected lands and oceans by 2030 at the global level, as each country makes a contribution to the best of their resources and capacities.”

Asean member-countries—home to among the world’s richest and yet, most threatened biodiversity

hotspots—have been encouraged to join nearly 90 countries that have already indicated their support for a global 30x30 target via the Global Ocean Alliance and the High Ambition Coalition for Nature & People.

Ambassador-designate of the UK to the Philippines Laure Beaufils described the virtual roundtable as an important milestone to highlight the scientific evidence showing that protecting at least 30 percent of the ocean will help to reverse adverse ecological impacts, preserve fish populations, and increase resilience to climate change: “It was also an important opportunity for Asean countries to share their experiences, and consider committing to protect 30 percent of the ocean by 2030 through the Global Ocean Alliance.”

Beaufils added, “The UK, as president of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference, believes ambitious, bold and real-world commitments and actions are needed now on climate change…Nature should be at [their core].”

Land, marine-area protection

“PROTECTED areas and other effective area-based management measures can be effective tools to conserve and enhance both…terrestrial and marine biodiversity that underpins our resilience and survival,” ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita Lim said during the roundtable discussion.

Moreover, Lim underscored that

concerted action from all governments and across all sectors in society are essential in achieving a globally agreed ambitious and science-based 30x30 target—particularly in ensuring that benefits derived from ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as nature’s contribution to people, are sustained, especially for countries that are most vulnerable.

“Subregional and regional cooperation, ...international partnerships and cross-sectoral cooperation, [as well as] adequate financing, however, will be necessary for the effective implementation and eventually, toward the achievement of the global goal for area-based protection,” the ACB official furthered. “This was the clear message that resonated in the panel discussion.”

Citing validated figures from the World Database on Protected Areas and the Asean memberstates through the ACB as of August 2021, ACB Director of Programme Development and Implementation Clarissa Arida said they have collectively established the protection for 15.56 percent of terrestrial protected and conserved areas, as well as 3.88 percent of coastal and marine areas. Some countries have actually exceeded the 2020 targets for percent coverage.

“Protected and conserved areas remain to be the foundation of safeguarding biodiversity and helping maintain ecological balance,” Arida averred. “As…Asean’s population of 661 million people are highly dependent on rich and healthy natural ecosystems, protected and conserved areas are important in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”

China donates medical supplies to Ilocos Norte

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HE Chinese government recently donated medical supplies—including oxygen concentrators and oxygen cylinders—to support Ilocos Norte’s battle against the pandemic.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila, through the Chinese Consulate in

Laoag, turned over the donations to the provincial government in a virtual ceremony.

“China and the Philippines have always helped and supported each other during trying times,” the embassy said, quoting Ambassador Huang Xilian.

“At the most difficult moment in China’s antipandemic fight last year, the Philippines was among the first to provide relief goods to China.

Governor Matthew Manotoc extended the province’s gratitude to China, as he expressed “soli-

darity” with the Chinese people.

“Ambassador Huang reassured that the Chinese Embassy and Consulate would continue to provide more needed support to the province of Ilocos Norte, and the Philippines at large,” the embassy said. Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA

www.businessmirror.com.ph

US Embassy welcomes new chargé d’affaires

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HE United States’ Embassy recently announced that Heather Variava will be its new chargé d’affaires, ad interim (CDA a.i.), as she succeeds former Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) John Law. “It is a privilege and an honor to assume charge of our large and busy mission in the Philippines,” said Variava, who will be serving in Manila for the next three years. “I look forward to strengthening the broad and deep relationships we have here.

While we are not yet free of the pandemic, I am committed to partnering with the government and people of the Philippines to face challenges together.”

Variava, who has been a member of the US Foreign Service since 1996, steered her country’s embassy in Indonesia and its consulates through the first year of the pandemic, and supported the US strategic partnership in Indonesia as CDA and DCM. Before her posting at the US Embassy in Jakarta, she was the US consul general in Surabaya from 2015 to 2018.

The CDA a.i. also served as the US Department of State’s director of the Office of Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan in the

VARIAVA

Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. She has worked in Mumbai, India; Port Louis, Mauritius; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Variava completed a fellowship in executive leadership with the International Women’s Forum in 2014, and earned a Master’s degree in national security strategy from the National War College in Washington, D.C. in 2012. She also has degrees in journalism from the University of Missouri, and in international relations from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. She and her husband have two sons. Her full bio is at: https://ph.usembassy. gov/our-relationship/our-ambassador/.

Poland’s goal: Overcoming the economic legacy of WW2

By Beata Daszyńska-Muzyczka

President, Management Board of Poland’s Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego

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OLAND is one of those countries that suffered the greatest losses in the course of the 20th Century. Six million Poles were killed during World War 2 (WW2). As compensation for its Eastern borderlands, it was given the ruined regions of Silesia and Pomerania.

In the public’s mind, the utter tragedy of the last great war overshadows the fact that it was World War 1 that had already left Poland as one of the most destroyed countries in the world; its industries laid in tatters.

Following the second global conflict, Poland was cut off by the “Iron Curtain.” The imposition of Communism by the Soviet Union prevented it from participating in the great economic boom that swept across the West up to the 1970s. As the realities of post-war Poland made it impossible to continue the legacy of its Underground State, the country missed out on experiencing its own version of les trentes glorieuses in France, or the Italian dolce vita.

The great human and economic cost of Poland’s experiences with two totalitarian regimes is irreversible. Therefore, on the anniversary of the outbreak of WW2, we should not focus so much on settling past scores as reflected on the future of our country.

Poland is facing a great task of unlocking its full growth potential. This requires a fresh approach to developing all of its regions. Such revolutionary thinking about ways to harness the potential of regional Poland is present in the Strategic Investment Program implemented together with the government by the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. Under the program, local governments can obtain investment subsidies from the state on an unprecedented scale.

The fall of Poland at the end of the 18th Century meant that it could not draft a strategic plan to develop its provincial regions in the next 100 years. A qualitative change in that respect did not take place until the construction of the Central Industrial Region in the 1930s. However, all that effort was scuppered by the outbreak of the war and then later by the post-

Daszyńska-Muzyczka

war Communist government that punished those regions where antiCommunist partisans were active long after the war ended. Such was the case of Podlasie.

Today—thanks to the ambitious investment policy targeting roads, railways and aviation—Polish regions are increasingly interconnected and can develop uniformly.

According to prepandemic data, Poland is visited by about 20 million tourists each year, but its total annual capacity amounts to about 100 million. Thus, tourism presents our economy with a major avenue for growth—albeit, one that is still not fully used.

Even in Poland, few people know that the Ogrodzieniec Castle, which was owned by the Boner family of merchants and bankers, harbored ambitions of competing with the castle of Wawel. The rebuilt castles in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland that are at a par with the Krzyżtopór castle, should serve a globally recognized symbol of Poland taking pride in its history and heritage. The renovation of historic buildings is an excellent way of bringing new life to local communities that feel proud of their roots and get a new source of income through the development of tourism.

In addition to its rich and interesting history, Poland boasts of beautiful, awe-inspiring natural sites. This represents a great opportunity for regions such as Podlasie that were heavily underinvested under Communism. Thanks to the ambitious investment policy, the area may become a newly discovered tourism gem of Poland and of Europe that is eager to get closer to nature. Every region of Poland has such unique potential waiting to be exploited and shown to the rest of the world.

To achieve this, we need to act and make wise decisions on investing in the development of infrastructure, culture and local communities. I believe all of that is ahead of us.

Parentlife BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Thursday, September 23, 2021

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Facebook has known long that Instagram is bad for teens Here are the harms researchers have been documenting for years Kultura Makati, Aura get a design refresh INSPIRED by nature, nostalgia and tropical getaways, the new look of Kultura stores at SM Makati and SM Aura welcomes shoppers with an enhanced shopping experience.

The store’s design refresh highlights natural elements, textures and calming colors that showcase the artistry of locally made finds. Display setups at the store’s focal points both for home and fashion highlight merchandise that give inspiration to customers to recreate cozy corners in their own spaces.

With more and more people today looking for inspiration within their homes, these warmer neutral tones create a sanctuary in their personal spaces that reflect travels, the sea, and distant shores.

Experience the fresh, new look of Kultura and discover locally made finds from resort wear for that summer feel beyond the season, to Filipiniana formals for intimate events and accessories; from homegrown snacks to wellness products; as well as exquisite collection for the home and more.

Kultura ships here and abroad. Call 0917-5174096 and a personal shopper will be glad to assist.

Create rustic tablescapes at home with acacia dinnerware and help support the Pampangueño artisans behind them.

Kultura’s plethora of products showcasing the artistry and craftsmanship of Filipino artisans can be shipped here and abroad.

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By Christia Spears Brown University of Kentucky

AECEBOOK officials had internal research in March 2020 showing that Instagram— the social-media platform most used by adolescents—is harmful to teen girls’ body image and well-being but swept those findings under the rug to continue conducting business as usual, according to a September 14, 2021, Wall Street Journal report.

Facebook’s policy of pursuing profits regardless of documented harm has sparked comparisons to Big Tobacco, which knew in the 1950s that its products were carcinogenic but publicly denied it into the 21st century. Those of us who study social media use in teens didn’t need a suppressed internal research study to know that Instagram can harm teens. Plenty of peer-reviewed research papers show the same thing.

Understanding the impact of social media on teens is important because almost all teens go online daily.

A Pew Research Center poll shows that 89 percent of teens report they are online “almost constantly” or “several times a day.”

Teens are more likely to log on to Instagram than any other social-media site. It is a ubiquitous part of adolescent life. Yet studies consistently show that the more often teens use Instagram, the worse their overall well-being, self-esteem, life satisfaction, mood and body image. One study found that the more college students used Instagram on any given day, the worse their mood and life satisfaction was that day.

UNHEALTHY COMPARISONS BUT Instagram isn’t problematic simply because it is popular. There are two key features of Instagram that seem to make it particularly risky. First, it allows users to follow both celebrities and peers, both of whom can present a manipulated, filtered picture of an unrealistic body along with a highly curated impression of a perfect life.

While all social media allows users to be selective in what they show the world, Instagram is notorious for its photo editing and filtering capabilities. Plus, that is the platform popular among celebrities, models and influencers. Facebook has been relegated to the uncool soccer moms and grandparents. For teens, this seamless integration of celebrities and retouched versions of real-life peers presents a ripe environment for upward social comparison, or comparing yourself to someone who is “better” in some respect.

Humans, as a general rule, look to others to know how to fit in and judge their own lives. Teens are especially vulnerable to these social comparisons. Just about everyone can remember worrying about fitting in in high school. Instagram exacerbates that worry.

It is hard enough to compare yourself to a supermodel who looks fantastic (albeit filtered); it can be even worse when the filtered comparison is Natalie down the hall. Negatively comparing themselves to others leads people to feel envious of others’ seemingly better lives and bodies. Recently, researchers even tried to combat this effect by reminding Instagram users that the posts were unrealistic.

It didn’t work. Negative comparisons, which were nearly impossible to stop, still led to envy and lowered self-esteem. Even in studies in which participants knew the photos they were shown on Instagram were retouched and reshaped, adolescent girls still felt worse about their bodies after viewing them. For girls who tend to make a lot of social comparisons, these

effects are even worse.

OBJECTIFICATION AND BODY IMAGE INSTAGRAM is also risky for teens because its emphasis on pictures of the body leads users to focus on how their bodies look to others. Our research shows that for teen girls—and increasingly teen boys—thinking about their own bodies as the object of a photo increases worrying thoughts about how they look to others, and that leads to feeling shame about their bodies. Just taking a selfie to be posted later makes them feel worse about how they look to others.

Being an object for others to view doesn’t help the “selfie generation” feel empowered and sure of themselves—it can do exactly the opposite. These

are not insignificant health concerns, because body dissatisfaction during the teen years is a powerful and consistent predictor of later eating disorder symptoms.

Facebook has acknowledged internally what researchers have been documenting for years: Instagram can be harmful to teens. Parents can help by repeatedly talking to their teens about the difference between appearance and reality, by encouraging their teens to interact with peers face-toface, and to use their bodies in active ways instead of focusing on the selfie.

The big question will be how Facebook handles these damaging results. History and the courts have been less than forgiving of the head-in-the-sand approach of Big Tobacco. THE CONVERSATION

Beloved cake and gelato brand is now open for takeout, delivery MOST known for its scrumptious cakes and flavorful gelato selections, the well-loved Cara Mia (www.caramia. ph) offers what many proclaim to be “The Best Ube Cake in Town.” While the Classic Ube Cake takes center stage among its selection of cakes, some of the other best-selling flavors include the Pistaccio Cioccolato, a chocolate chiffon cake layered with pistachio filling and topped with deep dark chocolate, and the Mango Magnifico, which offers refreshing mangoes in whipped cream with cashew brittles in light chiffon.

On top of offering some of the best cakes in the Metro, the cake and gelato brand beloved by families­—which now comes to Shangri-La Plaza (www.facebook.com/ shangrilaplazaofficial)—is also home to delicious Italian gelato that come in decadent flavors like Pistachio, Coffee Mudslide, and Chocolate Therapy, as well as in fruity flavors like Strawberry Supreme, Mango Cream Pie, and Blueberry Cheesecake all available in pints and tubs.

“Cara Mia is thrilled to be part of the Shang community and be more accessible to our customers in the area. We’re

proud to say that Cara Mia has been bringing joy to many celebrations for more than a decade now, and we’re looking forward to brightening up more homes this year as we open a new branch at Shang,” says Philip Moran, chief operating officer.

Cara Mia’s signature cakes and gelato come to Shangri-La Plaza.

Teaching financial literacy the Tanghalang Pilipino way

WHEN I was a junior in high school, I was introduced to the world of theater. It was funny how my Filipino teacher asked me to audition. I was hesitant and true enough, I was politely rejected—but was also offered the position of stage manager.

I never knew I would love it so much so that I was given the chance to write and direct my own Filipino play, called Salamin, on my senior year. I was introduced to the prestige of one day joining Tanghalang Pilipino.

This is why when I heard about this partnership, I got excited about it.

The world leader in digital payments, Visa, and

Tanghalang Pilipino (TP), the multi-awarded resident theater company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), are launching a new version of their financial literacy-themed play Lukot-Lukot, Bilog-Bilog (LLBB).

The five-episode web series is being streamed for free starting this month.

Launched in 2017 as an interactive musical that is supported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), LLBB features the story of teenager Gwyneth as she struggles to handle her finances and learns the value of proper financial management with help from her family and friends, and some Filipino heroes brought to life.

“It’s important to teach young Filipinos how to make smart financial decisions and Lukot-Lukot, Bilog-Bilog has been extremely successful in helping us achieve this objective. This year, we wanted to create new stories that are relevant in the new normal, while making the play still educational and entertaining. We are excited to partner again with our trusted allies in financial education such as Tanghalang Pilipino and Teach for the Philippines to introduce the web series, to expand our outreach to more Filipino children and young people in the country,” said Dan Wolbert, Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam.

Written by Eljay Castro Deldoc and directed by Avic Ilagan, the new LLBB stories feature five web episodes that focus on various financial topics such as the concept of promotional sales, value of saving, basics of credit, earning additional income, and scam awareness and prevention.

The protagonist is Gwyneth, a teenage girl who will embark on a journey to financial literacy with guidance from characters like Lolo Sally and best friend Jing-Jing.

The new web series also introduces new roles such as Gwyneth’s mother Blessie and friend-turned-admirer Aaron, with special appearances by Philippine national heroes and cultural icons.

Well-known financial literacy experts Salve Duplito and Rose Fres Fausto are also featured in the after-show interviews with Lolo Sally to enlighten the audience by providing financial education tips. Through their helpful insights and easy-to-apply tips, viewers will gain a deeper understanding of financial literacy concepts and gain better money management skills.

With Filipinos relying heavily on digital platforms to access media and entertainment, the web series is accessible through the social-media sites of Tanghalang Pilipino (Facebook and YouTube) and its other non-profit organization

partner for children’s education, Teach for the Philippines (www.facebook.com/teachforthephilippines). It will also be showcased on Visa’s Facebook channel.

To reach remote parts of the country with limited access to the Internet, LLBB has also been adapted into a radio play which will air in local radio stations nationwide via the radio networks of Manila Broadcasting Co. and Cultural Center of the Philippines.

“We are thankful to partner again with Visa for the new LLBB stories. The success we had with the live performances of LLBB in theaters and on campuses showed how impactful theater is when it comes to education. The new LLBB web series will further prove that theater as a medium remains relevant and versatile to help not only the youths but viewers of all ages to become better in managing their finances,” said Carmela Millado-Manuel, Tanghalang Pilipino company manager.

Since its debut four years ago, LLBB has reached over 37,000 students and educators across the Philippines. Fans of the show can watch the original story again via Tanghalang Pilipino’s YouTube page.

For more information about Visa and LLBB, visit www. visa.com.ph.

PHOTO BY CRISTINA ZARAGOZA ON UNSPLASH

B6 Thursday, September 23, 2021

Give kids access to learning materials: Donate a book at The SM Store and get a P100 discount

ABS-CBN provides meals to Filipinos hit by Typhoon Jolina and the pandemic

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ESPITE the rains and the community quarantine, ABSCBN Foundation’s “Pantawid ng Pag-ibig: Pilipino Para sa Pilipino” continues to be there for Filipinos in need through the support of its donors and partners.

This September alone, over 2,000 Filipino families have already received relief goods composed of food packs, food products, and laundry kits. Among them were 836 families affected by Typhoon Jolina in Ternate and Kawit in Cavite, 450 families in Brgy. Barandal and Brgy. Dila in Laguna, 500 families and 300 senior citizens in Brgy. San Roque and Minuyan

II in Bulacan, 200 families in Brgy. San Isidro, Rodriguez Rizal, and 350 families in Sta. Ana, Manila.

A thousand individuals were also served with hot meals and bread products to avert hunger during this time of pandemic in Hagonoy, Taguig City and Brgy. Aguho, Pateros.

“Pantawig ng Pag-ibig” also came to help tricycle drivers in Brgy. Fortune in Marikina City who have been earning even less nowadays due to the limit in the passengers they can accommodate at a time.

Beth Capinig, the core leader of the Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Pamilya ng

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HE SM Store’s annual Donate A Book drive aims to bridge shoppers who wish to donate books and learning materials to disadvantaged children.

Since 2015, the program has collected and distributed 800,000 learning materials to public schools and youth organizations.

The SM Store accepts donations of preloved and new books until September 30, 2021. For every book donation, you will get a P100 discount voucher. Shoppers can also donate activity books from Learning Is Fun, and the company will donate the same number of books sold during the program period. School supplies and other learning materials for donations are also available at the Stationery Department of The SM Store.

It may seem like a small thing, but your contributions will go a long way. Here’s how your donations can help: It will help kids open their minds to new knowledge. Children from poor communities have limited access to age-appropriate books.

Your donation will give them access to books and learning materials and help them open their minds to a new world of knowledge.

It will stimulate children’s creativity.

Learning from your donated books will enable other kids to see beyond and spark their imagination to create and build. You will help them by opening their minds to possibilities.

Give your favorite books a second life.

Books are most valuable when shared and read by many children. So, share the preloved books that inspired you, boosted your confidence, and transported you to places and adventures. Who knows, sharing your pre-loved favorite books will be the first step for other kids to develop the habit and love for reading.

Motivate kids to learn. Donating learning materials and school supplies will ease the burden for unfortunate children during these most difficult times. Let The SM Store’s Donate A Book be your way of supporting other kids in their school work.

The SM Store’s Donate A Book is one way to help young learners during this time.

Each donation will be sanitized, packed and distributed to partner schools and communities. Share the joy of learning, give kids access to books. Visit participating The SM Store branches nationwide. https://bit.ly/ SMDonateABook.

Pantawid in their area, who told ABSCBN Foundation about their plight.

“Humaharap sila sa kondiyson na talaga namang isinusuong nila 'yung buhay nila. Siguro kailangan din silang i-bless.

Napakahirap nilang kumita. Halos 'di nga makasapat para sa pagkain pang arawaraw,” she said.

ABS-CBN Foundation continues to accept help from donors and partner organizations to serve more Filipinos whose livelihoods are affected by the pandemic. For more details on how to donate, visit www.abs-cbnfoundation.com or the official Facebook page of ABS-CBN Foundation (@abscbnfoundationinc).

Celebrating 9 years of redefining beauty via aesthetic treatments, lifestyle theraphies, and preventive medicine

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UMINISCE Holistic Skin Innovations opened its doors in 2012 with its founder at the helm, Dr. Kaycee Reyes (who eventually added Bacani to her name after marrying architect-entrepreneur Nico Bacani). Since then, Luminisce began upholding standard of beauty that it continues to redefine today: to look well, you have to be well.

The boutique clinic welcomes beauty and wellness seekers from all ages so that they can experience the latest in global skin, body, and fitness solutions, with every treatment individualized to meet their specific needs and goals. Dr. Kaycee and her expert team of dermatologists and aestheticians patiently studies the patient’s medical history to give treatments that are designed to be more than skin deep— not just about physical enhancements.

Moreover, the center offers a curation of

DR. KAYCEE Reyes-Bacani

world-class services that often combines aesthetic treatments like cutting-edge lasers and anti-aging technologies, along with wellness therapies like lifestyle programs and preventive medicine practices.

Dr. Kaycee is a graduate of the University of Sto. Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Dr. Kaycee completed her Diploma in Dermatology from the King’s College in London and received a Master of Science Degree in Clinical Dermatology from St. John’s Institute of Dermatology at Guy’s & St. Thomas Hospital, also in the U.K. She then became a visiting fellow in Dermatologic Laser Surgery both in Thailand and in Singapore.

Dr. Kaycee most recently completed her Master of Science in Preventive and Regenerative Medicine at Dresden International University in Germany specializing in Well-Aging and Regenerative

Medicine. This brought the creation of Luminisce’s preventive medicine branch, Sol Revive.

“To give you optimum results, we combine aesthetic treatments with preventive regenerative medicine practices,” says Dr. Kaycee, highlighting her clinic’s distinct edge and proof of its readiness to constantly evolve and grow.

In 2020, with most of their clientele at home, Luminisce extended the beauty and wellness experience through AtHome Kits that allows anyone to enjoy Luminisce’s facials, peels, and skincare products wherever they are. And just this year, Innosense was launched—a line of anti-inflammatory food and juices that support the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.

As Luminisce marks its ninth year, Dr. Kaycee also goes digital with her new YouTube channel, Luminisce by Doc Kaycee, with showbiz’s Legaspi family (Zoren, Carmina, Cassy and Mavy) joining her on the topic, “How do you practice self-care?”

“We know the past year has been difficult for all of us, and so we want to spread some joy in the best way we know how: by taking care of you and your skin,” says Dr. Kaycee. After all, today’s extraordinary times all the more underscore the importance of self-care, and why holistic wellness is here to stay.

Meanwhile, the Luminisce Grand 9, 9-Day Anniversary Flash Sale is happening from October 8 to 17, 2021. For 9 days, get 9 exciting freebies or offers when you avail of either 9 signature treatments, 9 products, or anything related to 9.

For more information, visit http:// luminisce.com/ and Luminisce’s social media accounts: @luminisce (Facebook), @ luminisce_official (Instagram). https://l.facebook.com/l. php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdrive.google.co m%2Fdrive%2Ffolders%2F1WCDeD2J9x Ab-6rTZ8hWvgPI7HIM3XWdy%3Fusp% 3Dsharing%26fbclid%3DIwAR2C5Q3O wyIsi24O7ijmec0XqIDALxNtbr4F1-8DfpXo_rWKvGbLrO7vCA&h=AT1wBkR9s8 4V638Wkzgt2Elnu8Ad9wsg2WhcGR6L4 lgMsQ_8LYgDojnoBxQagKc4gclXL9FYAx WDPrD_M4_ZmoypMgGCACt9kkiDCw

PLDT is the Philippines‘ Most Outstanding Telco

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LDT Inc. clinched the Most Outstanding Company in the Philippines award under the Telecommunications Services Sector category of Asiamoney’s 2021 Outstanding Companies Poll.

Over 1,071 fund managers, analysts, bankers and ratings agencies took part in the voting. In total, over 5,787 votes were received for publicly listed companies across 13 markets in Asia.

The largest and fully integrated telecommunications company in the Philippines was lauded for excelling in areas such as financial performance, management team excellence, IR (investor relations) activities, and CSR (corporate

social responsibility) activities.

Founded in 1989, Asiamoney is a leading financial magazine in the region, focused on investment and private banking, digitalization of banking, and fintech. The publication is an affiliate of other key capital markets publications from the Euromoney Institutional Investor Group.

Over the years, PLDT has topped Asiamoney’s annual polls in multiple categories. The company has been named as the Philippines’ Best Managed Company and recognized for being the Best in Investor Relations, Financial Management, Corporate Strategy, Stakeholder Value Focus, and Operational Efficiency.

Editor: Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

Health&Fitness BusinessMirror

Covid-19 in the provinces: How are the LGUs doing?

By Rory Visco Contributor

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he National Capital Region (NCR) and some provinces within its immediate perimeter remains to be the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic for the past year and a half. Understandably, the focus of extensive Covid-19 management efforts is on this region, the economic—and political—capital of the country.

But how about in the provinces where there are increases in the number of cases, high positivity rates, and hospitals being overwhelmed and congested? Are they coping with their meager resources?

Is Cagayan Valley coping?

For Dr. Rio Magpantay, Director IV, Cagayan Valley Center for Health Development, every day at Cagayan Valley, composed of five provinces (Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino), is a challenge for everyone, especially health workers.

As of September 16, 2021, there are 88,679 confirmed cases, with 2,676 deaths, 9,111 active cases and 76,682 recoveries. It has a record-high 32.8 percent positivity rate in the region, with 122 Delta variant cases in the provinces, except Batanes. Healthcare and ICU utilization rate is at 85.98 percent and 88.83 percent, respectively, heading towards critical stage.

Overall, the region is under Alert Level 4 already.

Testing capacity is now at 4,442 a day with five molecular laboratories in the region, but there are challenges. The Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) areas have difficult or no access to RT-PCR labs, limited RT-PCR and Antigen testing kits, shortage of laboratory staff due to Covid-19 infections, and only Cagayan and Isabela have molecular laboratories.

Vaccination coverage, on the other hand, is at 16.54 percent of the targeted 70 percent of the 2.6 million population. The region employed innovative solutions to improve vaccination, like the “Flying Vaccination Teams” from the regional office staff that assists in areas with very low vaccination coverage, the “Resbakuna on Wheels” of the Department of Health (DOH) together with the “Bakuna Bus” of the Philippine Red Cross. “We hope to get more vaccines and assemble more vaccination teams, but we are coping by employing innovations, specifically on the Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat, Reintegrate Plus (PDITR+),” explains Dr. Magpantay.

“We have learned to capacitate and work with everyone, including the community, involved in the fight against the pandemic.

The most important thing now is how we get together to win this battle,” he said.

Cebu—looking back

As for Cebu City, Dr. Bryan Albert Lim, Infectious Disease Specialist at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Hospital in Cebu City, said they experienced three Covid-19 surges.

Last year, he admitted they still had things to learn on how to cope and adapt with the virus. “We were put on ECQ twice so we didn’t waste time and thought of various innovations.”

Though the arrival of the Delta variant caught them off-guard, Dr. Lim credited the synergy, clarity of purpose and collaboration between the national agencies, the local government units and private sector in dealing with the third surge.

Key was the establishment of an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Manual for Covid-19 on how to collect data to design and implement data-driven “culturally sensitive” policies. There’s also “Bayanihan Cebu” that involves various stakeholders to ensure that Covid-19 infected people are taken care of. There is also Project Balik Buhay, a vaccination program

where employees, whether on the enterprise or small business levels, are vaccinated to stop the spread of Covid-19 in industries.

Next steps for Cebu, Dr. Lim said, is on setting up a multi-sector resiliency plan, close collaboration with the business sector to balance health and economy and educating the masses and consumers using an app that indicates which establishments are deemed safe, especially for tourists. “In the new norm, infection control is the new brand.”

Keep an eye on Iligan

Speaking on the Iligan situation as a healthcare worker, frontliner and clinician, Dr. Leonell Quitos, Internal Medicine Adult Infectious Diseases Fellow in Iligan City, Lanao Del Norte in Northern Mindanao, Iligan City is still at high risk, with an Average Daily Attack Rate (ADAR) of 10.9 percent, and two-week growth rate of 26.19 percent. Death rate is at 7.36 percent, which he attributed to lack of testing, while bed occupancy rate is at 94.11 percent.

With more than 370,000 residents, Dr. Quitos admitted they have scarce resources, few are vaccinated, many people choose to remain at home for fear of the stigma of being a Covid-19 positive case. Also, regarding testing, while a molecular laboratory was set up at Gregorio T. Lluch Memorial Hospital, it is still not operational at this time. “If this had been operational, we can test early, we can treat early so that outcome would be better.”

There’s also low vaccination coverage of 11.78 percent in Iligan City but fortunately, there were no deaths as a result of breakthrough i n fec t ions a mong v acc i n ated healthcare workers. “What we need now are more Covid-19 beds, manpower, life-saving equipment, our own testing center, and increased vaccination rollout.”

The Sulu situation

Dr. Fahra Tan-Omar, Chief of Hospital, Sulu Provincial Hospital, said as of September 16, 2021, there are 695 confirmed cases, 21 of which are active, 650 have recovered with 24 deaths. RT-PCR testing is done at the Zamboanga City Medical Center, but there is a newly-built RT-PCR laboratory at the Sulu Provincial Hospital waiting for a license to operate.

Vaccination started in March 2021, where 159,170 shots were received by the province. All healthcare workers are fully vaccinated, 15 percent of seniors, 86 percent of adu lts w it h comorbid ities, seven percent of essential workers, where 12 percent of the total population are fully vaccinated.

There were 28 breakthrough infections, majority are asymptomatic with no hospitalizations.

Though Sulu is under direct supervision of the Ministry of Health of the Bangsa Moro Autonomous R eg ion i n Mu sl i m M i nd a n ao (BARMM), Dr. Tan-Omar credits the local government units for their support in terms of providing venues, tables, chairs, including food and water for healthcare workers and volunteers during vaccination.

“During the early stages, we had no access to test kits, doctors were cramming to update themselves, no ICU, cannot refer to highertier hospitals, PPEs were limited to face masks and gloves, oxygen shortage, and refusal to bury the dead without Muslim rites, and no molecular laboratory yet in the province.”

She credited the Sulu provincial government and the Sulu IATF for addressing these challenges as they sought help from the DOH for assistance. “The local governments listened to us, distributed ayuda, even the police helped in various ways, the doctors updated themselves, Muslim religious leaders also helped on how to bury the dead without religious rites. The Regional Health Units were very helpful to us.”

Thursday, September 23, 2021 B7

Medication adherence, compliance key to battling blood clots–experts

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

I

n 2019, Ramonito Saturno was on his way back to the Philippines from Jeddah when the person seated next to him inside the airplane noticed that he was “restless.”

When the plane landed, Saturno was immediately rushed to the airport clinic before he was transferred to a hospital for surgery.

Dr. Bimbo Diaz of the Philippine Society of Hypertension (PSH), Saturno’s physician, recalled that an emergency surgery had to be performed after the patient suffered a “malignant stroke.”

Saturno, 56, is a stroke survivor and is already making a full recovery.

“Nakakakilos na ako, tumutulong sa paglinis ng bahay, paghugas ng pinggan [Now I can move, help clean the house, and wash the dishes],” Saturno said during the Menarini Asia-Pacific virtual media forum on thrombosis, or blood clots, over the weekend. This effort is in line with company’s initiative to raise awareness among people who are affected by blood clots or who are at increased risk of getting them.

Dr. Marcellus Ramirez of the Philippine Heart Rhythm Society led the discussion on thrombosis and atrial fibrillation—two factors that need to be considered to detect and prevent the risk of stroke happening to a patient.

With the month of September declared “Atrial Fibrillation [AF] Awareness Month,” Dr. Ramirez also took time out to discuss the disorder which is also known as a type of “arrhythmia” or irregular heartbeat.

Arrhythmia is caused by the uncoordinated pumping of the upper and lower chambers of the heart.

People suffering from AF can develop clots in the upper chambers. These “irregular” clots can circulate and cause blockages in

the veins, and if it reaches the major arteries of important organs, this could lead to heart attack and stroke.

The condition can develop in patients who are above 70 years old, have a pre-existing heart, kidney, or lung diseases, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Thyroid problems, sleep apnea, and metabolic syndrome can also cause AF.

Thrombosis

Thrombosis, or blood clotting, is a normal body function that prevents excessive bleeding due to a ruptured vein. This happens when platelets mix with a blood plasma protein called “ fibrin” which coagulates blood to form a thin membrane to cover the area of the ruptured vein.

Clots usually dissolve overtime as the injured area heals.

However, there are patients who suffer from irregular heart movements that could abnormally cause clotting which could result in fatal conditions.

These types of clots can travel to important organs and block the normal circulatory flow, thus disrupting their functions. This “moving” blood clot is called embolism and if left undetected, could lead to death.

Thrombosis can trigger a series of life-threatening conditions, including heart attack and stroke. A patient can develop blood clots if they are of old age, pregnant, obese, or smoking.

It can also happen to people suffering from hypercoagulability of the blood, has increased estrogen levels, experienced severe injuries or trauma to the body due to surgery or even cancer. It can also be hereditary.

AF-related stroke

According to the Department of Health and the Food and Nutrition Research Institute, AF is common among Filipinos over the age of

70 years old. It poses a threat as it puts a patient at a higher risk for stroke.

Since clots can happen to people suffering from AF, the deposits can sometimes reach the brain.

That is why AF puts them at risk for stroke. Dr. Johnny Lokin of the Stroke Society of the Philippines discussed how clots can stop the blood f low to your brain and possibly cause a stroke.

Stroke, or “ brain attack,” is the third leading cause of death, next to heart diseases and cancer, in the Philippines in 2020, according to the survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Over 99,000 deaths were caused by stroke last year, a 2.3 percent jump from 2019, which had over 97,000 deaths reported.

AF creates thrombosis that is pumped to the brain, blocking major arteries that carry oxygenated blood, which is crucial for brain function. It is estimated that onefourth of all strokes after the age of 40 are caused by AF. This condition is called, “ischemic stroke.”

About 87 percent of all strokes are ischemic.

The brain cells and tissues can die within minutes due to the lack of oxygen and nutrients. Since a patient suffers from atrial fibrillation, the clots caused by AF clogs the arteries, resulting in fatal brain malfunction.

Thrombotic stroke (stroke via blood clotting) would manifest in one or more “mini-strokes” called transient ischemic attacks (TIAs).

TIAs may last for a few minutes or up to 24 hours and are often a warning sign that a stroke may occur. Despite this, AF-caused strokes can be prevented by taking anticoagulant (blood-thinning) medication.

Preventing stroke

Dr. Lokin said that living a healthy lifestyle and controlled salt intake will help prevent stroke.

UN agencies construct toilets in far-flung Mindanao towns

T

oilets are a necessity and a clean one is essential for people’s health.

For 21-year-old Sohairah Abdulbadi, she had to walk for about 200 meters and wait in line just to go to the toilet.

Abdulbadi stays in an evacuation center beside the public market of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, and the nearest toilet is at Masjid Dimaukom, also known as the Pink Mosque.

“It is difficult for me because of my condition,” said Abdulbadi, putting her hand on her belly. She was pregnant with her first child.

“The line is always long. So many people were using the toilet.”

On March, 2021, armed conflict broke out between government soldiers and members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). Abdulbadi and her family had to leave their home in Kitango village, about three kilometers away from the municipal hall of Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

At the peak of the recent incident in Maguindanao, the evacuation center sheltered 669 families.

In response to the needs of the evacuees, United Nations, United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), together with its implementing partner, Mindanao Organization for Social and Economic Progress (MOSEP), built six latrines in the evacuation center.

From the makeshift house where Abdulbadi is staying, the nearest latrine is about 30 meters away, and she doesn’t have to fall in line, especially on days when the armed conflict subsides and some evacuees return to their

homes temporarily.

“We are thankful to Unicef for giving us some of our urgent needs,” says Abdulbadi. Unicef provided each family with a hygiene and dignity kit, which included a pail, a dipper, soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, sanitary pads, and other household items.

Rohanna Salik, the head of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, praises Unicef for the quick response.

“The evacuees arrived here on March 18. Unicef validated the information on March 19, and then partner organizations including the BARMM -MSSD (Bangsamoro Autonomous Reg ion i n Mu sl i m Mi nd a n ao Ministry of Social Services and Development) and the local government distributed the hygiene and dignity kits on March 20,” Salik said.

Zero open defecation

Under its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program, Unicef had been working with MOSEP in Maguindanao even before the recent armed conflict.

“We’ve been supporting the province’s zero open defecation program,” said Rasul Abdullah, Unicef ’s WASH officer.

“We provided trainings to all rural sanitary inspectors in the province of Maguindanao, and each month, we provide honorarium for 10 of them and mobilization support for 26 others so that they can reach even remote villages,” she added.

The construction of latrines in the evacuation center augmented the zero open defecation program.

“When the evacuees flocked here, the lack of toilets was a serious problem,” recalled Musib Gulo, the rural sanitary inspector of Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

“Some evacuees were forced to use plastic bags, so their excrement was not disposed of properly. The latrines are a big help,” he said adding that the latrines are emergency-type.”

The six squatting pit latrines are built in pairs, one for men and one for women, and distributed in the evacuation center.

Access to clean water

Unicef and MOSEP also ensured that the drinking water of the evacuees is clean and safe.

“We gave them jerrycans and water purification tablets. The water is rationed by the municipal government every morning.

It looks clean, but it’s not treated, and some of the evacuees got sick,” said Zalave Dinas, MOSEP’s WASH technical expert.

To ensure that the evacuees use the tablets properly, MOSEP, w ith 11 hygiene promoters, gathered the women in the municipal gymnasium and gave a demonstration.

“They go tent to tent and teach the families how to use the tablets. They also teach hygiene practices, such as proper garbage disposal and handwashing,” Dinas said.

MOSEP staff regularly monitor the quality of the water, both in the tents and at the source.

“We’re in the third round now of taking samples. We bring the samples to Cotabato City and check them for E. coli, which can cause diarrhea,” Dinas added.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

“B ag u hin ang d iet [C h a nge y o u r d i e t] ,” D r. L o k i n s a i d , stressing that those with maintenance medicines should religiously take their medicine.

Dr. R a m i rez, on t he ot her hand, lamented that some people are waiting to be ill first before addressing their situation.

A ccord i ng to t he Nat ion a l Stroke Association, thrombotic stroke is preventable through medication adherence and compliance.

Medication adherence, or the taking of medications correctly as prescribed by the doctor, is another integral aspect of blood clots management that many patients usually take for granted.

Adherence to medication is a key part of health care and affects all areas. Apart from compliance to medication, it involves following a recommended diet or implementing lifestyle changes t hat goes a long w it h med ica l advice.

According to the World Health Organization, adherence helps improve cases of at-risk patients because both the patient and the physician collaborate to improve the patient’s status by integrating the physician’s medical opinion and the patient’s lifestyle, values and preferences for care.

Physic i a ns a re adv ised to know the capacity of their patient to access the med icines they would need. This includes disclosing their financial ability and their access to a pharmacy at ever y appointment. Pharmacists should also help by explaining thoroughly to patients their refill programs, assistance, and generic medicine so that they are knowledgeable on their medication.

Thrombotic stroke can be prevented with enough knowledge on its causes and with a thorough medication program to help the body fight off any signs of it.

Expedite clinical trials on alternative Covid meds–BBM

F

ormer Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. has urged the government to fast-track ongoing clinical trials on alternative Covid-19 medicines in a bid to give patients cost-effective treatment options and lessen the dependence on expensive imported medicines for the coronavirus.

“If we expedite the availability of alternative local anti-Covid-19 medicines, we will be able to save more lives and we will no longer need to solely depend on imported medicnes,” Marcos said.

Marcos also underscored the country’s rich array of herbal medicinal plants that may treat or potentially cure Covid-19. He also stressed the need to speed up the clinical trials to save more lives.

“We are very rich when it comes to herbal medicinal plants that can possibly treat or even cure Covid-19. Let’s speed up these clinical trials so that we can save more lives,” he added.

He added that while the government is ramping up vaccination efforts, it should not waver in its commitment to find a locallymanufactured cure for Covid19.

According to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), there are three ongoing clinical trials on Lagundi, Tawa-tawa, and Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) as treatment or supportive therapy against Covid-19.

Institutions tasked to implement the trials are the Institute of Herbal Medicine, National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila for Lagundi, UP Visayas for Tawa-tawa, and UP Manila, and DOST-FNRI (Food and Nutrition Research Institute) for VCO. The DOST also said over the weekend that UP-PGH is expected to finish its clinical trials on VCO as a treatment for Covid-19 patients by month’s end.

An earlier trial in Sta. Rosa Laguna for VCO showed that patients who were administered with it recovered faster than those who did not receive it.

Marcos also welcomed the government’s move to conduct a clinical trial on the controversial horse deworming drug, Ivermectin. He said if proven effective, we may soon have a viable way to fight Covid19.

Sports

DONAIRE WELCOMES GABALLO FIGHT, BUT...

BusinessMirror

ARANETA

Araneta defers view on Fifa’s proposed biennial World Cup

P

HILIPPINE Football Federation (PFF) President Mariano “Nonong” Araneta withheld revealing whether or not he favors a biennial World Cup over the existing once in every four years format of the world’s second biggest sports event after the Summer Olympics.

“We’re still waiting for Fifa’s presentation before making any comment about it.,” Araneta told BusinessMirror on Wednesday. “I haven’t seen anything yet so I cannot comment for the meantime.”

His position as one of seven Asian members of the powerful 37-member Fifa Council also makes his comment a critical concern for the Fifa, which argued that a biennial World Cups will give more players and teams the chance to compete in meaningful games, improve talent globally and raise more money to fuel development programs.

Araneta, the country’s chef de mission to the successful Tokyo Olympics campaign, will attend Fifa’s online council meeting with the 211 member countries on September 31.

He said it’s important to wait and see first before making a decision. But implementing a biennial World Cup, he stressed, is a long process.

“The September 31 meeting is only a briefing. So maybe by November, we will have another meeting,” he said.

“And the decision will still go through a congress.”

Araneta said that an approved biennial World Cup could only be implemented in 2030.

“It still needs to be passed by the congress for further deliberation,” he said. “It’s a very long process.”

Next year’s World Cup in Qatar is employing the traditional 32-team format. But the 2026 World Cup that the US, Mexico and Canada are co-hosting will have 48 teams, with Asian getting a maximum of five to eight nations. Josef Ramos

Tokyo medalists do public service

H

IDILYN DIAZ and Eumir Felix Marcial are back doing their duties as Philippine Air Force personnel a month after clinching gold and bronze medals at the Tokyo Olympics.

Together with Chooks-to-Go, Diaz, Marcial and members of the Air Force set up a community pantry in Bagumbayan, Quezon City, on Tuesday and distributed dressed chicken and packed meals to the affected community.

“I feel so happy and blessed that I am doing my share to my fellow Filipinos,” Marcial said. “I get inspired by doing this, not only when I am on the ring fighting.”

Marcial, who thanked Chooksto-Go President Ronald Mascariñas, can’t help but look back to the time when he and his family in Zamboanga were the ones lining up in pantries just to get by.

“I lined up before, not on the end of the line distributing food items,”

B8

| Thursday, September 23, 2021 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

P.O.C. ASKS CONGRESS FOR P450-M BUDGET T

HE Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) submitted an additional budget request of P450 million in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for Filipino athletes’ preparation and participation in five major international competitions in 2022.

POC President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino submitted the letter of request to Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III through Senate Committee on Appropriations Chair Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez.

The request is broken down into P5 million for the Winter Olympics (Beijing, February 4 to 20), P150 million for the Sixth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games or AIMAG (Bangkok and Chonburi, Thailand, March 10 to 20), P10 million for The World Games or TWG (Birmingham, Alabama, USA, July 7 to 22), P270 million for 19th Asian Games

(Hangzhou, China, September 10 to 25) and P15 million Fifth Asian Youth Games or AYG (Shantou, China, December 20 to 28).

“ParticipaTOLENTINO tion in these high level sports events is truly significant as these are held only every four years,” Tolentino said in the letter of request dated Monday. “Not only will joining these sports events showcase the Filipino brand of athletic talent, but more so elevate the morale of our athletes and inspire other young Filipinos to engage in sports training and development.”

Tolentino said that the budgetary requirements were based on the total number of participating athletes and the events in which they will participate—including the costs of training to be incurred.

The POC expects the Asian Games to have the most participants ranging from 250 to 275 athletes,

Cross fingers for Frank, Celestino

S

OFIA FRANK and Edrian Celestino start their quest to qualify for the Beijing Winter Olympics in the Nebelhorn Trophy figure skating competition in Oberstdorf, Germany, on Thursday.

The 15-year-old Frank is accompanied by her Filipina mother, former beauty queen Preciosa Tongko-Frank, in Germany.

She is hoping to land in the top six of the 34-athlete field to qualify for the Beijing Winter Games set from

February 4 to 20.

“Anything is possible. I trained hard and now it’s up to the Lord to bless us,” Frank told BusinessMirror on Wednesday. “If it’s His will, thy will be done.”

“It’s very inspiring. I hope I can inspire young girls to work hard and live their dream like I am right now,” added the Colorado Springs-based Frank, who said she is inspired and motivated by Pasadena Figure Skating Club teammate Mirai Nagasu, a former Olympian.

followed by the AIMAG with 160 athletes, AYG with 15 to 20 and the Winter Olympics with three to four athletes.

The TWG are by invitation from the international federations that are not on the Summer or Winter Olympics programs of the International Olympic Committee.

Newly-crowned US Open champion won a men’s 9-ball gold medal in the games’ 2017 edition in Poland.

Tolentino also explained that the number of entries for the Asian Games would depend on the athletes’ performance in the AIMAG. “The final composition of the delegation to Hangzhou will be based on the AIMAG,” he said. “If the athletes perform well, they’ll be going to the Asian Games.

If not, they won’t be on the list.”

Tolentino also stated in the request—but not in the actual budget matrix—

possible additional expenses for the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam. The estimated budget for the postponed SEA Games is pegged at P200 million.

“Vietnam is expected to decide on the hosting this October. In the event that Vietnam decides to defer the hosting of the games, the additional P200 million shall be treated as savings and should be reverted to the National Treasury,” Tolentino said.

“Unfortunately, the allocation requirements for all these major international events were not included in the preparation of the 2022 National Budget, hence, this letter is submitted for your reference and guidance,” Tolentino said.

Tolentino stressed that participation in the five major international competitions “would sustain the momentum that Filipino sports gained from the Tokyo Olympics.”

“I look up to Mirai Nagasu. We belong to the same club. She went to the last Olympics and was the first American to land a three axel,” she said. “I want to follow her footsteps,” she added.

Frank and Celestino will be vying in the short and free skate programs.

Celestino, on the other hand, needs to be in the top seven against 32 competitors.

Philippine Skating Union President Nikki Cheng said it is the last qualifying tournament for the two Filipinos.

“It’s now or never. I pray that they both qualify,” Cheng said. Josef Ramos

R

EIGNING World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. welcomed with apprehension the WBC’s mandatory order for him to defend his belt against fellow Filipino Raymart Gaballo.

Donaire (41-6 win-loss record with 27 knockouts) dethroned Frenchman Nordine Oubaali via a fourth-round knockout victory last May 29 in Carson City, California. Fighting Gaballo, however, has some minor kinks—they are both under Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) of Al Haymon.

“I need to wait for further announcement on the finality of the fight because we are both under the same boxing promotion,” Donaire told BusinessMirror on Wednesday. “Richard Schaefer and the PBC have been working on this fight for a month now. But whoever will be put in front of me by my promoter I’ll be ready to fight.”

Gaballo, undefeated in 24 fights with 20 knockouts, is coming off a controversial split decision win over Puerto Rican Emmanuel Rodriguez last December 19 in Connecticut to get the interim belt.

Donaire is supposed to fight World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight champion Johnriel Casimero (31-4 record with 21 knockouts) in December, but everything is under negotiation.

“If their patience has run thin with Team Casimero, I understand,” Donaire said.

MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons, on the other hand, said they are still working through issues.

“For the WBO, we’re working on what’s next. We’re trying to line him [Casimero] up for a fight in December,” Gibbons said.

Gibbons didn’t give any details about the Donaire-Casimero ongoing negotiation. Josef Ramos THE World Boxing Council orders Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. to defend his title against a fellow Filipino.

Bolts wrest twice-to-beat advantage in quarterfinals

By Josef T. Ramos

M

EUMIR FELIX MARCIAL helps set up a community pantry. said the proud son of Barangay Lunzuran in Zamboanga City. “We lined up for rice when I was young.”

“Now, I am helping my countrymen,” he said. “Nothing is impossible if you work hard and pray to God.”

PHL hearts NBA THE pandemic may have put things on hold, frustrated and depressed a lot of people, and stunted economic growth.

But there was simply no stopping the National Basketball Association (NBA) when it came to how Filipino fans bought into all things basketball—and all things NBA. The global league in fact celebrated 2020-21 as a landmark season in the Philippines. It experienced continued growth with its TV viewership and social media consumption, and more. The significant growth comes at a most auspicious time.

The NBA is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2021-22, and the milestone is already being heralded as “NBA 75.” As it did when it turned 50, 75 of the greatest NBA players in history will be unveiled this coming season.

How did Filipinos lap up NBA goodies in the season just passed? Let’s take TV viewership first.

The NBA Christmas Day game between the Los Angeles

The Air Force promoted Diaz from Sergeant to Staff Sergeant and Marcial from Airman First Class to Sergeant upon their arrival from the Olympics in July and August, respectively.

Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks on TV5 drew the largest average audience “across all measured international markets” that carried the 2020 Christmas Day games. This more than tripled the 2019 Christmas Day audience in the Philippines.

The most watched game was Game 6 of the Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns with 4.6 million viewers watching the Bucks win their first NBA title in 50 years.

The Finals reached 8.4 million unique viewers per game in the Philippines—the most of any country outside of the US. Even the Playoffs which stretched from August till early October 2020 had an audience increase of 21 percent year over year on TV5 and One Sports.

Even the NBA League Pass—that some fans shied away from in the past—increased its subscriptions. Through July 2021, the Philippines ranked No. 2 in League Pass subscribers in the Asia-Pacific region.

On this streaming service, Game 6 of the LakersSuns playoffs series and Game 6 of the Bucks-Suns Finals registered the most and second-most unique viewers in the Philippines, respectively.

On social media, the shows posted weekly on NBA’s YouTube Channel (NBA On Fire, Republika Drip and Republika Huddle) that featured all-NBA stuff from localized game recaps and commentaries to basketball culture generated 4.4 million views.

Through July 2021, viewers from the Philippines watched more than 37 million hours of content on the NBA’s YouTube Channel, which represents approximately one-third of the total channel viewership during the season, the most of any country outside of the US.

ERALCO leaned on an early good advantage to withstand the late rally of Calvin Oftana and Northern Luzon Expressway (NLEX) for a 104-101 victory on Wednesday in Season 46 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.

Ahead by 85-65 in the third period, the Bolts almost squandered their lead in the payoff period but banked on their stifling defense to stop the Road Warriors on the way to clinching the No. 2 quarterfinal slot and the twice-to-beat bonus with an 8-2 record.

“The last eight minutes maybe wasn’t that very pretty, but at this season point of the season every win counts, and now we can look forward to our game against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel tomorrow [Thursday] and to the playoffs,” Meralco coach Norman Black said during the post-game interview.

Allein Maliksi was on target, firing 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from beyond the arc, while rookie Alvin Pasaol started the onslaught of Meralco by hitting eight of his 17 points in the opening canto to lead Meralco. Mac Belo tallied 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists also for the Bolts.

NLEX came within 101-103 with just 2.1 seconds after Calvin Oftana’s three-point play. But with not enough time left, the Bolts escaped and pushed

Followers of the NBA Philippines Facebook page increased 18 percent year-over-year, making it the largest regional NBA Facebook page with more than 4.9 million fans.

Up till August, the NBA’s Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts have about 24 million combined followers from the Philippines. Again, this is the biggest number of followers for any country outside of the US. The pandemic didn’t stop the NBA from holding its Jr. NBA Philippines program either, albeit in a different format. Two free virtual clinics for boys and girls aged 13 to 17 were held in May and June, with NBA players like Jordan Clarkson and Jalen Green, both of Filipino descent, and Women’s NBA legend Ticha Penicheiro sharing their game.

There were opportunities for NBA personalities like Cole Anthony, Chris Bosh, Clyde Drexler, Robert Horry and Gary Payton to meet-and-greet with employees of NBA partners like AXA, Gatorade, Cignal and Smart.

In July, 20 boys and girls from the Philippines participated in the Jr. NBA Global Championship— Online Asia-Pacific and India Camp—a one-day virtual basketball event for 39 boys and 39 girls from AsiaPacific and India.

Even the NBA Pick’Em Playoffs Bracket Challenge presented by vivo—a fantasy basketball game that lets participants predict the winners from each NBA Playoffs series and the series scores as well—generated a record 12,022 entries, the most entries submitted from the Philippines ever since the game was launched in 2018.

In short, despite the pandemic, the NBA never slept.

In fact, it popped like popcorn. The official online NBA

the Road Warriors to the seventh spot with a 5-6 record. Oftana racked up 13 of his game-high 34 points, but it wasn’t enough to spoil the Bolts.

The twice-to-beat incentive is the first for the Meralco 11-year franchise.

Raymond Almazan had a dominating performance of 13 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, while Anjo Caram had 10 points, and Bong Quinto filled the stats sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and two steals.

Only two players didn’t suit up for Meralco—Reynel Hugnatan who went to Bacolod to attend the funeral of his mother and Aaron Black who is nursing with a dislocated right hand injury.

Store in the Philippines—NBAStore.com.ph—is alive and well, delivering product orders to 215 of the 228 cities and provinces in the Philippines.

Filipino talents like Outstanding Jr. NBA All-Star of 2019 Camille Nolasco was selected for the NBA Academy Women’s Virtual Program—an eight week basketball and leadership development program for more than 40 of the top female, 14 to 17 year old prospects from outside the US. Jalen Green, whose mother is from Ilocos Sur, was drafted second overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2021 Draft, making him the highest-drafted player with Filipino origins. Jordan Clarkson won the Kia NBA Sixth Man Award.

Even our Philippine Basketball Association favorite Jimmy Alapag made NBA news as he worked as assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings in the 2021 MGM Resorts NBA Summer League—and they won the title.

Alapag is now an assistant coach for the Stockton Kings of the NBA G League.

And eight former Jr. NBA All-Stars—Kai Sotto, Kobe Paras, Kiefer Ravena, Thirdy Ravena, RK Ilagan, Aljon Mariano, Aljun Melecio and Kib Montalbo—are making basketball waves in Australia, Japan and the PBA. “Filipinos are among the most dedicated NBA fans in the world, and their continued engagement across TV, social media and retail has contributed to the league’s incredible growth in the Philippines,” said NBA Asia Managing Director Scott Levy. “As we embark on our 75th Anniversary Season, we look forward to working with our partners to build on this momentum by providing fans in the Philippines with new and exciting ways to experience the NBA through digital innovations and customized content.”