BusinessMirror September 27, 2020

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Sunday, September 27, 2020

Vol. 15

No. 353

P25.00 nationwide | 3 sections 20 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK

IN this November 12, 2013, file photo, a woman carries her baby across an area damaged by Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) in Tacloban City, Leyte. AP/AARON FAVILA

Swiss center reports 4-M Pinoys were forced to flee homes as a consequence of disasters, armed conflicts

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By Cai U. Ordinario

HE Switzerland-based International Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) has reported that more than 4 million Filipinos were displaced from their homes as an aftermath of armed conflicts and natural disasters in 2019, making the Philippines the country with the second-highest internal displacement count in the world and highest in the East Asia and the Pacific region in that year.

“Together with China and India, the Philippines is among the countries to record most disaster displacement worldwide each year,” the IDMC said.

The IDMC added, “Between six and nine major typhoons make landfall annually, and the country [the Philippines] also sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, making it prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Storms and earthquakes triggered 4.1 million new displacements in 2019.”

The center issued the report just before the Philippines marked the September 26 anniversary of Typhoon Ondoy, which dumped record rainfall in just a few hours and turned huge parts of Luzon mainland into virtual seas in 2009.

Based on IDMC data, around 4.277 million were forced to flee from their houses due to disasters and armed conflict. These include 4.094 million displacements due to disasters and 183,000 displacements caused by armed conflict.

There were 364,000 total internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country due to disasters and 182,000 IDPs due to conflict and violence as of December 2019, the

IDMC said.

Natural disasters

DATA showed tropical depression Usman caused 550,000 displacements across nine provinces in early January of that year; Typhoon Hanna, 38,000 displacements in August; and Typhoon Tisoy, 1.4 million displacements across the central regions of the Philippines in December.

Further, earthquakes that struck the southern provinces of Cotabato and Davao del Sur in October and December caused 413,000 additional displacements.

Many of those who were displaced had to stay longer in government shelters because their homes were destroyed by the earthquake.

“The government’s commendable data collection, combined with the use of anonymized Facebook user data, made it possible to understand where people moved from and to and for how long they were displaced,” the IDMC said.

“Robust data of this kind is vital to guide responses in the Philippines, which has to deal with the impacts of disasters, including mass displacement, across an ar-

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.5450

IN this October 17, 2017, file photo, hundreds of evacuees are housed in a multipurpose hall at Balo-i, Lanao del Norte, after fleeing the besieged city of Marawi in southern Philippines. AP/BULLIT MARQUEZ

chipelago of more than 7,500 islands,” it added.

However, in June, the National Housing Authority (NHA) said the pandemic caused delays in various infrastructure projects, including permanent housing projects for residents affected by Supertyphoon Yolanda in 2013.

These delays caused by the unavailability of construction materials and restricted mobility of workers has prompted the NHA to cut its mass housing production targets by 32 percent this year.

NHA Group Manager-Management Services Group Marissa B. Maniquis said the NHA now targets to complete 68,095 from the initial target of 99,510 houses.

Data showed 318 projects which accounted for 75 percent of total completion projects covering 47,055 units were delayed.

Conflict and violence

IN terms of armed conflict, IDMC said Mindanao, the southernmost island of the Philippines, has been the scene of conflicts between gov-

ernment forces and radical Muslim groups for four decades.

More than 120,000 people have been killed over the years of fighting between security forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the New People’s Army, smaller “radicalized” groups such as the Abu Sayyaf, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS), among others.

IDMC said tens of thousands of people are displaced each year and around 182,000 people were still living in displacement as of

the end of 2019. IDMC said 95 percent of the new conflict displacements recorded in the Philippines in 2019 were in Mindanao.

IDMC, meanwhile, said the government’s ratification of a law to establish the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) should help resolve, if not drastically reduce, one of the issues at the heart of the conflict by giving more independence and autonomy to more than 3.5 million Muslim Mindanaoans.

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n JAPAN 0.4606 n UK 61.9337 n HK 6.2640 n CHINA 7.1102 n SINGAPORE 35.2849 n AUSTRALIA 34.1902 n EU 56.6569 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.9439

Source: BSP (September 25, 2020)

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The law provides for a transitional administration for the region, which will transfer power to former MILF fighters who will govern until the elections in 2022.

“The new BARMM administration is developing strategies and entities to address the humanitarian and development needs of its population, including those of displaced families, but many challenges still lie ahead,” IDMC said.

“Armed groups that were not part of the negotiations are still active.”

Marawi reconstruction

EFFORTS to rebuild the war-ravaged Marawi City are still ongoing, though. The total funding requirement for both least affected areas (LAA) and most affected areas (MAA) reached P60.506 billion. Of this amount, P22.24 billion has already been released as of August 2020.

Data showed that the total funding requirement for the LAA is P47.388 billion, while the amount for the MAA reached P13.118 billion.

Of these amounts, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) said P15.523 billion was released for projects in LAA areas and P6.718 billion for the MAAs as of August 2020.

The DHSUD, however, has committed that it will complete the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the city within the term of the President.

DHSUD Secretary Eduardo del Rosario issued a public declaration that by December 2021, 90

percent of all infrastructure projects in Marawi will be complete. If there are slippages, he said, these could be made up for not later than March 2022.

In a recent presentation, Del Rosario said there are eight completed and ongoing projects in LAAs and two of these, the Philippine National Police Compac 1 Center and the Marawi Fire Substation, were completed in February 2018 and May 2019, respectively.

In the MAAs, there are 10 projects and three have been completed. These are the Mapandi Bridge completed in June 2019; Banggolo Bridge, September 2020; and Maritime outpost, July 2020.

Among the ongoing LAA projects, the Marawi Police Station has a completion rate of 69.41 percent; correctional facility, 33 percent; and Salintubig Reservoir, 13.89 percent.

The ongoing projects in the MAA included the pumping bridge which is 79.9 percent complete; Marawi Museum, 24.28 percent; Peace Memorial Park, 17.01 percent; 24 barangay complexes, 16.87 percent; and Grand Padian Market, 16.42 percent, among others.

Meanwhile, projects that are currently being processed in the Marawi rehabilitation are the Tourist Police Building; Multi-Modal Transport Hub; hospital with basic equipment; multi-level carpark; Halal slaughterhouse; Marawi City Health Office and road infrastructure projects.

The list also includes the sewage treatment plant; bulk water system; maritime building; port facilities; nine school buildings; and a convention center.

IN this May 29, 2017, file photo, displaced residents fleeing to safer areas stop at a roadside as government troops battle with Muslim militants in Marawi City. AP/BULLIT MARQUEZ

China still expanding Xinjiang ‘reeducation’ camps, says report

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By Bloomberg News

HINA is continuing to invest in detention camps in Xinjiang, according to a new research report, findings that could bolster calls to punish Beijing over its humanrights practices in the predominately Muslim region.

At least 61 suspected detention facilities showed signs of new construction between July 2019 and July 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said in a report released Thursday. Some 14 such centers were still under construction this year after Xinjiang authorities said that all detainees had “graduated,” said ASPI, an Australia- and US-backed research institute that has been tracking the camp network for more than two years.

About half of the recently expanded camps had greater security features, suggesting a shift toward more prison-style facilities from lower-security “reeducation centers,” the report found.

One 100,000-square-meter camp that opened in January in Kashgar, near the Kyrgyzstan border, is comprised of 13 five-story residential buildings surrounded by a 14-meter high wall.

No camps?

IN all, ASPI identified 380 suspected detention facilities built since 2017 in the region, which is roughly the size of Alaska and home to an estimated 10 million Turkic-speaking Uighurs. Around 70 camps appear to have been “desecuritized” by removing internal fencing or perimeter walls, the report said, including eight camps that show signs of decommissioning.

“It forces Beijing to confront its propaganda: at first they said there were no camps and that every report of a camp was a lie, then it shifted to saying these camps are

necessary and that they were the only way to stop terrorism,” said Nathan Ruser, a lead researcher on the project.

“They’re now saying the detentions are over. We can show the enduring construction and growth of this detention regime.”

More sanctions

THE findings could fuel calls in the US and Europe for more measures to punish Chinese authorities responsible for Xinjiang and companies that do business there. The Trump administration has already sanctioned 48 Chinese companies and Xinjiang Communist Party chief Chen Quanguo over their ties to a security state that has detained between tens of thousands and “upwards of 1 million” Uighurs, according a UN assessment.

Current and former suppliers to major international clothing brands including Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Nike have been hit by sanctions, while Walt Disney Co. has faced boycott calls for filming part of its live-action Mulan film in Xinjiang. French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday called on the United Nations to lead a mission to China to inspect humanrights practices in the region.

Ideological purge

CHINA has defended the camps as “vocational education centers” intended to “purge ideological diseases,” including terrorism and religious extremism. They’ve disputed outside population estimates of the

camps, without providing figures of their own. The facilities were built after a spate of deadly attacks involving Uighurs in 2013 and 2014, prompting President Xi Jinping to order authorities to “strike first” against Islamist extremism.

Chinese state media and diplomats have also frequently attacked the credibility of ASPI, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian last month calling it a “deeply ideological organization that is essentially an anti-China ‘vanguard.’”

ASPI was established by the Australian government in 2001 and has disclosed additional funding from global defense contractors and Western diplomatic missions.

The latest report was partially funded by a research grant from the US State Department, ASPI said, adding the institute’s funding sources were transparent. “Our independence is clearly enshrined in our charter and the high quality of our research speaks for itself,” the group said.

ASPI has been tracking the development of Xinjiang’s camp system since mid-2018, using satellite imagery, government documents, media reports and witness accounts to map an expanding database of facilities across the region. About 30 sites were added to the list last month after a Buzzfeed News investigation used blanked-out tiles on Baidu

Maps to pinpoint additional locations on uncensored photos available outside China.

The latest ASPI report included satellite imagery and 3D models of four different categories of camps, designated according to security levels. While the group said it was unable to estimate total number kept in the facilities, they said the new facility in Kashgar appeared large enough to accommodate about 10,000 people.

“I hope that what it contributes is the sense of the scale of this program and also the enduring and permanent nature of a lot of these facilities and the extra judicial program,” said Ruser, referring to the ASPI report.

“It forces Beijing to confront its propaganda: at first they said there were no camps and that every report of a camp was a lie, then it shifted to saying these camps are necessary and that they were the only way to stop terrorism.”

—NATHAN RUSER

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

The World

China’s war threats push Taiwan to strengthen US economic links

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By Chris Horton

t’s hard to find a world leader who’s had a better 2020 than Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.

She won reelection in January in a landslide, oversaw one of the world’s best responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and helmed an economic recovery that has boosted Taiwan’s stock exchange to record heights. The central bank last week revised up its 2020 growth target to 1.6 percent, making it an outlier among global peers as most major economies shrink.

But Tsai does have one major problem: The Communist Party is threatening her life, with its Global Times newspaper saying over the weekend she would be “wiped out” in a war if she violated China’s anti-secession law.

The warning in a tweet on Saturday described her dinner with Keith Krach, the most senior US State Department official to visit Taiwan since 1979, as “playing with fire.” People’s Liberation Army aircraft last week repeatedly breached the median line between Taiwan and China, and the PLA Air Force released a video showing H-6 bombers making a simulated strike on what looked like a US military base on the nearby island of Guam.

While China’s military dwarfs that of Taiwan, an amphibious invasion across the 100-mile-wide strait separating the two carries risks that could easily backfire on the world’s No. 2 economy. Although many observers see the US coming to Taiwan’s aid if China were to launch an attack, Tsai’s government is actively taking steps to increase economic ties between the unofficial allies to provide more incentives for American policy-makers to intervene.

“If we lessen our economic reliance on China, it won’t be able to politically blackmail us,” Kolas Yotaka, presidential office spokeswoman, told Bloomberg. “By establishing closer economic ties with other countries, we’ll be able to uphold regional peace through shared prosperity.”

Right now, the economic relationship is heavily tilted toward Beijing. Exports to China accounted for 42.3 percent of Taiwan’s total in the first half of this year, with only 14.7 percent going to the US during the same period.

Taiwanese investment in China in the first eight months of this year was up 50 percent year on year, totaling $3.9 billion, according to Taiwan’s economic ministry.

Tsai’s government, however, has sought to reverse those trends in particular by encouraging companies to bring their tech supply chains out of China to Taiwan and places like Southeast Asia. In late August, she also lifted a ban on certain US pork and beef products—the major obstacle toward a trade agreement with the US. “We must accelerate our linkage to economies around the world, in particular strengthening our ties with our most steadfast partner,” Tsai said at the time.

Through July, American government data shows Taiwan as its ninth-largest trade partner, up from 11th last year.

The Krach visit marked another milestone in that effort. Tsai hosted a dinner on Friday night for him that also included Morris Chang, founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the main chipmaker for Apple Inc. The presence of Chang, whose company recently announced it would build a $12-billion facility in Arizona, highlighted the importance of Taiwan’s cutting-edge semiconductor industry, which the US is looking to wall off from Chinese companies such as Huawei Technologies Co. On Sunday, Taiwan’s economic minister, Wang Mei-hua, announced she had met with Krach’s delegation for talks to prepare for a formal economic dialogue. Any serious discussions would be helmed by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who negotiated the phase-one deal with China signed earlier this year.

While it’s unclear if Taiwan is on the USTR’s list of priorities, any agreement would go a long way toward bringing Taiwan out of its diplomatic isolation, according to Tiffany Ma, senior director at Bower Group Asia.

A bilateral trade agreement “would further benefit Taiwan’s security by giving momentum—and political cover—for other countries to pursue similar arrangements with Taiwan,” she said.

Worst fears The US formally cut ties with Taiwan’s government in 1979 in order to establish relations with Beijing. Four decades later, however, US ties with China are getting worse by the day while trade and official exchanges with Taiwan are on the rise.

Shortly before Krach arrived in Taipei, Wisconsin Republican congressman Tom Tiffany introduced a bill to establish formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and negotiate a free trade agreement. While the bill is unlikely to pass, the fact that a member of Congress is calling for recognition of Taiwan risks adding to Beijing’s worst fears.

Despite the military saber-rattling over the weekend, China doesn’t appear ready to give up on economic engagement with Taiwan. Wang Yang, the Communist Party’s No. 4 official, on Saturday pledged to “further improve policy measures and arrangements” that benefit Taiwanese people.

“We need to have a longer-term vision,” said Liu Guoshen, director of the Taiwan Research Institute at Xiamen University, which sits across the strait.

Even so, China’s recent military maneuvers near Taiwan signal that it is watching carefully and possibly willing to escalate.

While the Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan, and polls show the vast majority of Taiwanese citizens don’t want it to, President Xi Jinping has vowed to take it by force if necessary.

“Beijing fears a slippery slope,” said Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It worries that the US has abandoned its one-China policy and won’t respect China’s red lines.” Bloomberg News

Vaccine tycoon dethrones Jack Ma as China’s richest

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bottled-water and vaccine tycoon has become China’s wealthiest person in a day also marked by massive losses among the world’s tech elite.

Zhong Shanshan’s net worth reached $58.7 billion on Wednesday, September 23, $2 billion more than Jack Ma’s, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Zhong is now Asia’s second-richest person, behind India’s Mukesh Ambani, and is the 17th wealthiest in the world, ahead of Charles Koch and Phil Knight.

Nicknamed “Lone Wolf” for his eschewing of politics and clubby business groups, Zhong’s fortune has jumped $51.9 billion in 2020, more than anyone else in the world except Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos and Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk. Both suffered heavy declines on Wednesday as tech stocks stumbled and Tesla plunged after its “Battery Day” event fell short of expectations. Musk’s fortune dropped by almost $10 billion.

The initial public offering of bottled-water company Nongfu Spring Co.—which turned out to be Hong Kong’s most popular among retail investors—propelled Zhong to China’s top 3 richest earlier this month. That came after the April listing of vaccine

maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co. pushed his net worth to $20 billion by early August.

Zhong now leads a wealth ranking in China that is typically dominated by people who made their fortunes from tech companies.

While Zhong has surpassed Ma as China’s wealthiest, the tech tycoon might soon regain the top spot, which he’s held for most of the past six years after Alibaba went public in the US. Ant Group’s IPO next month is poised to boost his fortune, with his stake estimated at $28 billion if the company achieves the $250 billion valuation people familiar with the matter have said it’s targeting.

Wednesday was brutal for US tech stocks, which tumbled the most since earlier this month. The plunge in Musk’s wealth was the biggest among the people on the Bloomberg ranking of the world’s 500 richest, followed

by Bezos, whose net worth dropped by $7.1 billion. Musk is now worth $93.2 billion and Bezos $178 billion. Zhong added almost $4 billion on Wednesday, more than anyone else in the index. Bloomberg News

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Airports deploy 30-minute virus tests to unlock travel

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handful of European airports are implementing trials of quick-fire coronavirus tests, working with airlines to push technologies still being developed as a way to revive stunted international air travel.

The tests, which can be carried out in 30 minutes, are seen as the best hope for the aviation industry to overcome new travel curbs that have brought a modest traffic rebound over summer to a shuddering halt. Other initiatives include a Finnish experiment with dogs that can sniff out the virus.

Rome’s Fiumicino hub became the first worldwide to introduce rapid screening, while London Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, has tested three rival technologies. The International Air Transport Association is backing mandatory checks on departure to unlock flights before the arrival of a Covid vaccine, and Deutsche Lufthansa AG wants to use tests to reopen the transAtlantic market.

The aviation industry is turning to a do-it-yourself approach after earlier efforts to rally global authorities around a united plan fell flat. A recent surge in virus cases triggered a haphazard set of fresh restrictions, upending a recovery in air traffic. Now carriers are working to get pre-flight testing under way in a handful of markets in the expectation that other locations will follow.

“Testing is ready, probably governments are ready to listen, and we know that passengers are ready to be tested,” IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac said on Thursday at the World Aviation Festival. “We need the system to work and work quickly. Otherwise this industry will not survive.”

Universal checks will present logistical challenges and impact how people travel, but are vital to the removal of quarantine

measures that are “ killing the industr y’s recover y,” he said.

The latest global traffic figures show long-haul markets are still largely grounded and that a recovery in domestic and regional operations has leveled off. Restrictions have been especially fluid in Europe, making it impossible for travelers to know whether they’ ll need to selfisolate when they return home.

United Airlines Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby said Tuesday at a Skift travel conference that “everyone agrees it’s a good idea” to have airport testing and air corridors to restart international travel, but that the industry has struggled to navigate such proposals past government bureaucracy.

The new efforts focus on rapid antigen checks, which look for the presence of the virus’s proteins, making them quicker and cheaper but somewhat less accurate than established methods that detect its nucleic acids. The tests should be ready for deployment next month, according to de Juniac, who said all of the trade group’s airline members backed their use.

T he endorsement mark s a switch away from better-known polymerase chain reaction tests, which have been regarded as the gold standard for Covid testing but which are relatively ill-suited to airport use, typically taking four or five hours to identify the virus’s genetic markers in a laboratory.

Heathrow, which sought to introduce PCR tests costing 150 pounds ($191), had also proposed a second test five days later to allow for the virus’s incubation period, during which time people

would need to self-isolate. Britain declined to ratify the plan, saying it was unlikely to entice travelers put off by an existing 14-day quarantine period for arrivals from atrisk countries.

Milan flights

The airport is now pressing the case for rapid testing before departure, though CEO John HollandKaye cautioned on Wednesday that it will be “more challenging” for the model to gain acceptance, since destination countries would need to take the accuracy of the checks on faith.

The monthlong Italian trial being conducted by Aeroporti di Roma SpA so far involves domestic-only ser vices operated by state-owned Alitalia SpA between the capital and Milan Linate airport. Passengers on certain flights must take a rapid antigen test, with the cost covered by the Lazio regional government.

The tests require would-be travelers to be sampled w ith a swab, with the results available in 30 minutes. People can also board the flights if they’ve been screened the day before at a drive-in center at the airport, or if they’ve undergone a PCR check in the previous 72 hours.

Anyone found to be infected is denied boarding and will have to return home to self-isolate, having previously completed a form in which they pledged to do so in the event of a positive outcome.

AdR said it’s in talks with Lu f t ha nsa, Russi a’s Aerof lot and Dubai-based Emirates about introducing the tests for their flights from Fiumicino. It’s also keen to offer the procedure for services to New York in a bid to restore a vital trans-Atlantic link that’s currently closed to all but repatriating passengers.

Lufthansa said separately on Tuesday that it’s planning to buy test kits from manufacturers Abbott Laboratories and Roche Holding AG. Roche said the day before that its rapid antigen scan was available in Europe and that it would be filing for emergency authorization in the US. The German carrier said it’s working with

partners to use the tests to open up American routes.

$10 per test

De Juniac said mass antigen tests would cost only about $10 once universally available and that he’d expect governments to fund them. Airport employees could carry out the screening without specialist medical training and results would be available within 15 minutes, with a 97 percent sensitivity, he said.

The IATA head said that the rapid tests could be deployed alongside PCR checks, which could remain available for passengers wanting to be screened ahead of travel.

Heathrow conducted field trials of three different types of rapid coronavirus test last month.

One, devised by GeneMe of Poland, can detect the virus in nose or throat swabs in about 30 minutes, while another, from UK-based Mologic, uses a saliva sample to identify viral antibodies in about 10 minutes.

The hub also tested the less conventional Virolens system from British start-up iAbra, which deploys a digital camera and microscope to produce a highly magnified hologram-style image of a sample in just 20 seconds. That can then be scanned for the distinctly shaped virus using artificial intelligence software.

Faster even than the optical scan, Finland is deploying dogs at Helsinki airport that have been trained to home in on people carrying the virus in just 10 seconds by sniffing a skin wipe. The service is voluntary and targeted at arriving passengers.

Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. CEO Shai Weiss said in an interview that rapid testing holds out hope of a near-term revival for long-haul specialists such as his own, which usually deploys 70 percent of capacity across the North Atlantic.

“If we knew that there’d be a quarantine by March we might be able to hunker down, but there’s no guarantee of that,” he said.

“Testing is the only way of getting aviation moving and allowing the economy to take off.” Bloomberg News

Humpback whales move north; warm oceans may be the cause

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umpback wha les a re steadily moving north, a nd wa r mer sea s a nd melting ice may be the reason.

The whales, which move between the Antarctic and the southern tips of three continents, will be the focus of a six-year, $5-million study into their migration routes by eight research institutions across South America, South Africa and Australia.

“Their migratory behavior is changing, they are going further and further north,” said Alakendra Roychoudhury, an environmental geochemist at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. “If the physical and chemical conditions of the oceans change, what will happen to the whales?”

The study will involve multiple cruises to the whales’ feeding grounds in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica and the coastlines of the three continents where they breed. It will combine histor ical migration and whalesighting data with the new research to determine the impact of both warmer oceans and melting ice, which may change the

BLOOMBERG PHOTO

chemical nature of the ocean, Roychoudhury said by phone on Tuesday.

In South Africa, the humpbacks, which eat phytoplankton and krill and weigh 30 tons when adult, have been seen in large numbers, known as super groups,

further and further up the west coast toward Namibia.

“This has never happened before,” Roychoudhury said. “Off the Australian coast they are seeing similar kinds of things.”

Roychoudhury conceptualized the study together with Brendan

Mackey, director of the Griffith Climate Change Response Program at Griffith University in Australia. Researchers from Chile, Brazil, Ecuador and Panama will also participate. The project will have 16 full-time researchers.

Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Disease-spreading ticks march north as weather stays warmer

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icks are among nature’s most hardy survivors. They’ve been around for at least 100 million years and used to feast on dinosaur blood. Their bodies contain anti-freeze to help them survive cold weather and their two front legs have carbon dioxide and infrared sensors to help detect when a warm-blooded mammal is approaching. Tiny hairs on their legs increases friction and allows ticks to latch onto animals that brush by. And blacklegged ticks, which spread the most disease in the US, are notoriously un-picky eaters, happy to ingest the blood of numerous mammals and birds, making them perfect for spreading disease from one species to the next.

Blacklegged ticks and their counterparts abroad used to be confined to certain climates, especially milder and humid temperate zones such as coastal New England. Now, they’re present in places further north where they didn’t use to appear.

Researchers in Sweden were astonished when, in the 1990s, they discovered ticks creeping up the Baltic Coast and into the sparsely populated Northland. The disease-ridden prehistoric creatures brought north new cases of Lyme disease and other ailments. By 2009, the critters had reached the edge of the Arctic Circle.

In the mountains of the Czech Republic, ticks are now present above 1,100 meters of elevation; prior to the 1980s they apparently hadn’t been able to survive much above 700 meters. In the US, they have spread north and west from their strongholds in southern New England and Upper Midwest to the far northern reaches of Minnesota and northern New England.

And from there, they’ve just kept going. In eastern Canada, government researchers have found that ticks are encroaching north at a rate of up to 50 kilometers a year, bringing disease with them.

The relentless northward march is closely linked to mild winters and warming summers that gave ticks more opportunity to find hosts. Understanding ticks’ migration and their concurrent climb to ever higher latitudes and altitudes has grown from a passing curiosity to an obsession for Richard Ostfeld, a 65-year-old disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York. He’s immersed himself in the study of ticks for almost three decades—and has spent the last decade looking at how climate affects tick survival.

“We should all be very worried,” says Ostfeld, about the long-term risks of tick-borne disease.

“This is a growing public health threat that we need to get under control because the longer it is allowed to spread unabated, the harder it is to reign back in.”

While broad correlation between ticks’ spread and global warming is clear, predicting where they will go next as the climate changes is surprisingly daunting, as is proving cause and effect.

Little is known about the precise details of what weather conditions kill ticks in the field, and, complicating matters, tick populations bounce up and down naturally for a plethora of reasons, such as the abundance of acorns that their rodent hosts feed on. Predicting where ticks will spread next, “is super important,” says Ostfeld, “because where ticks go so too goes tick-borne illness.”

In the US, those illnesses have more than doubled in recent years, to more than 47,000 cases in 2018 from 22,000 cases in 2004. Lyme Disease accounts for the bulk of this, but numerous lesser-known tick ailments are on the rise as well, including flu-like anaplasmosis and babesiosis, a malaria-like infection of red blood cells. Ticks can also transmit Powassan virus, the rare microbe that killed former North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan last year. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists 16 bacterial, viral and protozoan diseases that are transmitted by ticks in the US alone, with several more that are mainly present in other parts of the world. And more are being discovered all the time.

In the woods just beyond Ostfeld’s office, a team of six researchers is conducting one of the first-ever rigorously controlled field experiments designed specifically to investigate ticks and climate change. They are artificially warming plots of soil and, over the next year, ticks are being placed at various life stages inside fabric bags to see at what temperatures and in which environments they are able to thrive and under which conditions they tend to start dying off. The number of variables is immense— everything from snow-cover, to relative humidity, to the activity of host mammals can affect tick survival.

The complexity of it all keeps Ostfeld up a night. But if this, and other experiments in North Carolina and two other locations in upstate New York succeed, it will provide some of the first reliable data that climate modelers can use to predict where tick-borne diseases are going to pop up in the future.

Ticks’ reclusive lifestyle makes them hard to study. They eat just three times in their lifespan of two years but spend as much 20 percent of their lives looking for meals. This process, called questing, involves standing on the edge of a leaf or blade of grass and sticking two hairy legs out ready to grab onto any mammal that happens to brush by. But most of the time, as far as researchers can tell, ticks spend their existence “doing pretty much nothing,” says Ostfeld.

Perhaps a tick’s most brilliant arsenal is how it renders its victim oblivious to its bite. When a tick sinks its pincer-like jaws and a barbed needle-like appendage called a hypostome into animal flesh, it releases a hospital-style drip of substances, including analgesics to stop the pain, antihistamines and anti-inflammatories to make sure it doesn’t itch or swell, and anticoagulants to keep the blood flowing for days. The blacklegged tick, the primary disease-spreading tick species in the Northeast and Midwest, is especially good at undetected gorging.

Not so long ago, Lyme disease was rarely seen in Canada. Now, there are around 2,000 cases a year.

Tick populations are “expanding northward all the time” in a pattern consistent with climate change being a driver, says Nicholas Ogden, a research scientist at the Public Health Agency of Canada. Longer warm seasons are giving ticks better chances to find hosts and complete their life cycle, he says “We are going to see more and more of Canada become suitable for ticks,” he predicts.

While most research has focused on the blacklegged tick and its European relative, other species of ticks are also roaming into previously colder climes, including the so-called lone star tick, which is linked to red-meat allergy and can spread rare but potentially deadly Heartland virus as well as ehrlichiosis, a flu-like bacterial illness. Long thought of as a southeastern tick, it has made big inroads into Long Island and southern New England in recent years. In July, researchers at the University of Illinois found to their surprise that lone star ticks harboring the Heartland virus had inched north and become established within 60 miles of Chicago, according to research published in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

There’s more to the spread of tick habitat and tick diseases than climate, of course. Forest fragmentation, growing deer populations, natural adaptation to colder climates, and everexpanding suburbs all play a role, making the impact of climate change difficult to parse out.

Some researchers argue the role of climate is overstated and that the northern spread is mostly explained by these other factors. “We have no idea what the changes in the weather might do to ticks,” says Sam Telford, and epidemiologist and tick researcher at Tufts University. And warming could be neutral or good for some hard-hit regions now, if ticks are driven north out of population centers. “The data isn’t really there.”

That’s where Ostfeld’s work comes in. His field experiment on tick survival and climate change, designed with researchers at New York University and Washington State University, doesn’t look like much at first glance. It sits in an unassuming patch of leafy woods a few yards behind the parking lot at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, 80 miles north of New York City. There, two patches of leaf-covered-soil, each roughly 1 square meter in size, have been divided into 90 squares like a big outdoor checkerboard. Thirty-eight of the squares are covered with tickcontaining nylon fabric bags that extend down into soil cores scooped out with a golf hole cutting tool. Other squares contain a variety of temperature, relative humidity and soil moisture sensors that log the precise environmental conditions at all times.

The two patches are exquisitely designed to be essentially identical except for one thing: in one of the patches, the soil is heated with 110 evenly spaced heat probes buried in the soil and connected to a 24-volt-solar powered battery. That will bring the temperature of the soil up by 2.5 degrees Celsius, about as much as this part of the country is expected to warm in the next 50 years.

“We know almost nothing about whether the ticks get killed outright by cold snaps in winter, hot spells in summer flooding events, or drought,” says Ostfeld.

Even though ticks can’t be eliminated, knowing where they are likely to spread diseases next could help public health authorities to alert local residents and doctors. Lyme disease is easily treatable with antibiotics if detected early, but if it’s missed, the bacterium can spread throughout the body and cause complications ranging from arthritis to neurological complications. And this worst-case scenario is more likely to occur in locales that haven’t experienced much Lyme disease or other tick-borne ailments.

“That is one of the consequences of climate change. It spreads in communities that have never experienced it before,” Ostfeld says. Bloomberg News

Science

BusinessMirror

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

Recover uranium from seawater?

D.O.S.T. nuke scientists doing studies

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s the government mulls to include nuclear in the country’s energy mix, local scientists are looking at seawater to possibly source uranium which serves as power source for nuclear energy.

“Seawater is an unconventional uranium resource, where this heavy metal is known to be abundant and pseudo-renewable,” said Dr. Jordan Madrid of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI).

Madrid heads a project which will provide a way to tap uranium through the development of adsorbent through radiation grafting technology.

Madrid’s team earlier used radiation technology to develop abaca into a nonwoven fabric that can filter toxic materials, such as heavy metals and other contaminants.

If uranium can be recovered from seawater, it may help alleviate costs and importation challenges of nuclear fuel, Madrid said.

Researchers worldwide are also studying this technology.

Further, seawater uranium recovery technology is seen as a “game-changing approach.” The US government considers it as an area worthy of longterm support.

Uranium as nuclear power source

Uranium is a heavy metal, which has been used as an abundant source of concentrated energy for over 60 years now.

This main fuel for nuclear reactors can be found in many places around the world, including seawater. To become fuel, uranium goes through refining and enrichment before it is used as a source for nuclear power.

A small pellet of uranium the size of a pencil eraser produces as much energy as a ton of coal, or three barrels of oil, or about two fuel tankers of natural gas.

Based on studies and global trends, Madrid believes that this technology, when developed successfully, can help source uranium locally.

Nuclear as energy option

On July 24, President Duterte signed Executive Order 116 which directs a study for the adoption of a national position on nuclear energy program. The study shall be

conducted by an inter-agency committee headed by the Department of Energy, with DOST as vice-chair.

Adding nuclear in the current energy mix becomes an important consideration as experts see a 70-percent rise in energy demand by 2030.

Currently, the country is still very dependent on coal and oil, which are highly unstable in terms of cost as natural gas reserves are already on the decline.

The Philippines has been heavily importing oil and coal, which makes electricity price in the country remarkably high.

In effect, the Philippines is among the countries with the most expensive electricity rates in Asia, next to Japan and Singapore, according to the Asian Development Bank.

To make for a more stable energy baseload for the country’s electrical supply, the government is considering other energy sources, including nuclear.

Among those recommending nuclear energy is the National Academy of Science and Technology (DOSTNAST), the country’s advisory body on science and technology matters, which describes nuclear energy as “an attractive base load power generation source.”

In a statement, the DOST-NAST said nuclear energy is “less sensitive to price volatility and remains one of the greener energy sources, which can aid in the world’s effort for climate-change mitigation.”

Benefits of nuclear

Several researchers and advocates believe that if proven successful, the technology on recovering uranium from seawater will further support affordability and accessibility of nuclear energy as it allows nuclear fuel to be sourced locally.

DOST-PNRI Director Carlo A. Arcilla said, “Successful incorporation of nuclear power into the country’s energy mix and local sourcing of nuclear fuel can alleviate electricity costs and accessibility.

“Lower cost of electricity can enable, enhance productivity and reduce risk of chronic poverty,” he added.

Based on studies using current estimates of the technology, the energy of return of investment (EROI) from uranium sourced from seawater ranges from 12 to 27. Framelia V. Anonas and Bin Jeremiah

Barba/S&T News Service

Tobacco harm reduction advocates call for science-based, innovative regulations

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obacco harm reduction (THR) advocates urged governments and regulators to come up with science-based and innovation-driven regulations in order to help reduce tobacco-related sickness and deaths.

The call was made during the three-day 2020 Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF) held online from September 21 to 24, a GTNF news release said.

“Regulations must be based on sound science and not be driven by politics, which unfortunately is not always the case. Regulations must be progressive and allow innovation as new facts emerge,” said Chris Allen, chief scientific officer at Broughton Nicotine Services.

Derek Yach, president of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World said 7 million people die every year due to tobacco-related diseases, the GTNF said.

Yach added that 1.3 billion people are using tobacco products, most of them in a toxic, combustible form.

“The goal of a regulator should primarily be to reduce that harm in the fastest possible time,” Yach said.

For her part, Elaine K. Round, senior director of scientific and regulatory affairs at RAI Services, said there’s an evolving set of state and local tobacco regulations in the US that are “based more on emotion than on science” which are “almost evolving toward a 50-country approach rather than a unified federal approach.”

Meanwhile, the European Union Tobacco Products Directive (EUTPD) is “an inclusive process” and “evidence-based approach” that other countries can look to for guidance, according to trade law consultant Abrie du Plessis.

The EUTPD places limits on the sale and merchandising of tobacco and tobacco-related products in the EU. It aims to improve the functioning of the internal market for tobacco and related products while ensuring a high level of health protection for European citizens, the GTNF said.

“It is important to be able to critique the way governments have responded to Covid-19 so we can learn and strive for strategies that will cause as little harm as possible to as many people and equitably across our society,” said Marewa Glover, director of the Centre of Research Excellence on Indigenous Sovereignty and Smoking.

‘Some progress’ in the acceptance of ATPs

“The debate on the value of THR interventions remains controversial, ideological and often emotional, [which] continues to [hinder] constructive dialogue,” said Prof. Tikki Pang, visiting professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore.

Pang expressed disappointment at how THR policies continue to vary greatly between countries, the news release said.

“There is at this point no unanimous agreement on what are the best policies,” said Pang, a former 13-year director for Research Policy and Cooperation of the World Health Organization (WHO).

He cited that there are countries where e-cigarettes are allowed/regulated or banned, countries where there is pending legislation on e-cigarettes, countries with no specific law on e-cigarettes, and countries with no information about e-cigarettes.

On the positive side, Pang noted“some progress”in the acceptance of alternative tobacco products (ATPs), citing recent developments at the WHO and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“Since I used to work for the WHO, I was very heartened by a WHO report released earlier this year, the ‘WHO study group on tobacco product regulation,’” he added.

He quoted leading THR advocate Clive Bates who, commenting on the WHO report, wrote, “Though there is much to disagree with, there is also a reasonable attempt to recognize harm reduction concepts and not treat them like witchcraft...”

According to Pang, ATPs were discussed at the meetings of the WHO Governing Bodies and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of Parties.

“I believe there’s a little bit of an opening here.

Countries, especially in the developing world, do look to the WHO for guidance on policies. Although overall the WHO position on ATPs is still fairly negative and unsupportive, I want to be optimistic. We’re beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel,” Pang explained.

He highlighted the significance of the US FDA decision in July 2020 to authorize the marketing of the heated tobacco product IQOS in the US as modified risk tobacco products (MRTP), an authorization that the agency designated as “appropriate for the promotion of public health.”

The US FDA decision marked the first time that the agency has granted MRTP marketing orders for an innovative electronic alternative to cigarettes, the GTNF news release said.

“This is another step forward. Many developing countries look to the US FDA for guidance not just in ATPs but in medicines and vaccines,” Pang said.

More smokers switching to reduced-harm alternatives

The smoking prevalence in Japan has gone down by 30 percent in three years since heated tobacco products (HTPs) became available in the country, with HTP penetration among Japanese smokers currently at 25 percent, according to Dr. Hiroya Kumamaru, a cardiovascular surgeon and vice director of AOI International Hospital in Kanagawa, Japan.

“Overall tobacco sales volume covering cigarettes plus HTPs is still decreasing, while HTP sales are increasing. This indicates that switching from cigarettes to HTPs is happening very quickly,” Kumamaru explained.

He noted that HTPs are so far not causing the gateway effect on younger Japanese.

Besides Japan, dramatic and historic drops in cigarette sales following the introduction of ATPs have also been seen in the UK, US and Korea, according to Pang.

“There is a growing evidence base on the value of ATPs in smoking cessation. Evidence from the UK, US and Europe shows that the gateway effect of ATPs is limited and negligible. Public Health England notes the increasing trend in vaping is happening against a backdrop of decreasing smoking rates,” Pang said.

Launched in Rio de Janeiro in 2008, the annual GTNF has become the global exchange for views and ideas among public health experts, government representatives, investors and members of the tobacco/nicotine industries.

Sunday

Sunday, September 27, 2020 A5

DOST-PCIEERD‘s Young Innovators Program ‘provides opportunities to create quality research works’

9 teams of ‘cream-of-the-crop’ young innovators receive grants

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By Lyn Resurreccion

hese interesting projects— technology for search and rescue operations, bioabsorbent, intelligent trash bin for quarantine facilities, shockwave electrodialysis to clean water, air purifier from biomass, fuel cell, mercury and lead detection kit, landfill bioremediation and selfhealing smart concrete—seem to have been made by science and technology professionals who have already finished their Masters or PhDs studies.

But don’t be surprised. They are by budding scientists still at the highschool and college levels.

They are projects of nine teams of Young Innovators’ Program (YIP) who were awarded with research grants by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOSTPCIEERD) during an online event on September 22.

This year’s YIP awardees were chosen from among 95 research proposals submitted from different parts of the country.

Hibla Team recognition During the same event, the DOSTPCIEERD also recognized the Team Hibla of Angeles City Science High School for outstanding accomplishments in its project “Alternative Sound Absorption Material” from biomass such as water hyacinth, bamboo and abaca.

An YIP grantee in 2018, the project is now ready for commercialization after it has received two patents.

The team of Neil David Cayanan, Shaira Gozun and Evan Relle Togol received various recognitions for the project in 2019, including Top 6 winner in the Intel-Isef Awards in Arizona, US; Crown Prince Cipta finalist in Brunei Darussalam; and honorable mention from Acoustical Society of America, among others.

Contract signing The nine student teams and their mentors signed contracts in an online ceremony with the DOST-PCIEERD for the grants of up to P80,000 that will cover their laboratory expenses, testing materials and honorarium for the teachers and students.

DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit expressed optimism for the future of the Philippines’s scientific community with new and budding scientists taking on the challenge of conducting research and development despite the current pandemic.

“As leader and partner in enabling innovations, we will continue in the pursuit of fresh talents and support their endeavors to pursue research and development in the country. We hope that this research grant will entice them to get into careers in research and development in the country,” he said during the webinar.

Paringit said PCIEERD admires “the young researchers on their determination to take on challenges to conduct research and development projects that offer solutions.”

He added: “They will serve as our bright spots for the future of science and technology in our country. They will serve as an inspiration for younger generations to follow. These YIPs also are the source of pride for their respective institutions.”

The grantees This year’s YIP grant awardees, who

were called the “cream of the crop” among the applicants by Engr. Raul C. Sabularse, deputy executive director of DOST PCIEERD, are the following: n The Team Kaisen from Mapua University has as members Ma. Cathyrine Ravina, Denisse Joy Dayao, Janela Zambrano with mentor Prof./ Engr. Marvin Norona.

Their project is “Sphere: An Ultrawideband Technology-based Innovation for Search and Rescue Operations in the Philippines.”

This project will use ultra-wide band technology that can detect heart rate regardless of the type of wall blocking the victim.

It comes with a remote control and added features vital for the search and rescue operations like Global Positioning System to pin the exact location of victims, built-in lights to better see the situation underground, camera that has a night vision, and a speaker for the controller to speak with the victims underneath debris. n The FunGIE Team of Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Sta. Mesa is composed of Irah Faye B. Garzo. Raven Elyze E. Laurella and Ghimel P. Espinosa with Prof. Dr. Lourdes V. Alvarez as mentor.

Their project is “Fungal chitosanbased Microbeads: A Heavy Metal Soil-based biobsorbent.“ The study aims to innovate fungal chitosan-based microbeads into heavy metal soil-based biobsorbent.

The team will collect five fungal samples to isolate and cultivate fungal samples in potato dextrose agar extract chitosan using the fungal isolates.

They will investigate the biosorption capabilities and percentage efficiency of the extracted chitosan in copper, chromium and arsenic. Once the fungal chitosan microbeads are made, they will continue to test and optimize biosorption capabilities and percentage efficiency of the produced fungal chitosan microbeads in copper, chromium and arsenic. n The entry from Navotas National Science High School is by John Emmanuel Javines with mentor Don King O. Evangelista.

The project is “ iTrashBin [Intelligent Trash Bin] Internet-ofThings Trash Bin for Quarantine and Isolation Facilities.”

The project will create a robot designed to collect the waste products of Covid-19 patients and suspected ones, and to disinfect the waste products on the process.

The researchers will adapt the system of Internet-of-Things (IOT) in which the device will use the Internet to transfer data through a smart phone to control the robot. n The Team SEA from Philippine Science High School (PSHS)-Main Campus have as members Paris Miguel U. Bereber, John David F. Magnaye and Davis Nicholo A. Magpantay with mentor Engr. Boon Kristoffer P. Lauw.

The nine teams of Young Innovators Program (YIP) grantees, together with their mentors, parents and school officials, and DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit during the online contract signing. Screenshot by Lyn Resurreccion

Team Hibla, a 2018 YIP grantee, was recognized for its outstanding accomplishment in its project “Alternative Sound Absorption Material.” With them are DOST-PCIEERD leaders Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit, Deputy Director Engr. Raul C. Sabularse and Supervising Science Research Specialist Glenda Sacbibit. Screenshot by PCIEERD Their project, “Shock Electrodialysis Apparatus [SEA],” aims to provide users with clean, more accessible freshwater through shockwave electrodialysis without the need to exert much effort.

This will significantly lessen the impact of water scarcity and saltwater intrusion in coastal/brackish water communities, and provide new innovations for the market that can be patentable and accessible to most customers. n The Project Lingap Langhap of Team LiLa’s Carlos Jerard de la Cruz, Jan Paolo Pineda and Maria Michaela Tumonong with mentor Joel T. Bautista from PSHS-Central Luzon has the project, “Low-cost 3D Printed Air Purifier System using Activated Carbon Biomass Filter and Philippine Bamboo Exterior.”

The project will develop a low-cost indoor air purifier using activated carbon biomass filter that is designed to have aesthetically pleasing exterior using Philippine bamboo.

The team will conduct user acceptance testing and validation testing among target-users and experts. n The project, “Proton-Exchange Membrane [PEM] Fuel Cell Using Electrode Processed from Kaong Waste Product,” is by Team Kaong composed of Alexis Anne C. Bonus, Renz John Kurt S. Reyes and Vien Isabella R. Rom with mentor Sheryl D. Fenol of Cavite State University.

Their project will create a PEM fuel cell that will be developed using sugar palm or kaong waste product. The project can develop an energy storage device that can generate a maximum potential of 1.2V. The kaong tree is abundant in upland Cavite. n University of Mindanao-Main Campus student Steph Kier S. Ponteras with Dr. Chosel P. Lawagon as mentor has the project, “Hg [Mercury] and Pb [Lead] Detection Kit Utilizing D-Limonene from Sweet Orange Peelings.”

The research will make an easy and efficient mercury and lead detection kit to synthesize D-limonene from orange peelings. It will test its efficacy for mercury and lead detection from water sources near mining areas.

The team will fabricate the detection kits to be easily used by any person, especially those in resource-limited communities near mining areas. n The “LaBioRem: Landfill Bioremediation through Biodegradative activ ities of Pleurotus ostreatus [Oyster Mushroom] to High Density Polyethylene [HDPE]” is the project

of Team Sisid students Nikka C. Banez, Princess Angelica S. Besonia, Kyla Carmina F. Consul, Jules Hyacinth B. Macasaet and Ma. Angelica D. Gomez from Angeles University Foundation Integrated School.

Their mentors are Dr. Analiza J. Molina and Emmanuel Carbungco.

The project aims to determine a more ecological approach in addressing plastic garbage issues with the investigation of biodegradative activities of oyster mushroom on HDPE, polyhydroxybutyrate and oxo-biodegradable plastics. n University of Mindanao-Main Campus student Ivanbert Y. Damasco and mentor Dr. Chosel P. Lawagon will do the study “Synthesis of nanocellulose from durian rinds for the preparation of a self-healing smar t concrete w ith aug mented mechanical properties.”

T he proje c t pro p one nt s w i l l introduce a new approach in selfhealing cement technology by synthesizing nanocellulose and nanosilica from durian rind together with sodium silicate.

They will develop self-healing smart concrete, specifically to reduce the occurrence of cracks in cement-based products and augment the mechanical properties of reinforced cement.

Fourth year Sabularse said at the webinar: “Today is the beginning of an excellent opportunity for these young minds to pursue and explore the world of research and development together with their mentors and come up with innovative solutions to address the current challenges and problems in the Philippines.”

He added that DOST-PCIEERD believes in the creative and innovative minds of our youth.

“We are optimistic that as leaders of tomorrow, the [YIP] will provide the opportunity for you to create quality research works, publications, products and inventions or patents, he said.

This year’s YIP grant awarding is the fourth time of the DOSTPCIEERD. Established in 2017, YIP recognizes promising researchers under the age of 25.

DOST-PCIEERD has received a total of 233 applications in the past three years. It has supported 20 teams of senior high school, undergraduate and graduate students into realizing their contributions to the scientific community.

Faith

Sunday

A6 Sunday, September 27, 2020

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

CEAP elects first woman president

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or the first time in its history, a woman will lead the country’s largest organization of Catholic schools, colleges and universities.

The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) recently elected Sr. Marissa Viri of the Religious of the Virgin Mary congregation as its new president.

Sister Viri, who is currently CEAP’s vice president, will succeed Fr. Elmer Dizon of the Archdiocese of San Fernando, who served the post since September 2019.

The nun, who is currently the president of the University of the Immaculate Conception in Davao City, was elected during the recent four-day CEAP organizational meeting that was held virtually

for the first time because of the coronavirus crisis.

Also elected as the new vice president is Fr. Thadeu Enrique Balongag, a trustee of the CEAP Negros Island.

CEAP also named Fr. Gilbert Sales as its new corporate secretary, and reelected Fr. Albert Delvo as treasurer.

Sales is the president of the St. Louis University in Baguio City, while Delvo is currently the Superintendent of the Diocesan Schools of Novaliches.

Pope to PHL Catholic schools:

Saudi to lift ban on Mecca pilgrimage amid coronavirus

In this May 25, 2019, photo, Muslim worshippers circumambulate the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, during the minor pilgrimage, known as Umrah in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. AP/Amr Nabil

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IYADH, Saudi Arabia—Saudi Arabia said recently that Muslims will be allowed to perform the smaller, year-round pilgrimage starting October 4 as the kingdom gradually begins lifting restrictions that had been in place on Islam’s holiest site for the past seven months due to the coronavirus.

State media reported the government plans to allow up to 6,000 visitors a day at the sprawling Grand Mosque in Mecca, which will be open to Saudi citizens and residents only during this first phase.

Before visitors can enter the mosque to pray or perform the “umrah” pilgrimage, they will have to apply and reserve a specific time and date through an online application that will be launched on September 27 to avoid crowding and maintain social distancing guidelines.

Visitors can also select via the app their means of transportation and meeting points.

The second phase will be launched October 18, allowing a maximum of 15,000 pilgrims and 40,000 in for prayer from among residents and citizens based on allocated times via the app.

The Grand Mosque

houses the cube-shaped Kaaba that observant Muslims pray toward five times a day.

Muslim travelers from outside Saudi Arabia could be allowed to perform the “umrah” pilgrimage as early as November 1, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia recently began easing some restrictions on international flights for the first time since March.

The ministry said it will continuously evaluate these guidelines and developments related to the pandemic.

The kingdom held a dramatically downsized, symbolic hajj pilgrimage in July due to concerns that it could easily have become a global super-spreader event for the virus.

Pilgrims were selected after applying through an online portal and all were residents or citizens of Saudi Arabia.

Rather than the more than 2 million pilgrims the kingdom hosts for the annual event, as little as 1,000 took part after being tested for the virus and quarantined.

Despite taking early and sweeping measures to contain the virus, Saudi Arabia has recorded more than 330,000 cases, including more than 4,500 deaths. AP

CEAP’s newly elected president, Sr. Marissa Viri, RVM. CEAP

Form authentic witnesses to Christ

In his message to CEAP’s congress, Pope Francis called on Philippine Catholic educators to hone their students not just to become outstanding learners but also as

authentic witnesses of faith.

The pope said that Catholic education must not only teach critical thinking, but also encourages “formation in Christian doctrine and morality.”

Doing so, he said, would lead to

formation of men and women “who are ready to take society’s heavier responsibilities and to witness the true faith to the world.”

For his part, outgoing CEAP President Father Dizon said that as the pandemic continues, they will remain vigilant in responding to issues detrimental to their ministry.

Amid the current challenges, he said that continued efforts are exerted so that Catholic schools “become catalysts of change.”

“This is who we are. This is what God wants us to be,” Dizon said.

Meanwhile, Bishop Roberto Mallari of the Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said the educational sector is one of the most challenged today.

He said every school has to come up with learning modalities to address the needs of the students.

But the CEAP, the prelate said, “will not cower in fear but rather will stand firm in being steward not only to the learners but also to other schools.”

“CEAP will be here to serve as wind beneath the wings of member-schools as they struggle for survival amidst the pandemic,” Mallari said.

O n Fr id ay, C a rd i n a l L u i s Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, delivered his keynote address to the congress.

The new officers took their oath on Friday at the event’s closing ceremonies.

CEAP is a national association of Catholic educational institutions in the Philippines founded in 1941. It now has more than 1,524 member-schools.

CBCP News and Vatican News

Vatican: Euthanasia is ‘intrinsically evil’ V

ATICAN—In a new document, the Vatican’s doctrinal office reaffirmed the Church’s perennial teaching on the sinfulness of euthanasia and assisted suicide, and recalled the obligation of Catholics to accompany the sick and dying through prayer, physical presence and the sacraments.

The document also addressed the pastoral care of Catholics who request euthanasia or assisted suicide, explaining that a priest and others should avoid any active or passive gesture which might signal approval for the action, including remaining until the act is performed.

“Samaritanus bonus: On the Care of Persons in the Critical and Terminal Phases of Life” is a new document by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) that was published on September 22.

Th e 4 5 - p a g e t e x t, a p p ro ve d b y Po p e Francis on June 25, is signed by CDF prefect Cardinal Luis Ladaria and Secretary Archbishop Giacomo Morandi.

The letter presents Catholic teaching on a range of end-of-life issues, affirming the intrinsic value and dignity of every human life, especially for those who are critically sick and in the terminal stages of life.

The document’s introduction noted that “it is widely recognized that a moral and practical clarification regarding care of these persons is needed.”

Pastoral accompaniment of those who expressly request euthanasia or assisted suicide “today presents a singular moment when a reaffirmation of the teaching of the Church is

necessary,” Samaritanus bonus said.

It explained that closeness to a person who has chosen euthanasia or assisted suicide is necessary, but must always be ordered toward the person’s conversion.

The document recalled that a person who has made this decision, “whatever their subjective dispositions may be, has decided upon a gravely immoral act and willingly persists in this decision.”

This state “involves a manifest absence of the proper disposition for the reception of the Sacraments of Penance, with absolution, and Anointing, with Viaticum.”

In this situation, the congregation explained, the priest must withhold absolution.

“Here it remains possible to accompany the person whose hope may be revived and whose erroneous decision may be modified, thus, opening the way to admission to the sacraments,” it continued.

It added that “to delay absolution is a medicinal act of the Church, intended not to condemn, but to lead the sinner to conversion.”

The Church’s position in this situation “does not imply nonacceptance of the sick person,” the letter emphasized.

Wi t h h o l d i n g a b s o l u t i o n “m u s t b e accompanied by a willingness to listen and to help, together with a deeper explanation of the nature of the sacrament, in order to provide the opportunity to desire and choose the sacrament up to the last moment.”

“The Church is careful to look deeply for adequate signs of conversion, so that the faithful

can reasonably ask for the reception of the sacraments,” it said.

The purpose of the new letter, the CDF explained in the introduction, is to enlighten pastors and the Catholic faithful “regarding their questions and uncertainties about medical care, and their spiritual and pastoral obligations to the sick in the critical and terminal stages of life.”

It said that there were particular situations today which require “a more clear and precise intervention on the part of the Church,” to reaffirm the message of the Gospel and its expression in the basic doctrinal teachings of the Magisterium, especially for the sick and dying and those who come into contact with them.

Euthanasia, the CDF letter affirmed, is “an intrinsically evil act, in every situation or circumstance” and “any formal or immediate material cooperation in such an act is a grave sin against human life.”

“Euthanasia and assisted suicide are always the wrong choice,” it said.

It quoted St. Pope John Paul II, who wrote in Evangelium vitae that “euthanasia is a grave violation of the Law of God, since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person. This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written Word of God, is transmitted by the Church’s Tradition and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium.”

There is also “no right to dispose of one’s life arbitrarily,” it continued, which is why “no health-care worker can be compelled to execute a nonexistent right.”

It is also “gravely unjust to enact laws that

legalize euthanasia or justify and support suicide,” the congregation stated, and “such laws strike at the foundation of the legal order: the right to life sustains all other rights, including the exercise of freedom.”

“The existence of such laws deeply wound human relations and justice, and threaten the mutual trust among human beings,” the document continued. “The legitimation of assisted suicide and euthanasia is a sign of the degradation of legal systems.”

The CDF explained that according to Church teaching, euthanasia “is an act of homicide that no end can justify and that does not tolerate any form of complicity or active or passive collaboration.”

I t s a i d : “ Th o s e w h o a p p ro v e l a w s o f euthanasia and assisted suicide, therefore, become accomplices of a grave sin that others will execute. They are also guilty of scandal because by such laws they contribute to the distor tion of conscience, even among the faithful.”

To take one’s own life breaks one’s relationship with God and with others. “Assisted suicide aggravates the gravity of this act because it implicates another in one’s own despair,” it said.

The Christian response to these actions is to offer the help necessary for a person to shake off this despair, it emphasized, and not to indulge “in spurious condescension.”

“The commandment ‘do not kill’. ..is in fact a yes to life which God guarantees, and it ‘becomes a call to attentive love which protects and promotes the life of one’s neighbor,’” the letter said.

Hannah Brockhaus/Catholic News Agency

Does having churches as polling stations sway the ballot?

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ouses of worship may be busier than usual come Election Day as Americans head to the polls rather than the pews.

A 2010 census of religious congregations identified nearly 350,000 churches, mosques, temples and other religious establishments attended by more than 150 million Americans, primarily for spiritual needs and social relationships.

But during elections, such places double as centers of civic life—serving as community polling places.

In some electoral districts, houses of worship make up a significant number of all voting places, raising important issues about whether voting in a place of worship influences how people cast their ballots.

Church and state

Voting in religious spaces is nothing new. Americans have long been casting their ballots in the same place where they or their neighbors worship.

In early America, the town meeting house often served both religious and secular functions—with the same space housing prayer meetings, schooling and town business.

Although the separation of church and state has largely moved the practice of religious and secular life into separate spheres, churches have continued to house voting booths.

As urban population densities have grown— more than 500 percent from 1910 to 2010—election boards have been asked to identify polling sites that are large and empty enough to accommodate voters.

They also need to be accessible and rent-free.

Since government buildings can rarely accommodate these needs—indeed, less than 1 percent of polling sites in 2018 were specifically election offices—religious leaders have often offered their buildings as polling sites as a public service.

Although no national data on religious spaces as polling places exists, this arrangement appears to be very common.

For example, 22 percent of polling sites for the 2020 general election in Minneapolis are houses of worship.

In St. Louis, 27 percent of precincts vote in religious spaces and, in one ward, all eight of the polling places are churches.

Priming voters

As a scholar who studies how social situations can influence attitudes, I believe where someone votes can subtly but significantly affect how they vote.

Social scientists have long understood that physical and social context shapes the way people think, feel and behave.

Without even realizing it, most of us are likely to speak more quietly when talking about the possibility of visiting a library than when discussing plans to dine at an exclusive restaurant.

Each physical setting offers cues that, at least temporarily, prompt people to think and behave in ways consistent with stereotypes about that space.

Scholars call this a “priming effect.”

Sometimes this happens consciously as people realize that they are influenced by the situation. For example, you might feel serious and reverent while visiting a war memorial. Much of the time, however, people aren’t aware of the subtle priming influences of everyday spaces.

These unconscious influences can be powerful.

For example, people in a business-themed room with briefcases and boardroom tables tended to act more competitive and self-interested in decisions than those making the same decisions in a classroom, researchers found.

Similarly, on average, people who could see a

sports drink rather than a bottle of water ran longer on a treadmill. And those hearing French music over supermarket loudspeakers were more likely to buy French wine than when German music was playing.

Ballot bias

These effects extend to the polling booth.

In Arizona’s 2000 general election, citizens voting in schools were more likely to support a state sales-tax increase to fund education than citizens with similar social and political characteristics who cast ballots elsewhere.

In a related laboratory study, voters shown images of a school encouraged support for education-oriented taxation, whereas images of a church reduced support for stem-cell research.

In 2012, my colleagues and I asked approximately 100 participants from more than 20 different countries to answer questions about their political attitudes and feelings toward various minority groups while standing in front of a cathedral or City Hall in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Regardless of their own religious identity or beliefs, respondents who could see the church supported more conservative approaches to issues such as immigration, taxes, drug policies, warfare and abortion than those who could see City Hall.

They were also more prejudiced toward minorities, such as gay men and immigrants—especially those of Arab descent.

Our recent analysis of 2016 election data from Virginia reveals similar tendencies.

Controlling for population, county-level religiosity and other factors, citizens casting their ballots in churches were significantly more likely to vote for Republican candidates than their nearly identical neighbors who were voting in secular venues.

This effect was strongest for counties with the

highest proportion of religious people. That is, when Christians vote in churches, they seem to be even more likely to vote for conservative candidates than when they vote outside of churches.

Further, which houses of worship are selected may invite more bias into the polling booth.

When a single mosque was included as a polling site among more than 50 churches in Palm Beach County, Florida, in 2016, the county’s election board received complaints and threats of violence until they removed the mosque as a polling site.

Meanwhile, Christian churches are common polling sites even in communities that are not themselves predominantly Christian.

As a result, some citizens who may feel stigmatized and threatened by religious institutions are expected to visit them to vote.

Small influence but tight margins

Although some non-Christian citizens have complained that voting in churches violates their rights, courts have consistently ruled that the availability of alternatives, such as absentee-voting, means that having places of religion serve as polling stations does not represent a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of religion.

In other words, where you are can influence who you are, even when you don’t notice it.

Although the influences of physical spaces are small and people are more likely to be influenced by these kinds of peripheral cues when they don’t already have strong opinions on a topic, elections can be decided by fractions of a percent—especially in consequential local races where people may enter the polling booth undecided, and thus be more susceptible to the influences of the space they’re in.

Jordan LaBouff/The Conversation

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Sunday, September 27, 2020

A7

Asean Heritage Parks: Woes, hope amid pandemic

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By Jonathan L. Mayuga

that we got last year. We lost this revenue because of Covid-19 pandemic, along with the opportunity to educate and inspire people to support the conservation of Tubbataha and other marine ecosystems,” Songco said.

For her his part, Abdul Jalil Abd Rahman, a representative of the community in Taman Negara National Park in Malaysia, said the 86,000 tourists they received last year were practically lost because of the pandemic.

Fortunately, he said members of the communities who have lost their livelihood have been receiving aid from the government.

Tam Tanh Nguyen of Vietnam’s Hoang Lien National Park also lamented the fact that the lockdown resulted in zero income from tourism for their park.

rotected areas closed for months, tourism income lost, reduced mobility of park rangers and increasing pressure on the environment with communities left with no other options but hunt animals for food, or harvest wildlife resources to put food on the table.

These situations are happening in the middle of the health crisis brought by Covid-19, and it is now taking its toll on Southeast Asia’s rich biodiversity.

Among those hit hard in varying degrees are Asean Heritage Parks (AHPs), considered the cream of the crop of protected areas in Southeast Asia.

Protected areas and AHPs

Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) Executive Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim said there are 2,652 protected areas in the Asean region covering an accumulated total of more than 800,000 square kilometers.

These are in Brunei Darussalam, one; Cambodia, two; Indonesia, nature; Lao PDR, one; Malaysia, three; Myanmar, eight; Philippines, nine; Singapore, two; Thailand, six; and Vietnam, 10.

The ACB identifies the areas that are declared AHPs, a flagship program of the Asean.

Lim gave these information during a webinar, titled “Asean Heritage Parks and Covid-19 Pandemic: Impact, Responses, and Recovery,” held via Zoom recently by the ACB and the Directorate General of Nature Resources and Ecosystem Conservation (NREC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) of Indonesia.

Known for their unique biodiversity, ecosystems wilderness and outstanding values, AHPs are given the highest recognition because of their importance as areas of conservation.

The AHP Programme encourages the Asean member-states to set aside and conserve more areas in the region that are of high conservation importance.

To be recognized as an AHP, a protected area undergo a stringent process to pass the discern-

ing criteria of ecological completeness, naturalness, having high conservation importance and representing a wide variety of ecosystems of species typical of the particular region.

Productive amid Covid-19

Heritage, life-support system

Ir. Wiratno, M. Sc., director general of Indonesia’s MoEFNREC, said AHPs are something the region should be proud of.

In his message, Wiratno said protected areas in Indonesia are very important life-support system, like fresh water for consumption and agriculture.

He said they provide various support, regulating, provisioning and cultural services.

“I would like to remind [everyone] that protected areas are very important as a life-support system like fresh water for consumption and agriculture,” he added.

Indonesia’s One Health concept

Ibu Indra Exploitasia, DVM, director, and Nining Ngudi Purmaningtyas, deputy director, respectively, of Biodiversity Conservation Directorate General of MoEF-NREC in Indonesia underscored the importance of protecting the forest to promote a healthier environment.

They shared Indonesia’s One Health concept, wherein the health of the environment, humans and animals are directly connected.

They believe that damage to the environment eventually affects animal and human health.

The establishment of protected areas, they said, is a strategy to heal, and provide therapy to Indonesia’s damaged environment.

Biodiversity-rich Asean region

Home to an abundance of diverse biological resources, 18 percent of the world’s known fauna and flora are found in Asean, Lim said.

Picture-perfect corals of varying shapes and colors attract divers in Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, one of the best dive spots in the world. It is one of the nine Asean Heritage Parks in the Philippines. ACB photo

Lim highlighted the importance of biodiversity conservation in the region, and cited Asean’s recognition of the immense role of the region’s biodiversity-rich areas, both as a solution to preventing future pandemics and for the region’s recovery post-Covid-19.

“These biodiversity areas provide resources for nourishment, shelter and even medicine. People and communities depend on biodiversity for their livelihood and survival; hence the sustainable use of these resources is essential for the present and future generations,” Lim said in her opening remarks during the webinar.

Mitigating, preventing disease outbreaks

A former director of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the Philippines, Lim said establishing and effectively managing protected areas is regarded as the most effective tool in ensuring the conservation of the region’s rich ecosystems and biodiversity.

But more than their breathtaking views and the valuable ecosystem services that they provide, Lim said natural parks and protected areas have much more to offer as they could also be the key to mitigating the impacts of disease outbreaks, and more important, even preventing them.

A licensed veterinarian and expert in zoonotic diseases, Lim said the Covid-19 pandemic is a reminder that many wildlife species could be natural virus reservoirs.

Hence, she said that when habitats are encroached on or destroyed, these reservoir species are driven toward human settlements, increasing the risk of virus transmission to domestic animals, and eventually to humans.

Best solutions

Calling conservation efforts at the ecosystem level as best solutions to preventing future disease outbreaks, Lim said it can decrease habitat loss and keep the wildlife species and their inherent viruses in the safety of their natural habitats.

This is the reason why the Asean and with the support of ACB are working on establishing more protected areas, she said.

The ACB head said the establishment of more protected areas while sustaining the management of existing ones become even more crucial in building a new normal amid the ongoing pandemic.

Tourism sites

Lim said being the cream of the crop of national parks and protected areas in the region, AHPs are popular tourism areas. About 80 percent of AHPs, she said, are considered

ecotourism sites.

But like other tourism areas affected by Covid-19, AHPs are severely affected by the ongoing community quarantines or lockdowns.

A preliminary online survey among protected area managers conducted by ACB from April 26 to June 16 revealed the impact of Covid-19 to protected areas in the region.

About 76.9 percent of park officials surveyed said their protected areas have been closed to tourists and visitors because of the pandemic, while 62 percent said their protected areas incurred tourism income losses as a result of the closure.

Mea nwh i le, more t h a n 50 percent of the respondents said t hei r en forcement ac t iv it ies were affected.

Lockdown woes

During the webinar, park managers shared experiences how the Covid-19 lockdowns have affected their operations.

Angelique Songco, protected area superintendent of the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, said because of Covid-19 they only received 139 visitors from March to June, a sharp decline from 3,400 visitors in the same period last year.

“We are expecting a revenue of $21,000 over the total amount

Reduced mobility brought by the community quarantines or lockdowns is a major challenge to park authorities. Despite that, the park managers said they are able to continue performing their functions, including law enforcement.

In Tubbataha, marine park rangers have been rotated and deployed on time, while the scheduled management trips and research activities were pushed through.

The management of Kepulauan Seribu National Park in Indonesia, on the other hand, tapped the locals to patrol and conduct monitoring in the park as the mobility of its staff was affected by the suspension of public transportation.

On a positive note, the managers of AHPs and protected areas, however, are finding ways to be productive even during the lockdowns, Lim noted.

She said park managers have also been consulting and coordinating with indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs), whose livelihoods have been gravely affected by impacts of Covid-19.

Fortunately, she said despite grappling with the difficulties, the communities remain protective of their environment and have stepped up active roles in monitoring and surveillance activities.

“It is important to note, therefore, the essential role of the IPLCs and take them into consideration as we prepare for the ‘new normal’ in ecotourism activities,” she said.

Lim said alternative livelihoods must be part of the contingency plan in the event of future outbreaks.

Pilot whales in Australia: Nearly 500 stranded, 380 dead Florida man sentenced for smuggling PHL lizards

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AMPA, Florida—A Florida man has been sentenced to 90 days of home detention and 288 hours of community service for his part in trafficking of live water monitor lizards that were stuffed into socks and concealed inside electronics to be smuggled from the Philippines to the United States.

Akbar Akram, 44, was sentenced earlier this month in Tampa federal court.

He pleaded guilty in January to one count of wildlife trafficking in violation of the Lacey Act and the the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Treaty, court records show.

Akram admitted to illegally importing more than 20 live water monitor lizards from the Philippines in 2016, a US Justice Department statement said.

He avoided customs authorities by placing the lizards in socks, which were sealed closed with tape and concealed inside electronic equipment

and shipped under a false label.

The equipment was transported through commercial carriers to Akram’s associate in Massachusetts.

As part of his plea, Akram admitted that he knew the monitor lizards he received had been taken in violation of Philippine law and that the import violated US law, according to the statement.

A k ram a lso admitted that upon receiving the monitor lizards, he sold some of them to customers in Colorado, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Approximately 70 monitor lizard species are characterized by elongated necks, heavy bodies, long-forked tongues, strong claws and long tails.

Water monitor lizards are native to South and Southeastern Asia. The yellow-headed water monitor, the white-headed water monitor and the marbled water monitor are found in the Philippines. AP

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OBART, Australia—More pilot whales were found stranded in Australia on Wednesday, raising the estimated total to nearly 500, including 380 that have died, in the largest mass stranding ever recorded in the country.

Authorities had already been work i ng to resc ue su r v ivors among an estimated 270 whales found Monday on a beach and two sandbars near the remote coastal town of Strahan on the southern island state of Tasmania.

Another 200 stranded whales were spotted from a helicopter on Wednesday less than 10 kilometers to the south, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Manager Nic Deka said.

All 200 had been confirmed dead by late afternoon.

They were among 380 whales that had died overall, 30 that were alive but stranded and 50 that had been rescued since Tuesday, Deka said.

“We’ ll continue to work to free as many of the animals as

A member of a rescue crew stands with a whale on a sandbar near Strahan, Australia, on September 22. Brodie Weeding/Pool Photo via AP

we can,” he said. “We’ll continue working for as long as there are live animals.“ About 30 whales in the original stranding were moved from the sandbars to open ocean on Tuesday, but several got stranded again.

About a third of the first group had died by Monday evening.

Tasmania is the only part of Australia prone to mass strandings, although they occasionally occur on the Australian mainland.

Australia’s largest mass stranding had prev iously been 320 pilot whales near the Western

Australia state town of Dunsborough in 1996.

The latest stranding is the first involving more than 50 whales in Tasmania since 2009.

Marine Conservation Program wildlife biologist Kris Carlyon said the latest mass stranding was the biggest in Australia “in terms of numbers stranded and died.”

Why the whales ran aground is a mystery. The pod may have been drawn into the coast to feed or by the misadventure of one or two whales, which led to the rest of the pod following, Carlyon said.

“It’s really likely this was the one stranding event of a big group.

This would have been one big group offshore,” he said.

M a r i ne s c ie nt i s t Va ne s s a Pirotta said there were a number of potential reasons why whales might become beached, including navigational errors.

“They do have a very strong social system, these animals are closely bonded and that’s why we have seen so many in this case unfortunately in this situation,” Pirotta said.

And rescuing them doesn’t always work “because they are wanting to return back to the pod, they might hear the acoustics for the vocalizations of the sounds that the others are making, or they’re just disoriented and in this case extremely stressed, and just probably so fatigued that they in some cases don’t know where they are,” she added.

In neighboring New Zealand, more t h a n 60 0 pi lot wh a les washed up on the South Island at Farewell Spit in 2017, with more than 350 dying. AP

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 Sunday, September 27, 2020

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

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ADEJ POGACAR may have sealed Tour de France victory four days ago, but the UAE Team Emirates youngster still can’t believe what he achieved on his debut at the race.

Speaking in a virtual press conference, the 22-year-old said that his post-race celebrations have been low-key. Covid-19 restrictions and a focus on upcoming races in this condensed calendar both mean he’s stayed in his Monaco flat rather than going out to celebrate becoming the youngest Tour winner since Henri Cornet in 1904.

And despite winning the Tour a few days ago—the 17th victory of his two-year pro career—Pogacar is already thinking ahead to new goals.

“For sure I will try to defend the Tour de France title but there’s also the World Championships this week,” he said. “For the future, to be at my best to try to win again, to win some Monuments or the Giro and Vuelta.”

Pogacar will vie in the International Cycling Union World Championships road race in Imola on Sunday, one of eight riders representing Slovenia. After that—in October—he’ll take on two Monuments, including a Tour of Flanders debut after Liège-Bastogne-Liège. But even when he’s planning for those races, Pogacar admits that his Tour win has yet to seem real.

“This hasn’t sunk in yet really. I think it will be a long time until I realize that I won the biggest race in the world because it’s something I’ve been dreaming about since I was a kid, even to be on the start list of the Tour de France,” he said.

“Now in my first year, I already had the opportunity to race with the best, and then to win it’s unbelievable for me. I think I will need some time to realize what happened,” he added.

Pogacar said that the original plan was to target a top 5 finish, making his final result something of a surprise even to him and his team—and an even bigger surprise for anyone who believed UAE’s spin that the more experienced Fabio Aru would take on the mantle of team leadership in France.

“The team believed but for sure it was a bit of a surprise to arrive in yellow in Paris. We

Siele 66th Kenyan banned for doping, joins list of shame

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POGACAR SETS GOALS HIGHER TADEJ POGACAR has no time for celebrations with world championships and the classics in his sights. AP

started with the mindset to go for the top 5,” Pogacar said. “That was the first main goal.”

Pogacar added: “Then, when I was in second, we tried to defend it and get some time back from Primož [Roglič], but we saw that it was quite impossible with his strong team. Then in the time trial it was a little bit we were all surprised by what I did.”

That final Tour podium, a one-two for Slovenia with Pogacar beating Roglič in the end by 59 seconds, is a result nearly

unprecedented in modern Tour history. The last time two riders from the same country occupied the top 2 spots in Paris was back in 2012 when Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome dominated the race.

Looking back over the last half-century it’s only happened on three more occasions— with Laurent Fignon and Bernard Hinault in 1984, Joop Zoetemelk and Hennie Kuiper in 1980, and Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor in 1964. Needless to say, there has

been much cause for celebration in Slovenia—a country with just nine WorldTour riders, even if Pogacar wasn’t able to party after his win.

“For Slovenia, it’s our first Tour de France victory and I must say that with first and second on the podium, Slovenia is going crazy right now,” he said.

“Everyone is so happy and celebrating, but for me now I’ve stayed in my apartment in Monaco where everything is more relaxed because of the Covid-19 restrictions, so it’s a bit hard to go and celebrate with people.” Cyclingnews

HE Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) banned a Kenyan athlete who ran from drug testers and then jumped over a fence to get away— taking the number of athletes from the East African country currently serving suspensions to 66.

According to a statement released by the AIU, Patrick Siele was found guilty of evading an out of competition test that was to be conducted on him in Kapsabet in Kenya on December 18 last year.

Although 23-year-old Siele was subject to a four-year ban, the AIU revealed the athlete had admitted to the violation, hence a reduction of the sanction by six months.

It means there are now 66 runners from Kenya currently serving bans for doping-related offenses. Siele’s ban has been backdated to March 20.

According to the AIU, the former steeplechaser was seen “running away from testing.”

“An independent witness also confirmed that he had seen the athlete hurdling over a fence to escape from the compound,” the AIU added.

The AIU also noted it was Siele’s first offense.

“The AIU accepts that the athlete promptly admitted the violation after the AIU’s notification letter on 16 March 2020 and the AIU and the World AntiDoping Agency [WADA] have agreed to a six-month reduction in the four-year sanction, taking into account the seriousness of his violation and his relative degree of fault [being only 23 years old, the fact that this was his first experience of out-of-competition testing and his relative lack of anti-doping education which may have contributed to his error of judgment on the day],” the AIU statement said.

But AIU also noted in its report that Siele knew he was deliberately seeking to avoid having a doping sample taken that day.

“The athlete has admitted that he was aware that the AIU was seeking to test him on that day and that he took steps intended to avoid being tested by running away from the camp,” the statement added.

Siele’s best international performance was at the Shanghai Marathon in November last year when he finished sixth in a personal best of two hours, 10 minutes and 42 seconds.

His other personal bests include 28:32 for 10 kilometers and 60:43 for the halfmarathon.

Notable names on the list of Kenyan runners currently banned include the 2016 Olympic women’s marathon champion Jemima Sumgong and former world marathon record holder Wilson Kipsang.

The 2011, 2013 and 2015 world 1500 meters gold medalist Asbel Kiprop is also banned, as is Elijah Manangoi, who succeeded him in 2017. Insidethegames PATRICK SIELE evades drug testers by running away and jumping over a fence in December 18 last year.

MLB teams find creative ways to stay energized without fans

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HE absence of fans didn’t stop Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto from receiving an ovation after hitting a homer to put his team ahead for good.

All that applause Wednesday came from the Reds grounds crew. When they haven’t been keeping Great America Ball Park in tip-top shape, the groundskeepers have loudly cheered for the Reds from the stands.

Teams throughout the major leagues have found different ways to maintain intensity without the benefit of fans in the ballpark. The Milwaukee Brewers have formed a makeshift band in the bullpen. Whenever Minnesota’s Sergio Romo leaves the bullpen to pitch, the other Twins relievers play maracas.

But the most notable example arguably involves the Cincinnati grounds crew.

Votto, who gave the crew noisemakers earlier this season, said the groundskeepers’ constant cheering even caused an opposing player to comment to him.

“He said, ‘I hate that group,’” Votto said. “And I thought, ‘That’s exactly what we want.’ That’s exactly what we want.

We want the opposing team to hate, to be annoyed by them. I think they don’t care in the least. They’ve carried us at times, where we need energy, where we need, I don’t know, something different. They’ve made noise. They cheer. They talk mess. They’ve been fantastic all year.”

Some of the Reds even made sure to

meet the groundskeepers and thank them Wednesday after closing their home schedule with a 6-1 victory over the Brewers.

“I can say having the grounds crew in our corner, I felt like was a distinct advantage for us because no other city had that,” Votto said.

“No other city had a group that was willing to make noise, make musical noise, talk mess to the opposing first-base coach and players and support the team.”

In fact, plenty of other teams also figured out how to energize otherwise empty ballparks. In most cases, it involved the players taking the responsibility upon themselves.

Brewers reliever Brent Suter has led Milwaukee’s bullpen band that cuts through the piped-in crowd noise at Miller Park. Suter and his teammates discovered they could use different equipment to establish a beat.

“We got a bat hitting one of those metal chairs,” Suter said. “Then we have some mallet that is used to break in gloves, and we are hitting it against the dummy out there. And then some guys are using their feet to hit the garbage can. And other guys are slapping the pads and all that. We got a little bullpen band out there. It’s pretty fun.”

Suter said the idea came during a stretching exercise.

“We just said, ‘Hey, listen, our energy could be better so let’s turn it up a little bit. It can start out here in the bullpen. We can bring

some energy, bring some noise to the guys,’” Suter said.

The Twins have their own musical routine every time the song “El Mechon” plays to signal that Romo is entering the game.

“It’s fun,” Twins reliever Trevor May said. “I just had the idea in summer camp just because he actually inspired me. He was yelling during our intrasquad games and he’s all you can hear. It was like, ‘We can do anything out here.

It doesn’t matter.’ I ordered some maracas on Amazon. We only play it when his song comes on. People ask us why we don’t take them on the road. They don’t play his song when he runs out there. It’s awkward when there’s no ‘Mechon’ playing.”

The Twins have even found a storage space in the bullpen for the maracas.

“There’s a tarp hanging there,” May said.

“We created a little pocket. We just put them in there.”

These actions haven’t received universal praise.

Detroit Tigers interim manager Lloyd McClendon was still the Tigers’ bench coach earlier this month when he discussed the importance of players creating their own energy but added a caveat.

“Some of the stuff that’s going on in baseball, I don’t like it, the drumming, the banging,” McClendon said. “Particularly with all the problems we’ve had in the past, I just don’t think it’s appropriate.” AP

MEMBERS of the Cincinnati Reds’ grounds crew react as Reds’ Joey Votto runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of their game against the Milwaukee Brewers. AP

Stock investors are younger, more racially diverse Could the trend just be millennial fad, or a transitory effect of the lockdowns?

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BusinessMirror SEPTEMBER 27, 2020 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

YOUR MUSI

THROUGH ‘HEAVEN AND HELL’ Ava Max on her engaging brand of electropop

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By Stephanie Joy Ching

FTER a stunning commercial breakthrough with the 80s-inspired electropop dance hit, “Sweet but Psycho,” American singer-songwriter Ava Max finally released her much awaited debut album last September 18, the equally intriguingly-titled Heaven and Hell.

AVA Max

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Just like with the rest of the populace, 2020 was a rather slowmoving year for the Wisconsin native who’s often compared to Lady Gaga, owing in large part to the ongoing pandemic.

Ava, however, is very grateful to suddenly having a lot of time to “focus on herself.”

“This year has been [an] up and down, heaven and hell [kind of thing]. But it’s great to have the time to get to work on my music some more.”

A 15-song collection of infectious dance pop songs with emphasis on synths and feature elements of soul and yes, even throwback disco, Heaven and Hell is divided into two parts, namely the “Heaven” side and the “Hell” side.

“Heaven is more energetic, upbeat and very anthemic. And Hell is more of a gloomy, sonically darker but there are no sad songs.

But they're all very bold and strong,” she shared.

Surprisingly, there’s even a Purgatory side as represented by the song, “Torn.”

While Ava admits that she didn’t initially intend to split the album in half, the idea just came naturally to her.

“When I was writing, I didn’t think that these songs would have to go on one side or the other. Then after I split it, it just happened.”

“Heaven and Hell represents what I and a lot of other people have gone through. People go through heaven and hell in their lives-good days, bad days, the yin and the yang. It’s never great all

the time,” she added.

An outspoken advocate for female empowerment, Ava has been known to use her songs to let women know they’re not fighting alone. This is particularly evident in the song “Kings and Queens” with its chess themed music video and lyrics. However, Ava doesn’t just want to empower women so they speak for themselves.

“I want people who listen to my album to come out stronger, and feel that they can achieve anything.

My purpose is to uplift and inspire

and help people get through tough times,” she said.

In describing the track, “Naked,” set to be her latest single, following “Sweet But Pyscho,” and “OMG What’s Happening,” Ava said the song is about “the real emotions we go through.”

“If you don’t know my mind, soul, and heart, you’ll never know me by seeing me naked. We are more than our physical bodies.

That’s what I wanted to show,” Ava said in explaining the meaning behind the song.

Given all the challenges of 2020, it is easy to feel powerless as the world seems to collapse in on itself.

Yet even with all the uncertainties, people are increasingly finding solace in music to keep moving forward. As such, Ava’s bold, dance pop style combined with her uplifting, take-no-prisoners lyrical make up what is easily one of the year’s most engaging albums.

Ava Max’s Heaven and Hell is distributed through Warner Music Philippines and is now available in all major digital streaming platforms.

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soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

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BUSINESS

VIRTUAL REALITY

Steve Aoki’s new remix features artists as realistic avatars

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HE music video for two-time Grammynominated DJ/Producer Steve Aoki’s remix of 90s dance hit “Can’t Stop This!!” has been released on Aoki’s YouTube channel.

CANTSTOPTHIS poster logo Ver 1

The video for “Can’t Stop This!!

- Steve Aoki Remix” directed by Yuki Tsujimoto who was named one of the top Japanese Motion Graphi Creators Eizo 100’s “Top 100 Visual Artists of 2019” brought together the participating artists as animated digital avatars due to recent travel limitations.

REVIVE 'em all 2020 (1)

The song was released earlier this year by Avex’s next generation artists Beverly, FAKY, FEMM, lol, Yup’in, and Kalen Anzai under the group name “Revive ‘Em All 2020”.

The virtual production was created with the help of Future Real 3D Avatar Lab using realistic avatars and motion capture data.

The song was remixed by Steve Aoki, one of the world’s top DJs and producers, who is renowned for headlining music festivals around the world and being an influential multiGrammy Award nominated artist.

“Can’t Stop This!” is a revival (with new lyrics written by Yup’in with RiRi from FEMM) of “Can’t Undo This!”, a classic Japanese dance hit during the 1990’s.

“Can’t Stop This!!” was also used as an insert song for M Aisubeki Hito Ga Ite, the hit drama co-produced by TV Asahi and ABEMA.

STEVE Aoki

The dance choreography was created in collaboration between Ryo Noguchi, known for his collaborations with Missy Elliott and will.i.am, and GENDAI, the leader of UNVISION, which won the world championship in the dance competition series WORLD OF DANCE. Computer graphics were created by production company HIYOCOPILOT, known for its distinctive artistic design, and Kota Yamaji of BRDG, an audio & visual collective with fans around the world.

For the past few years, “90’s revival” has been a key word in Japan, and revival culture

has been attracting worldwide attention. The lyric “Don’t Stop The Music!” contains the following messages about the original word “Revival”: “Revive ‘Em All 2020” from the SNS of participating artists “REVIVAL” means “resurrection, rebirth and recovery”.

May the world “REVIVE”...

Don’t Stop The Music #For the Future We Can Dance Maybe it’s in these dark times that music has something to offer.

Stock investors are younger, more racially diverse Could the trend just be millennial fad, or a transitory effect of the lockdowns?

By Aaron Brown | Bloomberg Opinion

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rokerage firms such as Robinhood Financial Llc., zero-commission trading, the surge in exchangetraded funds and the growth in fractional share ownership have all had a hand in luring a new generation of investors to the stock market in recent years.

If anything, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the trends, as evidenced by the unnaturally high prices paid for shares of bankrupt Hertz Global Holdings Inc. or Tesla Inc.’s soaring stock price.

Now comes a new Yahoo Finance Harris poll that reveals other changes in the investing landscape that have far-reaching implications for both the government and companies. For one, more than half the racial gap in individual stock ownership has disappeared essentially overnight. Also, both younger and older Americans are now more likely to own stocks than those in their prime, middle-age asset accumulation years. More than one-third of those middle-aged investors have greatly reduced their stock holdings.

What does it mean? Of course, it could turn out to just be a millennial fad, or a transitory effect of the lockdowns, or even just an outlier survey. But if the results represent a long-term trend, they could overturn some long-held assumptions. For one, the political appeal of running an antiWall Street platform may not be as effective among young and non-White voters as in the past. Claiming credit for good stock market performance might not also matter as much to middle-aged White voters.

Public corporations may find that their individual shareholders are becoming more diverse than their executive

ranks and boards. Most of the pressure to date for corporate diversity has come from institutional shareholders.

Individual shareholders seldom vote, and while the new, young and non-White shareholders probably don’t represent a significant block of shares, the cultural view of public companies is very much influenced by shareholder characteristics. Companies that can win the loyalty of new investors, especially younger ones, can enjoy relatively cheaper and more secure capital over long periods of time—as evidenced

by Tesla.

The following table shows the percentage of US households owning at least one individual stock not held in a retirement account from the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances and the September 2020 YFH poll, by race.

Owning individual stocks has a large effect on people’s attitudes in politics, financial decisions and cultural identification. It’s true that all Americans have a stake in the stock market, with more than half exposed through mutual funds and retirement accounts.

Workers covered by public pensions are indirectly exposed because the ability of funds to make promised payments depends on the stock market’s performance. Even people with no assets linked to stocks are helped when the market goes up because it tends to lead to more jobs and higher wages. But these kinds of indirect exposures are less intense than what investors who pick and own individual stocks directly feel.

Young and old people were more likely to own individual

stocks in 2020 than 2016, but in the prime middle-age asset accumulation years, more than one-third of individual stockholders sold off their stocks. A 40-year-old is now more likely to own individual stocks than a 60-year-old.

These huge demographic changes have occurred without much change in stockholding patterns by income, education, family type, home ownership or region—factors normally considered more important to investment behavior.

The stock market was invented mainly for older, wealthy, white men and any movement toward broadening the base was scotched by the Great Depression. It wasn’t until the Baby Boomers reached working age that the market began to democratize, mainly via low-cost index funds and equity selections in tax-deferred retirement accounts, and the change did not take strongly among non-whites.

Generation X imitated its parents, but as Millennials reach working ages, a new paradigm may be emerging—aggressive equity participation by young people of all races, centered on active trading of individual stocks. The dollar amounts are small today, but the long-term impact on markets, the economy and society could be profound.

The Elizabethan poet Thomas Nashe wrote “A Litany in Time of Plague” in which he warned, “Rich men, trust not in wealth, Gold cannot buy you health.” Millions of non-rich Americans, mostly young and non-White, are using this time of plague to start trusting in stocks. That may prove to be one of the bigger social changes from pandemic.

European diplomats, Bicol artists recite masterpieces to inspire hope

By Oliver Samson Correspondent

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ormer Hungarian Ambassador Jozsef Bencze took the honor of reading “Még nem elég” (Not Yet Enough), a masterpiece by Vaci Mihaly, who was a Hungarian poet and publicist, and whose works had touched on social issues with socialistic undertones. The recital was part of the ongoing “Bersong Euro-Pinoy 2020” reading of poems by European envoys and esteemed local literary artists.

The event, which aims to inspire hope during these tough times, began as an idea of Instituto Cervantes, a Spanish government agency known for promoting Spanish language and culture. “Bersong EuroPinoy” had been held under the framework of “Dia del Libro,” convening diplomats and literary artists from the EU Delegation to the Philippines, EU member-states’ embas-

sies and cultural institutes.

This year’s event also saw Polish chargé d’affaires to the Philippines and ambassador to Ethiopia Jarosław Roman Szczepankiewicz accept the privilege of rendering Julian Tuwim’s “The Remembrance.”

Tuwim was a poet and a major figure in Polish literature, who was also known for his contributions to children’s literature.

Meanwhile, Dora Sediva, the eight-yearold daughter of Czech Ambassador to the Philippines Jana Sediva, partook in festivities as well. She recited “The Crystal Spring”

by Josef Václav Sládek, a Czech poet and journalist, who translated 33 plays by William Shakespeare.

The translation by national artist for literature Virgilio Almario, titled “Awit Ng Pag-Ibig” from “Zhudebněná milostná báseň,” a love poem set to the music by Jan Kresaldo, would be read by Amiel Jeremy Diaz, the political officer at the Czech em-

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bassy in Manila.

Known Bicolano literary artists are also set to join “Bersong Euro-Pinoy” this year, which is themed “Mga Tataramon nin Paglaom Words of Hope Verses Versus the Virus.”

The esteemed list includes Fr. Wilmer Tria, who translated Khalil Gibran’s “The Prophet” to the Bicol language; Kristian Sendon Cordero, a poet and a multi-awardee writer; Rosaurio Imperial Sr., a writer known for translating such classics as Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” and Gustav Flaubert’s “Madame Bovary” in corrido form; and Frank Peñones Jr., a poet and a writer known for his Ragang Rinaranga. Also set to participate are Roda Daignre, known for Bicol-Masbate literature; film critic and BusinessMirror columnist Tito Genova Valiente; and Jess Volante and Delia Enverga-Volante, two of Bicol literature luminaries.

According to Thomas Wiersing, chargé

September 27, 2020

d’affaires, a.i. of the EU Delegation to the Philippines, last May’s poetry recital has enthused the EU Delegation to bring it to Naga and Dumaguete. The “Bersong EuroPinoy” offers a venue for mutually understanding and appreciating the European and Filipino cultures and for strengthening people-to-people links between Europeans and Filipinos.

“Bersong Euro-Pinoy 2020” runs until next month, streamed live at the EU Delegation to the Philippines.

The poetry recital is a collaboration between Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy through the Philippine-Italian Association, Poland, Spain through Instituto Cervantes, and multi-awarded Filipino poets from the Bicol region. The EU Delegation has also collaborated with Ateneo de Naga University, Ateneo de Naga University Press, and Ateneo Arts and Culture in holding the literary event.