BusinessMirror November 10, 2020

PHL to push for HSW inclusion in kafala ban

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

T A TRAZE app QR code for tracing is displayed at the entrance of Naia Terminal 1. The use of the contact-tracing app will be made mandatory for all passengers in all airports nationwide.

Passengers will be required to download the app on their mobile phones, and to register an account before proceeding to the airports. Passengers who do not have mobile phones or any other mobile gadget may go to the Malasakit Helpdesk at the airport for registration assistance to get a unique QR code, or ask a family member to register them with the app. Related story in “Companies,” page B1. NONIE REYES

HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will push for the inclusion of Filipino household services workers (HSW) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s abolition of the “kafala” system.

DOLE’s Inter nationa l Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) issued the statement after clarifying that the planned abolition next year will not cover some sectors, including HSWs and drivers.

ILAB Director Alice Visperas said

a representative at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) will be raising the issue with the Saudi government.

“They will make sure this will be discussed during their meetings with the [Saudi] officials. Since it [abolition] will take effect in March 2021, there might still be a chance household service workers will be included in the abolition of the kafala system,” Visperas said in an online press briefing on Monday.

She said they hope this will addressed in the additional guidelines to be issued by KSA for their looming

abolition of their kafala system.

Vulnerable sector THE kafala or sponsorship system is a scheme practiced in many Middle East countries, wherein migrants are required to get the authorization of Saudi employers to be employed in the KSA. Many labor advocate groups criticized the scheme as a form of “modern slavery” since it leaves migrant workers vulnerable to abuse from their employers.

Visperas said this is more apparent for Filipinos HSWs, who tend to account for most distressed cases in

KSA. About 17 percent of the over 800,000 OFWs in the KSA are HSWs.

Ready assistance

IN a related development, Visperas said DOLE is ready to extend help to Janet Calayag, the OFW who allegedly “fell” from a building in Jeddah, KSA last week.

“Our welfare officer visited her in the hospital. Once she will need it, we have medical and financial assistance for her,” Visperas said.

She said Saudi authorities are still investigating if foul play was involved in Calayag’s case.

TRAVEL CURBS STALLING

w

n

Tuesday, November 10, 2020 Vol. 16 No. 33

P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 16 pages |

PHL RECOVERY—NEDA

EARLIER this year, beneficiaries of Aboitiz food business unit Pilmico’s Bangon Capiznon initiative reaped the benefits of technical assistance provided by Pilmico, following the onslaught of Typhoon Ursula in Capiz.

A Bangon Capiznon beneficiary shows here some of his fish harvest for the month of October. Pilmico continues to operate business as usual, which is why the integrated food and agribusiness unit sustains consistent demand for swine, poultry and aquatic feeds. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE Philippine economy is strong enough to recover the 1.2 million jobs lost during the lockdown, but travel restrictions are slowing efforts to expand business activities, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In a presentation at the opening of the 58th Philippine Economic Society (PES) Annual Meeting and Conference, Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said the easing of quarantine restrictions from Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to General Community Quarantine (GCQ)

immediately resulted in jobs created.

Chua said between January and April, a total of 8.8 million jobs were lost due to the ECQ but when the country was placed under GCQ, the economy regained 7.5 million jobs.

“What we notice from the three quarters of the labor force survey

is that the quarantine level has a very direct and fast impact on the trajectory of employment. In other words the economy is actually strong enough to recover if we allow it to do so,” Chua said.

Chua said opening up the economy means removing mobility restrictions, particularly when it comes to public transportation. He said this despite health protocols crafted by former Health Secretaries Manuel Dayrit and Esperanza Cabral.

These are the seven health commandments—wearing proper face masks; wearing of face shields; no talking and no eating during transit; provide adequate ventilation; frequent and proper disinfection; preventing asymptomatic passengers from taking public transport;

and maintaining appropriate physical distancing.

Chua said these minimum health standards are already among the most comprehensive in the world today. These, he said, will help more people regain the confidence to go back to work and boost consumption spending.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque earlier said that while intrazonal and interzonal travel is now allowed, it is only for Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (APOR).

These kinds of travel restrictions rely on the permission given by local governments or, in the case of islands like Boracay, the regulations set by the Boracay InterAgency Task Force.

Continued on A2

DBM releases 58.9% of Bayanihan 2 funds

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

M

ORE than a month before the expiration of Bayanihan 2 law, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it has so far released P82.49 billion or 58.9 percent of the P140-billion allocation.

Budget Assistant Secretary and spokesman Rolando Toledo said Special Allotment Release Orders (Saros) were issued by DBM to departments and agencies in line with Bayanihan 2.

“The P80.57 billion represent allotment releases out of the P140-billion excess income certified by the BTr [Bureau of the

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.2720

Treasury]. The remaining balance of the P82.49 billion, which amounts to about P2.01 billion, was charged from regular agency budget under the FY 2020 GAA [General Appropriations Act] pursuant to Bayanihan 2,” Toledo said in a message to BusinessMirror.

“In total, the DBM has issued Saros amounting to P82.49 billion

pursuant to Bayanihan 2.”

Saros are issued by DBM to authorize agencies to incur obligations not exceeding a given amount during a specified period for the purpose indicated.

Based from the summary of Covid-19 releases uploaded by DBM on its web site on Monday, the Continued on A2

GDP SEEN REVERTING TO SINGLE-DIGIT CONTRACTION IN Q3 AS LOCKDOWNS EASE

By Bianca Cuaresma

T

@BcuaresmaBM

HE Philippine economy is projected to have recovered back to a single-digit contraction in the third quarter of the year, after strict lockdowns and travel restrictions were eased during the period.

Moody’s Analytics, the research arm of the Moody’s Group, forecast a 6-percent contraction of the Philippines’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the months of July to September this year.

This forecast signals an expected improvement from the previous quarter’s 16.5-percent contraction. It is, however, a slightly worse performance compared to Moody’s Analytics forecast on Malaysia’s GDP contraction of 5.2 percent for the third quarter.

Both the Philippines and Malaysia are releasing their third quarter GDP numbers this week.

For the Philippines, Moody’s Analytics Chief APAC Economist Steve Cochrane said the expected recovery is based on the resumption of economic activity as the country emerged from the strict quarantine measures in the second quarter of the year.

However, Malaysia is forecasted to have performed better during the quarter, Cochrane said, because they had more control of infected cases of Covid-19 during the period.

“Much like Malaysia’s, the Philippines’s economy contracted sharply during the June quarter, as the strict lockdown weighed heavily on domestic investment and consumption while exports plunged by 40 percent,” Cochrane said.

“Unlike Malaysia, however, domestic Covid-19 caseloads in the Philippines accelerated over the September quarter, necessitating the extension of conditional restrictions.

n JAPAN 0.4672 n UK 63.5597 n HK 6.2257 n CHINA 7.3052 n SINGAPORE 35.8154 n AUSTRALIA 35.1082 n EU 57.4051 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.8711

See “GDP,” A2

Source: BSP (November 9, 2020)

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Revised PSA data show Q2 performance of GDP worse

T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE performance of the economy in the second quarter was worse than what was initially estimated by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

On Monday, the PSA disclosed that the Philippine economy posted a deeper contraction of 16.9 percent compared to the initial estimate of 16.5 percent in the April to June period.

The revision, PSA explained, was mainly due to the adjustments in estimates in Real estate and ownership of dwellings; Wholesale and retail trade as well as repair of motor vehicles; and Financial and insurance activities.

The revision in real estate and ownership of dwellings “was due to Real Estate with the additional 14 financial statements of real estate developers,” PSA Assistant National Statistician Vivian R. Ilarina said.

For Wholesale and retail trade, the revision “is mostly from retail

trade with additional capture of unorganized activities not captured by the QSPBI [Quarterly Survey of Philippine Business and Industry],” she added, and for Financial and insurance activities, “due to additional reports of banks.”

Ilarina said in some of these sectors, the firms that responded increased to 95 percent from only 83 percent when the second quarter economic performance was initially estimated.

PSA said the contraction of Real estate and ownership of dwellings was pegged at 29.7 percent from the initial estimate of 20.1 percent; while for Wholesale and retail trade as well as repair of motor vehicles, it was pegged to 13.9 percent from

13.1 percent.

The growth posted by Financial and insurance activities, meanwhile, slowed to 5.4 percent from 6.8 percent in the second quarter.

However, Net Primary Income (NPI) from the Rest of the World recorded an upward revision to -21.7 percent from -22 percent while Gross National Income (GNI) posted a downward revision to -17.3 percent from -17 percent.

GDP data in the previous quarter is usually released a day before preliminary estimates are released for the succeeding quarter. On Tuesday, the PSA will release the preliminary estimates for the country’s third quarter performance.

Ilarina added that based on the practice of the PSA, revisions are done based on data updates. These updates usually stem from additional responses from surveys and additional financial statements.

The PSA collects data from institutions such as the Philippine Stock Exchange, the QSPBI, and individual firms that PSA communicates with directly.

“We are not allowed to provide individual responses or specific names. These firms entrust their data to us but [the data is covered by the] confidentiality clause [stipulated in] Republic Act 10625,” Ilarina said.

RA 10625 or the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013 requires respondents to give truthful and complete answers to statistical inquiries or surveys of the PSA and other statistical offices of the PSS. However, the law provides that “Individual data furnished by a respondent to statistical inquiries, surveys and censuses of the PSA shall be considered privileged communication and as such shall be inadmissible as evidence in any proceeding.”

The law provides that persons violating the confidentiality clause shall be liable to fines as prescribed by the PSA Board, which shall not be less than P5,000 nor more than P10,000 and/or imprisonment of three months but not to exceed one year, subject to the degree of breach of information.

COVID VACCINE CZAR GALVEZ: WE’RE COVERING ALL BASES

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

S

TRESSING that funding will not be a problem, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III on Monday said that National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. will “orchestrate all efforts” to ensure delivery of vaccines to erveryone.

In an online media forum, Duque said the budget for the Covid-19 vaccine is part of the planning that Galvez is doing for the implementation of the three major components: vaccine development, procurement, and rollout.

Responding to the BusinessMirror’s question on the adequacy of resources for the vaccine procurement, Duque said, “Congress is a partner in this endeavor.”

“The House of Representatives, in the General Appropriations Bill [GAB] transmitted to the Senate, has included there an increase in the Covid-19 vaccines to P8 billion. [It ] is more than P2.5 billion that was prescribed by the DBM [Department of Budget and Management] Secretary [Wendel Avisado] DOF [Department of Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez],” Duque said.

Duque said the Senate is also “contemplating” to set aside a P10-billion standby fund for Covid-19 vaccines.

Enough funds

GALVEZ also gave assurances that through the multilateral engagement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB), the budget for the Covid-19 vaccine procurement and distribution has been secured.

He said that Dominguez has already prepared the possible amount that will be provided by ADB and WB. “Malaki ang credit rating natin [We have a high credit rating],”Galvez said, referring to the multilateral agencies willing to lend a possible amount of 5-9 billion US dollars.

Galvez said a standby fund of P10 billion was alloted for the procurement of the Covid-19 vaccine under Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or the Bayanihan 2, as well as a P25 -billion standby fund for Covid-19 response.

He added that a logistic service support summit is also slated soon to discuss the requirements and budget concerning vaccine production shipment and storage.

Proactive plan HEALTH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said it is important for the public to be informed of the progress of the country’s proactive plan in acquiring and deploying vaccines as soon as a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine becomes available for the public.

“Ang mga impormasyon na inyong naibahagi ay malaking hakbang upang ma-update natin ang publiko at mga kasamahan natin sa ibang sector kung ano ang ating mga plano patungo sa isang [All the information that you shared to us is a big step to update the public and other sector when it comes to our plans to be able to achieve] safe at [and] efficient delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine,” Vergeire said, referring to the information shared by Duque and Galvez during the forum.

Meanwhile, Galvez elaborated on the seven key stages of the Covid-19 vaccine roadmap for the Philippines and the corresponding departments that will lead each phase.

Additionally, Galvez said that setting this roadmap will hopefully accelerate the deployment of the vaccines when they are finally available.

Galvez admitted that the most critical stage is the beginning phase of the roadmap, which involves the scientific evaluation and selection of the vaccines. The DOH and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) are leading this phase.

The next stage is equally important as it will increase the chances of acquisition of the vaccines. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Finance (DOF) are in charge of this second stage, which is called the “Access of Acquisition” or “Guarantee of Access” stage.

The third stage, led by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) and DOF, and supervised by the TaskGroup Resource Management & Logistics (TGRML), entails the procurement process which ensures that vaccine acquisition and development is both cost-effective and time-efficient. This stage focuses on the organized and safe production, shipment, and storage of vaccines which will guarantee the safe handling of the vaccines.

Stage 5, which consists of the distribution and deployment of vaccines, will also be handled by PS-DBM and TGRML, while Stage 6 focuses on the nationwide implementation of the vaccination plan, which will be a collaboration among the DOH, national and local government agencies, and the LGUs. Lastly, DOH, DOST, and the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health (UP-NIH) will manage and oversee the assessment, evaluation and monitoring of the vaccine rollout to the public.

While the testing and trials of the vaccines are still being conducted to ensure their safe, effective, and ethical administration, both the DOH and NTF reminded the public to remain vigilant and be proactive in mitigating the spread of the virus through science-backed infection prevention and control measures.

DBM releases 58.9% of Bayanihan 2 funds Continued from A1

Department of Health (DOH) received the biggest amount from Bayanihan 2 at P21.57 billion, followed by Department of Agriculture or DA (P15.28 billion), Department of Labor and Employment or DOLE (P13.1 billion), Department of Finance or DOF (P10.542 billion) and Department of Transportation

(P9.5 billion).

To date, the DBM has so far released P476.214 billion for government’s Covid-19 response.

Broken down, the government disbursed P386.14 billion under Bayanihan 1; P7.584 billion for Post-Bayanihan 1; and P82.49 billion under Bayanihan 2.

Of the P476.214 billion, 45.66 percent or P217.417 billion was cornered by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). It was followed by DOF which received P99.563 billion, DOH (P73.238 billion), DA (P26.662 billion), and DOLE (P25.683 billion).

Last month, President Duterte delegated to the DBM the authority of releasing Bayanihan 2 funds in a bid to expedite release of the funds to concerned

agencies.

This, after some lawmakers expressed concern over the delays in the fund releases for Bayanihan 2, given that the law is effective only until December 19.

Budget Secretary Wendel E. Avisado earlier said government agencies only need to properly obligate Bayanihan 2 funds so they will be able to use it even beyond December.

P roperly obl igat i ng f u nd s mea ns t hat concer ned agencies must present the Notice of Award and Notice to Proceed as basis of the said obligation of the Bayanihan 2 fund, according to Avisado.

Unobligated Bayanihan 2 budgets will automatically revert to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) after Bayanihan 2 expires, he said.

The Bayanihan 2 law also authorized a standby fund of P25.528

billion, on top of the P140-billion allocation.

Under Republic Act 11494, the standby fund shall be made available once additional funds are generated from savings and unused amounts. It shall be used to fund Covid-19 testing and procurement of medication and vaccine (P10 billion), to support wholesale banking and equity infusion of the LandBank of the Philippines for low-interest loans to be extended to persons and entities engaged in industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic (P9.0275 billion), wholesale banking and equity infusion of the Development Bank of the Philippines for low- interest loans to be extended to persons and entities engaged in industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic (P6.5 billion), and all other programs and activities authorized under the law.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

TRAVEL CURBS STALLING PHL RECOVERY—NEDA Continued from A1

“The quarantine restrictions prevent the economy from fully recovering and higher quarantine [levels] will be expensive for the government because of the amount of subsidies that we [need to give].

[This will also make it difficult for] people [to meet] their daily needs,” Chua said.

Public transport

CHUA, citing Google data, said use of public transport is still down by around 55 percent. The use of public transport fell to as low as a contraction of 80 percent before gradually improving to around -60 percent and -55 percent.

Due to this, he said people actually going to work contracted by around 35 percent on the back of restrictions on the use of public transport. Chua said the recent Neda, Department of Finance (DOF), and World Bank study showed that availability of public transport is the top consideration of workers to go to work.

Chua said Filipinos need to learn how to live with Covid-19 given that any vaccine will not be made readily available for all 8 billion people around the world.

For one, Chua said, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) stated that the top causes of death of Filipinos was not Covid-19 between January and August this year.

He said Covid-19 confirmed deaths reached 2,726 during the period and another field in the death record showed “suspected Covid-19” reached around 10,140 between January and August.

However, data showed a total of 23,265 Filipinos died of pneumonia while 60,751 Filipinos died of heart diseases.

This is followed by neoplasms, or various types of cancer; cerebral vascular diseases or stroke and diabetes; and hypertension, among others.

“The other data I would like to show is the January to August data of the Philippine Statistics Authority on deaths,” he added.

This, he said, “actually show the need to care, also for those other people who are dying because of other factors. The idea here really is to manage the economy and the risk, rather of Covid-19 so that we can care also for the rest of the people.”

Preparing for disasters

IN the same forum, World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand Ndiame Diop said the Philippines should always be prepared for natural disasters.

Diop noted that 74 percent of the Philippine population is vulnerable to natural hazards like typhoons, flooding, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Climate change only worsens the country’s predicament when it comes to being vulnerable to

GDP…

disasters. Diop said risk models crafted even before the pandemic hit showed disaster could cost the Philippines billions.

He said the Philippines is expected to incur P177 billion or one percent of GDP in losses to public and private assets due to typhoons and earthquakes every year.

In the next 50 years, Diop said risk models estimated that the Philippines has a 40-percent chance of experiencing losses exceeding P1.7 trillion or 8.7 percent of 2019 GDP and a 20-percent chance of experiencing losses exceeding P2.7 trillion or 13.8 percent of 2019 GDP in a single year.

“In addition to idiosyncratic natural disaster shocks, open economies in the Philippines are also exposed to ‘contagion’ shocks transmitted by globalization of markets and finance and greater global connectivity,” Diop said.

Covid-19 is one such shock and Diop said it combined the worst features of all systemic crises in the past 50 years. The pandemic led to a supply and demand shock; a crisis that is domestic, regional, and global in scope; and a crisis that generates a high degree of uncertainty.

In the Philippines, the Covid-19 lockdowns led GDP to contract 0.7 percent in the first quarter and 16.9 percent in the second quarter.

Diop said prior to the pandemic, the Philippines was considered one of the most dynamic economies in East Asia. But, he said, due to the pandemic, they estimate that the economy will contract by 6.9 percent this year.

“That’s an estimated P2.6 trillion or $52 billion of output foregone because of the pandemic.

The good news is that the Philippines has managed to build strong macro-fiscal resilience to shocks,” Diop said.

One of the primary policy areas for long-term resilience, Diop said, is spatial planning and infrastructure development. These will be crucial in keeping people safe and boosting the economy.

Diop said investing in sustainable and resilient physical capital such as housing and public infrastructure helps provide shelter against natural disasters by reducing the extent of asset destruction.

Despite this, Diop lamented that there was no systematic project appraisa l for climate and d isaster r isk s for inf rastr ucture development. T here is a lso no land available for housing facilities.

“In densely populated neighborhoods, site pl a ns a re t y pica l ly constra ined by a l ac k of available space to maintain the proper f unct ioning of urba n ecosystems, suc h as d ra inage a nd open publ ic spaces. A l l of t his resu lts in higher v u lnerabi l it y of publ ic a nd pr ivate assets to nat u ra l d isasters,” Diop sa id.

Continued from A1

The surge in domestic cases is expected to have dampened the revival in domestic demand, giving rise to another quarter of contraction,” he added.

In the recently released highlights of the latest monetary board meeting of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), monetary policy makers also acknowledged the problem of rising cases of Covid-19 in the country.

“The potential impact on global and domestic economic growth prospects of a more disruptive Covid-19 pandemic due to social distancing measures and recurring waves of infection is the primary downside risk to inflation,” the BSP said.

The central bank also said the projected contraction for the third quarter of the year may be attrib-

utable to the overall slowdown in the industry and services sectors, which remain heavily affected despite some easing in quarantine measures.

In particular, the projected weakness in manufacturing and construction activities is expected to drive the decline in the industry sector.

The BSP also said the services sector could continue to contract due to the slowdown in transport, tourism, and other service activities.

“Nevertheless, the growth in agriculture is projected to accelerate in the quarter due to higher palay and corn production,” the BSP said.

The government is expected to release the number of the country’s third quarter GDP on Tuesday, November 10.

The Nation BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Lorenzana outlines DND’s successes amid Covid pandemic

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

T

HE Department of National Defense (DND) has fulfilled its strategic initiatives amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana said on Monday as the department marked its monthlong celebration of its 81st anniversary.

During the first-ever DND online flag-raising ceremony for its anniversary, Lorenzana highlighted the agency’s accomplishments in securing sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state, promoting internal stability, attaining the highest standard of capability and preparedness, sustaining operations in support to global peace, and pursuing good governance.

“Vital infrastructures were built in the Kalayaan Island Group, Batanes Group of Islands, Sulu Sea, Philippine Rise, and West Philippine Sea [WPS] for territorial defense operations,” he said.

“In compliance with the President’s instructions, the [Armed Forces of the Philippines] also strengthened its presence in the country’s eastern seaboard in Fuga Island,” he added.

Lorenzana said that the military’s “air domain coverage” in the WPS has significantly increased from 27 percent to 57 percent due to the continuous arrival of military assets.

“This was due to our air defense surveillance radars, surveillance aircraft and long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles,” he said, adding, “The delivery of the BRP Condrado Yap and the BRP Jose Rizal, which are milestones in the AFP modernization reinforced the capabilities of the Philippine Navy.”

“Likewise, our brand-new Super Tucano close air support aircraft would replace the Bronco OV-10 attack aircraft of the Philippine Air Force in close combat support and strike missions,” he added.

The defense secretary highlighted the contributions of the DND to internal peace and security, noting the successful enforcement of martial law in Mindanao and substantial gains made against insurgency.

“There was no need for an extension beyond December 2019 as our security forces victoriously neutralized foreign and local extremist groups in the area,” he said.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, November 10, 2020 A3

DOJ chief orders probe into NBP jail riot that left 3 dead, 64 injured

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

A

NOTHER riot erupted inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City that left three inmates dead and 64 others wounded.

The incident happened exactly a month after two gangs engaged themselves in a deadly brawl that

left nine inmates dead and several others injured.

Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officials, including its director general, Gerald Bantag, will be investigated for possible negligence.

“Definitely. These BuCor officials should have learned their lessons from the previous vio-

lent incident where several PDLs [persons deprived of libert y] were killed,” Guevarra said when asked if the DOJ would look into the possible negligence of some BuCor officials.

In a news statement released by the BuCor-Public Information Office (PIO), it described the incident as a “free-for-all scuffle” that occurred at the maximum security compound of

Cascolan tells PNP officers corps to support Sinas’s appointment

T

HE Philippine National Police welcomed on Monday President Duterte’s appointment of National Capital Region Police Office chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas as its incoming chief.

Sinas, who was accused of violating the strict health protocols on the Covid-19 early this year, will succeed Gen. Camilo Pancratius Cascolan who will retire from the service today, November 10, 2020, Tuesday.

Sinas is a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1987, whose members include Lt. Generals.

Guillermo Eleazar and Cesar Hawthorne Binag and Maj. Gen. Joselito Vera Cruz, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in command of the PNP, respectively.

Sinas had served as director of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 in Central Visayas after serving a two-

year stint as secretary of Directorial Staff at the National Headquarters.

He also briefly commanded the PNP Crime Laboratory in 2018.

He served the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Intelligence Group (IG), PRO-12, PRO9, PRO-3, and PRO-Cordillera in various capacities from 2003 to 2017.

Cascolan urged policemen to support the leadership of Sinas, whose mandatory retirement is in May next year.

“General Sinas needs all the support and strong commitment of the PNP Officer Corps and rank-and-file for him to effectively discharge his duties and functions as chief PNP, Cascolan said.

“In a dynamic organization like the PNP, only the players are changed, but the strategic vision

remains constant and endures until the endgame in year 2030 when we shall have completed our journey to complete organizational development and service excellence,” he added.

He said Sinas “brings with him a sterling track record in administrative management with vast experience in police operations, and a well-rounded career pattern in all his command, staff and training assignments in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Metro Manila.”

The outgoing PNP chief also said that the PNP has made significant accomplishments against illegal drugs and in its internal cleansing, as well as in boosting the morale and welfare of its members under his two-month leadership, giving himself a grade of 9.5 out of 10. Rene Acosta

Bill sets lower minimum height requirement for PNP, BJMP, BFP and BuCor applicants

A

SENIOR lawmaker is pushing for the passage of a bill that will repeal the existing minimum height requirement for applicants to the Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

In House Bill 7520, or the proposed “PNP, BJMP, BFP and BuCor Height Equality Act,” Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte wants to set the minimum height requirement for male applicants from 1.62 meters (5’3) to 1.57 meters (5’1).

For female applicants, the bill said the requirement of 1.57 meters (5’1) will be lowered to 1.52 meters (4’9).

“The intention of this bill is to simply repeal the minimum height requirements for applicants to the PNP, BFP and BJMP with the belief that each person has the right to equal employment opportunity,” Villafuerte said.

The lawmaker said the height waiver for applicants belonging to indigenous groups and cultural communities will be retained.

Villafuerte said the current height requirements enforced for those who want to serve in the PNP, BFP, BJMP and BuCor are “discriminatory.”

“Height has no relation nor relevance to competence, drive and passion for positions. In 2018, the National Police Commission [Napolcom] removed the height requirement

for those who want to take the PNP entrance exam but not for police recruitment in these institutions,” he said.

Villafuerte said HB 7520 “seeks to ensure that every Filipino, regardless of height, will be given the opportunity to be a member of the PNP, BFP, BJMP, and BuCor and have the chance to serve and protect our country and its citizens.”

The Senate has already approved on third and final reading a counterpart bill authored by Senator and former PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa and backed

by Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go that seeks to also adjust the height requirements for applicants to the PNP, BJMP, BFP and BuCor. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

the NBP at around 8:30 a.m.

Other penal colonies were immediately placed on red-alert to ensure that the violence would not spill over.

Guevarra said officials of the BuCor, the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Special Action Force, PNPSpecial Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) were still conducting clearing

operations as of this writing.

The justice secretary said he has directed the BuCor to immediately submit a detailed report on the incident.

Guevarra added that he would order the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a parallel investigation or expand its ongoing probe into the previous violence to include the most recent incident.

ILO, govt of Japan install water-supply facility for BARMM households

M

AGUINDANAO—More than a hundred households and 1,600 schoolchildren now have better access to safe water in Maguindanao following the handover of a water system facility by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Government of Japan system to the local government and community in South Upi. The water system, built under the ILO-Japan Water and Sanitation Project provided likewise jobs to local residents, indigenous peoples, and members of the Timanan Central Elementary School Parent Teacher Association (TCES-PTA) as community contractors.

“Water has become a daily struggle. Our children have to fetch water in school for washing their hands, or flushing the toilet. Access to clean water is vital to keep us safe from Covid-19. Instead of getting a construction company, we were trained and hired to build, manage and maintain the water system,” said Arturo Maghanoy, president of the TCES-PTA. The project contributed to creating decent work, providing safe water and promoting peace in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Under the project, community contractors received wages covering 600 workdays, social protection benefits, health and accident insurance. The local government also helped provide skills training on construction, plumbing and masonry under the supervision of the municipal engineer. The project also used local-resource based materials and approaches to help revive the economy.

“We are very pleased that the water systems we hand over today serve as supplemental interventions of

peace to further make progress felt by the Bangsamoro communities. It warms our heart that through this project with the ILO, we provided decent work and improved living conditions to workers who have built the water system,” said Economic Minister Masahiro Nakata of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines.

To ensure safety and health in construction, the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE) in BARMM provided occupational safety and health training. Community contractors used personal protective equipment, maintained physical distance and conducted daily health monitor.

In the coming months, a new water systems are expected to be built in BARMM in 11 sites. Construction of water systems using community participation and a local-resource based approach are ongoing in four sites located in South Upi and North Upi in Maguindanao and in Wao, Lanao del Sur. “Without access to safe water, people are at high risk of Covid-19.

The pandemic has affected lives and livelihoods that can lead to poverty, unemployment and inequality. Promoting decent work and strengthening cooperation at the local, national and international level are crucial to build back better,” said Khalid Hassan, director of the ILO Country Office for the Philippines.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increase in unemployment in BARMM. The ILO-Japan project further collaborated with MOLE to provide emergency employment to 1,750 workers in the informal economy who lost their jobs in Cotabato City, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, and North Cotabato. Community contractors hired will also build hand washing facilities to help improve water access, sanitation and hygiene.

DENR chief seeks Duterte’s push to enact EPEB creation Online platforms told to keep track of merchants’ activities

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

E

NVIRONMENT Secretary Roy A. Cimatu will ask President Duterte to certify as urgent a proposed measure creating an enforcement bureau under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

So far, two bills have been filed separately in the House of Representatives and the Senate. But Cimatu deemed President Duterte’s certification will greatly boost its chances of being enacted into law.

The DENR is implementing various environmental laws, but it has no permanent enforcement bureau of its own and relies only on the help and support of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and other lawenforcement agencies. “ I a m con f id e nt t h at t he House and the Senate are behind the EPEB [Environmental Protection and Enforcement Bureau] bill and that Malacañang will certify the same as urgent,”

Cimatu said in a news statement.

A former chief of staff of the AFP, Cimatu believes that a permanent enforcement bureau will “help save the lives of our frontliners who are in the trenches of fighting environmental crimes.”

Cimatu is expected to formally ask for the President’s certification at the meeting of the Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation, and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCAM-DRR) this month.

Further delay in the establishment of the EPEB, Cimatu said, “is putting the lives of our environmental frontliners at greater risks.”

“Regrettably, yet another one of our frontliners was killed last Wednesday [October 28] in Agusan del Sur during an anti-illegal logging operation in Bunawan town,” Cimatu lamented.

DENR Forest Guard Marianito Rufano, 51, was killed by armed men on October 28 while leading a two-day retrieval operation of some 12,911 board feet of abandoned premium Lauan and Toog timber seized from an illegal logging activity at Sitio Kiatsan, Barangay Bunawan

Brook in Bunawan town.

On June 15, Deputy Speaker and Antique Rep. Loren Legarda filed House Bill (HB) 6973 establishing the EPEB under the DENR, while Sen. Nancy Binay filed a counterpart measure—Senate Bill 1878—last October 12.

According to DENR-Environmental Protection and Enforcement Task Force (EPETF) Executive Director Nilo Tamoria, support for the EPEB bill has been “gaining ground in Congress.”

“HB 6973 now has four additional co-authors—Ang Probinsyano Party-list Rep. Alfred delos Santos, North Cotabato Third District Rep. Pingping Tejada, Cagayan Province First District Rep. Ramon Nolasco Jr. and Ilocos Norte Second District Rep. Angelo Barba. Capiz Second District Rep. Fred Castro has also manifested his plan to co-sponsor the bill,” Tamoria said.

EPETF records show that in 2019 alone, five DENR workers were killed in the line of duty believed to be connected to DENR’s law-enforcement operations while one was killed in May 2020.

T

HE House Committee on Trade and Industry on Monday directed online platforms to implement strict monitoring on their merchants’ activities, saying some illegal drugs and paraphernalia are being sold online.

In a statement following his committee inquiry into the growing cases of online fraud, Internet scams, fake online bookings, and sale/distribution of illegal drugs online or via social media, Valenzuela Rep. Wes Gatchalian, the panel chairman, urged online platforms to exercise due diligence with regards to their merchants and not pass off the responsibility to lawenforcement agencies to run after people who are behind these online illegal activities.

The lawmaker, citing the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), said authorities confiscated suspected marijuana, 12 ecstasy tablets, one capsule of “fly high” party drug, and 11 bottles of liquid ecstasy last September 18.

Based on the information from the arrested suspects gathered by the PDEA, Gatchalian said some

of their drug paraphernalia, such as water pipes and glass tooters, were brought from the country’s two leading online shopping sites.

The PDEA has already requested the administrators of these shopping sites to take down all listings of drug paraphernalia.

Gatchalian assured the public that these Internet activities have been closely monitored by the Committee on Trade and Industry together with the Philippine National Police.

Complaints

ALSO, the senior lawmaker said the DTI and the PNP continue to receive complaints from online buyers.

“We met with the members of the Anti-Cybercrime Group of the Philippine National Police and the Consumer Protection Group of the Department of Trade and Industry and we were informed that they have collectively received over 14,869 complaints as of October 2020. It is very sad that these numbers have been steadily increasing since we started monitoring consumer complaints back in April,” said Gatchalian.

“Many people are being defrauded by false and deceiving advertisements, poor product quality and unconscionable sales acts and practices. What is surprising is that a majority of these complaints came out of sales facilitated through these major platforms,” he added.

The DTI told the panel that the top 3 complaints were related to the Price Act on defective products, and deceptive, unfair, or unconscionable sales or practices.

“This is happening precisely because there are currently no regulations that will compel these platforms to ensure the safety of our consumers. Right now, many platforms are self-regulating, but the problem is that when these self-regulations fail, the consumers have nowhere to turn to. Many are oftentimes left hanging, or are put through such a long process that many of them just choose to abandon their claims,” said Gatchalian.

He reiterated his call for the immediate passage of his House Bill 6122, which seeks to regulate the Internet economy. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

A4 Tuesday, November 10, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Government resumes ‘pilot study,’ deployment of motorcycle taxis

T

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

HE government has officially resumed the pilot study for motorcycle taxi operations in the country with the issuance on Monday of a set of operational guidelines that spells out measures to ensure the safety and security of both the drivers and their passengers.

Under a memorandum circular issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), motorcycle taxis are required to undergo health screening by public hospitals or accredited clinics; a mandatory Covid-19 test; the implementation of cashless payments; and the deployment of plastic barriers.

Passengers are also required to use their own helmets and wear face masks during the entirety of their ride.

“Public transportation is a critical factor in reopening the economy. The highlight of the guidelines are the safety measures,” National Action Plan Against Covid-19 Deputy Chief Implementer

Secretary Vince Dizon said.

A meeting among all stakeholders, including regulators and motorcycle taxi pilot study participants, will be held within the week to discuss the implementation of the guidelines.

Dizon noted that once all players—Angkas, JoyRide, and Move It—are compliant, they may be able to restart their operations.

The government will also require all players to submit their drivers’ list to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

“We are here ready to work hand in hand with the government to ensure that we are fully compliant,” Angkas Chief Transport Advocate George Royeca said. “Angkas is ready. We will submit all our compliant requirements.”

Transportation Assistant Secretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark Steven Pastor said the pilot study may run for as long

as half a year.

“Usually for the first implementation, that’s six months, so we’re looking at that timeframe also, but we’re also considering the situation.

We will issue the guideline on this.

This will be more or less three to six months,” he said.

To recall, motorcycle taxi players halted their operations on March 23 following the expiration of the pilot study for their legalization. In the Philippines, motorcycle taxis are not legally considered a form of public transportation, but is being pushed as one, mirroring trends in neighboring countries.

In the previous study, Angkas was allowed to have as much as 23,000 bikers in Metro Manila, 4,500 bikers in Cebu, and 900 in Cagayan de Oro (CDO). JoyRide has 15,000 bikers in Metro Manila, around 4,500 in Cebu, and less than a thousand in CDO. Move It only has 8,000 bikers who are deployed in Metro Manila.

Stable supply of construction materials in typhoon-hit areas assured

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

L

ISTED PHINMA Corp. has vowed to provide the country with a stable supply of construction materials, especially for victims of the recent slew of typhoons, as part of its commitment to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

In a joint statement on Monday, PHINMA said it will supply the country with cement and roofing materials at a time residents, particularly in Luzon, are rebuilding their homes from the ravage of violent storms.

Likewise, it committed to donate construction materials to commu-

nities in need of help identified by the government.

“Aside from assuring stable supply of cement and roofing materials in the typhoon-ravaged areas, Philcement and Union Galvasteel Corp. shall donate cement and roofing materials to help repair and rebuild homes destroyed in communities that DTI may help identify together with affected local government units,” the statement read.

Likewise, PHINMA said its subsidiary, PHINMA Solar, will make available portable solar power to barangays plunged into darkness by the typhoons.

“These efforts showcase the importance of private and public sec-

tor collaboration before and during the pandemic, and are focused on creating a better quality and more comfortable life for our people,” the statement read.

Further, PHINMA said, its executives met with trade officials last week to discuss the renewed labelling conventions for cement products.

The PHINMA Group said it will comply with the DTI’s new labeling rules to help consumers in selecting and deciding on the cement products they prefer. It also argued such policy will strengthen the country’s aim to support and patronize locally manufactured products.

“On the part of PHINMA, the group expresses full support of this

Building an ethical business culture while joining government’s anti-corruption drive

By Henry J. Schumacher

I

WAS impressed last Thursday by no other than the new “AntiCorruption Czar,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra: I sent him a corruption case and he immediately responded, advising me about the next steps to take.

With government taking anticorruption more seriously now, I think that we have to be aware that in corruption it needs two to tango: the government official who takes and the private sector person who is ready to give. While we always complain about the “corrupt government agencies and their practices,” it is time now to get the house of the private sector in order too.

When we in business talk about competitive advantages, building and maintaining an ethical culture must be part of the agenda. The private sector has to build an ethical culture in practice.

What is the difference between ethics and building a culture of trust?

Ethics are a set of principles. An ethical culture is a culture committed to pursuing those principles— and sometimes the pursuit of those principles leads an employee to take actions somebody else might dislike. Perhaps the employee reports suspicions of misconduct, involving bribery, or collusion, in competition, or mismanagement of data privacy.

Either way, the employee needs to trust that the company will support that decision to step forward.

The apparatus of a corporate compliance program—the training, the internal reporting systems, the Code of Conduct, the due diligence procedures, all of it—should work toward the goal of a strong sense of trust within the organization.

When you view “building an ethical culture” from that perspective, suddenly several tasks rise to the top of the priority list.

For example, as much as we all love a strong internal reporting system, most employees report their concerns to managers. Most employees also take their cues about how to behave from managers. Consequently, training managers about how to weave ethical standards into the company’s daily routines is critical.

Formal training will always be important; employees will always need to know what the law says about bribery, or privacy, or collusion, or whatever else comes along. Culture, however, is much more than training, full of informal practices, norms, and expectations. Therefore, ethics and compliance programs must work with middle managers on what those practices, norms, and expectations are, and how to base them on the company’s ethical principles. That’s where you win or lose this battle.

Senior leaders have a crucial role in

building an ethical culture too since they send the signals about the corporate culture that people in operations translate into daily routines.

Let’s look at 3 ways you can build an ethical culture: Develop clear ethical values— honesty, respect, fairness; whatever fits your organization. Talk to senior leaders and the board about what those values should be. Put them in the Code of Conduct, in a place of prominence so that every employee is aware of it.

Develop clear training materials based on those values. Create real-life scenarios that employees might encounter, where the resolution shows how ethical conduct is the higher priority than commercial success.

Refine your internal reporting system to assure the confidentiality of whistle-blowers. Someone who does report an allegation to a hot line (or some other system that circumvents his or her manager) has a fear about doing the ethical thing. He or she needs to trust that the company will protect their identity—that is, they need to trust the system. They need to see that your internal reporting system is trustworthy.

Those are only a few examples of what building an ethical culture entails. It’s long, painstaking work, that relies on communication and collaboration but that’s how you get to an ethical culture.

The Integrity Initiative Inc. has developed training materials to assist companies in creating trust and ethics—with special emphasis on anti-corruption and data privacy protection. We are in standby to assist.

Feedback is welcome; please e-mail me at schumacher@eitsc.com

initiative and reiterate the compliance of subsidiary Philcement to quickly adjust from the old guidelines and adopt to the new rules,” the statement read.

“Meanwhile, DTI recognizes the need for continuing dialogue with private sector players to make consumer welfare the focus of doing business—in particular, providing Filipinos with a stable supply of affordable quality goods and services,” it added.

In September the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines raised before the DTI the alleged noncompliance of Philcement Corp.’s Union V Super Strength 40 Type IP with standards set by the government.

‘Skewed priorities’ of budget seen in big security outlays despite recovery needs continued from a8 The 2021 NEP did not anticipate that. Therefore, we must have a bigger budget to address these calamities.”

Then, Drilon, said, there is “the matter of the ayuda.”

The DSWD’s budget for 2020 is P171.2 billion. “Under the 2021 NEP, it will go down to P164 billion. Yet, we need ayuda or SAP because an extraordinary number of our countrymen lost their jobs.

They need continued assistance. We need additional funding there. The DOH budget for the current year is P180 billion including Bayanihan 1 and 2 but under the 2021 NEP, it is P131 billion.”

On housing, the Minority Leader noted, “we now need 6.4 million housing units to address this problem. If we do not provide funds where our mouth is, we will have a problem.

We need about P24 billion to partially address the housing needs in 2021.

Partially we must address this so it does not become a crisis.”

This, Drilon stressed, “is what I am saying: that our priorities are skewed in this budget. We need more funds for the social aspects of governance rather than the security aspects.” Still, he quickly clarified: “I am not saying that we do not need to support our security sector.”

He noted that even as the allocation for anti-insurgency can be postponed for a year, “I do not think our programs will collapse if we postpone that P19-billion anti-insurgency fund to 2022. We need every fund available for the needs of our people.”

He was referring to the huge allocation given to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which several lawmakers wanted realigned.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Salceda slams some senators for refusing to allot P2-B fund for creation of proposed DDR

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

A

HOUSE committee chairman has chided senators for allotting P8.9 billion for the proposed Senate building while refusing to allot any budget for the creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR), which, he said, will respond to emergencies and disasters.

House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman and Albay Second District Rep. Joey S. Salceda decried the opposition of some senators, citing budgetary constraints.

“It also costs money to move to BGC [Bonifacio Global Center] for the new Senate building. The argument is very simple. We each have priorities. What are your priorities?” said Salceda.

Salceda said the government only needs P2 billion to initially organize and create the DDR—lower than P8.9 billion for the construction of new Senate building. The creation of

the proposed DDR is one of Salceda’s pet bills in the lower chamber.

The Senate new building, which will rise in the 18,320 square meters of land at the Navy Village, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, will consist of four towers with 11 floors and three basement levels.

In September under the leadership of former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading one of Congress’ priority measures creating the DDR. Cayetano, one of the principal authors of the measure, said creating the DDR is one of the legislative wishes of President Duterte.

The DDR was also approved by the House in the 17th Congress, but was not acted upon on time in the Senate.

Salceda, meanwhile, urged President Duterte to mobilize his allies in the upper chamber to push for the approval of the bill creating the DDR.

State workers may receive bonus, cash gift this month

M

ORE than 1.5 million government workers will receive their Christmas bonus this month as provided under the law, a lawmaker said on Monday.

Under Section 8 of Republic Act 11466 or the Salary Standardization Law 5, House Committee on Public Accounts Chairman Rep. Mike Defensor said the year-end bonus equivalent to one-month salary, plus a P5,000 cash gift, “shall be given in November of every year.”

He said the mandate of the law is restated in National Budget Circular 579, which Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado issued in January this year.

“I am assuming that the budget secretary has released the funds needed for the payment of the government workers’ Christmas bonus and P5,000 cash

gift,” Defensor said. He said if the funds are already available, agencies could begin giving the bonus on November 15.

Last year, the lawmaker said most agencies released the Christmas bonus in mid-November.

RA 11466, signed by President Duterte on January 8 this year, contains the newest four-year salary upgrading program in the bureaucracy. Avisado’s Budget Circular 579 implements the program. Under the law, the lowest-paid worker gets an adjusted monthly salary of P11,551 up to P12,244, depending on length of service, this year. The pay increases to P13,000 to P13,780 on the fourth year (2023).

On the other hand, the highest-paid official, the President, receives P407,734 this year. His salary goes up to P431,718 in 2023. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

DENR sees dolomite project done by year-end continued from a8

DMC and PMSC are also in trouble with the DENR for allegedly damaging corals caused by the spillover of materials during hauling into the barge.

According to Leones, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is now talking to local officials of Cebu province and Alcoy town.

“There’s a complaint from Alcoy, first and foremost, about authority because it is a national government project, and there are questions about taxes. The complaint was relayed to the DILG and the DILG is now in talks with the Cebu Provincial Government,” he said.

He said once the ban is lifted, it will just be a matter of days to finish the project. “Once it is there, overlaying will be fast and easy,” said Leones.

If negotiations fail, it will be up to the DPWH and its contractors to find other sources of crushed dolomite or alternative dumping materials to suit the Boracay-like beach effect desired by the DENR when it first conceived of the project in 2019.

“It will be the call of the DPWH to find other sources of materials for the project in that case.

Our concern is that they complete the project before the end of the year,” Leones said.

“Once we complete the dolomite overlay, we expect the washing in or washing out to be minimized,” he added.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia enforced a ban on the extraction of dolomite for use as artificial white sand along Roxas Boulevard in order to prevent a repeat of a disaster such as the 2018 landslide that killed nearly 77 people.

Local officials also said they not give any permit and were not even consulted by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) for the mining of dolomite in Alcoy town. It was the MGB that allowed limestone extraction in Naga, Cebu, that resulted in the 2018 landslide.

The Cebu LGU and mining companies are entangled in a legal dispute over a local ordinance taxing the extraction of minerals.

The province wants a fair share of minerals

being extracted by the mining companies in the province, particularly in dolomite mining, further complicating the situation.

As to the proposed construction of a breakwater to enhance the protection of the crushed dolomite, the consultation process with stakeholders is already in motion, said Leones.

“A letter was sent to the PRA [Philippine Reclamation Authority] and the Philippine Ports Authority [PPA]. The DPWH wrote the letter and we are waiting for their comments,” said Leones.

Meanwhile, Leones said the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority [MMDA] will be in charge of a separate infrastructure component of the project.

“We have already downloaded funds to the MMDA and they will be implementing the infrastructure projects like the proposed CRs [comfort rooms], souvenir shops and offices,” said Leones.

Leones said two souvenir shops, two offices housing the Mandamus agency and another for the law enforcers will rise along Roxas Boulevard soon.

The DENR is currently reaching out to critics of the project amid questions on the project’s wisdom and timing. While it was planned and allocated a budget before the pandemic, it was implemented even after the declaration of the national public health emergency.

Aside from environmental and health concerns, critics said the P389-million fund for the beach nourishment project could have been channeled to boost the Covid-19 pandemic response or more meaningful rehabilitation projects like mangrove reforestation.

“We are reaching out to various sectors to let them know that the beach nourishment is not just about the dolomite sand. There are other components like mangrove reforestation, flood and erosion control,” Leones said, adding that the project was done in good faith and in compliance with the Supreme Court’s continuing mandamus to rehabilitate the historic bay waters.

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

The World

Worried Asia wonders: What will Joe Biden do?

T

OKYO—As Asia comes to terms with the reality of a Joe Biden administration, relief and hopes of economic and environmental revival jostle with needling anxiety and fears of inattention.

From security to trade to climate change, a powerful US reach extends to nearly every corner of the AsiaPacific. In his four years in office, President Donald Trump shook the foundations of US relations here as he courted traditional rivals and attacked allies with both frequency and relish.

Now, as Biden looks to settle tumultuous domestic issues, there’s widespread worry that Asia will end up as an afterthought. Allies will go untended. Rivals—and especially China, that immense US competitor for regional supremacy—will do as they like.

In the wake of perhaps the most contentious presidency in recent US history, here’s a look at how its aftermath—a Biden White House—will play out in one of the world’s most important and volatile regions:

China

Biden will likely look here first.

The two nations are inexorably entwined, economically and politically, even as the US military presence in the Pacific chafes against China’s expanded effort to have its way in what it sees as its natural sphere of influence.

Under Trump, the two rivals engaged in a trade war, and a lively exchange of verbal hostilities. A Biden administration could have a calming effect on those frayed ties, according to Alexander Huang, a strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taipei and a former Taiwanese national security official.

“I’d expect Biden to return to the more moderate, less confrontational approach of the Obama era toward China-US relations,” he said.

Greater outreach to China could prompt Washington to play down its support for Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, without necessarily reducing US commitment to ensure the island can defend itself against Chinese threats, Huang said.

Retired chemical engineer Tang Ruiguo echoed a view shared by many in China of an unstoppable US decline from global superpower status. “No matter who is elected, I feel the United States may go into turmoil and unrest and its development will be affected,” Tang said.

The Koreas

Say goodbye to the summits.

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un went from threats of war to three unprecedented sit-downs, which, though high-profile media events, did nothing to rid the North of its banned nucleartipped long-range missiles.

Kim must now adjust to a man his propaganda services once condemned as a “rabid dog” that “must be beaten to death.”

Biden, for his part, has called Kim a “butcher” and “thug,” and said Trump had gifted a dictator with legitimacy with “three made-for-TV summits” that produced no disarmament progress.

Biden has endorsed a slower approach built from working-level meetings and said he would be willing to tighten sanctions on the North until it takes concrete denuclearization steps.

North Korea, which has yet to show any willingness to fully deal away a nuclear arsenal that Kim may see as his strongest guarantee of survival, prefers a summit-driven process that gives it a better chance of pocketing instant concessions that would otherwise be rejected by lower-level diplomats.

For South Korea, the new president will likely demonstrate more respect toward its treaty ally than Trump, who unilaterally downsized joint military training and constantly complained about the cost of the 28,500 US troops stationed in the South to defend against North Korea.

Japan

The resignation this year of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ended one of Trump’s few close, productive relationships with a foreign leader.

There’s hope in Tokyo that Biden’s more progressive ecological policies will help Japanese green companies and that he will take a hard line on China, with which Japan is in constant competition.

But there’s also worry.

Under Biden, “America cannot afford to take care of other countries, and it has to prioritize its own reconstruction,” said Hiro Aida, Kansai University professor of modern US politics and history.

As Biden is consumed with his nation’s many domestic troubles, from racial unrest to worries about the economy, healthcare and the coronavirus, Japan could be left alone as China pursues its territorial ambitions and North Korea expands its nuclear efforts, according to Peter Tasker, a Tokyo-based analyst with Arcus Research.

Australia and New Zealand

The conservative Australian prime minister who was in power when Trump was elected, Malcolm Turnbull, may have spoken for many when he tweeted congratulations to Biden: “What a relief that you won.”

There’s hope that Biden will do better than the Trump administration, which granted Australian manufacturers exemptions from US steel and aluminum tariffs in 2018 before reportedly having a change of heart a year later.

For New Zealand, there are aspirations to sell more milk and beef under a US administration that’s more open to free trade.

New Zealand and other Pacific nations also hope that Biden might help ease tensions with China.

New Zealand has found itself stuck between the two superpowers, relying on China as its biggest trading par tner while maintaining traditional defense and intelligence ties with the United States.

India

Not much will change with the host of security and defense ties shared by India and the United States.

But a Biden administration could mean a much closer look at India’s spotty recent human rights and religious freedom records, both of which were largely ignored by Trump.

Biden is also expected to be more critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalistic policies, which critics say oppress India’s minorities, according to Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center.

The countries will work more closely to counterbalance China, a shared rival, Kugelman said. A Biden White House won’t “risk antagonizing a country that is widely viewed in Washington as America’s best strategic bet in South Asia,” he said.

Southeast Asia

Some countries in the region, such as Malaysia, have pivoted toward China because of heavy investment and a focus on economic recovery, and “it will take time for the US to rebuild trust,” said Bridget Welsh, honorary research associate at the University of Nottingham in Malaysia. “US power will never be what it was.”

Biden is also likely to be more wary in his dealings with strongman leaders like the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte, Thailand’s Prayut Chan-o-cha and Cambodia’s Hun Sen, said Richard Heydarian, an analyst in the Philippines.

“A more cautious Biden could also mean a degree of stability in relations with tricky allies and partners in Southeast Asia and the region,” he said. “We are going to see American leadership, but much more in conjunction with regional players and powers, including Japan, Australia, India, European powers” and Southeast Asia. AP

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

A5

Global Covid cases surpass 50 million, 1.2 million deaths

B

OSTON—The coronavirus has hit another sobering milestone: more than 50 million positive cases worldwide since the pandemic began.

Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker reported more than 50.2 million Covid-19 cases globally as of Sunday.

There have been more than 1.2 million deaths from the disease worldwide since the pandemic started.

The US, with about 4 percent of the world’s population, represents almost a fifth of all reported cases.

The countr y has had more than 9.8 million cases and more than 237,000 deaths from the virus since the pandemic started, according to Johns Hopkins University’s data.

Coronavirus cases and deaths also continue to soar in the US, as they are in many countries.

The US reported more than 126,000 positive cases and more than 1,000 deaths from Covid-19 on Saturday, according to the university.

Key developments:

India cases surpass 8.5 million

NEW DELHI—India has reported

45,674 new coronavirus infections, with the capital coping with a sharp surge of nearly 7,000 cases a day this past week.

India’s tally of confirmed cases—currently the second largest in the world behind the United States—has exceeded 8.5 million.

The Health Ministry on Sunday also reported 559 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising total fatalities to 126,121.

Ind i a h a s seen a n overa l l steady dip in new cases after touching nearly 100,000 a day in mid-September.

However, the tally in New Delhi continues to hover at around 7,000 a day after dropping to nearly 1,000 in September. The capital also reported 79 deaths in the past 24 hours, the most since June.

Delhi state Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that apart from aggressive contact tracing, targeted testing in shopping areas and other busy locations also has started. And authorities are reaching out to people through mobile

testing vans.

The government has warned that the situation could worsen due to festival shopping crowds, coupled with the onset of winter and high air pollution levels.

Italian Alpine province declared “red zone”

ROME—The governor of an autonomous Italian Alpine province famed for its ski resorts has declared it a “red zone,” shutting down as of Monday most non-essential shops, barring cafes and restaurants from serving meals and forbidding citizens to leave their towns except for essential reasons like work.

Bolzano Province Gov. Arno Kompatscher told Sky TG24 TV Sunday evening he decided to order the crackdown as ICU beds started rapidly filling up with Covid-19 patients.

“We could add 100 ICU beds,” the governor said, but “we can only hold up to a certain point.”

He noted that the province needed more doctors and nurses.

Bolzano Province joins the northern regions of Lombardy, Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta, a small Alpine region, in Italy’s “red zone.” Calabria, the southern “toe” of the Italian mainland, is also under strict “red zone” measures in view of its fragile public hospital system.

Italy on Sunday registered some

7,000 fewer new Covid-19 cases compared to the previous day’s increase, but nearly 40,000 fewer swab tests to detect the coronavirus were conducted in the last 24 hours.

With the addition of 32,616 confirmed infections on Sunday, Italy’s known total in the pandemic totals 935,104. There were 331 more deaths since Saturday, raising the nation’s confirmed toll to 41,394.

Greece records 1,914 new cases

ATHENS, Greece—Health authorities announced 1,914 new cases of the new coronavirus, including a record 35 deaths, on Sunday.

The total number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic is 56,698, with 734 deaths.

Researchers at the chemistry department of the University of Athens said Saturday that an analysis of waste at the Athens region’s main waste treatment plant has led them to estimate that 1.5 to 2 percent of the capital region’s population of 4.2 million are active coronavirus carriers, which would mean 63,000 to 84,000 individuals.

Authorities said Sunday that of the country’s 1,063 intensive care units, 734 were occupied, 259 with coronavirus patients. The rapid filling of such places was one of the reasons the country was placed on lockdown on Saturday. AP

Mexico, Brazil leaders silent as world congratulates Biden

M

EXICO CITY—There were two notable holdouts among the world leaders who rushed to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory in the US elections: the leaders of Latin America’s two largest countries, both of whom have been seen as friendly to President Donald Trump.

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, sometimes dubbed “the Trump of the Tropics” for his populist, off-the-cuff style, has kept silent on Trump’s loss.

And Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador refused to congratulate Biden at this point, saying he would wait until the legal challenges over the vote were resolved.

Trump and the two Latin leaders are united by some surface similarities: They dislike wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic, and all three can loosely be described as populist and nationalist. But the motives of the two Latin leaders may differ.

Bolsonaro and his sons—who like Trump’s children play a role on the political scene—seem to be actively uncomfortable with the outcome of the US race. Bolsonaro, who previously expressed hope for Trump’s reelection and whose son wore hats with the logo “Trump 2020,” has kept largely silent this week, but his sons haven’t.

Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro posted images on social media questioning how Biden’s votes were rising so quickly in later counts, while Trump’s weren’t. The younger Bolsonaro also questioned networks’ decision to cut away from Trump’s speech on Wednesday alleging vote fraud, calling it an attack on freedom of speech.

A senior official of the Brazilian Embassy in the United States, who cannot identify himself for fear of reprisals, said Brazilian officials fear that loose talk

by Bolsonaro or his sons could destabilize relations between countries.

Officials in the office of the presidency, who were not authorized to speak on the record, said Bolsonaro has been adopting a more pragmatic tone, at least since Wednesday, following the guidance of his advisers.

At the beginning of the week, some of the more ideological elements in Bolsonaro’s office believed in a Trump victory, but since then, the diplomatic staff has made contact with Biden’s campaign.

López Obrador’s cordial relationship with Trump, meanwhile, was often seen as unusual for a leftleaning politician, but it had a workmanlike basis.

In part, that is political realism: In 2019, Trump threatened to apply crippling tariffs on Mexican products unless López Obrador cracked down on Central American migrants crossing Mexico to reach the US border. Mexico complied, rounding up migrants and busing them back to their home countries.

But there were also moments of seeming real friendship between the two. On Saturday, López Obrador was one of the few world leaders still willing to heap praise on Trump.

“President Trump has been very respectful of us, and we have reached very good agreements, and we thank him because he has not interfered and has respected us,” López Obrador said.

And López Obrador angered many at home and in the US Democratic Party when he made his first—and so far only—trip abroad as president over the summer to meet with Trump to celebrate the enactment of the new US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, which both leaders viewed as fixing problems with the old North American Free Trade Agreement of the 1990s.

López Obrador didn’t meet with Biden or his campaign team during that trip, and the wounds are still apparently there, even though the Mexican president said he knows Biden and had “very good relations” with him.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, the Democratic congressman for Texas’ 20th District, wrote in Spanish in his Twitter account that the unwillingness to congratulate Biden “represents a true diplomatic failure on the part of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, at a moment in which the incoming Biden administration is seeking to start a new era of friendship and cooperation with Mexico.”

Rep. Jesús García, a Democrat from Illinois’ 4th District, wrote in a similar vein to López Obrador that “American voters have spoken and Joe Biden is our President Elect. He won fair and square. Don’t miss the boat.”

Democrats are unlikely to be as vindictive toward Mexico as the Trump administration once appeared to be, with its focus on building a border wall and threats of punishing tariffs. But a Biden administration that only quietly presses Mexico to limit migrant crossings could leave López Obrador in a more uncomfortable position.

Mexico was able to easily crack down on migrant caravans in 2019 and 2020 because appeasing open US pressure is fairly understandable if distasteful at home; but asking Mexico to do so without open threats would be more politically costly for López Obrador.

The Mexican president might fear reprisals in the short time Trump has left in office, but his failure to patch up any hurt feelings with the Biden team is already exposing López Obrador to criticism at home.

“To quote [Mexican singer]Juan Gabriel, ‘What do you gain?’” the newspaper El Universal said in an editorial Sunday. “Donald Trump will be president for two more months, but Joe Biden will be president for four more years! And we have already started off this relationship on the wrong foot.”

Former US Ambassador to Mexico Antonio Garza disagreed.

“It seems a bit clumsy, and perhaps an early opportunity missed. But by inauguration day [it] will hardly matter,” he said.

Garza, now a counsel to the White & Case law firm in Mexico City, wrote that he is “convinced that the Biden administration will be committed to solid relationships with the US’s neighbors, and that given both Canada and Mexico’s importance to trade, immigration and security that the focus will be on addressing those issues cooperatively.”

“Look,” he added, “there are simply too many other hot spots in the world for our next president to be sweating this misstep.” AP

Trump-to-Biden handoff stalls as president rejects outcome P

resident Donald Trump’s reluctance to concede the race to Joe Biden risks delaying the vital work of handing over the reins of government to the next administration.

Already, what started as a 78-day window for transition work between Election Day and the Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony has been shortened amid vote counts in battleground states. So far, it’s just a modest trim—nothing like the 37 days that George W. Bush had to formally prepare for his presidency in 2000, after the Supreme Court’s Dec. 12 ruling in Bush v. Gore.

But Trump has signaled that it could get longer.

“The simple fact is this election is far from over,” Trump said in a statement after major news outlets called Biden’s victory on Saturday. “I will not rest until the American people have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands.”

Under the 57-year-old Presidential Transition Act, the administrator of the General Services Administration—currently a Trump appointee—is empowered to formally ascertain the apparent winner. That allows transition teams to fan across the federal government, access expanded office space, start tapping into $6 million of funding, and study

detailed agency briefing books.

In this case, it would build on the support Biden has already received, including, since Sept. 1, some resources and government office space that has gone underused because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden’s team has begun the informal work of transition anyway, preparing to name some early White House appointees soon and hold the first meeting of his coronavirus task force on Monday.

No winner yet

After networks and the Associated Press called the race for Biden on Saturday, the GSA confirmed it has not yet ascertained a winner.

“GSA and its administrator will continue to abide by, and fulfill, all requirements under the law,” spokeswoman Pamela Pennington said Saturday.

Nothing had changed by Sunday afternoon.

There are no clear standards on how the determination can be made. “The GSA administrator ascertains the apparent successful candidate once a winner is clear based on the process laid out in the Constitution,” the agency said in an e-mailed statement late Friday.

That leaves the decision up to Emily W. Murphy,

who was nominated by Trump and unanimously confirmed by the Senate to run the GSA in 2017.

She was formerly a senior adviser to the agency’s acting administrator, and, before that, its chief acquisition officer.

“Now that the election has been independently called for Joe Biden, we look forward to the GSA administrator quickly ascertaining Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the president-elect and vice president-elect,” the Biden-Harris Transition said in an e-mailed statement.

“America’s national security and economic interests depend on the federal government signaling clearly and swiftly that the United States government will respect the will of the American people and engage in a smooth and peaceful transfer of power.”

In a statement Sunday, the nonpartisan Center for Presidential Transition praised the process so far and said it’s now time for the next phase to start. “While there will be legal disputes requiring adjudication, the outcome is sufficiently clear that the transition process must now begin,” the center said.

Federal agencies and Biden campaign staff

already have been quietly planning for a potential presidential shift for months, following a decadesold process anchored in the transition law. And Biden launched a website on Wednesday dedicated to the potential White House shift, with the assurance that “the transition team will continue preparing at full speed so that the Biden-Harris administration can hit the ground running on Day One.”

Bush v. Gore

Bush’s handling of the truncated transition in 2000 could be a blueprint for Biden.

Although Bush staffers couldn’t begin interacting with federal agencies, a transition team still assembled in McLean, Virginia, to work on agency appointments and policy plans. Meanwhile, Bush started making hiring decisions at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Bush even named his chief of staff before the election was decided, tapping Andy Card to help him vet potential cabinet-level nominees. Card said he and Bush were focused on “planning what kind of government he wanted.”

While campaign officials were managing the recount, “we were focused on building a White House

staff first and a cabinet second,” Card said during a panel discussion last month. “The president-elect and I had a wonderful time kind of working under the radar screen, because most people were focused on what was happening in Florida.”

Biden’s decades of experience in D.C. could prove an asset and help make up for lost time. His transition team is stacked with Washington veterans and former Obama administration officials who have already been closely tracking agency actions under Trump.

Still, any post- election acrimony could complicate a presidential transition now unfolding amid an economic crisis and a pandemic. The handoff could also be challenged by absences in agencies’ upper ranks.

“The degree of difficulty of this transition is exponential, because of the fact that you have four crises simultaneously: a health crisis, an economic crisis, a political crisis and a social justice crisis,” said David Marchick, director of the Center for Presidential Transition, in an interview before the election. But the US has seen 223 years of peaceful transitions of power, even amid disputed elections, wars and depressions.

“It’s one area of Washington that has worked

pretty well,” Marchick said, “because the stakes are so high, because continuity of government is so critical, and because a peaceful transition of power has been a bedrock principle in our democracy since Washington handed the keys to Adams.”

The federal government has been preparing for a potential transition long before Election Day, as agencies assembled documents and prepared to hand over intelligence-gathering and policy making materials to a new administration. Before the election, the process was running smoothly, with all normal transition milestones under the law hit by the White House, federal agencies and the Biden team, Marchick said.

Since May, career officials in every federal agency have been developing transition plans and assembling briefing books to hand over to an incoming administration. A White House coordinating committee was established in September to facilitate similar work. The Justice Department also has been processing security clearances for key Biden officials—an early start meant to ensure that critical staffers have access to intelligence and there are no gaps that could be exploited by adversaries. Bloomberg News

A6 Tuesday, November 10, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Voting better

T

he record turnout of voters in the recent US presidential election is a lesson in civic participation. Reports say two-thirds of Americans who were eligible to vote participated in the highest turnout rate in the US since 1900.

The Philippines actually logged higher rates of voter engagement in past elections. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) estimated voter turnout in the 2019 national and local polls at 75.90 percent. The 2013 midterm polls had a 77.31 percent turnout. The 2010 and 2016 presidential elections posted 74.99 percent and 81.95 percent turnout, respectively.

Presidential elections, which are held every six years, usually have higher voter turnouts than midterm elections. Whether this would prove true in 2022 depends on how the Comelec can safely hold the elections if the pandemic would still be raging by that time, as well as the yearlong voter registration it is conducting, which has so far been disappointing because people are afraid to go out.

The Comelec estimates the number of registered voters for the 2022 national elections at around 62 million to 63 million.

Voting is the most important exercise of democracy. It is the only time people can have such a direct impact on the kind of government they would like to have.

Each vote sends a message. Polls have said that voters tend to go for the winners. But even if you vote for the losing candidate, you still would have let the politicians know what’s important to you. True, whoever wins in electoral exercises will have the power to impact your life but the losers are not entirely shut out. Their message is also heard, because politicians keep track of who is and who isn’t voting. They pay attention to the issues and concerns that come out during the campaign season. If you give up your right to vote, you lose by default. You would not be heard and that would be such a pity.

We should teach the importance of voting in schools because the success of Philippine democracy depends on getting as many of our citizens involved in the electoral exercise.

We must get our young people involved in the decisions that affect their lives. We must teach them the dynamics of voting in a democracy. We must teach them that their vote can determine the kind of life they will live, and it can determine such vital things as how clean their air and water will be, or whether or not their families would be able to afford quality education and health care.

We should be teaching our kids how to make informed political decisions.

Students must be taught how to dissect political ads. Billions are spent on ads every election. How are candidates using political ads to present and frame their messages? What emotions are they trying to arouse from voters to get their vote? Are their messages consistent with their track records?

Let’s teach kids how to analyze surveys. You don’t have to be a pollster or a statistical wizard to know what polls really tell us or if their results can be trusted. Polls are now a central, controversial and influential fact of Philippine politics and Filipinos should not be ignorant of its workings.

If we want to break away from patronage politics and dynasties, we should help our kids see beyond the flash and panache, to look deeper by reading or knowing the commitments and promises candidates and their parties make. Have they delivered before?

The media also plays a critical role in our electoral system. Students must be taught to look at the general patterns of media coverage. Does the media provide what people need to make informed decisions, or does it operate in a way that distorts or limits information that voters need? Why do certain stories get in the news while others don’t? Why do certain events get covered while others are neglected? Citizens should not let the media dictate their needs and wants. They should be proactive, self-conscious readers, listeners and viewers.

There may have been many voting irregularities and fraud committed in past elections. But the solution isn’t not to vote at all but fighting for your vote and voting better.

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

Emerging positive data show PHL on right track

he light at the end the tunnel, so to speak, is becoming visible after millions of Filipinos groped in the dark for a few months.

Some economic data are now emerging that support government’s decision to slowly reopen the nation.

To sustain the growth momentum, we need to continue reopening the economy and making the necessary adjustments to protect the people from the virus.

This requires a delicate balancing act that the government has masterfully achieved so far by looking at the health, employment and economic data, and making the right call.

The growth of Philippine exports in September, for instance, is giving us hope that economic recovery is under way as we gradually reopen our industries and allow more people to work, while making sure that strict health protocols are observed at home, in the workplace and in public areas. The peso is strengthening against the US dollar, a key indicator that assures prices will remain stable in the near-term.

The Philippines, on the other hand, is winning the fight against the pandemic given the low daily infection rate we are recording in the past few weeks. No less than the

contain the spread.

As the positivity rate declines and as more patients recover from the disease, the number of active cases is also expected to gradually decrease. We should aim to bring down the number of active cases from about 32,000 as of November 5 and ensure that patients are isolated from the working population so that we can further increase the capacity of our factories and business establishments.

This would help us boost production and trade in the coming months, and enable us to post a strong recovery next year. The Philippine Statistics Authority said our exports grew 2.2 percent in September to $6.22

Manny B. Villar

THE Entrepreneur

T

Department of Health said the whole country, including Metro Manila, may be placed under the more relaxed modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) in the first quarter of 2021, if the downtrend in active Covid-19 cases is sustained until the end of the year.

The OCTA Research Group, composed of medical experts from the University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas and Providence College in the United States, noted that the virus positivity rate in Metro Manila has been steadily declining to about 6 percent, or closer to the World Health Organization’s recommended target of 5 percent to

Understanding the US system

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Founder Publisher Editor in Chief Associate Editor News Editor

Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos Lyn B. Resurreccion, Dennis D. Estopace Angel R. Calso

Online Editor

Ruben M. Cruz Jr.

Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) Benjamin V. Ramos Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Rolando M. Manangan

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines.

Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725. Fax line: 813-7025.

(Advertising Sales) 893-2019; 817-1351, 817-2807.

(Circulation) 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. E-mail: news@businessmirror.com.ph.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Printed by brown madonna Press, Inc.–Sun Valley Drive KM-15, South Superhighway, Parañaque, Metro Manila MEMBER OF

OUTSIDE THE BOX

Lourdes M. Fernandez

Senior Editors

Creative Director Chief Photographer

John Mangun

T. Anthony C. Cabangon

C

itizens of one country are not actually supposed to know all that much about another country even if it happens to be a close neighbor. When we think of Mexico, for example, two words might come to mind: Spanish and Catholic not unlike the Philippines.

Yet from Mexico’s independence in 1821, there was legal and institutionalized hostility to the Catholic Church even though it was the overwhelmingly predominate religion as here. In December 1991: “Ending more than 70 years of Government hostility toward the Roman Catholic Church, legislators have nearly completed constitutional changes that will give legal recognition to religious institutions and allow parochial education. But he [President Salinas] also indicated that he might not go so far as to allow churches to own property or permit clergy to vote.”

However, the one nation that most people around the world are most ignorant about in terms of its government and political structure is the United States.

Filipinos, in general, are comfortable with the US and consider themselves to be knowledgeable about their former colonizer. Americans feel the same way about the Philippines until they start complaining that the Best Foods Mayonnaise in Cebu tastes different from that in Chicago.

Most nations evolved; the US was created. For modern Germany, “Germania” was documented before AD 100. German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. Likewise, France evolved from “Francia,” also part of the Roman Empire.

Colonizers artificially created other modern nations, most particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where boundary lines were drawn to meet

Each of the 50 states has its own powerful executive branch, legislature, and independent judiciary with taxation power. As long as state law does not violate the US Constitution, the federal government cannot interfere. the needs of the European masters with no regard to historical realities of local tribal groups and economic geography.

The 13 British colonies were originally not all British. The New Sweden, New Netherland, and New Amsterdam colonies eventually came under British rule through war and economic attrition. When the northern colonies decided that they wanted independence, the others agreed that their common interest would be served by being united.

The US national or federal government had three purposes—to create and maintain a common currency, to insure the free flow of trade between the “states,” and to provide a common defense against foreign powers.

The Philippines has one legislature to make law; the US has 51 legislatures (national and state) to make laws for their own jurisdiction.

The Philippines has one law regarding marijuana. Fifteen US states have legalized marijuana for adults

billion from $6.08 billion in the same month last year. This represented the first annual rise since February, following the relaxation of quarantine measures and increased capacity of businesses.

Total exports in the first nine months still declined 13.8 percent to $45.87 billion from $52.2 billion in the same period last year, but the September figures could signal the start of the sector’s recovery.

Total imports in the nine-month period fell 26 percent to $61.95 billion from $83.7 billion.

The sharp contraction of the ninemonth imports compared to exports, however, trimmed our trade deficit this year and allowed us to have a stronger balance of payments (BOP) position, resulting in a stronger peso and higher gross international reserves. A strong peso will help us contain the inflation rate, which remained manageable at 2.5 percent in October.

The peso last week strengthened to its highest level against the US dollar in more than four years amid more stable global financial markets, and as some economies gradually reopen.

See “Villar,” A7

and 34 states have legalized medical marijuana. The Philippines has one death penalty law. In the US, 30 states have the death penalty, while 20 states do not. The Philippines has one law regarding income tax. Each US state taxes income and sales at many different rates including four that have no state income tax.

In the state of Delaware you cannot marry under any condition before 18 years old. With parental consent in Mississippi, males can marry at 17 and females can marry at 15.

With parental consent and judicial approval in Massachusetts, females can marry at age 12 and males at 14.

Each of the 50 states has its own powerful executive branch, legislature, and independent judiciary with taxation power. As long as state law does not violate the US Constitution, the federal government cannot interfere.

And when it comes to the recent national election, there is also state independence. Each state determines its own ballot and voting process. If you think the US federal system might be a little confusing, don’t even ask about the Electoral College.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stockmarket information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tax compromise rights and remedies

The time to heal America

N

Biden vowed that under his term, there will be no racial injustice; no room for bigotry and white supremacy. It will be a color-blind leadership where every individual, regardless of race and station in life, will enjoy equal opportunity.

America cannot afford to be divided amid this pandemic.

He was a US senator representing the State of Delaware from 1973 to 2009. He served as President Barack Obama’s vice president for two terms.

Every vice president of a graduating president naturally aspires to succeed the latter, including Biden. But he did not pursue that logical course of action when President Barack Obama’s term ended in 2016. After his son, Beau, the Attorney General of Delaware, unexpectedly died from cancer, Biden had reservations making the presidential run. The other practical reason was that Senator Hillary Clinton, a former powerful First Lady and incumbent New York senator, had sought his party’s nomination ahead of him and it was reported that even President Obama had doubts about his chances of beating Hillary in the Democratic primary. So he gave way. Many believed that it would be Biden’s last real opportunity to bid for the presidency as he was nearing 74 years old at that time. But when Hillary lost in her bid, another opportunity was opened to revive his quest for the

the 2020 campaign, Biden survived the onslaught of lies and brickbats thrown at him by his opponent. The barrage of unfounded attacks and baseless claims against Biden and his family by Trump did not kill him; it strengthened him. When he takes his oath as the 46th president of the US, Biden, 78, would be the oldest person to occupy the White House. But his dreams for America were started over the years. The long delay only strengthened his resolve to make them come true. His election has turned a new page for the new country’s leaders—Biden and Kamala Harris—to unite America, a nation torn apart by the heated political struggle and extreme partisanship that marked the last campaign.

Biden’s triumph sparked spontaneous rallies and celebrations across the country. People were dancing in the streets, motorists were honking their horns and everyone was waving pennants and placards supportive of the president-elect. The White House was surrounded by cheering partisans of Biden from all sides who erupted into wild cheers which no doubt cracked the walls of the White House. No doubt, Trump heard it and we can only hope that the reality of

Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

Atty. Irwin C. Nidea Jr.

Tax law for business

T

he government obviously needs money to sustain its efforts in giving aid to many suffering Filipinos during this tumultuous year of volcanic eruption, pandemic and supertyphoon.

Aside from borrowing money, the government must look for other sources of revenue. It is hesitant to introduce new taxes in fear of being accused as insensitive to businesses that are barely surviving. But the government needs to look for money fast. What are the other possible sources of revenue?

Low lying fruits for tax collection are tax investigations that are already in their final stages. That is why I am not surprised that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is active in issuing Final Decisions on Disputed Assessment, Warrants of Distraint and Levy and Notice of Garnishment across all sectors. When a taxpayer receives a collection notice, it has no other recourse but to either pay or go to court.

To avoid this, tax investigations that are still in their early stages are encouraged by the BIR to apply for compromise. One ground for compromise is doubtful validity of assessment, in which case, the Commissioner can compromise to not less than 40 percent of the basic tax. Another ground is when the taxpayer is financially incapable, in which case, taxpayer may only pay not less than 10 percent of the basic tax. The Tax Code allows compromise amount lower than-the-above rates but it has to be approved by the National Evaluation Board, which is composed of the four deputy commissioners and the Commissioner.

But in order to avail of compromise, taxpayers must comply with the following: 1. Agree to pay the amount offered (generally 10 percent of the basic tax or 40 percent of the basic tax) and 2. Submit the following documents as required under Revenue Regulation (RR) 30-2002: a. Latest Audited Financial Statements; b. Waiver of the Privilege of the Secrecy of Bank Deposits under Republic Act (RA) 1405; and c. Sworn Statement of no Tax Credit Certificate on hand or in transit or claim for tax refund or TCC. Compromise must be consensual.

The taxpayer and the Commissioner must sign an agreement before a compromise becomes effective. But as mentioned above, a taxpayer is required to pay the amount it offers. For example, if the basic tax being assessed is P100 million, the taxpayer has to pay P10 million in case of financial incapacity or P40 million in case of doubtful validity before the BIR is even allowed to start processing the application for compromise. What if after paying, the Commissioner does not approve of the compromise, what happens with the taxpayer’s advance payment?

Unfortunately, the BIR’s stand on this issue is that it will keep the money and it will apply the same to the taxpayer’s tax liabilities. What is the taxpayer’s recourse when this happens? The taxpayer can either accept the BIR’s stand and let the BIR keep the money or it may apply for a tax refund, which everybody knows is a very tedious process. In other words, a taxpayer can only recover an advance payment of a denied compromise application by

Villar. . .

Continued from A6

The local currency gained nine centavos to close at 48.22 per US dollar last Friday. It was its strongest finish in more than four years, or since settling at 48.19 on October 24, 2016.

Remember that a big part of our food supply comes from other countries. These include rice from Vietnam and Thailand; wheat and

Compromise is a good source of revenue for the government. It will spare the taxpayer and the government from engaging in a contentious and time-consuming litigation. But in order for this program to be successful, the BIR must reconsider its policy of requiring taxpayers to pay in advance. filing an administrative claim for refund with the BIR and a case in court if necessary.

Can the Court of Tax Appeals take jurisdiction of a denied compromise?

The CTA in a recent decision, ruled that if the BIR denies an application for compromise, it can entertain an appeal on the same. Since a compromise agreement cannot be forced upon the taxpayer and the Commissioner, what can be ruled upon by the CTA in an appeal of a denied application for compromise?

The CTA in the same case, cancelled the entire assessment because the BIR failed to collect the assessment within the prescribed period. The compromise process took more than 20 years before a final decision of denial was issued by the Commissioner.

According to the court, the BIR has only three years (now five years) to enforce collection.

A taxpayer must consider applying for a compromise but he must also be aware of the risks involved.

There is a possibility that the Commissioner will deny an application for compromise and keep whatever the taxpayer has paid in advance.

When this happens, a taxpayer may be forced to go to court to recover his advance payment.

A taxpayer must also be aware of his rights. An application for compromise, for example, can still be appealed to the CTA. It may be used as a path to have the entire tax assessment cancelled.

Compromise is a good source of revenue for the government. It will spare the taxpayer and the government from engaging in a contentious and time-consuming litigation. But in order for this program to be successful, the BIR must reconsider its policy of requiring taxpayers to pay in advance.

Tuesday, November 10, 2020 A7

ever give up your dream. This is an advice that should be taken to heart by anyone who is truly determined to serve his people. Joe Biden has just demonstrated to us that it pays to be resolute; that dogged determination bears fruit in the end. Biden won the presidency, the greatest gift that the American people can bestow on a deserving citizen, after three serious attempts to capture it—in 1988, 2008 and 2020. After long and arduous years, he finally achieved his lifelong ambition by becoming the 46th president of the United States. highest office. In an interview before President Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2017, Biden said, “I’ll run if I can walk.” The press picked it up and said that Biden will be a potential candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination. He formally launched his bid on April 25, 2019 and was considered by both friends and foes as his party’s frontrunner. It was a turbulent primary contest with almost a dozen Democratic aspirants including, among others, Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Kamala Harris joining the fray. After losing the initial caucuses and primary contests, many thought that Biden’s hope was again dashed early. But miraculously, he won the South Carolina primary with the strong support of Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina who is a powerful and influential black congressman. And the rest is history.

He soon became the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party after Sanders withdrew from the race. Despite the ruthlessness of

his defeat has finally sank in. This is the time, when the rubber meets the road, to concede. It’s the most patriotic thing to do under the circumstances.

Biden vowed that under his term, there will be no racial injustice; no room for bigotry and white supremacy. It will be a color-blind leadership where every individual, regardless of race and station in life, will enjoy equal opportunity. America cannot afford to be divided amid this pandemic, racial injustice and economic crisis. In the words of former Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich, it’s critical that the leaders of both parties speak with one voice confirming the legitimacy of the election results. Kasich, who openly campaigned for Biden despite his political affiliation, has said: “Forget about politics. Disregard what is popular. Do what makes sense.” Now is the time to heal the deep wounds inflicted during the campaign. The elected leaders should listen to the other half of America and understand their interests and needs. To borrow the words of one observer, the president-elect should be the president of the whole country. He should avoid demonizing the Republicans but rather find the best in them.

Biden wants to be known as the president who heals and unifies America. He was elected by the Democrats and his legions of partisans but he will aim to be the president of all Americans.

In his victory speech, Biden, in referring to the Republicans, has said: “They are not our enemies. They are our fellow Americans. This is the time to heal America... I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but to unify.”

I can’t think of better words that can bring America together.

Biden, like Trump, will deepen integration with China

The author is a senior partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices, a member-firm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at irwin.c.nideajr@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 local 330.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga used his first foreign tour since taking office to visit Vietnam and Indonesia, notably China-skeptical allies, and push for a strengthening of bilateral supply chains that would avoid the region’s 800-pound gorilla. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, who has been pursuing a similar policy, used a major investment by Microsoft Corp. last month to encourage allies to “re-imagine supply chains.”

Australian exporters should actively explore destinations other than China, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio on Monday, after Beijing was reported to have ordered a halt last week on imports of a swathe of Australian products including lobster, wine and coal.

Washington’s recent line on China looks likely to carry over into the next administration, too.

President-elect Joe Biden will make China “play by the international rules,” he promised in the final presidential debate last month,

arguing his position would, if anything, be tougher than Trump’s.

Despite all the apparent movement, the facts on the ground look rather different. Far from succeeding in isolating China over the past four years—and in spite of the autarkic fears raised by President Xi Jinping’s promotion of selfreliance—the Trump era has seen the country integrated ever more deeply into the global economy. As we’ve argued, the forces placing China in the middle of the world’s trade and investment flows are stronger than a pandemic or any one US president.

Take trade. China’s exports grew at a faster-than-expected 11.4 percent in dollar terms in October, the country’s customs authorities reported over the weekend. Exports through the past four months alone have been roughly in line with their level during the whole of 2006, at a time when talk of China as the “world’s factory” hit an apex.

Imports have been improving to a lesser extent, too, after nearly

two years of decline. Still, far from narrowing the trade surplus—as the Covid-free domestic economy has recovered faster than those of other countries—the past year has actually widened the gap. In dollar terms, four of the strongest months on record for China’s trade surplus have occurred since May. For all that the likes of Suga and Trump have been promoting economic disengagement from China—and for all that China’s own more authoritarian turn has made the country a more challenging prospect for foreign investors— that love affair applies to investments as well as trade flows.

After plummeting in the early months of the Covid pandemic, foreign direct investment into China has been accelerating since April, with the sum of foreign capital utilized in September up 25 percent from a year earlier.

One visible example of that trend has been the well-publicized rush of Chinese companies into US initial public offerings in recent months. It’s not the only instance, though. Indeed, 2020 looks on track to be the strongest year in history for inbound takeovers of mainland businesses, with 2019 and 2018 taking second and third place, respectively.

Remarkably, this inbound flood of foreign capital isn’t even the most dramatic part of the investment picture. As China’s trade and current account surpluses have risen, the financial and capital account has balanced with a sharp move in

meat products from the United States, Latin America and Europe; and milk and other dairy products from New Zealand and Australia. A stable exchange rate ensures prices of these imported products remain affordable to ordinary Filipinos. We should also support local farmers at this time to enable them to export their products, particularly virgin coconut oil, which, according to the Department of Science and Technology’s initial studies, helps boost the immune system.

By increasing our exports, we achieve a stronger position to stabilize the value of the peso and consumer prices. This is why the growth of exports in September gives us reason to be optimistic.

In the words of the National Economic and Development Authority, the improvement in the country’s trade performance in September suggests the country’s approach to gradually reopen the economy, along with the strict observance of health protocols, puts us on the right track

toward economic recovery.

To sustain the growth momentum, we need to continue reopening the economy and making the necessary adjustments to protect the people from the virus. This requires a delicate balancing act that the government has masterfully achieved so far by looking at the health, employment and economic data, and making the right call.

The Department of Trade and Industry is now allowing several industries to operate at 100-percent

capacity in areas under MGCQ and at 75 percent in Metro Manila and other areas under GCQ. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez was quoted as saying the situation is getting better as we ease up the restrictions.

I appreciate the efforts of Mr. Lopez in helping businesses recover from the impact of the pandemic, making their operations Covid-proof and ensuring strict implementation of health standards to boost consumer confidence and spending. Given these health measures, Mr. Lopez

David Fickling

BLOOMBERG

T

o look at the politics of it, you might think that four years of President Donald Trump’s trade war on China were just starting to bear fruit as he prepares to leave office.

the opposite direction. The deficit on those accounts in the third quarter—the extent to which Chinese purchases of foreign net assets exceeded reverse flows—came to $94.2 billion, the widest such figure since 2008, according to preliminary data reported last week. Even if part of that number gets reclassified as “errors and omissions” in the final reckoning, the mix of official capital outflows and ones disguised as “errors” will still be among the largest on record.

This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Years of accumulated investments in China’s trade capacity aren’t going to stop their buyingand-selling activity across borders just because of some tough political rhetoric. At most, any vaunted pivot in the world’s supply chains will only see China take a declining share of a rising volume of crossborder flows, and such a shift may take years. An absolute decline in Chinese trade with the world remains an extremely unlikely prospect. That’s probably a good thing, given the way commercial ties buff away the sharp edges of international relations and reduce the chance of conflict.

In the meantime, China has one of the world’s biggest domestic markets, an array of tax and land incentives for inbound investors, and a labor force that is still denied the ability to push for better conditions. For global capital, this mix is as attractive as it was before Donald Trump had ever uttered the word “China.” says he is more confident in further opening up the economy without undermining efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Filipinos have learned to adapt to Covid-19. This should bolster our conviction to reopen the economy further and give the jobs back to our workers. In doing so, we are giving them the chance to contribute to our economic recovery.

For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

A8 Tuesday, November 10, 2020

UN team says 260K victims of storm Rolly need $45.5M

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

T

HE United Nations estimated that $45.5 million is needed to assist 260,000 people in areas devastated by Supertyphoon Rolly.

The Humanitarian Country Team in the Philippines on Monday launched a Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable people in provinces affected by Supertyphoon Rolly.

The plan, the UN said in a statement, will cover urgent humanitarian assistance in 16 prioritized municipalities in Catanduanes and Albay provinces in support of the government response.

“Seeing the devastating effects of the typhoon, we express our deep concern for the thousands of families affected by this disaster,” UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez said. “The UN and humanitarian partners in the Philippines are mobilizing all our resources to ensure that we leave no one behind at this time of great need.”

The plan aims to save lives and livelihood by providing immediate, integrated humanitarian assistance and protection to those in most urgent need and restoring livelihoods and access to critical services to promote the rapid recovery of the most affected communities.

The plan will also help address the needs of vulnerable populations such as women, children, and persons with disabilities. The vulnerability of people

to disasters has been exacerbated by the social and economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

On November 8, Gonzalez led an interagency fact-finding team to Albay Province to witness first-hand the damage wrought by the typhoon.

During the mission, he spoke with local officials, frontline responders, and typhoon-affected people in Albay Astrodome in Legazpi and surveyed the impact of the powerful typhoon on the coast in Tiwi, where the second landfall occurred.

Over 80 humanitarian partners in the country—including the UN, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and the private sector—are scaling up life-saving and protection response activities in support of the government response, building on established partnership agreements and relationships strengthened over years of collaboration.

“The preemptive evacuation instructed by the government was critical in significantly reducing the loss of lives and livelihoods,” Gonzalez said. “With donor support, the UN and humanitarian partners are ready to translate solidarity into concrete support through a coordinated response that combines emergency relief assistance and early recovery efforts to help people get back on their feet.”

As Typhoon Rolly approached, the local authorities preemptively evacuated over 480,000 people, effectively saving lives.

US poll results jitters, Covid cases push investors to T-bills

T

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) ended up raising a total of P24 billion on Monday as risk-averse investors swamped the Treasury Bills (T-bills) auction amid lingering uncertainties from the pandemic and the results of the US elections.

Strong demand for government securities was evident as total tenders reached P112.1 billion, 5.6-times more than the P20-billion initial offering.

The Treasury was able to raise P4 billion more than its initial offering after it decided to double the accepted non-competitive bids for 91-day and 182-day securities to P4 billion each.

Average rates across all tenors were also down compared to the

previous auction and secondary market benchmark rates.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the auction results showed “hefty liquidity” in the market as well as investors’ preference for T-bills.

Sought to elaborate, De Leon said investors are “risk-averse with lingering uncertainties on pandemic, US President Donald Trump contesting election results and Senate runoff elections in Georgia plus fate

of bigger stimulus package.”

The Treasurer added they also opened the tap facility for an additional P5 billion offering for P364-day T-bills. As of press time, the Treasury has yet to release the results of the tap facility auction.

Nonetheless, the 91-day T-bills fetched an average rate of 1.024 percent, dropping by 3.4 basis points from 1.058 percent previously.

It at t racted tot a l tenders amounting to P33.058 billion, more than six times the initial P5billion offer.

For the 182-day T-bills, the average rate also sank by 4.6 basis points to 1.453 percent from 1.499 percent in the previous auction.

Total bids for the debt papers reached P37.548 billion, seven times as much as the initial P5billion offer.

Finally, the 364-day T-bills’ average rate settled at 1.745 percent, sliding by 1.4 basis points from 1.759 percent previously.

Bids for the tenor amounted to P41.495 billion, four times the P10billion offer.

For this month, the Treasury is planning to raise P140-billion from its auction of T-bills and Treasury bonds. On top of this, the Treasury is also set to launch on November 11 its “Premyo Bonds” offering this year.

De Leon earlier said they are targeting to raise as much as P6 billion from the 1-year Premyo Bonds offering. Of this amount, De Leon said they are aiming to raise P3 billion in new money and another P3 billion through a switch tender offer, wherein existing bondholders of last year’s Premyo Bonds would be able to swap their maturing holdings to the new Premyo Bonds.

Those who will avail the switch tender offer would still be able to qualify for December 18 raffle and quarterly raffle next year for Premyo Bond 2.

Investors could purchase Premyo Bonds via over-the-counter bank transaction, the BTr web site, Bonds.PH app and also through another new app, which the Treasury has yet to name.

Last year, the government generated P4.961 billion from the maiden sale of Premyo Bonds.

The prize bond float received wide participation among small savers and overseas Filipino workers, with its offer of cash and other rewards on top of income from a safe investment. For a minimum investment of only P500, investors had a chance to win up to P1 million every quarter as well as noncash rewards in the form of condo units, and a house and lot.

‘Skewed priorities’ of budget DENR sees seen in big security outlays dolomite despite recovery needs project done by year-end

By Butch Fernandez

S

@butchfBM

ENATE Minor it y L eader Franklin Drilon deplored what he described as the “skewed priorities” of the Duterte administration as reflected in the proposed 2021 national budget bill submitted by Malacañang for Congress approval.

In a Zoom interview Monday, Drilon declared at the outset that the 2021 budget “cannot be a business-as-usual budget.”

He declared: “This is the first time that our country is confronted with a very heavy responsibility in terms of the pandemic and the typhoons, the critical housing needs,” adding that “these events were not there when the 2021 budget was crafted.”

The Minority Leader pointed out that “our economic recovery will depend on the confidence of the public in our ability to provide our people with protection on the Covid-19. If people don’t trust our health programs, are afraid to go out; when they don’t go out there is no economic activity and when there is no economic activity, there is no recovery.”

Therefore, he said, “the key is to restore public confidence,” and lamented that, “I do not see that policy being pursued in the 2021 budget.”

He added: “In fact, the 2021 [budget] is skewed in its priorities. It still gives the highest priority to the security sector, which to me...can be deferred for 2022. We need for 2021 heavy government spending to restore public confidence in our ability to address the pandemic.”

The opposition senator signalled that the Minority will instead propose the realignment of the antiinsurgency fund “in order that we can set the correct priorities in the budget.”

“That is principally to address

the Covid-19 pandemic and the calamities brought about by the recent typhoon Rolly and incoming typhoons, as well as the housing needs and the DSWD budget for the ayuda or SAP,” said Drilon, referring to the Social Amelioration Program.

Meanwhile, in the same Zoom interview, Drilon stressed that “we need vaccines.”

He cited a Department of Health projection that to achieve population immunity, “at least 60-70 percent of the population must be inoculated or immunized,” adding that, “based on the 105 million Filipinos, you will need to inoculate about 60 to 70 million Filipinos.”

At P500 per person, that will require an allocation of P30 billion.

“Admittedly, it cannot be done in one year because we are not prepared. So let us put it in two years.

That should roughly require anywhere from P32 billion-P35 billion to inoculate 60 to 70 million of Filipinos.”

Drilon declared this is “way beyond” the P2.5 billion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) and even the P8 billion in the General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

“My proposal is to increase the vaccination budget to about P16 billion to immunize at least onehalf of what is required to have a population immunity,” said Drilon, noting “it is a two-year program and after two years we inoculate 60-70 percent of our population.”

For next year, he added, “our proposal is at least P16 billion. The proposed P2.5 billion or P8 billion under the GAB is just grossly inadequate,” recalling that “Typhoon Rolly caused a damage of P15 billion.”

Meanwhile, the senator cited weather bureau reports that incoming typhoon Ulysses will pass through the National Capital Region this week, adding: “We expect it to cause extensive damage.

Continued on A4

D

ESPITE the odds, an environment official is confident that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and its private contractor for the controversial Manila Bay Beach Nourishment Project can complete the project on time.

Undersecretary Jonas R. Leones of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said on Monday only around 5,000 metric tons or at least one barge of crushed dolomite is needed to complete the project and overlaying once the delivery is made. It can be done in a matter of days.

Leones, the DENR’s Undersecretary for Policy, Planning and International Affairs and the designated spokesman of Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, expressed hopes that the issues raised by Cebu’s provincial government and Alcoy town will be addressed soon so as to finally lift the ban on dolomite mining that has been causing the project’s delay.

Either that, or the DPWH and its contractors may have to find another source of dolomite or alternative material to complete the P389-million project on time.

“Within the year, the beach nourishment should be completed.

We need to increase the dolomite overlay by a meter to complete the project,” Leones said.

The overlaying of the crushed dolomite by the DPWH and its contractor, a joint venture of MAC Builders and DragonHart Construction Enterprise Inc. hit a snag when the Cebu Provincial Government, citing environmental and tax concerns, issued a cease-and-desist order on the private mining firms —Dolomite Mining Corp. (DMC) and Philippine Mining Service Corp. (PMSC)—commissioned to produce the dolomite.

Continued on A4

Companies BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Jollibee losses in Jan-Sept deepen on impact of virus

T

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

he losses of fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) widened to P13.54 billion in January to September, a stark contrast from last year’s P4.17 billion in income, as the pandemic continued to dampen sales.

Systemwide sales, a measure of all sales to consumers both from company-owned and franchised stores, fell 26 percent in the three quarters to P126.42 billion from last year's P171.06 billion.

The company said as of end-September most of the group’s outlets, including those in the Philippines, were already operating, but the recovery varied in different regions in the world with developed countries recovering faster than those in emerging markets.

“We are now focusing our ef-

fort in rebuilding the business in a changed environment," Ernesto Tanmantiong, the company's CEO, said.

“While the negative impact of the crisis is still affecting us, as we reopen stores, we are introducing new products, resuming strong marketing campaigns, strengthening our systems and infrastructure particularly for digital connections with our customers and for off-premise consumption of our products and opening of new stores mostly in our international business.”

For the July-to-September period

alone, the company also reported a P1.58-billion loss from last year’s P1.67 billion in income. Systemwide sales, fell 29 percent to P40.59 billion from last year's P57.36 billion as revenues declined 30 percent to P29.96 billion from last year's P43.17 billion.

Global same store sales growth for the third quarter was at -35.3 percent from the previous year, but that decline was already a marked improvement from the second quarter’s -48.4 percent in systemwide sales, –46.6 percent in revenues and -41 percent in same store sales growth.

During the period, same store sales all of the its regional operations were all on a decline, with the Philippines registering the steepest fall as contraction was at 45.6 percent, followed by global Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (CBTL) which registered a contraction of 21.6 percent.

The company said the total operating income of all business units in September were already breakeven while the losses were accounted for mainly by financing costs and global headquarter cost.

“It has been a goal of JFC’s management for Smashburger and CBTL to generate positive profit in 2021,” it said.

Jollibee's huge losses were mainly caused by its decision to spend some P7 billion in what it called business transformation which involved the rationalization of its store network, store staffing and operations, supply chain and support groups on a worldwide basis. All of the said amount will be spent this year, it said.

A total of 507 stores are planned to be permanently closed this year, of which 339 had already been shuttered as of September 30.

Jollibee said the substantial portion of the proceeds from the issuance of the $600-million senior perpetual securities in January and the $300-million senior debt securities float in June remained intact in the form of financial assets at fair value through profit and loss in dollar-denominated investments worth P37 billion or about $759.8 million. In addition, the company still maintains some P20 billion in cash.

Meralco: Power rates down in November

T

ers also registered a net reduction of P0.0180 per kWh. Collection of the Universal Charge-Environmental Charge amounting to P0.0025 per kWh remains suspended, as directed by the ERC [Energy Regulatory Commission].”

Meralco said its distribution, supply, and metering charges have remained unchanged for 64 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015.

The company reiterated that it does not earn from the pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges. “Payment for the generation charge goes to the power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to the NGCP [National Grid Corporation of the Philippines]. Taxes and other public policy charges like the Universal Charges and the FIT-All are remitted to the government.”

Meralco also assured its custom-

ers that it will fully comply with the ERC Advisory released last October 29.

“In line with the ERC Advisory, Meralco will NOT implement any disconnection on account of nonpayment of bills until December 31, 2020 for consumers with monthly consumption of 200 kWh and below.”

For all other customers, consuming 201 kWh and up, Meralco said it will comply with ERC’s advisory stating that a minimum of 30-day grace period will be given on all payments falling due within the period of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), without incurring interests, penalties, and other charges.

“Any unpaid balance after the lapse of the 30-day grace period shall be payable in 3 equal monthly installments without incurring interests, penalties and other charges.”

he Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced on Monday a downward adjustment of power rates, as the overall rate for a typical household fell by P0.0395 per kWh, from last month’s P8.5500 per kWh to P8.5105 per kWh this November.

Meralco said in a statement that this is equivalent to a decrease of around P8 in the total bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh. “This month’s overall rate is also a net rate reduction of P1.35 per kWh since the start of the year and is the third-lowest overall power rate since September 2017,” the company said.

Meralco attributed this to the decline in generation charge. From P4.2233 per kWh in October, the company said the generation charge decreased by P0.0215 per kWh to P4.2018 per kWh this November.

“This month’s decrease in the generation charge is mainly due to

the P1.2800 per kWh reduction in charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). The Luzon grid’s power supply situation improved in October, as demand decreased due to weather disturbances and there was less generation capacity on outage.” The company said lower Malampaya natural gas prices due to its quarterly repricing and a slight peso appreciation resulted in the cost of power from the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to decrease by P0.0842 per kWh. Meanwhile, charges from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) inched up by P0.2118 per kWh partly due to the forced outage of San Gabriel during the supply month.

WESM, IPPs, and PSAs accounted for 12 percent, 35 percent, and 53 percent of Meralco’s energy requirements, respectively.

“Transmission charge, taxes, and other charges for residential custom-

PLDT gets MEF 3.0 certification

DNL sales, earnings improve in Q3

P

LDT Inc. said on Monday that it was awarded a certification called Metro Ethernet Forum 3.0 (MEF 3.0), whose awarding body claims that the certification “will assure customers that they will receive the highest levels of performance established by the world’s defining authority for standardized network services.”

MEF 3.0 certificate ensures that the local telco complies to globally set standards for offering carrier ethernet services for enterprises. Being awarded this certification—the first and only in the country— places PLDT among global service providers, such as Bell Canada, SSE Telecoms in the United Kingdom, PCCW Global, and Orange of France.

“We would like to thank MEF for this prestigious award which proves as a testament that the PLDT Group strives to constantly improve and innovate its solutions for our valued customers. Likewise, this international recognition also inspires us further to deliver services of global class,” PLDT Enterprise Head Jovy Hernandez said. Certified services include the following: Access E-LAN, Transit E-Line and Transit E-LAN, and accounts services that are orchestration-ready and supports software defined networking.

Hernandez noted that PLDT has also invested in its resources and people to adhere to the latest standards of delivering these MEF 3.0 certified services. Currently, the company has the most number of MEF Carrier Ethernet certified professionals in its roster among local providers with over 60 accredited engineers and personnel working on the back end to ensure the delivery and reliability of such services to clients. Lorenz S. Marasigan

C

hemical manufacturer D and L Industries Inc. (DNL) on Monday said its income in January to September fell 32 percent to P1.37 billion from last year’s P2.03 billion, but the company saw a marked improvement in sales and earnings in the third quarter.

Sales dropped 4 percent to P15.91 billion from last year's P16.55 billion, as all of its segments showed “encouraging” quarter-on-quarter growth, company president and CEO Alvin Lao said.

“The recovery in the third quarter confirms that we’ve survived the worst of this pandemic. Our income for the third quarter doubled from the income recorded in the second quarter, and even managed to surpass our first quarter income which was not fully impacted by the pandemic yet,” Lao said.

“As more and more of our customers resume operations, and as people learn to cope with the new normal, we gain more visibility and confidence as to the way forward. In fact, the imposition of the second modified enhanced community quarantine in August did not have a material impact on our business, and we continued to see an improvement each month,” he said.

For the third quarter alone, the company said it recorded an income

of P573 million, just 7 percent lower than last year's P617 million and double the previous quarter's P287 million.

Sales for the quarter grew 4 percent to P5.74 billion from last year's P5.51 billion.

The company said, however, that hitting its target income of P1 billion in the second half of the year would depend largely on consumer behavior during this period.

Lao noted that public gatherings are still limited, restaurants are at limited capacity and that people are still not willing to go out as much as before.

“I can’t say with confidence that we will exceed P1 billion in the second half but we made good progress because of the strong third quarter.

Manufacturing is very quiet during the Christmas season but we may see food [division] to be better than in the third quarter. It will depend a lot on how comfortable people will be going out.”

Lao said all the segments of the company already recorded a "meaningful bounce” in volume on a quarter-on-quarter basis, while Chemrez, specialty plastics and consumer products ODM [original design manufacturer], previously referred to as aerosols, which account for 75 percent of total earnings, are already

operating at either close to or above pre-Covid levels.

He attributed this to the high demand for various sanitation products due to the pandemic. Under this division, the company formulates and manufactures various personal, home and industrial products which can be used for sanitation purposes.

These would include alcohol, sanitizers, and disinfectant sprays, among others. For the quarterly presentation purposes, the company decided to change the name of this division from aerosols to consumer products ODM to reflect the increasing share of non-aerosol products being sold under this division from virtually zero several years ago.

ODM represents the brands and products that DNL sells to consumers. Meanwhile, its food ingredients segment, which now accounts for 25 percent of total income, saw a significant quarterly improvement in the third quarter, from a low base in the second quarter when the country was on lockdown.

Compared with last year's figure, however, earnings for this segment are still lower by 38 percent as various food companies still felt the impact of the lockdown; foot traffic in malls and other commercial establishments remain well below pre-Covid levels. VG Cabuag

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

B1

Concepcion Industrial posts ₧307-M income in July-Sept

A

irconditioning and refrigeration firm Concepcion Industrial Corp. on Monday said its income for the third quarter grew 33 percent to P307 million from last year's P230.45 million as it saw a slight recovery in sales.

Sales for the quarter was at P3.1 billion, which the company said is still 4 percent lower compared with last year’s figure.

The company did not disclose its figures for the nine months, but in the first half, its income was a mere P3.34 million, or just a fraction of its P782.79 million income last year.

This brings its 9-month income at about P310.34 million, or less than a third of its P1-billion income for the same period last year.

“We saw a recovery in consumer demand but this was tempered by the slower resumption in the commercial business due to the postponement of projects and construction delays,” Raul Joseph A. Concepcion, the company's chairman

and CEO, said.

“The future remains challenging as the effects of the pandemic continues. We remain focused on making our workplace safe, strengthening our brands, launching our e-commerce platforms and ensuring third-party engagement and getting ready for the economy’s reopening,” he said.

“Moving forward, we are confident with the foundations and investments we have built the past few years which has given us the resilience to withstand disruption. We have stable fundamentals that can see us through the new normal while still pursuing our strategic goals,” he said.

The company operates principally through 6 subsidiaries—Concepcion-Carrier Airconditioning Company, Concepcion Durables Inc., Concepcion Midea Inc. Philippines, Concepcion Otis Philippines Inc., Concepcion Business Services Inc., and Cortex Technologies Corporation. VG Cabuag

AirAsia requires use of Traze app

B

udget carrier AirAsia Philippines said starting November 28, guests on their flights will be required to use Traze app, a nationwide and unified automated contact tracing application designed by the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

Prior to entering the airport premises, all passengers will have to download and register an account on the Traze Contact Tracing app.

Upon downloading, users simply have to open the app, click the “Register” button, and register as an “individual.” Users need to follow simple instructions indicated in the app and input the required information to activate their account.

Upon activation, users will then receive a personal QR code that allows them access and entry just by scanning it at the entrance of the airport terminal and other designated areas using the application.

Traze app is available for download from the App Store for iOS devices and on the Google Play Store for Android devices.

Meanwhile, passengers without mobile

devices may proceed to the Malasakit Helpdesk at the airport to secure their personal QR code.

AirAsia CEO Ricky Isla said, “We laud this effort from the DOTr as it is aligned with AirAsia’s objective to continuously improve the layers of safety for the health and wellbeing of all guests and employees. We expect 100 percent compliance and cooperation from all our stakeholders to ensure the success of this contact tracing efforts.”

“Guests can expect enhanced safety measures throughout the entire journey, including preflight, in-flight, and arrival processes. Guests are also advised to check and comply with measures implemented by local airport authorities for a smooth travel experience.”

The airline urges guests to check the latest travel restrictions and advice of respective local and national governments before travelling, as policies may change frequently.

AirAsia said it is closely monitoring the current situation and reserves the right to announce further policy changes according to the latest developments. Recto L. Mercene

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

November 9, 2020

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

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

44.1 92.55 77.95 23.7 10.08 41.9 9.51 27.7 52.5 96 17.3 100 60 0.85 28 0.57 3.43 6.87 1.12 0.6 158 1965 1.03

44.2 92.65 78 23.75 10.1 41.95 9.79 27.8 53 99 17.4 100.1 60.25 0.89 28.1 0.63 3.55 7.82 1.15 0.61 162 1980 1.08

45.2 92.15 78.4 23.15 10.08 41.5 9.51 27.6 53 96.05 17.2 100.2 58.65 0.83 27.5 0.64 3.39 6.99 1.14 0.59 164 1980 1.02

45.2 93.2 79.2 23.7 10.1 42.2 9.61 27.85 53.5 96.05 17.52 102 60 0.91 28.1 0.65 3.56 6.99 1.14 0.61 164 1980 1.02

44.1 92.05 76.45 23.15 10.02 41.5 9.51 27.6 53 96 17.2 100.1 58.65 0.83 27.5 0.55 3.39 6.87 1.14 0.59 158 1980 1.02

44.1 92.65 78 23.7 10.1 41.9 9.51 27.8 53 96 17.4 100.1 60 0.89 28.1 0.63 3.56 6.87 1.14 0.6 158 1980 1.02

4000 4010150 2506660 130100 477800 3207900 31100 293900 1640 610 2608400 1583000 159990 282000 4000 56000 21000 5900 87000 413000 5370 40 2000

179190 371429636.5 194824139.5 3047420 4811628 134387615 295861 8165085 87018.5 58569 44,931,592( 159160515 9402846.5 248760 111900 33880 74210 40735 99180 247880 866300 79200 2040

13270 -41861979 -13006085 30745 -748458 -40881815 -3138465 1,585,671.9996) 17197967 586.5 11240 -12980 -46620 -

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 4.13 4.14 3.85 4.15 3.81 4.14 35031000 140755960 ALSONS CONS 1.37 1.38 1.34 1.38 1.34 1.37 4405000 6015760 ABOITIZ POWER 27.65 28.4 28.2 28.4 27.25 28.4 1609000 45066945 BASIC ENERGY 0.216 0.222 0.225 0.229 0.216 0.222 4030000 889750 FIRST GEN 29.4 29.5 29.3 29.7 29.2 29.5 4096500 120856220 66 66.5 66.5 66.6 64.6 66.5 35340 2323835.5 FIRST PHIL HLDG 308 313 300.2 313 298 313 285770 87150802 MERALCO 14 14.02 14.1 14.12 13.98 14 2452300 34395526 MANILA WATER 3.11 3.12 3.11 3.13 3.1 3.12 824000 2571950 PETRON 3.5 3.55 3.5 3.55 3.5 3.5 6000 21150 PETROENERGY PHX PETROLEUM 13 13.14 12.82 13.14 12.82 13 94800 1234446 PILIPINAS SHELL 16.26 16.28 16.4 16.4 16.2 16.28 632300 10,292,622( SPC POWER 10.98 11 10.98 11.06 10.96 11 178700 1969330 VIVANT 13.38 13.98 13.98 13.98 13.98 13.98 200 2796 AGRINURTURE 8.07 8.12 8.15 8.15 8.04 8.07 244900 1982752 2.89 2.93 2.92 2.95 2.9 2.93 1352000 3936890 AXELUM 12 13.4 12.5 13.4 12.2 13.4 8700 112752 CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD 17.46 17.48 17.2 17.48 17.18 17.48 1823400 31716258 5.08 5.09 5.08 5.1 5.05 5.09 52400 266341 DEL MONTE DNL INDUS 6.63 6.64 6.6 6.68 6.5 6.63 4787500 31548987 EMPERADOR 9.95 10 10.02 10.04 9.95 10 376900 3771746 SMC FOODANDBEV 63.9 63.95 64.1 64.3 63.65 63.95 72430 4,637,865.5( ALLIANCE SELECT 0.63 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.62 0.63 666000 417570 FRUITAS HLDG 1.34 1.35 1.43 1.44 1.35 1.35 27206000 37573450 49.55 50 51 51.5 49.5 50 73500 3704285 GINEBRA 198.8 198.9 197 201.2 195 198.9 1126490 223898920 JOLLIBEE 35.7 42.9 35.7 35.7 35.7 35.7 100 3570 LIBERTY FLOUR MACAY HLDG 7.62 7.9 7.7 7.9 7.7 7.9 3500 27030 6.37 6.38 6.2 6.4 6.12 6.38 863300 5437344 MAXS GROUP MG HLDG 0.145 0.147 0.145 0.147 0.145 0.147 90000 13090 SHAKEYS PIZZA 7.53 7.6 7.4 7.6 7.4 7.52 434100 3267937 ROXAS AND CO 1.21 1.22 1.21 1.22 1.19 1.21 2067000 2494210 RFM CORP 4.71 4.78 4.8 4.8 4.72 4.78 28000 133990 ROXAS HLDG 1.86 1.9 1.85 1.9 1.85 1.9 23000 42700 0.109 0.116 0.11 0.116 0.11 0.116 40000 4580 SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA 143.8 143.9 141 144.8 141 143.9 785990 112800397 0.84 0.85 0.81 0.85 0.8 0.85 23290000 19396650 VITARICH 2.2 2.31 2.19 2.19 2.19 2.19 60000 131400 VICTORIAS CONCRETE A 51.7 52.9 52 52 52 52 1340 69680 CEMEX HLDG 1.63 1.64 1.63 1.66 1.61 1.64 10891000 17819280 DAVINCI CAPITAL 4.35 4.44 4.46 4.46 4.32 4.44 10000 43600 EAGLE CEMENT 16 16.02 15.6 16.02 15.6 16 4603500 73367618 EEI CORP 7.26 7.49 7.25 7.49 7.24 7.49 350400 2590903 5.87 5.88 5.78 5.88 5.72 5.88 2806400 16235104 HOLCIM 7.25 7.27 7.25 7.4 6.9 7.25 10993900 79073143 MEGAWIDE 8.3 8.31 8.34 8.34 8.3 8.3 17300 143614 PHINMA TKC METALS 0.77 0.78 0.75 0.78 0.75 0.78 61000 47250 VULCAN INDL 0.82 0.83 0.8 0.83 0.8 0.82 1091000 890450 CROWN ASIA 1.97 1.99 1.96 1.99 1.96 1.97 5000 9880 EUROMED 1.89 1.92 1.93 1.93 1.86 1.88 772000 1454940 MABUHAY VINYL 4.3 4.39 4.39 4.39 4.39 4.39 5000 21950 PRYCE CORP 4.3 4.35 4.25 4.34 4.25 4.34 8000 34380 20.9 21.45 21.45 21.45 21.35 21.45 7700 164930 CONCEPCION 2.62 2.63 2.52 2.63 2.5 2.63 18451000 47606370 GREENERGY 7.39 7.42 7.21 7.45 7.21 7.42 736700 5416414 INTEGRATED MICR 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.05 1.02 1.04 251000 259640 IONICS 5.16 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 100 550 PANASONIC SFA SEMICON 1.64 1.65 1.58 1.65 1.55 1.64 5274000 8515190 CIRTEK HLDG 5.72 5.73 5.85 5.88 5.71 5.73 8892600 51262347

1787500 10880 3505025 26567655 -1620177 -14633378 659498 32490 2,526,857.9997) 13224 68512 -692860 21959754 -61974 11851293 -225945 1,965,383.0003) 607590 -2156495 -6350924 15400 997762 945000 -108540 -37000 36666749 194000 131400 738040 -220722 230734 -5759305 -15528756 21950 -180 7172960 -505787 -24720 47320 243120

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.495 0.5 0.5 0.51 0.495 0.495 4835000 2407710 ASIABEST GROUP 8.5 8.88 8.69 8.9 8 8.88 35000 301738 AYALA CORP 786 789 804 804 785 789 355570 281390985 ABOITIZ EQUITY 47.1 47.95 47.4 47.95 46.8 47.95 1525600 72488390 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 8.09 8.14 8.31 8.48 8.09 8.09 13156500 107784537 2.79 2.8 2.78 2.81 2.73 2.8 4926000 13761810 AYALA LAND LOG 6.29 6.3 6.79 6.79 6.3 6.3 73000 460645 ANSCOR 0.65 0.66 0.65 0.66 0.64 0.66 126000 81790 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.93 0.94 0.95 0.97 0.9 0.93 3720000 3450180 ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B 0.92 0.94 0.97 0.98 0.93 0.94 712000 681170 COSCO CAPITAL 5.33 5.35 5.4 5.4 5.31 5.35 4358400 23331098 DMCI HLDG 4.96 4.97 4.88 4.98 4.88 4.97 8826000 43637520 FILINVEST DEV 9.17 9.4 9.4 9.4 9.38 9.4 7900 74210 FORUM PACIFIC 0.206 0.226 0.206 0.226 0.206 0.226 1060000 238560 GT CAPITAL 509 510 500 510 493 510 418330 210692863 3.35 3.4 3.41 3.41 3.4 3.4 310000 1054500 HOUSE OF INV 70 70.4 71 71 68.2 70.4 1998810 139538097.5 JG SUMMIT 0.82 0.83 0.78 0.86 0.76 0.82 1796000 1453050 LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG 2.69 2.7 2.67 2.7 2.62 2.69 1819000 4869790 LT GROUP 11.82 11.84 11.9 12.18 11.78 11.84 6693300 79232962 MABUHAY HLDG 0.5 0.52 0.49 0.52 0.49 0.52 50000 25345 METRO PAC INV 4.19 4.2 4.15 4.23 4.13 4.2 39729000 166644240 PACIFICA HLDG 3.5 3.99 3.95 4 3.95 3.99 31000 123260 PRIME MEDIA 0.8 0.81 0.83 0.83 0.8 0.82 180000 144570 1.03 1.05 1.04 1.05 1.02 1.05 111000 114260 SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID 176.5 205 179 179 175 175 640 112120 SM INVESTMENTS 990 997 1002 1006 982 990 282695 280856767.5 104.4 104.6 105.7 105.7 104.2 104.6 129000 13487039 SAN MIGUEL CORP 0.73 0.75 0.76 0.76 0.72 0.75 136000 100130 SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER 125 128.8 127.3 128.9 122 128.8 5560 699688 WELLEX INDUS 0.231 0.233 0.221 0.235 0.221 0.231 4320000 996540 ZEUS HLDG 0.142 0.146 0.14 0.147 0.14 0.142 240000 33700

-508680 -137911295 1499760 -38838636 3077130 -419450 -48100 54570 -118757 11753450 -36660 28971208 -1054500 -18441328.5 -2898210 -55289028 -3037050 39900 -111021385 -3647692 -51520 80650 -

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.57 0.58 0.59 0.59 0.57 0.58 2493000 1445260 ANCHOR LAND 7.56 8.15 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.2 100 820 AYALA LAND 34.5 34.7 34.8 34.85 34.25 34.7 10096200 348,440,835( 24,770,194.9998) ARANETA PROP 1.05 1.1 1.04 1.1 1.04 1.1 68000 71130 AREIT RT 25.65 25.75 25.6 25.8 25.6 25.75 383500 9850400 -1998580 1.52 1.53 1.5 1.52 1.49 1.52 409000 617580 -6060 BELLE CORP 0.83 0.84 0.82 0.83 0.8 0.83 1961000 1600230 A BROWN CITYLAND DEVT 0.78 0.82 0.8 0.82 0.78 0.78 339000 269040 -195050 0.137 0.139 0.139 0.139 0.138 0.139 1680000 233270 CROWN EQUITIES CEBU HLDG 5.8 5.99 5.89 5.99 5.8 5.99 44800 265324 170685 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.7 4.72 4.68 4.75 4.68 4.72 302000 1422460 -14040 CENTURY PROP 0.36 0.365 0.355 0.365 0.355 0.365 9750000 3521300 CYBER BAY 0.39 0.395 0.39 0.39 0.38 0.39 600000 231450 DOUBLEDRAGON 13.94 13.96 13.9 14 13.88 13.96 323200 4512994 -1978766 DM WENCESLAO 5.35 5.39 5.4 5.49 5.35 5.39 422400 2279987 -439319 0.285 0.295 0.295 0.295 0.29 0.295 810000 235300 31900 EMPIRE EAST 0.087 0.09 0.089 0.09 0.089 0.09 1300000 116700 EVER GOTESCO FILINVEST LAND 1.02 1.03 1.01 1.03 1.01 1.03 31720000 32379180 -1168650 0.79 0.8 0.76 0.81 0.76 0.8 3179000 2530660 -19080 GLOBAL ESTATE 8990 HLDG 7.94 7.95 7.7 7.97 7.5 7.94 56800 446913 PHIL INFRADEV 1.58 1.59 1.55 1.59 1.54 1.59 8255000 13024120 -32830 CITY AND LAND 0.68 0.71 0.69 0.69 0.68 0.68 50000 34220 MEGAWORLD 3.24 3.25 3.24 3.26 3.2 3.25 17937000 57965300 -8911670 MRC ALLIED 0.425 0.43 0.455 0.46 0.415 0.425 208530000 90126900 -19978350 0.38 0.39 0.39 0.395 0.39 0.39 140000 55050 PHIL ESTATES PRIMEX CORP 1.13 1.14 1.17 1.17 1.13 1.13 506000 581490 -80730 16.28 16.3 16.7 16.7 16.2 16.28 2894500 47307926 -9697688 ROBINSONS LAND 0.26 0.265 0.265 0.28 0.26 0.265 3300000 879850 13250 PHIL REALTY 1.52 1.54 1.51 1.54 1.51 1.54 67000 101680 ROCKWELL SHANG PROP 2.67 2.69 2.67 2.69 2.67 2.69 26000 69740 STA LUCIA LAND 1.85 1.9 1.85 1.9 1.85 1.9 9000 16940 SM PRIME HLDG 35.5 35.85 34.7 35.85 34.1 35.85 10681800 373669595 73611480 VISTAMALLS 4.13 4.18 4.15 4.18 4.13 4.17 55000 227780 20850 SUNTRUST HOME 1.28 1.29 1.31 1.31 1.25 1.29 2234000 2855560 10240 3.63 3.64 3.66 3.66 3.53 3.63 4599000 16549450 1535580 VISTA LAND

SERVICES

ABS CBN GMA NETWORK MANILA BULLETIN MLA BRDCASTING GLOBE TELECOM PLDT APOLLO GLOBAL CONVERGE DFNN INC DITO CME HLDG IMPERIAL ISLAND INFO JACKSTONES NOW CORP TRANSPACIFIC BR PHILWEB 2GO GROUP ASIAN TERMINALS CHELSEA CEBU AIR INTL CONTAINER LBC EXPRESS LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA METROALLIANCE A METROALLIANCE B PAL HLDG HARBOR STAR ACESITE HOTEL BOULEVARD HLDG DISCOVERY WORLD WATERFRONT IPEOPLE STI HLDG BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY PACIFIC ONLINE LEISURE AND RES PH RESORTS GRP PREMIUM LEISURE PHIL RACING ALLHOME METRO RETAIL PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL PHIL SEVEN CORP SSI GROUP WILCON DEPOT APC GROUP EASYCALL GOLDEN BRIA IPM HLDG SBS PHIL CORP

10.9 5.07 0.4 10.8 2098 1391 0.052 14.82 4.4 5.88 1.33 0.102 1.62 4.27 0.25 3.02 8.84 15.38 5.06 39.2 124.9 15.14 1.01 6.18 1.9 1.93 6.9 1.41 1.41 0.027 1.65 0.67 7.56 0.35 4.3 8.03 1.95 1.58 2.21 0.385 6.65 7.61 1.48 40.85 64.3 109.8 1.55 15.6 0.37 7.02 370 3.5 4.18

10.94 5.08 0.41 11.3 2100 1398 0.053 14.86 4.45 5.89 1.43 0.104 1.69 4.28 0.255 3.04 9 15.98 5.07 39.5 125 15.68 1.03 6.19 1.92 1.99 6.93 1.42 1.43 0.028 1.69 0.68 8.2 0.355 4.31 8.04 1.99 1.6 2.22 0.39 6.98 7.68 1.49 40.9 64.4 110 1.57 15.8 0.375 7.04 388 3.76 4.2

11.04 5.08 0.4 10.52 2072 1384 0.053 15.06 3.62 6.17 1.33 0.105 1.6 4.49 0.25 3.02 8.8 16 5.25 40.6 123.5 15.6 1.05 5.67 1.9 1.94 7 1.36 1.4 0.027 1.6 0.63 8.2 0.35 4.25 7.95 2 1.6 2.15 0.38 6.65 7.4 1.52 41.8 65 112.2 1.6 15.5 0.375 6.95 388 3.5 4.19

11.06 5.11 0.4 11.3 2108 1420 0.053 15.22 4.6 6.18 1.33 0.105 1.71 4.5 0.26 3.13 8.96 16 5.28 40.6 126.5 15.6 1.05 6.18 1.94 1.94 7 1.42 1.45 0.028 1.6 0.69 8.2 0.355 4.4 8.1 2.04 1.6 2.24 0.4 6.65 7.77 1.52 41.8 66 112.2 1.65 15.82 0.38 7.03 388 3.5 4.2

10.9 5.07 0.4 10.52 2068 1381 0.051 14.8 3.62 5.7 1.33 0.101 1.6 4.2 0.248 2.99 8.8 16 4.96 38.55 123.1 15.14 0.98 5.67 1.88 1.94 6.93 1.36 1.4 0.027 1.58 0.6 8.2 0.345 4.14 7.85 1.95 1.57 2.14 0.375 6.65 7.4 1.49 40.8 63.85 110 1.48 15.46 0.37 6.95 370 3.3 4.19

10.94 5.07 0.4 11.3 2100 1398 0.052 14.82 4.4 5.88 1.33 0.104 1.69 4.27 0.25 3.04 8.84 16 5.06 39.2 125 15.14 1.03 6.18 1.9 1.94 6.93 1.42 1.45 0.028 1.6 0.67 8.2 0.355 4.32 8.04 1.95 1.58 2.22 0.385 6.65 7.61 1.49 40.85 64.4 110 1.55 15.6 0.37 7.02 388 3.5 4.2

398300 232600 280000 2900 93910 183520 23560000 10830100 1550000 76220900 7000 2960000 25000 10574000 12040000 1608000 171800 1000 5020000 1439400 1911020 89200 107000 18183300 376000 7000 37600 5962000 40000 22700000 48000 32749000 200 5890000 416000 2914800 163000 515000 34757000 78210000 10500 1512100 1694000 8895300 397890 409150 17079000 2970800 10880000 33700 100 12000 68000

4375952 1182594 112000 31778 196691530 255888475 1225240 161914536 6810370 455970255 9310 305100 42270 45894930 3034710 4914490 1518681 16000 25720176 56682825 238970031 1357028 110800 109270610 715050 13580 261147 8318880 57190 613900 76600 21558500 1640 2075700 1765590 23324560 324710 815230 76101740 30403150 69825 11521885 2540250 365103270 25703572 45029432 26595020 46805112 4052550 235932 38440 41400 285390

77763540 -44392545 16693292 -940539.9997 -4354034 1040 -953670 72500 392520 -79280 -16000 597942 -43962885 35708612 -92720 -1010 6279849 1394 419190 6540 -17750 -1084796 -10200 128230 24260 -5804400 13300 3889597 193800 -229412340 -2269016 -4673212 1397060 13980204 -105000

MINING & OIL ATOK 9.65 9.99 9.9 10 9.6 10 213400 2088925 19400 APEX MINING 2.02 2.03 1.91 2.02 1.91 2.02 21553000 42443480 -1535120 ABRA MINING 0.0011 0.0012 0.0012 0.0012 0.0011 0.0012 312000000 357300 ATLAS MINING 4.7 4.72 4.45 4.7 4.44 4.7 1585000 7260070 254760 3.2 3.21 3.22 3.22 3.14 3.2 266000 844840 BENGUET A BENGUET B 3.15 3.16 3.07 3.15 3.07 3.15 56000 174360 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.26 0.27 0.255 0.27 0.242 0.26 800000 206340 CENTURY PEAK 2.46 2.5 2.46 2.5 2.46 2.5 2000 4960 DIZON MINES 7.96 8.15 8.13 8.17 7.95 8.15 20800 166381 FERRONICKEL 1.51 1.52 1.37 1.52 1.36 1.51 29808000 43211130 -359570 GEOGRACE 0.24 0.243 0.243 0.243 0.241 0.241 50000 12070 LEPANTO A 0.172 0.173 0.162 0.174 0.16 0.172 84960000 14181770 LEPANTO B 0.17 0.173 0.161 0.17 0.161 0.17 6640000 1110430 -268500 MANILA MINING A 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 35000000 350000 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 6300000 69300 MANILA MINING B MARCVENTURES 1.05 1.06 0.98 1.05 0.97 1.05 18292000 18667080 343200 2.69 2.7 2.68 2.7 2.62 2.69 440000 1175710 -201000 NIHAO 4.32 4.33 4.1 4.38 4.1 4.32 21754000 93073620 13651930 NICKEL ASIA OMICO CORP 0.32 0.335 0.31 0.33 0.31 0.315 50000 15950 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.7 0.72 0.69 0.73 0.69 0.72 618000 443400 -14400 PX MINING 5.74 5.75 5.75 5.78 5.66 5.74 2137600 12252479 SEMIRARA MINING 10.88 10.9 10.9 10.9 10.8 10.88 1260900 13690594 -133396 ACE ENEXOR 6.47 6.48 6.4 6.48 6.25 6.48 72400 462489 0.0098 0.0099 0.0098 0.0098 0.0098 0.0098 37000000 362600 ORNTL PETROL A PHILODRILL 0.0086 0.0088 0.0088 0.0088 0.0088 0.0088 1000000 8800 PXP ENERGY 12.4 12.46 12.32 12.7 12.28 12.46 1460500 18134276 562664

PREFFERED AC PREF B1 510 519.5 510 510 510 510 20 10200 AC PREF B2R 503 516 516 516 516 516 40 20640 CPG PREF A 101 102.2 101 101 101 101 300 30300 DD PREF 102 102.1 102 102 102 102 49900 5089800 FGEN PREF G 110 110.5 109.1 110 109.1 110 4500 491400 500 525 525 525 525 525 10 5250 FPH PREF C MWIDE PREF 101.4 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.5 250 25375 PNX PREF 3B 102.5 104.9 104.9 105 104.9 104.9 1370 143795 PNX PREF 4 1000 1002 998 1000 997 1000 9120 9103910 PCOR PREF 2B 1011 1020 1020 1020 1010 1010 510 520100 PCOR PREF 3A 1055 1065 1065 1065 1050 1050 10095 10601175 PCOR PREF 3B 1090 1100 1090 1108 1090 1108 1050 1145400 SMC PREF 2C 78 78.05 78.1 78.1 78 78.05 10740 837783 19500 SMC PREF 2E 76 76.5 76.1 76.1 76 76.1 430 32697 SMC PREF 2F 78 78.2 78.2 78.2 78.2 78.2 27210 2127822 -172822 75.9 76 76 76 76 76 4570 347320 SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H 76.65 76.95 76.65 76.65 76.65 76.65 8180 626997 -383250 76.75 78 78 78 78 78 40020 3121560 SMC PREF 2I SMC PREF 2J 76.4 76.5 76.5 76.65 76 76.5 61430 4698854.5

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 10.7 10.8 10.9 10.9 10.74 10.74 1800 19428 10740 GMA HLDG PDR 4.9 5 4.91 5 4.9 5 30000 149020 100000

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 0.81 0.84 0.82 0.84 0.8 0.84 100000 81050

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ALTUS PROP 12.88 12.9 12.5 13 12.5 13 661200 8561550 -29854 ITALPINAS 3.05 3.06 2.97 3.1 2.96 3.05 9092000 27610150 -2853430 KEPWEALTH 5.5 5.54 5.5 5.55 5.3 5.5 107000 586314 -54117 MERRYMART 4.14 4.15 3.88 4.17 3.87 4.14 60079000 243667230 9576090

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 100 100.1 100.8 100.9 96.5 100 53070 5235254.5 642660

www.businessmirror.com.ph

8990 Holdings posts record revenues in July-September

M

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

ass housing developer 8990 Holdings Inc. on Monday said its income in January to September fell 21 percent to P3.3 billion from last year’s P4.2 billion, but it recorded its highest quarterly revenue in the third quarter.

Revenues for the nine-month period fell 7 percent to P9.73 billion from last year’s P10.5 billion. Half of those revenues, or P4.82 billion, came in during the third quarter, 38 percent higher than the previous year’s P3.49 billion.

For the July to September quarter, its income rose 32 percent to

P1.82 billion from last year’s P1.38 billion.

The lockdowns and the Bayanihan Act affected collections during the second quarter but a rebound in collection is expected by the end of the year, the company said.

“After we felt the impact of 4 consecutive months of lockdown

in the first half of this year, I am happy to report that we registered a very strong third quarter, our highest quarterly performance in the 17 year history of 8990,” Alexander Ace Sotto, the company’s acting president and CEO said.

“Our performance for this period shows the resilience of the affordable housing sector and affirms the need to fill the evergrowing housing backlog in the Philippines.”

Total housing units delivered by the company during the period were at 3,083 from its affordable housing projects across the country. Its strong housing delivery in the third quarter almost matched six months’ worth of homes sold from January to June.

This brings the total number of houses delivered in the first nine months to 6,794 units. Of the total number of units delivered, 53 percent was from Luzon, 27 percent

was from Visayas and 20 percent from Mindanao.

In terms of project type, horizontal projects brought in 53 percent while vertical projects contributed 47 percent of the total housing units delivered.

8990’s landbank now stands at 698 hectares. In terms of location, Visayas has the largest at 407.54 hectares or 58 percent of the total landbank. Luzon and Mindanao account for 42 percent, at 149 hectares and 142 hectares, respectively.

“This global pandemic has added pressure to businesses in all industries including ours. Since March of this year, we have been working on adjusting to this new reality by closely monitoring and managing our liquidity, strengthening our organization, and finding better ways to reach out to our existing and potential buyers,” Sotto said.

Singapore Air seeks liquidity after suffering loss

S

ingapore Airlines Ltd. plans to raise more liquidity after posting its biggest quarterly loss on record as the coronavirus decimated travel demand and charges from fuel hedging and fleet impairment weighed on its bottom line.

The airline is in advanced talks to raise funds in the debt capital market and by selling and leasing back some of its aircraft, Chief Executive Officer Goh Choon Phong said during a briefing Monday, without elaborating. Cash burn has fallen to about S$300 million ($223 million) a month from about S$350 million in the three months to July, Chief Financial Officer Stephen Barnes said.

The carrier has already raised S$11.3 billion in funds through a rights offering and loans in a bid to survive the downturn, and in September said it would reduce its workforce by about 20 percent. Singapore Airlines reported a net loss of S$2.3 billion in the three months to September as international travel all but dried up. The company expects to operate at about 50 percent of passenger capacity by the end of next year, up from 16 percent forecast for the end of 2020.

Tapping the debt market and sell-

ing and leasing back planes should ensure the airline has “very strong” liquidity, Goh said. “We have one of the strongest, if not the strongest liquidity position among airlines,” he said. The carrier’s net cash and cash equivalent stood at S$7.06 billion at the end of September.

Singapore Airlines may need to decide toward the end of the first quarter whether to tap the S$6.2 billion in convertible bonds from a fundraising plan announced in March, Barnes said.

The airline’s shares slid 1.4 percent Monday. They’re down 46 percent this year, compared with a 19-percent drop for the benchmark Straits Times Index.

For the half-year ended Sept. 30, Singapore Airlines reflected S$1.3 billion in impairment charges on the removal of 26 older aircraft after reviewing its network to determine the size and mix of its fleet over the longer term. They were eight Boeing Co. 777s, seven Airbus SE A380s, nine A320s and two A319s.

Fuel hedging contributed to a S$563 million loss. In 2017, Singapore Airlines extended some of its fuel-hedging contracts to as far out as five years, from the usual 24 months.

Bigbasket suffers major data loss in cyberattack

C

yberattackers have stolen the personal details of million users of top Indian internet grocer Bigbasket, the latest e-commerce data breach to emerge as home-bound consumers flock online.

Bigbasket co-founder and chief executive officer Hari Menon confirmed the attack, which was first reported by United States cybersecurity researcher Cyble Inc. The stolen data, which includes sensitive information including email IDs, mobile phone numbers and full addresses, has been put up for sale on the dark web for more than $40,000, the Atlanta-based outfit said in a blogpost.

“There’s been a data breach and we’ve filed a case with the cybercrime police,” Menon told Bloomberg News, though he didn’t confirm the scale of the attack because of an ongoing investigation. “The investigators have asked us not to reveal any details as it might hamper the probe.”

Cybercrimes are surging around the world as consumers under lockdown turn online for essentials. Al-

ibaba Group Holding Ltd., a major backer of Bigbasket’s, was also targeted earlier this year by attackers who infiltrated a database owned by an arm of its unit Lazada.

But Indian authorities are illequipped to handle digital investigations. Bangalore, the country’s technology hub, has set up eight cybercrime police bureaus over the past year, each headed up by a police inspector, but many of the staff aren’t trained to investigate phishing, hacking and other types of online attacks. Some of the newly established bureaus receive hundreds of complaints each month, but many crimes go unsolved.

Bangalore-headquartered Bigbasket sells thousands of grocery and daily household products from cooking oil to Indian spices to shoppers in over two dozen cities. Local media reported it’s in talks to sell a stake of about 50 percent at a valuation of roughly $2 billion to the Tata Group, the latest entrant to India’s red-hot e-commerce arena.

Menon declined to comment on the talks. Bloomberg News

The airline said Friday it has paused fuel hedging activity since March given the uncertain pace of recovery.

Singapore Airlines has restarted some routes, including its non-stop service to New York, and plans to gradually reinstate flights to places such as Brunei, Kathmandu and Male. Vice President of Commercial Lee Lik Hsin said last month the airline is cautiously optimistic as governments reopen their borders for business travelers and create travel corridors.

mutual funds

Singapore, a small island nation dependent upon international tourism and trade, is working to reopen its borders. It is planning a travel bubble with Hong Kong that will use tests to replace quarantine and it has opened to visitors from some countries deemed as low risk, including New Zealand and China.

Singapore Airlines said last week it has set up a business offering training programs to other companies in a bid to generate additional revenue. Bloomberg News November 9, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 216.43 -16.54% -9.49% -3.12% -14.06% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.136 -24.95% -11.25% -2.27% -17.8% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.9602 -24.73% -13.41% -5.25% -19.52% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.7491 -20.5% -9.63% n.a. -16.58% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.7172 -18.23% n.a. n.a.

-15.55% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.665 -15.13% -7.79% -3.39% -12.45% 0.729 First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 -17.54% -9.05% n.a.

-14.6% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a

89.13 -21.4% n.a. n.a.

-13.65% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 43.9691 -17.05% -7.81% -1.71% -14.26% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 465.54 -15.31% -7.48% -2.19% -12.62% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5 1.0072 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-2.22% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.0959 -17.65% -7.98% -1.9% -14.84% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 32.4834 -17.08% -7.42% -1.32% -14.29% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.8648 -17.75% n.a. n.a.

-15.06% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 4.4924 -16.68% -7.33% -0.99% -14% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a

751.49 -16.53% -7.23% -1.11% -13.82% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.677 -25.33% -11.18% -5.19% -20.48% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.4119 -21.66% -9.27% -2.81% -18.94% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.8607 -16.75% -7.52% -1.19% -14% United Fund, Inc. -a 3.1063 -17.52% -6.92% -0.97% -14.97% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 100.9959 -16.33% -6.92% -0.31% -13.64% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b $1.1344 12.99% 0.98% 4.34% 10.31% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.582 19.78% 8.5% n.a.

14.75% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.6074 0.56% -4.62% -1.98% 2.85% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.1656 -5.18% -4% -0.49% -0.71% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.5335 -5.39% -2.83% -1.91% -3.72% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.1921 -19.42% n.a. n.a.

-15.93% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.9143 -3.39% -1.09% 1.05% -2.41% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.6628 -4.79% -2.24% 0.1% -3.33% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 16.3932 -4.76% -2.33% 0.04% -3.35% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 2.0261 -3.28% -0.07% -4.52% -6.69% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.4416 -12.7% -4.81% -1.26% -10.92% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.9858 -4.76% n.a. n.a.

-2.94% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.9029 -11.9% n.a. n.a.

-9.38% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.8844 -13.46% n.a. n.a.

-10.95% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.8468 -15.26% -5.8% -2.12% -13.13% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03924 3.05% 2.79% 2.06% 2.72% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b $1.0901 7.28% 1.22% 7.72% 3.59% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $4.289 12.88% 6.09% 6.21% 9.67% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.1869 6.96% 3.31% n.a.

5.16% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 369.08 3.71% 3.17% 2.67% 3.11% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.8945 -1.54% -0.09% -0.2% -0.39% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.2069 3.55% 4.65% 4.89% 2.85% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2885 3.22% 2.8% 2.2% 2.93% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4453 4.18% 3.35% 1.99% 3.65% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.619 4.34% 2.73% 5.63% 6.38% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a,6 1.3132 5.3% 4.36% 2.48% 4.5% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.9644 5.56% 4.37% 2.44% 4.65% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0354 8.33% 3.79% 2.15% 7.37% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1802 4.11% 4.59% 3.01% 3.4% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a

1.7414 3.22% 3.92% 2.4% 2.37% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $480.84 3.15% 2.61% 2.84% 2.66% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є218.06 -0.74% 0.67% 1.17% -0.79% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2562 4.45% 3.45% 2.77% 4.06% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0265 2.71% 1.96% 1.66% 2.71% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.0931 -0.07% 0.32% 0.73% -0.05% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.52 5.49% 3.95% 3.47% 4.85% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0619154 2.81% 2.49% 2.2% 2.68% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.2187 2.17% 2.23% 2.54% 1.37% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 129.41 3.4% 3.33% 2.54% 2.85% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0463 1.85% n.a. n.a.

1.95% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2931 2.7% 3% 2.62% 2.22% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.051 1.57% 1.68% n.a.

1.22% Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a,d,7 1.0484 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,2 $0.95 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-4.04%

a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU).

1 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 2 - Launch date is November 15, 2019. 3 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019.

4 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.). 5 - Launch date is December 09, 2019.

6 - Re-classified into a Bond Fund starting February 21, 2020 (Formerly a Money Market Fund). 7 - Launch date is July 6, 2020.

"While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa.com.ph to see the

latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Defer VAT on low-cost housing, solon asks DOF

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

A

leader of the House of Representatives has urged the Department of Finance (DOF) to consider suspending the looming imposition of 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on low-cost housing amid a national health crisis.

House Deputy Majority Leader Bernadette Herrera said in a statement she fully supports the appeal of the Chamber of Real Estate & Builders’ Associations Inc. (Creba) to suspend the VAT on low-cost housing.

The VAT takes effect on January 1, 2021, as mandated by Republic Act (RA) 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law, after giving a 3-year reprieve; set to end by December 31.

“We are hoping that the DOF will find a way to help low-cost housing developers and buyers by directing the Bureau of Internal Revenue to suspend the VAT on the sector until this public health crisis is over,” Herrera was quoted in the statement as saying.

Based on the 2011 consumer price index, the Train law exempted buyers of residential lots worth up to P1.9 million and house and lot units up

to P3.2 million from paying a VAT.

By January next year, only those worth P2 million and below would be VAT-exempt.

Herrera warned that the imposition of VAT on low-cost housing would make it more difficult for lower middle-income Filipinos to achieve their dream of buying their own home.

She said no less than the Constitution recognizes housing as a basic human right.

“The right to adequate housing ensures that people enjoy physical and mental health and live in a safe place in peace and dignity,” Herrera said.

She added that buyers of low-cost housing units would ultimately bear the burden of VAT. According to the Creba, the VAT of about P360,000 for a P3.2-million home actually translates to P1 million over a 30-year mortgage life.

The Creba said the resulting surge in housing prices beyond the affordability of the targeted beneficiaries, including overseas Filipino workers, due to VAT imposition will cause a massive housing industry slowdown.

Herrera said the Philippines is already struggling from a 6.57 million housing shortfall that grows by at least 300,000 more units each year.

Selecting IPOs in the Philippines

A

company that wants to expand its operations has a variety of funding alternatives.

One option would be internal company funds. Another option would be through loans from banks.

Another option would be through an initial public offering, or an IPO, where shares of a company are sold to both institutional and retail investors.

In this regard, it is important for investors to realize that not all companies are the same and, therefore, not all IPOs are the same. There are things that can be considered to make the right choice.

Numbers matter. As a starting point, the company must be able to exhibit sales growth. A successful track record can give investors a glimpse of a successful future.

Growing sales of a company can mean growing market shares.

However, the Boston Consulting Group model notes that it is not enough that company market share grows. The sector where it plays must be growing as well. Hence, a company that finds itself with a high market share in a high-growth sector is said to be a “Star” and so its IPO will be attractive.

Sales and shares are not enough.

In analyzing numbers for a company, the use of financial ratio analysis to study the different business aspects will be handy. The first type of ratio would be the profitability ratio.

A company with healthy sales but with low or negative profit levels is still unhealthy. A good company is one that is able to consistently grow its revenues and manage its costs so that profits are maximized.

An example of a profitability ratio is the profit margin ratio, which is the ratio of net income over total assets.

The second type of ratio is the liquidity ratio. This type refers to the ability of a company to meet its current obligations. An example of a liquidity ratio is the current ratio, which is the ratio of current assets over current liabilities. Ideally, the value must be at least equal to one.

The third type of ratio is the leverage ratio. This type gives a picture of how dependent a company is on debt. When things head south, settlement to creditors always precedes that for investors. A low debt ratio is thus attractive for investors.

The fourth type of ratio is the efficiency ratio. While there may be stock market analysts who do not put much weight on efficiency as a

Genesis Kelly S. Lontoc

personal finance consideration, an efficient company may significantly reveal just how good a company is being managed.

One example of efficiency ratios is the inventory turnover ratio, which is the ratio of cost of goods sold over inventory. A high ratio number is attractive. Another efficiency ratio is the asset turnover ratio which is the ratio of sales over total assets. A high ratio number is also attractive.

Buying an IPO means that there is price involved. One important valuation ratio therefore that should be considered is the projected price-toearnings ratio which is the ratio of the stock price over the earnings per share. Price-to-earnings ratios can vary widely across sectors.

Therefore, to assess whether a stock is overvalued, fairly-valued or undervalued, one has to compare the price-to-earnings ratio of the company with those of other similar companies in its sector.

This will make the comparisons apple-to-apple.

Numbers matter but we need to go beyond numbers in analyzing the attractiveness of IPOs. The heritage and reputation of the company are important. The vision, strategies and plans of the company that are shared in the prospectus can determine if success will be sustainable or not.

The way a company handles poor economic conditions shows how resilient that company is. A company that is able to do well in terms of people, planet and profit objectives is a company that is poised to reap success over the long haul.

IPOs have various benefits to the economy. For companies, the additional funding can lead to accelerated investment spending that can spur economic growth. For investors, the right IPOs can provide financial gains through capital appreciation and dividends. These valuable gains can help achieve financial freedom.

Gemmy Lontoc is a registered financial planner of the RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal financial planning, attend the 87th RFP program this January 2021. To inquire, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text <name><e-mail> <RFP> at 0917-6248110.

Tuesday, November 10, 2020 B3

Deadline for paying tax, fees at local govt levels extended

T

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

he Department of Finance (DOF) extended the deadline for payment of tax payments and other charges imposed by local government units (LGUs) until December 19 this year to cushion the impact brought by Covid-19 induced lockdowns.

The extension, which was in line with the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 11494 or Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2), covers the payment of all local taxes, fees and charges with deadlines falling on or after September 14 this year.

According to DOF, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III issued Department Circular (DC) 003-2020, which stipulated that the counting of the period within which to pay local taxes, fees and charges is also suspended until December 19, 2020, including the period for the redemption of real properties sold or forfeited at public auction.

“In the event that an LGU had al-

ready extended the deadlines prior to the effectivity of RA 11494, such deadlines, if earlier than December 19, 2020, shall be deemed modified with the period set forth herein.

Any further extension of deadlines beyond December 19, 2020 shall be authorized in accordance with the provision of RA 7160,” read the DC, referring to Local Government Code.

Due to the mandatory deadline extension of these payments, no interest, surcharge, or any form of penalty shall be applied on any local tax, fee or charge accruing on or due and demandable during the period covering such deadlines.

Moreover, all payments for local tax delinquencies prior to the effectivity of Bayanihan 2 on September 14 shall be due and demandable only upon the expiration of the December 19 deadline.

All applicable interests, penalties, and surcharges will begin to run again, if due and demandable, after the lapse of the effectivity of Bayanihan 2 on December 19, the DC added.

The DC was issued by Dominguez to provide guidelines on the uniform implementation by LGUs of Section 4 (tt) of the Bayanihan 2 Law, which provides for stretching the statutory deadlines and timelines for the filing and submission of any document, the payment of taxes, fees and other charges required by law, and the grant of any benefit.

This provision under Bayanihan 2 aims to ease the burden on individuals and enterprises affected by the severe disruption of economic activities resulting from the stringent community quarantines that the national and local governments have imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Under DC 003-2020, the local treasurers were also instructed to coordinate with LGU officials to actively inform taxpayers of these mandatory extensions and to re-

configure the electronic information systems used by local governments for the assessment and computation of such local taxes, fees, and charges covered by the circular.

Local treasurers were also directed to defer activities related to administrative or judicial action for the enforcement and/or collection of local taxes, fees, or charges until the lapse of the effectivity of the Bayanihan 2 Law. They were likewise directed to enable the use of electronic or non face-to-face payment facilities so that taxpayers who will still opt to pay early may be continuously accommodated by the LGU to ensure physical distancing. The LGU treasurers were also ordered to work on the immediate adoption of these digital facilities.

The department circular also instructed LGU treasurers to advise their respective local chief executives on matters concerning the grant of further incentives and/or privileges to taxpayers and business establishments, particularly those extending assistance and providing essential services for Covid-19 response.

It also directed the Bureau of Local Government Finance to monitor the compliance of all local treasurers with these directives and to extend to them the technical assistance they need to implement the circular.

AUB posts flat earnings of ₧3.8B for Jan-Sept period

A

sia United Bank (AUB) recorded flat earnings in the first nine months of the year at P3.8 billion.

Its operating income for the period, meanwhile, rose by 25 percent to P11.5 billion year-on-year on the back of its core businesses.

The listed bank said in a statement on Monday that its net interest income climbed by 17 percent to P8.1 billion from last year’s P6.9 billion.

This resulted in a net interest margin of 4.3 percent.

Non-interest income surged by

50 percent to P3.4 billion in the January-September period from last year’s P2.3 billion because of higher trading revenues.

AUB’s borrowings portfolio improved by 4 percent to P165.4 billion in the first nine months from P158.6 billion in the comparable period last year. Supported by low-cost current account-savings account deposits, the bank saw its total deposits grow to P232 billion from P223 billion.

As of end-September, AUB earmarked credit loss provisions of P3 billion, which is four times more than

JazzyPay, BPI team up for cashless payment

F

inancial technology (fintech) startup JazzyPay Inc. is collaborating with the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI) to provide digital payment scheme for online bank users.

In a statement, the fintech player said that the partnership will allow millions of BPI clients to make cashless payments to its partner merchants.

There has been an uptrend for online payments, JazzyPay said, citing data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showing that electronic fund transfers soared 74 percent in volume amid the lockdown measures because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Currently, JazzyPay said it is offering online payment gateway system allowing business to collect payments through 27 payment options, such as credit and debit cards, online banking, e-wallet and overthe-counter cash deposits.

The fintech firm noted that BPI saw an increase in online transactions to 95 percent from 72 percent during the pandemic. It added that the share of digital transactions in the Ayala-led bank reached 92 percent even after the community quarantine eased in June.

“With over 4 million BPI Online banking users, more people will now have the ability to pay online for medical fees, dental fees, school fees, and other services through Jazzypay, therefore significantly increasing the

accessibility of cashless payments to even more Filipinos,” JazzyPay said.

JazzyPay Chief Operating Officer Kathleen Acosta said that the fintech firm’s partnership with BPI will provide “greater ease and assurance” to the online banking users amid the rise of digital transactions.

“With BPI’s online banking payment facility directly integrated into our secure platform, our partner merchants and their payers from the Philippines and from abroad can be assured that their transactions will be safely processed,” Acosta said.

BPI Chief Digital Officer Noel A. Santiago, meanwhile, said that the pact is seen boosting customer-todigital payments, which he considered a significant aspect of the current business environment.

He added that the partnership is eyeing to “to build on our digital ecosystem securely, enable clients to transact efficiently, and facilitate contactless payments for small and big online businesses alike.”

Since its 2018 launch, JazzyPay has now hundreds of partner merchants across the country, including Manila Adventist College, Adventist Medical Center Manila, Adventist Hospital Santiago City and the Dr. Arturo P. Pingoy Medical Center.

It is a registered operator of payments system regulated by the Central Bank. The startup recently acquired the payment card industry data security standard Level 1 certificate. Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

last year’s P693 million.

The bank’s nonperforming loans (NPL) ratio stood at “manageable” 2.2 percent while NPL coverage reached 96.3 percent. As of September, AUB’s total assets amounted to P290.1 billion. Shares in AUB slipped by 0.11 percent, or 5 centavos, to close at P44.10 each as the main index ended flat on Monday.

“Our current position and utmost priority lies within the balance of running the business while ensuring the safety of both our people and our customers,” AUB President Manuel

A. Gomez said. “These times may be challenging, yet AUB’s core business remains fundamentally strong.”

The listed bank said earlier it was committed to fund its capital expenditures for branch expansion, information technology infrastructure and other corporate matters this year.

In July, AUB declared cash dividends amounting to P970 million to its stockholders, with each share receiving P2. The cash dividends were paid out in two tranches on July 30 and October 15. Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

Senator asks govt to shift funds from losing GOCCs

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

S

enator Sherwin T. Gatchalian goaded the Duterte administration last Monday to realign some of the P200billion subsidy allotted to losing government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) in the 2021 national budget to augment parallel efforts funding timely disaster relief and contain the Coronavirus contagion.

“Being in a high-risk country experiencing natural calamities, the Philippines should always prepare for any disasters that occur every year,” Gatchalian said in a statement. “Add to this are Covid-19 recovery efforts that are likely to continue by 2021 if a vaccine has not yet been developed by that time.”

The lawmaker also noted that “we have seen the recent destruction of typhoons Quinta and Rolly,” voicing concerns that “government resources are getting limited due to the coronavirus pandemic and have become more troublesome because of the devastation left behind by the recent spate of typhoons.”

The Senator had earlier noted during a Senate budget hearing the continuing allocation in the proposed 2021 national budget of P201 billion as subsidies to 118 GOCCs that remitted only P47 billion dividends last year.

He recalled Governance Commission for GOCCs Chairman Samuel G. Dagpin Jr. informing members of the Senate Finance Subcommittee that “some underperforming GOCCs have been recommended to be abolished” including, for instance, the Philippine National Oil Co. Renewables Corp.

(PNOC RC), a subsidiary of PNOC that has been operating at a loss for the past seven years.

Gatchalian cited Dagpin telling the Senate panel that the Govenment Commission already submitted a recommendation to the Office of the President as early as March to abolish the PNOC RC. In turn, the Senator suggested that PNOC “should not give any funds to PNOC RC, except if it is for the purpose of winding up the corporation.”

The Senator admitted he “cannot, in my good conscience, endorse any new funds and I recommend to the management to start the proceedings of absorption, winding down and also probably liquidating or divesting the assets of PNOC RC.” “That is my recommendation and we will proceed with that recommendation in plenary,” Gatchalian added.

At the same time, he clarified that “there’s nothing personal here.”

“This is in line with my mandate of representing the people and making sure that taxpayers’ money are well spent,” Gatchalian said.

B4

Tuesday, November 10, 2020 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

Art

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

z

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Miranda Lambert, 37; Ellen Pompeo, 51; Tracy Morgan, 52; Michael Jai White, 53.

Happy Birthday: Protect against insult and injury. Pace yourself, consider your objective and be secretive regarding your intentions. Share with likeminded people and those you feel can contribute to your journey. Change is in the air, but it’s up to you to take advantage of whatever opportunity comes your way. Choose a unique path that encourages creativity, spirituality and peace of mind. Your numbers are 9, 16, 20, 23, 32, 36, 47.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): You may crave change, but before you make a move, consider your motives as well as your options. Patience will be required if you intend to reach your goal. Settling for less will lead to dissatisfaction. HHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Take the plunge. Step into action. Make a difference.

Stand up for your rights, go after your goal and engage in conversations that address sensitive issues. A partnership will encourage personal growth and professional gains. Set a high standard. HHHHH These Days by Faye Abantao

Personal Pixel 4.0 by Julian Udine

Art Fair PHL organizers uncrate new project

Egg Fiasco

T

HE women behind Art Fair Philippines and Art in the Park introduced a new project designed to meet the changing practices in art viewing and acquisition.

Trickie Lopa, Dindin Araneta and Lisa Periquet of Philippine Art Events Inc. launched Uncrating O2O. The event, billed as “a hybrid experience of viewing and acquiring art,” will run for nearly a month both in a physical space and on the digital domain, starting tomorrow, November 11, until December 6.

“The first online edition of Art in the Park in August allowed us to reach out to a new audience,” Lopa said. “We’re very excited that this new project will provide a hybrid experience—the traditional way of viewing art through a public space, while harnessing the power of a popular social-media platform, Instagram.”

Uncrating O2O will exhibit artworks at The

THE 15th-century Chinese vase valued at £2.5 million ($3.3 million). AP

Gallery in Greenbelt 5, with additional pieces exclusively available at @O2Oart on Instagram.

The artworks for Uncrating O2O are staged amid crates, designed by theater director and scenographer Ed Lacson, Jr. The peculiar presentation is said to refer to “the immediacy and flexibility of the storage, delivery and installation of artwork in these unusual times, which call for creative measures.” Thus, “the crates can be easily physically relocated anywhere, its contents both temporary and changeable.”

For its first edition, Uncrating O2O will showcase two exhibitions. The first features small works from the roster of up-and-coming artists from Tin-aw Art Management. The second presents rarely accessible works from the street artist known as Egg Fiasco.

Tin-aw, which is inspired by the Filipino vernacular for lucid water, has consistently highlighted the work of young artists. They are set to display an exhibit of uniformly portable works of 45 artists.

Meanwhile, Egg Fiasco is a neo-graffiti artist who combines iconic images with vibrant graphics for an edgy aesthetic that is uniquely his. Some of his murals can be seen around Metro Manila, including in Bonifacio Global City.

“We have learned in our previous project that we have room for both physical and digital events,” Lopa said. “Uncrating O2O will allow us to keep highlighting art and artists, even through a pandemic.” n

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Moderation is favored. Speak up if you don’t like what someone is offering. You may not relish making a change, but consider the alternative, and do what’s necessary to improve your situation. HHHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Take care of matters that require physical exertion. A change will encourage you to strive for a better future.

Distance yourself from a movement that doesn’t share your point of view. Be true to your beliefs, and concentrate on self-improvement. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Your emotions will push you in a positive direction. Don’t put up with pressure tactics or people who aren’t abiding by the rules. An unusual partnership will encourage you to try something new and incorporate what you learn into your everyday routine. HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Take a deep breath and go about your business. Don’t expect to get along or agree with the people you encounter today. Consider your options, and put your energy into something that will bring you closer to your goal. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Don’t sit back when action is paramount in reaching your destination. Harness your energy, and implement whatever will help you move closer to your chosen goal. Don’t count on others when it’s up to you to push through change. HHHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): An emotional situation will surface if you let someone meddle or interfere with your plans.

Rely on your ability to get things done instead of depending on promises someone makes. HH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You’ll face opposition if you pressure others to do things your way. Go about your business, and finish what you start. A change at home will save you money and improve your quality of life. HHHHH

k

U.K. police recover stolen Ming dynasty vase worth $3 million LONDON—British police say they have recovered a 15th-century Chinese vase valued at £2.5 million ($3.3 million) that was stolen in Switzerland last year.

The Metropolitan Police force said on Friday that they have arrested two men over the theft of the Ming dynasty vase.

It is thought to have been stolen from a Swiss collection in June 2019 by a London-

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Do something that requires energy, agility and a competitive mindset. A physical challenge will bring out the best in you and help you succeed in other areas of your life. Aggressive action will deter anyone from taking you for granted. HH

based organized crime gang.

The suspects, aged 44 and 42, were arrested in London’s tony Mayfair area last week on suspicion of handling stolen goods. They have been released on bail until mid-November. “This is a significant step forward in what remains a complex investigation into a high-value burglary,” said Detective Chief Inspector Jimi Tele of

the force’s specialist crime unit.

There is a lucrative illegal market for stolen Chinese antiquities, and there have been several high-profile thefts in recent years, including a string of heists at British museums and auction houses in 2012 that netted jade bowls, figurines and other items worth millions. British police said the vase will be returned to Switzerland. AP

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Resolve money matters. Consider a joint venture or shared expense. How you delegate responsibilities will determine if you can move forward peacefully. Don’t get involved in matters that don’t concern you. Personal improvement is favored. HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Share your ideas, and look for equality in every personal or professional interaction you encounter. The people you associate with will make a difference in the outcome of something you want to pursue. HHH Birthday Baby: You are insightful, engaging and thoughtful.

You are practical and resourceful.

‘raise your bowl’ by chris gross and zhougin burnikel The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 8.5” x 14” paper size 6 Idle of Monty Python 10 Pasture sound 13 Came to light 14 Jubilant cry at a roulette table 16 App with #tbt pics 17 Not yet finished 18 Tear into, as a gift 20 Superman journalist Lane 21 “I told you so!”

22 UFO navigators 24 TV monitor?

27 Slender and tall 30 Popular cookie 32 My Pregnant Husband network 34 Opening words 36 “Well, obviously!”

37 Tokyo-based watchmaker 39 More achy 40 Hairy, tailless animal 41 It balances a debit 42 March composer whose name’s last three letters are apt 43 Airport scanning org.

4 The things over there 4 45 Insect that eats termites 46 Jacob’s brother 48 A Swiss Army knife has many 49 Circle or square 51 Pay-___-view 53 Nest egg choice 56 Many profs’ degrees 58 Very concerned 61 Places for movie accessories 65 Ran leisurely 66 Manitoba lies on its southwestern shore 67 Heartbeat 68 Number that’s also a pronoun 69 Indian bread 70 Equine ride DOWN 1 Wild animals’ hideouts 2 Bert’s buddy 3 Absolute fact (see letters 10 to 5) 4 Concerning 5 Big jump 6 CPR pro 7 Make muddy

8 Smitten 9 Pets with multicolored coats (9 to 6) 10 Spam generator 11 Rumble in the Jungle boxer 12 Key near the space bar 14 “This ___ my day!”

15 Dermatologist’s concern 19 “A rat!”

23 Adds horsepower to, and a hint to the starred answers’ hidden words 25 “Child’s play!” (8 to 5) 26 Toilet paper layers 28 Greek god of war 29 Julie & Julia director (6 to 4) 31 Perlman of Cheers 33 Pigeon coop 34 Rae of The Photograph 35 Common lunchtimes 36 Items in a spreadsheet 38 Tennis great Arthur 47 Arizona city known for its red rocks 48 One may end with .org 50 Programs on iPhones 52 “Child’s play!”

54 Actress Witherspoon

5 Threw into the mix 5 57 Japanese noodle 59 Hannibal and his elephants crossed them 60 12-0 baseball victory, say 61 Vietnam’s national dish 62 Snag in a stocking 63 Praiseful poem 64 “I’m a ___ of my word” Solution to Friday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Alex Trebek remembered for grace that elevated him above TV host

L

FROM left: Johnrey Rivas, Carl Adaron and Vince Tañada

Philippine Stagers Foundation joins the BL series craze

Award-winning theater group Philippine Stagers Foundation (PSF) is spreading its creative wings during these pandemic times, producing its own Boy Love (BL) series, Why Love Why? We spoke to PSF founder Vince Tañada recently, and he shared how the series came about. “I was in denial that this pandemic will take long, but after my dad passed away in June, I realized that I couldn’t afford to wait. My art and my craft will not rust in this lockdown. I saw the proliferation of online entertainment programs that have become a beacon of hope for performing artists affected by the prohibition of mass gatherings. In early September, I made a survey in my Twitter account as to which genre is popular for our theater fans if I would create a series. BL won overwhelmingly.”

The narrative of Why Love Why?, which will be divided in five exciting episodes, focuses on straight college guys Emil and Benjo who are assigned to be thesis partners by their professor. Emil, being not financially capable to do online research, reluctantly agrees to stay with Benjo in the latter’s affluent penthouse flat. When some tenants in the building test positive for Covid-19 in the early days of the community quarantine, the building is locked down for a month, paving the way for the college boys’ unexpected sexual adventurism and awakening.

Tañada, who has written all of PSF’s original musicals for the past 20 years, said the series takes pride in presenting not just romance between two males but also their psychological and emotional struggles brought about by their sexual maturation and emancipation.

“The drama is based on my creative imagination. But similar to the plays I’ve written in the past, I make it a point that it is not only entertaining but educational as well.

This series also tackles historical fiction as the two main protagonists are filially related to the dictator President Marcos and a suspected NPA leader during Martial Law.” It was not difficult to choose his lead actors, Johnrey Rivas and Carl Adaron, who were not given any script ahead of their locked-in shooting days. “The core of the dialogues were just given right before each take and I allowed the actors to substantially reproduce the lines in order to make the dialogues their own. The end product made the film distinct from the plays we did where lines were rehearsed and mastered,” explained Tañada.

Rivas rose from the ranks in the theater company. From an usher in 2013 to chorus member, he took the big leap to becoming a lead actor last year, which incidentally gave the good-looking lad his first Aliw Award for Best Actor. Rivas trained in classical music and is also a popular vlogger and social-media influencer. “I am very excited for this special series of ours. I know there’s a lot to choose from nowadays, but I guess it’s part of the healthy competition among BL content producers and creators.”

For his part, Adaron is thankful that he was entrusted his first lead role. “I was a junior apprentice actor with PSF after my earlier stints as a company dancer and a chorus member. I took it as a challenge, gave my all and I hope I didn’t disappoint.”

Both actors’ orientation is clearly theater and it’s a plus the director has worked with the actors for many years now.

“Doing shows regularly make us clearly aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, so I have adjusted the film to the actors’ capabilities and attitude. And even if they have to show some skin, they had no qualms about it because they trust their director,” Tañada added.

Oh, yes, this foray into film by a theater company had its challenges. “Funds” was Tañada’s quick reply, adding, “The start of the lockdown resulted to multiple cancellations of our live shows. A lot of capital had been invested in them already, resulting in big losses to our theater company. But if there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Why Love Why? the series will run every Saturday starting November 14 at 8 pm on the Philstagers Films YouTube Channel.

By Lynn Elber The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—Alex Trebek never pretended to have all the answers, but the Jeopardy! host became an inspiration and solace to Americans who otherwise are at odds with each other.

He looked and sounded the part of a senior statesman, impeccably suited and groomed and with an authoritative voice any politician would covet. He commanded his turf—the quiz show’s stage—but refused to overshadow its brainy contestants.

And when he faced the challenge of pancreatic cancer, which claimed his life on Sunday at age 80, he was honest, optimistic and graceful. Trebek died at his Los Angeles home, surrounded by family and friends, Jeopardy! studio Sony said.

The Canadian-born host made a point of informing fans about his health directly, in a series of brief online videos. He faced the camera and spoke in a calm, even tone as he revealed his illness and hope for a cure in the first message, posted in March 2019.

“Now normally, the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I’m going to fight this and I’m going to keep working,” Trebek said, even managing a wisecrack: He had to beat the disease because his Jeopardy! contract had three more years to run.

Trebek’s death came less than four months after that of civil rights leader and US Rep. John Lewis, also of advanced pancreatic cancer and at age 80. Trebek had offered him words of encouragement last January.

In a memoir published this year, The Answer Is...

Reflections on My Life, Trebek suggested that he’s known but not celebrated, and compared himself to a visiting relative who TV viewers find “comforting and reassuring as opposed to being impressed by me.”

That was contradicted Sunday by the messages of grief and respect from former contestants, celebrities and the wider public that quickly followed news of his loss. “Alex wasn’t just the best ever at what he did.

He was also a lovely and deeply decent man, and I’m grateful for every minute I got to spend with him,” tweeted Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings. “Thinking today about his family and his Jeopardy! family— which, in a way, included millions of us.”

“It was one of the great privileges of my life to spend time with this courageous man while he fought the battle of his life. You will never be replaced in our hearts, Alex,” James Holzhauer, another Jeopardy! star, posted on Twitter.

Recent winner Burt Thakur tweeted that he was “overwhelmed with emotion.” When he appeared on Friday’s show, Thakur recounted learning English diction as a child from watching Trebek on Jeopardy! with his grandfather.

The program tapes weeks of shows in advance, and the remaining episodes with Trebek will air through December 25, a Sony spokesman said.

Jeopardy! bills itself as “America’s favorite quiz show” and captivated the public with a unique format in which contestants were told the answers and had to provide the questions on a variety of subjects, including movies, politics, history and popular culture. They would answer by saying “What is...?” or “Who is...?”

Trebek, who became its host in 1984, was a master of the format, engaging in friendly banter with contestants, appearing genuinely pleased when they answered correctly and, at the same time, moving the game along in a brisk no-nonsense fashion whenever

people struggled for answers.

“I try not to take myself too seriously,” he told an interviewer in 2004. “I don’t want to come off as a pompous ass and indicate that I know everything when I don’t.” The show was the brainstorm of Julann Griffin, wife of the late talk show host-entrepreneur Merv Griffin, who said she suggested to him one day that he create a game show where people were given the answers.

Jeopardy! debuted on NBC in 1964 with Art Fleming as emcee and was an immediate hit. It lasted until 1975, then was revived in syndication with Trebek.

Long identified by a full head of hair and trim mustache (though in 2001 he startled viewers by shaving his mustache, “completely on a whim”), Trebek was more than qualified for the job, having started his game show career on Reach for the Top in his native country.

Moving to the US in 1973, he appeared on The Wizard of Odds, High Rollers, The $128,000 Question and Double Dare. Even during his run on Jeopardy!, Trebek worked on other shows. In the early 1990s, he was the host of three—Jeopardy!, To Tell the Truth and Classic Concentration.

Jeopardy! made him famous. He won five Emmys as its host, including one last June, and received stars on both the Hollywood and Canadian walks of fame. In 2012, the show won a prestigious Peabody Award.

He taped his daily Jeopardy! shows at a frenetic pace, recording as many as 10 episodes (two weeks’ worth) in just two days. After what was described as a mild heart attack in 2007, he was back at work in just a month. He posted a video in January 2018 announcing he’d undergone surgery for blood clots on the brain that followed a fall he’d taken. The show was on hiatus during his recovery.

It had yet to bring in a substitute host for Trebek— save once, when he and Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak swapped their TV jobs as an April’s Fool prank.

In 2012, Trebek acknowledged that he was

considering retirement, but had been urged by friends to stay on so he could reach 30 years on the show. He still loved the job, he declared: “What’s not to love?

You have the security of a familiar environment, a familiar format, but you have the excitement of new clues and new contestants on every program. You can’t beat that!”

Although many viewers considered him one of the key reasons for the show’s success, Trebek himself insisted he was only there to keep things moving.

“My job is to provide the atmosphere and assistance to the contestants to get them to perform at their very best,” he said in a 2012 interview. “And if I’m successful doing that, I will be perceived as a nice guy and the audience will think of me as being a bit of a star. But not if I try to steal the limelight!”

In a January 2019 interview with The Associated Press, Trebek discussed his decision to keep going with Jeopardy!

“It’s not as if I’m overworked—we tape 46 days a year,” he said. But he acknowledged he would retire someday, if he lost his edge or the job was no longer fun, adding: “And it’s still fun.”

Born July 22, 1940, in Sudbury, Ontario, Trebek was sent off to boarding school by his Ukrainian father and French-Canadian mother when he was barely in his teens.

After graduating high school, he spent a summer in Cincinnati to be close to a girlfriend, then returned to Canada to attend college. After earning a philosophy degree from the University of Ottawa, he went to work for the Canadian Broadcasting Co., starting as a staff announcer and eventually becoming a radio and TV reporter.

He became a US citizen in 1997. Trebek’s first marriage, to Elaine Callei, ended in divorce. In 1990, he married Jean Currivan, and they had two children, Emily and Matthew.

Trebek is survived by his wife, their two children and his stepdaughter, Nicky. n

‘Descendants of the Sun: Philippines’ streams on Netflix this month GMA’s internationally acclaimed prime-time series Descendants of the Sun: Philippines makes its exciting debut on Netflix beginning November 13.

As it celebrates its 70th anniversary, the network continues to strengthen its digital presence while staying true to its mission of creating world-class programs. Its biggest drama production this year, Descendants of the Sun is the first GMA program to be streamed on Netflix.

Headlined by two of the biggest names on Philippine TV—Dingdong Dantes and Jennylyn Mercado—the series revolves on the star-crossed love story of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Special Forces Captain Lucas Manalo, a.k.a. “Big Boss,” and cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Maxine “Beauty” dela Cruz. With both of them having dangerous and demanding jobs, timing is never on their side. But the more they try to distance themselves from one another, the more fate finds a way to bring Lucas and Maxine together—surviving and making it through one disaster after another.

Reporting with them for duty are Rocco Nacino as Technical Sergeant Diego Ramos and Jasmine CurtisSmith as Captain Moira Defensor.

Also in the series as hard-working doctors and nurses are Renz Fernandez, Chariz Solomon, Andre Paras, Nicole Donesa, Reese Tuazon, Jenzel Angeles and Bobby Andrews.

Meanwhile, the military team is composed of Paul Salas, Jon Lucas, Lucho Ayala, and Prince Clemente.

Completing the cast are Neil Ryan Sese, Pancho Magno, Antonio Aquitania, Ricardo Cepeda, Ian Ignacio, Rich Asuncion, Carlo Gonzalez, Hailey Mendes, Marina Benipayo, and Roi Vinzon.

Last August, Descendants of the Sun brought honor to the country as the first local TV program to receive the Most Popular Foreign Drama of the Year award at the 15th Seoul International Drama Awards.

Dingdong was also awarded the prestigious Asian Star Prize in the annual global festival.

Directed by Dominic Zapata, Descendants of the Sun premiered on February 10, but production was temporarily suspended due to restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lock-in tapings with strict safety measures were held last month, which enabled the series to resume its run on October 26, starting with a two-week recap on prime time GMA.

B5

B6 Tuesday, November 10, 2020

PH Resorts Group Holdings, Inc. holds successful listing ceremony

JOINING PHR Chairman Dennis A. Uy and his wife Cherylyn C. Uy in the ceremonial ringing of the opening bell were PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon along with Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Chairman and CEO Andrea D. Domingo and President and COO Alfredo C. Lim.

P

H Resorts Group Holdings, Inc. (“PHR” or the “Company”), the Udenna Group’s gaming and hospitality subsidiary, conducted a successful listing ceremony for its recently concluded Follow-On Offer of 450 million primary common shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) trading floor.

In his opening remarks, PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said, “I am pleased that the PSE was able to support PHR in its capital raising requirement.

Bulk of the funds will be utilized by the company for the construction of Emerald Bay, which is a much-awaited integrated resort and casino development expected to have its soft opening by end of next year.” He also said, “This massive project has generated and will continue to

generate much-needed jobs for Filipinos and will help boost tourism in Cebu and stimulate the province’s economy after this pandemic.”

PHR Chairman Dennis A. Uy expressed bullishness despite the current COVID-19 pandemic in his issuer’s speech, “Given how tough this year has been for all of us, I consider it miraculous that we are here today to celebrate this milestone for PH Resorts. The success of this follow-on offer, being five times oversubscribed and having raised P756 million, is a considerable achievement not just for our Company but also for the industry. With the travel restrictions and the folding up of businesses due to the pandemic, restarting the tourism and gaming sector is one of the top concerns of leaders across the world.”

The net proceeds will be used to partially fund the completion of the first phase of Emerald Bay, PH Resorts’ flagship integrated casino beach front resort in Mactan, Cebu. Emerald Bay will be the first integrated casino resort on Mactan Island with convenient access from the Cebu-Mactan International Airport (CMIA).

The first phase of Emerald Bay is scheduled to open by the second quarter of 2022 but the management team is planning for any early opening by the end of next year. It will initially feature 122 gaming tables for mass, premium mass and junkets; 600 EGMs and 270 hotel room bays. It will then increase its gaming capacity and hotel rooms by 2022.

PHR today closed at P2.18, 29.76% higher than its FOO price of P1.68.

Mondelez Philippines, Plastic Flamingo launch partnership to strengthen commitment to recycling

PLAF' female team at the warehouse

P

LASTIC pollution is one of the most challenging environmental issues in the world. While plastic remains a valuable resource - especially in protecting food, the underlying issue of proper waste collection and processing remains a challenge. Simply, plastic continues to end up in nature due to improper disposal and lack of recycling facilities. Mondelez Philippines, maker of Eden Cheese and Cheez Whiz has started its movement to reduce its packaging footprint as well as supporting recycling activities.

It is Mondelez Philippines’ mission to lead the future of snacking by empowering people to snack right; with the right snack, for the right moment and made the right way. The Company is focused on “Snacking Made Right” by using sustainable ingredients, by reducing its environmental impact and by making all packaging recycle ready. Their global commitments on packaging involve the usage of 100% recyclable packaging by 2025, reduction of packaging material, simplification of material choices, and working with coalitions to support improved recycling infrastructures.

To support these goals, Mondelez Philippines locally has partnered with

The Plastic Flamingo to collect and recycle plastic packaging to help reduce marine litter.

The Plastic Flamingo is a social enterprise which aims to tackle marine plastic pollution by collecting and recycling ocean-bound plastic waste in emerging countries with maximum social impact. With the help of The Plastic Flamingo, Mondelez Philippines will be collecting a total of 1 metric ton or 1,000 kilos of plastic waste in a pilot project to run for two months. These will be collected from The Plastic Flamingo’s network of collection points throughout Metro Manila, consisting of schools, villages, hotels, condominiums, offices, and more.

Mondelez Philippines has already started contributing to this goal by collecting 106 kilos of plastic through a recycling drive among its employees during its Purpose Day company celebration on October 1st.

The plastic waste collected will then be transformed into ‘eco-planks’ which are multi-purpose in nature. These will be mostly used to make emergency shelter kits for Filipinos displaced by natural disasters. “Not only are we avoiding marine litter by recycling, but these shelters are durable because the ‘eco-

planks’ will be resistant to different elements,” shares Francois Lesage, CEO of The Plastic Flamingo. “These are considered more waterproof than wood and have better thermal insulation compared to metal.” These ‘eco-planks’ may also function as piles, pontoons, boat decks, furniture, and construction material. “We commend Mondelez Philippines for being committed to support recycling.

We are all in this mission together and we must act now for the sake of our planet,” he adds.

Leah Raquin, Safety, Security and Environment Manager of Mondelez Philippines oversees sustainability projects for the Company. She shares, “We are dedicated to producing our snacks sustainably. For our Plant this means constantly innovating to reduce our use of resources. Most recently we have shifted to 100% renewable grid energy use for our plant in Parañaque.

This new pilot project to recycle postconsumer waste also compliments our internal programs to process our own waste and ensure they do not end up in nature. We are happy to share that since 2017, 100% of our plant waste is being reused and recycled, so we don’t contribute to landfill waste nor marine litter in this sense.”

Between 2019-2020, Mondelez Philippines also launched a schoolbased plastic collection drive among its adopted Joy Schools. Students and parents were encouraged to create ecobricks which were then turned into four recycled plastic play areas, recycling some 1 metric ton of packaging waste.

Together with the Philippine Alliance for Recycling and Materials Sustainability, Mondelez Philippines has also signed the Zero Waste to Nature pledge, which commits that by 2030 all plastic the company uses is either recycle-ready or reused.

SM Investments cited as among best managed companies in the Philippines

P

HILIPPINE conglomerate SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) was cited among the best managed companies in the Philippines by Alpha Southeast Asia magazine based on its 10th annual corporate-institutional poll for 2020.

SMIC topped Best Senior Management Investor Relations Support and has been cited for this award for the sixth consecutive year.

SMIC was ranked first in the Best Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility category, its sixth straight year for this award.

Other awards included Most Organized Investor Relations for the ninth year in a row; Most Consistent Dividend Policy for the fourth straight year. SMIC was also the only Philippine company to receive Best Annual Report, its second time to receive the award.

“We thank Alpha Southeast Asia for this recognition and the investor community for its confidence. This gives us much encouragement as we endeavor to uphold good governance and sustainability across our businesses,” SMIC President Frederic C. DyBuncio said.

“As one of Asia’s leading conglomerates, SM Investments Corporation is among a handful of companies that is well positioned given its diversified retail network and company-wide commitment to sustainability, inclusive growth and value

creation,” said Siddiq Bazarwala, Publisher, Alpha Southeast Asia.

Alpha Southeast Asia collects votes from investors and analysts across the region as well as US & Europe. It is a monthly magazine primarily written for institutional investors, asset and fund management companies in Hong Kong, Singapore, other parts of Asia, US, Europe and the Middle East. The magazine also has a strong following among the region’s largest local corporates.

TAINAN CITY DONATES PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT TO ITS FILIPINO SISTER, CAVITE CITY. On November 4, 2020, Deputy Representative Joy Yen of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines donated, on behalf of the Tainan City Government, 1,000 pieces of goggles and 500 pieces of face shields to Cavite City. The Philippines Cavite Taiwan Association and the Taiwanese Compatriot Association in the Philippines also donated 10,000 pieces of medical masks, respectively.

Mayor Bernardo Paredes received the donation and expressed gratitude for the support from Tainan City and local Taiwanese communities. For more details, visit social media link: https://www.facebook.com/TECO.PHL/posts/515689805981182.

Celebrate #SmallWins amid the pandemic

W

HAT happens when a pandemic changes the world and the passions you were pursuing were paused?

Yellow Cab knows that you were always meant to be ever-changing and we support you no matter who you wanted to be. So despite the anxiety, confusion anger, loneliness and fear that may been giving your spirit a beating, seeing you turn these into hope, creativity, courage, strength, and resilience show us that you are definitely not beaten.

As always, Yellow Cab is ready to support you to move forward and pursue the new passions that are now giving meaning to

your best life; to thrive on respect for the passions that have burned the brightest in the darkness; and to empower you to have fun and rediscover yourself despite the spirit of times.

With these two new materials, we hope to move you to do just that – Celebrate your #SmallWins as you continue to #YouDoYou. Here are the latest videos from our campaign, check them out: Small Wins Haircut: https://www. facebook.com/YellowCabPizzaOfficial/ videos/338562117410391 Small Wins Baking: https://www. facebook.com/YellowCabPizzaOfficial/ videos/695151721096667

KINDNESS KITCHENS: SERVING MEALS FOR COMMUNITIES AFFECTED CALAMITIES. Zero Hunger Task Force Chair Secretary Karlo Nograles joins McDonald’s President & CEO Kenneth Yang and San Miguel Corporation Vice President for Corporate Affairs Kin Limchauco to serve meals for families in Bacoor, Cavite. With them are Bacoor, Cavite Mayor Lani Mercado, Barangay Kagawad Nieves Dela Cruz and Caridad Sanchez of Barangay Alima and Sineguelsan. More than 3,000 meals from the McDonald’s Kindness Kitchen are given to families and volunteers. With the generous support of Coca-Cola, DOLE Philippines, McDonald’s, Metrobank, and San Miguel Corporation, the Kindness Kitchens are able to continuously assist communities affected by calamities.

McDonald’s Kindness Kitchens were initially activated in March and have served more than 320,000 meals to frontliners and communities affected by Covid-19.

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

Sports BusinessMirror

‘M’ FOR MOCON, MOTIVATION J

By Josef Ramos

AVEE MOCON’S San Beda connection remains active especially in these trying times when the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters tackle their last two crucial games in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup starting with heavily favored TNT Tropang Giga on Tuesday.

Mocon, a certified hard worker on both ends of the court, told BusinessMirror that he maintains his bond with his former teammates, especially Robert Bolick.

They were together at San Beda when they won the National Collegiate Athletic Association crown from 2016 to 2018. And now, Mocon said Bolick never ceased to motivate him when they fell to a threegame skid.

“Robert Bolick always messages me especially during my bad game against Magnolia,” said Mocon, referring to an atrocious 1-of-9 shooting for only threepoints against the Hotshots last Saturday.

“He is really motivating me, a big help in my corner.”

Finally after three games—including that 62-70 loss to Magnolia—the Elasto

Painters snapped out of the skid with an 82-71 victory over Blackwater behind Mocon’s massive production of 19 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocks, putting them at eighth spot with a 5-4 win-loss record.

But on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the Angeles University Foundation gym, Rain or Shine and Mocon need all the motivations to stop TNT (7-3).

“He said ‘I know you buddy you are a different kind of player and I know that was not your best game, I know you.’ So the following game I was able to perform very well,” added Mocon, who won three National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball crowns together with Bolick in 2016 to 2018.

Bolick didn’t join Northport in the Clark bubble as he recovers from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

Teammates at San Beda and rivals in the PBA? No problem for Bolick who was drafted third overall by the Batang Pier and Mocon sixth overall by the Elasto Painters in 2018.

Mocon, 25, is averaging 11.4 points and 6.7 rebounds in nine games in the eliminations, but he is expected to go the extra mile to help fill the slack left by Rey

Tuesday, November 10, 2020 B7

Phoenix rallies past BW behind ‘bruise brothers’

Nambatac (sprained ankle), Beau Belga (fatigue) and James Yap (calf).

Also expected to step up for Rain or Shine are Gabe Norwood, Mark Borboran, Adrian Wong, Jewel Ponferada, Norbert Torres and Kris Rosales.

After the TNT game, the Elasto Painters end their eliminations campaign against the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters on Wednesday.

San Miguel Beer (6-4), meanwhile, squares off with Northport (1-8) in the second game at 6:45 p.m. The Batang Pier are already out of playoff contention.

P

HOENIX Super LPG showcased its own version of the “bruise brothers”— Calvin Abueva and Jason Andre Perkins—to pull-off a 100-95 come-frombehind victory over Blackwater in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup on Monday at the Angeles University Foundation gym in Pampanga.

Abueva unleashed nine points in the payoff period to finish with 17 points he laced with 13 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocks, while Perkins piled up 18 points and 12 rebounds as the Fuel Masters strengthened their bid of claiming

RAIN or Shine’s Javee Mocon is getting all the motivation he needs in the Philippine Cup.

CHOOKS TAPS AYO AS COACH

A

LDIN AYO was tapped as coach of the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas team that will compete in International Basketball Federation tournaments, including the Tokyo Olympics qualifiers next year.

The team, now called Manila Chooks TM, and Ayo were presented to Manila Mayor Isko Moreno at City Hall on Monday. With Ayo were the country’s Nos. 1 and 2 3x3 players Joshua Munzon and Alvin Pasaol, No. 5 Troy Rike and No. 6 Santi Santillan.

BAVI President and 3x3 patron Ronald Mascariñas joined Ayo and the Players in the Manila meeting.

“Coach Ayo is my personal choice,” Mascariñas said. “He is the most decorated coach in college right now and we are excited that he is now here with us.”

“I’m very grateful because, for me, this will bring another dimension to my coaching career,” Mascariñas added.

The 43-year-old Ayo succeeded Eric Altamirano who resigned from his post effective November 1 following a two-year run that saw the Philippines rise to contention in 3x3 basketball.

“Both parties are in good terms. We will still be working with Coach Eric in the future,” BAVI Sports and Marketing Director Mel Macasaquit said.

“Throughout my coaching career, it was the full-length of the court, but this time will be

different. I can’t wait to try out new schemes for half-court,” Ayo said.

In just his first year at the helm of the respective programs, the fiery coach known for his “Mayhem” brand of basketball energized Letran and De La Salle to the National Collegiate Athletic Association and University Athletic Association of the Philippines championships.

Ayo then moved to University of Santo Tomas which he steered to its first Finals in four years last season.

Ayo is already learning the ropes of this new sport, but will not yet join Manila Chooks TM as they see action in the Doha Masters of the 2020 Fiba 3x3 World Tour set on November 20 and 21.

The coach’s first formal training session with the team has been penciled before the year ends. It will be a reunion of sorts for Ayo and Santillan who were part of De La Salle’s 2017 title run and runner-up finish a year later in the UAAP. He is also no stranger to Pasaol whom he once tried to recruit for Letran and then De La Salle, as well as Rike whom he coached against in the UAAP. Ayo also remembers Munzon, who was then with AMA and dropped 46 points against the Ironcon-UST team in the Philippine Basketball Association D-League.

Munzon, Pasaol, Rike and Santillan have yet to play their first game as the rechristened Manila Chooks TM, but they already won the

I

BAVI President and 3x3 patron Ronald Mascariñas fist bumps Aldin Ayo at the Manila City Hall.

hearts of Manileños.

“The mere fact that we are being represented is an honor for every ‘Batang Maynila,’” Moreno said. “By using Manila, you’re bringing honor to us. That is already a victory in itself.”

With their confidence high, Chooks 3x3 felt

Club quarantines prevent players from joining national teams

R

OME—Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored a hat trick for Roma on Sunday and is in perfect form entering the international break.

Too bad he won’t be allowed to join Armenia on Monday for decisive Nations League games against regional rivals Georgia and North Macedonia.

The pandemic is further disrupting international football with at least a dozen players from the Italian league blocked from joining their national teams.

Roma and Fiorentina said their clubs remain in controlled isolation after Edin Džeko at Roma and José Callejón at Fiorentina tested positive for the coronavirus, Genoa, Inter Milan, Lazio and Sassuolo are also having to isolate apart from when playing domestic matches or training.

The order to prevent players on quarantined teams joining their national squads for the two-week international window was imposed by local health authorities in Italy.

Preparations for fixtures, including in the UEFA Nations League, are also being hampered by new travel restrictions being imposed in response to concerns about the mutated variation of the coronavirus among minks in northern Denmark.

While elite athletes have not had to abide by Britain’s pandemic quarantineon-arrival requirements, that exemption is

being stopped for anyone who has been in Denmark.

That puts at risk England’s game on Nov. 18 at Wembley against Iceland, which is due to play Denmark in Copenhagen three days earlier.

Unless the British government changes its policy, Danish players with Premier League clubs won’t be returning home to play for their country to avoid having to self-isolate for 14 days upon their return to England.

So Denmark Coach Kasper Hjulmand has initially called up nine new players for an upcoming friendly against Sweden on Wednesday.

The England-based players dropped from the team for the Sweden game are: Kasper Schmeichel, Jonas Lössl, Andreas Christensen, Jannik Vestergaard, Henrik Dalsgaard, Mathias Jensen and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.

“It is obviously politics, I don’t think it has a lot to do with science,” Schmeichel told Sky Sports. “The politics of it is the government has made a decision for now. I hope they come to their senses and see we are very protected and in a bubble. We get tested all the time and I hope to be able to participate in at least one, if not two, of the games.”

Danish federation CEO Jakob Jensen said he is working to resolve the situation so they can field their strongest side.

But many countries will be impacted by withdrawals for the upcoming games.

The Roma players called up to national teams who are currently unable to travel are: Gianluca Mancini, Leonardo Spinazzola, Bryan Cristante and Lorenzo Pellegrini (all Italy), Marash Kunbulla (Albania), Mkhitaryan (Armenia) and Ibañez (Brazil).

The Fiorentina players are Cristiano Biraghi and Gaetano Castrovilli (Italy), Nikola

it was the right time to have Manila printed on the front of their jerseys.

“This time, we believed the Philippines should carry Manila, the capital, in international competition,” Mascariñas said. “We’re confident we’ve gathered the best players that will represent the ideals of every Manileño.”

Milenković and Dušan Vlahović (Serbia) and Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco).

The players will be allowed to join their national teams once the isolation period ends.

The Italian Soccer Federation said that Domenico Berardi, Francesco Caputo and Manuel Locatelli should be able to join the Azzurri on Tuesday when Sassuolo’s isolation period ends. That would still leave 10 of the 41 Italy players that coach Roberto Mancini— who is also positive with Covid-19—called up unavailable. AP

NTERNATIONAL Boxing Federation (IBF) super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas preferred a meek response over World Boxing Organization (WBO) world titleholder John Riel Casimero’s taunt to Top Rank head Bob Arum after dragging his name in his social-media post.

“First of all, we are just following orders from Sir Sean [Gibbons] and Top Rank because I am just a simple boxer. But I am just happy with what you achieved in your boxing career and I respect your little way on how to become a popular boxer,” said Ancajas in a video message relayed by his trainer and coach Joven Jimenez to BusinessMirror.

Casimero, in his official Facebook account on Monday, told to Arum that he could opt out to fight Ancajas, who is a little lighter than Casimero (118 lbs) at 115 lbs. He also belittled Ancajas’s eight title defense since 2016 saying “his opponents are not competitive enough.”

But Ancajas didn’t lose his cool.

Jonas Sultan, who beat Casimero in 2017

one of the two twice-to-beat incentives in the quarterfinals.

“I am just playing properly and doing what I must do,” Abueva said. “At the same time, I am comfortable with my situation right now.”

Down 67-70 at the start of the fourth quarter, Abueva, Perkins and Matthew Wright joined forces to ignite a 33-25 Fuel Masters’ production in the period.

“Let me be humble,” Abueva said when asked about his consistent performance since returning from a 17-month indefinite suspension last October 26.

With the victory, Phoenix tied Ginebra and TNT atop the standings on identical 7-3 win-loss records. TNT, however, could snatch the solo lead if it beat Teraffirma in a late game on Monday.

Wright also finished with 17 points with six rebounds and five assists, while guard Brian Heruela poured in 15 points on top of seven rebounds. Justin Chua collected 11 rebounds and blocked five shots for the Fuel Masters.

Ryan Roose Garcia and RJ Jazul combined for 18 points for Phoenix.

The Elite squandered a 50-34 lead early in the third quarter en route to a 2-8 card that booted them out of contention. Niño “KG” Canaleta led Blackwater with 21 points.

Josef Ramos

Casimero taunts Arum, Ancajas in social media via unanimous decision in Cebu, expressed interest to challenge Casimero anew.

Sultan, who is also in the video message and presently working as Ancajas’s sparring partner in Los Angeles, sent Casimero good luck messages.

Tokyo Olympicsbound Eumir Felix Marcial also appeared in the video telling everyone to just understand Casimero, who is very frustrated after the cancellation of his unification bout with IBF and World Boxing Association bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue last April 25.

“Imagine you were away from your family and not being awarded the fight you’re longing for after eight months. It really makes you crazy,” said Marcial, adding “let’s just support and help each other as all of us came from different provinces—and poverty.”

Casimero, Ancajas and Marcial are under contract with Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions headed by President Sean Gibbons.

Josef Ramos

Juico in PSA Forum

A

THLETICS and volleyball will be on the table as Dr. Philip Ella Juico appears as special guest in the online Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday.

Juico will talk about the two sports closest to his heart—athletics and volleyball—in the 10 a.m. weekly session.

The former Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman is the president of the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) and chairman of the Philippine Super Liga.

Juico is also running for first vice presidency in the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) November 27 elections under the ticket of presidential candidate Clint Aranas.

The forum is presented by San Miguel Corp.,

Juico Go For Gold, Milo, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and powered by Smart, with Upstream Media as official webcast partner.

The session is livestreamed via the PSA Facebook page fb.com/ PhilippineSportswritersAssociation and also shared by Radyo Pilipinas 2 Facebook page.

Belingon vs Brazilian in Singapore

F

Roma’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan (right) celebrates after scoring against Genoa. AP

ormer unified and undisputed One bantamweight world champion Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon is in for one of the toughest challenges of his professional career in what he believes will be a “dangerous” fight.

The 33-year-old Belingon, the No. 1 contender, will take on former UFC veteran and current No. 5 John “Hands of Stone” Lineker of Brazil in the One: Inside the Matrix III at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on Friday.

Belingon isn’t taking Lineker lightly by any means, and is aware of Lineker’s reputation as a finisher. “The Silencer” is heading into this bout cautiously, weighing Lineker’s strengths and weaknesses, while crafting a solid game plan with Team Lakay Head Coach Mark Sangiao.

“John Lineker is one of the toughest fighters I will ever face. He’s not an opponent to be taken lightly. He’s got a lot of experience, and a lot of

power in his hands, which is why he is known to end fights early,” Belingon said.

“We have watched his previous fights and we’re confident we can come up with the right game plan for whatever he brings to the table. I have to win this fight to prove that I deserve to stay as the number one contender,” he added.

The Belingon-Lineker showdown will no doubt be a crowd-pleaser and exciting, given the way the two fighters rarely leave anything inside the cage in their fights. Both martial artists hover above a 40 percent knockout finish ratio in their wins, and appear equally matched on the ground.

“You all know how I fight, I fight moving forward. So this is going to be a very exciting matchup. I don’t think this is going the distance, with the way we both attack. I want to put on a good show for the fans,” Belingon said.

Sports BusinessMirror

B8 Tuesday, November 10, 2020

ROGLIC REPEATS AS VUELTA CHAMP M

ADRID—It was a vastly different finish for Primoz Roglic at the Spanish Vuelta compared to two months ago at the Tour de France.

This time, Roglic was celebrating a Grand Tour victory instead of dwelling on a late collapse that cost him the victory.

Roglic clinched his second consecutive Vuelta victory with an uneventful final ride into Madrid in Sunday’s largely ceremonial stage, solidifying his status as a top rider.

“We were just enjoying,” he said. “It’s beautiful to finish the season like this. It was a special year.”

The 31-year-old Slovenian from team JumboVisma virtually sealed the victory in Stage 17 on Saturday after escaping another collapse in the last competitive stage, when his overall lead over Richard Carapaz was cut from 45 to 24 seconds.

It was the second Grand Tour win for Roglic, who had been in contention at the Tour de France until the last competitive day. He won four stages at the Vuelta this year, including the first. Last year he had one stage victory.

Roglic has become the first rider to win the Vuelta’s overall standings and the points classification two years in a row.

“It’s really beautiful to win the red jersey and the green jersey to finish this year,” he said.

Carapaz, the 2019 Giro d’Italia winner, became the first Ecuadorean rider to finish on the podium at the Vuelta.

Hugh Carthy finished third at the threeweek race across Spain, with Dan Martin fourth and Enric Mas fifth.

Pascal Ackermann defeated Sam Bennett in a photo finish at the deciding sprint of the final stage, which lacked the huge crowds of previous editions in the Spanish capital because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I wasn’t sure, I was asking Sam who won,” Ackermann said. “I was really unsure and we had to wait after the finish and we got the message in the radio.”

Veteran Alejandro Valverde finished 10th for his 20th top 10 in a Grand Tour event at age 40. Two-time champion Chris Froome was out of contention from the start after

struggling in the early stages. It was his final race before moving from team Ineos to Israel Start-Up Nation next season.

“Obviously it’s been an emotional day,” said the 35-year-old British rider, who ended 98th in the overall standings. “My last with the team after 11 years.”

The Vuelta finished without major disruptions despite a surge of coronavirus cases in Spain. Tight health restrictions were in place for the race that was originally scheduled for late August and early September but was postponed because of the pandemic.

This Vuelta had only 18 stages instead of the usual 21. The sixth stage had to be altered to avoid going into French territory, and organizers had already canceled plans to hold the first three stages in the Netherlands and to have two stages enter neighboring Portugal.

A facial-recognition phone app replaced the traditional signature of riders at the start of each stage to reduce contact with pens and surfaces, and fans were asked not to gather at finish lines. Riders, team members and race staff were constantly tested for Covid-19.

Roglic had an incident-free ride on the last 139-kilometer stage into the Spanish capital, crossing the finish line behind stage winner Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) in the main pack in 39th place.

The Slovenian, who turned 31 during the Vuelta, finished 24 seconds ahead of closest rival Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and 1:15 up on Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling).

Roglic crossed the finish line in Madrid’s Paseo de la Castellana boulevard grinning broadly as he celebrated his 12th victory of the season, then hugging his teammates as they gathered after the finish, and raising his bike overhead in triumph.

Roglic’s 2020 wins began with the Slovenian National Road Race, then continued with stages and the overall in the Tour de L’Ain, a stage win in the Critérium du Dauphiné, a second place and a stage in the Tour de France, victory in LiègeBastogne-Liège, and finally four stage wins, the points jersey and the overall in the Vuelta a España.

Roglic’s victory brings down the curtain, too, on cycling’s pandemic-afflicted season. But

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

NO ROARS, NO MAGIC AT MASTERS A

while the effects of the pandemia were notable in the safety precautions taken by the Vuelta, even on a largely ceremonial stage like the last one of the race, they could not overshadow the far greater triumph of the race’s success in being held at all, and in its reaching Madrid despite the extremely difficult external circumstances.

Apart from the masks and the fist bumps between the three riders on the podium, the most notable difference with Roglic’s final victory celebrations 2019 was surely the lack of public and applause in the finish, after organisers had requested the fans stay at home this year.

The symbolic moment of Roglic receiving and donning the leader’s jersey for one last time was also missing. AP and Cyclingnews

UGUSTA, Georgia—The roars were endless Sunday at the Masters, coming from everywhere for just about everyone.

One moment stood out in 2011.

From below the rise of the fairway on the par-5 eighth hole, it sounded like a sonic boom. That was an eagle cheer coming from the green, no doubt. But for whom?

“Tiger Woods just came through,” a marshal said, and thus ended the mystery.

But it didn’t end there.

Woods, who started that final round seven shots out of the lead, now was tied for the lead. Moments later, as Woods headed to the ninth tee, another cheer rang out from the 18th green. And then, another one down by Amen Corner. And then a third cheer in the direction of the 15th green.

More birdies? Eagles? No, it was the crowd scattered across the golf course responding to seeing scoreboards change as Woods moved into a tie for the lead. He couldn’t keep it going. That was the year eight players had at least a share of the lead at some point on the back nine until Charl Schwartzel finished with four straight birdies.

An incredible day. Amazing atmosphere.

And now, silence.

This Masters in November will be missing the patrons because of the Covid-19 pandemic and missing the very essence of what makes Augusta

National so magical.

“It echoes there. It travels,” Woods said. “It’s unlike any place in the world.”

Woods has heard his share. He probably can still hear the lustrous chants of “Tiger! Tiger!” after he celebrated a fifth and most unlikely Masters victory last year. Or the change in pitch from anticipation to letdown to delirium when his chip on the 16th hole in 2005 trickled down the hill, stopped for a full second on the brim of the cup until gravity took over and the ball dropped for a birdie.

Ask what one moment stood out and it wasn’t even for him.

He was paired in the final round with Davis Love III in 1998. Right behind them was 58-yearold Jack Nicklaus, making an early charge, chipping in for birdie on No. 3.

“The roars were so much louder. Those were Nicklaus roars,” Woods said. “And that’s what I had grown up watching and got a chance to experience in person.”

Nicklaus had company in producing a cheer that Phil Mickelson still remembers. It was the second round of 1991. Mickelson, the 20-yearold US Amateur champion, opened with a 69 and was on the 18th green.

“Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus were playing together and on the 16th green, one of them made the putt from down below to the front right up-on-top pin. And the place erupted to the point where the ground actually shook and you could feel the vibrations in my feet,” Mickelson said.

“And moments later, the other player—I don’t know who putted first between Tom and Jack—made the same putt and the place erupted again,” he said. “That was my first Masters.”

A charge even more stunning than Woods in 2011—which also fell short—was Jordan Spieth in 2018. He started the final round nine shots behind, and his birdie on the 16th put him at 9-under for the day and tied with Patrick Reed. Along for the ride that day was Justin Thomas, friends with Spieth since they were teenagers.

“He made about a 35-footer and that was the loudest roar I’ve ever heard in my life. It felt like the ground was moving. It was insane,” Thomas said. “I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it, talking about it. It was unreal.”

Louis Oosthuizen could hear better than he could see when in 2012 he became the only player to make an albatross on the par-5

second hole, holing a 4-iron from 253 yards.

He never saw the ball go in the hole, but he saw the people.

And he could hear them.

“I remember seeing it go up and disappearing behind the bunker,” he said. “Then I remember looking at the people. You can see the front row get up from their seat, and then everyone erupted. It’s something I’ll always see in my mind.”

Nick Price could only see a putter. But, oh, that sound.

He was coming off the first 63 in Masters history in the third round of 1986, putting him in the final group with Greg Norman.

Both were struggling midway through the back nine in a year when a half-dozen players had a chance to win. One of them was the 46-year-old Nicklaus, who took the lead with a birdie putt on the 17th.

“The cheers were going up all over the place. Honestly, the atmosphere was electric.

I don’t have the superlatives to describe it,” Price said. “Norman and I were walking off 15 tee, walking past 17 green, when Jack holed that putt. We couldn’t see too well with all the people, so all we saw was the putter go up in the air. And the roar...it was deafening.”

The sound is different for eagles than birdies. Anything around the 16th hole on Sunday with the pin below the ridge can only mean a hole-in-one. And when the roars are for Nicklaus or Palmer, Woods or Mickelson, it’s a different decibel.

Rory McIlroy remembers his first Masters.

It was 2009, and the 19-year-old from Northern Ireland made a respectable debut. That was the year Woods and Mickelson were paired together in the final round, the undercard to another pulsating finish.

“I was coming down 15, and Tiger and Phil were coming up 7,” McIlroy said. “They went out in 30 and 33. It was my first Masters, I remember being on the back nine, the roars and cheers, they were six deep on either side.”

And then his thoughts turned to November, an autumn Masters.

A quiet Masters.

“The way I see it, every hole at Augusta will be like what we experience on the 12th green,” McIlroy said. That green is some 150 yards away from the nearest spectator, most of it hidden by bunkers.

“You hole a putt, people can’t see if it goes in,” he said. “Every year we experience one hole like that. But not the other 17.” AP

PrimoZ Roglic is the first rider to win the Vuelta’s overall standings and the points classification two years in a row. AP

Medvedev wins first Paris Masters title

O

nce Daniil Medvedev found a way to counter Alexander Zverev’s huge serve, his metronome-like rhythm clicked in and he counterattacked clinically to win the Paris Masters for the first time.

Medvedev’s 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory Sunday gave him his eighth career title and third at a Masters event.

“I managed to stay really strong, be there all the time,” the third-seeded Russian said.

“Putting pressure on him all the time, raising my level step by step, and finally he broke.”

Medvedev’s style of play is unspectacular—and not “wild” as Zverev put it afterward.

But what he does well is relentlessly chip away with flat, uneeringly accurate strokes, punctuated by sudden accelerations of speed and whipped, fizzing forehands that always seem to land just in. Zverev, like many others before him, soon became exasperated and momentum quickly shifted.

“I’m really trying to make my opponent crazy,” Medvedev said with a wry smile in his post-match interview.

It was just his second win against the fourth-seeded Zverev in seven matches.

His previous victory against the imposing German was also in a Masters final last year in Shanghai.

“I think it’s not easy for guys to play against me when I play like this,” Medvedev said. “Of course it’s tough to compare with the Shanghai final, where I was on top of him all of the match. Here it was a really tight match where both could be the winners.”

It was Medvedev’s first final and title of the year, while Zverev was playing in his third straight final after winning back-to-back tournaments in Cologne, Germany.

Before leaving court, Zverev wanted to

make one final comment.

“Lastly,” he said, “A lot of people are trying to wipe a smile off my face...I’m still smiling under this mask.”

Zverev did not elaborate when asked to specify what he meant in his post-match news conference.

“I mean, just a lot of,” Zverev started to say, before reaching for his cell phone ringing in his pocket. “For a professional athlete there are always going to be people who try to wipe the smile off your face. So they can keep trying. I’m still smiling.”

During the tournament Zverev again denied accusations of domestic abuse made by a former girlfriend Olga Sharypova, who said the German tennis player tried to strangle her with a pillow before last year’s US Open.

The contest between first-time finalists here and the last two US Open runnersup went with serve—and with no break points—until Zverev broke Medvedev in the 12th game to take the opening set.

When Medvedev hit a forehand long on that point, Zverev let out a loud roar that pierced the silence at a Bercy Arena left empty by the coronavirus pandemic.

“After the first set I didn’t know actually what to do, because I had zero break points,” Medvedev said. “I didn’t feel good returning his serve.”

Medvedev’s machine-like accuracy from the baseline induced a loose shot from Zverev in the ninth game of the second set when he hit long from the back of the court.

Medvedev’s pinpoint returning is among the best on the ATP Tour, and affected Zverev’s confidence as he won only 57percent of points on first serve compared to 75 percent for Medvedev. AP

Daniil Medvedev displays machinelike accuracy from the baseline. AP

Tiger Woods is shown among spectators during the final round of the Masters at the Augusta National in April 2009. AP

Tokyo holds 1-day gymnastics meet to show Olympics could be possible

T

OKYO—The good news for the Tokyo Olympics is that Japan on Sunday held a one-day exhibition gymnastics meet in front of several thousand fans with 22 athletes participating from Russia, China and the United States.

They were joined by eight from Japan.

The non-Japanese entered after a 14-day quarantine at home and were largely kept penned up in their Tokyo hotel in strict isolation.

They also underwent PCR tests daily in Japan.

The event is the latest—a Japanese baseball stadium was filled to capacity last week—intended to show that the postponed Tokyo Olympics can open in just under nine months.

But there are more difficult numbers that the Olympics must overcome.

Next year’s Games will involve 11,000 athletes from 206 nations and territories, all affected differently by Covid-19. Add to this 4,400 more Paralympians and thousands more

officials, judges, VIPs, media, broadcasters and sponsors who will also need to enter Japan.

Will tens of thousands of non-Japanese fans be allowed to attend, or will the Games be for only Japanese spectators?

Tokyo organizers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have given few details and concrete plans are not expected until next year when a vaccine and rapid testing might be available to resolve some problems.

Kohei Uchimura, Japan’s three-time Olympic gold medal gymnast, set out the problem very clearly after Sunday’s exhibition meet.

“Unfortunately, 80 percent of the Japanese don’t believe that the Tokyo Olympics can take place as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said, speaking after the meet in Japanese on a public address system to fans in the Yoyogi National Stadium. He was also addressing his fellow athletes.

“I know it is natural to think this way,” he added. “But I would like people to change their

minds from: We can’t hold the Olympics to how can we do it?”

Uchimura pointed out that many athletes had not been able to practice and many have gone the entire year without any competition.

If the Olympics happen, these will not be Olympics like any other. Rules will be strict.

Travel will be limited. And despite all the precautions, some athletes are bound to get Covid-19 and be removed from the competition.

IOC President Thomas Bach and Vice President John Coates have acknowledged this.

Fans entering the stadium, which was the venue for swimming in the ‘64 Olympics, had temperatures taken and hands sanitized.

Seating was spread out and everyone wore masks, a standard practice everywhere in Japan.

And cheering was not allowed.

“My only problem is my life inside the hotel,” Angelina Melnikova, who won silver at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, said before the meet. “I was surprised that I couldn’t walk

freely—even inside the hotel. I wanted to have a tour of Tokyo. But it’s impossible to do that this time. I totally understand.”

Japan is officially spending $12.6 billion to organize the Olympics, although a government audit last year said it was twice that much. All but $5.6 billion is public money.

Over and above this, estimates suggest the postponement will cost another $2 billion to $3 billion. The University of Oxford published a study in September showing these are the most expensive Summer Olympics on record.

Just over 1,800 people in Japan have died from Covid-19. Japan has controlled the virus better than most, although Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga warned Friday of a resurgence of the coronavirus in Japan. The northernmost island of Hokkaido also raised warning levels last week.

Gymnastics organizers also said the southern Japanese city of Kitakyushu will hold the 2021 world championships in artistic and rhythmic gymnastics on October 17 to 31. AP