BusinessMirror April 05, 2020

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BLINDFOLDED, FACE-MASKED ADY Justice in the time of coronavirus still holds a weighing scale and is blindfolded, but she wears a face mask for precaution.

Among those inevitably impacted by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) forced on society by the deadly Covid-19 is the judicial system, with the Supreme Court having to order the suspension of all court hearings as part of social distancing.

However, Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta has given assurances that the justices and judges would not abandon their duties under the Constitution despite the continued spread of Covid-2019.

So far, one of the SC staff has tested positive for Covid-19, which prompted court officials to immediately conduct contact tracing to prevent its spread in the judiciary.

A government prosecutor has also been found positive for Co-

vid-19, prompting the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Laguna to close its office.

Also, the entire Justice Complex in Parañaque was ordered closed after it was found out that a litigant died, also due to the virus.

On March 16, as President Duterte ordered the monthlong Luzon-wide ECQ, the SC declared work stoppage in all courts and court offices and units in the country, leaving only a skeleton staff to act on urgent matters to stop the spread of the virus.

As expected, there were fears the quarantine would likely cause further delay in resolving cases pending before the courts and worsen the backlog of lawsuits.

For the Court, however, there

is nothing more important than containing the virus and ensuring the safety of its employees and all court officials, lawyers and litigants amid the pandemic.

While the work stoppage in all courts will last until April 15—a date that may be extended depending on the result of the Luzon-wide ECQ—Peralta gave assurances that the wheels of justice would remain rolling, albeit slower in this current situation.

“The Constitution and our laws are not suspended, and our courts are not shutting down in times of emergencies. But with the situation still rapidly evolving, and an atmosphere of uncertainty pervading, we must all do everything we can,” Peralta had earlier stressed.

CHIEF JUSTICE DIOSDADO PERALTA SAYS THE JUDICIARY IS IN A STATE OF WAR BUT JUSTICES, JUDGES WON’T ABANDON THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATE.

In a state of war

BERNARD TESTA

L

By Joel R. San Juan

ALTHOUGH the enemy is not visible, Peralta agreed that the judiciary is in a state of war—a moment it deems not an excuse for paralysis, but just a challenge to use existing and newly adopted measures to keep as much normalcy in the judicial branch as possible.

Continued on A2

Over half of Americans are postponing weddings–till when, few know

O

By Matt Gross }

Bloomberg News

NE of the last weddings performed in public in Las Vegas was on St. Patrick’s Day. The groom wore a dark suit. The bride wore a rockabilly-style black halter dress. The minister was Slash from Guns N’ Roses—or, rather, a licensed officiant performing as the shaggy-maned, top-hatted guitarist. As ceremonies go at the Rock & Roll Wedding Chapel in the Rio Hotel & Casino, it was fairly traditional.

“They had an amazing time,” says Alexis Lopez, the chapel’s wedding coordinator. “And then we got kicked out.”

That day, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak had ordered a lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, closing casinos and dozens of other types of businesses deemed nonessential, from bars and gyms to hair and nail salons. “All

gatherings should be postponed, or canceled,” he wrote on Twitter.

Bad timing

FOR Vegas’s wedding professionals—planners and coordinators, venue owners and managers, beauticians and barbers, photographers, florists, DJs, bands, officiants, and on—this was brutally bad timing.

Mid-March marks the start of Sin

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.9110

DAN STUGLIK and Amy Simonson are photographed March 31, 2020, in Pokagon, Michigan. The two will be joined by more than 100 cardboard cutouts of family and friends when they are married at The Old Rugged Cross Church in Pokagon. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the couple to change their original plan of inviting 150 people to one where only a handful will be present, but with the help and donation of the cutouts by Menasha Packaging, the two will be able to fill the pews. DON CAMPBELL/THE HERALD-PALLADIUM VIA AP

City’s spring high season, when couples and their friends and families travel in from all over the world to get hitched in ceremonies by turns goofy and glorious. (High season repeats in the fall.)

Of the roughly 2.2 million weddings performed in the US every year, Las Vegas handled 74,000 in 2019, generating almost $2 billion in economic activity, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Even more were expected this year because many couples want “2020” in their wedding date. Now, it seemed, that season would be canceled—or at least postponed.

Nor is Vegas alone. With more than 265 million Americans, about 80 percent of the country, now under some sort of lockdown order, the $54.4-billion wedding industry is reeling.

Based on surveys, Shane McMurray, founder of the Wedding Report, estimates that 6.5 percent of couples are canceling their weddings, 28 percent are trying to shift Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4722 n UK 63.1551 n HK 6.5682 n CHINA 7.1887 n SINGAPORE 35.5822 n AUSTRALIA 30.8521 n EU 55.2843 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5347

Source: BSP (April 3, 2020)

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, April 5, 2020

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Blindfolded, face-masked PERALTA: “The Constitution and our laws are not suspended, and our courts are not shutting down in times of emergencies. But with the situation still rapidly evolving, and an atmosphere of uncertainty pervading, we must all do everything we can.” BERNARD TESTA

Continued from A1

“You are correct in comparing our present situation to a state of war. That is why immediately after the declaration by the World Health Organization that the Covid-19 is a global pandemic, I immediately saw the need for the creation of a Judiciary Covid-19 Task Force,” Peralta told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail interview.

The Task Force was tasked to recommend to the Chief Justice actions to be taken, guidelines and policies, to prevent the spread and minimize the threat of the virus, monitor the conditions of justices, judges, court officials and personnel and workplaces.

It was likewise directed to monitor issuances of the Executive and Legislative departments to harmonize actions of the judiciary.

During the work stoppage period, the SC instructed at least the majority of the justices of the collegiate courts, and one or two judges in the mutli-sala stations of the second and first level courts, together with the necessary skeleton staff, to be in court or on stand-by at any given day to immediately act on these urgent matters.

For single-sala stations, their respective judges and the necessary skeleton staff are required to be in court on stand-by.

The SC also extended for 30 days the deadline for the filing of petitions and appeals, complaints, motions, pleadings and other court submissions that fall during this period.

For court actions with prescribed periods, the SC said these

prescribed periods will be extended for 30 calendar days counted from April 16.

Work from home, online filing

ASIDE from these, the SC allowed the online filing of complaints as part of the measures adopted by the Court to continue delivering justice during the public health emergency declared by Duterte.

The measure, according to Peralta, is meant “to further limit the physical movement of court users, judges and personnel during this period of public health emergency as declared by the President pursuant to existing laws.”

Under the said procedure, criminal complaints and information, together with other supporting documents, may be filed through electronic transmission or e-mail before the proper first- or second-level court.

Once the complaint or information is received by the court, the Clerk of Court must refer the same to the judge on duty, who is required to evaluate the complaint or the resolution of the prosecutor, and its supporting evidence within three days.

The judge on duty will then determine whether the case can be dismissed outright for lack of probable cause or proceed with issuing a warrant of arrest.

The judge may also order the prosecutor to submit, through electronic transmission, additional evidence.

The circular also allows the requirements for bail to be electronically transmitted to the court—to be examined by the judge, who will approve it and or-

der the provisional release if the requirements are complete.

Even the approval of bails and issuance of release orders will be transmitted to proper authorities electronically for implementation.

“Work that can be performed in the respective residences of the justices, judges and court personnel shall proceed,” the SC said.

E-inquest

MEANWHILE, the Department of Justice has also adopted a parallel measure when it allowed the implementation an e-inquest proceedings.

The measure covers the entire National Capital Region (NCR) and will be in place until the period of public health emergency is over.

The SC also required all judges and justices to draft decisions and orders in their respective residences during this period.

The orders and decisions will be promulgated upon the resumption of court operations.

Eye opener for SC

WHILE he is praying that the current situation will never happen again in the years to come, the Chief Justice sees the need to adopt measures that would prepare the judiciary in case a similar crisis occurs.

“First of all, I hope that a crisis such as this will not happen again.

However, with the current initiatives and programs being undertaken by the Court, particularly the adoption of present technology into our rules and court proceedings, I believe that the judiciary will be prepared in the event a similar emergency occurs,” he said.

One of these initiatives is the use of videoconferencing technology that would allow detained persons to testify and be cross-examined on their criminal cases inside their detention cells.

The guidelines for “tele-hearing,” the SC’s term for videoconferencing, was approved by the SC as a full court on recommendations made by Peralta, who was then an associate justice and then became the chairman of the SC’s committee on revision of rules.

The videoconferencing has long been practiced and adopted during court trial of cases in technologically advanced countries like the United States to address delays in court proceedings.

The method is described as “the holding of a conference among people at remote locations by means of transmitted audio and video signals.”

Through these conferences, “individuals meet one another in a real-time virtual manner ‘as if they were in the same room’ without the hassle and expense of traveling.”

It could also reduce the likelihood of postponement of cases or “missed opportunity [for the accused] to be present and confront the witnesses against them” due to instances of inability to travel from the jail to courtroom.

“Oh yes, definitely. We are in fact pilot-testing remote testimony via videoconferencing in Davao City with the hope and objective of its application nationwide,” Peralta said, when asked if tele-hearings would lessen the impact of this kind of crisis on the judiciary.

Over half of Americans are postponing weddings–till when, few know Continued from A1

their dates to later in 2020, 22.5 percent are postponing to 2021, and 43 percent have no plans to do anything yet.

“Obviously, April and May will be pretty dismal,” he says. “This year we’ll likely lose between 25 percent-30 percent of weddings.”

How about social distancing?

WEDDINGS represent the antithesis of social distancing. They’re gatherings of intimate friends and mysterious personages (on average

125 people in 2019), many of whom arrive via a complex network of travel options, and are attended to by a phalanx of strangers (ushers, caterers, manicurists).

When every element of this ecosystem is disrupted, what are wedding professionals to do?

“We’re not canceling weddings—we’re postponing weddings,” says Amelia Cooper, whose hair and makeup company, Amelia C., does about 700 in Las Vegas each year.

In 2019 her company took in $134,000 from March through May

and booked $150,000 in new jobs in the same period. In 2020 all that has dropped essentially to zero.

As president of the local chapter of the Wedding Industry Professionals Association (WIPA), Cooper says her agenda is to encourage couples who may have already spent 12 to 18 months planning their nuptials to take an even longer view.

“The first thing we do is apologize, because a lot of these brides are crying,” Cooper says.

Once they know the wedding isn’t happening when they’d hoped,

they get the option of canceling or postponing. If they cancel, she and other Vegas wedding professionals say, they’ll likely receive a refund of their deposits.

If they postpone, Cooper says, the tightknit Vegas wedding community will “come together to fight to save our bride’s wedding day.”

This may mean some significant logistical adjustments, because the fall high season is long since booked as well. A Saturday in May may become a Tuesday in October at a sister hotel-casino, with different seasonal flowers and a buffet by your former caterer’s ex-partner, who used to cook at Joël Robuchon.

Even if a couple’s vendors can find a common date and remain the same, they may have to pay rebooking fees that could range from 5 percent to 15 percent, depending on the vendor, says WIPA President Kevin Dennis. With the average cost of a wedding in 2020 estimated at $24,675, that’s no small increase. But it’s one that professionals like Cooper are scrambling to help couples avoid; they want to make it as easy as possible for couples to postpone.

“Making the dream come true while living in the nightmare is kind of tricky, but through that camaraderie we’re making that happen,” Cooper says.

How to handle this dismal situation was the subject of a March 30 webinar featuring WIPA representatives from around the country who delved deep into the issues facing the industry. Topics included how to deal with clients (phone is better than email), force majeure clauses in contracts (read them carefully; they’re not uniform), and, of course, horror stories (a Utah country club canceled on the wedding day!).

Dennis, the WIPA president, several times mentioned the elephant in the room: “We don’t know when it’s going to end,” he said, “and that’s the biggest thing.”

That uncertainty certainly complicates postponements. Putting an April wedding off till late June seems OK—but what if stayat-home orders remain in place

into the summer? Is the fall still too early? Should couples delay a full year?

For that reason, Jason Rhee, whose West Hollywood-based events company, Rheefined, handles about 10 weddings a year, is suggesting cancellations.

“I want to have the confidence to say, ‘Hey, if we’re going to put all this work and resources into a specific date, we’re able to pull it off,’” says Rhee, whose weddings typically have budgets from $80,000 to $200,000 and take place anywhere from California’s Central Coast to Scotland.

Canceling is not only professional, says Rhee, who says he’s lost more than $50,000 in business so far, but it also can help mitigate the emotional toll on professionals and clients of planning weddings.

Looking ahead

BUT cancellations can come with a cost. Most wedding insurance policies don’t cover pandemic interruptions. And while some vendors may waive fees and refund deposits and retainers, others may not because they, too, need income to survive this dry spell.

Participants on the WIPA webinar hoped that by treating their clients with respect—by patiently explaining the situation and revealing “what’s behind the curtain,” Wizard of Oz–style, to their businesses—they’ll be treated that way in kind.

Still, weddings are the ultimate exercise in optimism, and most wedding professionals I heard from are looking forward to a future when things return to normal—probably in 2021. The difference, several say, is that budgets may shrink, not only because of the likely recession.

“If you look at what happened in the [2008] recession, from my opinion, and what I have seen in the numbers, people became a little more questionable about ‘what are we spending money on?’ ” says McMurray, of the Wedding Report.

The average cost of a wedding in 2019 remains a bit more than $24,000—almost exactly what it was in 2008, despite infla-

tion. While spending on dresses increased from an average $916 in 2008 to $1,217 in 2019, according to his latest analysis, spending on DJs and photography stayed essentially flat, at about $700 and a little more than $4,300, respectively.

“This device right here actually takes a really good photo, right?” he says, holding his iPhone 11 up in our Zoom chat.

And when couples are forced to do without, whether because of coronavirus or a stock market crash (or both), they realize they didn’t need those things anyway.

“You don’t see the normal venues anymore, right?” McMurray says. “People who were having banquet halls and hotels and resorts aren’t so much, because there’s all these other things that are happening and people want different stuff.”

In this shifting climate, Victoria Hogan may be ideally positioned. She runs Flora Pop, a Las Vegas-based “pop-up wedding” business that stages nuptials in surrounding desert landscapes such as the Valley of Fire or the El Dorado Dry Lake Bed. Her weddings—often elopements—are typically small. Even before the Nevada lockdown, they were limited to 15 people and priced from $550 to $2,200, depending on the destination and services.

“I’m the officiant. I’m also the florist,” she says, adding that she’ll host a doughnuts-and-Champagne mini-reception from her neonadorned teardrop trailer. “I’m sort of the one-stop shop for it all, anyway, and that’s the way it’s always been for us.”

In a post-coronavirus world, Hogan says, “I feel like eloping is going to be very in vogue, in a sense, because it’s already the affordable option.” And if restrictions on large gatherings remain in place, she says that could be a plus, too—“so couples don’t feel the pressure of having to invite people that they didn’t want at their wedding in the first place.”

Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, April 5, 2020

A3

Pandemic lockdowns hard to enforce in poor countries

A

s countries around the globe try to contain the spread of the Covid-19, nowhere is the task more challenging and the risk greater than in the developing world.

New Zealanders are embracing an international movement in which people are placing teddy bears in their windows during coronavirus lockdowns to brighten the mood and give children a game to play by spotting the bears in their neighborhoods. AP/Mark Baker

New Zealand embraces teddies to help make lockdown bear-able

W

ELLINGTON, New Zealand—Some are perched in trees. Some are hanging upside down. Some are baking scones.

Teddy bears are popping up in the unlikeliest of places as New Zealanders embrace an international movement in which people are placing the stuffed animals in their windows during coronavirus lockdowns to brighten the mood and give children a game to play by spotting the bears in their neighborhoods.

The inspiration comes from the children’s book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt , written by Michael Rosen and illustrated

by Helen Oxenbury.

New Zealand last week began a fourweek lockdown but people are still allowed outside to exercise if they keep a safe distance from each other. In other words, bear-spotting is okay.

Mother-of-two and part-time school administrator Deb Hoffman star ted the Facebook page “We’re Not Scared—NZ Bear Hunt” and also set up a web site where more than 120,000 people have now put pins on an online map to show the location of their bears. “We’re not scared” is a repeated line in the book, which features a family overcoming a number of obstacles in their search for a bear.

Hoffman said she’s been taken aback by the huge response. She said some people are creating personalities for their bears by

having them do a different activity each day.

Hoffman said one woman wrote that the teddy bears were the only thing getting her through the isolation, after she had already been housebound for six weeks following surgery before the lockdown began.

“It’s a way for people to feel connected, and to contribute,” Hoffman said. “It’s really important at a time like this.”

Hoffman said she’s getting some help to enhance her website so that people will soon be able to interact with the bears by giving them an emotion.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has even joined in, saying people should keep an eye on her window because they might spot a bear.

In a grimly ironic twist, the author of the book is hospitalized with symptoms similar to Covid-19.

Rosen’s family said on Tuesday that the 73-year-old writer was “poorly” but improving, having previously spent a night in intensive care.

Rosen’s wife Emma-Louise Williams tweeted: “He has been able to eat today & will be getting a more comfortable oxygen mask soon. All good signs.”

She did not say whether Rosen had been diagnosed with the new coronavirus.

In recent weeks, Rosen has described his illness on Twitter, wondering whether symptoms including fatigue and fever meant he had Covid-19 or a “heavy flu.” AP

From Southeast Asia to South America, governments are struggling to enforce severe China-style lockdowns. They lack the resources to deploy the testing-heavy, techdriven measures used by wealthier countries like Singapore and South Korea, which have had more success in keeping business and society open.

“These countries are facing some pretty dire circumstances,” said Barbara McPake, director of the Nossal Institute for Global Health at the University of Melbourne. “Their ability to lock down and isolate is more limited than developed countries.”

Vietnam, with 222 confirmed coronavirus cases, on Wednesday joined the growing list of Asian governments telling citizens to stay at home, with the start of a half-month period of isolation to last till April 15. India and the Philippines, which each have more than 2,000 confirmed cases, have ordered lockdowns, too.

Stranded migrants

The aggressive policies are taking their toll. In India, the largest lockdown in the world has stranded tens of thousands of unemployed migrant workers in cities far from their home villages. After Kenya’s government imposed a curfew, police fired tear gas and beat people trying to get home, according to Human Rights Watch. Soldiers are patrolling the streets in Ecuador’s largest city.

Even partial curbs, such as in Indonesia, have had an impact.

Daily income for motorbike taxi driver Deny Herlimardany, 42, has dropped by two-thirds to just 100,000 rupiah ($6). The Jakarta

resident is struggling to make ends meet with a pregnant wife and two kids, as the country considers harsher measures.

“I will support the government if it decides on a total lockdown for the city, but it should ensure people like me are assured of daily supply of basic food,” he said.

Certainly, the virus has also overwhelmed wealthier nations including the US and Italy. But many developing countries are more vulnerable because of weak controls over their citizens and a lack of funding for effective containment measures.

Few have the billions of dollars in stimulus needed to ensure economic and social stability.

Lacking means

The West African nation of Benin, which has 13 confirmed cases, cannot enforce confinement measures because it lacks the “means of rich countries,” President Patrice Talon said. If Benin “takes measures which starve everybody, they will quickly end up being defied and violated.”

Containment measures also are putting a strain on smaller economies as factories shut down.

Many are faced with either using financial resources to bolster health-care facilities or staying current with international creditors. Budget pressures are worsening in India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi put a three-week quarantine on 1.3 billion people.

Indonesia on Wednesday slashed its forecast for growth to 2.3 percent this year, from an earlier estimate of 5.3 percent.

A state of emergency already exists in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, where schools, cinemas and

Migrant workers and their families sit inside and atop a bus on the outskirts of Delhi during a lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus in Lalkuan, Uttarakhand, India, on March 29. In small groups and large crowds, through inner-city lanes and down interstate highways, hundreds of thousands of India’s poorest are slowly making a desperate journey on foot back to their villages in a mass exodus unseen since the days immediately after India’s independence in 1947. Bloomberg

entertainment spots are closed until at least mid-April. President Joko Widodo hasn’t implemented a full lockdown for the region, or put curbs on movement throughout the country. The country, with about 1,700 coronavirus cases, has no real social safety net to cover the impact such a move would have on its citizens.

Strained systems

In Africa, efforts to gain control over the situation are made more difficult by weak healthcare systems already strained by an existing disease burden, w it h HI V/A IDS, t ubercu losis and malaria killing hundreds of thousands a year.

Ug a nd a P re s ide nt Yo we r i Museveni, who said mass-testing for Covid-19 is “too expensive,” has suspended movement of vehicles except for essential services and pledged to provide some relief to those whose livelihoods have been affected the most.

The transportation shutdown in Uganda, which has 44 confirmed cases, caught construction worker James Senfuka off guard. He can’t walk for 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) to a site where he works as a mason. With savings running out

quickly, he is rationing food to a single meal a day of mostly cornmeal and beans.

“The situation is so bad that I no longer go to work because of the ban of public transport,” Senfuka said.

Younger populations

There are some advantages for less-developed countries. Italy and other European countries have some of the world’s lowest fertility rates and biggest elderly populations, while seniors represent much smaller percentages of the populations in the developing world. Since Covid-19 is particularly lethal among older patients, that could help developing countries weather the crisis.

But that still leaves many of those poorer countries with inadequate health-care systems for t hose people who do get sick, according to Charlie Rob er tson, globa l chief economist w it h Rena issa nce C apit a l.

“W hile demographics mean they are 7 times less vulnerable than Italy to deaths, their health systems might also be 7 times less effective,” he wrote in a report released on March 26.

Bloomberg News

Virus masks, apps: The race is on to avoid hidden carriers N

EW YORK—The worldwide race to protect people against unwitting coronavirus carriers intensified on Thursday, pitting governments against each other as they buy protective gear and prompting new questions about who should wear masks, get temperature checks or even be permitted to go outside.

In the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pandemic began in December, a green symbol on their smartphones dictates the movements of residents. Green is the “health code” that says a user is symptom-free and it’s required to board a subway, check into a hotel or enter the central city of 11 million. Serious travel restrictions still exist for those who have yellow or red symbols.

In northern Italy, the country with the most virus deaths in the world at over 13,000, guards with thermometer guns decide who can enter supermarkets. In Los Angeles, the mayor has recommended that the city’s 4 million people wear masks.

And a top health official in France’s hard-hit eastern region said Americans swooped in at a Chinese airport to spirit away a planeload of masks that France had ordered.

“On the tarmac, the Americans arrive, take out cash and pay three or four times more for our orders, so we really have to fight,” Jean Rottner, an emergency room doctor in Mulhouse told RTL radio.

A study by researchers in Singapore on Wednesday estimated that around 10 percent of new infections may be sparked by people who carry the virus but have not yet suffered

its flu-like symptoms.

In response, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed how it defined the risks of infection, saying essentially that anyone may be a carrier, whether they have symptoms or not. It is yet to change its guidance against having everyone wearing masks.

Spain on Thursday set a record in virusrelated fatalities, with 950 deaths in 24 hours, even as its infection rate appeared to ease. New coronavirus infections rose nearly 8 percent overnight to 110,238.

Health authorities say contagion in Spain has dropped from a daily average of 20 percent until March 25 to less than 12 percent after that date, more than 10 days after Spaniards were ordered to stay home.

The government has acknowledged that the real number of infections could be much higher due to limited testing.

But from New York to Los Angeles, US officials warned that the worst is ahead.

“How does it end? And people want answers,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “I want answers. The answer is nobody knows for sure.”

New York state’s coronavirus death toll doubled in 72 hours to more than 1,900.

Cuomo has already complained that US states are competing against each other for protective gear and breathing machines, or being outbid by the federal government.

President Donald Trump acknowledged that the federal stockpile is nearly depleted of

Health workers applaud as people react from their houses in support of the medical staff that are working on the Covid-19 virus outbreak at the Gregorio Maranon hospital in Madrid, Spain, on April 1. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. AP/Manu Fernandez

the personal protective equipment needed by doctors and nurses.

“We’re going to have a couple of weeks, starting pretty much now, but especially a few days from now, that are going to be horrific,” he said.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said even a “tucked-in bandanna” could slow the spread of the virus and remind people to keep their distance.

“I know it will look surreal,” he said, donning a mask. “We’re going to have to get used to seeing each other like this.”

In Greece, authorities placed an entire refugee camp under quarantine on Thursday after discovering that a third of the 63 contacts of an infected woman tested positive—and none showed symptoms.

Altogether, close to 940,000 people around the world have contracted the virus, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 47,000 have died from the virus and another 195,000 have recovered.

The real figures are believed to be much higher because of testing shortages, differences in counting the dead and mild cases that have

gone unreported. Critics say some governments have been deliberately under-reporting cases in order to avoid public criticism.

As hot spots flared in New Orleans and Southern California, the nation’s biggest city, New York, was the hardest hit of them all. Bodies were being loaded onto refrigerated morgue trucks by forklifts outside overwhelmed hospitals.

“It’s like a battlefield behind your home,” said 33-year-old Emma Sorza, who could hear the sirens from the swamped Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.

Cuomo said projections suggest the crisis in New York will peak at the end of April, with a high death rate continuing through July.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with health problems, it can cause severe symptoms like pneumonia and lead to death.

Asian stocks meandered on Thursday after a White House warning that as many as 240,000 Americans might die in the pandemic sent Wall Street tumbling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 970 points, or over 4 percent.

Many countries are now modeling their response to the virus in part after China, which in January closed off an entire province of over 70 million people. The government says the measures have been a success and reports that nearly all new cases of the virus have

been imported from abroad.

People in Wuhan, once the epicenter of the crisis, are starting to return to work, tracked by a smartphone app that shows if they are symptom free.

Walking into a subway station on Wednesday, Wu Shenghong, a manager for a clothing manufacturer, used her phone to scan a bar code on a poster that triggered her app. A green code and part of her identity card number appeared on the screen. A guard wearing a mask and goggles waved her through.

If the code had been red, that would tell the guard that Wu was confirmed to be infected or had a fever or other symptoms and was awaiting a diagnosis. A yellow code would mean she had contact with an infected person but hadn’t finished a two-week quarantine, meaning she should be in a hospital or quarantined.

In Europe, the strains facing some of the world’s best health-care systems has been aggravated by hospital budget cuts over the past decade in Italy, Spain, France and Britain.

They have called in medical students, retired doctors and even laid-off flight attendants with first-aid training to help their country’s overstressed medical workers.

The staffing shortage has been worsened by the high numbers of infected personnel, many of whom are working without protective gear.

In Italy alone, nearly 10,000 medical workers are infected and more than 60 doctors have died.

Spain says 14 percent of its cases are medical workers. AP

A4

The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, April 5, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

smartphone health Why health experts are not Chinese code rules post-virus life warning about virus in food W

By Candice Choi

N

Ap Food & Health Writer

EW YORK—Chicken with salmonella can make you sick.

So can romaine lettuce with E. coli and buffets with lurking norovirus.

So why aren’t health officials warning people about eating food contaminated with the new coronavirus?

The answer has to do with the varying paths organisms take to make people sick.

Respiratory viruses like the new coronavirus generally attach to cells in places like the lungs. Germs like norovirus and salmonella can survive the acid in stomachs, then multiply after attaching to cells inside people’s guts. “ Spec i a l i zi ng i n wh at t is sues to at t ac h to is t y pica l ly pa r t of t he d isease’s st rateg y to c au s e i l l ne s s,” a ccord i n g to t he US Centers for Disease Cont rol a nd Prevent ion.

The CDC and other experts note that the virus is new and still being studied. But they say there’s no evidence yet that Covid-19 sickens people through

their digestive systems, though the virus has been detected in the feces of infected people.

How these germs spread also differs.

Respirator y viruses like the f lu and the new coronav ir us spread mainly through personto-person contact and air droplets from coughing, sneezing or other f lying saliva.

Germs that make people sick through food cause symptoms like diarrhea. In some cases, germs in the feces can capitalize on poor hygiene to jump from people’s hands to whatever else they touch.

That’s why it’s so important for food workers to stay home when they are sick with digestive illnesses: There’s a big risk

A worker, wearing a protective mask and gloves against the Covid-19, stocks produce before the opening of Gus’s Community Market on March 27, in San Francisco. Health experts say there’s no evidence the new coronavirus is spread through food. That’s because organisms take different biological paths to sicken people. AP/Ben Margot

t he restaurant cou ld end up sickening lots of people.

When it comes to food and Covid-19, experts say the biggest risk is contact in grocery stores with other customers and employees, rather than anything you eat. It’s why stores are limiting the number of people they let in, asking customers to practice social distancing and using tape to mark how far apart people should stand.

The new virus can survive on some surfaces, so experts say to keep your hands to yourself as much as possible and to avoid touching your face when shopping. After unpacking your groceries at home, the CDC suggests

washing your hands.

It may be harder for viruses to survive on food itself.

“It’s a porous surface. The chances of anything surviving or coming out of it are small,” said Alison Stout, an expert in infectious diseases and public health at Cornell University.

As for the coronavirus being found in the stool of infected people, the CDC notes that it’s not known whether the germs found there can actually sicken someone. Stout said the presence of the virus in the stool is more likely a reflection of systemic infection, rather than its ability to survive the digestive tract. AP

Uproar among workers supplying the world’s meat is spreading

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growing number of workers who are crucial to supplying the world with meat are demanding that their companies do more to keep them safe from the coronavirus.

Labor unions are starting to speak out as their members fall ill. Some frontline workers have even walked off the job. That’s raising the specter of mass protests that could threaten global meat supplies just as supply chains unravel and grocery stores struggle to keep food on their shelves.

It’s part of the balancing act facing meat and agricultural producers in a pandemic: how to keep the world fed while safeguarding employees. Slaughterhouses and processing plants are sanitizing their operations more, staggering lunch breaks and checking people’s temperatures, but unions say they’re still falling short.

“They’re scared to make that decision that you guys need to be 6 feet apart because the produc tion is going to plummet,” said Paula Schelling, acting national joint council chairman of food-inspector locals for the American Federation of Government Employees.

The first case of a worker at a major US meat producer testing positive for the virus was reported last week at poultry giant Sanderson Farms Inc. Since then, infections have cropped up everywhere from JBS SA plants in Iowa to Harmony Beef in Alberta.

While scattered factories have closed temporarily or cut output, generally companies are keeping plants running when workers get sick. Rather than shutting entire plants, they’ve focused on identifying areas where infected people have had direct contact.

In Brazil, a labor judge granted a petition in mid-March by workers at two JBS facilities in Santa Catarina state, a chicken-production hub, to halt or reduce operations because of safety concerns. The next day, JBS won a decision to overturn the ruling because food processing is considered essential.

Workers still feel unsafe, Celso Elias, a director at the union, said in a telephone interview.

J B S c i te d i t s s t r i c t m e a s u re s to guarantee the health and safety of employees, including steps to reduce c rowd i n g. “ Th e co m p a ny p rove d to the federal court through documents,

Pig carcasses hang from an overhead conveyor at a Smithfield Foods Inc. pork processing facility in Milan, Missouri, US, on April 12, 2017. WH Group Ltd. acquired Virginia-based Smithfield, the world’s largest pork producer, in 2013 for $6.95 billion. As Smithfield can’t export sausage, ham and bacon from its US factories, because China prohibits imports of processed meat, WH Group opened an 800-million yuan ($116 million) factory in Zhengzhou that will produce 30,000 metric tons of those meats when it reaches full capacity next year. Bloomberg photo

photos, videos and elements attached to the lawsuit, that it is adopting all the recommendations” of the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health, JBS said in a statement.

In the US, social distancing is not possible in processing facilities where workers are side by side, and the Department of Agriculture is not equipping its consumer-safety or food inspectors with protective masks or hand sanitizer, Schelling of the American Federation said.

Dozens of inspectors who are at high risk of coronavirus complications due to health issues are on safety leave, and one consumer safety inspector died of coronavirus in New York City, she said.

While food safety inspectors follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “there are times when the physical layout of the plants they work in make social distancing a challenge,” the USDA said in a statement. “Unlike doctors and nurses in hospitals, there is no data to suggest that slaughter establishments are at higher risk of exposure.”

Inspectors may wear their own face masks to plants if they choose to, the agency said.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, the largest Latino civil-rights organization in the US, said workers are

being exposed “with little recourse.” The group is asking the Department of Labor to provide clear guidelines on proper safety equipment, paid sick days and regular health checks for workers.

Workers further along the food chain are also starting to organize themselves in a coordinated action to demand more protection for employees working through the pandemic.

An employee at Amazon.com Inc. said he was fired for leading a strike at a warehouse in New York, while workers at Whole Foods Market went on a sickout strike in an effort to extract protections and better working conditions from their managers. The city of San Diego also urged Instacart Inc. to treat its shoppers as employees and provide paid sick leave.

Relief pool

F o r processing workers, a Canadian union representing them has asked employers to increase the space between each employee’s work area, even if line speeds drop.

“We’re calling on all these employers to look themselves in the mirror and say no matter what happens we did everything we could to keep food on the table and ever yone safe,” said Thomas Hesse,

president of United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 401, the largest private-sector union in Western Canada with 32,000 members in Alberta, mostly in food processing and retailing.

Just as hospitals have reached out to staff with previous critic al- c are experience, some companies are working to create a relief pool of workers to keep plants running.

Chicken giant BRF SA in Sao Paulo is hiring more than 2,000 people in Brazil and other countries to replace those who may be unable to work because of the pandemic, Chief Executive Officer Lorival Luz said.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency plans to redeploy internal staff and use emergency measures, including contacting recent retirees, to address potential inspector shortages related to absenteeism.

JBS USA is paying a bonus to retain staff while hiring more people to make sure it will be able to run plants if absenteeism increases.

“There’s a risk, but we have to balance that as we have a responsibility to continue to produce food,” Andre Nogueira, who heads US operations, said on a conference call last week. “We cannot stop. Otherwise, you call it a big, big issue for the whole nation.” Bloomberg News

UHAN, China— Since the coronavirus outbreak, life in China is ruled by a green symbol on a smartphone screen.

Green is the “health code” that says a user is symptomfree and it’s required to board a subway, check into a hotel or just enter Wuhan, the central city of 11 million people where the pandemic began in December.

The system is made possible by the Chinese public’s almost universal adoption of smartphones and the ruling Communist Party’s embrace of “Big Data” to extend its sur veillance and control over society.

Walking into a Wuhan subway station on Wednesday, Wu Shenghong, a manager for a clothing manufacturer, used her smartphone to scan a bar code on a poster that triggered her health code app. A green code and part of her identity card number appeared on the screen. A guard wearing a mask and goggles waved her through.

If the code had been red, that would tell the guard that Wu was confirmed to be infected or had a fever or other symptoms and was awaiting a diagnosis. A yellow code would mean she had contact with an infected person but hadn’t finished a two-week quarantine, meaning she should be in a hospital or quarantined at home.

Wu, who was on her way to see retailers after returning to work this week, said the system has helped reassure her after a two-month shutdown left the streets of Wuhan empty.

People with red or yellow codes “are definitely not running around outside,” said Wu, 51. “I feel safe.”

Intensive use of the health code is part of the efforts by authorities to revive China’s economy while preventing a spike in infections as workers stream back into factories, offices and shops.

Most access to Wuhan, the manufacturing hub of central China, was suspended January 23 to fight the coronavirus.

The lockdown spread to surrounding cities in Hubei province and then people nationwide were ordered stay home in the most intensive anti-disease controls ever imposed. The final travel controls on Wuhan are due to be lifted April 8.

Other governments should consider adopting Chinesestyle “digital contact tracing,” Oxford University researchers recommended in a report published on Tuesday in the journal Science. The virus is spreading too rapidly for traditional methods to track infections “but could be controlled if this process was faster, more efficient and happened at scale,” the researchers wrote.

Once aboard the subway, Wu and other commuters used their smartphones to scan a code that recorded the number of the car they rode in case authorities need to find them later.

An attendant carried a banner reading, “Please wear a mask throughout your trip.

Do not get close to others. Scan the code before you get off the train.” Seats were marked with dots denoting where passengers

In this April 1, 2020, photo, a passenger holds up a green pass on their phone on a subway train in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province. Green is the “health code” that says a user is symptom-free and it’s required to board a subway, check into a hotel or just enter Wuhan, the central city of 11 million people where the pandemic began in December. AP/Olivia Zhang were to sit to stay far enough away from each other.

Visitors to shopping malls, offices buildings and other public places in Wuhan undergo a similar routine. They show their health codes and guards in masks and gloves check them for fever before they are allowed in.

The health codes add to a steadily growing matrix of high-tech monitoring that tracks what China’s citizens do in public, online and at work: Millions of video cameras blanket streets from major cities to small towns.

Censors monitor activity on the Internet and social media.

State-owned telecom carriers can trace where mobile phone customers go.

A vast, computerized system popularly known as social credit is intended to enforce obedience to official rules.

People with too many demerits for violations ranging from committing felonies to littering can be blocked from buying plane tickets, getting loans, obtaining government jobs or leaving the country.

A statement by the city government of Tianjin, a port city of 16 million people adjacent to Beijing, said the health codes were temporary but offered no indication when use might end.

The codes are issued through the popular WeChat messaging service of Internet giant Tencent Ltd. and the Alipay electronic payments service of Alibaba Group, the world’s biggest e-commerce company.

Some 900 million people use the system on WeChat, according to the newspaper Beijing Youth Daily and other outlets. No total for Alipay has been reported.

Obtaining a health code is simple: Users fill out an electronic form with their identity details, address and whether they have a cough or fever. The system includes no steps to confirm whether a user is healthy.

Authorities have threatened that violators will be “dealt with severely,” though detailed penalties have yet to be announced.

Regulations say people who try to travel with a red health code will be marked down in the social credit system.

“Fraud, concealment and other behaviors” carry penalties that “will have a huge impact on their future life and work,” a statement by the government of Heilongjiang province in the northeast said. AP

Science

BusinessMirror

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

RxBox biomedical devices delivered to U.P.-PGH for Covid-19 monitoring

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isolated and disadvantaged areas.

Specific to the country’s Covid-19 response, RxBox will be used for bedside monitoring of vital signs.

Here are the features of DOST’s RxBox: n Temperature sensor—measures a patient’s body temperature to help detect fever, a common medical sign of infection and other disease conditions; n Blood pressure monitor—measures the patient’s blood pressure to detect cardiovascular problems especially hypertension; n Pulse Oximeter—measures the level of oxygen in the patient’s blood and can help detect lung and cardiovascular problems; n Electrocardiogram—monitors the heart’s movement to pump blood throughout the body, helpful for those with acute and chronic heart problems; n Fetal heart monitor—measures the baby’s heart rate while in the womb; and n Maternal tocometer—measures the strength of a mother’s uterine contractions during labor and delivery.

The DOST Calabarzon Regional Office is the implementing agency that will coordinate with other regional offices for the distribution of the remaining 894 RxBox units to selected health care facilities. S&T Media Service

Dr. Alonzo Gabriel, food scientist and U.P. professor, 39

Dr. Alonzo A. Gabriel upd.edu.ph

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he scientific community mourns the passing of Dr. Alonzo A. Gabriel, 39, a noted food scientist and professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Home Economics (CHE), owing to complications due to cancer.

A 2018 National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) Achievement Awardee of the Biological Sciences Division, Gabriel, specialized in food processing, microbiological food safety, and traditional and novel food technologies.

NRCP said in its announcement of his passing that Gabriel helped establish the Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Hygiene of UP Diliman, where he conducted a primary role in the generation and dissemination of knowledge and public service.

Dr. Ruby Cristobal of the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology told the B usinessM irror that Gabriel fought for the inclusion of MS Food Science in the Accelerated Science and Technology Human Resource Development Program scholarships being offered by the DOST-SEI. The scholarship was approved and is now offered for the first semester of 2020-21.

In a DOST-SEI video clip, Gabriel, who do research in food safety on disease-causing microorganisms to prevent food-borne illnesses, was quoted as saying: “It’s very important that we know how to question. It’s more important than knowing how to answer questions. You can’t just answer any question. You have to answer questions that are relevant to society.”

Gabriel was a member of various professional societies, including the Saint Gallen of Japan, European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (Germany) and the International Association for Food Protection (USA). He served as president of the Philippine Society for Microbiology Inc. (PSMI), UPD said in its web site announcing Gabriel’s passing.

“He showed exceptional leadership in

guiding the society and bringing its officers and members closer together. He was known and respected for his achievements in research particularly in Food Science,” PSMI posted on his untimely demise at its Facebook page.

Gabriel obtained a PhD in Bio-functional Science and Technology (Food Microbiology and Hygiene) from Hiroshima University in Japan.

His 2014 research study, “Decimal reduction times of acid-adapted and non-acid adapted Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes in young Cocus nucifera Linn. liquid endosperm”provided food manufacturers with scientific bases on how to safely process their juice and food products. His study helped in implementing the Food Safety Act of 2013.

In relation to the coconut water study, Gabriel said that at CHE and Department of Food Science and Nutrition: “We do not just teach our students textbook lessons, we teach them cutting edge knowledge that we establish in our research works and make them competitive with the manpower the rest of the world is producing.

“We teach them the value of going out to the community to address real-world problems that the Filipino family faces every day. We also go out to the community and share whatever resources we develop in our laboratory/research works to stakeholders, especially the marginalized and underserved.”

Gabriel received recognitions for his works, including being one of the 2017 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos awardees. He used part of his monetary incentive to support the DFSN in developing an extension program for secondary and tertiary home economics educators teaching food science and technology.

He has also been recognized with the following awards: the 2016 UPD Gawad Tsanselor Para sa Natatanging Guro; the 2016 International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers by the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences; The 2016 DOST Outstanding Research Development Award for Applied Research (Julian A. Banzon Medal); the 2014 Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World from the Junior Chamber International (JCI TOYP); The 2014 Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Applied Research of the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science; the 2013 International Union of Food Science and Technology Young Scientist Excellence Award; the 2013 The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines for Food Science and Technology; and the 2013 National Academy for Science and Technology Young Scientist Award (for the field of Microbiology and Hygiene).

The Senate of the Philippines honored Gabriel in 2014 through Senate Resolution 875 when he received the 2014 JCI TOYP Award.

Sunday, April 5, 2020 A5

DOST to test VCO in clinical trials as supplement vs Covid-19

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n its continued efforts to respond in the battle against the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) delivered 106 multicomponent RxBox units to the Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) last week.

RxBox is an innovative biomedical device capable of measuring a patient’s temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, uterine contractions and electrocardiogram readings.

With the highly infectious Covid-19, the use of RxBox can reduce contact between patients diagnosed with Covid-19, especially those in severe or critical conditions who need continuous monitoring, and the healthcare workers as it provides an efficient way for healthcare workers to monitor multiple patients at once.

The device is an innovation developed by researchers from University of the Philippines Manila and UP Diliman with support from the DOST through the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development.

The RxBox units were manufactured in partnership with IONICS EMS Inc., a local manufacturing company in Laguna.

The device was originally intended to facilitate identification of patients needing management of chronic noncommunicable diseases and to support maternal and child health care in geographically

Sunday

By Lyn Resurreccion

n the absence of available medicine against the deadly 2019 novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is set to have two clinical trials to check the efficacy of virgin coconut oil (VCO) as health supplement against Covid-19.

Science Secretary Fortunato de la Peña said the trials will be hospitaland community-based.

PGH clinical trial

The hospital-based trial will be held starting on April 8 at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH).

The study titled, “Virgin Coconut Oil and Omega-3a Adjunctive Therapy for Hospitalized Patients with Covid 19,” will be led by Dr. Marissa Alejandria.

De la Peña said the VCO will serve as a “supplement to the daily treatment regimen” of the Covid-19 positive patients.

He told the BusinessMirror in a phone interview that a minimum of 40 patients will participate in the trial taking VCO and another 40 as control without VCO for a minimum of one month.

He added that the P4.9 million DOST-funded test at PGH will assess the possible benefits of VCO to patients with moderate to severe

Covid-19 in addition to the drugs being assessed in the clinical trials.

The research will be done in cooperation with the DOST and the UP-PGH Clinical Covid-19 Research Group and the Metro Manila Health Research and Development Consortium of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD).

Community-based trials

On the other hand, the communitybased trial will be for the Covid-19 persons under investigation (PUIs).

It will be conducted at isolation facilities in a community and a hospital in Region 4A starting in a few days.

It will be done in collaboration with DOST Calabarzon and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).

De la Peña said the trial will have 40 with VCO participants and 40 control without VCO participants both for the hospital and community trials. The trials’s P7 million budget will the funded by the DOST and the PCA.

Coconut and coconut oil

The Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) will lead the community-based study. It will incorporate VCO in the food provided to the PUIs. The study aims to assess the possible benefits of VCO to patients with Covid-19 as well as contacts and other high-risk groups.

The project team is planning to conduct the same study in their pre v iou s i nter vent ion st ud ies and the dietary supplementation may possibly run for at least four weeks. The study will be done in cooperation with the DOSTPCHRD and the PC A. De la Peña acknowledged Professor Dr. Fabian M. Dayrit of A t e ne o d e M a n i l a Un i v e r s it y (AdMU) as having proposed the clinical trials because of the known wide usage of VCO against viral and bacterial diseases.

In parallel with VCO lab test

The clinical trials are being done in parallel with another DOST-funded

research, the in-vitro or laboratorybased study being done by AdMU, led by Dayrit, in coordination with the Duke-National University of Singapore.

Dayrit earlier told the BusinessMirror that the result of the laboratory test may be available in two months.

In a research paper he cowrote and was released in January, Dayrit said coconut oil and its components—lauric acid and monolaurin—“have been shown to be safe and effective antiviral compounds in both humans and animals.”

Because of the antiviral and antibacterial protection that it provides to animals, coconut oil is used in farm animals and pets as veterinary feed supplements in chicken, swine and dogs.

Monolaurin has been shown to ef fec t ively protec t c h ic ken against avian inf luenza virus, the research said.

They also cited that monolaurin was found to be highly active against repeated high viral loads of Simian immunodeficiency virus in macaques.

Likewise, a 35 percent gel of monolaurin was developed for application in the female genital tract to protect against HIV. At the same time, they said, “coconut oil itself has been shown to have anti-HIV properties in small clinical studies.”

These VCO laboratory and clinical trials are part of the projects and researches of DOST to attend to the concerns against Covid-19.

Among the other projects are the manufacturing of faces shields for medical frontliners and RxBox biomedical device.

DOST, UST, DLS-CSB industrial design students, faculty produce face shields for Covid-19 frontliners

Rappid-Admatec produced face shields for Covid-19 frontliners.

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o support frontline health workers in their battle to prevent the spread of current 2019 novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the government and the private sectors are initiating their respective production of protective face shields for medical frontliners.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is currently producing 3D-printed face shield frames for distribution to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), and will be extended to other hospitals.

At the same time, the faculty and students of University of Santo Tomas (UST) and the De La SalleCollege of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) are collaborating in producing face shields also with the use of 3D printers to produce laser-cut reusable acrylic plastic. They have produced 300 masks and plan to distribute more.

DOST’s Rappid-Admatec face shield project

Operating for 24 hours since March 23, the team of Engr. Fred P. Liza, project leader of the Research on Advanced Prototyping for Product Innovation and Development using Add itive Manufact ur ing Technologies (Rappid-Admatec),

started printing frames with an initial target of 1,000 pieces for the PGH. “We are humbled by the opportunity to help in the urgent need of face shields, to cease the spread of this contagious disease. It will protect the face whenever a patient coughs or sneezes. Currently, we can print 10 frames every 1.5 hours,” Liza said.

The design for the 3D-printed frames will be optimized for further reduction of time during the production process.

“Currently, we are looking for ways to hasten production, such as using a larger nozzle size and modifying our printing parameters.

Additional 3D printers are being reconfigured to augment our production volume,” he said.

“We are also looking into fabricating molds through DOST-Metals Industry Research and Development Center [MIRDC], and our technology partner, particularly Omnifab, for faster production of these frames using injection molding. Our goal is to deliver to the [PGH] every week via courier service,” he added.

Rappid-Admatec is one of the projects under Advanced Manufacturing Center R&D Program being

A sample of 3D printed face shields for frontliners produced by industrial design faculty and students of UST and DLS-CSB. Joseph Gonzales

supported by the DOST and is monitored by DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD).

It focuses on advanced prototyping and speeds up its process by reducing the time it takes to fabricate components and products.

DOST Undersecretary Dr. Rowena Cristina Guevara, for Research and Development, lauded the group for going the extra mile and contributing to the needs of our frontliners in battling Covid-19.

“As we make change happen through research and development, we maximize our assets to do our part in fighting Covid-19 with innovative solutions. We support our health workers with these visor shields that are products of our R&D facility,” she said.

DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit commended the group for their dedication during the enhanced community quarantine period.

“As strong believer and willing partner in enabling innovation, we will continue to support endeavors like this to meet the urgent needs of the public especially during this outbreak,” he said.

UST and DLS-CSB face shields

With safety and durability as the main features, the UST and DLSCSB face shields are patterned after the collaborative design of students from UST, who are mentored by Industrial Design Prof.

Manny Dacanay, who teaches in both institutions.

“As to how it actually developed, within the Industrial Design faculty, members were doing separate initiatives along with alumni, and eventually came into a united front when we all discussed and shared our ideas online,” DLS-CSB Industrial Design Chairman Romeo Catap Jr. said.

The team have likewise coordinated their efforts with the De La Salle Philippines, DLSU-College of Engineering, Benilde’s Fashion Design and Merchandising Program and the Benildean Industrial Designers to acquire and produce their own PPE substitutes for frontliners.

The group of volunteers resulted in a mix of Industrial Design faculty, students and graduates assembled by Industrial Design Professor and alumnus Joseph Rastrullo, supported by School of Design and Arts Dean Architect Asela Domingo and Associate Dean Architect Choie Funk.

Faith A6 Sunday, April 5, 2020

Sunday

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

Tagle urges: Forgive the debt of poor countries amid Covid-19

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ould the [2019 novel] coronavirus [Covid-19] crisis lead to a jubilee of forgiveness of debt, so that those who are in the tombs of indebtedness could find life—untie them, release them?” asked Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, in his homily last week.

The Mass by the former Archbishop of Manila was streamed live from Rome’s Pontificio Collegio Filippino (Pontifical Philippine College) on TV Maria, a Filipino Catholic TV channel of the Archdiocese of Manila.

C a rd ina l Tagle spoke about forg iv ing the debt of poor countr ies in t he conte x t of t he day’s Gospel where Jesus raises L a za r us f rom deat h.

He compared the tomb and death of Lazarus to the debt of

poor countries, who are yearning for liberation.

Jubilee, in the Biblical context, is a time of grace that celebrates liberation from conditions, such as slavery, debt or poverty.

Card ina l Tagle noted t hat during the current coronavirus pandemic, many are losing their jobs, especially the daily-wage earners. The lack of resources and poverty could be a tomb of many people.

He urged those who can afford,

their communities rather pay the interest imposed on them.

Many countries, he pointed out, spend much money on arms, weapons and national security, but “Can we stop wars please?” he asked.

“Could we stop producing weapons… get out of the tomb and spend the money for real security…have a permanent cease-fire?” he asked.

“In the name of the poor,” he said, “let us release money for real security, education housing and food.” Robin Gomes/Vatican News

Manila parishes to help transport medical frontliners

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a n ila ’ s C a t h o l i c Church is stepping up to make all its facilities available to medical frontl iners, inc lud ing prov id ing transportation ser vices.

Bi shop Bro de r ic k Pa bi l lo, apostolic administrator of Ma n i l a, l ast week requested par ishes to help transpor t hospit a l workers to a nd f rom t heir assig nments.

“You can offer your vans to shuttle the health frontliners.

They are so grateful that they can find welcome and safe haven in our Churches,” he said.

Mass transportation in Luzon was halted after the government ordered an “enhanced community quarantine” in the region.

The archdiocese has earlier opened its facilities in different parishes to shelter medical frontliners and a number of street dwellers in the fight against coronavirus.

“There are now more parishes and religious houses opening their facilities,” Pabillo said.

But t he need is r ising , t he bishop sa id, add ing t hat not on ly doctors a nd nu rses a re in need of lodg ing but a lso hos pit a l ma intena nce people a nd orderl ies.

By Nishanathe Dahanayake The Conversation (CC)

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he coronavirus pandemic is challenging our health, work, family, food and fun.

It’s also disturbing our peace of mind and forcing us to question our own existence.

We are each asking our own existential questions: Why is this happening to me? Why can’t I go on with my usual life? Who created the problem and why?

While scientists are working hard to find medical solutions, concepts from Buddhism can provide us with some solace for our overburdened minds.

The Buddha’s answer would be to focus solely on the existential facts, aiming first for understanding and then to adopt a pragmatic meditation practice.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle Vatican News

to go to “those tombs and release the poor people who owe them money from their loans and debts.”

While we don’t have enough masks, he lamented “there are more than enough bullets.... We don’t have enough supplies of ventilators but we have millions of pesos, dollars or euros spent on one plane that could attack people!”

He appealed to rich countries during the Covid-19 crisis, to forgive the debts of the poor countries so that they could use their dwindling resources to support

Thinking like a Buddhist can calm the mind, help on focus during coronavirus pandemic

A troubling disciple

Consider the case of Mālunkyaputta, a disciple who kept troubling the Buddha some 2,500 years ago in ancient India.

Mālunkyaputta prompted him to answer a series of complex questions.

One particular day, he walked up to the Buddha and insisted he needed to be given the answers.

The Buddha responded with an anecdote of a man wounded with a poisonous arrow coming to see a physician for medication.

The man insisted that he would not let the arrow be taken out until he knew who shot him and how. The Buddha said by the time all the answers had been given the man would be dead.

The Buddha defined this teaching as eschewing answers to philosophical questions and dealing only with the existential facts: “there is birth [...] aging [...] dying [...] grief, sorrow, suffering, lamentation, and despair” and their “suppression [...] here and now.”

What this means for us is that although it is natural to have such questions, worrying about the answers may only bring more suffering. We would be wiser to work to reduce our own suffering and that of others.

Three marks of existence

What remains in this core Buddhism is the pure existentialism of dispassionate detachment from the space-time world that results in nirvana. This state is defined simply as the absence of greed, hatred and delusion.

Buddhism teaches us that the coronavirus is causing us to experience some heightened forms of the three marks of our existence (tilakkhaa).

They are the impermanence (aniccā), the unsatisfactoriness or suffering (dukha) and the nonself (anatta).

The pandemic’s sudden encroachment on our society, causing death and misery, reminds us of that impermanence. It shows us the inevitable nature of our own death and the associated suffering, leading us to do some soul-searching.

Camillian Fr. Dan Cancino (center), executive secretary of the bishops’ Commission on Healthcare, with other medical frontliners at the St. Camillus Medical Center in Pasig City. The Camillians

Pa bi l lo s a id t h at he a l s o tapped religious congregations within the archdiocese to assist in ministering to the needs of those who are at risk and those who are involved in responding to the pandemic.

T he archdiocese is a lso g ivi n g a t t e nt i o n t o t h e n e e d s of overseas Fi l ipino workers (O F Ws) w h o h a v e r e t u r n e d from abroad and have become persons under monitor ing after possible ex posure to the

Cov id-19 in their place of work outside the countr y.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’s Ministry for Migrants, headed by Fr. Tem Fabros, was tapped to spearhead the initiative for the OFWs. CBCP News

Little things

Buddhism teaches meditation practices with deep introspection. These are designed to make us mindful of nature and help relieve us from sufferings, as described in several Buddhist suttas—the records that hold the Buddha’s original utterings.

The process involves loosening our

Holy Land preparing for a new kind of Holy Week amid Covid-19

E

ven the most sacred sites in Christianity have not been spared the ravages of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

As part of measures to halt its spread, Holy Week and Easter celebrations in the places of Jesus’ life and death have to be held without a congregation.

In response, the Apostolic Administrator of Jerusalem has laid out pastoral guidelines for the celebration of Holy Week.

New challenge, new response

Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa called it “a unique situation that we have never seen before and which requires us to find new ways to celebrate.”

Liturgical celebrations at the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre have been reduced to a minimum.

But Triduum and Easter celebrations in Christianity’s most sacred site will be livestreamed in Arabic by the Christian Media Center.

In the guidelines, Archbishop Pizzaballa invited parish priests in Jerusalem to provide the faithful with blessed olive branches and holy water.

Families, he said, are urged to make time to pray together at home and to participate in the liturgies with leaflets prepared by the diocese that contain the Mass readings.

Celebrate together, apart

Archbishop Pizzaballa urged the parishes in the Holy Land to

direct the faithful to the Triduum liturgies broadcast online from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, rather than livestreaming their own celebrations.

Individual confessions have been strongly discouraged in order to stem contagion.

Archbishop Pizzaballa reminds Catholics of the possibility to receive absolution by making a sincere act of contrition, along with the intention to confess their sins to a priest as soon as possible.

Week of digital prayer

In a bid to bring the Holy Land to the faithful around the world, the Custody of the Holy Land has launched a virtual pilgrimage.

Running through Holy Week,

the “digital prayer” initiative will allow francophone faithful to pray with Christians in the Holy Land.

Interested parties can sign up on the Vatican News web site, and will be sent the Gospel readings of the day, a meditation, a picture, and a video to help stimulate prayer.

As Brother Roger Marchal, OFM, puts it: “Our main mission at the Custody is to bring the Holy Land to the faithful and to help them love and discover our Churches.”

With strict measures in place to curb the spread of Covid-19, the Catholic Church in the Holy Land is finding novel ways to help the faithful participate in liturgical celebrations leading up to Easter. Vatican News

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre Wikimedia Commons

A Buddha image. Buddhism is practiced by 535 million people around the world, between 8 percent and 10 percent of the world’s total population.

Sabine Schulte/Unsplash, CC BY

grasp—those things we cling to that are governed by our desires—on both tangible and intangible things in life by realizing their true nature—relating them back to three tilakkhaa.

Meditation invites us to be happy with the simplest and most basic things in life.

The meditation steps taught in the suttas can guide our mind, calm our body and help our senses find peace and delight.

It is hoped that meditation bring about our inherent yet dormant happiness without relying on our body or our dispositions, which are impermanent.

Big picture

While these deliberations, because of their psychological effect, can bring in peace, happiness and even health benefits to the individual, there are other benefits.

Firstly, such mindful practice can help us get on with our day-to-day life in a more disciplined and safer manner, which as we can see is extremely valuable in a crisis situation such as today.

Meditation might help us not to panic (or panic buy), to be conscious of our own behavior so that we will be careful even with what we touch, or not touch (including our face).

It would help us to be conscious of c leaning our hands regularly and mindful of others around us so that we are careful about any chances of passing on germs.

Many believe meditation can help the rest of the world as well, because of the thoughtfulness it creates.

The pandemic can affect rich and poor (although there are also concerns it may increase inequity). Our meditation practices can help us evaluate the impermanence, decay and inevitable death of our existence, against any privileges we may have.

Meditation can direct us to consider the possibility of living a happy life by meeting basic needs alone. For some, this can make us reevaluate what we see as our misfortunes.

Buddhism may be seen as yet another of the world’s religions, with its own rituals around praying to deities and sending away demons.

But the Buddha can also be seen as simply an insightful thinker and teacher.

He proposed a natural outlook, providing s o l u t i o n s t h at d o n o t a p p e a l to a ny supernatural force.

Co u p l e d w i t h t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l solutions and health benefits meditation can bring, we may find it is possible to adopt Buddhist concepts into a framework for contemplation—one geared for salvation from our current crisis.

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

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Sunday, April 5, 2020

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

A North Atlantic right whale feeds on the surface of Cape Cod Bay off the coast of Plymouth, Massachusetts, in this photo on March 28. Ship strikes are one of the biggest causes of mortality for large whales, and scientists say the problem is getting worse because of the warming of the oceans. AP/Michael Dwyer

Whales face more fatal ship collisions as waters warm

P

ORTLAND, Maine—Climate change is imperiling the world’s largest animals by increasing the likelihood of fatal collisions between whales and big ships that ply the same waters.

Warming ocean temperatures are causing some species of whales in pursuit of food to stray more frequently into shipping lanes, scientists say.

The phenomenon already has increased ship strikes involving rare Nor th Atlantic right whales on the East Coast and giant blue whales on the West Coast, researchers say.

The number of strikes off California increased threefold in 2018—to at least 10—compared to previous years.

When whales are killed in a ship collision, they of ten sink and don’t a l way s wa s h a s h o re. S o s c i e nt i s t s a n d co n s e r vat i o n i s t s s ay f at a l ship strikes are d ra m at i ca l ly u n d e rre p o r ted.

Vessels strikes are among the most frequent causes of accidental death in large whales, along with entanglement in fishing gear.

Conservationists, scientists and animal lovers have pushed for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to step up to protect the whales, but it won’t happen without cooperation from the worldwide shipping industry.

For the right whales—which number only about 400 and have lost more than 10 percent of their population in just a few years—the death toll is driving them closer to extinction, said Nick Record, senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine.

At least three right whales died from ship strikes in 2019—a small number, but still dangerously high for so small a population.

All three deaths were documented in the G ulf of Saint Lawrence off Canada, where scientists have said the whales are spending more time feeding as waters off New England warm.

Scientists say the changing ocean environment with global warming is causing right whales and some other species to stray outside protected zones designed to keep them safe from ships.

“When one of their main food resources goes away, it means they star t exploring new areas for food,” Record said. “And that means they’re encountering all new sources of mor tality because they are going into these places where they are not protected.”

On the West Coast, where there was increase in whale ship strike deaths, scientists repor ted that the risk of such accidents has been growing in the 2000s as the blue whale population shifted northward in the North Pacific.

The increased ship strikes could necessitate “a broader area where ships don’t travel,” said Jessica Redfern, an ecologist with New

England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life and lead author of a study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science in February.

Moving shipping lanes, and the possibility of enforcing slower speeds for large ships, is a subject of much debate among conservation groups, international regulators and the shipping industry.

Shippers say they have made attempts to work with conservationists, such as an ongoing effort to move a shipping lane in Sri Lankan waters to protect blue whales.

In a statement to The Associated Press, the World Shipping Council expressed a willingness to keep working to keep shipping activity away from whales, but expressed skepticism about whether slowing vessels would help.

“Reduced ship speeds also increase the residence time of a ship in a given area where whales are active,” the council said.

“Given those factors, there is some notable uncertainty about how effective reducing ship speeds is in lowering the risk of whale strikes.”

Changes to international shipping laws would have to go before the IMO, which regulates shipping. The organization has taken numerous steps to protect whales in the past, including agreeing in 2014 to a recommendation for ships to reduce speed to 10 knots (11.5 miles per hour) off the Pacific coast of Panama for four months every summer and fall.

A spokesman for the organization declined to comment on the role of warming seas in increased ship strikes. But the subject has caught the attention of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which oversees marine issues in the US. R i g h t w h a l e s, i n p a r t i c u l a r, b e g a n showing a change in migrator y behavior around 2010, said Vince Saba, a fisheries biologist with NOAA’s Nor theast Fisheries Science Center. That happened as warm Gulf Stream water has entered the Gulf of Maine, a key habitat for the whales, he said.

“With that redistribution, the animals have moved into areas where there weren’t management rules in place to protect them.

In a sense, the deck got reshuffled,” said Sean Hayes, head of the protected species branch for the fisheries science center.

Whales also face increased threat because ships now can travel in parts of the sea that were previously ice, said Regina AsmutisSilvia, a scientist with Massachusetts-based Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

As waters continue to warm, the whales will need more protections or the number of deaths will only grow, she said.

“The reality is that it’s time to actually implement the mitigation and that’s going to mean expanding areas where the speed rules would be in place,” she said . AP

A7

Covid-19 brings unexpected environmental consequences

G

lobal shelter-in-place orders to battle the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in a widely-reported climate benefit: cleaner air in China and Europe. But the fallout from the global health crisis hasn’t been uniformly positive for the environment.

In the US, some cities have halted recycling programs as officials worry about the risk of spreading the virus in recycling centers.

In particularly hard-hit European nations, waste disposal options have been rolled back. Italy has banned infected residents from sorting their waste at all.

Industry has seized the opportunity to overturn disposable bag bans, despite the fact that environmental experts say single-use plastics can still harbor viruses and bacteria.

Businesses that once encouraged consumers to bring their own bags or containers have increasingly switched to single-use packaging. In early March, Starbucks announced a temporary ban on using reusable cups.

With China’s consumers stuck at home, there’s been a surge in the amount of household garbage as people increasingly shop online and order meals to be delivered, which come with a lot of packaging.

Medical waste is also on the rise.

Hospitals in Wuhan produced an

average of over 200 tons of such waste per day during the outbreak, up from its previous average of less than 50 tons.

China has asked sewage treatment plants to strengthen their disinfection routines to prevent coronavirus from spreading through sewage, mostly through increased use of chlorine.

Some amount of that toxic chemical has found its way into the nation’s drinking water, though the government says the concentration is under the current allowable limit of 0.3 milligrams per liter.

“The ones that are celebrating the environmental improvements during the Covid-19 crisis are shortsighted,” said Li Shuo, senior global policy adviser at Greenpeace in Beijing.

“Pollution may temporarily decline, but this is hardly a sustainable way of cleaning up our environment. Meanwhile, the virus crisis brings other environmental problems that might last for a longer time and are harder to deal with,” he said. Bloomberg News

Crushed plastic bottles and containers sit bound in a bale ready to be recycled at the new Poly Recycling AG facility in Bilten, Switzerland, on April 3. The economics of plastic recycling have suddenly been upended, thanks to a Chinese import ban and cheap US oil used to make virgin plastic. Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg

Un-baaaaa-lievable: Goats invade locked down Welsh town

A herd of goats walk the quiet streets in Llandudno, north Wales, on March 31. A group of goats have been spotted walking around the deserted streets of the seaside town during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus. Pete Byrne/PA via AP

L

ONDON—Un-baaaaa-lievable: This wild bunch is completely ignoring rules on social distancing.

With humans sheltering indoors to escape

the new coronavirus, mountain goats are taking advantage of the peace and space to roam in frisky clumps through the streets of Llandudno, a town in North Wales.

Andrew Stuart, a video producer for the Manchester Evening News , has been posting videos of the furry adventurers on his Twitter feed and they are racking up hundreds of thousands of views.

He said the goats normally keep largely to themselves, in a country park that butts up against Llandudno.

But now emboldened by the lack of people and cars, the long-horned animals are venturing deeper into the seaside town.

The UK has been in lockdown for the past week to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

“There’s no one around at the moment, because of the lockdown, so they take their chances and go as far as they can. And they are going further and further into the town,” Stuart told The Associated Press in an interview from his parents’ pub in Llandudno, where he is waiting out the pandemic.

His videos show the goats munching on

people’s neatly trimmed hedges and trees in front yards and loitering casually on empty streets as if they own the place.

“One of the videos on my Twitter shows that they were on a narrow side street and I was on the other side and they were scared of me. They were edging away from me. So they are still scared of people,” Stuart said.

“But when there’s hardly anyone around on the big streets, they are taking their chances, they are absolutely going for it. And I think because it’s so quiet, and there’s hardly anyone around to scare them or anything, that they just don’t really care and are eating whatever they can,” he added.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death. AP

Covid-19 to slow the global shift to renewables, but can’t stop it T

he renewable-energy industry, which until recently was projected to enjoy rapid growth, has run into stiff headwinds as a result of three era-defining events: the Covid-19 pandemic, the resulting global financial contraction and a collapse in oil prices.

These are interrelated, mutually reinforcing events. It’s much too early to be able to assess how large their economic, environmental and policy impacts will be. But as someone who has worked on energy policy in academia,the industry, the federal government and Wall Street, I expect a significant short-run contraction followed by a catch-up period over the next few years that returns us to the same long-term path—perhaps even a better one.

Falling energy demand

The most obvious result of these shocks is clear: Economic contractions reduce power demand, because every form of economic activity requires electricity, directly or indirectly.

The 2008-09 recession reduced power demand in the United States by about 10 years’ wor th of growth. Put another way, national utility sales did not exceed 2008 levels until 2018.

US electricity use on March 27 was 3 percent lower than on March 27, 2029. That difference represents a loss of about three

years of sales growth.

Electricity use will trace the same path as total economic output as the crisis unfolds, but will drop much less in percentage terms.

That’s because electricity use is a necessity, and essential services and households will continue to use power. Some, like health care, will use much more.

Industry revenues will also suffer, because most utilities are voluntarily halting shutoffs due to bill nonpayment and deferring planned or proposed rate increases.

Economy-driven demand reductions, which are likely worldwide, will hurt new renewable installations.

Utilities will tighten their budgets and defer building new plants. Companies that make solar cells, wind turbines and other green energy technologies will shelve their growth plans and adopt austerity measures.

For example, Morgan Stanley’s highly respected clean tech-analysts project declines of 48 percent, 28 percent and 17 percent in US solar photovoltaic installations in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2020, respectively.

Clean energy has momentum

Countervailing factors will partly offset this decline, at least in wealthy countries.

Many renewable plants are being installed

for reasons other than demand growth, such as clean power targets in state laws and regulations, and are already under contract or construction.

Government policies and public pressure are also forcing utilities to retire coal-fired power plants.

Since 2010, 102,000 megawatts of coal generating capacity have been retired—nearly one-third of the total US coal fleet—and at least 17,000 megawatts more are expected to retire by 2025.

Most of this will likely be replaced by wind, solar and hydropower.

Despite the current crisis, there is longterm pressure from many directions to add carbon-free energy. Fifty US utilities have already committed to carbon reduction goals, including 21 companies that pledge to become carbon-free by 2050.

Voluntary green energy purchases by US companies increased by almost 50 percent in the last year, to 9,300 megawatts—almost 1 percent of all US power capacity. And residential customers are choosing to buy more renewable energy through options such as community solar programs.

Defaulting to dirty fuels?

Since early 2019 crude oil prices have collapsed,

declining almost 64 percent. As oil market guru Daniel Yergin recently observed, this drop is likely to be steep and prolonged: “[I]t’s a problem of an oil price war in the middle of a constricting market when the walls are closing in. Normally demand would solve the problem in a way, because you would have lower prices that act like a tax cut and it would be a stimulus. But not in this case because of the freezing up of economic activity.”

This oil price collapse has also reduced US natural gas prices by about one-third from year-ago levels.

Like electricity and oil, natural gas use rises and falls with economic activity; it is somewhat less sensitive to economic trends than the highly reactive oil sector, and more sensitive than comparatively stable electricity use.

Ordinarily, cheaper natural gas—which is widely used for generating electricity— wo u l d s t i m u l ate e l e c t ri c i t y d e m a n d by reducing the price of power, thus, increasing economic growth.

But in this unusual era, the effects of lower oil and gas prices on renewables will be somewhat murky and complex, and will probably differ substantially by market and region.

For some new plants in places where policies do not effectively mandate renewable energy, continued or even new use of oil and

gas generation will look cheaper.

Fo r ex a m p l e, re p l a c i n g d i r t y d i e s e l generation with solar power plus some form of energy storage will not look nearly as attractive now as it did a year ago.

This is especially worrisome in emerging nations, where the overwhelming imperative is to expand electricity supply as cheaply as possible.

These economies are always short on capital and highly sensitive to energy costs. If they opt for cheap fossil fuels instead of renewables, it will be bad for air quality and climate policy.

The fact that central banks are promoting ultralow or even negative interest rates to respond to the economic crisis could mitigate this risk by making renewables, which have high capital costs, cheaper to install. The key is avoiding a wholesale shift to new fossil fuel generation.

Parts shortages

The most significant near-term impacts on renewable plants that are already contracted or under construction may be felt through supply chains. Renewable industry executives are anticipating delivery and construction slowdowns, either because nations shutter industries to slow the spread of coronavirus or because workers start getting sick.

Many par ts for large -scale renewable projects come entirely or partially from China, other parts of Asia or the United States. These are specialized supply chains with few ready substitutes.

Th e Co v i d - 1 9 o u t b re a k h a s a l re a d y slowed Chinese production of solar panels and materials, delaying projec ts in countries including India and Australia.

Manufac turing disruptions in China could contribute to a significant one - or two-year dip in renewable additions.

All in all, I expect that a slowdown in renewable -energy growth will be one of many deeply tragic effects of the virus-pluscontraction double whammy. Impacts in emerging markets, where a new fossil-fueled plant locks in decades of new carbon-dioxide emissions, are especially concerning.

But these effects will not be uniformly negative, and nothing about this crisis will change the long-term trend toward carbonfree energy.

Once the global economy bounces back, perhaps this episode will convince world leaders to accelerate climate policy efforts, before the next climate-induced disease vector or weather event triggers yet another global economic shock. Peter Fox-Penner/The Conversation (CC)

A8 Sunday, April 5, 2020

T

HE request to Premier League players from British Health Secretary Matt Hancock was direct: “Take a pay cut.”

The swift response from the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) on Thursday: Maybe, but not yet.

Hancock’s comments reflected growing public pressure in Britain for players in the world’s richest football league to follow the example of clubs in Spain and forego some of their wages to help pay the salaries of staff during the coronavirus pandemic.

With soccer on hold across Europe, players at Barcelona and Atlético Madrid have taken pay cuts of 70 percent, but English clubs have yet to announce any similar measures. Tottenham and other clubs have even said they plan to use a government scheme to help pay the wages of club staff during the shutdown, effectively using tax payer money as a bailout despite making record revenues last season.

The government, though, seems to telling clubs to pay their own way.

“Everybody needs to play their part in this national effort and that means Premier League footballers too,” Hancock, who oversees the National Health Service, said from Downing Street. “Given the sacrifices that many people are making, including some of my colleagues in the NHS who have made the ultimate sacrifice of going into work and have caught the disease and have sadly died, I think the first thing that Premier League footballers can do is make a contribution, take a pay cut and play their part.”

The English players’ union has been in talks with the Premier League about a collective agreement about deferring or reducing wages but there was no resolution by Thursday night.

“We are aware of the public sentiment that the players should pay non-playing staff’s salaries,” the PFA said. “However, our current position is that—as businesses—if clubs can afford to pay their players and staff, they should.”

That public sentiment grew when Tottenham, which reached the Champions League final last season and is among the 10 biggest money-makers in club football worldwide, announced its 550 nonplaying staff members would have their pay cut by 20 percent or be furloughed. AP

Sports BusinessMirror

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

Soccer stars facing backlash over pay cut during pandemic

A MAN wearing a face mask plays soccer with his sons in a park in Prague. The Czech Republic has made it mandatory that all people must cover their mouths and noses in public to stem the spread of Covid-19. Improvised methods such as a scarf or homemade mask are allowed. AP

S

By Tim Booth

The Associated Press

EATTLE—The Seattle Metropolitans were 20 minutes from a second Stanley Cup title in the spring of 1919, 20 minutes from adding their names to the trophy again.

Odie Cleghorn’s goal for the Montreal Canadiens early in the third period of Game Five sparked a rally that ensured there would be no celebration that day—or ever. The 1919 series took a grim turn from there.

Instead of ending with a title for Seattle, or with an epic comeback by Montreal, the series became known for being canceled during the Spanish flu pandemic that sickened several players and eventually killed Montreal’s

SPANISH FLU IN 1919, CORONA VIRUS IN 2020 Joe Hall. Some are drawing parallels to what’s happening today with the Covid-19 pandemic and the uncertain future for the National Hockey League’s (NHL) current season. “[A few] weeks ago, I didn’t think that would

ever happen again. It was just such a quirky little footnote in history, and it was a funny little story, and ‘I can’t believe this happened,’” said author Kevin Ticen, who has chronicled the Metropolitans, including in a book, When It Mattered Most, about the 1917 season. “And now we’re sitting here and history has repeated itself. I mean, to me it’s exactly the same.”

The abandoned 1919 finals were just one of two instances since 1893 where the championship trophy was not awarded. The matchup between the champions of the NHL (Canadiens) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (Metropolitans) was called off with the series tied. The only other time no champion was crowned was when the 2005 lockout wiped out the entire NHL season.

The coronavirus pandemic that has brought sports to a standstill worldwide has ignited a debate about whether 2020 will be another year when the title isn’t decided.

The 1919 series was a clash that featured eight future Hall of Famers—five for Montreal and three for Seattle. It was supposed to be a best-of-five—with games alternately being played under PCHA rules and NHL rules—but an extra game was added after Game Four ended in a 0-0 double-overtime tie. Seattle sports writer Royal Brougham wrote about the tie game at the time, saying: “They may play hockey for the next 1,000 years, but they’ll never stage a greater struggle then last night’s.”

But it was Game Five that stands out in retrospect. Seattle led 3-0 after Jack Walker scored his second of the game in the second period.

Montreal’s rally started with Cleghorn’s goal early in the third period. Newsy Lalonde then scored twice more, the second at 17:05 of the third period to pull even. Jack McDonald scored the game-winner in overtime for the Canadiens.

“The Metropolitans just completely ran out

BACKYARD MARATHON

C

HELTENHAM, England—Being stuck at home didn’t stop a British man from running an outdoor marathon.

James Campbell, a former professional javelin thrower, spent his 32nd birthday on Wednesday doing 6-meter shuttles from one end of his small backyard to the other after promising to run a marathon if one of his Twitter messages received 10,000 retweets.

By the time Campbell completed the marathon in just over five hours, he had raised more than £18,000 ($22,000) for Britain’s National Health Service to help battle the coronavirus pandemic.

The effort—labeled the #6metregardenmarathon—was livestreamed, with former England soccer great Geoff Hurst among the viewers.

Neighbors poked their heads over the backyard fence to give Campbell encouragement.

Campbell ran across a patch of grass, some stones and a small patio in 6-meter stretches. He calculated he would have to traverse his yard at least 7,000 times to reach 42.2 kilometers or 26.2 miles. AP

of gas,” Ticen said, noting Hall of Famer Frank Foyston was injured, Cully Wilson collapsed with exhaustion in overtime and Walker had to leave with a broken skate. “In doing research over the ‘16 and ‘17 season, they always won late.... They always won late and that was the first game that they imploded.”

Unknown that night, the flu was beginning to spread even as the players began looking ahead to Game Six on April 1.

Five Montreal players and Coach George Kennedy came down with the flu, registering fevers of 101 or higher, after Game Five. The Canadiens tried to bring in players from the team in Victoria, British Columbia, but the request was denied. Ultimately, Montreal attempted to forfeit the title to Seattle but the Metropolitans and PCHA wouldn’t accept. Hall died from the flu four days after the series was canceled.

“My mom talked about it. I remember her saying there was no Cup one year,” said Beverly Parsons, niece of Frank and Lester Patrick, who were the founders of the PCHA. “She said

because Uncle Frank would not accept a Cup on a default, and they were defaulting because so many of the Montreal players had the flu. She said there’s no way Uncle Frank would do that.

He didn’t want a Cup on a default.”

How and why the Spanish flu re-emerged in the area at that point is unclear. The Spanish flu, which may have actually started in Kansas, claimed tens of millions of lives during its threeyear carnage. It was at its worst in the Seattle area late in 1918, to the point where the city essentially shut down in a similar fashion to today with the current response to the coronavirus.

Ticen said one theory is that the Canadiens, who were in Vancouver for several days before making the trip to Seattle to begin the series, may have contracted the flu from a Canadian military regiment that had just returned after World War I. It just took several days for the symptoms to show.

Whatever the reason, that finals series is a major footnote in hockey history that has suddenly become relevant again. “It’s just wild,”Ticen said. “I don’t have another word to explain it.”

AN inscription on the Stanley Cup shows the 1919 series, the only series in the league’s history that wasn’t completed. AP

UFC champ won’t break quarantine, UFC 249 fight off

U

FC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov said he won’t leave quarantine in Russia to fight, dealing another blow to UFC President Dana White’s determination to hold UFC 249 on April 18 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Nurmagomedov made his announcement Wednesday on Instagram, telling the mixed martial arts world to “take care of yourself and put yourself in my shoes.”

Nurmagomedov (28-0) was scheduled to fight top contender Tony Ferguson (25-3) in the main event of UFC 249 in two weeks. The show was initially slated for Barclays Center in Brooklyn before the pandemic threw the UFC’s schedule into upheaval.

Nurmagomedov is in his native Dagestan, and his Instagram post made it clear he isn’t leaving for the fight even if White is able to find a location to stage it. Nurmagomedov left California to return home when the UFC had tentative plans to stage UFC 249 in the United Arab Emirates, but the champion first revealed Monday that he probably wouldn’t be allowed to leave the country again due to travel restrictions.

“I understand everything and I’m definitely

more upset than you to cancel the fight,” Nurmagomedov said. “Probably like all others, I had many plans after the fight, but I can’t control it all.”

White and the UFC didn’t immediately comment on Nurmagomedov’s decision, which had been expected for several days since the MMA world learned Nurmagomedov was in Dagestan instead of California, where he typically finishes his training for his fights.

Nurmagomedov also expressed anger at forces attempting to compel him to fight, although he didn’t make it clear whether he was referring to fans or to White.

“It turns out that the whole world should be in quarantine,” Nurmagomedov said.

“Governments of all countries, famous people around the world urge people to follow all safety requirements in order to limit the spread of the disease, to save people, and Khabib is the only one relieved of all obligations and must demonstrate free will and train flying around the world, for the sake of fight?”

Ferguson still wants to fight on April 18, and he called on the UFC to strip Nurmagomedov of his lightweight title in an interview with ESPN, the UFC’s broadcast partner. AP

The inequality virus

2

BusinessMirror APRIL 5 , 2020 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

DOING HIS SHARE

YOUR MUSI

Singer-pilot Ronnie Liang joins COVID-19 frontliners as Army reservist

By Leony R. Garcia

T

HE Covid-19 pandemic scare may have shown the worst and the best of humanity. But for singer and Philippine Army reservist Ronnie Liang, it is during a crisis like this that he could best serve the country.

Publisher

: T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Editor-In-Chief

: Lourdes M. Fernandez

Concept

: Aldwin M. Tolosa

Y2Z Editor

: Jt Nisay

SoundStrip Editor

: Edwin P. Sallan

Group Creative Director : Eduardo A. Davad Graphic Designers Contributing Writers

: Niggel Figueroa Anabelle O. Flores : Tony M. Maghirang, Rick Olivares, Darwin Fernandez, Mony Romana, Leony Garcia, Stephanie Joy Ching Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez

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Ronnie Liang

As a 2nd Lieutenant, Liang surprised everyone on the first week of community quarantine when he joined the army in ferrying of medical workers and other stranded passengers from the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City to Pandacan in Manila.

After his successful pinning ceremony as pilot last year, Ronnie graduated from military training at the Armor “Pambato” Division (AD) in Tarlac in February this year.

“I actually volunteered and started training in 2018. I said to myself I wanted to serve the country, to help in communities in times of need like this.

Remember Marawi siege? That woke me up and I realized that I needed to be part of the country’s peacekeeping troop.”

With his BS education and pilot background, Ronnie took the Mechanized Infantry Operations Training (MIOT) Course to further equip his reservist competencies in addressing conventional and external threats. He said the rigorous course highlights battle drills, armored vehicle defensive driving, raid mission training, and lectures on enemy armored threats.

The actor received his black beret and mechanized patches as 2nd Lieutenant from Pambato Commander Maj. Gen. Robert Dauz. He said he intends to finish his commercial pilot course the soonest.

Music industry’s romantic balladeer has indeed come a long way from crooning his highly popular ditty, “Ngiti,” in 2007.

Prior to changing priorities, he has this devotion to romance music, singing sentimental ballads in many a live show including the popular Sunday’s TV variety show ASAP. He has had gigs in the islands and parts abroad performing with no less than the country’s Popstar Royalty Sarah Geronimo.

The singer, who shot to fame as a finalist in the first season of Pinoy Dream Academy in 2006, believes romantic songs never go out of style.

“You never get tired listening to them. They’re timeless. I want to be remembered for such songs,” he said.

While busy with his studies, he made sure his fans won’t miss him as Viva Records released his album, Ronnie Liang 12, with songs showcasing his love for

romance and sentimental songs: “Tila,” “Ligaya” (a re-make from Eraserheads), “Yakap,” “Sa’yo Nalang Ako,” “Pakisabi na Lang” (The Company hit song) and a minus one (bonus track).

“My 5th studio album, Ronnie Liang 12 had actually reached more than 1 million downloads/ streams online and has sold more than 4,000 CDs last year,” Ronnie said.

Prior to his military service, Ronnie was also promoting his collab song with Pop Star Royalty Sarah Geronimo titled “Liwanag,” available on Spotify and other digital music platforms.

However, the plan to produce new songs dedicated to his supporters this year has to be postponed. He was also part of the performers for PAGCOR Tour and is in the cast of an upcoming movie under Viva headlined by Bela Padilla and Marco Gumabao, both of which also got postponed due to the present global health crisis.

Like some artists, Ronnie did not stop exploring show business by just being a singer. He went on to star in several movies such as “Esoterika Maynila,” “Fan Girl, Fan Boy,” “100 Tula Para Kay Stella,” “Petmalu,” “Abay Babes” and the action packed thriller with an offbeat but remarkable role, which was released last year.

Know more about the singing pilot through this interview by Soundstrip.

Aside from your military and pilot duties, which is your priority now, singing or acting?

The trend nowadays for showbiz personalities is to be able to do both. We have to entertain our audience in many ways through acting, singing and maybe dancing too. Anyway, God’s given talents should be put to good use. So expect me doing them all. But I still have to get used to people telling or introducing me as a singer and an actor.

How do you juggle your time now especially you’re living your dream as a pilot?

Through proper time management plus my commitment to achieving my goal. I usually attend

aviation school in the morning especially if I don’t have shows and tapings. Good thing the school is willing to adjust to any conflict with our classes. We always do makeup classes. I had finished ground schooling in like almost three months - 12 subjects and simulation.

How come becoming a pilot was your dream? Who influenced you to become one? Why not?

(Laughs) I remember I was in Grade 3 or 4, when I was about nine years old. I was helping my father clean the backyard when I saw an airplane in the clear blue sky and I told my father that “to drive that plane is my dream.” I couldn’t forget his reply that my dream was very hard to accomplish due to financial issues.

We were not that financially okay at that time. But I know in my heart at that very moment that I will become a pilot someday.

What are your immediate plans once you become a pilot?

I will shoot my first music video as a pilot. And then, in God’s will, I will finish all the necessary requirements for commercial pilot and try my luck on commercial airlines. Then maybe I can sing to the passengers on board my flight. As early now, some people are already calling me the singing pilot. And I love it!

What is your long-term plan for your career?

If it’s God’s will, I will still continue my career as an actor and singer and at the same time as a pilot for a commercial airline. I believe I can do both – being in showbiz and flying out my planes.

Do you have a message for your fans?

2019 was such a good year for me. Super blessed talaga kaya thankful talaga sa Viva family and to my supporters. I will continue making music. And will always find time to manage everything from being a pilot to being a 2nd Lt. Ngayon, mas lumalim talaga ‘yung pagmamahal ko sa bayan natin. I’m encouraging the youth to join the army and promote ROTC. Let’s all help each other.

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | APRIL 5 , 2020

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IC OUR BUSINESS

CRY FOR HELP

Indie musicians call for financial relief amid the COVID-19 pandemic

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By Stephanie Joy Ching

S the enhanced community quarantine goes on, the cracks in our political and social system are beginning to become more obvious. Doctors and nurses are dying from a lack of support from the government, and the informal sector is left wondering how they are going to survive when they cannot work.

The indie music sector is no different. With mass gatherings prohibited and establishments such as bars and hotels shut down, these musicians—especially those who perform on a full-time basis—now find themselves without a source of income and livelihood.

“Professional musicians and artists are one of the marginalized who are taking the hardest economic blows in this unprecedented [pandemic],” noted veteran musician Albert Ascona (Vagabonds, Bad Omen) in a recent Facebook post.

As these musicians are also unable to avail of DOLE’s financial assistance because they are not recognized as employees by the department, they are left to rely on their meager savings.

As many of them live on a hand-tomouth and day-to-day existence, whatever savings they have is simply not enough to sustain them and their families.

Several musicians have taken the initiative of doing something about their predicament, In a recent video uploaded on her Youtube channel, Skarlet Brown took note of the fact that while the suspension of utility bills by Meralco, Maynilad, PLDT and the local telcos and internet service providers may seem like a welcome respite for most people, paying such bills would be doubly difficult for everyone when these bills will be rolled over to the next month.

Musicians who rely on gigs, in particular, will have a hard time paying such bills in full when payment time finally comes.

Appealing to the utility providers, Skarlet argued that “it will be impossible for us to pay our bills after the lockdown.”

“That’s why we are asking for you to restructure the billing and payment methods during the

lockdown,” she added.

Skarlet is proposing the payment of bills during the lockdown in equal installments for a ten-month period with no penalty or interest. Along with this, the singer is also asking these companies to be transparent about their billings. She is also requesting for banks to not tag their accounts as past due, as it will severely damage their credit standing and make it harder for them in the future. If all these are implemented, it will greatly help the indie music scene during this turbulent time.

Since posting her video, Skarlet has yet to receive favorable feedback from the concerned companies. In a subsequent interview with SoundStrip, she expressed her skepticism that restructing bills is likely for some 500 people in the indie music sector.

Restructuring may require a bigger clamor from more customers outside of the music industry.

But Skarlet and her fellow musicians are not going to sit around doing nothing. Along with Rom Dongeto (formerly of Buklod), Karl Ramirez of Pordalab, concert promoter and record producer Charlie Manalo and human rights lawyer Rommel Alim Abitria, she is now part of KayaKap, a fund-raising campaign for working musicians, particularly “those who are in their senior years, with disabilities and in dire need of financial support.”

“KayaKap aims to extend assistance to these working musicians through a two-tiered program – the first one to address their immediate needs and the second, a long-term platform founded on legislation,” the group further declared.

For their part, the non-profit organization MusiKARAMAY is taking a different approach to help alleviate the musicians’ financial

Skarlet Brown Photo by Hannah Ilagan

predicament. The organization, which aims to build lives through music, is also aware that “the musicians group are not in any of the categories qualified for the givernment's financial assistance.”

MusiKARAMAY recently held an online benefit concert for musicians who are in immediate need. They also opened up online music classes, where seasoned musicians can teach people of any skill level to play the guitar for ten sessions.

“This is your chance to learn from the best while helping out our fellow musicians, as a portion of the registration fee goes to those we have

identified to be in DIRE NEED during this economic crisis.” the post read.

The group’s Facebook post also stated that they are accepting donations through their BPI account (visit the group’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ musikaramay/ for details) which will also be used to help their community survive through the quarantine.

As Skarlet and KayaKap would aptly put it, “Music ceased and fears abound, cries of suffering resound.

But the loss so grave will one day fade The players return and [the] melody pervades.”

The inequality virus

A hero for heroes

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t’s 15 degrees outside as I am writing this. There’s a hint of smoke in the air, too, probably from the firewood lit up by our neighbors.

The cabin where we’re currently staying is relatively quiet now compared to last night after my family had a heated debate about going back to Metro Manila after the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

“It’s not safe yet,” my dad said.

“Lagi namang hindi,” I replied.

Going to Baguio was his idea. My mom is currently stationed here for a two-year contract so it made sense at the time. Prior to our trip and just hours before the capital had been sealed off, he and I argued on the “morality” of his decision.

His line of thinking was there would be a scarcity of supplies once the ECQ was implemented and that cases would rise along with mortality levels in the city. He wasn’t entirely wrong, but then what about those we will possibly put at risk? What about the people who manned the toll booths? The local officials who issued us our barangay certificate? The health workers who took our temperatures?

“You’ll know soon,” he said with a soft voice, “You can’t understand yet because you’re 22.”

My father is a responsible man, always has been. Still, I can’t help but think, “Is looking out after your family at a time like this a false moral high road?”

In a country like ours, the gap between the rich and the poor is wide, especially in important sectors like health care and social welfare. As the scale and nature of the coronavirus pandemic becomes clear, the role of millennials, a generation known to demand fairness and accountability, becomes even clearer.

There was news about Sen. Koko Pimentel III testing positive for the novel coronavirus. Reports said he accompanied his pregnant wife, Kathryna, to the hospital, effectively breaching infection control protocols and exposing its personnel to the disease—thereby depleting its already dwindling work force.

Roxanne Montealegre

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes The senator has since apologized and in a statement said, “Syempre kahit sino namang ama ay magiging excited.”

The slogan of the idealized “family values” often assigns a distorted responsibility to its members, creating a rationale far from the realities of impoverished families—those who do not have the means to relocate when disaster struck, those who can’t stay at home because they have none, and those who our own Department of Justice wouldn’t “temper the rigor of the law with compassion” for.

Metro Manila, with a population of 13 million, grapples with the Luzon lockdown the most. Workers, both from the formal and informal sectors, were forced to stay at home with mass transportation systems shut down and many business establishments temporarily closed.

For daily wage earners, no work means no pay, and moving vendors from their market kills off their livelihood. Social distancing is almost impossible in urban poor areas. It doesn’t help that the law works against them.

When Pimentel violated health protocols, the DOJ ruled out a warrantless arrest. Appealing for compassion, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he, at this point, is not ordering an investigation.

It wasn’t that long ago when the Manila Police District arrested a 69-year-old woman sleeping along the sidewalk of Malate for allegedly violating the city’s curfew.

No warning; she was arrested then and there. In Quiapo, a police was also seen hitting and cursing residents with quarantine passes who were trying to leave Muslim Town (Golden Mosque).

Now, we ask, were they given the same privilege extended to one of the country’s highest-ranking officials?

As I’ve come to learn, this divisive rhetoric on inequality also extends to the discourse surrounding our welfare system.

My partner has an abusive father. He called me one afternoon saying that there has been an incident in their house.

Because of the quarantine, his mom was asked to work from home. It didn’t take long before an argument ensued between her and her husband, which ultimately led to an altercation.

My partner, of course, defended his mom. In between shouting confrontations, he heard her whimper in pain, and that was when he saw blood gushing on her forehead.

Acting upon impulse, he and his brother started throwing punches at the man who should be the one protecting them.

I could hear the desperation in his voice when he explained what happened. “I screwed up,” he kept saying, as if it was his fault. I kept assuring him that it’ll be okay, that the police will take care of it. Imagine his frustration when they didn’t.

Instead, they told him and his siblings that it’s normal for families to “have this sort of misunderstanding.” Never mind his dad’s history of drug abuse, never mind that they had to fend for themselves growing up, never mind that he kept shouting “papatayin ko kayo [I will kill you],” while they were inside the barangay vehicle.

When they asked if they could request a drug test, the officials told them that the health center is currently swamped because of the virus, and that it’s better to wait out the quarantine to file for a police report.

Two years ago I asked his mom why she wouldn’t leave her spouse. Her answer was tired and rehearsed, “Ayoko namang hiwahiwalay kami.” n The author wishes to be anonymous.

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s society’s frontliners continue to risk their lives to save others during this time of crisis, their families are thrown into a different battle.

Millennial entrepreneur Roxanne Montealegre has a brother who works as a nurse at a public hospital where the personal protective equipment (PPE) runs short every week.

“We can’t sleep because we are worried about him every day,” Montealegre, who’s also a host of the morning show Umagang Kay Ganda, told Y2Z in an e-mail interview.

Understanding the importance of PPEs and feeling the pain its shortage causes, Montealegre decided to play her part to save lives.

The 30-year-old host runs the clothing group The A List Trading Company Inc., a producer of premium clothing for universities and corporations. The company has been on shut down since the enhanced community quarantine, but Montealegre has managed to encourage some of her tailors to work from home, allowing them to earn during these trying times.

Moreover, instead of creating their usual products, Montealegre’s company now produces and distributes protective clothing that could help protect health workers from Covid-19.

“I can’t let my brother—as well as other frontliners—go on a suicide mission,” she said.

The A List can produce at least 100 pieces per week. Montealegre knows that her team can only do so much, which is why she has also reached out to various school organizations and offices of national public servants to help her produce more PPEs. “The frontliners are our heroes—saving lives and risking their own,” she said. “This is the least I could do.”

Gym closed and income gone, a Barre instructor reinvents herself

By Angelica LaVito Bloomberg

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n an empty Miami gym, 25-year-old Valerie Senior greets students for her cardio barre class as their faces pop up on her MacBook. They’re from New York, Puerto Rico, Italy—even Australia.

Welcome to workout class in the era of social distancing.

The exercise industry, which researcher IBISWorld

pegs at $38 billion in the US, has been dealt one of the harshest blows by the coronavirus. Attendance at gyms, yoga dens and spin studios quickly collapsed as governments told the masses to stay home to slow the spread of the pandemic. Thousands have already been laid off.

Senior’s income from leading classes at gyms like Equinox disappeared in a few days, she said, raising fears about how she’d afford rent, student loans, even food. Like millions of Americans faced with such a drastic and rapid shutdown of their livelihoods, the Miami

4 BusinessMirror

native is trying to pivot. She had to.

“I felt like the word was kind of falling on my head,” Senior said.

Last week, Senior touted her “first live workout” on Instagram to her nearly 3,000 followers. The post ended: “Let’s get sweaty fam!” To sign up, people direct message her. After paying (a class costs $15 or $50 for five), she sends a link to a Zoom video conference.

Senior is quick to put her students at ease in this new virtual world. During one class, she says that if they don’t

April 5, 2020

have weights, just pick up whatever they can find at home, even cans of garbanzo beans. On Instagram, post-workout comments are some version of “awesome burn” and fire emojis. One attendee says how she had to stop going to Senior’s classes because she lived too far away and now “you did something amazing...Livestream!!!

“I don’t want to miss a beat,” said Janette Rodriguez, who had been attending Senior’s in-person classes for about two years before becoming a fan of her Zoom sessions. “I want to continue doing things I was doing before.”