BusinessMirror April 08, 2021

Dominguez seeks early meeting of FIRB B B D. N @BNicolasBM

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INANCE Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III is calling for an early meeting of the new Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) once the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) law takes effect this month.

President Duterte signed Republic Act 11534 or the CREATE law on March 26. It was published on March 27, making it effective on April 11, or 15 days after publication in the Official Gazette or

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a newspaper of general circulation. Since April 11 falls on a Sunday, the CREATE law will actually take effect on April 12, according to Department of Finance (DOF).

The law’s implementing rules and regulations is still being finalized by the DOF and the National Tax Research Center.

Dominguez chairs the reconstituted FIRB under the law together with Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez as cochairman.

The finance chief wants the FIRB to meet as soon as possible to discuss the body’s

expanded functions under CREATE. “I want to call a meeting right away,” Dominguez told Assistant Secretary Juvy Danofrata during a recent DOF executive committee (Execom) meeting.

Danofrata, who heads the Strategic, Economics and Results Group (SERG) of the DOF, said the FIRB meeting can be held as early as the week of April 12 given the effectivity of the law.

Under the CREATE law, FIRB’s functions are expanded to cover not only tax incentives given to govern-

ment-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), but also those granted by investment promotion agencies (IPAs) and other state-run agencies to their respective registered business enterprises.

It is also tasked to review and approve fiscal incentives for projects with a total investment capital of more than P1 billion. As for the grant of tax incentives to registered or activities with investment capital of P1 billion and below, FIRB is delegating C  A

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A broader look at today’s business

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Thursday, April 8, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 176

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

PALACE CUTS PORK TARIFF ■

OVER SOLONS’ OBJECTIONS

A POLICEMAN in Parañaque City (right photo) ensures that proper social distancing is observed during the distribution of financial assistance approved by the President in areas affected by the enhanced community quarantine imposed for two weeks to stop the surge of Covid-19 cases in the NCR Plus. Left photo, Emmanuela Ocat, a resident of Brgy. Vitalez in Parañaque City, smiles as she shows the financial assistance she received on Wednesday. NONIE REYES

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B S P. M

@sam_medenilla

RESIDENT Duterte has reduced the tariff for pork imports despite the objection of some lawmakers and local hog raisers. Critics had said it would unduly pad the profits of importers without resolving the inflationary impact of a pork supply crunch, and cripple the already reeling local sectors.

DOT, private sector back use of IATA Travel Pass B M. S F. A @akosistellaBM Special to the BM

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HE Department of Tourism (DOT) and the private sector are supporting the adoption of a digital travel pass for foreign tourists arriving and Filipinos leaving the Philippines as a step towards the safe resumption of international travel.

In a news statement, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said, “This move is parallel with the steps undertaken by other countries that have successfully relaxed borders to visitors amid the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The DOT chief met with repre-

sentatives of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and local tourism industry leaders on Wednesday, where the association presented its IATA Travel Pass, a technology solution for international travelers.

“The DOT recognizes the challenges that the country is currently facing due to the pandemic. The agency’s work is centered on the gradual and careful reopening of tourism destinations to support livelihoods, with health and safety as our top priority,” she said. “Albeit in its testing stage, the IATA Travel Pass, which offers safe and convenient travel, has so far been

In his Executive Order 128, Duterte temporarily adjusted the rate of duty of imported fresh, chilled or frozen meat of swine to address the shortage of pork in the country and stabilize its price in the local market.

This, after the African swine fever (ASF) devastated local hog farms, which killed or led to the culling of thousands of pigs, straining the local supply of pork.

The President’s move comes as the Department of Agriculture

(DA) is imposing a suggested retail price (SRP) on imported pork effective April 9, in a bid to keep prices stable as the price cap expires today (April 8). See related story on page A2 “The government recognizes the need to immediately address the current shortage in swine meat, and endeavors to strengthen food supply to ensure that Filipinos have equitable access to food, parS “P,” A

MULTINATIONALS WILL REMAIN IN ASEAN+3 REGION, SAYS AMRO B T J C. P @Tyronepiad

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OST multinational firms are expected to stay put in the Asean+3 region, which accounts for the lion’s share of the world’s consumer market, despite the reconfiguration in global value chains.

Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (Amro) Chief Economist Hoe Ee Khor said in an online event on Wednesday that the Asean+3 blow has remained a competitive location for global supply chain.

“No evidence so far of wholesale reshoring, nearshoring or transfers of manufacturing out of the Asean+3 region,” he said.

This bloc is composed of Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) members, China, Japan and Republic of Korea.

In relocating a facility, Khor said that a firm is considering whether it is producing for domestic market or for export and where it will move if ever.

But the multinational enterprises (MNEs) have been finding it “very easy” to just stay put in Asean+3 region, particu-

larly China, he said. Moving out of China might actually even be difficult because the company will risk losing links to existing suppliers, he said.

The regional bloc has been very attractive as a global value chain destination, Amro said, citing the quality of infrastructure, availability of labor skills, labor costs and market size.

“So on the demand side, a lot of MNEs are attracted to the region [because] of the large consumer market,” he said. Asean+3 accounts for 42 percent of the global consumer market.

Asian Trade Centre Founder and Executive Director Deborah Elms agreed with the statement of Khor, saying: “Firms are not moving as quickly as people had originally expected.

They don’t move for a number of reasons.”

Given the current situation, Elms said that relocating is difficult and expensive. Replicating the current operations in another country is challenging and there are “not a lot of options that are attractive” for now, she added.

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PESO EXCHANGE RATES ■ US 48.5740

■ JAPAN 0.4425 ■ UK 67.1536 ■ HK 6.2464 ■ CHINA 7.4262 ■ SINGAPORE 36.2709 ■ AUSTRALIA 37.2125 ■ EU 57.6768 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 12.9524

Source: BSP (April 7, 2021)

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News BusinessMirror

Thursday, April 8, 2021

WB TO GREENLIGHT $4B IN VACCINE FINANCING FOR 50 COUNTRIES IN ’21 C  A

Apart from monitoring the global economy and pushing for green growth, Georgieva said the IMF is also stepping its efforts to make financing available to all countries needing it.

Georgieva said the IMF is providing 13 times more lending to low-income countries this year. The fi nancing is not only going toward efforts to fight Covid-19 but also addressing inequality in these countries and specific social needs such as women empowerment.

She said, however, that it would be difficult to ignore debt sustainability and IMF is finding ways to provide more concessional funding and boost reserves, particularly for countries without market access.

“We are focusing on giving everyone a fair shot. A fair shot in the arm everywhere so we can bring the pandemic to a durable end to underpin sustainable recovery.

But also a fair shot to a chance for a better life for vulnerable people and for vulnerable countries,” Georgieva said.

As price caps expire, DA sets SRP on imported pork B T J C. P

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@Tyronepiad

ITH the price cap expiring today, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is imposing a suggested retail price (SRP) on imported pork effective April 9.

Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar on Wednesday said that setting SRP on imported pork is the next step in stabilizing the increasing prices of the product based on consultations with the stakeholders. The existing price cap on pork and chicken, he said, will not be extended anymore.

DA set the SRP of imported pork at P270 per kilogram (kg) for kasim and P350 per kg for liempo. New SRP will be implemented for local pork as well, Dar said, noting that no SRP will be placed on whole-

dressed chicken as it averages at P130 per kg or below the price cap.

In February, President Duterte ordered a 60-day price ceiling for pork (kasim, P270 per kg; liempo, P300 per kg) and chicken (P160 per kg) to ensure that said food items remain affordable. Market monitoring last month, however, revealed that retail price of pork in Metro Manila wet markets has stayed above P320 per kg, even reaching P380 per kg.

In placing the SRP, Dar said the agency considered the pork prices

ADB RAMPS UP HELP FOR DMCS TO COVER SDG BACKLOG C  A

ADB Executive Director Roger Fischer said ADB is well-placed to help DMCs in getting back on track to meet the global goals. He said it was worth noting that the world has less than 10 years to meet the SDGs and no one is on track to meet them.

Fischer said ADB can help because it “knows about resilience” and can help partner countries improve on these efforts in this regard. This capacity of the ADB was already demonstrated in the creation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 20152030.

Further, he said, ADB already had privileged access to the region’s decision-makers. He cited Clark, who said in the same dialogue that meeting the SDGs not only required resources but also political will.

Fischer said with this, ADB can help policy-makers “connect the

dots” between and among issues such as the impact of trade policy on tax policy, what tax policy can do to infrastructure, and so on.

“It’s not easy but necessary. I think access to decision-makers in different countries allow ADB to help countries connect these dots.

Because without high level access, we wouldn’t find the opportunities to support [these efforts],” Fischer said.

Fischer also said ADB is a convenor in the region and this bodes well for SDGs efforts in this part of the world. As such, the ADB can bring together varying points of reflection and help the region arrive at a “resilient consensus” to move all countries forward in their SDG commitments.

However, Fischer said meeting the SDGs should not be the end of ADB’s engagement when it comes to the global goals. ADB should also help countries from regressing in goals or targets which they are

making good progress on or have already achieved.

In a briefing last month, Rony Soerakoesoemah, head of Escap Sub-regional Office for Southeast Asia said the region is regressing in 18 SDG indicators except in SDGs 2, 5, 6, and 9.

These indicators include resilience to disasters; substance abuse; road traffic accidents; equal access education; and the share of renewable energy.

The list showed that the region’s performance is stagnant in 47 indicators in all SDGs except for SDG 13 and 16. The Asean was making progress in achieving 15 indicators in SDG 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9.

This includes indicators such as resources for poverty programs; malnutrition; sustainable agriculture; communicable diseases; tobacco control; access to energy services; formalization of small and medium enterprises; and reduction in waste generation, among others.

DOT, private sector back use of IATA Travel Pass C  A

helpful to airlines that have adopted it for trial,” she added.

The IATA Travel Pass allows passengers to upload the details of their vaccination and other pertinent information that may be needed by the destination country.

To prevent the use of fake documents, the IATA proposed that only certified laboratories carry out vaccinations or required tests for travel, in which results will be directly uploaded to the passenger’s Travel Pass.

As of April 4, some 20 airlines and airline groups have adopted the IATA Travel Pass on a trial basis. IATA is the global trade association of passenger and cargo airlines.

In an interview with the BM, Tourism Congress of the Philippines President Jose C.

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Clemente said, “I think it will hasten the restart of travel and tourism, knowing that there is an app that can be used and contains all pertinent information needed to make travel easier for people.”

Asked whether the Travel Pass will allow passengers to bypass the health and safety protocols of destination countries, such as quarantine and testing requirements, Clemente said he was not under that impression. “I think it will still be up to the destination country to decide on the entry of Travel App users.” He noted the Travel Pass can be embedded in an airline’s own app, “so passengers don’t need too many apps on his smartphone.”

The DOT will set up meetings between IATA and the Departments of Transportation, and of Foreign Affairs to further discuss the Travel Pass.

The IATA Travel Pass has four

open-sourced and interoperable modules which can be combined to achieve an end-to-end solution: ■ A Travel Pass app that will enable passengers to create a digital passport, verify their tests or vaccinations with regulatory authorities, and submit requirements such as test results or vaccination certificates to facilitate travel; ■ A registry of health requirements where passengers can get information on travel, testing, and vaccination requirements; ■ A registry of testing/vaccination centers which enables passengers to find Covid-19 testing centers and laboratories at their departure or arrival locations; and ■ A Lab app that will allow authorized Covid-19 testing centers and laboratories to securely send test results or vaccination certificates to passengers.

“Once the country’s adoption of the IATA Travel Pass is put into motion, the DOT hopes to safely reopen our tourist destinations to international visitors and revive the tourism industry as a whole.

But this will be done only when the time is right,” stressed Romulo Puyat.

Founded in 1945, the IATA has 290 member-airlines, which account for 82 percent of the world’s total commercial air traffic. Its members in the Philippines are Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines.

and other expenses including storage and transportation, as well as the margins of the importers and the retailers.

“Aside from supermarkets and groceries, imported pork will be distributed also in wet markets in Metro Manila, particularly to retailers with freezers and/or chillers,” Dar said.

The DA, through the Metro Manila local government units, will provide freezers to retailers who do not have one yet, allocating P45-million grant. The department intends to buy 2,500 units of P18,000 chest freezers with capacity of 150 kg each.

In the first quarter, Dar reported that the Philippines imported around 38 million kg of pork: 18.2 million kg of the shipments were within the minimum access volume (MAV) while the remaining 19.7 million kg were outside the quota.

Dar said this could help augment Metro Manila’s supply needs, of 15 million kg of pork every month.

“With the availability of about 38 million kg, this will really further soften...inflation,” he added.

The food index, particularly pork prices, has been driving the consumer price growth, Dar noted.

To boost pork supply in Metro Manila, Dar said the DA will continue to supply and deliver surplus hogs from provinces free of African swine fever (ASF) outbreak across the country.

A total of 264,000 hogs have been delivered to Metro Manila from various provinces as of April 7, on top of the 1.7 million kg of pig carcasses brought to the National Capital Region (NCR).

The DA official said transport assistance to mobilize the hog supply to NCR plus bubble will be still be provided amid the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

The DA intends to bring surplus hogs to Metro Manila until the proposal to increase the MAV and lower the tariff on pork imports are approved.

President Duterte approved last week the recommendation

Palace...

C  A

ticularly meat,” Duterte said in his two-paged issuance on Wednesday.

His decision was based on the recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board to adjust the most favored rate (MFN) on meats of swine falling under the Asean Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN) 2017 heading 02.03.

During the first three months of effectivity of EO 128, the MFN rates of duty for in-quota pork will be reduced to 5 percent from its current rate of 30 percent. It will then be gradually raised to 10 percent during the 4th to 12th month of effectivity of the new issuance.

to increase the MAV from 54,210 metric tons this year by another 350,000 MT. The DA earlier requested this to address the anticipated pork supply shortage.

The proposal was submitted to Congress for consideration, but just as lawmakers were to go on scheduled recess. If Congress fails to act after 15 days from receipt, the proposal shall be deemed approved.

Meanwhile, President Duterte on Wednesday approved the proposal to reduce tariff on pork imports. See banner story on A1, “Palace cuts pork tariff over solons’ objections.”

While these measures are necessary to stabilize pork prices, Dar explained that repopulating hogs, in addition to combating the ASF outbreak, remains to be DA’s priority to ensure enough supply.

Other commodities

DAR said that vegetable prices have significantly gone down recently. An average of 50-percent decline from February prices was observed, he noted.

For the part of Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez, he said that prices for non-agricultural products, basic necessities and prime commodities have been stable as well. The DTI, he claimed, has not recorded upticks in prices since September 2019.

Still, Lopez said the agency was evaluating the requests for price increases, including that of meat processors for the mechanically deboned meat (MDM).

The BM recently reported that some members of the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) filed a price increase petition before the DTI amid increasing raw material prices. (Related story: https://busi-

nessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/29/ meat-processors-file-price-hikebids-with-dti/)

Pampi Vice President Jerome D. Ong said that the buying price for MDM of chicken has more than doubled to $1.5 per kg CIF (cost, insurance and freight).

For out-quota pork products, the following rates will be implemented: 15 percent during the first three months of effectivity of EO 128; 20 percent during the 4th to 12th month of effectivity of the issuance.

A year after the implementation of EO 128, the original tariff rate for in-quota and outquota imported pork will be reverted to their original rates at 30 percent and 40 percent, respectively.

EO 128 will take effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives had urged President Duterte to reconsider lowering tariff since it could flood the local market with imported pork.

They noted this will be detrimental to local hog raisers who are still reeling from the effects of the ASF.

Dominguez seeks early meeting of FIRB C  A

this to the IPAs. Nonetheless, FIRB is given the discretion to increase this threshold amount under the CREATE law.

It is also assigned to determine the target performance metrics as conditions for enterprises to avail of tax incentives; and conduct regular monitoring and evaluation of investment and non-investment tax incentives, such as cost-benefit analysis to determine their impact on the economy and whether agreed performance targets are met. It is also responsible for reviewing the compliance of other government agencies administering tax incentives, with respect to the administration and grant of such tax perks, and impose sanctions, such as but not limited to, the withdrawal, suspension, or cancellation of their power to grant tax incentives.

The new FIRB will have as members the Executive Secretary, the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and the Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Its technical committee will be chaired by a DOF undersecretary, with the following members: the Undersecretaries or Assistant Secretaries from the Office of the ES, DTI, Board of Investments (BOI), and DBM; a Deputy Director General from Neda; the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner of the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC); Commissioner of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC); and the chairmen or administrators of IPAs whose scope will be limited to matters concerning their respective IPAs. The FIRB Secretariat will be staffed by the NTRC and headed by a DOF Assistant Secretary.

Under CREATE, the corporate income tax (CIT) rate is reduced to 20 percent from 30 percent for domestic corporations with net taxable income of P5 million and below and have total assets of P100 million and below, effective July 1, 2020. All other corporations, meanwhile, will have their CIT rate reduced to 25 percent from 30 percent.

The law also redesigned the country’s fiscal incentives system by making the grant of incentives performance-based, time-bound, targeted and transparent. The CIT cut and the rationalization of the tax incentives system are aimed at helping the country attract highvalue foreign direct investments by making the cost of doing business in the Philippines more competitive, especially at this time when the government is putting in place the country’s economic recovery program.

Dominguez said the new menu of corporate tax incentives under CREATE will enable the government to attract the right kind of investors in the country, particularly those offering quality jobs and technology transfer, and introducing new industries that would allow the economy to flourish.

MULTINATIONALS WILL REMAIN IN ASEAN+3 REGION, SAYS AMRO C  A

She suggested that firms have a “clear sense” of their own supply chain and not wait for a disruption to strengthen it.

However, Elms explained this does not mean that the firms should create double supply chains to ensure consistent supply of materials as this could be very inefficient.

What the firms can do, she said, is identify which part of their supply chain is the most vulnerable. As a response, the firms may then need to stock more inventory of identified materials to cushion

anticipated bottlenecks or have another supplier ready if ever.

Applying technology

TECHNOLOGY is seen as a key driver in transforming the global supply chain, the Amro economist said, noting that digital adoption has been accelerated throughout the world in the past year.

Khor said 3D printing, automation, artificial intelligence and Internet of things, among others, are seen to help in “reshaping the production process.”

For his part, Denis Hew, Policy Support Unit director at Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, said:

“Although the trend toward digitalization predates the pandemic, digital solutions have now become a necessity rather than an option for many firms. The digitization of GVCs [global value chain] can improve risk management and reduce logistical bottlenecks.”

“However, enhancing the resilience of these value chains requires a rethinking of policies such as those on data security and human capital management,” Hew added.

Earlier, Amro said the region is expected to grow by 6.7 percent while the Philippines could register 6.9-percent growth this year.

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Gen. Trias police chief relieved after death of Covid-rule violator

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

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HE Philippine National Police (PNP) has relieved the chief of police of General Trias, Cavite after following Camp Crame’s confirmation that arrested quarantine violators under custody underwent physical exercise, an activity that reports said led to the death of one those arrested.

Lt. Col. Mario Celero had been removed from his post as the PNP headquarters continue to investigate the events surrounding the case of Darren Peñaredondo, who died on Black Saturday after he was reportedly forced to do pumping exercise as a punishment for violating quarantine protocols.

Peñaredondo was apprehended by village officials who turned him over to the General Trias police on Maundy Thursday, where, he, along with the other quarantine violators were reportedly forced to do the physical exercise.

“The PD [provincial director], Cavite PPO [provincial police office] has relieved the COP [chief of police] of Gen Trias after finding out that two of the quarantine violators executed sworn affidavits that they indeed were made to do physical exercises [knee bender] by two policemen earlier relieved pending the investigation,” the PNP, through its spokesman Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana, said on Wednesday.

The two policemen were identified as Cpl. Jerome Vibar and Cpl. Kenneth Mercene.

“The COP, who made a statement of denial earlier, and the two cops are now placed under the direct supervision and control of the PD who went straight to GT [General Trias] to validate for himself from vital witnesses what actually happened during that fateful night that may probably be one of the preceding causes of the death of Mr. Darren Peñaredondo,” Usana said.

The PNP spokesman said the Cavite provincial police is looking at criminal and administrative charges against the policemen involved.

“This is to also assure that the PNP does not tolerate any act that is inimi-

cal to the best interest of our people, particularly the aggrieved parties in the Peñaredondo case,” Usana said.

“We only have to make it clear on the Cavite case that physical exercises are not bad. They are necessary for everyone to live a healthy life. But there is also such a thing as excessive physical exercise that could be harmful to a person with medical history,” Usana added.

Meanwhile, PNP chief General Debold Sinas warned the public against faking RT-PCR tests and other health documents as this is not only dangerous but could also result to incarceration.

He issued the statement after the PNP-Aviation Security Group (ASG) intercepted 15 people at the airport with falsified SARS-CoV-2 confirmatory test results.

The individuals who were from Manila, which is under enhanced community quarantine, were bound for Davao and Zamboanga City.

“Let me reiterate to the public that using fake laboratory results poses a danger to everyone. Our frontliners are risking their lives to save yours, a little bit of concern and cooperation is what we need to fight this unseen enemy,” Sinas said.

At the Department of National Defense, Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana disclosed on Tuesday night to military reporters that he had been found positive of the Covid-19 virus.

“The result of my RT-PCR test today, 06 April 2021, came up positive. I will be undergoing isolation, following the quarantine guidelines to avoid infecting others. Those who have been exposed to me have been informed. They have been advised to isolate and get tested for Covid-19 as well,” the defense secretary said in a news statement.

Lorenzana assured the agency will continue to “operate with a skeletal work force to ensure continuity of service, with the prescribed health protocols strictly enforced.”

“I would like to remind everyone that the threat of the virus is as real as ever, more so now due to the new variants. Let us all cooperate and abide by the prescribed health protocols to help in curbing the spread of Covid-19,” Lorenzana said.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Thursday, April 8, 2021 A3

US urged to conduct ‘more frequent’ FON patrols in SCS, warn China on incursions

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

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O deter Chinese incursions into the Philippine maritime territories, a lawmaker on Wednesday urged the US to conduct “more frequent” freedom of navigation (FON) operations or patrols in the South China Sea (SCS), including the West Philippine Sea. Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez made the appeal in reaction to a report of the US Navy that one of its carrier strike groups entered the South China Sea last April 4 amid strong protests from the Philippines on the presence of hundreds of Chinese vessels in Juan Felipe Reef, which is within the Philippine 200mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Based on the report, Rodriguez said, the April 4 passage was the second by the US Navy this year.

“Two FON patrols in more than three months. They should crisscross that area more often to challenge China’s claim over most of the South China Sea, including international waters and a large part of the Philippine EEZ,” Rodriguez said.

He said conducting more FON operations “is walking the talk on the part of our defense treaty ally, the US.” “They should support their statements of support for the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea dispute with actual actions on the ground,” he added.

The lawmaker said more SCS crossings could deter further Chinese incursions in the Philippine EEZ and threats to other US allies in the region.

“That would also show the readiness of the United States to come to the aid of the Philippines in case of conflict as provided under the 1951

Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countries,” he added.

Rodriguez also called for stronger and more explicit statements on the WPS on the part of the US. “Professions of support for Manila in very general language no longer suffice and are just being ignored by the party to which they are directed.

There has to be a more direct statement or a warning that the other party will understand,” he said.

‘Demilitarize’

MEANWHILE, Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate called on China and US to demilitarize SCS. “China’s saber-rattling, through a threat of a ‘strong response’ against the Philippine military that protects the country’s territorial rights at the West Philippine Sea, and, the evident increase of military presence by west-

ern powers, like the April 4 entry of the US Navy’s Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group [TRCSG], could further heighten tensions in the contested area in the South China Sea,” said Zarate.

“In this light we are calling for a complete demilitarization of the South China Sea amid the ramping up of military and naval presence

by China, US and other western powers in the disputed maritime region,” he added.

Zarate said while the “executive department should now take a more assertive stance against China’s expansionist moves, we also call on the House of Representative to register its collective voice against China’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea.” “Congress should not stand idly by when there are infringement on our territory and sovereignty,” he added.

Facebook, Google, TikTok , Twitter PRC okays inoculation training for pharmacists help DOH fight pandemic fake news

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

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HE Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Professional Regulatory Board of Pharmacy has accredited the Philippine Pharmacists Association (PPhA) to train and certify local pharmacists to administer Covid-19 vaccines and other vaccines to adults as the government steps up its inoculation program.

A news statement said the utilization of pharmacists would be made possible through the PPhA Immunizing Pharmacist Certification Program.

The PRC statement cited that under Section 4, Article I of RA 10918, a person practicing pharmacy can administer adult vaccines as approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), provided that they shall undergo the training on the safe administration of adult vaccines and management of Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) for pharmacists and hold a certificate of training issued by an institution duly accredited by the PRC.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire welcomed the training program, noting that the government will be ramping up its Covid-19 vaccination program in the coming months.

“We are expecting a greater demand for the human resources for health who will be administering the vaccines. We thank the Philippine Pharmacists Association for their initiatives and assistance during these challenging times,” Vergeire said.

She added that as a long-time partner of the Department of Health (DOH) in advocating better health outcomes, they are looking forward to the accreditation of the PPhA as a training provider for pharmacists.

“These collaborations with professional societies are instrumental to bringing an end to this pandemic,” the DOH official said.

For her part, PPhA President Maria Gilda Sebua-Saljay, vowed to continue to collaborate closely with fellow health-care professionals in ensuring safe and effective vaccinations “as we work towards the full recovery of the Philippines.”

T

HE Department of Health (DOH) launched on Wednesday its #ChecktheFAQs campaign in a bid to encourage the public to factcheck information, especially the importance of accurate information amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The campaign was launched together with tech companies Facebook, Google, TikTok, and Twitter who all pledged their support to the initiative in line with their respective missions to help fight Covid-19 and vaccine misinformation online.

Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho, director of the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau and the Health Promotion Bureau, said that as Covid-19 vaccination becomes top priority across the globe, there is also a need to fight “disinformation and misinformation” surrounding Covid-19 vaccines and the pandemic.

“Spreading the right information can save lives. We, at the Department of Health, thank Facebook, Google, TikTok and Twitter for rallying together in our endeavor to spread the right information. Whenever you see or hear new information, we encourage everyone to #ChecktheFAQs. With the campaign

and by promoting this single message on social-media platforms, we hope to urge every Filipino to always verify any information regarding the vaccines they may come across,” Ho said The DOH noted that as many Filipinos spend a considerable amount of time online and that the Internet and social media have become major sources of news and information.

In line with this, the DOH launched the “Check the FAQs” page on its website for Filipinos to have a source of trustworthy information about Covid-19 and its vaccines. Playing an important role in championing media literacy on vaccines, Facebook, Google, TikTok, and Twitter have committed to support the campaign, which includes helping build awareness for the initiative.

“As access to Covid-19 vaccines expands, we will continue working closely with global and national health authorities, including the Philippine Department of Health, to make it easy for people to find authoritative Covid-19 and vaccine information across Facebook’s apps,” said Clare Amador, Head of Public Policy, Facebook Philippines.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Zambales tightens border entry through S-PaSS travel management system Lawyers seek

By Henry Empeño

I

Correspondent

BA, Zambales—The Zambales provincial government has put into effect stricter border controls with the adoption of a travel management system to properly monitor the movement of people and help arrest further transmission of the new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the province.

Gover nor Her mogenes Eb dane Jr. said the province is now using the Safe, Swift and Smart Passage (S-PaSS) Travel Management System, which requires even local residents crossing the border to register with the system and secure a personal QR (quick response) code for scanning at border checkpoints.

In his April 1 executive order that directed all municipal governments in Zambales to adopt the system, Ebdane said the SPaSS would now be “institutionalized as the one-stop shop application and communication system for travelers.” “ The S-PaSS is meant to benefit not only the travelers, but also the authorities to properly monitor the movement of people in different locations in the effort to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus,” Ebdane explained.

He added that the S-PaSS is also

adopted “with an aim to slowly open the province in a proper, safe and secure process.”

Under Ebdane’s EO 10, the new travel protocol would require the use of digital documents like Travel Coordination Permit (TCP), which allows one to travel to a destination with travel restrictions, or a Travel Pass Through Permit (TPP), which allows one to pass through an area with travel restrictions. Both make use of a personal QR code.

For monitoring purposes, Ebdane also directed all municipalities to establish strategic points where the QR codes of all travelers passing through LGU jurisdiction would be scanned, and to designate focal persons who will man the scan points and coordinate operations with the appointed provincial implementer and validation team.

A public advisory issued by the Zambales Tourism Office indicated that the S-PaSS requirement would not apply to residents traveling within the province, who should only show proof of residence at the scanning points.

However, the S-PaSS would be required from Zambales residents who pass through the provincial border, including those who seek medical services outside the province, or those who work in the Subic Bay Freeport or Olongapo City but

MOTORISTS pass through a special tourist/visitor lane at a checkpoint following the implementation of stricter border controls in Zambales.

come home to Zambales every day after work.

In these cases, however, only a one-time registration for a permit valid for one month would be required.

In the case of residents living in the Subic Freeport or Olongapo who wish to visit their hometown in Zambales, they would have to apply for S-PaSS, present proof of residence, and undergo an antigen test at the triage border point in Subic town before entry to Zambales.

Border restrictions in Zambales also prohibit the entry of travelers less than 15 years of age and more than 65 years old.

Last Sunday, Ebdane also extended the imposition of stricter health and safety protocols in the province until April 11 in line with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases resolution putting the National Capital Region and the nearby prov i nces of R i z a l , L a g u n a , Cavite and Bulacan under enhanced community quarantine for one more week.

As of April 6, Zambales has registered a total of 1,313 confirmed Covid-19 cases, of which, 165 were active cases. Since last year, the province has also posted a total of 1,118 recoveries and 29 deaths from Covid-19 infection.

A4 inclusion in vaccination

T

HE Integrated Bar of the Philippines has asked the National Task Force Against Covid-19 (NTF) and the Inter-Agency Task Force against Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to include lawyers in the list of priority groups for Covid-19 vaccination.

In a letter dated March 30, the IBP, through its national president Domingo Egon Cayosa, insisted that lawyers should be included in the A4 priority population, which includes frontline personnel in essential sectors, including uniformed personnel and those in working sectors identified by the IATF as essential during community curbs.

Cayosa explained that lawyers are working as frontline personnel since the start of the pandemic by “proactively supporting Covid-19 patients, health workers and frontliners” as well as through collaboration with government agencies and local government units in “educating the public about laws and ordinances pertaining to the pandemic.”

“More importantly, the presence of preferred counsel is constitutionally required especially for those charged with criminal offenses and lawyers are deemed essential officers of the court in their mandate to dispense justice, maintain peace and order, and safeguard public welfare under the rule of law,” Cayosa said.

Joel R. San Juan

Economy BusinessMirror

A4 Thursday, April 8, 2021 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DA lifts import ban on chicken MDM from The Netherlands

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

T

HE Department of Agriculture (DA) has partially lifted the importation of mechanically deboned chicken meat, or MDM, from certain areas in The Netherlands that have been cleared of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

The DA issued Memorandum Order (MO) 27 dated April 6, 2021, which would allow meat importerprocessors (MIPs) with thermal processing equipment to import MDM from the certain parts of The Netherlands that have declared as “free zones” by the Organization for Animal Health (OIE) from the HPAI virus.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the lifting of the import ban was meant to address the shortage

of affordable MDM in the country.

He added the agency has considered the appeals by the MIPs for DA to reconsider on the acceptance of regionalization of countries, which have been recently suspended due to the presence of HPAI. Earlier, the DA issued Memorandum Order (MO) 03, Series of 2021, imposing a temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day old chicks and eggs amid widespread outbreaks of HPAI in several areas in The Netherlands.

“Regionalization or zoning surveillance measures are accepted practices recognized by the World Organisation of Animal Health and the World Trade Organization,” Dar said.

According to Dar, the veterinary authorities of The Netherlands have

submitted documents to the Philippine government reflecting their ongoing disease-control measures and the different countries that continue to accept poultry products from them.

He said a joint team composed of technical members of the Bureau of Animal Industry and National Meat Inspection Service will be created to conduct an evaluation of selected meat processing plants with available thermal processing equipment in their facilities.

Dar said only accredited MIPs that were evaluated and have complied with the requirements shall be allowed to import MDM from HPAIfree zones from The Netherlands.

The Netherlands is one of the country’s top sources of imported MDM of chicken, a raw material used in making processed meat products, such as hotdogs.

Earlier, the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) said some of its member-companies have filed a price increase petition with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) due to rising raw material prices caused by tight supply worsened by shipping delays.

Pampi Vice President Jerome D. Ong has recently told the BusinessMirror their buying price for MDM has more than doubled to $1.5 per kilogram CIF (cost, insurance and freight) due to a series of bans on major import sources by the government.

Ong said the price of MDM only ranged from $0.5 to $0.6 CIF from last year to $1.2 to $1.5 CIF today.

“We are deeply concerned with the shortage of MDM because of the series of bans. The highly pathogenic avian influenza out-

breaks has resulted in countrywide bans across European countries, which are our major sources of MDM,” he said.

The increase in prices of raw materials, Ong said, could lead to a price hike of as much as 25 percent—an inopportune time when the industry’s stockpile is dwindling as well.

He also disclosed that the industry’s processed goods inventory is ranging from 21 to 30 days, while its raw material inventory is at about the same level. This means that after one and a half months to two months, local meat processors would be utilizing higher-priced chicken MDM, thus, forcing them to increase their prices.

Since last year, the DA has suspended the importation of poultry products from European areas, which eventually expanded to country-

wide bans that have confirmed outbreaks of bird flu.

To date, the European countries that are banned from exporting poultry products to the Philippines are Denmark, France, Sweden, United Kingdom, Russia, Czech Republic, Poland and Germany. Likewise two areas in two European countries are also banned: Menen municipality in Belgium and Kerekegyháza town in Hungary.

Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) data showed that Europe accounts for 60 percent of the country’s chicken MDM supply. With the suspensions in place, the country has lost half of its supply base, leaving Belgium as the lone European country where processors can source their chicken MDM. Belgium accounts for about 12 percent of the country’s annual chicken MDM supply.

Ban single-use plastics in food packaging, group tells government

3rd-party mediator defers advice on PHL-Thailand trade dispute

AYING diseases borne out of toxic chemicals in most food packaging is another pandemic waiting to happen, environmental and health groups on Wednesday reiterated the call to ban single-use plastics, especially those in food packaging.

At an online webinar and news briefing, leaders of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) Asia Pacific, together with #breakfreefromplastic, Greeners Actions (Hong Kong), Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia, and UPSTREAM warn the public against what they described as false industry narrative that singleuse plastics prevent virus transmission.

Among others, they are calling to make alternatives to single-use plastics available by providing incentives to refilling stations and Zero Waste stores, put in place guidelines on toxic-free packaging to include elimination of chemicals in food packaging; and schedule the phase out for sachet use to be included in single-use plastics ban.

Finally, they are also calling to promote the development of community-driven livelihood projects for alternative natural and local materials.

The online event was held in time for the celebration of the World Health Day on April 7.

“The dramatic rise in the use of single-use plastics in food service during the pandemic has been fueled by a false industry narrative that single-use plastics prevent virus transmission,” Miriam Gordon, UPSTREAM policy director said.

The event is part of The Unwrapped Project: Exposing the health risks of plastics + food packaging chemicals.

“Covid-19 research demonstrates the virus is transmitted from aerosolized droplets not by touching contaminated surfaces and the idea that plastic packaging makes us safer lacks any scientific basis,” she said. Jonathan L. Mayuga

USTRALIA has decided to conduct further investigations on the long-standing cigarette trade dispute between the Philippines and Thailand, proposing to submit its report to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) before July 31.

Manila and Bangkok entered a facilitator-assisted discussion to settle their trade concerns in December last year, picking Australia as the thirdparty mediator. Ambassador George Mina of Australia took on the role of the facilitator.

Mina, as a facilitator, is tasked with providing a potential settlement course, which should be approved by the parties. He shall also report to the DSB the results of the consultations and the resolutions consented by the Philippines and Thailand by March 31, with the WTO noting that the facilitator can extend the process until July 31. “[T]aking into account the current state of play, and having consulted with the parties, I am recommending the continuation of the current process up to 31 July 2021,” the facilitator communicated via a WTO document dated April 6.

The facilitator said it was planning to virtually meet with the custom officials and representatives of both countries this month to further discuss the matter. “I am hopeful that these mutually supportive processes will progressively lead to the parties building up elements of agreement,”

S

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @TyronePiad

A

Mina said.

According to the WTO document, the Philippines and Thailand have met with the facilitator on six separate occasions already since December last year.

The third-party mediator, however, refrained from divulging any details on the progress of the meetings as these are still confidential.

But he said that the consultations with both parties have been “valuable in providing [them] with an opportunity to present their respective views on ways and means of resolving outstanding issues.”

In addition, the facilitator said it has been encouraging both parties to have direct engagements as well.

“Promoting greater transparency and predictability in relation to issues under discussion remain important goals which I believe the dialogue between the parties can usefully promote,” he said.

In February last year, the Philippines filed a petition before the WTO to suspend concessions and obligations to Thailand covering $594 million annually. This, as Bangkok still fails to comply with the WTO ruling on their cigarette dispute.

Manila over a decade ago raised concerns over the inconsistent valuation by Bangkok on the cigarette shipments. While the WTO already ruled in favor of the Philippines in 2011, Thailand has yet to implement the provisions of the ruling.

Thailand argued, however, that the Philippines needs to hold on its suspension of concession given that the Appellate Body—the one tasked

with rendering the decision—has no quorum yet.

Suspending concessions

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has recently reiterated that the Philippines stands firm on its move to suspend concessions on Thai imports.

“It is important that we maintain a credible and realistic threat to trigger a WTO rules compliant suspension of concession because it is important for us to be able to forge a comprehensive solution for example through the facilitator-led process,” DTI Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said.

In January, the Tariff Commissions held a public hearing where Thai trade executives and exporters asked the DTI to not suspend concessions on Thai imports, arguing that the WTO should decide on the matter instead.

The trade department, in response, said that the Thai stakeholders should also convince their leaders to comply with the WTO ruling on cigarette dispute in 2011.

If the suspension is approved, the Philippines will lift preferential tariffs on corn, milled rice, soya bean oil, mixed condiments and mixed seasoning and non-dairy creamers, as well as motor vehicles, agricultural tractors, fuel tanks, car accessories and motorcycle parts.

Last year, Philippine shipments to Thailand amounted to $2.88 billion, which is 3 percent lower than $2.97 billion in 2019. Imports from Thailand, meanwhile, dropped by 31.3 percent to $4.79 billion in 2020 from $6.98 billion year-on-year.

DENR, Nestlé commit to a waste-free future for Filipinos Pag-asa Island residents get free Internet connectivity

T

HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Nestlé Philippines have pledged to work together toward a waste-free future for Filipinos as outlined in a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that includes building a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and educating communities on solid waste management in Caloocan City.

“As a country that prides itself in natural resources, it is imperative that we prioritize efforts that are centered on caring for our environment, not only for our families, but also for the benefit of generations to come. Our partnership with Nestlé Philippines strengthens the government’s resolve to implement programs that address proper solid waste management in order to reduce pollution for a cleaner, safer and healthier Philippines,” Secretary Roy Cimatu of the DENR stated.

Under the MOA, Nestlé

T Philippines will sponsor the construction of the MRF in Barangay 164 in Caloocan City.

This is in line with Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which mandates the establishment of the MRF to sort, segregate, compost and recycle wastes at the barangay level. For its part, the DENR, through its Environmental Management Bureau in the National Capital Region (EMB-NCR), will provide

technical assistance needed by local government officials in the operation of the MRF. The MRF, according to Cimatu, will enable Barangay Captain Mila Uy and her constituents to comply with government regulations for the proper disposal of wastes in their locality. They will be also able to monitor and manage the inflow and outflow of wastes more efficiently that would help decrease pollution in the country.

HE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has installed satellite technology in Pag-asa Island, Palawan, to provide its residents with free Internet connectivity.

DICT Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II said the agencydeployedvery-small-apertureterminal(VSAT) technology to connect the remote area to the Internet.

He noted that this initiative is in line with the agency’s efforts to “provide Internet connectivity in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas across the country.”

“As we bring connectivity to remote areas of the country, including unserved and underserved areas, we are empowering our citizens and enhancing their participation in the global digital economy.

This year, we are intensifying the implementation of our connectivity programs to achieve more inclusive ICT access,” he said.

Honasan said it also supports the Tech4ED Program of the DICT. Tech4ED refers to the initiative of the ICT department that aims to plug the digital and education divide through access points.

Lorenz S. Marasigan

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS NO.

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS POSITION

8 STONE BUSINESS OUTSOURCING OPC 5/f To 10/f, Tower 4 Pitx #01 Kennedy Road Tambo Parañaque City 1.

WANG, DECHENG Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

2.

WEI, PEIBEI Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

ADP (PHILIPPINES), INC. 6/f-9/f Glorietta 2 Ayala Center San Lorenzo Makati City 3.

SIDHU, AMAR Canadian

CHAIRPERSON AND PRESIDENT/GENERAL MANAGER

AXISCOVE INC. Unit 1 & 3 14/f Sshg Law Center Sycip Law Center 105 Paseo De Roxas San Lorenzo Makati City 4.

CHEN, XUESONG Chinese

CHINESE SPEAKING I.T. TECHNICIAN

BIG EMPEROR TECHNOLOGY CORP. 5f-13f, Jiaxing Tower Building Aseana Avenue, Aseana Business Park Tambo Parañaque City 5.

6.

KE, JIANJUN Chinese ZHANG, JIANZHU Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

CAPSLOCK INC. 7th & 8th Flr. Y Tower Bldg. Coral Way Drive Cor. Macapagal Brgy.

076 Pasay City 7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

DONG, YAHUI Chinese

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS POSITION

30.

TANG, YINGHAO Chinese

MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

31.

WANG, JUN Chinese

MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

32.

YANG, BIN Chinese

MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

33.

ZHE, YAO Chinese

MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

34.

ZHENG, QUAN Chinese

MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

DYNA BINARY HOLDINGS INC. 18/f Tower 2 The Enterprise Center, 6766 Ayala Ave., Cor. Paseo De Roxas San Lorenzo Makati City 35.

HERYANTO Indonesian

CHINESE SPEAKING ADMIN ASSOCIATE

36.

LI, TENGFEI Chinese

CHINESE SPEAKING BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE

ENCORE AMUSEMENT AND GAMING SUPPORT SERVICES CORP. 3f Metlive Metro Park Edsa Ext. Cor. Macapagal Blvd. Brgy. 076 Pasay City 37.

HOANG THI ANH Vietnamese

CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALIST

TRINH THANH THU Vietnamese

CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALIST

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

38.

HUANG, HAIYANG Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

FALCONER AIRCRAFT MANAGEMENT INC. Interisland Hangar Gen. Aviation Bldg. Andrews Ave. Brgy. 191 Pasay City

LI, CHAO Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

LIU, HENG Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

SHAO, JIWEN Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

WANG, JIANG Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

13.

WANG, LUYUN Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

14.

WU, KUI Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

15.

XIAO, JUN Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

16.

YANG, QISHENG Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

17.

ZHANG, HONGBO Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

CGI IT UK LIMITED INC. 2/f One World Square Bldg. Mckinley Hill Pinagsama Taguig City 18.

DOL, EDWIN Dutch

MULTILINGUAL SERVICE DESK MEMBER

19.

FOGO ATSAGO, CHRISTIANE Cameroonian

MULTILINGUAL SERVICE DESK OPERATIONAL LEAD

CHANG HWA COMMERCIAL BANK., LTD., MANILA BRANCH 43/f Philamlife Tower 8767 Paseo De Roxas Bel-air Makati City 20.

NO.

CHANG, NAI-CHIA a.k.a.

KATE CHANG Taiwanese

V.P. AND DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER

CONDUENT BUSINESS SERVICES PHILIPPINES, INC. 7f One E-com Building Palm Coast Avenue Mall Of Asia Complex Pasay City 21.

PARK, HAEIL South Korean

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ASSOCIATE II - KOREAN BILINGUAL

22.

PARK, YONG NAM South Korean

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ASSOCIATE II - KOREAN BILINGUAL

COSMOLINK GLOBAL SOLUTIONS INC. 11 Ortigas St. Brgy. 076 Pasay City 23.

WANG, YUBIN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

24.

ZHOU, HUA Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

DA PROSPERITAS HOLDING INC. 16/f Tower 6789 6789 Ayala Ave. Bel-air Makati City

39.

RAUGHT, NATHAN RICHARD American

DIRECTOR OF AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE

FIRST GREAT COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES INC. Lot 5 Sta. Agueda Cor. Queensway Pagcor Drive Sto. Niño Parañaque City 40.

LIU, JING Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

FLY ASIAN INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION Eighty One Newport Blvd. Newport City Va, Brgy. 183 Pasay City 41.

42.

NO.

44.

45.

POSITION

NO.

56.

LIU, XUE Chinese

QA (QUALITY ASSURANCE) SPECIALIST

84.

57.

WANG, YONGHUI Chinese

QA (QUALITY ASSURANCE) SPECIALIST

58.

ZHANG, WEIJUN Chinese

QA (QUALITY ASSURANCE) SPECIALIST

ITECHNO SPECIALIST INC. 10/f Aseana I Bldg. Bradco Avenue Aseana Business Park Tambo Parañaque City

49.

MARKETING MANAGER (KOREAN ACCOUNTS)

NEW ORIENTAL CLUB88 CORPORATION Sky Garage Bldg. Aseana Avenue, Entertainment City Tambo Parañaque City 85.

DAI, YIXIANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

86.

HAO, YANLI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

59.

ZHOU, TAO Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

87.

LUO, WEI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

60.

JACKIE ANG KIM POH Malaysian

IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

88.

TANG, RONGWU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

89.

WEI, WENDE Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

90.

WU, QINGZHEN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

91.

YU, JIAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

92.

YUAN, HONGWEN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

AUNG KYAW MYINT @ AUNG AUNG MYINT Myanmari

MYANMARI CUSTOMER SERVICE

JDB MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTANCY CORP. 107 T & D House Magallanes St. 069, Bgy. 655 Intramuros Manila 61.

LING, CHAOCHENG Chinese

STRATEGIC AND FACILITATION OFFICER

KONGANBUDDIES MARKETING INC. 48/f Lower Ground Pbcom Tower 6795 Ayala Ave. Cor. V.a. Rufino St. Bel-air Makati City 62.

ALVIN Indonesian

INDONESIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

63.

COKRO WINAWAN Indonesian

INDONESIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

93.

64.

WINDRILIUS Indonesian

INDONESIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

OKKDA ASIA TECHNOLOGY INC. Unit 5b 5/f Marvin Plaza 2153 C. Roces Ave. Pio Del Pilar Makati City

65.

GAO, BO Chinese

MANDARIN MARKETING MANAGER

94.

LIEW MAY TEAN Malaysian

MANDARIN SPEAKING MARKETING AND SALES LEAD CONSULTANT

66.

ZHANG, CHENG Chinese

MANDARIN MARKETING SUPERVISOR

95.

67.

ZHANG, MINGLIANG Chinese

MANDARIN MARKETING SUPERVISOR

GONG, LEQI Chinese

MANDARIN SPEAKING WEB SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT

68.

CHANG, SHIH-MING Taiwanese

MANDARIN SPEAKING HR ANALYST

96.

GONG, FULAI Chinese

MANDARIN SPEAKING WEB SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT

69.

KUAN, WEI-CHIEH Taiwanese

MANDARIN SPEAKING WEB & SOFTWARE SPECIALIST

97.

ZHENG, WEI Chinese

MUTILINGUAL BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT

LARKSPUR INC. 19/f Marco Polo Hotel Manila Sapphire Road Ortigas Center San Antonio Pasig City

OPTIMORE INC. Unit 3-c 3/f Lpl Tower 112 Legaspi St. San Lorenzo Makati City 98.

CHEN, GUIXIANG Chinese

MULTILINGUAL CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALIST

71.

XU, QIANG Chinese

CHINESE SPEAKING BUSINESS ANALYST

99.

FANG, SHUPENG Chinese

MULTILINGUAL CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALIST

72.

LUO, SHIQIANG Chinese

CHINESE SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

TIANYU TECHNOLOGY INC. 42/f Pbcom Tower Ayala Avenue Cor. V.a Rufino Street Bel-air Makati City

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

73.

WANG, FANGYING Chinese

CHINESE SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

100.

DING, LIU Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

101.

CHINESE IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

74.

XIA, YINGFANG Chinese

YANG, AO Chinese

ZHANG, XU Chinese

CHINESE SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

102.

CHONG YEE MING Malaysian

IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

ZHU, ZHENDONG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

103.

NGUYEN THUY NGA Vietnamese

IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

104.

SETIAWAN Indonesian

IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

105.

TRAN NHIT HENG Vietnamese

IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST

WANG, XUEPENG Chinese

MARKETING CONSULTANT (MANDARIN SPEAKING CLIENTS)

WANG, CHENGZHU Chinese

KETPHASUK, CHOTIKA Thai

THAI SPEAKING ASSOCIATE

NGUYEN THI THUY DUONG Vietnamese

LUFTHANSA SERVICES PHILIPPINES, INC. 8th Floor Aeon Center Northgate Cyberzone Alabang Muntinlupa City 75.

CHOI (SPOUSE OF HAN), JU LEE South Korean

FINANCE LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

MARIMO PHILIPPINE HOLDINGS, INC. 28/f & Penthouse World Plaza 5th Ave. Bonifacio Global City Fort Bonifacio Taguig City 76.

SAKATA, SHIZUKA Japanese

COUNTRY MANAGER AND TREASURER

MARSH PHILIPPINES, INC. 20/f Six Neo Building 5th Ave. Cor. 26th Street Bonifacio Global City, Fort Bonifacio Taguig City

RESEARCH SPECIALIST 77.

MURALEE, ROHAN British

COUNTRY BUSINESS LEADER, MMB PHILIPPINES

MASAYA TRAVEL AGENCY OPC Lot 18-b Blk 58 Afpovai Western Bicutan Taguig City

SU, BINGHUI Chinese

CHINESE SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

78.

WANG, KAIFEI Chinese

CHINESE SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

MEGA-WEB TECHNOLOGIES INC. 6,7,8,9,10,11/f Met Live Bldg. Edsa Cor. Macapagal Blvd. Brgy. 076 Pasay City

INVECH TREASURE PROCESSING CORPORATION 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th Floor Six West Campus Mckinley West Fort Bonifacio Taguig City

79.

LI, YINGWU Chinese

LIN, HAIXIN Chinese

VAN GOGH BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING INC. 5th To 8th Flr. Sm Southmall Tower 2 Alabang Zapote Rd. Almanza Uno Las Piñas City 106.

LEI, JINHAO Chinese

INFORMATION SECURITY ANALYST

107.

YOU, ZHILI Chinese

INFORMATION SECURITY ANALYST

108.

ZHANG, ZHANWEI Chinese

IT TECHNICAL MANDARIN

WANFANG TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT, INC. 6-9/f Double Dragon Plaza Edsa Cor. Macapagal Ave. Brgy. 076 Pasay City

OPERATIONS MANAGER

MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER RELATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER

25.

NGUYEN THI UYEN Vietnamese

CHINESE SPEAKING ADMIN ASSOCIATE

50.

CHEN, BAOPENG Chinese

I.T TECHNICAL MANDARIN

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. 4th-11th Flr. Nexgen Tower C4 Rd. Edsa Ext. Brgy. 076 Pasay City

26.

XU, JING Chinese

CHINESE SPEAKING ADMIN ASSOCIATE

51.

ZHANG, QIAOQIAO Chinese

INFORMATION SECURITY ANALYST

80.

HUANG, CHENGSI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

52.

YE, QIANG Chinese

IT TECHNICAL MANDARIN

81.

LIN, QINGHONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

DAXIFA CORPORATION Mpire Center 93 West Avenue Project 7 Bungad 1 Quezon City

LIM, TAE WOO South Korean

CHINESE SPEAKING ADMIN ASSOCIATE

INFOVINE INC. 9/f Y Tower, Moa Complex Coral Way Drive Cor. Macapagal Brgy.

076 Pasay City 48.

POSITION

SUN, HONGJIAN Chinese

MARKETING CONSULTANT (MANDARIN SPEAKING CLIENTS)

INDUSTRIAL INFORMATION RESOURCES, INC. Units 2807-2808 J. Vargas Corner Meralco Avenue Ortigas Center San Antonio Pasig City 47.

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

70.

CHEN, HUIPING Chinese

HINDUJA GLOBAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED 7th Floor Aeon Prime Centre North Bridgeway Avenue Corner Alabang- Zapote Road, Northgate Cyberzone Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang Muntinlupa City 46.

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

GENX SPORTS & MEDIA PRODUCTION CORP. 11/f Aseana I Bldg. Bradco Ave. Aseana City Tambo Parañaque City 43.

Thursday, April 8, 2021

27.

XIE, QINGHUAI Chinese

MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER REPRESENTATIVE

53.

BAI, XUEMENG Chinese

QA ( QUALITY ASSURANCE ) SPECIALIST

82.

LIU, JIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

28.

WU, YUHAO Chinese

MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER REPRESENTATIVE

54.

XU, YANYAN Chinese

QA ( QUALITY ASSURANCE ) SPECIALIST

83.

ZHI, SHILIANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

29.

XIN, CHAO Chinese

MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER REPRESENTATIVE

55.

LAI, MENGYAO Chinese

QA (QUALITY ASSURANCE) SPECIALIST

NET GATE ASIA CORP. Unit 1206 Tycoon Centre Pearl Dr. Ortigas Ctr. San Antonio Pasig City

109.

HUANG, CHENG-HUNG Taiwanese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

110.

LI, FENYIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

111.

PHAN THANH TAM Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE *Date Generated: Apr 7, 2021

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE-NCR Regional Office located at DOLE-NCR Building, 967 Maligaya St., Malate Manila, within 30 days after this publication.

Please inform DOLE-NCR if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

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The World BusinessMirror

Thursday, April 8, 2021

Indonesia landslides death toll rises to 119, dozens missing

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EMBATA, Indonesia—The death toll from mudslides in eastern Indonesia has risen to 119 with scores still missing, officials said Wednesday, as rain continued to pound the region and hamper the search.

The village of Lamanele on Adonara island suffered the highest losses with 60 bodies recovered so far and 12 missing. Mud tumbled down from surrounding hills early on Sunday, catching people at sleep.

On nearby Lembata island, the downpour triggered by Tropical Cyclone Seroja sent solidified lava from a volcanic eruption in November to crash down on more than a dozen villages, killing at least 28 and leaving 44 unaccounted for, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Hundreds of police, soldiers and residents dug through the debris with their bare hands, shovels and hoes searching for those buried.

On Tuesday, relatives wailed as they watched rescuers pull out a mud-caked body, place it on a bamboo stretcher and take it away for burial.

In all, landslides and flooding have killed at least 119 across several islands in Indonesia as well as 27 people in neighboring East Timor. Thousands of homes have been damaged and thousands of people displaced by the weather, which is expected to continue until at least Friday as the storm moves south toward Australia.

Rescue efforts were being hampered by the rains and the remoteness of the area, where roads and bridges were damaged in many places.

Rescue personnel with excavators and tons of food and medicine were being deployed from Makassar city on Sulawesi island, but were hindered by a lack of sea transportation. National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Doni Monardo called on the private sector to support relief efforts.

Three helicopters began reaching isolated areas of the islands on Tuesday, and President Joko Widodo held a Cabinet meeting in Jakarta to speed up the operation. AP

Brazil registers 4,000 daily Covid-19 deaths

B

razil reported more than 4,000 Covid-19 daily deaths for the first time as the pandemic continues to rage across the vast nation.

The Health Ministry registered 4,195 fatalities on Tuesday, bringing the total since the virus first arrived to 336,947. It’s the second highest tally globally, trailing only the US. Cases surged by 86,979 in the past 24 hours, pushing the toll to 13.1 million.

“If Brazil keeps the current pace, the country will probably reac h 5,0 0 0 d a i ly deat h s i n April,” said Christovam Barcellos, a researcher at Fiocruz.

Latin America’s largest nation has blown past grim milestones in 2021, reporting near daily records of cases and deaths. The resurgence of the virus, fueled by lax social distancing measures and a new, more contagious variant, led the country to quickly surpass 200,000, and then 300,000 deaths in a little over two months, leaving hospitals overwhelmed.

Besides the strain that originated in the Amazonian city of Manaus and which has spread fast since the New Year, São Paulo authorities also detected a new Covid-19 variant in the city of

Sorocaba, near the state’s capital, the local government said on Wednesday. The new strain is said to be similar to the one found in South Africa and there is still no evidence that the variant is circulating in other regions of the country.

Meanwhile, Brazilian authorities are trying to speed up the pace of vaccinations. The country had administered 25.4 million shots as of Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, enough to cover 9.4 percent of the population with one shot. The country vaccinated 1 million people in 24 hours for the first time on Thursday.

Anvisa, the country’s health regulator, authorized on Wednesday the emergency use of Johnson & Johnson’s jab—the fourth vaccine cleared by the agency.

Brazil purchased 38 million doses of the booster, but the doses are not expected to arrive until the second half of the year.

In a moment when there are few vaccines available, the only measure that could limit contagion is a

lockdown, which would have to be accompanied by measures to help the most vulnerable, public health expert Ana Freitas Ribeiro said.

President Jair Bolsonaro, however, continues to oppose social distancing measures imposed by local governments. On Wednesday, the health minister and the head of the Senate emerged from the first meeting of the joint task-force to oversee the response to the pandemic touting the importance of masks and avoiding large gatherings during the upcoming Easter holiday.

When it came his turn to speak, Bolsonaro repeated familiar lines on getting life back to normal and criticizing lockdowns.

“With our federal government denying the pandemic and having a different speech from states governments, the situation is worse,” Ribeiro, a doctor at Emilio Ribas Hospital in São Paulo, said.

Out of Brazil’s 27 states, 18 have ICUs more than 90 percent occupied, Fiocruz said in a report. The combination of intense transmission and overwhelmed hospitals has contributed to the continuous and growing number of deaths, according to the report.

Barcellos added that the collapse of the health system could also lead to an increase in deaths due to other diseases, as patients can’t get care. Bloomberg News

2 N.Y. doormen fired for failing to intervene in anti-Asian attack

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EW YORK—Two New York City apartment building workers have been fired for failing to help an Asian American woman as she was being violently attacked on the sidewalk outside, the building’s management company said Tuesday.

Surveillance video of the March 29 attack near Times Square showed that the doormen didn’t step outside and approach the woman until more than a minute after the violence stopped and the assailant walked away.

The men watched from the lobby as 65-yearold Vilma Kari was repeatedly kicked and stomped, the video showed. One of them closed the building’s door as Kari lay on the ground seconds after the attack ended.

The building’s management company, The Brodsky Organization, initially suspended the doormen pending an investigation. That investigation was completed on Tuesday and the doormen were fired, the company said.

“While the full lobby video shows that once the assailant had departed, the doormen emerged to assist the victim and flag down an NYPD vehicle, it is clear that required emergency and safety protocols were not followed,” the company said in a statement.

The Brodsky Organization also pledged to give all building services employees training on emergency response protocols, anti-bias awareness and bystander intervention.

The doormen’s union, SEIU 32BJ, said the workers are challenging their terminations under a grievance process outlined in their collective bargaining agreement. The process can take months, the union said.

“We believe we must root out systemic racism in all its forms,” 32BJ SEIU President Kyle Bragg said in a statement. “We believe that all union workers, especially workers of color who are often the subject of unfair treatment on the job, have a right to a fair process as outlined in their contract.”

The union previously said that the doormen waited until the attacker walked away to check on Kari and flag down a nearby patrol car because they thought he had a knife.

The surveillance video shows a police car pulling up about a minute after the doormen went outside. The workers and officers are seen with her on the sidewalk for several more minutes before the video cuts off.

Brandon Elliot, a 38-year-old parolee convicted of killing his mother nearly two decades ago, was charged with assault and attempted assault as hate crimes. He is scheduled to be arraigned on a felony indictment on April 21. His lawyers have urged the public to “reserve judgment until all the facts are presented in court.”

Kari, who emigrated from the Philippines several decades ago, was attacked outside a luxury apartment building while walking to church. She suffered serious injuries including a fractured pelvis and spent a day in the hospital.

Kari’s daughter, Elizabeth Kari, posted Sunday on a fundraising webpage she set up for her mother’s care that Vilma Kari “has been resting these past few days and wants to send her best as your energy, prayers, and thoughts have reached her and our family.”

The attack, among the latest in a national spike in anti-Asian hate crimes, drew widespread condemnation and raised alarms about what appeared to be the failure of bystanders to help.

Police said no one called 911 and that patrol officers driving by came upon Kari after she was assaulted.

Elizabeth Kari said that a person across the street who was not seen on surveillance video helped by screaming to distract the attacker.

A widely seen snippet of the surveillance video ended as the attacker was walking away from Kari.

Elizabeth Kari said that the attacker was crossing the street and heading toward the bystander who screamed at him. That person has remained anonymous, she said. AP

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

Myanmar forces arrest comedian, break up medical workers’ protest

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ANGON, Myanmar—Authorities in Myanmar arrested the country’s bestknown comedian on Tuesday as they continue to crack down on people they accuse of helping incite nationwide protests against February’s military coup.

The comedian Zarganar was taken from his home in Yangon by police and soldiers who arrived in two army vehicles, fellow comedian Ngepyawkyaw said on his own Facebook page. Zarganar, 60, is a sharp-tongued satirist who has been in and out of prison since he was active in a failed 1988 popular uprising against a previous military dictatorship.

He is also well known for his social work, especially arranging assistance for victims of Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

In the past week, the junta has issued arrest warrants for about 100 people active in the fields of literature, film, theater arts, music and journalism on charges of spreading information that undermines the stability of the country and the rule of law. It was not immediately clear what Zarganar, whose real name is Maung Thura, has been charged with.

Many ordinary protesters and activists are also being arrested every day, according to numerous reports on social media.

In Mandalay, the country’s second-big gest cit y, secur it y forces used stun grenades and fired guns Tuesday to break up a march by medical workers who have defiantly continued to protest almost every day against the February 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The army’s takeover set back Myanmar’s gradual return to democracy after five decades of military rule.

A participant who asked to remain anonymous for his own safety told The Associated Press that doctors, nurses and medical students were attacked as they gathered at about 5 a.m. by security forces that also used cars to run into protesters on motorbikes. The online news site The Irrawaddy reported that four doctors were arrested.

At least 570 protesters and bystanders, including 47 children, have been killed in the crackdown since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which monitors casualties and arrests. The group says 2,728 people, including Suu Kyi, are in detention.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UN officials in Myanmar are “deeply concerned” about the impact of the continuing

violence on the country’s health system, pointing to at least 28 attacks against hospitals and health personnel since February 1. And they are also concerned at violence against the education system, pointing to 7 attacks against schools and school personnel since the coup, he said.

“Hea lth volunteers are attacked, and attacks against ambulances are preventing life-saving help reaching civilians wounded by security forces,” Dujarric said.

Activists have begun organizing a boycott of next week’s official celebration of Thingyan, the country’s traditional New Year, usually a time for family reunions and merry-making.

In leaflets and social-media posts, they are imploring people not to hold any Thingyan celebrations, saying it would be disrespectful to “fallen martyrs” to enjoy the festival.

T he leaders of Br unei and Ma laysia announced Monday that leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will meet to discuss the situation in Myanmar.

No date was given in the announcement, issued during a visit by Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to Brunei. He and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said they “expressed serious concern on the ongoing crisis in Myanmar and the rising number of fatalities.” Indonesian President Joko Widido had proposed a summit on Myanmar last month.

There was no word on whether the Asean leaders would participate in person or by video, or if Myanmar, one of the group’s 10 members, would attend.

Myanmar’s junta also has been battling in some border areas where ethnic minority groups maintain their own armed forces.

Several major groups, most notably the Karen and the Kachin, have expressed solidarity with the anti-coup movement and vowed to protect protesters in the territory they control.

T he K achin in the countr y’s nor t h have engaged in combat w it h gover nment forces, but the K aren in the east have bor ne the br unt of the junta’s militar y assau lts.

T he area where the K aren Nationa l Union holds sway has been subject to air attacks by t he My a n m a r m i l it a r y f rom M a rc h 27 t h rou g h Mond ay, said Dav id Eubank of the Free Bur ma R angers, a humanitarian organization that has for many years prov ided medica l assistance to K aren v il lagers.

Bu r m a i s a not he r n a me for Myanmar. AP

TheBroaderLook

A8 Thursday, April 8, 2021• www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

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PHL addresses legal separation issues with power of law

By Joel San Juan @jrsanjuan1573, Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco, Samuel Medenilla @sam_medenilla, & Jovee Marie dela Cruz @joveemarie

‘F

OR richer, for poorer.” These words are often heard from couples tying the knot, vowing to stay together in marriage; no matter what the odds are.

But for couples seeking to dissolve their marriage, becoming poor as a result may not be an option and, thus, a legal tug of war over conjugal properties would usually ensue.

The protracted legal process and the cost of having a marriage nullified, however, are not enough to discourage lovers from dreaming of a memorable wedding and a lasting marriage.

The numbers, nonetheless, show the dreaming stayed a dream.

Data obtained from the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA) showed a decline in the number of registered marriages in the country in 2019, dropping by 3.8 percent to 432,000 from 449,200 in 2018. Of the registered marriages in 2019, about 36.2 percent were officiated by the Roman Catholic institution.

The others were through civil ceremonies (38.6 percent), other religious rites (22.9 percent), Muslim tradition (1.4 percent) and tribal or indigenous peoples’ ceremony (0.9 percent). Most of these registered wedding in 2019 were from Calabarzon (13.9 percent), National Capital Region (12.4 percent) and Central Luzon (11.8 percent).

The PSA data noted that most women tend to marry at a young age of 27 years old while the median marrying age for males is 29 years old.

The number of couples getting married is expected to significantly drop in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, there were couples who showed that love could conquer all—even the deadly coronavirus disease of 2019—as they went on with their wedding plans despite the pandemic.

Wedding bells

WEDDING bells continued to ring in the historic San Augustine Church in Intramuros, one of the premier wedding venues in Metro Manila despite government quarantine restrictions: the entire country went under lockdown on March 17 last year.

Belen P. Gregorio, the secretary of the San Augustine Church, said the ban on mass gatherings, which was later eased by the government, prompted many couples to postpone their weddings.

Prior to the pandemic, she said between 500 and 700 weddings were held in the San Augustine Church annually.

But last year, fewer than 200 were held in the same venue as the lockdown and fear of infection barred most people from carrying out wedding traditions.

Most couples scheduled to tie the knot last year had to reschedule their weddings.

Based from the ex per ience of San Aug ustine Church, the

number of reg istered mar r iages last year is a lso ex pected to further drop in 2021 due to the effects of the pandemic.

Still, Gregorio said, the uncertainty of when the pandemic will end prompted some couples to get wed albeit in a more austere and minimalist fashion than they originally planned.

“All of them were forced to trim down their guest list so it will only include close relatives, while some scrapped their receptions altogether to comply with government regulations,” Gregorio told the BusinessMirror.

Overseeing cases

AND, while thousands still get married every year, the Office of

the Court Administrator (OCA) has recorded a significant number of married couples seeking to nullify their marriage.

Based on the data obtained from the OCA by the Businessmirror, there are a total of 12,605 pending cases seeking the nullity or annulment of marriage as of February 15.

On the other hand, 4,954 cases seeking dissolution of marriage were resolved by various courts, including the Shariah Circuit Courts (SHCC).

The record also shows there are 178 cases seeking legal separation still pending before the lower courts while 72 cases have been decided as of February this year.

The increase in cases may also reflect the increase in the number of trial courts designated as “Family Courts.”

Twenty-one years ago, the Supreme Court designated 68 trial courts as family courts. The latter are designated to undertake, among others, the following: hear and decide complaints for annulment of marriage; declare the nullity of marriage and those relating to marital status and property relations of husband and wife or those living together under different status and agreements; and, hear petitions for the dissolution of conjugal partnership of gains

and petitions for support and/or acknowledgment.

Family courts were designated to implement the provisions of Section 17 of Republic Act (RA) 8369, otherwise known as the Family Courts Act of 1997.

From 68, the number of family courts has increased to 246 with 122 designated family courts, 78 statutory family courts (organized) and 46 statutory family courts (unorganized).

Marriage, separation

IN an interview, lawyer Marjorie de Castro, who handles several cases seeking nullity of marriage, admitted that one major issue in resolving complaints for nullity of marriage is the division of conjugal properties.

“If the couple seeking annulment or legal separation have many conjugal properties, how to divide these properties becomes an additional issue during their annulment process aside from custody of children, visitation, and financial support issues “ De Castro said.

De Castro said the disposition of properties of couples seeking dissolution of their marriage is governed by the provisions of the Family Code under “Property Relations Between Husband and Wife.”

Article 74 of the Code states

that the property relationship between husband and wife shall be governed by (1) marriage settlements executed before the marriage; (2) by the provisions of this Code; and (3) by the local custom.

“The future spouses may, in the marriage settlements, agree upon the regime of absolute community, conjugal partnership of gains, complete separation of property, or any other regime.

In the absence of a marriage settlement, or when the regime agreed upon is void, the system of absolute community of property as established in this Code shall govern,” the provision states.

Estate division

THE law describes absolute communit y of proper t y as those properties acquired individually by the spouses and all properties acquired during their marriage, which will be considered as part of one estate and co-owned by the spouses.

Properties acquired by the husband and wife during their marriage, including the gains from the properties, are considered conjugal property.

In case of legal separation, the proper ties considered as absolute community property and those considered conjugal property will be split between

the husband and wife.

Under Article 99 of the Family Code, the absolute community terminates: (1) upon the death of either spouse; (2) when there is a decree of legal separation; (3) when the marriage is annulled or declared void; or (4) in case of judicial separation of property during the marriage.

On the other hand, Article 126 of the Family Code states that conjugal partnership is dissolved upon the death of either spouse, legal separation, when the marriage is annulled or declared void.

Not used working

PSYCHOLOGIST Dr. Camille C. Garcia cited the following as the most common reasons married couples separate: infidelity; money issues; physical abuse; verbal abuse; emotional abuse; addiction; and, gambling.

Garcia explained that in infidelity issues, it is usually the husband who leaves the wife and his children: “the woman suffers more, especially if she is not used to be working before.”

“More so if she is left with the children and basically she is short of finances,” she added.

However, Garcia said, there are some instances when it becomes more difficult for a man if he has to diligently give a “monthly stipend

for the children and then his exbadmouths him to his children or he cannot visit his children.”

She added: “Sometimes more health issues can be seen from husbands than to wives...It really depends also if the wife has already some psychological issues like being a battered wife and blames herself for the separation.” Garcia said in this case, “both couples suffer unless they both believe that it is best for them to be separated than live together for the sake of their children.”

Separation reasons

MOVING on after the separation is also difficult, especially if the person is full of anger, according to Garcia, who discusses such subjects over radio.

“Sometimes the couple should realize why they have to separate.

Acknowledge their mixed emotions of anger, loss, sadness, guilt, relief, failure, abandonment, fear and freedom,” Garcia explained.

“If they feel that it is really time for them to be separated, try to introspect and learn something for the success of their future relationship.”

Thus, she said, both can move on without feeling hurt.

“If there is no communication at all and there is abandonment and full of anger, whoever felt this will have difficulty to move on faster.”

But who is likely to hold on to the relationship before finally deciding to give up?

“Women are sometimes too emotional and dramatic in expressing their sentiments over their relationship,” Garcia said.

“However, they are more open in expressing these emotions that even though it is hurting for them, they will try to let go but hope for [the union to stay].”

Succumb to anxieties

ON the other hand, men with

BusinessMirror

possible emotional issues can do the same and can be “emotional blackmailers” in a relationship.

“Sometimes, even if the relationship has ended it becomes difficult for both especially if there is no communication at all,” Garcia added.

Separation, she stressed, is a “change” for both men and women.

“Definitely, you are no longer seeing each other on a day to day basis; finances, responsibilities and having a new perspective of yourself can be seen.”

Recognizing the difficulties both husband and wife will face after the separation, Garcia encourages couples to try their best to recognize those mixed emotions and how to handle them will be the best way to “not succumb to anxieties and depression.”

“Such separation can lead to emptiness and feelings of rejection but how to handle this void will give you the inner peace you are asking for, especially if you, as a wife, is a victim of abuse,” Garcia said.

Going to court

IF a spouse without just cause abandons the other or fails to comply with his or her obligation to the family, Article 128 of RA 8369 states that the aggrieved spouse may petition the court for receivership, for judicial separation of property, or for authority to be the sole administrator of the conjugal partnership property, subject to such precautionary conditions as the court may impose.

De Castro said there were instances that the parties have already settled the division of their properties before coming to court to have their marriage annulled of nullified.

She added this helps hasten the resolution of the nullity of marriage case, as the court requires parties to declare their properties

before the court, which would be subject of the settlement.

The lawyer added that a spouse seeking separation would need to prepare at least P300,000 to pay for consultation fees, legal fees, psychiatrist, docket fees and other requirements.

The docket fee for nullity of marriage complaint is only around P5,000 but may be increased if there are properties involved.

Romance, passion

BUT, if a bill proposed for legislation by the House of Representatives is passed, couples whose passion and romance in marriage have turned sour may avoid legal battles and other complications over the division of their properties.

Davao Del Norte Rep. Pantaleon D. Alvarez has recently re-filed his proposal under House Bill (HB) 2262 to prevent a bitter property feud between estranged couples, saying it may even deter marriage for money.

The proposed bill seeks to amend Article 75 of Title IV of the Family Code mandating that in the absence of a marriage settlement—better known as “prenuptial agreement”—all properties brought into the marriage, including those acquired during the period, shall be governed by the system of absolute community or co-owned by the couple in equal shares.

Alvarez said that while at first glance, the provision of the law seems to be a testament to the integrity of the Filipino family, it does not address the complicated realities facing marriages or relationships on the rocks. “ T he State must recognize that these realities are, in fact, burdensome and detrimental to the relations of less-than-ideal families and marriages. The contestation of property in the face

of a growing rift only breeds resentment,” A lvarez said

Under the bill

TO address these problems, the bill proposes to replace the regime of absolute community with that of total separation of property. “ This system provides that each spouse shall own, dispose of, possess, administer and enjoy his and her own property, without need for consent of the other.

Additionally, separate earnings shall be owned by each spouse separately,” Alvarez added.

The bill retains the provision of the Family Code allowing future couples to enter into a marriage settlement for a “regime of absolute community, conjugal partnership of gains, complete separation of property or any other regime.

Under the bill, future spouses may, in the marriage settlements, either in a separate document or as provided for in their application for marriage license or in the marriage license itself, agree upon the regime of absolute community, conjugal partnership of gains, complete separation of property, or any other regime.

The measure said in the absence of marriage settlements when the regime agreed upon is declared void, the default property regime shall be complete separation of property.

The bill makes it mandatory for the local civil registrar to provide the abovementioned marriage regime options in the application for marriage license.

Governing relations

THE measure also amends Article 147, first paragraph of Title IV of the Family Code of the Philippines.

The bill said when a man and a woman who are capacitated to marry each other, live exclusively with each other as husband and wife without the benefit of

Thursday, April 8, 2021

a marriage or under a void marriage, their respective wages and salaries earned in their individual capacity shall be owned by them under the regime of complete separation of property and the property acquired by both of them through their work or industry shall be governed by the rules on co- ownership.

The bill also said unless otherwise prescribed by special law, the parties applying for a marriage license before the local civil registrar shall accomplish a document expressing their choice of property regime, which shall govern their property relations within the marriage.

Also, it provides that should there be variations in property relation within the limits provided for in the Family Code of the Philippines, the parties shall submit an additional document containing the same to form part of the prenuptial agreement, which shall be attached to the application for issuance of a marriage license.

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ownership of the property they had before they got married.

In absolute communit y of property, spouses become coowners of properties they had separately owned at the time of the celebration of their marriage.

In complete separation of properties, each spouse retains individual ownership of the property that he or she brought into marriage as well as the property he or she had individually acquired thereafter.

Lawmakers’ view

THE Gabriela Partylist, together with the Makabayan bloc, is also pushing for the passage of HB 1142 amending Articles 96 and 124 of the Family Code of the Philippines.

According to the bloc, the Philippines was the first Asean country to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) in 1981.

Lawmakers said the Cedaw forming part of the law of the land has advanced amendments to or the repeal of the Philippine laws that reverberate; patriarchal culture in relation to employment, education, family relations and penal sanctions, among others.

As part of the commitments under the Cedaw as also echoed under the Magna Carta of Women of 2009, the bloc said the State is mandated to identify existing discriminatory laws and policies and to take measures so that they are changed, amended or completely repealed. In this regard, of particular application are Article 15 and Article 16 of the Cedaw.

Article 15 states that “State Parties shall accord women equality with men before the law” while Article 16 ensures equal legal capacities for women on civil matters including entry to contracts and property ownership, acquisition, management, administration enjoyment and disposition.

But the Makabayan bloc said the portion in Articles 96 and 124 of the Family Code, which gives preference to the husband’s decision over that of the wife in case of disagreement on the administration and enjoyment of the conjugal or community property, should be removed.

Gains, properties

THE proper t y reg ime for m should be duly notarized and registered with the local civil registry of the place where the application for issuance of a marriage license is sought. The absence of registration will not affect the validity of the agreement between the parties but will no prejudice their creditors.

Alvarez explained that in the interest of protecting the family, both spouses shall remain legally bound to provide for the support of the family through their separate properties.

In the Philippines, there are three property regimes, namely: “conjugal partnership of gains,” “absolute community property” and “complete separation of properties.”

In conjugal partnership of gains, spouses retain individual

Enjoy, encourage

BM GRAPHICS: JOB RUZGAL

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace

TheBroaderLook

THE law ma kers sa id amendments are necessar y in order to preserve the heart of these articles, which is to give joint administration of conjugal or community property to both the wife and the husband.

By so doing, they added preferential treatment of the husband’s decision over that of the wife in case of disagreement will not only be removed, harmony between them will also be encouraged.

More significantly, they said conjugal or community properties will also be preserved and safeguarded from unilateral and reckless decisions that are often resorted to when conflict occurs between wife and husband.

Under their HB 1142, the administration and enjoyment of the community property shall belong to both spouses jointly.

The bill said that in the event, however, that one spouse is incapacitated or otherwise unable to participate in the administration of the common properties, the other spouse may assume sole powers of administration. This power does not include disposition or encumbrance without authority of the court of the written consent of the other spouse.

Recently, the House Committee on Revision of Laws created a technical working group to further study and consolidate the said bills.

The members of the Makabayan bloc include Gabriela Rep. Arlene D. Brosas, Act Teachers Rep. France L. Castro, Kabataan Rep. Sarah Jane I. Elago, Bayan Muna Reps. Carlos Isagani T. Zarate, Eufemina C. Cullamat and Ferdinand R. Gaite.

A10 Thursday, April 8, 2021 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Don’t drop your guard

T

he arrival of Covid vaccines gave the world hope that we may be able to finally defeat the virus.

Currently, more than 689 million doses have been administered across 153 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. Although there were initial reports of possible side effects, the jabs showed signs of being able to protect people from getting sick. This prompted some countries to ease restrictions. With the increased movement of people, most everyone dropped their guard and removed their face masks. No more social distancing. Then the inevitable happened—infections surged in most countries that opened up.

India on Monday reported 103,558 new Covid infections, according to data from the federal Health Ministry. The record increase in cases pushed India to lock down Mumbai and ordered offices to work from home and shut malls and restaurants through April.

On April 5, the Associated Press reported that European countries are trying to tamp down a surge in Covid-19 cases by ramping up vaccinations, hoping to spare hospitals from becoming overwhelmed by the pandemic’s latest deadly wave of infections. France’s health minister warned that the number of intensive care unit patients could match levels from a year ago.

From the Associated Press: “The crush of coronavirus patients has been relentless for hospitals in Poland, where daily new infections hit records of over 35,000 on two recent days and the government ordered new restrictions to prevent large gatherings.”

On Wednesday, Brazil, which has a population of 212 million, reported more than 4,000 daily Covid deaths for the first time as the pandemic continues to rage across Latin America’s largest nation.

Bloomberg said Brazil’s Health Ministry registered 4,195 fatalities on Tuesday, bringing the total since the virus first arrived to 336,947. It’s the second highest tally globally, trailing only the US. Cases surged by 86,979 in the past 24 hours, pushing the toll to 13.1 million.

Here’s how Covid-19 ravaged some countries: The US, which is the richest and most powerful country on earth, reported 556,000 deaths and almost 40 million infections.

Mexico, which has a population of 128 million, reported 205,000 Covid deaths.

Britain, which has a population of 67 million, recorded almost 127,000 coronavirus deaths, the highest toll in Europe.

Italy, which as a population of 60 million, suffered 112,000 Covid deaths.

In the Philippines, rising Covid infections prompted President Duterte to put Metro Manila and four nearby provinces under enhanced community quarantine from March 29 to April 11. On Tuesday, news reports said the country posted a “record high” 382 Covid deaths, as cumulative total coronavirus infections soared to 812,760. The death toll on Tuesday stood at 13,817, or 1.7 percent of the country’s Covid cases. A Department of Health bulletin on April 6 puts the scary news in proper context: “The number of deaths reported today [382] already includes the [341] deaths not reported in previous counts.”

Do the math. The 382 Covid deaths on Tuesday can’t be a “record high” because they include 341 deaths not previously reported. Obviously, we are not one of the best countries as far as handling the pandemic is concerned. However, we’re not a failure either. As one BusinessMirror columnist loves to say, TGYF—Thank God You’re Filipino.

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Money isn’t everything if . . .

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

I

t is easy for me to be convinced that there is a conspiracy to keep people poor, or at least “not rich.”

You find it manifested in many ways. “I hope everybody could get rich and famous and will have everything they ever dreamed of so they will know that it’s not the answer.” That wise thought is from the actor Jim Carrey who has a net worth of $180 million. Mr. Carrey has not yet provided a timetable of when he intends to retire to a monastery in Tibet.

Then there is Chuck Feeney, cofounder of giant Duty Free Shoppers.

“He gave his money away to charity, has nothing left, and couldn’t be happier.” “Nothing left” is not exactly accurate. Feeney donated the last of his $8 billion in 2020 and still has a net worth of $2 million. And he is 90 years old.

Public Notice. If I make it to 90 years old with $2 million in my pocket, I guarantee you that “I couldn’t be happier.”

“Rich” people are fond of saying things like “money cannot buy

health.” But money can buy your heart by-pass surgery, maintenance meds, and a new set of teeth. “Money can’t buy a good relationship.” What are the two things that married couples around the world most fight about? Money and sex.

“Money can’t buy you time.”

But what money can buy is time being with your children instead of working 24/7. My absolute favorite is “money can’t buy peace of mind.” Tell that to the man awake at night figuring out how to buy vitamins for his pregnant wife, or

the mother counting coins to pay for school tuition.

I prefer these thoughts from rich people. Malcolm S. Forbes: “Money isn’t everything as long as you have enough.” Kanye West: “Money isn’t everything but not having it is.”

Fortunately, there have been times in my life as a responsible adult when I have been broke. By that I mean forced to choose between eating or sleeping in bed. Having money is better.

However, there is validity to this: “Obsession over money and wealth is unhealthy.” People obsess over their hair, a cat, sports, and maybe the worst of all, politics. In my opinion though, “money” is the most difficult thing to be obsessive about because, unlike all the others, getting money requires hard work and most people are incredibly lazy.

Anything that is taken to the extreme is not good and with money it does not matter if it is hoarding or spending. “Workaholism” is a sign of a money disorder when working and making money is the center of your life. Perhaps the worst “obsession” with money is feeling guilt or shame around having money.

The experts say that you have a

problem when “you can’t define what having ‘enough’ money means.” But that is nonsense for the overwhelming majority of us. We know exactly what “enough” is. It is money for our children’s education, a permanent home, a regular family vacation and a secure retirement.

Of course, money isn’t everything and only a fool would think so. But what you should do is go out and make more money, even as much as you can. Buy houses and cars, and eat at expensive restaurants, and then you will realize that money is not all there is to life.

But what you will realize is that money gives you freedom and options. You will also realize that success or fulfillment is about living a great lifestyle. It is about being healthy, spending time with the right people, enjoying the moment, and having fun.

And another truth of life is that as your wealth and understanding of that wealth increases, the more generous and philanthropic you will become.

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

Variants may be driving India’s Covid surge, but it can’t know without tests

By Bibhudatta Pradhan & Dhwani Pandya Bloomberg Opinion

I

ndia’s failure to quickly examine Covid-19 samples for new variants risks hurting its battle against a record surge of infections, with scientists warning the delays could damage everything from vaccine efficacy to effective hospital treatments.

The South Asian nation has tested less than 1 percent of its positive samples, according to government data, compared to the UK, which has sequenced 8 percent of infections, and 33 percent in the last week, the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium said. The US last month reported it was sequencing about 4 percent of its 400,000 weekly new cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted.

India reported more than 115,000 new daily infections on Wednesday, taking its tally of cases to 12.8 million, behind Brazil and the US. Its wealthiest state Maharashtra has emerged as the epicenter, forcing the government to halt all non-essential services, order private companies to work from home, and shut malls and restaurants through April. Other states have also imposed restrictions, though none as severe.

After new variants from the UK were discovered in several inbound passengers, India set up a consor-

tium of 10 state-run laboratories to sequence positive tests samples in December. However, between January and March the country has only studied 11,064 of its samples, the Ministry of Health said at a briefing on March 30, which is less than 0.6 percent over that period.

The resurgence in cases could hurt nascent growth in Asia’s third-largest economy, which had slumped into a historic recession last year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a strict nationwide lockdown. Genetic sequencing of test samples helps catch new variants quickly as the virus mutates, allowing countries to rework their virus strategies based on the new strains.

But surveillance is patchy globally and scientists warn that dangerous mutations are probably spreading undetected.

Variant worries

India doesn’t have enough data on the new variants to explain the

steep, nine-fold jump in infections from around 11,000 daily new cases in early February, said Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan.

“We are essentially reverse engineering to explain the features of the virus curve as we do not have credible data on variants of concern and genomic surveillance,” Mukherjee said. “The more you let the infection spread the more chances of the virus mutating.”

In India, 807 cases related to UK variants, 47 from the South African strain and one from the Brazilian form have been detected as of March 30, according to the Health Ministry, which has maintained the rise in new infections is not linked to new variants. Studies suggest some of these new strains are more contagious, with evidence pointing to one of them being more deadly and another driving reinfections.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health did not respond to e-mailed requests for comment.

India has enough laboratory capacity for genome sequencing, but getting a wide spread of regular samples from across the country— including the rural hinterland and potential super-spreader events —has been a problem, said Rakesh

Mishra, the director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, one of the labs working to sequence positive virus samples.

“We are not sequencing for the sake of numbers, we are sequencing in a meaningful way,” Mishra said.

Virus surge

AS infections spiral, five states are in the middle of elections with thousands of voters thronging to campaign rallies, while the northern Uttarakhand is marking the monthlong Hindu pilgrimage of the Kumbh Mela, which draws hundreds of thousands of people to the banks of the Ganges River.

It is this increased movement of people, along with the slow pace of vaccinations and slipping compliance with masking and social distancing that’s contributing to the new spike, said Rijo M. John, a Kerala-based economist and public health policy analyst who consults for the World Health Organization. “While the second wave so far has been less lethal, it is all set to be worse than the first wave.”

The word’s biggest vaccination drive, which began on Jan. 16, has failed to reach the government’s own target, dogged by an over dependency on technology and the absence of See “Variants,” A11

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A year of ‘excellently’ living dangerously

The wounds of the risen Lord Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Alálaong Bagá

Val A. Villanueva

Businesswise

I

T has been more than a year since the pandemic started wreaking havoc around the world. While other countries seem to have gotten some semblance of normalcy, the Philippines has yet to strike a good balance between economic survival and health issues.

The result is a distorted picture of a zero-sum game in which the Duterte administration loses in both health and economic fronts.

Since March 2020, the country has been placed by the government under the world’s longest and strictest lockdown, with the end view of slowing down the spread of Covid-19, but at the expense of paralyzing the wheels of commerce. We now find ourselves in another lockdown from March 29 to April 11, undergoing the same anti-pandemic formula which has not proved effective in the first place.

Such anemic pandemic response proved to be both disastrous on the economy, with many big and small businesses falling in the red, and inutile—with the lockdown failing to stop the spread of the coronavirus that has morphed into different and more contagious variants. Palace spokesman Harry Roque’s sidesplitting boast that the government pandemic management has been “excellent” only rubbed salt to injury. Not only patently false, it is insulting and insensitive, reflecting the depths this government will plumb in order to spruce up its messy and inept pandemic response.

The 2020 lockdown, which bolted down 75 percent of the economy, brought huge losses in jobs and income. The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) estimated that around P2.1 billion in wages are lost per day for every week of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila and adjacent regions. During general community quarantine (GCQ), a looser form of lockdown, the amount is P700 million a day. According to an Asian Development Bank Institute study, around half of Filipino households that lose their income amid the coronavirus pandemic would have enough resources to cover necessary expenses for only up to two weeks.

Defeating the objective of the lockdown is the government’s paltry and tardy cash aid to poor households.

Economists believe that the situation could not prevent people from going out to look for work. ING Bank Manila senior economist Nicholas Mapa was quoted as saying that “authorities should act fast and give out financial assistance if they want [the rate of] infections to slow down.” This month, the government will disburse from the unused funds under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act an allotment of P1,000 in cash or in kind per person.

“The longer we delay stamping out the virus,” Mapa pointed out, “the higher the probability of a return to ECQ, and a quick revert to reopen the economy may backfire once more and result in a third installment of the ECQ series.” The ECQ, which is in effect in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite, Ateneo de Manila University economist Alvin Ang noted, will “affect the recovery and make it slower than what most anticipated.”

The Philippines only tasted a fleeting pandemic respite—still way below accepted standards—late last year when it logged a daily average of 2,000 to 3,000 active cases. But as businesses started to reopen and more people were allowed to move freely, the mutated virus quickly spread with daily active cases breaching the 10,000 mark. As of April 6, the country had 812,760 total active cases, 13,817 deaths, and 646,381 recovered patients.

By end-April, the number of Covid infections is projected to rupture the one million-mark. OCTA, an independent research group, said on Monday that, while the rate of infections has “started to slow down” in some Metro Manila cities, other parts of the region are recording “rapid increases” of new infections.

“The ECQ brought down the repro-

duction number or the average number of people infected by one person to 1.6 from 1.9,” said OCTA Research fellow Guido David. Although it is still unclear how fast the infection rate will decrease, David cited that “right now, the trajectory we’re seeing is maybe 1.3 or 1.2 by the end of this coming week.”

A February survey report published by the Asean Studies Centre of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore—which the Duterte administration scoffed at—reveals that 53.7 percent of Filipinos are not too happy with the government’s pandemic response. The results make the respondents the most disapproving within the region of their leaders’ moves to address the health crisis.

Queried on what the government should do to better address the crisis, 72 percent of the disapproving Filipino respondents said that scientists and doctors must contribute more to public policy discussions. Some 58.3 percent said that the country must “invest in early warning systems for pandemic outbreak and research and development [R&D] for virus testing and vaccine development.”

The ECQ imposition comes on the heels of serious negligence: namely, the Philippine authorities’ failure to keep up with preventive measures adopted by neighboring countries and grossly underestimating the deadliness of the virus. What’s worse, instead of easing the overall burden that the virus unleashed on the country, the administration’s first and last resort—a variety of lockdown restrictions—has not only added a plethora of problems for the country, it failed to adequately address the primary crisis at hand: ensuring public health and safety.

In the immediate aftermath of the lockdown, Filipinos, especially those from poor families, faced the distressing prospect of contending with hunger. With no available sources of income and virtually nonexistent savings, many homeless people and slum dwellers bore the brunt of the ECQ. Everybody has high hopes that, with the anti-Covid vaccine worldwide rollout, a return to some semblance of normalcy would be just around the corner. Unfortunately, the government’s inept pandemic response seems to be closely hewed to militarism. This flawed handling of the pandemic has long-term repercussions that present quite a distressing picture, even beyond the quarantine.

It is a miserable one, blemished by a totalitarian signature, generating a global perception that the state is more committed to hauling people to jail and stuffing the wallets of Chinese businesses and their allies, rather than putting food on Filipino constituents’ tables.

Perhaps President Duterte is sidetracked by other issues, which to him have become personal: his relentless war on drugs and no-prisoners-taken stance against the armed wing of the Communist Party and its perceived supporters.

We’re now living in dangerous times. Alongside the pandemic, news stories of suspected drug addicts, lawyers, local politicians, media personalities getting waylaid or illegally arrested have been hogging the headlines. Now, death comes either from virus-containing droplets or the smoking guns of state actors. I cannot blame how some nations now perceive the Duterte administration as nothing but an expert in “painting houses.”

For comments and suggestions, e-mail me at mvala.v@gmail.com

Thursday, April 8, 2021 A11

T

he gospel reading (John 20:19-31) for the Second Sunday of Easter is repeated every year. Narrating two appearances by the risen Christ, the text gives the fulfillment of all his promises to his disciples: his abiding presence, the gift of the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sin, peace, and eternal life. The fourth gospel merges into one event Jesus’ resurrection, ascension, the gifting with the Spirit, and the send-off on mission.

The peace and the Holy Spirit Twice the risen Christ imparted and announced peace to his disciples. In the context of his victory, his peace (shalom) and joy are the signals of the messianic era (Isaiah 11) inaugurated by his death and resurrection. It is a peace based on an irrevocable reconciliation with God upon divine initiative. As a gift to humankind, it might and it would be broken again and again from below, but it is definitive and will ultimately triumph.

“Receive the Holy Spirit.” The mystery of Pentecost is already now part of the glory and victory of the resurrection. In bestowing the Spirit upon his followers, Jesus is portrayed as fulfilling the prophecies about the

messiah who would pour out his spirit upon all humankind and within his people (Joel 3:1; Ezekiel 36:27). Jesus in victory empowered, inspired and anointed his disciples with the same Spirit of God that brought forth order and life at the beginning of creation, and breathed life into created humanity, and anointed prophets, priests and kings, and God’s own servant (Isaiah 42:1).

Great importance is given to the wounds of Jesus. Jesus volunteered to show his disciples his pierced hands and wounded side. Their contact with his wounds was not only the answer to their fears and doubts, but also the guarantee to their future and for their mission. The wounds of his

No jobs on a dead planet

proactive measures to reduce vaccine hesitancy, John said.

India is vaccinating at an average

Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, from 5 to 6 a.m. on DWIZ 882, or by audio streaming on www.dwiz882.com.

respiratory diseases, increased electricity demand, and rising human heat stress. In addition, there are the problems associated with sea rise for the coastal cities.

Forced migration—Families have been moving out of places vulnerable to typhoons such as the coastal areas. Similarly, families have been moving out of mountainous and agricultural lands that are suffering from droughts. They are climate refugees in every sense of the term. Relatedly, the decision of the more capable members of poor families to accept menial and low-paying jobs overseas can be interpreted as a response to job and income displacement due to climate disasters.

Impact on human health—Climate change naturally affects human health. The World Health Organization has been investigating the climate impacts on health such as diarrheal diseases, stunting among children, heat-related mortality among the elderly and rise of vectorborne diseases such as malaria and dengue. On diarrhea, the experience of Pakistan in 2010, after a recordbreaking flood affected 20 million people and caused 1,800 fatalities, indicates that the floods triggered the outbreak of diarrhea and other diseases, especially among the children. Of course, heat waves are also major killers. In 2015 in India, with ambient temperature reaching 48 degree Celsius for several days, more than 2,300 people died due to heat stroke and dehydration.

The ADB also pointed out that Asia’s global value chain production, the internationalized system of industrial production involving a chain of factories located in different Asian countries, is at risk, especially when there are climate disasters in one or several GVC locations.

One can go on and on listing the adverse impact of global warming on jobs, health and overall wellness of the working people of every society. The challenge is how should the workers’ movements, representing the working people, act on a climate emergency that is killing jobs?

Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo is a Professor Emeritus of University of the Philippines.

For comments, please write to reneofreneo@ gmail.com.

rate of 2.6 million doses per day.

At this pace, it will take another two years to cover 75 percent of its population. About 5 percent have received one dose and only about 0.8 percent have received the two shots required, according to the

Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker.

People had dropped their guard after seeing those with mild Covid-19 cases recover, said Jayaprakash Muliyil, chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee in the National Institute of Epidemiology.

“So the group of people who were very careful, who were taking utmost precautions, they suddenly changed behavior,” Muliyil said. “For three months there was this tantalizing fall in cases, and the average person believed it was gone.”

T

he International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) summarized in one sentence the ultimate outcome of an unmitigated warming of Planet Earth: There are no jobs on a dead planet.

continued from A10

The second salutation of peace and the gifting with the Holy Spirit is together with the mandate for the disciples to go on mission. As Jesus was sent by the Father, so now his followers are sent forth to share in his work of salvation. The peace they receive and the Spirit given to them should mean healing and forgiveness to sinners they encounter, both within and outside the Christian community. The fruits of Jesus’ victory over sin and death are to be shared with all who believe. The rabbinical terminology of “binding and loosing,” i.e. retaining and forgiving sins, means acceptance into, or exclusion from, the community of Christ’s saving presence.

The commissioning of the disciples is illumined by the story of Thomas. It is a case both of encour-

ties in the dry lands? They will be wiped out by killer heat waves, unbreathable air, droughts, collapse of agriculture, famine, etc. End of the world, indeed?

All these grim scenarios have captured the imagination of the climate scientists and the climate social activists, who are all working hard in pushing governments and international development agencies to exert extra efforts to save the world from a climate catastrophe. The problem is that for many among the workers and ordinary citizens in different Asian countries, the climate crisis is seen as only one among the “future” threats that Asian governments have to address. It is not comparable to the Covid infection or job displacement arising from the pandemic, both of which require immediate attention and action.

Hence, Asian workers’ movements— trade and peasant unions, street vendor and home-based workers organizations, transport associations, cooperatives, etc.—hardly submit any formal petitions for their governments to act now, that is, to fulfill the mitigation-adaptation pledges they have made under the Paris Agreement of 2015. Act now to prevent a catastrophic future.

So how can the climate change mitigation-adaptation program be transformed into a mainstream must-do advocacy work for the workers’ movements? And how can they involve in this battle the solo, micro and small entrepreneurs that are equally affected by the climate crisis?

One good approach is to highlight the fact that the climate crisis has been happening in the present tense, and the jobs have been collapsing—now—in various sectors of the economy due to this crisis. The point is that global warming is not a new

LABOREM EXERCENS

Variants. . .

The mission

agement for doubting and struggling believers of all ages, and of clarification to a problem that started when the authoritative eyewitnesses to the resurrection have passed away already. Faith is not an automatic result of hearing the testimony of eyewitnesses; Thomas refused to believe what the other disciples said they saw. Neither is faith guaranteed by seeing firsthand; even when Thomas saw the Lord he still had to come to faith. Thomas was moved to faith, not because he actually touched Jesus (apologetically, the disciples did not just imagine the appearances of the risen Lord), but because Jesus challenged him: “Believe!” Faith is a personal response to a personal invitation.

Alálaong bagá, it is natural enough in life to rely on the guarantee of our senses, but our personal communion with the risen Jesus calls for a supernatural act of trust beyond our doubts and questions. To accept Jesus as “my Lord and my God,” finally trusting together with Thomas, is to believe that Jesus is one and equal with the almighty Father of all peoples. It is to be included in Jesus’ beatitude: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

phenomenon. It has been building up since the start of the industrial era. The problem is that the accumulation of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the consequent warming of the Earth are now at a perilous level. The disruptive and deadly impact of climate change is already being manifested in the heat waves, droughts, strong typhoons, warmer days and rising seas occurring around the world.

The most concrete evidence of the risks associated with climate change is the increasing number and destructive power of typhoons or cyclones visiting a number of Asian countries. Supertyphoon Nargis in Myanmar in 2008 alone killed over 130,000 people. The Philippines, which averages 20 typhoons a year, was devastated in 2013 by Haiyan (Yolanda), with a super 5 category.

Yolanda killed over 10,000 people in one city, Tacloban, and wrought havoc on half of the archipelago.

As outlined in the IPCC’s 2014 Synthesis Report, the following CC-related phenomena are already affecting people’s health and livelihoods around the world: Heat waves/warm spells—wild fires, reduced agricultural yields, increased water demand, deteriorating quality of water, health problems (especially for the elderly), reduced quality of life; Droughts—land degradation, lower yields, crop failure, livestock deaths, more water stress, food and water shortage, water-and-foodborne diseases, water shortage in communities; and Sea rise—salinization of irrigation water, reduced fresh-water availability, risks associated with increased flooding, reduced coastal protection.

On the climate crisis in Asia, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) came out with a detailed discussion of climate risks facing the region in the book A Region at Risk: The Human Dimensions of Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific (2017). The book highlighted the following: Vulnerability of urban areas—Half of the population of Asia-Pacific are now in the cities and urbanized towns. Soaring urban temperatures put people at risk to various problems: deteriorating air quality,

Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo

Climate scientists gathered by the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) agree that should there be no decisive efforts of mankind to limit the rise in the global temperature to less than 2.0 degrees Celsius, Planet Earth will be dead within a century or less. Parts of the planet will be uninhabitable, and the other parts inhospitable. This, in brief, is what the five major reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the UN, summarized in a 2014 Synthesis Report, have been saying: end of human life within a century unless governments around the world get united in decisively implementing the needed mitigation and adaptation programs outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

As it is, the Internet is full of climate-related doomsday stories.

Scary but they happen to be backed up by climate science. Climate scientists themselves keep on projecting the different catastrophic scenarios.

Example: sea rise, which has been happening gradually, can soar up by as much as three meters. Asian mega cities like Metro Manila, Singapore, Penang, Jakarta, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Mumbai, Chennai, Chittagong and Dhaka shall live in a watery world.

The accelerated sea rise is bound to happen, partly due to the melting of the gigantic permafrosts in the Arctic and Antarctic poles. In turn, the melting of the permafrosts can release huge amount of frozen methane (now considered by climate scientists as more potent than carbon dioxide as a heat trapper). Hence, the melting of the permafrosts and ice caps around the world is bound to intensify further the global warming process.

And what happens to communi-

passion proclaimed the continuity between the cross and his glorification, as the joyful recognition of his disciples proved. From Jesus’ pierced body on the cross flowed blood and water (John 19:34), in allusion to the Eucharist and baptism, the sources of life for the believers up to the end of time. And the connection is clear that the Holy Spirit now imparted to the disciples is poured out upon humankind by virtue of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

A12 Thursday, April 8, 2021

Govt crafts austerity moves to find Bayanihan 3 sources

T

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is ironing out with the Executive branch the issuance of an Executive Order on “austerity measures” to help finance Bayanihan 3 or a supplemental budget, which lawmakers deem needed to help both businesses and workers as the National Capital Region and four nearby provinces were placed on two-week lockdown to stop the surge of Covid cases..

Budget Secretary Wendel E. Avisado said on Wednesday they aim to gather the funds by “re-channeling” the budget allotted to “nonessential items and programs” of the government, including travel expenses and budget for seminars and representation.

“We are working it out at the executive department—an executive order for the observance of austerity measures and most likely to sweep some funds that are available at the moment from

national government agencies, and government-owned and -controlled corporations, and those that can be generated by Department of Finance [DOF],” he told the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.

While DBM is open to having a supplemental budget or the Bayanihan 3, Avisado said they are also trying to determine sources of funding for these. “[We are doing this] precisely to come up with a more determinable amount with which to match

t he ef for t s of Cong ress be cause there are varying amounts insofar as the various bills filed are being currently considered,” he said. “We have a high of P600 billion, P420 billion and there’s a little over P200 or 300 billion, so we are trying to really look out what will be the appropriate or approximate amount that the DOF can raise and those that we can also gather from the available funds of various national government agencies to help finance the Bayanihan 3,” he said.

However, Avisado clarified that the infrastructure projects under the government’s Build, Build, Build program will not be affected by the austerity measures.

“As much as we can, no, because these are what we have precisely identified as activities and projects that will help us recover and [help] the economy to bounce back,” he said.

Senator Manny Pacquiao has filed Senate Bill No. 2123, seeking a P335 billion expanded stimulus package.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is seeking the passage

of P420-billion stimulus package under Bayanihan 3.

Earlier, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said the DOF assured the House there are efforts to identify funding for Bayanihan 3.

To partially fund the government’s response to the pandemic last year, the DBM also resorted to belt-tightening measures by halting the release of 35 percent of programmed appropriations under the 2020 national budget, and discontinuing at least 10 percent of the total released a l lot me nt s for m a i nte n a nce and other operating expenses (MOOE), and capita l out lays (CO) of all national government departments and agencies and operating units for programs and projects.

Discontinued were the unnecessary local and foreign travels by the government; purchase of motor vehicles except for ambulances and those required by the military and uniformed personnel for the direct exercise of their public safety functions; and hiring of job orders, except those considered as frontliners, among others.

WB TO GREENLIGHT $4B IN VACCINE FINANCING FOR 50 COUNTRIES IN ’21

By Cai U. Ordinario

T

@caiordinario

HE World Bank Group disclosed that it will be approving $4 billion worth of support for vaccine financing in 50 countries this year.

In a pre-recorded event ahead of the World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings 2021, World Bank Group President David Malpass said he has already approved 10 vaccine financing operations.

Malpass said the bank is slated to approve 10 more country-specific financing efforts in April and another 30 in May and June this year.

“Commitments rose 65 percent in 2020 from 2019. On vaccines, working closely with Gavi, WHO [World Health Organization], and Unicef [United Nations Children’s Fund], we’ve conducted over 100 capacity assessments, many even more before vaccines were available,” Malpass said.

Apart from vaccines, Malpass said the Washington-based multilateral development bank (MDB)

is also finalizing its new climate change action plan to greatly boost its climate financing.

Efforts to further vaccine financing and invest in green growth are crucial in recovering from the pandemic. Malpass said the bank is working toward achieving GRID: green, resilient, and inclusive development.

“We want to achieve as much impact as possible with the increased financing. Our plan identifies key priorities for action, with a focus on both adaptation and mitigation. It also includes a strong focus on a just transition from coal, and we’re working toward aligning our financial flows with the objectives of the Paris agreement,” Malpass said.

Inter nationa l Monetar y Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said green investments will help boost recovery efforts.

Over a period of 15 years, Georgieva said a green investment push in a modest amount can generate 0.7-percent boost to growth and create many green jobs.

Continued on A2

FOI law to halt graft related to pandemic response, solons say W ITH the start of committee deliberations on the Freedom of Information (FOI) bills, lawmakers on Wednesday renewed their call for the immediate passage of the measure, saying the “Covid-19 pandemic has created more opportunities for corruption to flourish.”

House Deputy Speaker Bro. Eddie Villanueva said the country needs the FOI law “now more than ever before.”

According to Villanueva, the current pandemic has caused the government to have expanded budgets and acquire more loans in order to sustain Covid-19 response efforts.

“The large economic stimulus, the loans, the local and international contracts for vaccines and other healthcare supplies and facilities are always in danger of being ‘cash cows’ for opportunistic persons,” he said.

The House Committee on Public Information has started deliberations of various FOI bills filed at the House of Representatives, including his House Bill 1975.

“I beseech my fellow lawmakers to expedite passing this measure. If we will not have this FOI bill urgently passed into law, we will just continue to expose our government resources to be devoured by scrupulous and rent-seeking individuals—to the detriment of our Filipino people. We need to raise our demands of transparency and accountability now more than any time before,” said Villanueva, the House Deputy Speaker for Governance and Moral Uprightness.

“Social and physical distancing in this Covid-19 pandemic does not stop corruption; conversely, it even opens opportunities for shady deals to flourish behind people’s backs. We badly need a mechanism to put officials accountable even while people are within the confines of their homes. The FOI will bridge that gap,” he added.

The FOI bill provides people the legal presumption in favor of access to information. This means that the government agency has the burden of proving that a certain document or information must not be disclosed based on a list of exemptions provided also in the bill.

Villanueva said the bill listed clear exemptions that will not be covered by the policy of full disclosure. Among these exemptions are information relating to national security, right to

privacy on personal and sensitive information, trade and financial secrets as well as privileged communication.

The measure likewise provides for the procedure of access by which citizens can obtain public information as well as legal remedies in case of denials.

“The free flow of information will also be our vehicle towards recovery.

Unhampered access to information will lead to better policies, informed decisions of the people as well as fair level playing field for business firms and other economic entities,” added the CIBAC lawmaker.

The bill also galvanizes the policy of full disclosure in the government by obligating certain information to be mandatorily and automatically disclosed in government agencies websites or places of display.

These include the Sworn Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), bids and bidding results for government projects, procurement contracts entered by the government either locally or internationally, bilateral or multilateral agreements, and loans from local and international financial institutions, among others.

There will be administrative and criminal liabilities for any government officer or employee who withholds information contrary to the provisions of the bill, said Villanueva.

Parañaque City Rep. Joy Tambunting, author of House Bill 644, said the adoption of a policy of full public disclosure of government transactions guarantees the right of the people to information on matters of public concern. As of March 31, Presidential Communications Undersecretary and FOI Program Director Kris Ablan told lawmakers they received a total of 87,417 FOI requests.

For the classification of eFOI users, 12,388 users (29 percent) were coming from the academe, 8571 (20 percent) were from the government, 4615 (11 percent) were from the local government, 2678 (6 percent) were from civil society organizations, 743 (1 percent) were from the media, and 13,739 (32 percent) were from other users.

According to Ablan, the success rate for FOI requests is at 48 percent.

He said a total of 4,206 FOI receiving officers have been designated across government agencies, while 520 agencies are currently onboard the eFOI portal.

Taguig Mayor Lino Cayetano led the distribution of Emergency Assistance from the National Government in his city on Wednesday. At least 2,500 families were given aid in Barangay Ligid and Barangay Daang Hari, based on the list given by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) National Capital Region of communities affected by the enhanced community quarantine imposed to arrest a surge in Covid-19 cases. ROY DOMINGO

ADB ramps up help for DMCs to cover SDG backlog

By Cai U. Ordinario

T

@caiordinario

HE Asian Development Bank (ADB) committed to scale up its efforts to help developing member countries (DMCs) get back on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In the first SDG Dialogue on Wednesday, ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said scaling up the Manila-based multilateral development bank’s efforts will focus on partnerships, particularly for mobilizing resources.

This is the reason for ADB’s creation of a regional hub on domestic resource mobilization and international tax cooperation in September 2020. This regional hub will be formally launched at the ADB’s 54th Annual Meeting next month.

“ADB is scaling up its effort in this area through partnerships

with governments, businesses and international peer organizations,” Asakawa said. “This hub will create an inclusive and regional tax platform for strategic dialogue, institutional development, and knowledge sharing and cooperation.”

Asakawa said efforts to help DMCs get back on track on the SDGs also include promoting green growth while responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said ADB hopes to strike a balance between its Covid-19 response and efforts to promote green growth in the region. Green growth can help the region respond to longterm issues on climate change and inequality.

Last year, Asakawa said, ADB’s commitments reached a “historic high” of $31.6 billion which included support for Covid-19 efforts in the region. ADB also plans on investing in knowledge-sharing

efforts and strengthening its partnerships with private and philanthropic organizations.

“The Asia and the Pacific has been a major engine of economic growth and made important progress in poverty reduction over the past decade. But even before the Covid-19 pandemic, the region was also falling short on all 17 SDGs,” Asakawa said.

“The Covid-19 crisis then laid bare underlying economic and social vulnerabilities that have hindered efforts to contain and overcome the pandemic. That is why it is imperative to renew our focus on the SDGs as countries seek to recover from Covid-19,” he added.

In the same dialogue, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme Helen Clark said that while many countries in the region have been successful in reducing poverty in

the past decade, pockets of poverty remain and must be addressed.

She added that SDG efforts moving forward cannot be “business as usual,” and there has to be a higher degree of vigilance and greater effort to achieve inclusivity and sustainability.

This can only be achieved by understanding the interconnectedness of policies and efforts to meet the SDGs. This is where organizations such as ADB can help by making countries aware of the “risks of misinformed development” and by providing the bigger picture.

“We’ve seen how this incredibly ill wind of Covid has thrown the world even further off course on the SDGs,” Clark said. “The SDGs had been in some trouble prior to Covid but then Covid came along and just hit the capacity to reach these goals even further away.”

Continued on A2

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

Thursday, April 8, 2021

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Pilipinas Shell allots ₧20B for business transformation

P

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

ilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. is setting aside as much as P20 billion to finance its 5-year strategic priorities, which include the construction of more import terminals, additional service stations and renewable energy (RE) investments.

“In the next 5 years, Pilipinas Shell will have three major changes in its strategic priorities. First is transforming its supply chain from manufacturing to full importation; second is changing its business model from retail to mobility; and third is shifting to lower carbon operations and introducing lower carbon products and services,” the company said in a statement.

The amount would be financed using internal funds, said company chief finance officer Rey Abilo.

Should there be a need to borrow, Pilipinas Shell has credit lines worth over P60 billion.

“We have over P60 billion of untapped credit lines. That’s our borrowing capacity for short and long term,” he said during an online press briefing.

Pilipinas Shell President and CEO Cesar Romero said yearly spending during the 5-year period starting this year would be P3 billion to P4

billion annually. Of which, 60 percent is allocated to retail business and 40 percent to trading and supply.

“In terms of investment, we are hoping that we would be able to continue with our investment profile anywhere from P3 to 4 billion per year for the next 5 years,” he said during the briefing, adding that the amount is “consistent” with previous years’ spending.

The difference now is that the amount would be utilized to invest more in retail and to improve the efficiency of the oil firm’s supply chain.

“Before, when had refinery the business, our spending was P1 billion per year just for asset integrity and basic maintenance. Whereas now, we will be spared of that value and could redeploy the capex to really value adding investments, either in terms of margin or revenue generation or in terms of cost reduction,” Romero said.

The oil firm’s retail business mod-

el will shift from a gas station to a mobility site, which will not only cater to cars and standard vehicles, but will also have offers in e-mobility for cyclists and pedestrian customers.

Pilipinas Shell aims to build 60 to 80 new sites per year to reach its overall target of having 1,500 mobility sites by 2025, achieving its goal to grow alongside the Philippine economy by increasing fuels volumes by about 4 percent per year and convenience retail profits by about 15 percent per year.

Shifts

Part of its 5-year growth strategy is the shift from a manufacturing supply chain to a full import supply chain, starting with the transformation of its Tabangao refinery. The 110,000 barrels per day refinery in Batangas ceased to operate in August last year.

“We will continue our investment in Tabangao. We have identified around one to two billion pesos for next three years to make it into a world-class facility,” Romero said.

From a refinery, the Tabangao facility is being transformed into a world-class Medium Range (MR) capable import terminal capable of handling at least 300,000 barrels per day.

Further, it will construct more MR capable import terminals to bring the number to five by 2025.

Pilipinas Shell currently has 3 operating import terminals in Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, and Subic. The additional two will be put up either in

Visayas or Mindanao.

“We believe that growth of the country will be in the south so it will be either Visayas or Mindanao.

It does not mean we will preclude investments in the north. We follow where we believe economic activity will grow. We believe five is a good number to allow us to have a network of import facilities,” said Romero.

Abilo said financing for the additional import terminals would likewise be sourced internally.

Pilipinas Shell is also gearing up to innovate low carbon and carbon offset products while shifting to low carbon operations. The initiatives include putting up electric vehicle charging stations; installation of solar panels in various service stations and import terminals; and implementing more sustainable hybrid-mini grids.

With the roll out of its 5-year strategic plans in full swing, the oil company is expecting to “go back to profitable levels” this year. Pilipinas Shell ended 2020 with a net loss of P16.18 billion due to one-time charges. A big chunk of the company’s net loss recorded last year stemmed from its decision to convert the refinery.

This cost the company about P12 billion. Also, about P4.8 billion was recorded as inventory loses due to the drastic decline in crude prices.

“We don’t expect to have that again in 2021. With our strategy in place, hopefully we can go back to profitable levels. Our volume aspiration is to grow in line with the GDP,” said Romero.

Cebu Landmasters income down 8% R

egional property developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) on Wednesday said its income for 2020 fell 8 percent to P1.84 billion, from the previous year’s P2.01 billion, as the lockdowns affected its operations.

The company said its revenues fell 2 percent to P8.29 billion from P8.49 billion in the previous year, mainly as a result of the slowdown in construction activities due to a series of lockdowns. Most of its revenues came from real estate sale which fell 3 percent to P8.14 billion from the previous year’s P8.39 billion, while its rental revenues declined 13 percent to P55.2 million

from the previous P63.2 million.

“We have learned much from this pandemic and look forward to offering safe and healthy homes and communities to address not only the great housing backlog in VisMin but also what families really need,” CLI Chairman and CEO Jose Soberano III said.

Reservation sales grew 12 percent to P14.25 billion from P12.67 billion in 2019. The company’s economic housing brand Casa Mira accounted for 69 percent of 2020 sales; its mid-market Garden Series, 19 percent; and high-end Premier Masters at 10 percent.

Strong sales take-up also result-

Century Properties names new director

Firms to attract talent via wellbeing programs

C

entury Properties Group Inc. (CPG) said its board has elected Aileen Christel U. Ongkauko as an independent director of the company.

Ongkauko’s appointment to the board took effect on April 7. She will take over the position vacated by Jose Roberto R. Antonio, who resigned in February after his privatelyowned Revolution Precrafted Philippines faced a number of issues including complaints from a number of contractors and suppliers about unmet contracts.

Jose Roberto or Robbie is the son of former United States Ambassador Jose E.B. Antonio, the chairman of CPG. Ongkauko, 52, is concurrently the group president and CEO of La Filipina Uy Gongco Corp., a diversified agribusiness, livestock and food company established more than a century ago. She is also a director of South Balibago Resources Inc. and Ateneo Family Business Development Center.

Ongkauko was also former director of Aboitiz Equity Ventures International, Aboitiz Power International, Pilmico International and advisor to the board for Weather Philippines Inc. She graduated magna cum laude and was a Departmental Awardee from Ateneo de Manila University, where she earned her degree in Bachelor of Arts in Management Economics. VG Cabuag

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

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ajority of businesses in the Philippines aim to employ wellbeing programs in their quest to attract talent into their organizations, according to a study by global advisor and broking company Willis Towers Watson.

In a statement, Willis Towers Watson said 85 percent of Filipino businesses aim to create these programs. Majority of the firms included in the survey recognized that rising stress is a top concern for employees.

Concerns surrounding stress in the workplace have increased due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Work-related stress was a top concern for only 73 percent of employers 5 years ago while today, it has risen to 83 percent.

“The senior leadership of companies is genuinely interested in the health and wellbeing of their employees and families.

Five years ago, over half of the employers in the Philippines indicated that, while they offered various programs, they did not have a formally articulated wellbeing strategy.

Today, not only do many employers have a strategy in place, 85 percent plan to use it as a differentiator to compete for talent in

ed in unrealized revenue of P20.4 billion, the company said.

“There is a real estate boom and a global trend towards safer and healthier homes. With CLI’s agility, we’re able to take advantage of this new kind of demand,” Soberano said.

CLI ended the year with an additional 4,300 homes added to its inventory spread over 9 projects worth P11.4 billion. Newly launched projects were 71 percent sold by the end of 2020.

This year, the company hopes to grow by 15 percent to 20 percent, as it will continue its expansion, but mostly relying on real estate sales

three years,” said Susan La Chica, Head of Health & Benefits, Philippines, Willis Towers Watson.

“The pandemic has created an opportune time for companies to focus on developing a longer-term health and wellbeing roadmap. A proactive and holistic approach to strengthening the health and wellbeing ‘core’ is required to produce a positive business impact.”

In the past, measuring the success of their wellbeing programs, the survey found that the majority of employers adopt employee listening strategies to get to the heart of employees’ needs and wants.

Meanwhile, around 76 percent of employees use claims data to assess utilization of services, drug compliance and gaps in care.

The percentage of employers who use a value-on-investment approach to measuring success has increased from 11 percent in 2015 to 26 percent in 2020.

“Fragmented programs that act as band aids for short-term concerns are no longer sufficient. Many employers are now acting with urgency as they look to take their wellbeing programs to the next level and also address the changing needs and demographics of today’s employees,” said Demosthenes Villarin Jr., Medical Director and Head of Business De-

rather than on recurring income, such as offices.

CLI has a total of 25 projects in the pipeline; 15 of these are P19billion residential developments that will be launched in 2021, supplying over 7,500 units to the sustainable housing market.

A total of P12 billion will be spent for capital expenditures in 2021 to expand the firm’s landbank and complete its on-going development including Latitude Corporate Center which is expected to increase total gross leasable area to more than 28,000 square meters, almost double from 2020. VG Cabuag

velopment, Health and Benefits, Philippines, Willis Towers Watson.

Employers are now taking a more holistic approach to employees’ wellbeing, making it a priority for their organizations in the next three years. This holistic approach intends to go beyond physical wellbeing and extend to emotion, financial, and social aspects.

This approach, however, has a price. Rising costs, some 69 percent of employers admitted, is a major challenge.

Half of employers also mentioned the lack of data to measure outcomes and behavior change while a third cited the lack of appropriate technology.

“With both costs and employee workforce risks such as stress rising, it’s more important than ever to ensure that the investment into wellbeing goes to the right places. And while there’s still room for improvement, it’s clear that employers understand the need to measure their programs using both financial as well as non-financial metrics,” Villarin said.

A total of 122 companies in the Philippines participated in the Wellbeing Diagnostic Survey conducted between October and November 2020. The survey sought to better understand organizations’ approaches to wellbeing in the workplace.

Villar still PHL’s richest in Forbes’ billionaires list

By VG Cabuag @villygc

M

anuel B. Villar Jr., a former politician who is currently managing the family’s real estate and retail businesses, is still the richest man in the Philippines, according to Forbes’ billionaires list for 2021.

Villar, 71, is the Philippines’s richest for the third consecutive year and the youngest among the country’s tycoons to hold the distinction.

He was 69 years old when he first reached the top of the list in 2019. In comparison, shopping mall taipan Henry Sy Sr., who topped the list for 11 consecutive years (2007-2018), Lucio Tan, John Gokongwei and Jaime Zobel de Ayala, were older than Villar when they were named as the Philippines’s wealthiest.

Forbes’ billionaires list ranked Villar at 352nd in the global list with an estimated net worth of $7.2 billion.

Port and gambling magnate Enrique Razon Jr. is the second richest Filipino and 561st in the global list with a net worth of $5 billion, followed by Lucio Tan (925th) with $3.3 billion, Andrew Tan (1,008th) with $3 billion, and the heirs of Henry Sy—Herbert with $3 billion; Hans, $3 billion; Teresita Sy-Coson, $2.7 billion; Henry Jr., $2.7 billion; Harley, $2.7 billion; and Elizabeth, $2.4 billion.

Jollibee Foods Corp.’s founder Tony Tan Caktiong and his family also made the list with a wealth of $2.4 billion, San Miguel Corp.

President Ramon S. Ang with $2.2 billion, Iñigo Zobel with $1.4 billion, Roberto Ongpin and Lance Gokongwei both with a wealth of $1.2 billion.

Zobel and Gokongwei were new additions to the list.

Soon-to-be former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos retains the top spot on this year’s ranking for the fourth consecutive year with $177 billion. Tesla’s Elon Musk rocketed into the number two spot, up from number 31 on last year’s ranking, with $151 billion.

Bernard Arnault of LVMH remains at number three with $150 billion, followed by Bill Gates at number four with $124 billion and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg at number five with $97 billion. Warren Buffet, who was sixth this year with $96 billion, was dislodged from the top 5 richest for the first time in more than two decades.

“This was a recordbreaking year in multiple ways, with more newcomers than ever before and more billionaires globally,” Kerry A. Dolan, the magazine’s assistant managing editor for wealth said.

“It was also the first time that the combined net worth of the world’s billions crossed into doubledigit trillions. The pace at which huge

Villar fortunes have been created is astonishing,” he said.

Forbes’ list reveals a recordbreaking 2,755 billionaires, including 493 newcomers—unprecedented by any measure, especially in a year in which large economies around the world were hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Altogether they are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion on the 2020 list.

The 2021 ranking features a record 1,975 self-made billionaires, who have built a company or established a fortune on their own.

There are also 328 female billionaires, up from 241 in 2020.

Asia-Pacific boasts the most billionaires, with 1,149, followed by the United States with 724 and Europe with 628.

Despite the turmoil that the world has seen, Forbes said people are defying the odds to overcome challenges. These include Tyler Perry, who created his own studios in Atlanta because no one would give him a break in Hollywood, and Uğur Şahin, the Turkish immigrant to Germany whose BioNTech helped produce a Covid- 19 vaccine in months, rather than years.

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Companies BusinessMirror

Thursday, April 8, 2021

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

April 7, 2021

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

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK CITYSTATE BANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK PHILTRUST RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG IREMIT MEDCO HLDG PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE VANTAGE

41.8 101.8 83.65 22.85 7.68 9.55 44.7 10.02 22.95 55.1 96.6 17.32 122.7 69.9 1.64 3.99 3.25 1.45 0.42 143.8 2,300 0.98

43 101.9 84 23.05 8.17 9.68 44.75 10.96 23 56 114.9 18 123 70 1.71 4 3.28 1.5 0.435 143.9 2,340 1.03

41.8 102.1 83.05 23 8.32 9.48 44.7 10.92 23.2 55 96.6 17.3 123.2 69.75 1.7 3.94 3.2 1.41 0.41 143.9 2,306 1

41.8 102.5 84 23.25 8.32 9.69 45 10.98 23.45 56 96.6 17.3 123.2 70 1.79 3.99 3.28 1.52 0.45 144.9 2,306 1

41.8 101.7 83 22.85 7.61 9.48 44.6 10.92 22.85 55 96.6 17.3 121.7 69.75 1.6 3.94 3.2 1.41 0.41 143.8 2,300 0.97

41.8 101.8 84 23.05 8.17 9.55 44.75 10.98 23 56 96.6 17.3 123 69.85 1.64 3.99 3.28 1.51 0.435 143.8 2,300 0.97

200 3,073,050 772,780 76,400 600 58,900 2,252,000 4,000 1,382,700 540 20 500 261,380 33,790 1,741,000 6,542,000 26,000 112,000 2,490,000 2,320 320 57,000

8,360 313,205,082 64,809,143 1,759,630 4,813 563,098 100,826,095 43,800 31,762,555 29,760 1,932 8,650 32,100,175 2,357,963.50 2,886,680 25,845,990 84,260 166,110 1,069,200 333,953 736,060 56,200

-160,431,910 -3,642,128 -1,227,995 -76,155 -81,764,560 -8,027,680 6,050 -20,080,099 -2,185,964 -6,880 78,900 4,350 -80,529 701,500 -

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 7.63 7.64 7.53 7.7 7.53 7.64 28,473,400 217,438,103 ALSONS CONS 1.26 1.27 1.26 1.31 1.24 1.27 2,348,000 2,981,310 ABOITIZ POWER 24.1 24.15 24.1 24.2 24.1 24.15 964,900 23,294,000 1.04 1.05 0.98 1.08 0.98 1.04 255,457,000 264,993,820 BASIC ENERGY 30.8 30.95 30.15 31.45 30.15 30.95 699,400 21,724,235 FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG 69.5 70.05 69.7 70.15 69.5 69.5 45,970 3,208,230.50 MERALCO 283.6 283.8 276.6 283.8 276.6 283.8 256,660 72,048,410 15.4 15.42 15.4 15.5 15.3 15.4 2,783,700 42,862,360 MANILA WATER 3.16 3.17 3.05 3.17 3.04 3.16 2,173,000 6,746,340 PETRON PETROENERGY 3.8 3.9 3.8 3.9 3.8 3.9 41,000 156,440 PHX PETROLEUM 11.6 12.3 12 12.38 12 12.3 558,100 6,833,730 PILIPINAS SHELL 20.5 20.55 20.5 20.5 20.15 20.5 213,900 4,370,990 10.54 10.58 10.58 10.58 10.5 10.58 156,300 1,651,186 SPC POWER 13.28 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.8 100 1,480 VIVANT AGRINURTURE 6.99 7.16 7.14 7.16 6.95 7.16 1,225,700 8,619,499 AXELUM 3.43 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.43 3.5 8,556,000 29,634,960 13.22 13.7 13.8 13.8 13.62 13.62 6,500 89,320 CNTRL AZUCARERA 18.62 18.68 18.36 18.9 18.32 18.62 1,144,100 21,328,610 CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE 9.3 9.4 9.07 9.44 9.06 9.3 199,600 1,833,994 DNL INDUS 7.16 7.3 7.22 7.37 7.16 7.16 744,500 5,431,038 10.3 10.38 10.24 10.38 10.12 10.38 175,700 1,809,948 EMPERADOR 66 67.5 64.95 67.5 63.5 67.5 266,860 17,654,459 SMC FOODANDBEV 0.62 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.62 0.63 94,000 59,120 ALLIANCE SELECT FRUITAS HLDG 1.4 1.41 1.43 1.45 1.38 1.4 8,460,000 11,886,190 GINEBRA 51.5 51.9 51.05 51.9 51.05 51.5 104,410 5,370,957.50 184.6 184.8 185 187.5 183.1 184.8 524,070 97,286,625 JOLLIBEE 32 32.85 32.5 32.95 32.5 32.85 800 26,190 LIBERTY FLOUR MACAY HLDG 7.28 7.85 7.85 7.85 7.27 7.85 300 2,297 MAXS GROUP 5.92 5.95 5.9 5.95 5.85 5.95 181,200 1,074,113 0.35 0.355 0.36 0.36 0.345 0.35 17,160,000 6,052,900 MG HLDG 7.24 7.25 7.08 7.4 7.08 7.24 1,135,800 8,222,334 SHAKEYS PIZZA 1.05 1.07 1.07 1.07 1.02 1.07 5,611,000 5,867,210 ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP 4.65 4.74 4.7 4.75 4.7 4.75 4,000 18,850 SWIFT FOODS 0.14 0.141 0.145 0.145 0.14 0.141 8,210,000 1,166,380 140 140.1 141 141 138 140 765,160 106,994,864 UNIV ROBINA 0.84 0.85 0.83 0.85 0.82 0.84 1,970,000 1,659,250 VITARICH CONCRETE A 53.5 55 52.85 53 52.85 53 410 21,715 CONCRETE B 56.55 59.95 59.9 65 59.9 59.95 190 11,438.50 1.22 1.23 1.25 1.25 1.22 1.22 1,772,000 2,173,880 CEMEX HLDG 3.29 3.3 3.15 3.36 3.15 3.29 11,708,000 38,264,370 DAVINCI CAPITAL EAGLE CEMENT 10.82 10.92 10.96 10.96 10.76 10.82 7,000 76,050 EEI CORP 7.47 7.5 7.6 7.6 7.46 7.47 49,700 371,406 HOLCIM 5.53 5.63 5.55 5.64 5.5 5.63 174,400 966,988 6.99 7.03 6.7 7.09 6.7 6.99 1,730,400 11,941,191 MEGAWIDE 12.26 12.3 12.28 12.28 12.22 12.28 108,400 1,331,062 PHINMA TKC METALS 1.2 1.21 1.22 1.27 1.19 1.21 1,136,000 1,384,400 VULCAN INDL 2.37 2.38 2.48 2.48 2.33 2.37 8,373,000 20,273,520 1.85 1.86 1.84 1.86 1.81 1.85 381,000 701,690 CROWN ASIA EUROMED 2.08 2.1 2.11 2.11 2.03 2.1 238,000 493,700 LMG CORP 4.52 4.93 4.52 4.52 4.52 4.52 1,000 4,520 PRYCE CORP 5.35 5.67 5.51 5.72 5.51 5.67 1,100 6,212 CONCEPCION 20.7 21 21 21 21 21 200 4,200 3.88 3.89 3.74 3.89 3.67 3.89 18,683,000 70,369,820 GREENERGY 11.22 11.36 11.6 11.6 11.1 11.22 757,400 8,557,974 INTEGRATED MICR IONICS 1.13 1.14 1.16 1.17 1.13 1.14 390,000 443,440 SFA SEMICON 1.38 1.4 1.38 1.41 1.38 1.4 1,363,000 1,898,690 6.41 6.42 6.37 6.55 6.37 6.42 1,558,900 10,059,881 CIRTEK HLDG

3,850,682 -1,085,800 -4,273,525 -2,679,210 6,965,030 -2,110,647.50 6,098,504 1,963,024 -2,777,770 786,550 -709,758 136,742 -3,550,550 41,400 -291,736 936,931 -1,870,065 150,812 -1,496,295.50 23,710 4,036,770 -33,378,953 -24,738 -469,800 -71,676 1,190,490 6,574,579 -4,990 -282,120 394,230 -5,350 -11,952 -25,833 -1,917,962 -429,800 37,500 -65,730 21,000 -6,403,480 -92,046 -6,900 407,084

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 1.26 1.27 1.23 1.3 1.21 1.26 62,708,000 79,179,440 ASIABEST GROUP 7 7.28 7.29 7.29 6.91 7.28 19,000 134,887 AYALA CORP 772.5 775 785 785 772 775 162,560 126,035,135 36 36.25 36.35 36.4 35.6 36.25 1,271,200 46,073,640 ABOITIZ EQUITY 11.32 11.34 11.3 11.36 11.12 11.34 4,746,500 53,544,138 ALLIANCE GLOBAL AYALA LAND LOG 3.09 3.1 3.14 3.14 3.08 3.09 1,198,000 3,712,000 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.71 0.72 0.7 0.72 0.66 0.71 2,819,000 1,967,100 0.78 0.79 0.78 0.78 0.75 0.78 3,462,000 2,663,960 ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B 0.75 0.78 0.74 0.78 0.74 0.78 35,000 26,710 COSCO CAPITAL 5.17 5.19 5.21 5.27 5.14 5.17 2,906,800 15,202,686 DMCI HLDG 5.75 5.76 5.65 5.76 5.63 5.75 7,255,200 41,518,952 FILINVEST DEV 8.5 8.67 8.5 8.67 8.5 8.67 8,900 76,916 0.255 0.26 0.25 0.255 0.25 0.255 140,000 35,450 FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL 550 551 537.5 556.5 537.5 550 105,450 57,980,465 HOUSE OF INV 3.67 3.68 3.67 3.67 3.67 3.67 15,000 55,050 JG SUMMIT 61.5 61.75 60.5 61.75 60.2 61.75 1,286,720 78,771,943.50 1.08 1.09 1.1 1.11 1.05 1.09 6,122,000 6,584,640 LODESTAR 3.29 3.37 3.28 3.37 3.28 3.29 123,000 409,180 LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP 13.9 13.96 13.78 13.9 13.44 13.9 2,067,200 28,674,312 MABUHAY HLDG 0.47 0.495 0.485 0.5 0.485 0.495 470,000 231,950 METRO PAC INV 4.06 4.15 3.95 4.15 3.95 4.15 63,686,000 257,170,590 3.65 3.67 3.64 3.69 3.64 3.67 18,000 65,710 PACIFICA HLDG PRIME MEDIA 2.91 2.92 3.08 3.1 2.9 2.91 8,854,000 26,358,030 REPUBLIC GLASS 2.42 2.74 2.74 2.74 2.4 2.4 2,000 5,140 SOLID GROUP 1.24 1.25 1.24 1.25 1.23 1.25 18,000 22,310 345 349 340 345 340 345 80 27,550 SYNERGY GRID SM INVESTMENTS 992 998 992 1,009 987 998 236,930 236,507,415 SAN MIGUEL CORP 117.5 119 117.6 119 117.5 119 157,990 18,711,574 SOC RESOURCES 0.74 0.75 0.71 0.75 0.71 0.74 229,000 168,070 132.7 138 138 138 138 138 10 1,380 TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS 0.265 0.275 0.275 0.28 0.26 0.275 6,640,000 1,813,200 ZEUS HLDG 0.208 0.21 0.206 0.219 0.206 0.209 2,310,000 484,020

-937,670 16,584 -64,201,450 -3,519,335 2,221,022 46,500 1,480 -3,450,038 501,138 -20,791 -9,283,110 44,485,668.50 10,600 -46,330 2,120,770 -49,500 28,249,430 1,336,570 -69,973,080 -341,371 -84,000

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP ANCHOR LAND AYALA LAND ARANETA PROP AREIT RT BELLE CORP A BROWN CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES CEBU HLDG CEB LANDMASTERS CENTURY PROP CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON DDMP RT DM WENCESLAO EMPIRE EAST EVER GOTESCO FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE 8990 HLDG PHIL INFRADEV CITY AND LAND MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND PHIL REALTY ROCKWELL SHANG PROP STA LUCIA LAND SM PRIME HLDG VISTAMALLS SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

0.69 7.51 34.45 1.23 34.5 1.53 0.86 1.21 0.13 6.57 6.1 0.375 0.34 13.26 2.26 6.81 0.285 0.148 1.13 0.81 7.2 1.45 2.7 3.68 0.41 0.74 3.01 18.38 0.28 1.57 2.68 2.25 36.35 3.73 1.58 3.83

0.7 7.6 34.5 1.28 34.9 1.54 0.88 1.22 0.131 6.8 6.14 0.385 0.35 13.36 2.27 6.97 0.29 0.149 1.14 0.82 7.41 1.46 2.71 3.69 0.415 0.75 3.02 18.4 0.285 1.6 2.7 2.3 36.85 3.94 1.59 3.85

0.68 8.4 34.7 1.22 34.95 1.53 0.88 1.23 0.131 6.56 5.99 0.375 0.33 13.48 2.28 6.9 0.29 0.127 1.14 0.81 7.45 1.43 2.4 3.65 0.41 0.75 2.6 18.5 0.28 1.61 2.68 2.32 35 3.89 1.5 3.76

0.72 8.4 34.9 1.27 35 1.54 0.88 1.31 0.134 6.57 6.22 0.39 0.37 13.52 2.28 6.98 0.295 0.163 1.15 0.82 7.45 1.45 2.88 3.69 0.415 0.82 3.09 18.58 0.315 1.61 2.7 2.32 36.9 3.95 1.6 3.89

0.68 8.4 34.45 1.22 34.45 1.5 0.86 1.15 0.131 6.56 5.99 0.37 0.33 13.22 2.25 6.62 0.29 0.127 1.12 0.81 7.05 1.43 2.36 3.63 0.4 0.72 2.52 18.28 0.28 1.56 2.68 2.25 35 3.89 1.48 3.75

0.7 8.4 34.5 1.27 34.9 1.53 0.88 1.22 0.131 6.57 6.1 0.385 0.355 13.36 2.26 6.98 0.29 0.148 1.14 0.82 7.43 1.45 2.71 3.69 0.415 0.75 3.02 18.4 0.29 1.57 2.7 2.3 36.85 3.95 1.58 3.85

4,776,000 100 14,564,000 27,000 1,110,400 2,727,000 307,000 10,860,000 12,060,000 5,100 4,994,400 33,430,000 4,330,000 1,183,200 16,415,000 5,045,800 410,000 286,240,000 12,056,000 12,000 56,700 853,000 25,097,000 10,375,000 36,980,000 149,246,000 29,218,000 2,075,300 2,010,000 250,000 23,000 97,000 4,344,100 3,000 4,168,000 1,506,000

3,311,080 840 503,423,250 33,320 38,622,950 4,172,420 268,110 13,464,560 1,587,270 33,457 30,469,376 12,488,550 1,511,600 15,796,166 37,101,450 33,413,390 119,550 43,182,940 13,696,180 9,800 408,178 1,230,380 68,463,330 37,984,060 15,111,150 115,891,410 84,368,730 38,220,534 580,750 394,820 61,840 222,500 158,555,295 11,740 6,601,140 5,771,800

-88,890.00 -280,169,050 -270,200 -6,060 -104,720 -222,060 196,500 -2,491,701 261,500 -20,100 -5,583,360 9,264,100.00 -2,760 -4,538,950 -8,732,940.00 14,200 -601,390 -14,556,280 614,250 -67,750 1,771,310 -404,176 -94,460 63,163,025 -2,741,660

SERVICES ABS CBN 11.02 11.1 10.98 11.1 10.9 11.1 79,600 876,452 GMA NETWORK 8.76 8.78 8.78 8.84 8.7 8.78 2,857,900 25,026,233 MANILA BULLETIN 0.48 0.49 0.46 0.5 0.44 0.48 890,000 429,150 1,838 1,852 1,845 1,845 1,825 1,838 54,105 99,429,650 GLOBE TELECOM 1,255 1,259 1,258 1,278 1,240 1,255 106,805 134,599,840 PLDT APOLLO GLOBAL 0.218 0.219 0.218 0.223 0.217 0.219 450,460,000 99,005,780 CONVERGE 18.46 18.48 18.64 19.02 18.32 18.46 4,898,200 90,929,540 3.81 3.84 3.81 3.85 3.79 3.84 97,000 369,380 DFNN INC 11.02 11.04 11.34 11.38 11.02 11.04 21,378,100 239,117,666 DITO CME HLDG JACKSTONES 2.16 2.23 2.19 2.27 2.11 2.26 134,000 297,500 NOW CORP 2.72 2.73 2.68 2.76 2.67 2.72 2,534,000 6,881,800 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.465 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.45 0.465 19,710,000 9,076,300 2.85 2.9 2.91 2.92 2.8 2.9 1,177,000 3,357,110 PHILWEB 8.41 8.5 8.48 8.5 8.4 8.41 33,400 282,676 2GO GROUP ASIAN TERMINALS 15.12 15.5 15.5 15.5 15.5 15.5 5,000 77,500 CHELSEA 3.25 3.3 3.25 3.34 3.19 3.3 839,000 2,729,970 46.05 46.3 45.75 46.45 45.75 46.05 193,500 8,912,010 CEBU AIR 126.8 127.5 127 127.9 126 127.5 859,330 109,500,254 INTL CONTAINER LBC EXPRESS 16.42 16.78 16.4 16.78 16.4 16.78 10,300 169,174 LORENZO SHIPPNG 1.01 1.06 1.08 1.08 1.01 1.06 128,000 135,800 MACROASIA 5.02 5.1 4.89 5.18 4.88 5.02 2,791,000 14,133,680 2.43 2.44 2.44 2.45 2.38 2.43 270,000 657,250 METROALLIANCE A PAL HLDG 6.08 6.1 6 6.2 6 6.08 19,800 121,892 HARBOR STAR 1.3 1.31 1.25 1.34 1.25 1.31 1,352,000 1,766,740 ACESITE HOTEL 1.95 2.06 1.89 2.14 1.85 2.06 3,734,000 7,676,750 0.092 0.093 0.092 0.093 0.089 0.092 253,280,000 23,021,480 BOULEVARD HLDG 3.98 3.99 4 4.04 3.92 3.99 126,000 503,460 DISCOVERY WORLD WATERFRONT 0.64 0.65 0.6 0.65 0.59 0.65 45,813,000 28,712,680 STI HLDG 0.39 0.395 0.39 0.395 0.39 0.39 220,000 86,550 4.42 4.59 4.6 4.6 4.4 4.6 89,000 393,980 BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY 7 7.01 6.98 7.03 6.98 7.01 3,271,000 22,899,563 2.05 2.12 2.02 2.12 2.02 2.12 462,000 979,100 PACIFIC ONLINE LEISURE AND RES 1.83 1.84 1.82 1.85 1.8 1.84 315,000 572,460 MANILA JOCKEY 2.06 2.1 2.09 2.09 2.09 2.09 3,000 6,270 2.26 2.27 2.18 2.3 2.18 2.27 5,476,000 12,333,510 PH RESORTS GRP 0.395 0.4 0.395 0.41 0.395 0.4 4,060,000 1,626,800 PREMIUM LEISURE PHIL RACING 6.1 6.4 6.5 6.5 6.2 6.2 400 2,512 ALLHOME 8.1 8.2 8.08 8.2 8 8.2 1,946,000 15,596,770 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.33 1.3 1.32 563,000 743,880 METRO RETAIL 37.75 37.8 37.75 38.45 37.65 37.75 5,288,500 200,303,780 PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL 54.9 55 55.7 55.8 54.85 55 2,034,520 112,188,701 PHIL SEVEN CORP 99.8 100 98 99.9 96.5 99.9 11,140 1,098,022.50 SSI GROUP 1.23 1.24 1.26 1.26 1.23 1.24 1,005,000 1,241,960 17.44 17.6 17.32 17.62 17.32 17.44 604,700 10,553,450 WILCON DEPOT 0.395 0.41 0.395 0.42 0.395 0.395 4,120,000 1,669,850 APC GROUP EASYCALL 6.6 6.84 6.7 6.86 6.7 6.86 3,100 20,786 GOLDEN MV 446.8 448 440.2 449 438.2 448 1,040 462,092 5.05 5.15 5.1 5.1 5.1 5.1 2,000 10,200 IPM HLDG PAXYS 2.3 2.45 2.3 2.3 2.25 2.3 61,000 139,900 PRMIERE HORIZON 2.27 2.28 2.3 2.35 2.23 2.27 37,912,000 86,924,060

-15,673,280 -7,903,090 266,010 -36,581,630 193,530 -9,600,550 327,350 284,900 144,300 54,770 3,635,685 10,937,985 -5,663,420 -51,950 -32,520 639,570 -131,800 -44,310 -3,900 -7,898,780 213,610 -1,049,900 14,070,713 -475,330 -76,305,935 33,191,059.50 -527,064 -315,310 3,888,796 -12,600 272,080.00

MINING & OIL ATOK 9.4 9.59 9.31 9.9 9.3 9.4 912,200 8,839,044 -143,442 APEX MINING 1.45 1.46 1.47 1.48 1.45 1.46 1,066,000 1,560,170 -1,003,660 6.2 6.23 6.25 6.27 6.18 6.2 383,900 2,384,525 24,244 ATLAS MINING 2.56 2.85 2.85 2.85 2.85 2.85 21,000 59,850 BENGUET A BENGUET B 2.45 2.96 2.42 2.42 2.42 2.42 6,000 14,520 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.29 0.3 0.285 0.3 0.285 0.29 120,000 35,100 9.2 9.35 9.18 9.33 9 9.33 15,600 143,490 DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL 2.58 2.59 2.58 2.67 2.56 2.58 8,987,000 23,376,290 -1,648,120 GEOGRACE 0.395 0.4 0.33 0.4 0.33 0.395 17,070,000 6,444,950 -12,300 LEPANTO A 0.135 0.136 0.133 0.135 0.13 0.135 3,450,000 459,370 MANILA MINING A 0.0098 0.0099 0.0097 0.0099 0.0096 0.0098 20,000,000 193,800 1.28 1.3 1.29 1.33 1.27 1.3 1,031,000 1,328,240 -38,560 MARCVENTURES 1.82 1.83 1.81 1.85 1.76 1.82 1,281,000 2,320,270 100,910 NIHAO NICKEL ASIA 5.19 5.2 5.2 5.31 5.17 5.19 4,535,400 23,804,628 2,619,023 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.92 0.94 0.94 0.94 0.91 0.94 1,199,000 1,111,380 -15,770 4.61 4.62 4.62 4.69 4.61 4.62 326,000 1,509,760 4,630 PX MINING 12.34 12.36 12.3 12.5 12.12 12.36 8,058,900 99,536,678 4,652,940 SEMIRARA MINING UNITED PARAGON 0.0094 0.0095 0.0077 0.0097 0.0075 0.0094 993,000,000 8,970,900 -17,800.00 ACE ENEXOR 21.8 21.9 22.4 22.4 21.5 21.9 443,400 9,620,890 1,042,930 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.012 99,400,000 1,200,900 ORNTL PETROL A ORNTL PETROL B 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.012 0.012 500,000 6,200 PHILODRILL 0.012 0.013 0.013 0.013 0.012 0.012 66,800,000 816,200 PXP ENERGY 8.22 8.23 8.5 8.54 8.23 8.23 594,200 4,931,909 -

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF B 100.3 100.9 100.4 100.9 100.4 100.9 1,110 111,744 ALCO PREF C 102.6 109.9 102.5 102.5 102.5 102.5 10 1,025 AC PREF B2R 511 530 526 530 526 530 44,450 23,557,540 19.02 40.5 18.9 18.9 18.9 18.9 100 1,890 BC PREF A CEB PREF 41.25 41.35 41 41.3 40.9 41.2 160,400 6,586,310 CPG PREF A 101.1 102.5 101.1 102.5 101.1 102.5 600 60,800 DD PREF 101.1 101.8 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.5 1,000 101,500 490 620 517.5 517.5 517.5 517.5 30 15,525 FPH PREF C GTCAP PREF B 1,035 1,042 1,035 1,041 1,035 1,041 3,495 3,620,295 MWIDE PREF 100.5 101.8 101.8 101.8 101.8 101.8 50 5,090 MWIDE PREF 2B 100.5 101 101 101 101 101 5,060 511,060 PNX PREF 3B 102 104 104 105.2 104 104 8,380 871,544 -197,600 998 1,000 995 1,000 995 1,000 5,900 5,885,500 PNX PREF 4 PCOR PREF 2B 1,003 1,020 1,020 1,020 1,020 1,020 15 15,300 SMC PREF 2C 78 79 79 79 77.85 78 3,730 290,547.50 SMC PREF 2F 79 79.2 79 79 79 79 2,070 163,530 76.55 77.2 76.55 77.2 76.55 77.2 23,200 1,781,540 SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I 78.1 79.5 78.3 79.5 78 79.5 60,250 4,700,391 SMC PREF 2J 76.15 76.8 76.2 76.9 76.1 76.15 7,650 583,040.50 SMC PREF 2K 76.1 76.3 76.1 76.5 76.1 76.1 4,640 353,553 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS GMA HLDG PDR 8.35 8.36 8.41 8.49 8.35 8.36 586,900 4,918,113 -1,062,818

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 2.1 2.11 2.08 2.14 2.02 2.1 4,176,000 8,743,320 24,910

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ALTUS PROP 19.6 19.66 19.22 19.9 19.22 19.66 118,100 2,319,378 64,534 ITALPINAS 2.65 2.66 2.64 2.7 2.61 2.65 557,000 1,480,730 KEPWEALTH 5.13 5.28 5.2 5.25 5.2 5.2 13,500 70,482 2.54 2.6 2.53 2.59 2.53 2.59 15,000 38,190 MAKATI FINANCE MERRYMART 5.52 5.53 5.54 5.65 5.51 5.53 7,869,600 43,946,822 233,472

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 101.1 101.2 101 101.2 100 101.1 13,510 1,364,986 -60,764

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Cirtek expects growth in all business segments this year

L

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

aguna-based Cirtek Holdings Corp. said it sees growth in the semiconductor and wireless broadband business segments this year, fueled by the shortage of semiconductor chips worldwide.

The company said the growth this year will also come from the possible end of the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise in consumer demand for various commodities including electronics parts for automotive application.

The telecom business of Cirtek may also grow this year as new

5G-model antennas of Quintel will start to roll out before the end of the 2021. Cirtek’s business projections take a higher turn with significant increase of orders from majority of its customers, it said.

“With this positive improvement of the business, Cirtek is hiring additional people to augment its cur-

rent work force. This development thus gives assurance of continued employment as opposed to what the other business sectors are unfortunately experiencing,” the company said.

Cirtek’s board has also approved several programs to demonstrate its adherence to environmental, social and good governance (ESG) principles.

“We believe that these ESG programs amplify Cirtek’s core values of excellence, integrity, innovation and sustainability,” Cirtek Vice Chairman Jorge Aguilar said.

To jumpstart its program, Cirtek turned its idle lot at the back of its office into a garden. The program was launched on March 19, with the participation of the employees of Cirtek and its subsidiaries spearheaded by the Environment, Health

and Safety Committee of the employees of the Cirtek Group.

The group does not intend to profit from this endeavor, but much more so on being able to contribute to the improvement of the environment, the company said.

Cirtek also has facilitated the reservation of vaccines against Covid-19 by tying up with a leading pharmaceutical company that cooperates with the appropriate government agencies and the ordering of an adequate number of vaccines.

This move was welcomed by Cirtek’s employees who desire to be vaccinated at the soonest possible time, the company said.

The vaccination program became part of its program to ensure the good health of its employees and to help hasten the achievement of herd immunity against the coronavirus.

Grab, Shell offer support to Cebu drivers

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

S

uper app Grab and Pilipinas Shell have partnered to ensure the availability of mobility and on-demand delivery services in Cebu, which is gradually reopening its economy.

Through their partnership, Grab and Shell will provide support to Grab delivery and driver partners such as discounts on fuel and food, and the deployment of a dedicated Grab lane for delivery partners.

Likewise, the partners will also support the medical and insurance needs of Grab drivers and riders that maintain a monthly average re-fuel of 200 liters and 50 liters, respectively, over the last six months.

Grab partners may also apply for Shell-subsidized scholarships for their children. Grace Vera Cruz, the country head of Grab Philippines, said this program will help support Cebu’s longer-term socioeconomic recovery through safe and reliable mobility and delivery services.

“We are committed to supporting the needs of our driver- and delivery-partner communities in Cebu as

they play an essential role in helping local businesses better reach and serve their consumers, and providing safe transport services to many Cebuanos who need to be in their workplaces to perform essential economic activities,” she said.

She added that by working with Pilipinas Shell on a range of initiatives, Grab is able to continue helping its driver- and delivery-partners with their everyday needs.

“We hope that they will continue to be on the road to serve the needs of our kababayans in Cebu, and contribute to the city’s broader socioeconomic recovery,” Cruz said.

Pilipinas Shell VP for Retail Randy del Valle said this initiative will help open up revenue streams for enterprises that are just “getting back on their feet.”

“We recognize the important part that their Grab driver and delivery-partners play in restarting businesses and bringing essential goods and services to the public in a safe and reliable manner. Pilipinas Shell is committed to this partnership which will help mobilize this city’s progress and economic recovery for years to come,” he said.

San Miguel upgrades ‘Boystown’ facilities

S

a n Mig uel Cor p. (SMC), through packaging subsidiary San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp. (SMYPC), is looking to train underprivileged youth for technical jobs to provide them access to economic opportunities.

SMC President and COO Ramon S. Ang committed to continue helping indigent students in the care of the Sisters of Mary Schools – Adlas Inc. (Boystown) in Silang, Cavite following SMYPC’s donation of manufacturing equipment and renovation of the school’s mechanical workshop.

“Now more than ever we need to produce bright, talented young minds that are central to driving the manufacturing sector forward.

Through this program, we hope to raise the interest of the next generation of Filipinos and equip them with skills in modern technologies to make them industry-ready and self-reliant,” Ang said.

SMYPC and MESCO, Inc., a partner for machine tools, donated two computer numerical control (CNC) machines.

CNC machining is a manu-

facturing process in which preprogrammed computer software dictates the movement of factory tools and machinery. It can be used to control a range of complex cutting machinery, from grinders and lathes to mills and routers.

Both companies have committed to send a team of engineers and technicians to train the school’s faculty on the operations and maintenance of the CNC machines.

The faculty will then train students on the use of the machines so they will be fully-equipped to handle them once they graduate and are employed at manufacturing facilities.

“Students need to have access to the equipment utilized in manufacturing today—to see, touch, and operate them. The CNC machine is an example of a vital piece of equipment currently used in the industry,” Ang said.

“More than that, these students should have the opportunity to learn in a well-equipped facility in order to prepare them for their future careers. I hope our recent effort will do just that.”

mutual funds

April 7, 2021

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 211.59 15.01% -8.15% -3.44% -6.88% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.295 44.26% -7.36% 1.66% -1.37% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.9038 18.13% -12.44% -5.61% -7.32% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.7491 21.49% -7.58% n.a. -6.82% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.678 9.09% n.a. n.a. -8.58% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.6155 15.4% -6.31% -2.55% -6.59% 7.43% -9.93% -7.5% -11.88% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 0.6695 MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 96.39 39.35% -6.64% n.a. -5.44% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 43.4083 17.92% -6.26% -2.15% -7.34% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 455.12 15.93% -6.19% -2.68% -6.92% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5 1.0252 23.53% n.a. n.a. -6.57% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.0989 16.33% -5.85% -1.66% -5.93% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 32.4678 17.38% -5.88% -1.17% -6.62% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.842 16.03% n.a. n.a.

-7.78% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 4.4439 18.57% -5.85% -1.39% -7.25% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 743.48 18.73% -5.74% -1.53% -7.26% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.6723 18.7% -9.85% -5.04% -6.48% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.3675 15.42% -7.93% -2.89% -7.07% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.8496 18.03% -6.09% -1.64% -7.42% United Fund, Inc. -a 3.1129 18.16% -5.37% -0.54% -6.21% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 99.7641 18.8% -5.54% -0.84% -7.24% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$1.2698 54.14% 4.74% 8.94% 5.56% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.7054 57.37% 10.85% n.a.

1.95% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.6266 13.32% -2.63% -1.36% -2.52% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.1621 13.6% -2.87% -0.53% -5.4% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.5074 10.13% -2.05% -1.32% -4.55% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.1886 5.66% n.a. n.a. -5.04% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.9054 8.37% -0.02% 0.75% -2.98% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.5737 11.55% -1.39% -0.48% -5.66% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 16.0233 11.46% -1.29% -0.45% -5.39% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 2.0088 10.74% -2.22% -0.24% -4.07% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.4043 10.29% -3.82% -1.5% -4.73% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.956 10.61% n.a. n.a. -6.51% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.8753 13.78% n.a. n.a.

-7.79% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.8604 14.55% n.a. n.a.

-7.79% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.842 13.04% -4.69% -2.11% -5.15% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03792 1.26% 2.35% 1.29% -3.07% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b $1.1302 30.51% 2.6% 5.05% -1.74% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $4.5603 39.93% 7.9% 8.22% 1.05% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.1868 21.4% 3.82% n.a.

-1.27% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 370.05 2.6% 3.07% 2.54% -0.27% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.9076 -0.59% 0.71% 0.14% 0.38% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.2175 2.1% 4.05% 4.5% 0.09% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2459 0.39% 2.17% 1.45% -2.18% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4259 2.64% 3.07% 1.73% -1.11% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.4471 2.05% 3.93% 1.77% -4.05% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a,6 1.3156 4.75% 4.19% 2.62% -0.42% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.9596 4.55% 4.31% 2.47% -1.04% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0233 5.95% 4.15% 1.81% -1.79% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1672 3.21% 4.59% 2.62% -1.21% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.7292 1.66% 3.87% 1.95% -1.47% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $481.82 3.24% 2.85% 2.29% -0.42% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є219.57 2.7% 1.05% 1.15% 0.18% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.1753 1.18% 1.68% 1.08% -8.21% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0257 0.78% 1.2% 0.88% -3.38% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.0468 0.15% 0.01% -0.73% -4.2% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.4577 4.56% 3.86% 1.98% -3.07% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0625394 5.65% 3.22% 2.2% 0.35% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.1057 0.02% 1.83% 0.69% -3.66% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 129.88 2.39% 3.19% 2.52% 0.05% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0499 1.49% n.a. n.a.

0.17% 2.9% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.3011 2.07% 2.58% 0.35% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0553 1.47% 1.75% n.a.

0.28% Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a,d,7 1.2044 n.a. n.a. n.a. 6.62% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,2 $0.99 13.79% n.a. n.a.

1.02% a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU).

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

4 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.). 5 - Launch date is December 09, 2019. 6 - Reclassified into a Bond Fund starting February 21, 2020 (Formerly a Money Market Fund). 7 - Launch date is July 6, 2020.

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

Envoys&Expats BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Thursday, April 8, 2021

B3

Australia fetes Filipinas advancing agri research in prestigious fellowship

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By Recto L. Mercene

@rectomercene

IGHT Filipinas have been awarded with Australia’s prestigious Meryl Williams Fellowship during the National Women’s Month celebration.

This was made possible by the commonwealth’s government through its Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

“I congratulate these outstanding Filipino women who [were] selected for their demonstrated capacity for leadership and innovation, their research excellence, and their commitment to agricultural development,” Ambassador Steven Robinson AO of Australia said.

For decades agricultural science has focused on addressing food security by producing more food.

The pandemic has highlighted the importance and necessity of transforming food systems to become healthier and more resilient amid the impacts of crises and the evergrowing demand for sustenance.

“The Australian government is at the forefront of efforts to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Meryl Williams

Fellowship is one of [those], focusing on supporting women who are steering transformational changes in agricultural research,” the ambassador said. “We are delighted to [invest] in women’s leadership in our region, and I am pleased to see that the Philippines has the largest number of fellows this year.”

Education as priority

TWENTY-three women from across nine countries in Asia-Pacific were selected for the 2021 cohort of the fellowship. Apart from supporting participants with career advancement, it will also aid institutions where the fellows are connected with to identify and address systemic barriers to women’s advancement.

As Australia celebrates 75 years of diplomatic relations with the Philippines this year, education remains a mutual priority between the two countries, according to the

former’s embassy. Through time years, Australia’s capacity-building programs, including ACIAR Fellowships for agricultural research, have greatly contributed to strong people-to-people and education links between both nations.

Dr. Reynaldo Ebora, executive director of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) and member of ACIAR Policy Advisory Council, said: “I commend Australia and the ACIAR for this flagship program—the Meryl Williams Fellowship—in its effort to enhance leadership skills and increase [its impact] through a combination of immersive learning, mentoring, networking and professional development for its fellows.”

“Both DOST-PCA ARRD and ACIAR recognize the importance of incorporating gender and develop-

PHL, Egypt talk trade cooperation in fish processing, green energy, etc C

AIRO—Ambassador Sulpicio M. Confiado recently visited the Egyptian governorates of Damietta and Ismailia to establish the Philippines’s footprint in the said territories and identify areas for collaboration with their officials and private-sector representatives.

The visit to Damietta concluded with a tour of its Furniture City as arranged by the office of its governor Dr. Manal Awad, as the latter conveyed interest in possible collaborations with the Philippines and the governorate in two areas: fish processing such as drying, smoking and salting, as well as canning and freezing; plus the use of bamboo and rattan in furniture design and production.

The Damietta Chamber of Commerce

AMBASSADOR Sulpicio M. Confiado (right) with Rear Admiral Walid Mostafa Awad CAIRO PE and Damietta Port Authority also expressed interest in cooperative programs to help upgrade the governorate’s fishing and furniture sectors through exchange of technology, expertise and best practices, as well as cooperation in ports/ logistics development and management

with its Philippine counterparts from both public and private sectors.

Confiado’s visit in Ismailia included a call on Major General Sherif Fahmy Saad Beshara, who is the governor of Ismailia, a visit to a mango farm, Atos Generators, and 2M Electric Group—two energy-re-

COUNTRIES’ COVID RESPONSE

Israel inoculates PHL caregivers, students, diplomats–all for free

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LREADY a world leader in vaccinations against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the State of Israel has already inoculated 5.2 million out of its citizenry of 9.3 million—more than a half of its population—with at least one dose.

In all, Israel’s embassy in the Philippines has reported that about 4.2 million individuals have received both shots of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in the Holy Land.

As part of its successful vaccination campaign, Israel’s Ministry of Health has vaccinated for free anyone who is in the said country—regardless of citizenship, status, or whether the individual has insurance or without.

Approximately 30,000 Filipino caregivers, 400 students of agriculture, and the staff of the Philippine Embassy in Israel have received the free Pfizer vaccine. Filipinos with expired working permits were also given vaccine shots.

“Israel is thankful [to] Filipino caregivers for helping elderly and disabled Israeli citizens during the Covid-19 outbreak. For many

FILIPINO students in Israel receive their free Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine AGROSTUDIES/ISRAEL IN THE PHILIPPINES

years, the Israeli government has been providing [them]...full access to the advanced medical services of our country,” Ambassador of Israeli to the Philippines Rafael Harpaz confirmed. “[This is another way to thank them and ensure] their health and safety. Israel always took good care of them—especially during this pandemic.”

The envoy cited the historic visit of President Duterte to Israel in 2018, when the government of Israel signed an agreement with its Philippine counterpart to regulate working conditions of Filipinos in Holy Land.

A year after the outbreak of the pandemic, Israel has grant-

ed significant assistance to the Philippines to help its fight against Covid-19. The state’s government provided several donations which consisted of personal protective equipment to the Department of National Defense and the Philippine National Police their frontliners use. It also handed out learning equipment to the Department of Education to aid the government agency’s rollout of distance learning.

Israel also continues to share its experiences and knowledge in emergency and pandemic responses with the Philippines via webinars, courses and joint meetings.

lated companies in the latter governorate’s industrial zone.

A key area discussed during the visits is the increase in trade export of Philippine mangoes to Egypt during the winter season—especially between December and March, as well as the importation of oranges to the Philippines. Farm owners expressed interest in establishing links with mango-producing areas in the Philippines, as well as with the National Mango Research and Development Center.

Likewise, Atos and 2M—manufacturers of environment-friendly generators and producers of electrical supplies, low voltage panels and fuses, respectively— expressed interest in attracting investments and joint-venture projects with prospective Philippine companies. DFA

Japanese govt, UNICEF forge pact boosting immunization drive

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HE government of Japan pledged an additional P190 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to strengthen the support to the Philippines’s immunization response to the pandemic.

This is part of the Japanese assistance to 25 countries in the Southeast and Southwest Asian as well as Pacific Island regions totaling $41 million.

If will enable UNICEF in the Philippines to provide around 147 health facilities with vaccine cold rooms and solar refrigerators—including 2,000 health facilities with temperature-monitoring devices, training of more than 50 technicians to operate and maintain the new facilities, and equipping 300 health-care facility staff with necessary skills for their use and monitoring.

Other components of the programme will include development of immunization policy and procedures; building surveillance and in-country laboratory capacities for the early detection, investigation and management of vaccine-preventable diseases; as well as management and strengthening of information-management systems.

“The costs of the pandemic for children are immediate and, if unaddressed, may persist throughout their lives,” UNICEF Representative to the Philippines Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov said. “The availability and equitable distribution of vaccines is critical for putting an end to this global pandemic. We thank the government of Japan for their support in ensuring a robust cold chain is in place and immunization services are strengthened.”

ment in research and development initiatives. This in-line with both agencies’ efforts to help womenscientists and researchers in agriculture,” added Ebora. “Such intersection of interests and advocacies are the reasons [our partnership] not only works, but is also mutually beneficial.”

Specialists, fellows

THE Philippine cohort includes specialists in horticulture as well as fruit production and management, a development-communication expert, an agricultural economist, an agribusiness specialist, a leading veterinary microbiologist and food safety expert, a coastal resourcemanagement specialist, an agricultural engineer, and an agricultural value-chains and gender expert performing research on impacts of the pandemic on food-systems resilience.

The Filipina Meryl Williams fel-

lows are Ma. Cecilia Alaban (science research specialist II, DOSTPCAARRD); Ma. Victoria Stephane Asio (science research specialist I, University of the Philippines-Los Baños); Raquel Balanay, PhD (professor, Caraga State University); Cresilda Caning, PhD (associate professor, Central Bicol State University of Agriculture); Ma. Cynthia Rundinadela Cruz, DVM, PhD (dean, Cavite State University); Venus Leopardas, PhD (associate professor, Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental); Maria Rosario Mosqueda, PhD (dean, Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan); and Glory Dee Romo, PhD (assistant professor, University of the Philippines-Mindanao).

The Meryl Williams Fellowship is delivered by the Gender Equity in Agriculture Research for Development under the University of New England in Australia. For more information on the fellowship, visit https://www.geared.global/.

UK convenes PHL private sector ahead of COP26

THE British Embassy gathered top Philippine business leaders in a pre-COP26 webinar.

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HE British Embassy in Manila, in partnership with the Department for International Trade, assembled online Philippine business leaders who discussed climate change and sustainability.

During the embassy-hosted Philippine Green Business Leaders virtual roundtable, the United Nations’ (UN) 26th Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) High-Level Champion for Climate Action Nigel Topping, as keynote speaker, discussed his role in galvanizing new, more ambitious and most credible climate action from businesses, investors, cities, states and regions, as he referenced the United Kingdom’s (UK) journey in driving down emissions while at the same time, growing its economy.

“COP26 is the first real test of the Paris Agreement, which set our longterm goal to net zero, and a process of ratcheting ambition every five years,” Topping remarked. “When you as business leaders raise your ambition, it sends a very strong signal to political leaders, and makes it easier for policymakers to be bold.”

He added: “[Bold policy…makes it easier for your peers to intensify their own climate] ambitions. We call this the ‘ambition loop,’ and hope it delivers a real step-up in climate action from governments and private sector alike.”

The climate champion encouraged local businesses to embrace and join the “Race to Zero” initiative—the flagship global campaign to rally leadership and support from non-state actors for a healthy, resilient, zero-carbon recovery that creates decent jobs and prevents future threats while unlocking inclusive, sustainable growth.

With 15 companies represented across the business spectrum, the Philippines’s senior corporate executives highlighted the importance of pursu-

ing and embedding sustainability in their operations, while at the same time tackling significant challenges posed by the pandemic.

The Philippine Green Business Leaders virtual roundtable followed closely on the heels of the embassy’s Earth Hour events and other COP26-related meetings. It showcased the strong commitment of the Philippine business sector to tackle challenges of climate-change mitigation, adaptation, resilience and sustainability.

“At the core of the UK’s clean growth leadership is delivering for countries most vulnerable to climate change.

This, of course, includes the Philippines, which has witnessed stronger and more destructive typhoons throughout the years,” Ambassador Daniel Pruce said.

“If we are to be successful in achieving a cleaner future, the role of private investment is paramount.”

Pruce reiterated the need of a wholesystem approach to address climate change in the country.

The embassy disclosed that from November 1 to 12, its government will welcome heads of state and climate-policy experts and negotiators in Glasgow, Scotland for the COP26. Said summit will bring parties together to accelerate action toward the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

As part of its contribution, the British Embassy in Manila will organize a series of thematic sessions in the lead-up to COP26. These will include representatives from the Philippine government, civil society, academia and industry leaders.

The roundtable was the opening forum in this series, and set a positive tone for the events to come.

Businesses interested to join the Race to Zero campaign should send an e-mail to RaceToZero@unfccc.int.

B4 Thursday, April 8, 2021

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

DOF, BIR asked to extend income tax filing deadline

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By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

HE Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) were asked

by Senator Maria Lourdes Nancy S. Binay last Wednesday to extend the April 15 deadline for filing and payment of annual income tax returns for 2020, as it did last year amid the imposition of lockdown measures to check the spread of the deadly Covid-19 contagion.

“We are hoping they [DOF and BIR] will extend the April 15 deadline, even if only in the National Capital Region [NCR] Plus,” Sen. Binay said, recalling that “we already extended last year due to the enhanced community quar-

antine. We are still dealing with the same situation a year later so we do not understand why they will not grant an extension,” Binay pleaded.

This even as BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel SD. Guballa on Monday

said the bureau would not grant an extension of the deadline, citing the Duterte government’s “need to reach its revenue targets to fund the pandemic response.” Guballa added that while there would be no extension, taxpayers will be allowed to amend their filings until May 15 without any penalties.

The Senator, however, voiced concern noted that individual taxpayers and even micro and small businesses would find it difficult to comply in the first place given the restrictions on movement.

Binay added: “Ang talo kasi rito iyong mga indibidwal at maliliit na negosyo na limitado ang kapasidad na kumpletuhin ang mga requirements dahil sa lockdown. So para sa kanila, walang bearing ang ‘no-penalty amendments’ dahil baka mismong pag-file hindi nila magawa.” [The losers here are those individuals and small businesses that have limited capacity to complete the requirements due to the lockdown. So for them, there is no bearing on the nopenalty amendments because they may not be able to file.]

At the same time, she noted that even corporate taxpayers would be pressed for time in adjusting their payments to the lower rates provided as relief by the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (Create) Law that President Duterte signed into law only on March 26, with the BIR releasing the law’s draft implementing rules and regulations only last Tuesday.

Binay acknowledged that while the BIR has revenue targets, “the people should not have to pay the price for its mishandling of the public health crisis,” reminding that “hindi naman kasi taumbayan ang may kasalanan kung bakit lumala ang sitwasyon na kinakaharap natin.” [It is not the people who are to blame for why the situation we are facing has worsened.]

“So why are we passing the buck if they aren’t responsible for the mismanagement of this crisis.”

The Senator added that based on the BIR’s monthly collection goal, the agency aims to collect P235.237 billion in April.

Online connectivity seen key to MSMEs’ recovery

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ROVIDING digital financial solutions and online connectivity is the emerging key to the recovery of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the face of the country’s economic and health crises.

This is according to the study conducted by local nongovernment organization Restart Microenterprise Inc. (RestartME), together with the Bank of the Philippine Islands Foundation, BPI Direct BanKo, and social impact expert group FSG, Inc. The multi-sector research study was conducted from November 2020 to January 2021. It evaluated the end-to-end business impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on MSMEs and identified solutions to assist them amid these challenging times.

Five key solutions were identified by the study to help MSMEs in their road to recovery and resiliency.

These include supporting pivot to resilient, sustainable business models; recovery and resilience financing innovation; scaling up digital adoption; resilient supply chain innovation and incubation; and, MSME resilience metrics, scorecard and tracking.

The study showed that both food and non-food MSMEs largely benefited from online marketing and e-commerce and largely spurred recovery after movement restrictions affected their business in 2020.

Online platforms like Shopee and Lazada spurred sales, while same-day delivery services such as Grab and Foodpanda were also

leveraged by restaurants, groceries, and stores to extend their delivery services. The study also noted that MSMEs who recovered utilized digital payment channels and mobile wallets such as G-Cash and Paymaya.

However, the study also showed that most of the surveyed neighborhood sari-sari stores, small carinderias, and market stall owners still prefer face-to-face engagements and have yet to fully adopt end-to-end financial technology solutions.

Moreover, “despite the promising development in the acceleration of e-commerce and digital payments during the pandemic, trade activities and transactions were still heavily concentrated in the cities.”

In 2020, a study from the Asian

Development Bank showed that MSMEs in the Philippines receive the least volume of bank loans compared to their counterparts in peer nations.

In 2019, the Philippines’ $11.6 billion MSME bank loan pales in comparison with Thailand’s $218.2 billion, Indonesia’s $79.9 billion, Malaysia’s $68.1 billion and Singapore’s $56.85 billion (as of endJune).

Data also shows that the Philippine MSME bank lending has been consistently lagging among its peers since available data starting 2011.

This is despite the passage of Republic Act 9501 in 2008 where banks are mandated to allocate 10 percent of their total loan portfolio to MSMEs. The law expired in 2018.

Bianca Cuaresma

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BOC collects ₧138.5M from sale of containers

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

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HE Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected P138.5 million from disposing overstaying containers through public auction in the first quarter of the year.

In a statement on Wednesday, the BOC said the amount was raised through auctioning off 354 overstaying containers of assorted items such as rice and galvanize steel, among others.

Apart from conducting a public auction, the bureau also disposed 232 containers through condemnation during the same period.

Overall, the bureau disposed a total of 586 containers through various modes, such as auction, condemnation, and donation.

Disposing overstaying containers is aimed at improving trade facilitation by eliminating port and yard congestion, the BOC said.

Cargoes which were not withdrawn within the 30-day regulatory period from payment of duties, taxes, and other charges shall be deemed abandoned, unless covered by duly issued alert order, and upon the finality of the Decree of Abandonment, the bureau shall then determine the proper disposition among auction, condemnation or donation.

The BOC collected a total of P148 billion as of the end of the first quarter for this year, exceeding its P134 billion target for the period. This was also 1.9-percent higher compared to the P145.3 billion collection from January to March last year.

For this year, the BOC targets to collect a total of P616.7 billion, significantly higher by 21.84 percent than the downgraded 2020 target set for BOC at P506.15 billion.

Last year, the bureau’s total revenue collection reached P537.7 billion, above its revised revenue collection target by 6.2 percent.

Security Bank gives MUFG cash-mgmt system access

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

S

ECURITY Bank Corp. announced that it has signed a deal with its global partner MUFG Bank to expand the international lender’s access to the local bank’s cash management system.

In a statement on Wednesday, Security Bank said the agreement will open its cash management program, DigitBanker, to MUFG. This will, in turn, provide MUFG’s clients with products and services that are suited to the domestic front.

In particular, the new partnership will allow MUFG’s clients to extend their collection network in different parts of the country through the DigiBanker platform.

MUFG’s customers can also capitalize on using Security Bank’s system for their disbursement requirements whether online or via check payments.

Security Bank President and CEO Sanjiv Vohra said the new agreement is “an opportunity for the bank to

“take the best of Security Bank and MUFG and raise the bar for financial service excellence in the region.”

In 2016, the two banks completed its strategic partnership deal with MUFG buying a 20-percent stake in Security Bank.

Since then, both banks have leveraged their combined networks for various initiatives, such as the recent acquisition of Security Bank’s consumer lending arm, SB Finance by MUFG’s partner bank in Thailand, Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri).

MUFG’s Country Head for the Philippines Yuichi Yamagishi said the agreement is a reaffirmation of the importance of the Philippines to MUFG’s network in Asia Pacific.

He also said it also shows their “ongoing commitment” to partnering with a leading institution in the Philippines.

“We have no doubt this agreement will significantly enhance our service delivery and facilitate greater business flow across the region,” Yamagishi said.

Credit Suisse scandal toll goes ever higher as rivals thrive on market activity

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N an era of prosperity for investment banks, Credit Suisse Group AG is careening from one crisis to another and then another—this time, with a $4.7-billion writedown tied to billionaire investor Bill Hwang’s trading blowout.

The staggering hit—the largest yet linked to market-shaking losses run up by Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management—prompted sweeping management changes at the Swiss bank Tuesday and cast fresh doubt on its checkered record of managing risks. It caps a catalog of costly errors at Credit Suisse—most recently the collapse of Greensill Capital—in what was supposed to be the start of steadier era under Chief Executive Officer Thomas Gottstein.

At a moment when investment banks are feasting on market activity and dealmaking, Credit Suisse is under mounting pressure to persuade shareholders and clients it can put its house in order and remain a vital, independent force in global banking.

After the firm announced plans to cut its dividend and suspend share buybacks, analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their recommendation for the stock, which already was breaking with peers in tumbling this year.

“The ongoing negative newsflow could have an impact on the remainder” of Credit Suisse’s businesses, analysts Kian Abouhossein and Amit Ranjan wrote in a note, lowering their rating to neutral from overweight.

“Besides the impact from various management changes and regulatory oversight,” they wrote, the bank

“might have to pursue a strategy of ‘capital preservation’” that could restrain growth.

David Herro at Harris Associates, a top shareholder of Credit Suisse, said the bank’s losses should serve as a “wakeup call” to expedite cultural change as Chairman Urs Rohner prepares to hand over to Lloyds Banking Group Plc. CEO Antonio Horta-Osorio at the end of the month. Rohner has offered to forgo his compensation for 2020 of 1.5 million francs.

Another long-standing backer of the bank, Qatar’s former prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, stands to suffer a personal hit as well after vehicles linked to him invested about $200 million in funds Credit Suisse ran with Greensill, according to people familiar with the matter. As former head of the Qatar Investment Authority, Sheik Hamad had made Qatar one of the Swiss bank’s largest shareholders.

Acknowledging the need for deep change, Credit Suisse on Tuesday replaced its investment bank head and chief risk officer, along with a handful of other executives. Gottstein, who took over in February last year after a spying scandal toppled his predecessor, told the Neue Zuercher Zeitung that the bank has no sacred cows with regard to strategy.

“Serious lessons will be learned,” he pledged in a statement. The Archegos loss “is unacceptable.”

Missing the rally

WHILE the Swiss bank wasn’t the only firm that helped Hwang’s fam-

The logo of the Credit Suisse Group AG is displayed in this photo. The investment bank is addressing a new crisis at a time when investment banks are feasting on market activity and deal-making. Bloomberg Photo

ily office lever up large positions in a relatively small slate of stocks, rivals including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG managed to unwind their exposures quickly with minimal damage.

Credit Suisse has now offloaded the bulk of its Archegos exposure, helped by a $2.3-billion sale this week. But the impact of that latest disposal and any remaining positions could affect second-quarter results, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The dual hits from Archegos and Greensill have put the bank on track for its second straight quarterly loss, at a time when investment banks around the world are still focused on the windfall unleashed by the market turmoil of the coronavirus pandemic. The five largest US firms boosted trading revenue by more than a third last year to the highest in at least a decade.

JPMorgan’s Wall Street unit generated its most fourth-quarter rev-

enue and profit ever. Deutsche Bank is among firms that have said their investment banks are off to a strong start this year. And Jefferies Financial Group Inc. already reported an 81-percent jump in revenue from capital markets in the fiscal first quarter that ended last February 28.

Expected losses

IN an update on its underlying businesses Tuesday, Credit Suisse noted that issues such as Archegos were negating the “very strong performance that had otherwise been achieved by our investment banking businesses” as well as higher profits in wealth and asset management units.

The firm is still set to give an update on the effect of last month’s collapse of Greensill Capital, which helped manage $10 billion of investment funds the Swiss bank offered to asset management clients. Credit Suisse is leaning toward letting clients take the hit of expected losses in those funds, a person familiar with

the discussions said.

Among the executives to leave over the missteps are investment bank head Brian Chin and risk chief Lara Warner. Gottstein previously removed Eric Varvel from his role running asset management after Greensill’s downfall. In a memo to staff Monday, Credit Suisse also announced at least five other departures, including equities trading chief Paul Galietto.

Christian Meissner, the former Bank of America Corp. executive who joined Credit Suisse in October, will take over from Chin next month.

Joachim Oechslin will become risk chief in the interim, a role he held until 2019 when Warner took over.

Thomas Grotzer was named interim head of compliance.

Bonuses scrapped

THE bank cut its dividend proposal for 2020 to 10 centimes a share, from about 29 centimes, and suspended its share buyback until its common equity Tier 1 ratio, a key measure of capital strength, returns to the targeted level. Credit Suisse said it expects a CET1 ratio of at least 12 percent in the first quarter. It had aimed for at least 12.5 percent in the first half of this year. Top executives’ bonuses for last year have been scrapped.

The Zurich-based bank was one of several global investment banks to facilitate the leveraged bets of Archegos, and had tried to reach some sort of standstill to figure out how to unwind positions without sparking panic, people familiar with the

matter have said. The strategy failed as rivals rushed to cut their losses.

“Almost two weeks in, it is still not clear how the bank managed to take a 4.4 billion-franc charge for one client in the prime brokerage business, which we estimate generates less than 1 billion francs per annum in revenues,” JPMorgan’s analysts wrote. Among big banks that dealt with Archegos, only Nomura Holdings Inc. has signaled the potential to also take a multibillion-dollar hit, saying it could lose as much as $2 billion.

Latest trades

CREDIT Suisse’s latest trades came more than a week after several rivals dumped their shares. The bank hit the market with block trades tied to ViacomCBS Inc., Vipshop Holdings Ltd. and Farfetch Ltd., a person with knowledge of the matter said. The stocks traded substantially below where they were last month before Hwang’s family office imploded.

In addition to the Archegos writedown, Credit Suisse may need to set aside 2 billion francs over the coming years for litigation tied to Greensill, according to the JPMorgan analysts.

Startup lender Greensill Capital had borrowed from the bank and helped manage a group of debt funds that were marketed as among its safest products. Now the funds are frozen and being wound down after Lex Greensill’s firm collapsed amid doubts about its lending practices.

Credit Suisse said it will provide an update on the funds in the next few days. Bloomberg News

Parentlife BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Thursday, April 8, 2021

B5

THE many ways art can be used to reduce anxiety.

ONE year into the coronavirus pandemic, Katja Heimann is still trying to keep her spirits up—despite several lockdowns and months of teaching seven of her children in home schooling. AP

GERMAN MOTHER OF 11 KIDS FIGHTS VIRUS WITH DISCIPLINE, LOVE

BY KIRSTEN GRIESHABE� & CHRISTOPH NOELTING The Associated Press EISEMROTH, Germany—One year into the coronavirus pandemic, Katja Heimann, a mother of 11, is still trying to keep her spirits up—despite several lockdowns and months of homeschooling seven of her children. The secret of her success, she says: structured daily routines, patience and love.

Heimann, who lives with her husband Andre and their children in the small village of Eisemroth in central Germany, keeps a strict daily schedule to get everything done that needs to be done when you have 11 kids. That includes a lot of self-discipline: getting up at dawn, cleaning the home, doing the laundry, cooking and, in addition—since schools have been closed for most students in Germany since the end of last year—helping her children with remote learning.

Despite her perseverance the situation “has become very exhausting lately,” the 41-year-old told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday.

“The biggest challenge is to keep on going,” she added. Like millions of families in Germany and across the globe, the Heimanns are struggling with the ongoing daily burdens of the pandemic. But where most families, at least in Germany, have to take care of one, two, three or rarely four children, the Heimanns have an entire soccer team of kids in the house.

The oldest, Milena, 22, has already moved out, but lives nearby and comes over for visits several times a week. In addition to the seven school-age children, the Heimanns also have three little ones—the youngest only 18 months—who are still in kindergarten, which has also been closed some of the time due to the virus.

“It’s very noisy here and cramped,” Katja Heimann said with a sigh, but also a smile. When the four high school students are participating in video conferences with their teachers, she helps her three elementary school students solve their exercises on the long wooden kitchen table.

“In the beginning of homeschooling we had only one laptop for our entire family—that didn’t work out at all,” she said. Friends and neighbors quickly helped out, lending their spare devices to the family.

Husband Andre, 52, a locksmith, says he is in awe of how his wife manages to keep their family together during the pandemic. “She takes care of the household, the homework, the cooking, the cleaning, the paperwork, everything,” he says. “She’s amazing.”

Of course, the Heimanns have good and bad days.

Sometimes the kids argue with each other, they get bored and don’t want to do remote learning anymore but do want to hang out with their friends again— which is not allowed due to the distancing regulations.

“Of course, we have stress and we argue too,” says Andre. “But in general the situation made us get closer together.”

My ‘ones’ in managing anxiety: Part III O

VER the past two weeks, I have shared “water” and “words” as my “ones” in reducing family anxiety. My third and final installment is a bit more fun and also my favorite: art.

As the world continues to struggle in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded alarm bells that “children and young people may be feeling more isolated, anxious, bored and uncertain. They may feel fear and grief over the impact of the virus on their families.”

As adults, especially for our elderly who may be more isolated, the case is no different. With cases at an all-time high, we cannot help but feel even more fearful even as we try to quiet the fear. We try to reach back in our minds for the normalcy that once defined our lives, in the hopes of finding comfort even in the mundane, but inevitably the worries come up. My initial reaction some months ago was to dismiss the fears offhand. Fast forward to today, and I can say my reaction to these moments of panic is to breathe and then remind myself that “many things in life, regardless of how much we plan, are just not in our control.” Then, I turn to art.

Art for me is a visual release and an avenue to relaxation. I am not an art collector but I do like

A summer playbook

Below are some of the simple ways, which I have tried, on how you can start feeling lighter with art: ■ PENCIL ART—Get a regular or a 6B pencil. Look around at the easiest thing you can draw or trace.

Then play around with the shades, on how dark or light you want to repeatedly shade the image. That freedom alone to decide is a start. Then cap it with your own title. Mine in February 1997 was: “If you think you’re alone in your struggles, Think Again.”

■ TRACED ART—If you want to go further but are not confident with your drawing skills, you can buy an onion skin to trace over a picture. You can also get a carbon paper and trace below it. Free-flowing art happens because while you choose to copy an image, you can then add your own elements of, say, a sun, star or patterns; and color with any medium you choose. Again, label it afterwards. I labeled mine “However Steep the Road May Be...”

■ DIGITAL ART—For our kids, they may prefer to create art digitally. Encourage them to find a photo they like then manipulate it through photo applications. Both my daughter and I love using Canva.

■ FREE ART—When you get bolder, pick up any medium that you feel like that day—paint, craypas, markers, crayons or craft materials. Start with symbols you like and build your art from there.

Art is my most favorite form of expression. Maybe because it was the medium I coped with most when I was a child. I was labeled as an overly sensitive person in my family. I would usually find expressing my hurt and anger in colors and, forming art through clay and water. It was only when I attended meditation classes at age 28 that my teacher Noelle told me that my sensitivity is a gift.

Today, I thank God even more for showing me art.

Without it, I would not have found the beautiful gift of harnessing my sensitivity and bringing art’s colorful beauty into my life. ■

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TOY Kingdom’s Summer Playbook highlights all things that make fun in the sun memorable.

TEACH your kids to get sporty with this three-in-one Kids Basketball Hoop Set with Soccer and Golf.

SUMMERIZE your backyard with this Intex Easy Pool Set.

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A GLOBAL pandemic continues to inform everyday life, but there’s no reason for kids to again be denied some summer fun, and Toy Kingdom (www. toykingdom.com.ph) offers a summer playbook collection that highlights all things that make fun in the sun memorable—in an exciting new way.

Sure, kids, are spending more time at home, but it doesn’t mean they can’t play it cool in the pool, get sporty in their own backyard, or simply have fun bonding with family at home.

Make a splash in your own backyard with cool inflatable pools, floaters and bubble blasters. Create your own exciting water adventure with a whimsical Unicorn Island or Mermaid Tail Ring.

Girls will love to play all day with playhouses and play sets; while boys will enjoy some backyard sport activities with basketball sets, inflatable hoop sets and Nerf Fortnite adventures.

It will be some time before the government’s vaccination program brings about herd immunity, but parents can certainly facilitate for their little angels a summer more memorable than last year.

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buying art that soothes. Recently, I found this Paulina Luz Sotto piece from our fundraising in Ateneo, which I have positioned to be visible right when I go down our stairs. Art is also that one activity that when you pick up a colored medium, allows you to feel lost in the beginning because you do not where to start.

Then it allows you to start even with a dot, line or shape, letting you then flow freely without having to be answerable to anyone but your own eyes. Once you are done, you realize there is nothing wrong with having no control. This is quite a difficult thing to absorb especially for highly driven and successful people. That’s why my daughter Meagan and I thought of gifting my dad with an art case with Crayola markers, colored pencils and crayons inside. Meagan wrote a note inside to ask her “Kongkong” to write her encouraging quotes in Mandarin using these materials.

Not everyone is a verbal communicator. It is also not always easy to put our feelings into words, nor do many have the courage to share such writing to people, especially when it involves revealing our vulnerabilities. This simple and child-like visual exercise, in my opinion, allows us to unconsciously pour our thoughts and even inner tantrums into something tangible. It’s like talking out loud by yourself.

One can even find a professional to conduct art therapy sessions. For example, according to Arttherapyblog.com, “art therapy for children can provide kids with an easier way to express themselves since children are more naturally artistic and creative.”

However, it also states that “if you go into art as therapy and learn about the basic concepts and ideas that it represents, then you can learn a lot about yourself through your own isolated creative expression. It’s something you can do on your own to just relieve stress, discover yourself in new ways, etc.”

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BOUNCE and Play with Playhouse Jump-o-Lene.

PLAY all day with this slide set.

B6 Thursday, April 8, 2021

Leading HMO PhilCare wins big at the Philippine Quill Awards

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HILCARE, one of the country’s most preferred health maintenance organizations (HMO), soars to new heights in its quest to deliver smarter healthcare for Filipinos as its groundbreaking initiatives gained top recognition at the 18th Philippine Quill Awards.

Leading the list of Quill Awards for the company is the PhilCare Community Quarantine Wellness Index which won the top prize for Communications Research category. The PhilCare CQ Wellness Index looked into the actual state of well-being of Filipinos amid the imposition of the first enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) following the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

A total of 800 respondents from all walks of life nationwide were interviewed through mobile phones to get a big picture of how they responded to the effects of the lockdowns and the pandemic as a whole.

The study revealed that Filipinos prayed a lot more while greatly cutting down on vices during the first lockdown.

Interestingly also, nearly all respondents back then were most concerned with a possible “second wave” of COVID-19.

The PhilCare CQ Wellness Index was also nominated to receive the top award for COVID Communications, a special division in this year’s Quills dedicated to business communication efforts in response to the pandemic. Meanwhile, the study’s publicity effort also won a Quill award of merit under the Communications Management division.

Organized by the International Association of Business Communicators – Philippines (IABC Philippines), the Philippine Quill is the country’s most prestigious business communications awards program. Programs and projects are awarded on the basis of excellent communication use to achieve business goals and to make a difference in society.

“Being responsive to the needs of

our audience is always important to us. Given that COVID-19 and the lockdowns quickly changed the way we live, we wanted to get their pulse in the fastest and most accurate manner possible, especially with regard to their health. This is why we conducted the PhilCare CQ Wellness Index,” said PhilCare President and CEO Jaeger L. Tanco.

“Now that we are more informed with more relevant data, we are in a position to help our fellow Filipinos bounce back better by developing new products, services, and programs that are in tune with the times,” said PhilCare Director Eusebio H. Tanco Another responsive effort relative to the first ECQ that won was the Wellness From Home (WFH) video series, which bagged a Quill award of excellence under the Communications Skills division.

The videos, uploaded on PhilCare’s Facebook page following the implementation of the first lockdowns, featured exercises taught by fitness experts to help followers achieve optimal wellness despite being unable to go out to exercise.

These have reached over 900,000 people, of which at least 330,000 have viewed them.

The 2019 PhilCare Wellness Index and the HMO’s prepaid health cards program also bagged Quill merit awards.

“We are thankful to IABC Philippines for acknowledging PhilCare’s efforts to deliver relevant health and wellness information, which audiences greatly need during this pandemic,” Jaeger added.

9th PropertyGuru PH Awards announces new categories, now accepts entries for extensive 2021 virtual gala edition

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HE ARCHIPELAGO’S most prestigious real estate awards programme announces new categories and broadcast platforms for this year's edition.

General public nominations and official entries shall be accepted until 20 August 2021. Meanwhile, the inclusive virtual gala event and awards presentation to be livestreamed worldwide on November 11 via AsiaPropertyAwards.com and partner channels, with highlights to be aired on official cable TV partner History Channel.

A virtual media roundtable on 23 March touched on the longevity, credibility and benefits of joining the Awards and discussed the pulse of the Philippine real estate market in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic The 2021 Annual PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards, to be presented by platinum sponsor Kohler and gold sponsor Boysen, have begun the search for the best developers and projects in the archipelago.

Developers across the islands are now enjoined to showcase their latest developments, achievements and innovations in the latest Philippine edition of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards series, the widely respected and trusted regional platform celebrated for upholding the real estate industry’s “Gold Standard”.

Open categories for the 2021 PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards include accolades for the best Developer, Development, and Design, along with the Special Recognition for Public Facility. New categories include the titles of Best Developer (Luzon), Best Developer (Mindanao) and Best Developer (Visayas), recognising the most exemplary companies in the island groups.

The latest edition of the Philippines Property Awards will also have new accolades for developers with the finest collection of investment assets.

They include the titles of Best Office Portfolio, Best Industrial Portfolio, Best Hospitality Portfolio and Best Retail Portfolio.

The country’s winning and Highly Commended developers and projects will be revealed on Thursday, 11 November 2021 in an inclusive virtual gala dinner and awards presentation that will stream live on AsiaPropertyAwards.com/tv-podcast and the official channels on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

Here are the key dates for the 2021 edition:

1 January 2021 – Entries Open; 20 August 2021 – Entries Close; 28 September 2021 – Final Judging,

11 November 2021 – Virtual Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony (Philippines Edition); 9 December 2021 – Regional Grand Final Gala Event in Bangkok, Thailand.

Nominations from the public and official entries from eligible companies and projects are currently being accepted here: AsiaPropertyAwards.com/ nominations In 2020, the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards online gala series, which included the first virtual gala edition of the PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards, was viewed more than 516,000 times and reached viewers and property investors in more than 75 countries worldwide. This year, highlights of the Philippines gala event will air on the History Channel, the official cable TV partner of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards, reaching even more international audiences.

Best in Asia

WINNERS of the main categories will have a chance to compete at the 16th PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final, which will elevate the region’s most outstanding developers and projects to the titles of “Best in Asia”. The 16th PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final will be hosted in Bangkok, Thailand on 9 December and preceded by the 2021 edition of the PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit, the tech and thought leadership platform of PropertyGuru Group.

Agriya by Damosa Land, Inc. clinched the top honour of Best Residential Green Development (Asia) last year at the 15th PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final.

Joining the virtual media roundtable on 23 March to announce the new edition were Jules Kay, managing directo of PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards and Events; Christophe Vicic, PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards incumbent chairperson, and country head of Jones Lang LaSalle Philippines, Inc.; and Cyndy Tan Jarabata, president of TAJARA Leisure & Hospitality Group Inc., who’s also the founding chairperson of the Philippines Property Awards. The speakers discussed the Awards programme’s longevity, technological growth, and regional aspect. Also on the panel were Ofelia Barroga, senior partner of HLB Philippines, the official supervisor of the Awards, who reiterated the credibility, fairness and transparency of the programme; and Leo Leong, general manager of

Kohler Kitchen & Bath for South and North East Asia, also participated in the roundtable to highlight the strong partnership between global brand Kohler and the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards.

The roundtable additionally touched on the programme’s resilience amid Covid-19 restrictions.

Set to be safely conducted as a virtual gala event and ceremony, the PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards will observe proper protocols in accordance with health and safety standards in the Philippines.

Speakers at the roundtable also touched on the economic health of the Philippines: sharing insights on residential, commercial and industrial demand throughout the islands; recommendations for the most viable real estate locations and asset segments; and predictions for buyers, renters and investors in the wake of the pandemic.

Organized by Southeast Asia’s leading property technology company, PropertyGuru Group, the 9th PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards 2021 is supported by the industry’s leading brands, including platinum sponsor Kohler; gold sponsor Boysen; official cable TV partner History Channel; official magazine PropertyGuru Property Report; official PR partner FleishmanHillard; media partners Hoppler and Presello; official charity partner Right To Play; official ESG partner Baan Dek Foundation; and official supervisor HLB. For more information, email awards@ propertyguru.com or visit the official website: AsiaPropertyAwards.com.

DSWD to help in monitoring implementation of financial aid to low-income families at NCR plus

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N its continuing effort to provide technical assistance to local government units (LGUs) in the National Capital Region (NCR) plus, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will help in monitoring the implementation of the financial aid for low-income families affected by the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) measure.

As member of the Joint Monitoring and Inspection Team (JMIT), the DSWD, together with the DILG City/Municipal Local Government Operations Office, Philippine National Police, City /Provincial Prosecutors Office, and civil society organizations (CSOs), will help address grievances of beneficiaries, monitor LGU compliance with applicable guidelines, seek the assistance of higher authorities in case of undue delay or systemic anomalies in the distribution, and cause the filing of administrative or criminal cases against public officials in irregular or unlawful practice relative to the financial aid. The creation of the JMIT is stipulated in the Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 series of 2021 on the implementation of the financial aid.

Under the JMC, the DSWD, together with the DILG

and the Department of National Defense will provide technical assistance to the LGUs on their respective areas of concern.

The JMC also specified that each LGU is required to create a Grievance and Appeals Committee to address grievances from beneficiaries. The committee shall maintain a hotline to receive complaints and expeditiously act on these.

The DSWD encouraged the beneficiaries to submit complaints on the delivery of the financial aid through the different grievance redress platforms of their respective LGUs. The Department said that by monitoring the implementation of the latest cash subsidy, the public can be assured that the financial assistance is given to the rightful beneficiaries and government funds are used for its intended purpose.

MERALCO COMMISSIONS NEW LIIP SUBSTATION GIS. Linemen and engineers from Meralco and Miescor attend to commissioning of a new double bus indoor Gas-Insulated Switchgear (GIS) of LIIP Substation located at Binan, Laguna. This project will ensure the continuous power supply of the customers served by the said substation even during contingency, preventing possible power outages to many industrial customers in the area of Sta. Rosa and Binan, Laguna.

Despite the heightened community quarantine measures due to the recent surge of COVID-19 cases, Meralco and its subsidiaries are continuously working hard to improve its distribution system in order to provide its customers with the highest level of service.

CCP launches the special issue of VLF Anthology by Women Playwrights

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HE Cultural Center of the Philippines, through its Intertextual Division, recently had a soft launch of the special anthology of the Virgin Lab Festival fully staged plays on March 31 at the CCP and CCP Intertextual Division Facebook Pages as part of the Center’s celebration of National Women’s Month.

Entitled “Elemental: Mga Babaeng Mandudula at mga Elemento ng Drama,” and edited by veteran playwright Ms. Layeta Bucoy, the e-book will be formally launched online likewise during this year’s Virgin Labfest which will be held from June 14 to July 6, 2021. The e-book can be downloaded for free.

The plays selected for this volume were chosen from the works by women that were staged from various editions of the Virgin Labfest, the annual theater festival that provides a venue for the emerging and established Filipino playwrights to present their unpublished, unstaged, untested and

untried works to the theater-going public.

The works by women were selected to serve as samples to help define and explain the elements of a play. The e-book can also be considered as a manual in writing for theater.

For inquiries, visit the CCP Intertextual Division FB page or send an email to ccpintertextualdivision@gmail.com or text to 0919-3175708.

Dumagats endure long wait for justice

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HE Dumagats of Antipolo are growing restive due to the failure of the government to act on the cases they filed against the operators of the Masungi Georeserve along with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The current operator of the reserve is a private sector company, which generates profits from payments made by local and international tourists who visit to the site.

The Dumagats accused the two parties of violating the Anti-Graft Law as well as the Indigenous People’s Rights Act. The cases stemmed from a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the DENR and Masungi Georeserve, which an official of the department said was disadvantageous to the government.

Assistant Secretary Ricardo Calderon had questioned the MOA for being perpetual in nature with no payments due the government. Multiple attempts to get the side of the DENR failed, with the buck being passed by the office of Secretary Roy Cimatu, who serves as chairman of the department’s oversight committee for the MOA, to undersecretaries Mitch Cuna and Jonas Leones.

Leones said he would reply to queries on the matter, but then failed to respond to various communications.

The Dumagats had been asking Secretary Cimatu to explain why Masungi Georeserve is not covered by a Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas, which Cimatu

himself had issued as an administrative order in 2017.

The local tribe asked if Masugni was exempt from the order. The Dumagats asked that the MOA between the DENR and the operators of Masungi Georeserve be revoked. They also asked that reforms be instituted by the government, particularly the DENR, before future MOAs are signed with the private sector.

The Dumagats expressed fear and anger at the false accusations that they were land grabbers, as they have been living and caring for the area since the Spanish era.

A peaceful people, they said they had no arms and were being intimidated by the armed guards of the operator of the reserve. The Masungi Georeserve is a conservation area located in Baras, Rizal.

In 1993, the DENR proposed that the site be declared as a strict nature reserve and wildlife sanctuary. The Dumagats have been occupying the area for centuries, but their rights were hardly recognized by the MOA between the DENR and the operator of Masungi Georeserve.

The operator charges fees of P1,500 per guest on weekdays, and P1,800 per guest on weekends. Until the lockdowns caused by the pandemic, the site was believed to be earning millions of pesos on revenues for the operator, with none going to the government or to the Dumagats.

Editor: Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

Health&Fitness BusinessMirror

Thursday, April 8, 2021 B7

Covid-19 patients breathe better with prone pillow

By Rory Visco

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Contributor

he number of Covid-19 infections continue to increase not just in the Philippines but worldwide, one year after the pandemic was declared. The SARSCoV-2 or Covid-19 virus causes the infection to spread through breathing, sneezing, coughing and even drooling.

The virus also causes a type of pneumonia that leads to pulmonary edema, multi-organ failure, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is among the most dangerous e f fe c t s a mong Co v id -19 pa tients. Because of the difficulty in breathing commonly experienced by patients, the prone sleeping position was introduced to Covid-19 patients to help improve their breathing even while intubated and to provide enough ventilation.

Prone sleeping position The prone sleeping position is simply a technique used by patients with ARDS to enable them to breathe better. As compared to the supine sleeping position where the patients lie on their back, the prone position when sleeping is where patients can lie on their abdomen to allow better breathing, especially for those using a ventilator machine.

In the supine position, the heart and the abdominal organs compress the lungs while in the

prone position, the lungs are less strained, which makes easier for the patient to breathe.

Prone pillow If there is one company that is an expert when it comes to sleep, it is Uratex and they were able to develop the Uratex Prone Pillow in collaboration with the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) to enable patients to lie in prone position.

Admittedly, it is more difficult for patients to lie in the prone position if they are intubated especially for Covid-19 patients, or if they have certain problems with their backs like having a slipped disc.

The Uratex Prone Pillow was designed to provide total comfort while a patient is in prone position. At the same time, it provides a supportive base, according to Dindo Medina, Uratex Corporate Director.

The pillow has facial holes for breathing, internal spacing, holes and slits in order to allow tubes during intubation to pass through and be positioned correctly and safely while the patient lies in a prone state.

At present, there are other

prone pillow models available globally but the Uratex Prone Pillow is the only model developed with the help of a medical institution such as the PGH. “No one in the world was able to prepare against this pandemic and as such, this product was not really planned. However, the good thing is that Uratex always listens to the comfort needs of people and tries to provide solutions. We are grateful that with this collaboration with the PGH, the prone pillow solution was developed,” Medina explained.

pillow but this is subject to the approval of their doctors. Likewise, these pillows will be sold at subsidized prices through our Hotline [0971-8225656] that customers can call.”

The Uratex Prone Pillow, above all, is also part of the company’s efforts of giving back to its customers and is an essential part of the company’s pandemic response.

“Uratex donates the pillows to patients in need and also health institutions that provide Covid-19 patient care,” Medina added.

Not yet available commercially

Helping in the fight versus Covid-19

As of now, Medina admitted that the Uratex Prone Pillow is not yet available commercially. However, Medina mentioned that Uratex allotted a certain quantity of the pillows for donation by the company to hospitals and other medical facilities that may need it. They also allocated a number of the pillows to be sold at subsidized prices and made available to donors who may want to donate them to their beneficiaries and Filipinos in general.

“Actually, we can sell to individuals who are in need of the

Aside from the Uratex Prone Pillow, prov iding mattresses, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the country’s medical frontliners, testing and vaccination efforts, Uratex also found ways to contribute in the fight against Covid-19 in other unexpected ways.

“For example, we use our plastic packaging for our mattresses as intubation drapes and quarantine curtains. We also provide foam strips used in earlier versions of face shields,” according to Medina.

Feedback that matters

As of now, the Uratex Prone Pillow has already reached many people in medical facilities and other institutions, from Tuguegarao to Zamboanga del Sur. Although the pillows are still only available and supplied locally, feedback was nonetheless inspiring.

One particular positive feedback, says Medina, was that the pillow helped increase the oxygen levels of those who have used the product. “Recovery rates have increased and according to doctors who used them for patients, it definitely provided a big help,” says Medina.

According to Dr. Brian Cabral, Clinical Associate Professor at the PGH and Consultant and former Medical Director at St. Luke’s Bonifacio Global City, said that the pillow designed by Uratex helps by making it more comfortable for the patient. It allows for tubes and other equipment attached to the patient’s mouth and upper body to stay in place without getting squeezed into the bed.

“So far, hospitals who have received and used them have had very positive reviews,” Dr. Cabral added.

Moms engage tobacco reps in heated debate at Senate Remote Care Program for Covid-19

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

F

ueled by their desire to protect the Filipino youth from harm, three mothers, Sen. Pia Cayetano, who is a health advocate, Dr. Riz Gonzalez of the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) and Dr. Encarnita Blanco-Limpin of the Philippine College of Physicians battled it out using their science-backed arguments against tobacco industry representatives during the recent Senate hearing on four bills seeking to regulate vapes and heated tobacco products (HTPs).

“I want to emphasize that the sin tax law, which was passed barely a year ago, has already resolved the issue on the flavors, age, and jurisdiction of the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] and the DOH [Department of Health],” Cayetano said as she also reiterated a point she made in her manifestation at the Senate days prior to the hearing—that the issue of vapes and HTPs is a very important health measure and should thus be looked at from the perspective of health.

One of the points of contention was on age of purchase which, as pointed out by Cayetano, was already resolved just a year ago with the passage of the sin tax law, which pegged it at 21 years of age. Of the four new bills being deliberated on, three were proposing to lower it to 18.

Too young

Dr. Blanco-Limpin pointed out that the age of 18 is too young to be introduced to addictive substances.

She said that instead of lowering the age of purchase, it should instead be increased to 25.

“Scientific studies show that the age of maturation actually occurs at the age of 25. Since all of these are addictive products, maybe it is wise to consider that we put the minimum age of purchase for all vaporized products, heated tobacco, regular tobacco products or even alcohol at the age of 21 or even perhaps at the age of 25 so we would be able to prevent our young from taking on this addiction at an earlier age,” she said.

Dr. Gonzalez supported Dr. BlancoLimpin’s position, saying that the prefrontal cortex only matures when a person turns 25.

Dopamine center

The prefrontal context is the dopamine center of the brain. When one smokes or vapes, this area is targeted by nicotine, a major ingredient in vapes and cigarettes, thereby harming it.

“Regular exposure to nicotine negatively affects the development of this particular part of the brain that is important for the executive function that is mainly mood and impulse control, attention and learning which in turn impacts decision making.

Lowering the age of access to e-cigarettes from 21 to 18 years old is an retrogressive act. We uphold that the age of access should be at 21 years,” she said.

However, Joey Dulay, president of the Philippine E-Cigarette Industry Association, noted that 18 is the “legal age” in the coun-

try, a view that was support by the tobacco industry who said 18 is just the right age.

“We can apply for a driver’s license, we can vote at 18, we can buy cigarettes at 18, buy alcohol at 18,” he said.

Cayetano was quick to counter this argument by pointing out that voting and getting a driver’s license are not harmful activities.

“To be able to use an e-cig, it’s a privilege that should only be allowed for adults.

Not just adults but young people who have matured brains already because it is addictive. I don’t think it should be aligned with those other activities,” she said.

Healthy learners

Committed to nurturing healthy learners, the Department of Education (DepEd) expressed its full support towards stricter measures on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) or Electronic Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENNDS), or also known as e-cigarettes or “vapes.”

“On matters related to substance use prevention, education alone is not enough.

In their classes, we teach our learners how to reject harmful substances. Outside these classes, we need policies and structures that will help reinforce our learners’ healthpromoting choices, complementing what we teach them in school,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones penned in her statement of support, in time for the public hearing on the provisions of the Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Act. The Senate hearing explored regulations on age restriction, online trade, product fla-

vors, among others. Currently, vapor products and HTPs are already regulated under Republic Act 11467 (RA 11467), signed by President Duterte in January 2020.

Vapor products

Under RA 11467, selling vapor products and HTPs to persons below 21 years old is prohibited. However, the pending bills in the Senate, similar to the substitute bill at the House of Representatives, intends to reduce the minimum age of restriction to 18.

“This a real concern for us in DepEd. Before the pandemic, the PPS coordinated with us to explore the determinants of e-cigarette use among [Grades 7 to 9] learners [and results showed] that 6.7 percent [of 11,500 learners surveyed] have tried and are using e-cigarettes,” Briones said.

The PPS survey results showed that the top reasons for using vape among DepEd learners are online accessibility (32 percent), varied flavors (22 percent), and the belief that e-cigarettes are safer than tobacco (17 percent). Banking on these results, Briones joined the calls of “fellow health champions” for discussions on tobacco product regulations to be led by the Senate Committee on Health.

“Especially now that we are in a pandemic, I appeal to our legislators to approach the issue from a health perspective.

We are all first-hand witnesses of how any threat or attack to a country’s health system eventually affects every other sector of public life, from economics to education,” Briones noted.

Mushroom variety boosts immunity, reduces chemo side effects

O

ver the years, the mushroom is a staple ingredient not only in food but also for treatment purposes due to its medicinal benefits, especially in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

One such mushroom that has shown to have medicinal properties is the Yun-zhi (Coriolus versicolor), commonly known as “Turkey Tail” or “Cloud Mushroom.” Its anti-cancer properties attracted attention even if many plant extracts and herbs also claimed effectiveness in curing cancer.

It contains compounds such as Polysaccharide Krestin (PSK) and Polysaccharopeptide (PSP) that are believed to improve immune qualities, destroy some cancer cells and when used together with chemotherapy, even reducing its side effects.

It is also said to be rich in ac-

tive compounds like sterols, triterpenes, and alkaloids, and is widely recommended in TCM for alleviating physical distress like fatigue, lack of appetite and even respiratory conditions like coughing and shortness of breath, and even preventing infections.

The power of the Yun-zhi is now available in many health supplements to improve bodily functions like improving blood flow, protection of the liver, digestive tract, overcome fatigue and even promote anti-aging and other phenomenal invigorating and rejuvenating properties.

Neucell’s Essence of Mushroom, a single plant extract formulation of 250 mg of Yun-Zhi mushroom and distributed by Dyna Drug Corp. in the Philippines, was able to harness these properties to become a natural food supplement to support a person’s health, coupled with

balanced diet and healthy exercise.

Clinical trials have shown that Neucell has the ability to stabilize the body’s white blood cell count, making it perfect in boosting the immune system, a great need among people today, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic. It can also help reduce known side effects of chemo and radiotherapies like fatigue, poor appetite, pain, nausea, vomiting, and sweating.

With regard to the body’s respiratory system, the Yun-zhi mushroom of Neucell’s Essence of Mushroom can help improve the lungs’ functions. According to TCM records, Yun-Zhi mushroom was effective against lung diseases and the promotion of a healthy upper respiratory system. It was also found to be effective in promoting overall health of the liver by improving and strengthening its functions.

Finally, in a clinical study published by the International Journal of Medical Sciences, Yun-Zhi mushroom was known to reduce fatigue and improve athletic performance, where the effects of the Yun-Zhi mushroom are known to provide invigoration, increase vital body energy, even promoting and stimulating longevity.

Neucell’s Essence of Mushroom can also be taken by people with existing medical conditions and undergoing chemotherapy. Recommended dosage for taking Neucell as a food supplement if two to four capsules daily, while for those who are on chemotherapy, recommended dosage is four to five capsules after meals.

In the Philippines, Neucell’s Essence of Mushroom is approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is available through Dyna Drug Corp.

patients now available at TMC Clark

I

By Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

f you happen to live around the Angeles City or Mabalacat in Pampanga and have been diagnosed with Covid-19 but have been found to be asymptomatic, or do not have any visible symptoms, you will probably be told to isolate yourself at home and be closely monitored by a medical team.

Such a service is now available at The Medical City (TMC) Clark.

TMC Clark ’s Covid-19 Remote Care program is a home-based recover y system for Covid-19 suspected and positive patients.

Through this program, TMC Clark aims to provide continuous care, convenience and safety and an innovative and compassionate approach to patients during this pandemic. The program is also aimed at decongesting hospitals so that patients with more serious manifestations of Covid-19 will be prioritized for admission.

“This program will allow the not so serious Covid-19 cases to get top of the line medical assistance in the comfort of their home,” said Dr. Almario G. Jabson, President and CEO of TMC Clark. “Through this program, we can also devote more of the hospital beds to Covid-19 patients who really need them.”

Enhanced communication Patients who avail of this program will benefit from enhanced patient-physician communication. That is because patients receive better are when they can quickly relay their needs.

“Time is of essence in this pandemic and through remote care, doctors can have updates about their patients any time, anywhere,” Dr. Jabson explained.

With remote monitoring, staff and patient exposure to the virus can be decreased. This translates into less usage of PPEs which in turn means less cost on the patient’s medical bill. Additionally, this program also allows TMC Clark staff and doctors to provide patients with urgent care with less contact.

“When patients know about their status and their recovery progress, it creates peace of mind

which further aids recovery,” Dr. Jabson said. “With remote care tracking and monitoring, they are constantly informed about their health condition.”

Doctor rounds Through this remote care system, patients are still part of their doctors’ rounds and checkins without being kept in hospital wards.

To avail of this remote care service, the patient will be assessed to see whether he needs to be hospitalized. If not, the doctor will recommend what kind of remote care and treatment approach the patient needs.

Once the patient agrees to be part of the remote care program, he will be enrolled in the recommended program and will be given instructions on how to use teleconsultation and who his assigned healthcare personnel will be for the duration of his recovery.

Laboratory works included The Covid-19 Remote Care Program also covers laboratory and diagnostic procedures that a patient may need to undergo during his isolation period. As soon as the patient is enrolled in this program, TMC Clark will keep an eye on the patient throughout the program. Daily updates from teleconsultations will keep doctors and patient on track until recovery.

Should the patient require ad mission, t he prog ram w i l l help facilitate his transfer to the hospital. However, the program is only available in certain areas because of restrictions imposed by cer t a in loca l gover nment units. It is best to call the program coordinator at TMC Clark to check if the program is available in your area.

The Remote Care Program is a program that TMC Clark developed together with its newest partner, Home Healthlink Innovations, Inc., a remote care solutions provider.

“We are working closely with Home Healthlink to see where and how TMC Clark can continue to give the best care possible to our patients,” Dr. Jabson said.

B8 Thursday, April 8, 2021

Sports BusinessMirror

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

PHL SPORTS GET SHOT IN THE ARM A

By Josef Ramos

THLETES and coaches bound for the Hanoi 31st Southeast Asian Games could now heave a sigh of relief following the Philippine Olympic Committee’s (POC) announcement that they will be inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines.

POC President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino made the announcement on Wednesday, just days after Malacañang allowed private companies to secure vaccines for their workforce.

“This is good news for Filipino athletes who will be competing in the Hanoi SEA Games,” said Tolentino, adding the POC will procure the vaccines in its capacity as a private entity. “Once they get inoculated, they can train with very little fear of getting infected.”

Tolentino said the POC will purchase the vaccine through a $40,000 subsidy from the Olympic Council of Asia.

Ports tycoon Enrique Razon earlier committed to Tolentino Moderna—International Container

PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino says Filipino athletes and coaches will be inoculated with Covid-19 vaccine.

Terminal Services Inc.—vaccines for the country’s representatives to the Tokyo Olympics.

The POC formed a 626-athlete strong (entry by numbers) Team Philippines that will compete in 39 of the 40 sports in the Hanoi SEA Games program. The Philippine Sports Commission approved of the figures and started deliberating on the team’s funding.

Tolentino also announced on Wednesday POC First Vice President Al Panlilio’s appointment as chairman of the sports body’s task force on Covid-19

vaccine procurement.

“It would be up to the task force what brand and when to start the procurement process,” Tolentino said. “Whichever is the first available vaccine that will be allowed for procurement, we will get. We cannot choose.”

The SEA Games are set from November 21 to December 2.

Razon’s vaccines, Tolentino said, are expected in late May or early June.

Only men’s middleweight boxer Eumir Felix Marcial was inoculated with the vaccine in Los Angeles, California, where he has been training since October last year at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym. The other Olympic qualifiers—boxers Carlo Paalam, Nesthy Petecio and Irish Magno, gymnast Carlos Yulo and pole vaulter EJ Obiena—have yet to be vaccinated.

PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez, who Tolentino named as chef de mission to the Vietnam SEA Games, welcomed the development.

“This is really a very good news for Philippine sports,” he said.

Lakay aces Pacio, Olsim on standby for next fight T

Vaccine not mandatory, but no guarantee for PBA to kick off 46th season H AVING the entire Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) family inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine is not mandatory for the league to kick off its 46th season.

But it’s also no guarantee for the league to whistle a jump ball without an approval from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

“The PBA still needs to request for an approval from the IATF to operate, even though they get the vaccines” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said. “A vaccine won’t guarantee them [to hold games] if the Covid-19 cases are still high.”

PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial earlier announced that the league is securing AstraZeneca vaccines to compliment team owner Manuel V. Pangilinan’s commitment to have the PBA family inoculated. But the vaccines, Marcial said, are not expected to be procured in earnest.

Vivencio “Vince” Dizon, the Deputy Chief Implementer of the National Action Plan Against Covid-19, also stressed that the rate of infections will determine whether or not the PBA could operate close to how it was before the pandemic.

“It all depends on the situation,” said Dizon, adding that having fans who already got the vaccine in arenas would still need to evaluated by the IATF. At the moment though, Dizon said the PBA would

have to wait for its vaccines as government is keeping its policy on who to prioritize for vaccination.

“The players need to wait because the prioritization of the vaccine is very strict due to the limited supply,” Dizon said. “If the vaccine will [come] from the private sectors, it will arrive in the country by the second half of 2021.” The PBA targeted an April 18 opening for its 46th season but this was scrapped when the enhanced community quarantine was extended for a week until April 11 as virus infections remain in alarming level especially in the Greater Manila Area.

PBA Chairman Ricky Vargas of TNT Tropang Giga said a May opening would still be ideal for the league’s plan to hold two conferences this year.

Dizon said the IATF hasn’t receive any recent request from the PBA for its planned resumption, but expressed hope that the league would be back in action.

“The vaccine is important, but we already proved that we can do a safe bubble,” said Dizon, referring to the Clark bubble in Pampanga which the PBA and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority successfully staged in the last quarter of 2020.

The PBA, however, dropped the bubble because of its exorbitant cost and opted for a closed circuit setup— home-gym-home—with the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City as venue. The PBA spent P60 million on the Clark bubble. Josef Ramos

Memorabilia mania Tessa Jazmines tessa4347@gmail.com

PART OF THE GAME

EAM Lakay stalwarts Joshua Pacio and Jenelyn Olsim are trying to stay in shape during the health crisis while waiting for a call from One Championship on their turn to the octagon.

The 25-year-old Pacio has been inactive for more than a year since retaining his strawweight world title via split decision against Alex Silva at the Mall of Asia Arena just before the outbreak of the pandemic.

Olsim, 23, meanwhile, was fortunate enough to make her One Championship debut last month in Singapore where she scored a third-round victory via submission over world No. 5 Brazilian Maira Mazar.

“We continue training to maintain or improve on our skills,” Pacio told the online Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum recently. “If we don’t train, we’ll get rusty.”

“I’m very grateful that I could train everyday, anytime we’ll get a call to fight again,” said Olsim, a member of the national Muay Thai team that clinched a silver medal in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

Olsim hopes she gets to fight any of the top four in the strawweight category to go up the rankings and eventually vie for the world title.

“I want to go after the belt,” Olsim, a native of Bokod in Benguet, told the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Milo, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

“I’m chasing my dream and I’m in the right team [Team Lakay],” added Olsim, who admitted to doing odd jobs to support her studies before finding her way to mixed martial arts.

China’s Xiong Jing Nan is the current world champion in Olsim’s division.

T

HE pandemic has taught people to hunker down and cocoon themselves in the safety of their homes. It has also taught them the value of savings and investments.

Many Pinoys have discovered hidden talents and unlocked never before seen opportunities in the “spare time” spent in quarantine. Chefs, bakers, physical fitness instructors, fashion designers and the famous “plantitas and plantitos” were born during this period.

Others prefer to stay secure by investing in conventional stuff: bonds, stocks, cash, jewelry, real estate.

Some, however, are having fun investing in something less traditional: items that are worth far more than their original sale price and are considered alternative investments. Welcome to the world of authentic sports memorabilia.

Well, authentic sports collectibles do cost a lot.

So some people consider spending thousands on collectors’ items as a self-indulgent hobby. But look beyond the price tag and avowed collectors will tell you memorabilia collecting is a wise and sound investment.

Very rewarding too.

Memorabilia items are treasured for the emotional rewards they provide: both a physical and spiritual connection to golden sports moments or the greatness of an individual. They make you own a piece of history.

They are sacred relics of a bygone era. The buzz they give because you get to own something that belonged to or has been touched by a sports god is priceless. For sports fans, there is no feeling like it.

But memorabilia collectors are not just emotional fans. They are astute investors. They know that the ROI on collectors’ items is tremendous. That’s why avowed memorabilia hunters seek out auctions, reliable online shops, friends of friends and certified memorabilia stores.

In the Philippines, there is only one certified sports memorabilia distributor. That’s Hall of Fame Authentics or HOFA. Put up in 2018 out of the passion of lifelong basketball fans Stephen Songco, Ron Uy and Elvis Guttierez, the online-based store gives Filipino collectors easy access to sports memorabilia they have always longed to own, whether it be in basketball, baseball, football, soccer, golf, hockey and boxing. The signed goodies and relics vary

from jerseys, basketball, sneakers, boxing gloves, posters and more.

Ron and Stephen say it is indeed wise and advisable to invest in collecting memorabilia. They themselves are avowed collectors AND investors. Ron invested in a pair of Kobe Bryant shoes for $5,000 before The Mamba retired in 2016. It’s now worth a whopping $20,000. Stephen sold his car a few years back to own a signed, game-worn Michael Jordan sneaker for P400,000. Today those Air Jordan 11s’ value has gone up to over P2 million.

HOFA offers authenticated goods from major companies like Upper Deck, Panini, Steiner Sports, Fanatics, PSA/DNA, JSA and Beckett. Orders may be placed on the website (www.hofa.ph) and products can be received in as little as two weeks. Payment options include credit card, PayPal, and installment plans to accommodate different budgets.

Here are but a few samples of HOFA stuff you can find or might want to own as both a priceless treasure and a sound investment: 1. A Kobe Bryant Upper Deck Authenticated Procut jersey 81 point game commemorative 2. Floyd Mayweather’s signed Everlast boxing glove 3. Damian Lillard’s autographed Replica Spalding Basketball with “Rip City” Inscription 4. Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors autographed Gold Nike 2019-20 The Bay Swingman Jersey 5. Tiger Woods’s signed white Nike TW13 Shoes 6. Tom Brady’s New England Patriots autographed Riddell Pro Line authentic helmet 7. Cam Newton’s Carolina Panthers Autographed Nike Limited Black Jersey 8. Jack Nicklaus-Arnold Palmer autographed 16 x 20 1965 Masters Presentation photograph 9. A LeBron James signed Spalding Basketball and many more.

There are over 5,700 memorabilia items in Baseball, Boxing, Basketball, Football, Golf, Hockey and Soccer you can obsess about at the HOFA store if you’re thinking about collecting.

You can start small and grow your collection little by little. Then thank it when it saves you when that rainy day appears.

MASTERS IN APRIL MISSING RED SHIRT

A

UGUSTA, Georgia—From the dogwoods and their white blooms to thousands of azalea bushes bursting with purple and pink, all the April colors have returned to Augusta National except for one.

No red shirt.

Tiger Woods in his traditional Sunday color has become an indelible part of the Masters over the last 25 years. It dates to the practice round he played with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, after which Nicklaus suggested Woods might wind up with more green jackets than the King and the Bear combined.

So there is a big void this year.

“You can't—especially at Augusta— you can't go there and not think about the guy,” two-time US Open champion Curtis Strange said. “Changed the game we knew

basically in front of our eyes at Augusta."

The 1997 Masters—one year after Nicklaus made his bold prediction—remains a watershed moment in golf. Woods broke 20 records that week when he won by 12 shots as a 21-year-old in his first year playing as a pro. From there, he carried golf to a new wave of popularity and, because of television contracts that followed, made everyone around him richer.

The 2019 Masters was the perfect bookend. Four back surgeries, four knee surgeries, public embarrassment from his private affairs, and at 43 he overcame it all for his 15th major, fifth green jacket and pure joy when he scooped his son into his arms.

He won the career Grand Slam three times over.

But the link was always Augusta.

Xander Schauffele was asked the first thought that entered his head when he plays the Masters. He has only played three times, but the answer came quickly.

“I see Tiger and I see red,” said Schauffele, a runner-up to him in 2019.

Woods’s absence is nothing new, only the circumstances. He first missed the Masters in 2014 when he had the first of his five back surgeries. He missed two other times (2016 and 2017) trying to heal from two others.

But there was always belief he would return, even when the pain in his lower back was so bad that he barely could walk at the Masters Club dinner for champions in 2017. AP

TIGER WOODS in his traditional Sunday color has become an indelible part of the Masters over the last 25 years. AP