BusinessMirror April 28, 2020

Amid pandemic, $3.7-B fund from MDBs

By Cai U. Ordinario

M

ULTILATERAL development banks (MDBs) may extend a total of $3.733 billion to assist the Philippines in its effort to address the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

Data provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank showed the amount covers nine projects, including those that have already been approved and those in the pipeline. The list includes both loans and grants extended to the Philippines.

Six of these projects worth $2.333 billion will be financed by the Manila-based MDB, while the

DR. REGINALD SANTOS, head of the Parañaque City Health Office Laboratory, starts his day with a prayer at the Parañaque National High School, which was temporarily converted into a rapid/PCR screening testing area and isolation facility for Covid-19 patients. NONIE REYES

ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS

2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year

remaining three projects worth $1.4 billion will be financed by the Washington-based lender.

ADB

THE ADB’s projects comprise four approved projects, including the $200-million Additional Financing for the Social Protection Support Program, which was approved on Monday.

ADB said the loan will support the Philippine government’s effort to provide emergency cash subsidies to vulnerable households during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The loan will contribute to the $726 million required to provide emergency subsidies to 4Ps house-

holds in April and May 2020.

“This global pandemic, of a kind not seen in the last century, has disrupted the livelihoods of millions of Filipinos and could set back the very substantial gains the country has made in reducing poverty in recent years,” said ADB Vice President Ahmed M. Saeed.

“The new loan supports the government’s emergency subsidy program, which was designed to help vulnerable households get through this very difficult period and avoid falling into poverty.”

The approved projects were the $1.5-billion loan from the ADB’s $13.5-billion countercyclical fund allocated for Covid-19 projects in

the region.

The project is composed of loans—the $1.25-billion Active Response and Expenditure Support Program and the $250-million Philippines Countercyclical Support Facility Pandemic Response Window.

“This assistance is our largest budget support loan to the Philippines ever and reflects our strong commitment to providing cornerstone assistance swiftly and effectively to help the country mitigate the pandemic’s devastating impact on Filipinos, particularly the poor and vulnerable, including women,” ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa See “MDBs,” A2

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS

BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR (2017, 2018)

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS

PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

DATA CHAMPION

WITH P465-B SMALL BIZ LOSSES, RELIEF PUSHED www.businessmirror.com.ph

n

Tuesday, April 28, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 201

P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 16 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK

UNCOMMITTED FUNDS EYED; CAUTION ON ASSET SALE AIRED

A

IT’S all hands on deck in the fight against Covid-19—or all paws, in the case of Barangay Police Dog Wacky, who patrols the streets of Barangay 132 in Pasay City, a fourlegged frontliner reminding residents to stay home to avoid catching the deadly coronavirus. NONIE REYES

By Bernadette D. Nicolas & Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

S

MALL businesses are estimated to suffer P465.3 billion in financial losses this year as they were forced to temporarily close or operate on a skeletal force as the country struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Based on estimates by the Department of Finance (DOF), small businesses operating in malls and other retail outlets would incur losses of about P461 billion, while those that have remained open but on skeletal force will lose around P4.3 billion.

Thus, the DOF is asking Congress to pass legislation that will extend an enhanced net operating loss carry-over (Nolco) for small businesses for a period of five years, with the government absorbing as much as P139.6 billion in the form of foregone tax payments to help these

enterprises to recoup their losses.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said stretching Nolco by two more years would require congressional approval, something that the House Ways and Means chairman committed to endorse.

Under the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), Nolco is applicable to up to three taxable years only.

“We will propose to Congress an extended Nolco of five years for net losses that will be incurred in 2020. This means that a small business’s losses this year may be deducted from their income for up to

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.7510

the next five years for tax purposes.

The purpose of extending Nolco is to give them more time to recoup their losses arising from implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and other measures to contain the spread of Covid-19,” Dominguez said in a statement.

“The longer Nolco period will have the effect of lowering the tax payments between 2021 and 2025 of affected small businesses by a combined estimated total of P139.6 billion,” he added.

Salceda’s vow

HOUSE Economic Stimulus Cluster cochairman Joey Sarte Salceda on Monday said the House of Representatives will include the proposal of the Department of Finance extending the enhanced Nolco for small business for a period of five years.

“It’s one of the tools we will include—a scalpel in the operating room for economic recovery. We will include it in the proposed Economic Stimulus Act,” said Salceda, also the Ways and Means panel chief.

The DOF-proposed legislation extending Nolco for small

businesses from the current three years to five, will see government absorbing as much as P139.6 billion in the form of foregone tax payments to help these enterprises recoup their losses.

House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez of Leyte said the House of Representatives will hold an online session when it resumes on May 4 to tackle the proposed Economic Stimulus Act. Romualdez said Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano wants the House to continue holding productive virtual sessions like what Congress did during the special session on March 23 when it passed the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act.

By Butch Fernandez & Samuel P. Medenilla

CKNOWLEDGING the need to tap additional funding sources to bankroll a P1.2-trillion economic “stimulus package,” Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian is open to the Duterte administration’s option to auction State assets to raise revenues, but insists they should not be sold at a loss so as not to disadvantage an already bleeding government.

“I am open to the idea of the asset sale,” Gatchalian said, even as he reminded everyone that “we must make sure the sale would not leave the government at the short end of the bargain.”

This, as the government is now scrounging for “uncommitted” funds from its agencies and “unreleased” budget from last year to finance its still growing needs in dealing with the Covid-19 health crisis, both for containing the pandemic and boosting an economy paralyzed by the lockdowns that it forced government to impose.

In a press briefing on Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) issued a memorandum instructing government agencies to submit the list of all their “uncommitted” funds for 2020, which could be used for Covid response.

“We will know by April 30 what budget from the different line agencies… could be realigned [for Covid-19 response],” Roque said.

He noted once they get the list of “uncommitted funds,” they will be able to finalize the amount of the supplemental budget, which they will request from Congress.

DBM earlier said it only has about P45 billion left from its P397-billion Covid budget, which includes the P275 billion under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act and the capital outlay fund of some government agencies.

Of the said budget, P205 billion has been allocated for the cash aid program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), while the rest were spent on similar programs from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Agriculture, as well as the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) and test kits.

“So we can see, we have almost depleted our funds for Covid. So if we will need more [funding] help, we have to go to Congress because even if we have more funds, we cannot spend it without authorization coming from Congress,” Roque said.

Other fund sources

ROQUE said the bulk of the budget, which came from the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, is supposed to be enough only up to May.

This prompted the government to start looking for additional funding for the Covid crisis, which could last indefinitely until a vaccine or medicine for the pandemic illness is finally developed.

Continued on A2

NIRC provision

BASED on the existing provisions of the NIRC, net operating losses, which had not been previously offset as a deduction, shall be carried over as a deduction from gross income for the next three taxable years immediately following the year of such loss.

The country’s finance chief said the proposed enhanced Nolco for Continued on A2

ETERNAL Gardens crematorium operators Domingo Bon and Michael Falami, who typify some of the “backliners” in the pandemic saga with some of the most unenviable jobs, are seen at their work site at Eternal Gardens Memorial Park on Baesa Road, Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City. Since the pandemic, they have seen a doubling in the number of cremations they’ve had to do. Besides the grim task, the vicarious pain is a burden, they said, as grieving families often share with them the agony of not having seen their beloved in their final moments. BERNARD TESTA

n JAPAN 0.4720 n UK 62.7688 n HK 6.5482 n CHINA 7.1659 n SINGAPORE 35.6297 n AUSTRALIA 32.3944 n EU 54.9227 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5048

Source: BSP (April 27, 2020)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, April 28, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Only a fourth of ₧80-B SAP now in people’s hands; logistics woes cited

O

By Samuel P. Medenilla

VER P60 billion worth of Social Amelioration Program (SAP) aid disbursed to local government units (LGU) have yet to be given to intended beneficiaries.

lando Bautista said among the usual causes of delay for the distribution, as cited by LGUs, are their reduced personnel and the challenge of reaching beneficiaries in far-flung areas.

He said some of the delays could also be attributed to the varying distribution schemes implemented by the LGUs as well as in their validation process of the beneficiaries.

“There are some who would call the beneficiaries to a large area [for the distribution]. There are those which do it house to house,” Bautista said.

He said DSWD is trying to fast-track the process by consistently coordinating with the LGUs.

Distribution concerns

UNDER SAP, the DSWD will provide cash aid of from P5,000 to P8,000 to at least 18 million poor families, depending on the prevailing minimum wage rate in their area, for two months.

The distribution of the first tranche of the SAP was supposed to be already completed this month after DSWD disbursed half of the P205 billion for the program. The remaining P100 billion will be used by May.

“The distribution of the social amelioration cash subsidy for May will depend on the pace of local government units in liquidating the first tranche,” Bautista said.

Presidential Spokesman Harry

Roque, however, said the number of the SAP beneficiaries may be reduced as the government starts relaxing quarantine measures in some areas to allow the resumption of business operations.

“If I am not mistaken.... I was told by [Interior] Secretary [Eduardo] Año that the second tranche will be given to areas which will remain under ECQ (enhanced community quarantine),” Roque said.

He, however, assured that all of the listed beneficiaries already submitted to DSWD for the first tranche of the SAP will still get the cash aid even if the quarantine measures in their area are downgraded to a general community quarantine (GCA) on May 1, 2020, from ECQ.

In an online press briefing on Monday, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it has already released P80 billion to 1,514 out of 1,632 LGUs nationwide for the implementation of SAP.

However, only P20.3 billion of the budget has so far been distributed to 3.5 million low-income families who are not enrolled under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

Social Welfare Secretary Ro-

Private school teachers in dire need of cash aid, says DepEd

RED CROSS, SBMA SET COVID-19 SUBIC MASS TESTING IN MAY

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

N

OTING that small private schools are suffering a huge blow in the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday said it was awaiting the response of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), to which it proposed including private school teachers on the list of those to be given financial aid under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act.

Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said they gave their proposal on April 21.

“We sympathize with the problem of private schools,” Briones said, assuring that the DepEd will also seek the help of Congress to provide assistance to the private school teachers.

Also, in a radio interview, Atty. Joseph Noel Estrada, managing director of the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (Cocopea) expressed worries that some private schools can pay their teachers until April 30 only.

Estrada said that at least 500,000 private school employees are among their teaching and non-teaching personnel.

He worried that eventually, some teachers might resort to changing their careers if their salaries continue to be delayed.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Associations of Private School Administrators (Fapsa) also stressed that they solely rely on the tuition of students.

“It has to be understood that our teachers are hardly included in any amelioration projects of the government,” Fapsa president Eleazardo Kasilag said in a statement as they called on DepEd to include teachers from private schools in small business wage subsidy.

“We were left out in Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program, the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) Emergency Subsidy Program and Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. This is indeed an oasis in the barren desert,” Kasilag said.

“The teachers of our small and medium-size member schools are crying for their survival right now,” he added, stressing, “We survive on tuition fees. We have big collectibles that we [failed] to get because classes were stopped in March."

By Henry Empeño

S

UBIC BAY FREEPORT—Mass testing will be undertaken here by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) by the first week of May to further detect and deter new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections in the greater Subic Bay Freeport area.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said that under a partnership between the two agencies, the SBMA will put in place swabbing centers to collect specimens, while the PRC will establish a testing facility that can process up to 2,000 samples daily.

Eisma said the PRC expects to receive testing equipment for its molecular laboratory at the Freeport’s Naval Magazine area by April 29 and have the same accredited thereafter by the Department of Health.

“Under this schedule we expect to begin mass testing here in the first week of May at the earliest,” Eisma said on Monday.

Eisma and PRC Secretary General Elizabeth Zaballa on Sunday inspected the PRC Molecular Laboratory, which she said was approved by PRC Chairman and Senator Richard Gordon at the behest of the SBMA. Zaballa said the equipment for the state-of-the-art laboratory will include an automated RNA extraction machine that can run 90 samples per hour, as well as two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines that can each process 1,000 samples a day for a daily turnout of 2,000 tests.

small enterprises to cover losses in 2020 is similar to the tax relief measures being adopted in the United States and China to provide relief to their respective business sectors.

Dominguez has also tackled this proposal briefly in a recent virtual meeting of the economic stimulus cluster of the House of Representatives Defeat Covid-19 Committee, with Cayetano and Romualdez.

The enhanced Nolco proposal

by DOF is part of the government’s three-pronged rescue program to help small businesses and their workers survive the economic repercussions of the pandemic.

Wage subsidy

THE government earlier launched the Small Business Wage Subsidy program to provide around 3.4 million workers in the formal sector with a combined P51 billion in salary subsidies for two months.

The wage subsidies range from P5,000 to P8,000 per month per employee for two months, depending on the minimum wage levels in the regions where the workers are employed.

Of the 3.4 million employees, 2.6 million will be given first priority as an incentive for their compliance of registering their businesses with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Social Security System.

The remaining 800,000 employees who are not on the alpha list of the BIR will be given second priority.

Another measure is to provide credit guarantees for up to P120 billion worth of loans to small businesses most affected by the sudden stop of economic activity resulting from the enhanced community quarantine and other containment measures.

“The credit guarantee program will provide small businesses easier access to bank financing, which tends to contract during crisis periods,” Dominguez said.

Continued from A1

said in a recent statement.

“Amid a global pandemic, the most vulnerable are developing countries, especially those with densely populated cities such as the Philippines. We commend the government for its leadership and clear actions in containing the spread of Covid-19, including scaling up its health response, enforcing an enhanced community quarantine in Luzon to save lives, and rolling out subsidy programs to affected segments of the population,” Asakawa added.

The ADB has also extended $5 million from its Technical Assistance Special Fund for implementing a Rapid Emergency Supplies Provision (RESP) assistance to design a sustainable solution for Covid-19 impact areas in the National Capital Region, through a publicprivate collaboration; and $3 million from the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund for the Covid-19 Emergency Response.

Projects in the pipeline include the $125-million Health Sector Emergency Assistance Loan and $800-million Expanded Social Assistance project.

While additional information regarding the Health Sector Emergency Assistance Loan, the Expanded Social Assistance project will be funded by both the ADB and the World Bank.

Data from ADB showed $500 million of the loan will be provided

by ADB and $300 million by World Bank. While the project is not specifically Covid-19 related, it will help enhance efforts to extend the government’s social amelioration program.

World Bank

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma (left) and PRC Secretary-General Elizabeth Zaballa inspect the Philippine Red Cross Molecular Laboratory in the Subic Bay Freeport on Sunday.

Zaballa emphasized that the Red Cross is only using the PCR testing method, which she said is more reliable and accurate compared to rapid diagnostic tests.

She added that the DOH’s Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), the government’s lead agency in the prevention and control of infectious diseases, would

WITH P465-B SMALL BIZ LOSSES, RELIEF PUSHED Continued from A1

MDBs…

He said the guarantees extended by the government will help improve the cash position of small businesses to enable them to pay for fixed costs such as wages, rental, amortizations and interest payments.

The government has so far formulated a four-pillar socioeconomic strategy to defeat Covid-19 with a combined value of P1.49 trillion or around 8 percent of the country’s GDP. The strategy involves budgetary, fiscal and monetary measures.

The components of the fourpillar strategy are: the emergency support for poor and low-income households, small businesses and their employees, and other vulnerable groups; the marshalling of medical resources to combat Covid-19 and ensuring the safety of health frontliners; fiscal and monetary actions to finance emergency initiatives and keep the economy afloat; and an economic recovery plan to create jobs and sustain growth.

have to inspect the Subic facility prior to operation.

Earlier, Eisma said the mass testing program will be open to the public, with priority given to suspected and probable cases (previously known respectively as persons under monitoring, or PUMs, and persons under investigation, or PUIs).

“Frontline workers in the Subic

Bay Freeport Zone, SBMA employees, as well as Freeport residents will also be prioritized, but we will also reach out to local government units (LGUs) in the neighboring communities of Olongapo City, Zambales and Bataan so that their constituents can benefit from the program,” she added.

Continued on A4

UNCOMMITTED FUNDS EYED; CAUTION ON ASSET SALE AIRED Continued from A1

To address its Covid-related fund woes, Sen. Panfilo Lacson suggested that government tap the P900 billion worth of unreleased government funds last year, as well as the P85 billion fund lodged in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr), which he alleged are “pork barrel” insertions by some lawmakers.

Citing DBM data, Roque clarified there are only P77 billion in unreleased government funds from 2019. He said DBM is now considering using these for Covid measures.

As for the construction projects purportedly backed by lawmakers, he said they will leave it up to Public Works Secretary Mark Villar to decide.

“Most of the said projects are with DPWH so we will leave it to Secretary Villar to realign the funds for the [construction] projects which were identified by senators and congressmen,” Roque said.

Asset sale last resort

ASSERTING that he saw no urgent need to sell assets, Gatchalian recalled in a radio interview on Tuesday that the State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) “has been for many years [been] talked about as up for sale.”

“For example, I know that Pagcor has

been discussed for many years as being eyed for privatization, but the economy was doing quite well, so it wasn’t privatized. So in these times when we need funds, we are open to the idea of selling what are called non-governance assets.”

“If an asset is not essential to governance, we can sell it. But let’s not sell at a loss just because of the crisis. I believe our economy is stable enough and will recover. We just have to make sure we’re not selling good assets at a loss,” the senator added.

Gatchalian noted that the government owns many real property assets as well as corporations that have nothing to do with governance and which can be put up for sale.

Earlier, Gatchalian estimated that the massive stimulus package required to reboot the economy paralyzed by the Covid-induced lockdown will be from at least P1 trillion to P1.2 trillion. The House of Representatives has a slightly higher estimate, at P1.3 trillion to P1.5 trillion.

Gatchalian said the senators this early have a consensus to frontload the stimulus package, given the urgent need to help industries recover, and prevent the total wipeout of millions of small businesses, which employ 90 percent of the work force.

THE World Bank has approved $600 million of its $1.4-billion assistance to the Philippines. The amount covered two loan projects approved this month.

The first loan, approved on April 9, is for the $500-million Third Risk Management Development Policy Loan. This will finance the creation of unified disaster rehabilitation and recovery planning framework by the local and national governments.

The loan will also fund efforts to integrate hazard and risk analysis in physical planning and policy development as well as multi-year investment plans; and to provide emergency cash transfer programs during shocks.

The other approved loan is for $100 million, approved on April 23.

The Support Covid-19 Emergency Response aims to finance the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as goggles, gloves and gowns by the Department of Health (DOH).

“The World Bank is committed to supporting efforts to strengthen the Philippines’ capacity to prepare for and respond to natural disasters, as well as health and economic shocks like Covid-19,” Achim Fock, World Bank Acting Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, earlier said.

The amount will go to buying drugs such as antivirals, antibiotics and essential medicines; and medical supplies such as intensive care unit equipment and devices such as mechanical ventilators, cardiac monitors, portable x-ray machines; laboratory equipment and test kits.

The project will also support DOH’s effort to prepare guidance on standard design for hospital isolation and treatment centers to manage Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) patients, to be used in health facilities nationwide to ensure standards and quality of Covid-19 healthcare services.

Meanwhile, the only direct Covid-19 project included in the World Bank’s pipeline is the $500-million Philippines Emergency Covid-19 Response Development Policy Loan.

The proposed loan aims to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the poor and vulnerable households and provide financial relief to affected small and medium enterprises.

The Nation BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DENR pushes stiffer penalty, fine for wildlife trade offenders

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

T

HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is pushing to amend Republic Act 9147, or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act that would impose a stiffer penalty and higher fines for environmental crimes, particularly offenses involving illegal wildlife trade.

This, as the DENR further stepped up its campaign against the illegal wildlife trade, which has been linked to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that is believed to have originated from a wet market selling live wild animals in Wuhan City, Hubei province, China.

Theresa M. Tenazas, officer in charge of the Wildlife Resources Division of the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) said they are looking at increased jail term from the maximum of 12 years under the current law to a maximum of 20 years imprisonment for crimes related to the illegal wildlife trade.

The DENR, through the BMB, is enforcing Republic Act 9147, and is prohibiting the collection, hunting and possession of wildlife, its byproducts, and derivatives, including trading and transporting.

“We are also working on the amendment of the aforesaid law to impose the most stringent penalty of 20 years imprisonment as the maximum penalty for wildlife trafficking,” Tenazas said.

The effort to amend the law, she said, is to deter wildlife crimes, together with a campaign to tighten regulation when it comes to import and export of wildlife and ensure full compliance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), of which the Philippines is a signatory.

Also, the DENR is now strengthening partnership with various lawenforcement agencies and tightening watch over the country’s airports and seaports, Tenazas said.

“We also find indispensable the continued and intensified partnership with different law-enforcement agencies in the country that man airports and seaports and other borders to prevent wildlife crimes, to include other cross-collaborative activities,” she said.

Meanwhile, to further build the capacity of the DENR and its partner-law enforcers, a total of 12 workshops are lined up for 2020 such as Online Trade Investigation, Financial Investigation on Wildlife Crimes Advance Prosecutor and Enforcement Workshop, to mention a few which are to be conducted in partnership with UNODC, USAID Protect Wildlife Project, BMB-ADB/ GEF IWT Project, and the United States Department of Justice Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, &Training Counter Wildlife Trafficking.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, April 28, 2020 A3

Italian faces multiple charges for violation of ECQ inside posh village in Makati City

T

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco | Correspondent & Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

HE Makati police on Monday said that charges will be slapped against a foreign resident of a posh village in Makati City after he was involved in an altercation and scuffle with a police officer enforcing the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

Police Maj. Gideon Ines, Makati City’s Assistant Chief of Police for Operation, said that Mr. Javier Salvador Parra, an Italian, will face charges of violation of Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code (Disobedience to a Lawful Person in Authority), Republic Act 11332 (Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act) and City Ordinance 2000089, for not wearing a face mask, including direct assault.

A police report filed by Police Chief Inspector Anthony B. Bagsik stated that Police Senior M/Sgt. (PSMS) Roland Von Madrona and Bantay Bayan Esteban Gaan were conducting Oplan Bandillo and enforcing the ECQ inside Dasmariñas Village as requested by Chairman Rossana Hwang of Barangay Dasmariñas.

At around 5:04 p.m. Sunday, April 26, 2020, Madrona and Gaan were patrolling around the village, when they chanced upon Cherilyn Escalate, the house maid of Parra, who was watering the garden near the village road without wearing a face mask.

Madrona then approached Escalate and advised her to wear a face mask “for her safety” and that going out residence without wearing one is a violation of ECQ guidelines. Escalante then went inside the house to get one.

At this juncture, Parra and his wife went outside and questioned the police.

In a video circulating online, Parra was apparently arguing with Madrona and later went berserk and started cursing the police officer.

Another video, which was taken by Parra’s wife, showed Madrona trying to arrest Parra by pinning him down.

Upon learning of the incident, Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay ordered the Makati police to conduct an immediate investigation into the incident.

“The appropriate charges should be filed against those concerned after a full investigation,” Binay said in a news statement, stressing that the “law must be upheld at all times, most especially during a public health emergency where the welfare and safety of the people are of paramount concern.”

Following the incident, Binay reminded Makati residents to observe set protocols during the quarantine period, including the mandatory use of face masks and the practice of social distancing.

For his part, Parra said the police “grabbed” his hands and “brutally threw” him that caused him physical injury and minor abrasions.

Meanwhile, Hwang said that since ECQ last March 5, 2020, the barangay had sought assistance from the police to implement with

barangay tanods Operation Bandillo. Operation Bandillo is conducted to educate and apprehend violators who loiter the streets, walking and jogging, and recently the mandatory wearing of masks.

“Yesterday’s [Sunday] incident was just one of those days where police together with [barangay] tanods patrolled the streets and reminded people of wearing masks.

PSMS Madrona reminded the staff of the resident to wear mask, or she will be fined. The maid went inside the house. All of a sudden, the residents came out of the house without a mask and began cussing Madrona. PSMS Madrona was unfazed and cool and tried to explain that he was reminding them to follow the law,” Hwang narrated of the incident.

Hwang said that Parra even pointed a dirty finger at Madrona and told him to go to Tondo and get out of his house.

“All the time PSMS Madrona was standing in the street. Then when he wouldn’t stop, PSMS Madrona said, ‘I will arrest you.’ The resident resisted arrest and when he was about to handcuff him, the wife said he had spinal injury. PSMS Madrona let go of him out for humanitarian reasons,” the barangay official added.

In the meantime, Bagsik also arrived in the area and decided to blotter the incident because the wife was pleading not to arrest her husband.

Hwang said that the matter was already settled in the barangay but they were surprised that a “one sided” video was uploaded in social media.

“I had a meeting with PSMS Madrona this morning. And he requested the barangay to help clear his name,” Hwang said as she reiterated that Makati has an ordinance requiring face masks in public places as she expressed belief that “this resident “was on the street and sidewalk which belongs to DVA common area, therefore a public place. He was committing a crime in the presence of the officer and could be arrested even if he retreated to his property [and

Pampanga authorities padlock store for selling alcoholic drinks the Philippine National Police (PNP) San Fernando, Business License and Permit Division, and the City Health Office-Environmental Health and Sanitation Division on Saturday, which resulted in the issuance of the closure order and the arrest of three individuals—the seller and two customers.

More than a thousand bottles of alcoholic beverages of different kinds amounting to at least P70,000 and P250 cash were confiscated from the seller.

The apprehended individuals now have AUTHORITIES post a closure sign on the store caught selling liquor in the City of San to post bail of around P3,000 for their reFernando. lease under the offenses of “non-cooperaITY OF SAN FERNANDO—A store in Barantion and disobedience.”

It can be recalled that on March 23, 2020, Mayor gay San Agustin here was ordered closed by the Edwin Santiago released Executive Order CMO 2020city government over the weekend for violat031, ordering the temporary ban on any person to sell, ing an order prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverfurnish, offer, buy, or serve intoxicating liquor within ages in the city.

A buy-bust operation was conducted at the store by the capital city. Ashley Manabat

C

Tarlac mayor distributes PPEs, face shields, masks to hospitals

T

AS part of its efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, the city government of Tarlac distributed personal protective equipment, N95 masks, and face shields to various hospitals. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE TARLAC CITY INFORMATION OFFICE

ARLAC CITY—A total of 527 sets of personal protective equipment (PPEs), as well as 1,054 N95 masks and 527 face shields were handed over by the city government to various hospitals in this province.

Mayor Cristy Angeles said, “Health workers are our main agents in our defense against the coronavirus disease that’s why they need all the support we can give.”

The recipients include the Loving Mother General Hospital and Diagnostic Center, the Jecsons Medical Center, Central Luzon Doctors’ Hospital, Ramos General Hospital, Talon General Hospital, Holy Trinity Hospital and the Camp Aquino Station Hospital.

“The city government continues its efforts to aid frontline workers and its people during this time of pandemic,” Angeles said. Ashley Manabat

the barangay] was advised,” she said.

Aside from verbal assault and unjust vexation, the barangay official said that Violation of Article 151 of Revised Penal Code for Simple Disobedience in relation to Local Ordinance requiring the wearing of face mask, and for being intoxicated outside the house were also violated.

Parra can also be charged with violation of Republic Act 11332, Section 9e for failure to follow guidelines set

by Department of Health.

Police said that Escalante will also be charged for violating ECQ rules.

PNP probe

PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Archie Gamboa ordered a thorough probe into the incident where a policeman attempted to arrest a foreigner at the posh Dasmariñas Village in Makati City on over an alleged violation of the ECQ. According to PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac he directed Major Gen. Debold Sinas, director of the National Capital Region Police Office to conduct an investigation into Sunday’s incident where the unidentified policeman tackled to the ground Italian Mr. Parra in his effort to arrest him.

A report said that Parra, who reside in the village, claimed the incident had caused him physical pain arising from an injury and abrasions, aside from a spinal injury.

“The househelp was asked for an ID for issuance of violation citation ticket. The househelp went inside the house to get ID, but instead, a seemingly intoxicated Mr. Parra without upper garment, came out and confronted the police and tanod with curses and the finger,” the PNP said.

The househelp was reportedly watering plants in Parra’s front yard before the incident.

“This led to the point where police attempted to restrain Mr. Parra but he resisted, as seen in a video footage taken by the Tanod of Barangay Dasmariñas,” the PNP said.

Banac said the Makati Police is in

the process of preparing appropriate charges, but he did not name the possible respondents.

“It is in the best interest of public health, order and safety that the PNP is enforcing ECQ rules and local ordinances to contain the spread of Covid-19,” the police spokesman said.

Banac emphasized that “police operations to enforce the law are strictly guided by the Revised Police Operational Procedures that every police officer making arrests or police intervention should strictly observe.”

“Observance of the Police Operational Procedures establishes presumption of regularity in the performance of duty in any police operation,” he said.

Act swiftly, decisively–Lacson

SEN. Panfilo Lacson urged the Bureau of Immigration to look into the Dasmariñas incident. “If a deportation proceeding is in order, they [BI] should act swiftly and decisively,” Lacson said in a news statement.

“During these trying times, the Philippine National Police has the unenviable task of implementing an enhanced community quarantine, without fear or favor. For the most part, our policemen deserve kudos for doing their jobs,” he said.

“Such is the case of police officers who arrested a foreigner in Makati City, after he challenged their authority with an arrogant and demeaning behavior. As if this were not enough, the police officers were subjected to unfair criticisms from netizens who saw the ‘edited’ version of the video,” Lacson said.

“On the other hand, being an ‘investor with 80 employees’ as he [Parra] claimed does not give the foreigner the right to confront and incessantly berate a police officer who is merely performing a risky duty in the manner that he did.

“Arrogance has no place in our country—especially so in a situation where either all of us win, or all of us lose to the Covid-19 threat,” the senator said.

3 Davao LGUs remain Covid-19 free until now

By Manuel T. Cayon

@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

D

AVAO CITY—At least two cities and a province in the Davao region remained coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) free, even as this city and Davao del Norte joined the list of highly critical areas in the Philippines.

Panabo City in Davao del Norte, Mati City in Davao Oriental and the province of Davao Occidental have so far reported no positive cases in the regular virus tracking being undertaken by the Department of Health.

Of the three areas, Mati City previously has three cases but the patients have since recovered and only three of their several contacts that showed symptoms have remained at confinement center of the city.

Last week, the city government said the three were also doing fine and were likely to be released soon.

However, Mati City assured that it was mounting anew a monitoring of the three who have recovered following the report last week from the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City that two of the patients who recovered have test positive anew after a new swab test.

Nonetheless, the city opened on Sunday a new confinement center for patients who would turn up positive for Covid-19.

Mayor Michelle Nakpil Rabat said “the fight against Covid-19 would most probably last for months, or years, until such time a vaccine

is produced, thus, they find it appropriate for Mati City to have its own facility to ensure that those who may possibly be infected with the virus would readily be isolated and treated to arrest the spread of the infection.”

The new center has one building capable of handling 14 patients at a given time, while another building is for triage.

A separate building is dedicated for health frontliners. Another building would be rehabilitated to add more isolation rooms.

The city spent P5 million to rehabilitate the second building.

Panabo City, meantime, has fixed a permanent schedule for its rationing of food packs to residents.

Davao del Norte province has revoked its earlier memorandum that would have reverted its enhanced community quarantine to a modified community quarantine, alongside Davao City, which was also poised to follow suit when the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is lifted on Sunday.

The region has been on lockdown since mid-March although each province and city has imposed their own ECQ to bar the entry of non-residents, especially from Davao City.

Davao Occidental, which was carved out from the southern towns of Davao del Sur, remained free of infected persons of the Covid-19 virus, although it was earlier devastated last year by another virus, the African swine fever, that forced the depopulation of its pigs to prevent further spread.

A4 Tuesday, April 28, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DA’s Dar assures ‘ample’ rice supply until March 2021

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

T

HE country will be ending the year with a 10-year high rice inventory of 3.27 million metric tons (MMT), which is enough to cover the country’s staple requirement for the first quarter, based on the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) projections.

“We would like to inform the

public that based on our estimates, the country will enjoy an ending rice inventory of 3.27 million metric tons by December 31 this year,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a news statement issued on Monday.

“That means we will have rice to feed the entire country for 94 more days or three months, up to March 2021,” Dar added.

Based on figures of the Philip-

pine Statistics Authority, this could be highest carry-over stocks inventory since 2011, when it reached a record 3.42 MMT. The DA said the country’s rice supply this year, which is comprised of carry-over stocks, local production and imports, would reach nearly 18 MMT, which is about 18 percent higher than the total demand of 14.67 MMT. Furthermore, the DA reiterated that its P8.5-billion Rice Resiliency

Project (RRP) under the DA’s Plant, Plant, Plant Program, or the Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat (ALPAS) kontra Covid-19, would contribute to reach the projected rice output this year.

“We expect the rice resiliency project to add at least 1.03 MMT to our current projected local production of 12.76 MMT. This equates to elevating our sufficiency level by 7 percent, from 87 percent to 94 percent,” Dar said.

BPS extends validity of PS licenses to July 31, 2020

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

T

HE Department of Trade and Industr y (DTI) has extended the validity of all Philippine Standard (PS) licenses nearing expiry to alleviate the economic impact of the coronav ir us 2019 (Cov id-19) pandemic on manufacturers and importers.

Under Memorandum Circular 20 -17 issued by the DTI’s B u r e au o f Ph i l i p p i n e S t a n dards, a l l PS licenses that w il l ex pire on or before May 31 are declared va lid until Ju ly 31. In reaching such decision, the BPS considered the implementation of t he en h a nced com mu n it y quarantine (ECQ ) that was ex-

tended up to May 15 in many areas, including Metro Manila and other areas.

However, the BPS made clear that the extension of validity is still subject to the license holder’s submission of application for renewal.

As such, nonsubmission of the application for renewal will make the license holder not entitled to the extension and shall be dealt with accordingly subject to DTI rules and regulations. The renewal application shall be submitted through the BPS online certification system, called the Product Certification Management System, accessible at qualityproducts. dti.gov.ph.

BPS Director Neil P. Catajay explained that his agency will keep

on rolling out programs geared toward helping clients manage the ill effects of the pandemic on their operations.

Even w ith the Luzon-w ide lockdown in place, he said the BPS continues to process and issue PS licenses and Import Commodity Clearance certificates through its online platform, as well do product inspection and sampling by way of video call technologies. The BPS always consider all available options in serving clients without compromising compliance to DTI policies, he added.

“These initiatives aim to assist our clients cope with the present situation and to mitigate any burden brought by the ECQ, particularly on manufacturers and

Extensive corona testing or using market research?

By Henry J. Schumacher

W

HILE we are moving closer to the “new normal,” we are always confronted with the need to extensively introduce corona testing, which will take a lot of time at a high cost.

I came across a very interesting suggestion made my Rebecka Carpenter who came up with the challenging statement: Why are the methods of market research not being used to identify the corona crisis?

Effectively, she is supporting the idea to use wellknown and best tried survey methods. I would like to share this with you, trusting it could be implemented in the Philippines!

A few virologists in Germany came up with the idea of ​​systematically examining an area particularly affected by the coronavirus (Heinsberg in NRW).

The preliminary results are known: the immunity rate is 15 percent, the mortality rate is 0.37 percent of those infected.

Similar results could have been obtained from Italy, or China, for a long time. And—as in market research —one could have long ago examined entire areas, or countries, using random samples.

The random method could have been done with reasonable effort: just test 1,000 people, according to the degree of infection and, at the same time, according to immunity.

In Switzerland, this would mean that, for example, a whole canton is examined using 1,000 samples. Or the whole country—or a city. South Korea did a similar thing by simply testing a few thousand people, more or less off, the street. The systematics may have been missing here, but the findings were very helpful.

Simple random principle

A REPRESENTATIVE corona examination means the same as in a survey: you simply search for a complete

image using a random sample.

This means that the selection of the people to be examined must be meaningful according to areas, social strata, age, etc. In this way, you can immediately calculate how many infected people there are per area, and how many immune systems as well. If we were to extend the test to 10,000 people, the projection would be all the more accurate.

We would then know with justifiable precision where and which type of person is infected and immune. By combining these extrapolated test numbers with the known number of corona sufferers, the intensive care and the dead, we would have the big picture in no time!

This is the simplest random management—tried and tested for decades. This could be easily done in the Philippines; using cities or provinces.

First the market researchers, then the virologists!

These tests could be repeated periodically so that we can better see the progress. Today we have no idea how many people in the country are infected or immune.

We only have the tests that were usually carried out on people suspected of being infected—so we grope in the dark. Specifically, the representative samples could be determined with the help and methods of the market research institutes, i.e., the people could be specifically selected or requested.

These would then have to be available for an immediate test. And only then would the virologists be deployed.

Results and interpretations could be available within days. So our politicians and crisis teams would now be asked to finally bring market researchers and virologists together! Complicated? Not at all. I suggest, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles and his team take a look at this!

A first shy test was carried out in Austria these days with a market research institute. But the result did not include the question of immunity—a mistake.

We grope in the dark

AT the moment, data from local sources of infection are increasingly being collected, which are not representative of the whole.

If, for example, 1,000 random tests are carried out in a highly active area, this cannot be extrapolated to an entire country. So there could be hope that certain areas never become herds of infection (or much later).

Then there might be a time saving, such as vaccination, medication, or simply good luck.

But just maybe. The representative data is missing! We now know that 15 percent are immune in Heinsberg, Germany.

But in certain areas in the Philippines? Maybe 2 percent? We do not know it. But we should know it urgently, because only in this way can we see, for example, how long the whole misery for herd immunization takes.

Urgent: Random test by means of succession by market research companies THE results of the representative tests—together with the periodic repetitions of the course of these results— would be a fairly reliable basis for action regarding the social and economic restrictions to be met.

Conclusion: Rapid random tests could lead to more deliberate political action.

I would love to get feedback on these suggestions; e-mail me at Schumacher@eitsc.com

importers,” Catajay said.

This is one of the several contributions of the BPS to the combat against Covid-19. Earlier this month, it announced it is issuing for free standard licenses for personal protective equipment (PPE) and health products crucial in efforts to contain the deadly respiratory virus.

Covered b y t he order a re Philippine National Standards for protective clothing, medical gloves, face masks and respiratory protective device, eye protection, secur it y and r isk management, anaesthetic and respiratory equipment, biological evaluation and quality management system for medical devices, biotechnology and medical electrical equipment.

“To successfully attain said incremental harvest, we will continue to count on the strong support of local chief executives, particularly of riceproducing provinces, and hard work of our beloved farmers,” Dar added.

Under the RRP, the DA said it will provide farmers free quality rice seeds and fertilizers.

“It will be implemented on top of the DA’s existing rice programs such as the Rice Competitiveness Enhance-

ment Fund [RCEF], and national inbred and hybrid rice program, thus covering more areas,” Dar said.

With the projections, the DA assures the public of enough rice throughout the enhanced community quarantine and beyond.

“Let us not create unnecessary panic in our food supply. Rest assured we remain keen and forward-looking to squarely address concerns that threaten our food security,” Dar said.

Tepid consumer demand brings down fuel pump prices this week

O

IL firms are implementing a price rollback this week.

In separate advisories issued on Monday, the fuel companies said that gasoline prices will go down by P0.20 per liter, diesel by P1.80 per liter and kerosene by P2.15 per liter.

This week ’s price adjustment will take effect at 6 a.m. of April 28.

Last week, pump prices went down by P0.55 per liter for gasoline, P1.15 per liter for diesel, and P0.60 per liter for kerosene.

The other day, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said oil firms have informed him that some retailers have closed down their service

stations due to lack of demand.

“Mga 10 percent ng retailers, as reported ng players, ang sarado,” said Cusi. “Ang mga retailers, at least 10 percent nila sa mga lugar na hindi masyado nadadaanan ng tao because of the ECQ , walang nagpapakarga, at bumibili, so it is better commercially na isara muna nila.”

There are over 9,000 fuel retail outlets in the country.

Cusi assured the public that there are still a number of service stations that continue to operate. “Tuloy-tuloy ang serbisyo ng gas stations. Sinisiguro naman din natin na sapat ang supply.”

Lenie Lectura

Govt told to expand cash aid to displaced workers

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

S

EN. Francis Pangilinan called on the government on Monday to expand the cash assistance extended to 2 million displaced workers, as well as 230,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

In a news statement, Pangilinan pointed out that “the pace of job displacements as a consequence of Covid-19 is alarming, now placed at over 2 million in the formal sector and over 230,000 OFWs.” The senator prodded the Department of Labor and Employment to “continue and expand its Covid-19

Adjustment Measures Program” [CAMP], which gives a one-time P5,000 assistance to displaced formal workers, and its Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong [AKAP] emergency fund, which provides a one-time P10,000 or $200 cash aid to qualified OFWs. Pangilinan pressed for timely assistance from the Duterte administration as he noted that “with millions more from the informal sector losing their livelihood, there is need for government to intensify its social amelioration program, so that help could get to the people on time.”

The opposition senator also assured that, “We, in Congress, are prepared to pass a measure that

would augment existing funds so that Filipinos in need are covered.”

The senator pointed out that “there are savings and unused funds from last year’s budget,” adding that “these are only sitting idle, which should be tapped to boost our war chest as we go through this pandemic.”

Pangilinan suggested this is an opportune time for lawmakers to let the people know that their taxes, as well as their government is working for them.

“Napakahalaga lalong-lalo na sa panahong ito na ipaalam natin sa mga Pilipino na ang kanilang mga buwis at ang kanilang pamahalaan ay nagtatrabaho para sa kanila,” he said.

Lawyers’ group asks SC to free at-risk PDL. . . continued from a8 “With scientific and medical ex-

perts estimating that more individuals will be infected in the coming days, we at IADL firmly urge Philippine authorities and respectfully ask the Supreme Court as amici to urgently and favorably act on the petition and undertake parallel steps to release these prisoners,” the IADL stressed.

Several local and foreign groups, including the World Health Organization (WHO), have urged governments to consider decongesting prison facilities though the temporary release of prisoners and inmates vulnerable to Covid-19.

Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson said now that the Covid-19 outbreak has reached the country’s prison facilities, the government should heed calls for the early release of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) who are vulnerable to the virus.

It said the government should act immediately to mitigate “what could be a catastrophe inside the country’s overcrowded prisons before it’s too late.”

Party-list solons and the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) composed of human-rights lawyers in the country echoed the position.

The FLAG even urged the SC to convene the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC) to discuss measures on how to decongest prison facilities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has opposed the petition of 22 political prisoners seeking release from jails for humanitarian reasons since they are among those at risk of catching the virus.

The OSG said that humanitarian considerations do not apply to the petitioners as they known “valuable members” of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front of the Philippines, which it described as terrorist groups.

The OSG accused the petitioners of taking advantage of the current state of public health emergency to secure their release and evade prosecution.

“While it is true that some of the detention and reformatory facilities in the country are highly congested, unfortunately, congestion in prison facilities is not among the grounds to release inmates. The issue of the inadequacy of the Philippine Prison System to meet the very high standard of international rules does not warrant the release of the prisoners,” the OSG said.

The petitioners, however, lambasted the OSG for giving a spin to the petition by making it an issue of security rather than of health emergency and protecting human life.

The petitioners also criticized the OSG for trying to depict them as “terrorists and soulless elements” who do not deserve to be given temporary freedom despite risk to their lives.

They said contrary to the OSG’s assertions, the nature of their cases and the circumstances of their arrests will show that they are not threats to security and to society but rather “victims of political persecution.”

...

Red Cross, SBMA set Covid-19 Subic mass testing in May Eisma also pointed out that the SBMA is working out a scheme with the PRC so that local residents can use the Red Cross hot line 1158 in making appointments for testing. The PRC has made similar joint testing projects with LGUs in Metro Manila using the 1158 hot line to screen applicants for testing.

Tofacilitatethemasstestingprogram,theSBMA will put up swabbing centers at the free port main gate area for the collection of samples for testing.

“Once the samples are collected, these will be validated and sent to the Red Cross laboratory for testing, and the results could be obtained in about two days,” Eisma said.

The SBMA pushed for the mass testing program the other week as the call for mass testing resounded widely.

Eisma said earlier that mass testing would provide“agoodreadingoftheprevalenceoftheoutbreak with the end-view of safely lifting the ECQ in order to

continued from a2

get the Subic businesses running again.”

She added: “If we don’t undertake mass testing, we’d be fighting Covid-19 blindly. We have to get a better grasp of the situation so that we can act accordingly.”

TheSBMAhasbeeninitiatingsolutionstoprotect thelocalcommunityfromthevirusthreat.Asidefrom themasstesting,itestablishedtwocareandisolation facilities at the Subic Gym and the former Leciel Hotel for use in case of a surge in Covid-19 cases.

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

The World BusinessMirror

Oil drops below $16 on glut while producers start cuts

O

il dropped back below $16 a barrel as swelling global crude stockpiles made it more difficult for leading producers to balance the market by curbing output.

Futures in New York slid as much as 10 percent, snapping a four-day gain. While US drilling is sliding and Saudi Arabia has started reducing output ahead of the start date for Opec+ supply cuts, investors are focusing again on the massive glut of crude that’s taking tanks close to capacity around the world, raising fears of a re-run of the crash that sent May West Texas Intermediate prices below zero for the first time ever last week.

The swelling glut is set to test storage capacity limits in as little as three weeks, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., with traders, refiners and infrastructure providers seeking novel ways to hoard crude, including on tiny barges around Europe’s petroleum-trading hub and in pipelines.

The hub of Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for American crude futures, is filling fast and putting added pressure on the US benchmark. “ Co n c e r n s s u r ro u n d i n g r i s i n g g l o b a l inventories, especially in the US with the coronavirus pandemic weighing on gasoline consumption, are pressuring oil prices,” Kim Kwangrae, commodities analyst at Samsung Futures Inc., said by phone from Seoul. “While Opec has started to curb output, demand is still not being supported and that’s going to be a down factor for prices.”

There were tentative signs at the weekend that the coronavirus outbreak might be loosening its grip, with the death tolls slowing by the most in more than a month in Spain, Italy and France.

Reported fatalities in the UK and New York were the lowest since the end of March.

WTI for June delivery fell $1.45 or 8.6 percent, to $15.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 12:32 p.m. Singapore time. The contract rose 2.7 percent on Friday, trimming the weekly decline to 32 percent. Brent for June settlement lost 39 cents to $21.05 after falling 24 percent last week.

Dated Brent, a reference for nearly two-thirds of the world’s physical oil flows, declined to $16.01 a barrel on Friday, compared with $16.30 the day before, according to traders monitoring prices on S&P Global Platts.

US drillers idled 60 rigs last week, shrinking the active nationwide fleet to 378, according to data from Baker Hughes Co. on Friday. On a percentage basis, the decline was the worst since February 2006. It was the sixth straight weekly drop, halting almost half of American exploration.

Saudi Aramco last week began curtailing daily output from about 12 million barrels to 8.5 million barrels a day, according to a Saudi industry official familiar with the matter. Opec+ has agreed to reduce production by about 9.7 million barrels a day in an effort to stem oil-price losses.

Bloomberg News

U.N. food chief: Funding and access can avert starvation

U

NITED NATIONS—The head of the World Food Program says he has been on the phone with leaders of some of the world’s richest nations with a critical message: the coronavirus pandemic is not only affecting your economy but is impacting the economies of vulnerable and conflict-torn countries where millions of people will face starvation if you cut the UN agency’s funding for food.

David Beasley said in an interview with The Associated Press he has also been telling leaders that maintaining supply chains is critical and there are many potential obstacles—export restrictions, closed borders and ports, farms not producing and roads closed.

“If we have money and access we can avert famine and we can truly aver t catastrophic humanitarian death from starvation,” Beasley said.

“But if we lose our funding, or we lose supply chain, there’s going to be disaster.”

Beasley warned the UN Security Council last week that as the world deals with the Covid-19 pandemic it is “on the brink of a hunger pandemic” that could lead to “multiple famines of biblical proportions” within a few months if immediate action isn’t taken.

He said 821 million people go to bed hungry every night all over the world now, a further 135 million people are facing “crisis levels of hunger or worse,” and a new World Food Program analysis shows that as a result of Covid-19 an additional 130 million people “could be pushed to the brink of starvation by the end of 2020.”

WFP is providing food to nearly 100 million people on any given day, including “about 30 million people who literally depend on us to stay alive,” Beasley said. And if those 30 million people can’t be reached, “our analysis shows that 300,000 people could starve to death every single day over a three-month period”—and that doesn’t include increased starvation due to the new coronavirus.

“In a worst-case scenario, we could be looking at famine in about three dozen countries,” and in 10 of them there are already more than 1 million people per country on the verge of starvation.

According to WFP, the 10 countries with the worst food crises in 2019 were Yemen, Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria, Sudan, Nigeria and Haiti.

In the interview following up on the Security Council briefing, Beasley said support for WFP comes from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the European Union, Japan and other prosperous nations.

“If their economies deteriorate substantially, that impacts our money, it impacts the local economies in the developing nations in a variety of different ways,” he said.

He cited the examples of South Sudan, which has faced years of conflict and is 98 percent dependent on revenue from oil whose price has plummeted as a result of Covid-19 and where WFP feeds about 6 million people, Nigeria where 90 percent of the economy is oil, and Ethiopia which has been struggling to feed its poor and where 50 percent of the economy is from tourism that has vanished since the pandemic.

Beasley stressed that “We can’t say it’s hunger vs. Covid.”

“We’ve got to work this together and look at the whole picture, keep the supply chain going, and minimize the economic impact so that we can make certain that people don’t starve to death,” he said.

“So it’s going to be a very delicate balancing act for leaders, and I think they’re learning.”

The WFP executive director said he is asking donor nations to accelerate the $1.9 billion in funding they’ve already pledged in order to preposition food to protect against the effects of supply chain disruptions, commodity shortages, economic damage and lockdowns.

WFP is also seeking a further $350 million to set up a network of bigger logistics hubs, distribution points and transport systems to minimize the risk of supply chain breakdowns, he said.

“And if we can do that it will save us money, and it will save us time, and it truly will end up saving lives,” he said.

But Beasley said he’s very concerned some of that money will disappear. AP

Trump: ‘We don’t know’ how Kim Jong Un is doing

U

NIITED States President Donald J. Trump said he doesn’t know about Kim Jong Un’s health after American and South Korean officials gave differing accounts on the North Korean leader’s condition after he was conspicuously absent from a major celebration.

“I wish him well, we’ve had a good relationship,” Trump said on Tuesday in response to a question about Kim at a White House. The US president said “we don’t know” if the reports about Kim’s health deteriorating are true, adding that he might reach out to check on him.

US officials said on Monday they were told Kim was in critical condition after undergoing cardiovascular surgery last week and they were unsure of his current health. Meanwhile, South

Korean President Moon Jae-in’s office said that Kim was conducting “normal activities” in a rural part of the country assisted by close aides and no special movements were detected.

Kim continued to be absent from North Korean state media as of Wednesday morning. Neither the state broadcaster nor the official Korean Central News Agency mentioned new public appearances by the leader, although they continued to publicize his messages to dignitaries around the world.

“I just hope he is doing fine,” Trump said. “I had a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un and that is to the benefit of the country. That is not a bad thing, that’s a good thing, and I would like to see him be well. We will see how he does. Again, I don’t know that the reports are true.” Bloomberg News

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

A5

Global cases near 3 million mark as regions move toward reopening

G

lobal coronavirus cases approached the 3 million mark on Sunday as deaths pass 206,000. Spain and France reported the fewest deaths in more than a month and the rise in US infections trailed the one-week average.

US cases rise 3.3 percent

US coronavirus cases increased 3.3 percent from Saturday to 957,016, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The national increase in cases was below the average daily increase of 3.6 percent over the past week.

New York reported 5,902 new cases, down from 10,553 a day earlier, boosting the total to 288,045, while new deaths fell to 367, for an overall toll to 16,966.

Cuomo outlines NY reopening

Upstate New York could start reopening for business as soon as May 15, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. New York City is more densely popu l ated a nd connected to Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut, making it more complicated to reopen soon, he said.

The first phase would include construction and manufacturing activities, and be by region.

After the initial re-openings, the state would pause for two weeks to assess progress, by monitoring new hospitalizations, cases and testing for antibodies.

Businesses will be allowed to reopen depending on how essential they are and how much risk of transmission they pose, Cuomo said.

Italy sets reopening plan

Ita li a n Pr ime Minister Giuseppe Conte said his country will start easing lockdown restrictions on May 4, setting up a key test of Europe’s efforts to restart public life and economies immobilized by the coronavirus.

With a cautious reopening under way in several countries such as Germany, pressure in Italy has been building even as it suffers Europe’s highest virus-related death toll.

Conte warned that a second wave of infections would cause a resurgence of deaths and “irreversible damage” to the economy.

“We all want the country to restart,” the premier said at a briefing late Sunday in Rome. “But the only way to live with the virus in this phase is to not fall ill—and social distancing.”

Singapore cases surge

Singapore—which has one of A sia’s sma l lest popu lations— is emerg ing w ith the reg ion’s highest number of coronav irus cases after the world ’s two most popu lous countr ies.

The island-nation reported 931 new cases on Sunday, with the total number of infections exceeding 13,000, overtaking Japan.

Only China and India have more cases in Asia.

T he majority of infections

remain among migrant workers living in close quarters in dormitories, presenting a major setback to Singapore’s early success in containing the spread of the virus. Its citizens and permanent residents made up just 15 of the new cases, the government said in a statement Sunday.

Last week, the city of about 5.7 million people extended its version of a lockdown by a further four weeks until June 1 to contain the outbreak. Singapore is bracing for a sharper economic contraction this year than an earlier forecast of a slump of as much as 4 percent, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread globally and disrupts supply chains. The city-state is “very likely” to see a steeper fall in GDP, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said in an interview on Thursday, as the global outbreak leads to a “more serious problem” than anticipated a month ago.

Still, none of the cases from the latest outbreak at dormitories required intensive care because the migrant workers are generally young and symptoms were mild, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said April 21.

The country—smaller in size than New York City—also has one of the lowest death rates from the pandemic with a total of 12 fatalities.

Dubai eases restrictions

Dubai eased restrictions on two of the city’s coronavirus hotspots, densely populated areas that are home to the gold souk and museums. The Naif and Al Ras areas will return to normal between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. and follow the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. restrictions in place for the rest of the city, state-run WAM reported. More than 6,000 tests were conducted among residents in the

Boris Johnson returns to face growing virus divisions in UK

L

ONDON—British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is returning to work after recovering from a coronavirus infection that put him in intensive care, with his government facing growing criticism over the deaths and disruption the virus has caused.

Johnson’s office said he would be back at his desk in 10 Downing St. on Monday, two weeks after he was released from a London hospital. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been standing in for the prime minister, said on Sunday that Johnson—the only world leader to be diagnosed with the coronavirus—was “raring to go.”

Britain has recorded 20,732 deaths among people hospitalized with Covid-19, the fifth country in the world to surpass 20,000 deaths. Thousands more are thought to have died in nursing homes.

Johnson, 55, spent a week at St. Thomas’ Hospital, including three nights in intensive care, where he was given oxygen and watched around the clock by medical workers. After he was released on April 12, he recorded a video message thanking staff at the hospital for saving his life.

Johnson hasn’t been seen in public since, as he recovered at Chequers, the prime minister’s country retreat outside London.

While he convalesced, Britain’s coronavirus death toll has mounted, with another 413 virusrelated deaths announced on Sunday.

Opposition politicians say Britain’s death toll could have been lower if Johnson’s Conservative government had imposed a nationwide lockdown sooner. But they are also demanding to know when and how the government will ease the restrictions that were imposed March 23 and run to at least May 7.

Some people and businesses are growing impatient with the restrictions, which have brought much of the economy and daily life to a halt. Road traffic has begun to creep up after plummeting when the lockdown first was imposed, and some businesses have begun to reopen after implementing social-distancing measures.

“Decisions need to be taken quicker and communication with the public needs to be clearer,” opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said in a letter to Johnson.

areas, and no new coronavirus cases were found in the last two days.

China has 3 new cases, no deaths China reported 3 additional coronavirus cases and no deaths, according to a statement from the National Health Commission. The country hasn’t reported a fatality in 12 straight days, leaving the death toll at 4,633. It has a total of 82,830 confirmed cases. China reported 25 asymptomatic cases for April 26, including 1 from abroad. It has 974 such cases under medical obser vation.

Australia launches contact-tracing app

Austr alia launched mobilephone software to help trace people infected with the coronavirus as parts of the country start to loosen restrictions on movement.

The COVIDSafe app records digital handshakes between smartphones via Bluetooth, and if someone catches the virus, health authorities will be able to track who has been within 1.5 meters of the person for 15 minutes or more.

More than 1.1 million people have signed up since its launch on Sunday, the government said.

HK, Taiwan seen easing measures

Hong Kong’s government would consider rela x ing mandator y quarantine controls on mainland Chinese visitors, allowing civil servants to return to the office and easing restrictions on some business sectors, should the number of new cases continue to be low or remain at zero, Sing Tao Daily reported, citing unidentified people.

Taiwan is also studying easing measures as it has had no local confirmed cases for 14 consecutive days, Taipei-based United Daily News reported, citing the island’s Centers for Disease Control. Bloomberg News

Japan central bank eases monetary policy to counter pandemic

T

In this Sunday March 22, 2020 file photo British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures during his daily Covid-19 press briefing to announce new measures to limit the spread of the virus, at Downing Street in London. The British prime minister’s office says Boris Johnson will return to work Monday April 27, 2020, two weeks after he was discharged from a London hospital where he was treated for the new coronavirus. Ian Vogler / Pool via AP “The British public have made great sacrifices to make the lockdown work,” he wrote. “They deserve to be part of an adult conversation about what comes next.”

But Johnson’s government, facing criticism for being too slow to impose the lockdown, appears in no hurry to end it. Raab said there would be no dramatic sudden change to the restrictions.

“We won’t just have this binary easing up of measures. We will end up moving to a new normal,” he told the BBC. “We need to take a sure-footed step forward which protects life but also preserves our way of life. So we are very focused on doing the homework that can allow us to do that.”

Scientists say the UK has reached the peak of the pandemic but isn’t yet out of danger. The number of people hospitalized with Covid-19 is declining and the number of daily deaths peaked on April 8.

But with hundreds of new deaths announced each day, some health experts say Britain could eventually have the highest virus death toll in Europe.

As fears recede that the health system will be overwhelmed, opponents are criticizing Johnson’s government over shortages of protective equipment for medical workers and a lack of testing for the virus.

More than 100 infected medical workers have died so far.

The government has promised to conduct 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of the month, but has yet to reach even 30,000 a day.

Increasing testing, so that all people with the virus can be identified and their contacts traced and isolated, is key to loosening the lockdown.

The British government says all health-care staff and other essential workers can be tested if they show symptoms. It is rolling out almost 100 mobile testing sites, staffed by soldiers, to conduct tests at nursing homes, police stations, prisons and other sites.

In the first two days of expanded testing, however, the online system handling daily demand for the tests had exceeded the supply by early morning. AP

OKYO—Japan’s central bank is making it easier for cash-strapped companies to get funding in response to the growing economic devastation from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bank of Japan decided at a meeting on Monday to ease monetary policy, including expanding the purchase of commercial papers and corporate bonds, which work to deliver cash to companies.

In a move that was widely expected, the central bank also decided to remove the ceiling on its purchases of government bonds. It already has been purchasing trillions of yen (tens of billions of dollars’) worth of government bonds to counter deflation.

Its latest steps are similar to what central banks around the world are doing to curtail the massive damage the outbreak is unleashing on company profits and business activity.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index jumped 2.4 percent by midday on Monday.

“Japan’s economy has been in an increasingly severe situation due to the impact of the spread of the coronavirus at home and abroad,” the Bank of Japan said in a statement.

Additional monetary easing may be needed, and the central bank was closely monitoring the situation, it said.

The bank issued a separate statement reiterating that the economy was in a serious state but was expected to improve once the impact from the pandemic declines. It also warned much remains unclear.

Japan has reported about 13,000 coronavirus cases so far, and fewer than 400 deaths. As is true elsewhere, the number of confirmed cases is thought to understate the actual number of those who may have been infected.

Restaurants, concerts and other events have closed, and tourism is practically at a standstill.

Auto factories have suspended production and people are being asked to work from home and stay home.

Japan’s economy, the world’s third largest, is dependent on exports, centered on products like cars and electronics goods. AP

A6 Tuesday, April 28, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Nobody does it better

A

S of April 26, 2020, Taiwan, which has a population of close to 24 million, only has 429 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 281 recoveries and six deaths. Taiwan’s relatively successful containment of the virus—despite its proximity to China and the frequency of travel between China and Taiwan, and despite being shut out of the World Health Organization—deserves to be emulated.

Recently, Taiwan donated 300,000 face masks to the Philippines, apart from the island nation’s pledge of 6 million masks to other countries to help them fight the coronavirus pandemic. Taiwan’s “mask diplomacy” campaign was launched on April 1 when it pledged to donate 10 million masks to European countries, the US and diplomatic allies.

But Taiwan has much more to offer to the rest of the world than just facemask donations, particularly its best practices against Covid-19.

In an editorial in January (OK to be ‘OA’) we said that the time to be overzealous, extra-vigilant and to err on the side of caution was when our country still did not have any confirmed case of the coronavirus.

We called for travel lockdowns and physical distancing measures. We urged both the government and the private sector to stop sending their employees abroad, to relax their sick leave rules in order to encourage staff to stay home if they develop flu-like symptoms, to cancel large gatherings and try to lessen human traffic in crowded areas; in general, to learn from our previous experience with SARS and the H1N1 influenza.

This is essentially what Taiwan did. The country learned valuable lessons from previous pandemics and outbreaks that enabled it to better prepare for Covid-19.

Taiwan started screening all passengers from Wuhan on December 31, the same day it learned of the then-unknown virus in the Chinese city. It set up the Taiwan Central Epidemic Command Center in response to the virus and implemented a series of aggressive containment, quarantine and monitoring measures that have limited local transmission of Covid-19.

When there was a second wave of imported cases from travelers, the country closed its borders to nonresidents.

The Taiwanese health care system is one of the best in the world. It is able to disperse patients to various hospitals, to avoid overloading and to deal with specific needs and facilities. The SARS experience inspired Taiwan to ensure its hospital network would be equipped to handle a future viral outbreak like Covid-19.

On April 2, Taiwan’s National Health Research Institute said it had developed a rapid testing kit that provided results in 10 to 15 minutes.

Jason Wang, a Stanford Health Policy researcher, co-wrote an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association that contains a list of 124 actions that Taiwan took to combat the outbreak, which other countries can emulate.

New Zealand and Israel, for instance, have said they will use Taiwan’s response to influence their own.

In an article this paper published on April 16 (Teco disappointed by WHO leader’s ‘false accusations’ by Recto Mercene), the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Teco) in the Philippines said: “The invaluable lessons learned from the 2003 SARS pandemic, has prompted Taiwan to very quickly take effective preventive and proactive response measures against Covid-19, including treatment, tracking, quarantine and mitigation. Thus, Taiwan created a widely recognized model that the international community hopes to learn from.”

“We hereby urge WHO to invite Taiwan to fully participate in all its meetings and mechanisms regarding the fight against Covid-19, and restore Taiwan’s observer status in the World Health Assembly,” Teco said, adding that Taiwan’s being granted full involvement in the WHO would allow the sharing of its successful experience with the world more effectively, and put an end to the pandemic as quickly as possible.

It’s now too late for us to replicate Taiwan’s preventive measures. But we can still implement some of Taiwan’s other containment measures and we can benefit from the direct assistance it is offering, particularly in testing, diagnosing and treating Covid-19 patients, as well as through its provision of medical supplies, including personal protective equipment, for our health workers.

Former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Taiwan’s participation in WHO could have saved lives. We agree. Indeed, Taiwan can help, and we should let Taiwan help.

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business ✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Founder Publisher Editor in Chief Associate Editor News Editor Senior Editors

Online Editor Creative Director Chief Photographer Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President VP-Finance VP Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

T. Anthony C. Cabangon Lourdes M. Fernandez Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug

Manny B. Villar

THE Entrepreneur

I

believe we will emerge stronger as a nation from the Covid-19 pandemic once it is contained.

For now, we need to remain cautious after the pandemic infected 2.7 million people and killed more than 190,000 globally as of April 23, 2020.

While the World Health Organization said the “virus will be with us for a long time,” I am optimistic that a vaccine, antiviral drug or cure will be made available soon.

The good news is at least five human trials for vaccines have already been authorized in different countries. There were 86 candidate vaccines being studied, according to wire reports. In the Philippines, President Duterte offered a P50-million reward to Filipino scientists who can develop our own vaccine.

We are in this together, and we need the cooperation of everyone to ride out the storm. Let us continue to behave within the confines of our homes or workplaces to avoid the spread of the virus.

I trust President Duterte’s judgment when he extended the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and other high-risks areas by another 15 days, or until May 15, 2020. The extension is based on the recommendation of the Inter-

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

Ruben M. Cruz Jr. Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) Benjamin V. Ramos Adebelo D. Gasmin Marvin Nisperos Estigoy Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Rolando M. Manangan

Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines.

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

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

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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

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

Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases. The President also consulted with both health and economic experts to come up with the decision.

Under the President’s declaration, low-risk and moderate-risk areas will be under general community quarantine or GCQ until May 15.

The IATF recommended minimum health standards in these areas starting April 27 based on the guidelines from different departments.

Areas under GCQ would now allow workers to go out and work in phases, but young people, senior citizens and those with high health risks would be required to stay home. Priority and essential construction projects would be allowed to resume, subject to minimum health standards, physical distancing and barracks for workers. Public transport would also be allowed to operate but at reduced capacity. Curfew would remain at night for nonworkers.

I also welcome the new protocol

in business operations spelled out by the Department of Trade Industry and the Department of Health as the Philippines prepares for the post-ECQ scenario. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez was quoted as saying that the best hygiene and health measures should be the new protocol.

He identified minimum health standards such as strict social distancing, wearing of face masks, presence of sanitation stations, taking of body temperature and provision of vitamins in work and public places.

He said the conduct of Covid-19 tests, provision of nearby accommodation facilities and shuttle services, allowing more work-from-home arrangements and health care preparedness and insurance from enterprises “should be the new normal as we ease into the new way of doing business.”

“We need to have a new way of doing business to ensure that our significant gains during the ECQ and the collective efforts in flattening the curve will not be put to waste once ECQ is fully lifted,” he said.

If we are able to observe these measures, I am confident we will be able to allow the economy to recover starting in the fourth quarter this year. While the International Monetary Fund reduced its 2020 growth forecast for the Philippines to 0.6 percent (it can even be negative) from a previous estimate of 6.3 percent. IMF resident representative to the Philippines Yongzheng Yang believes economic growth would rebound strongly to 7.6 percent in 2021.

The Asian Development Bank

The only functioning market

Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos Lyn B. Resurreccion, Dennis D. Estopace Angel R. Calso

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror

MEMBER OF

We will emerge stronger

T

he Covid-19 pandemic will reach its end hopefully sooner rather than later, but it will end. Those that say it will be necessary to keep much of the global economy under lockdown until a vaccine is developed are either completely nuts or have a profit agenda that wins under the lockdown.

These folks are “nuts” for two reasons. The first is that a global economic failure will bring absolute poverty levels not seen in more than a century. And hungry people eventually tend to come with pitchforks and torches and burn governments to the ground. Marie Antoinette found out the hard way at the business end of the guillotine.

However, probably long before the “poor” rise up in mass riots— although there have been some

incidents in places like South Africa—the “not poor” will say, “To hell with the lockdown, I am going back to business” and that is happening in the US. You may agree with governments that these extreme “lockdown” measures are critical and necessary to save lives. The truth is, all governments are creating policy based on “trial and error” as the same policies in different countries are working in one place

Remember this also: The Covid-19 pandemic will be over long before the “oil price pandemic” ends. If all the 13 member-nations of Opec, from Iran to Nigeria and on to Venezuela, stopped all production completely, it would still not offset the current demand reduction.

and not working in another.

Obviously, the world has changed, if not forever, at least for the long foreseeable future. The economic disruption has been a catastrophe and the solutions to the disruption have been just as economically disruptive. Twenty-six million Americans are out of work, and that has happened in one month. Numbers like that have not been seen since the Great Depression.

But the “solution” to that problem is a 3 to 5 trillion dollar financial package from the US government that will create a debt burden for many years to come. Further,

shares the same optimism. It sees the Philippine economy rebounding to 6.5 percent next year, which I find realistic. The expansion would still make the Philippines among the world’s best performing economies.

Infrastructure spending will play a crucial role in this economic rebound. By rolling out the major infrastructure projects under the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program, we will bring hundreds of thousands of construction workers to the active labor force again. This will create a domino effect on other industries and reopen the flow of income from urban areas, where most construction sites are located, to the provinces where the families of our construction workers live.

Although the government provided cash assistance to 18 million low-income families during the ECQ period, it could only do so for a few months, especially after tax collection came to a halt in April, a peak period in the Bureau of Internal Revenue calendar.

To sustain government services, we need the cooperation of everyone to fight the pandemic during the ECQ period and boost our health while at home so that everyone can contribute to economic reinforcement in the coming months.

I believe once this pandemic is over, we will be in a good position not only to restore the vigor of the Philippine economy but also fortify our health-care industry for the benefit of everyone.

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

the solution will not solve the total problem. Financial measures from governments around the world— including Japan’s latest “we will buy all the government and private debt necessary”—have caused the financial markets to trade without any relation to genuine market prices. This is both on the up and down sides.

If you want to understand how screwed up things are in the global markets, the crude oil market is the only one that is trading with any “price discovery” sense. In other words, the only rational market is the one that has seen a barrel of oil go from $15 a barrel to negative $30 a barrel in a single day, at least on the futures exchange.

The crude oil market is actually trading based on price negotiations between real buyers and sellers who actually exchange cash for physical goods.

The difference between oil and stocks/bonds is that oil is real. The other thing about oil is that the entire global economy runs on crude.

See “Mangun,” A7

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, April 28, 2020 A7

Suspension of BIR’s right to assess Domestic workers and OFWs are qualified amid Covid-19 pandemic to receive SSS unemployment benefit Atty. Irwin C. Nidea Jr.

Manny F. Dooc

Tax law for business

TELLTALES

ur tax authority is given a period of three years within which to examine and determine whether a taxpayer has paid the correct amount of taxes. Should the taxpayer be found to have filed a false or fraudulent return, the applicable prescriptive period shall be 10 years, counted from the discovery of the false or fraudulent return. The BIR is also given a period of five years from its issuance of the assessment notice to collect the assessed amounts. These are the statute of limitations—ordinarily referred to as prescriptive periods—that protect taxpayers from a tax examination and collection, which, if not limited, could last forever.

he Covid-19 pandemic has brought untold sufferings to our migrant workers. Up to now, we continue to read sea vessels and airplanes being chartered to repatriate overseas Filipino workers from their workplaces abroad. Still, there are thousands and thousands of OFWs displaced from their jobs and stranded overseas, some of them infected by the virus. They survive only through the help of their kababayans and the meager support they received from the host country and our government.

O

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Finance issued Revenue Regulations 7-2020 and 10-2020 and clarified by Revenue Memorandum Circular 34-2020 and 39-2020. Included in these issuances is the suspension of the prescriptive periods. The running of these periods is suspended starting March 16, 2020 until the lifting of the state of national emergency and for 60 days thereafter.

What does this mean? Does the Commissioner have the power to do this?

Based on the Tax Code, the running of the Statute of Limitations on the making of assessment and the beginning of distraint or levy a proceeding in court for collection shall be suspended for the period during which the Commissioner is prohibited from making the assessment or beginning distraint or levy or a proceeding in court and for 60 days thereafter.

The operative word is “prohibited.” Is the Commissioner prohibited from conducting an examination?

Of course, he is! That seems to be the first impression because we are amid a pandemic and state of national emergency.

But when you step back and think about it, this statute of limitations is sacred. It cannot just be assumed that we must surrender it because of this pandemic. The Commissioner’s basis in saying that he is prohibited from conducting tax audit must be clearly established. The declaration of state of national emergency does not automatically mean that the Commissioner is prohibited from exercising his mandate. It must be cast in stone or in a law, like the Bayanihan To Heal As One Act. When you read the Bayanihan Act, you will realize that it has no provision that categorically states that the Commissioner is prohibited from doing his job. The President was not given the power to make such declaration. Thus, all revenue issuances by the Commissioner saying that he is prohibited from conducting an audit appear to have no basis.

Section 4(Z) of the law gives the President the power to move statutory deadlines and timelines for the filing and submission of any document, the payment of taxes, fees and other charges required by law, and grant any benefit, in order to ease the burden on individuals under community quarantine.

It is important to note that the power to extend deadlines is limited to the “filing and submission of any document,” which the Commissioner

Mangun. . .

Continued from A6

The price and profit with a barrel of oil affect the drillers, equipment suppliers, and investors and financiers who provide funding. The oil refiners come next. Then we come to the major users like airlines and every other transportation company and their suppliers, investors and banks.

And note that 4 percent of the total global GDP comes from automobile and truck manufacturing.

In between each and every one of

exercised by moving the deadlines for filing replies to Notice for Informal Conference, Preliminary Assessment Notice, Final Assessment Notice and Final Decision on Disputed Assessment. It does not include the unilateral power to move the prescriptive period of tax assessment and tax collection. It cannot also be considered as a grant of benefit that will ease the burden of taxpayers under community quarantine. In fact, it will create more nightmares and sleepless nights for taxpayers.

Again, the declaration of state of national emergency does not automatically mean that the Commissioner is prohibited from conducting an audit. In fact, he must be working to look for tax collections that will finance the social amelioration fund and other endeavors to uplift the plight of every Filipino. The Bayanihan Act did not provide for an excuse that the Commissioner can use as basis to declare the suspension of the limited time that is given to him by law to assess and collect.

The reckoning period when the suspension of the statute of limitations will be lifted is also unreasonable. The revenue issuances say that it will be lifted not from the end of the community quarantine but from the expiration of the state of national emergency. So, even if the enhanced community quarantine is lifted on May 15, 2020, the statute of limitations will not run again, until August 24, 2020, which as of now, will be the end of the state of national emergency plus 60 days thereafter.

Even if there is basis for the suspension of the prescriptive periods for assessment and collection, the BIR is not considered to be barred from conducting examination during the whole stretch of the national emergency. To do so would amount to an undue extension of the statute of limitations.

We may be in an unprecedented crisis. But this does not mean that the Commissioner’s suspension of statute of limitations must be taken lightly. When we hurdle this pandemic, taxpayers’ rights must remain unscathed.

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

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

those pieces are the billions of human consumers and employees.

Remember this also: The Covid-19 pandemic will be over long before the “oil price pandemic” ends. If all the 13 member-nations of Opec, from Iran to Nigeria and on to Venezuela, stopped all production completely, it would still not offset the current demand reduction.

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

T

A couple of weeks ago, we saw in a viral video a female OFW in Dubai who complained against a Philippine overseas labor officer who allegedly verbally abused her. The incident stemmed from the food aid relief package for displaced OFWs distributed by our consulate. She questioned the value of the package, which should be worth P2,700 as announced, and accused some people of irregularities. Secretary Silvestre Bello III acted swiftly, however, and suspended the labor officer concerned while the case is under investigation. Whether this charge is unfounded or not, the case reveals the miserable condition of our OFWs abroad.

OFWs work under harsh labor conditions, exiled from their families. Many of them get pittance pay from foreign employers who treat them inhumanely.

Their woeful tales and unbearable sacrifice just to send money

to their families are common fodders in the news. But recently, the discrimination does not just end there. Forced to go home by this disruptive virus, their fellow Filipinos at home do not welcome them after they’ve landed in our ports. Local residents block and prevent their buses from entering their towns or cities where they would undergo the mandatory two-week quarantine period due to suspicion that they may be carriers of the dreaded coronavirus. And some migrant workers who found places to stay to rest their tired bodies after long days of travel complained that the hotels were rundown and unsuitable for staying. And their pitiful saga does not end there. After completing the quarantine, the OFWs are stranded in Manila or elsewhere while waiting to be transported to their hometowns. They were once hailed as our modern day heroes with welcoming

bands and lovely garlands waiting for them as they stepped on Philippine soil. Their large contribution to our economy through their remittances, which amounted to over $33.5 billion in 2019, help sustain the Philippine economy. The enormous amount of money they send to their families boosted household income and consumption all over the country. The remittances provide a steady source of foreign exchange, which help stabilize our trade balances and deficits. Our government should do more to help them now that they need us. Now is the time for all Filipinos to truly regard them as our legitimate heroes in much the same way that we venerate the medical frontliners in our current fight against Covid-19.

OFWs affected by the coronavirus get a P10,000 cash aid from the Department of Labor and Employment. Under the new Social Security System law, the pension fund for private-sector employees provides unemployment benefits to its members. Unfortunately, contrary to the intention of the law, departing OFWs for the first time skipped paying SSS membership upon the urging of some labor groups that payment of contributions becomes due only once the worker starts employment abroad, not at the time of processing of the application. But once they are working abroad, collecting their contribution is difficult to enforce. The SSS unemployment benefit is equivalent to 50 percent of their average monthly salary credit for a maximum of two months. On the average, this will be higher than

the cash assistance of P10,000 being doled out by DOLE. Domestic workers and OFWs are qualified to receive the SSS unemployment benefit if they are displaced involuntarily from their work due to closure or cessation of business operations, disease or illness, redundancy, retrenchment, installation of labor-saving devices and other valid causes, provided, they have paid the requisite minimum number of monthly contributions for at least three years, 12 of which have been made in the last 18 months.

Unfortunately, before the passage of the new SSS law in March 2019, SSS membership of OFWs was not mandatory, thus, many of them will not qualify to receive the benefit. This is one of the landmark provisions of Republic Act 11199 or the SSS Act of 2018. It is the first unemployment benefit enacted by Congress to help our ordinary workers in the event of involuntary job loss. I deeply appreciate the vision and efforts of the legislators from both Houses of Congress and my fellow SSS officials who worked hard to get the law passed. What is needed now is a no-nonsense implementation of the law to ensure that our workers have a safety net in case the unwanted contingency occurs.

Nowadays, we hear less and less of workers’ pickets, strikes, and other drastic labor actions as in the past.

But let us not be complacent and deluded into thinking that everything is all right on the labor front. As an old labor slogan states: “Bosses beware —when we’re screwed, we multiply!”

Let’s not lose sight of that fact as we approach Labor Day.

Post-pandemic, governments may rethink everything Clive Crook

BLOOMBERG VIEW

T

he human and economic costs of the Covid-19 crisis are already enormous, and the final tally will be colossal. What’s happening will undoubtedly focus minds, so next time will be different. One consequence is that in the near future, people will almost certainly expect and insist on greater “resilience” in the event of another crisis.

But what does that term really mean in the current context? And how could governments even begin to meet such expectations? The implications could be profound and may extend far beyond the realm of public health.

A renewed appetite for safety could summon new thinking on how the West’s economies are organized.

Covid-19 will induce discussion of climate change, global trade and supply chains, the efficiency of markets, macroeconomic policy, safety nets, international cooperation—and what living in a decent society even means. The bigger the setback, the more likely it is that the quest for resilience won’t stop at stockpiles of essential medical equipment.

Granted, it would be hard to overstate the costs of that particular failure. Resilience starts with preventing avoidable catastrophes. In the US and most of Europe, the urgency wasn’t understood. A lack of planning and materials made it impossible (once the need had been grasped) to suppress the infection with testing, contact tracing and isolation. In many countries it wasn’t even clear which agency or level of government should take the lead, or what kinds of information should be gathered, by whom, or to what end. In the US, it still isn’t. Weeks of institutional mind-freeze let the pandemic get established, which in turn demanded economic shutdowns.

The modest sums not spent on planning and preparation might be the biggest false economy in history. To be sure, the next virus (or the next wave of this one) could be

worse—more infectious, lethal, or resistant to testing and analysis. So in addition to an instant response, a resilient public-health system will also need the wherewithal to expand hospital capacity at short notice and develop treatments and vaccines faster, as well as plans for curbing transmission without shutting everything down. To get all this done, governments will have to set goals and commit additional resources.

That’s a big agenda, but achieving this kind of resilience won’t raise deep questions about modern capitalism. Other aspects of the crisis might.

According to one view, for instance, the lodestar of modern manufacturing—efficiency based on complex supply chains, lean production, just-in-time delivery and zero inventories—has made economies too fragile. Where a narrow-minded, profit-maximizing company sees waste and inefficiency, the thinking goes, a well-run society would recognize prudent buffers and wise investment.

Plausible as this might seem at the moment, it’s wrong. Modern logistics are lean but also flexible and adaptive. Overseeing a complicated supply chain to squeeze out costs alerts managers to options—and alternatives provide resilience. Also, investing in redundancy can easily go too far. Tolerating waste reduces output, and if you’re poorer, everything, including resilience, gets harder to afford. Connectedness by definition means more links that might be broken, but this doesn’t make the system as a whole less robust. Life in modern

advanced economies is hardly more fragile than in primitive (albeit selfsufficient) societies.

Though you might see Covid-19 as proof of capitalism’s hidden fragility, it would be more accurate to see it as a threat so potent and mismanaged that governments had to flatten a fundamentally robust system. In that case, the right response is to avoid the mismanagement while harnessing the underlying strength. Disaggregated information and decision-making—market forces—shouldn’t be supplanted at lower levels even in a crisis.

Supply chains that cross borders pose additional problems. Will that cause a rethink on trade and globalization? It might, but it shouldn’t.

Global supply chains are vulnerable more because of uncoordinated governments than irresponsible profit-seekers. Leaders who rightly deplored President Donald Trump’s earlier attacks on the global trading system were quick to impose export restrictions on medical equipment.

The instinct is understandable, but surrendering to it was still a failure of leadership.

Thanks mainly to Trump, protectionism was rising and growth in trade slowing even before Covid-19.

If the crisis accelerates that trend, the whole world will be poorer, hence less resilient. The US president is unfit to lead because he opposes cooperation on principle. Yet it’s telling that his abdication of global leadership did not summon any other leader to shape or even call for an effective international response. Initially, members of the European Union (as in “ever closer union”) couldn’t even bring themselves to help their partners.

International economic cooperation matters, but something else matters even more. Over the coming months, the resilience of individual households will do most to shape future thinking on the role of government.

Once the initial mistakes were made and economic shutdowns became necessary, fiscal and monetary policy moved, in most cases, quickly and forcefully. The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank expanded the measures they used during the financial crisis in 2009

to keep credit flowing and financial systems working. Large-scale bondbuying programs are again up and running, enabling dramatic fiscal expansions aimed mostly at supporting workers who’ve been laid off or furloughed. More public spending is likely to be needed soon, and governments seem ready to offer it.

Where this all leads will depend on how long the dislocations last, how soon the shutdowns can be lifted and, once they are, how quickly output and employment come back. But it’s already apparent that the crisis will test the advanced economies’ different approaches to social insurance as they’ve never been tested before.

The US is an outlier among rich countries. Its model leaves the victims of the shutdown much more exposed. Among the changes in thinking Covid-19 might cause, this could be the most consequential.

The American model denies workers resilience in two main ways. First, the social safety net is much less generous than in Europe. Typically, if you lose your job, you lose your health insurance; unemployment benefits replace less of your income and for less time; income supports for poorer households are smaller; and so forth.

Second, labor protections are weaker. At-will employment is the norm, so it’s easier for firms to fire workers they no longer need. This approach puts flexibility above security. It has advantages. US incomes are typically higher than in Europe, taxes are lighter and unemployment is persistently lower. But if you’re unlucky, you fall a lot further.

Even before Covid-19, more Americans were coming to see this balance as wrong. Growing support for universal health insurance and increasing alarm over inequality suggest a shift was already under way. This crisis could make a decisive difference. It’s partly the shock of what’s happening—the depth and abruptness of the setback. But it’s also that the collapse has been deliberately engineered. Jobs destroyed and livelihoods ruined, not because of disembodied economic processes or hostile foreign powers, but as an act of policy undertaken in the public interest.

A8 Tuesday, April 28, 2020

BTr tapping offshore bond market anew as war on Covid escalates

T

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE Bureau of the Treasury is set to sell benchmark-sized 10-year and 25-year dollardenominated bonds as the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 continues to rise in the country.

demand for government securities buoyed by liquidity boost.

Rates for across all tenors also went lower compared to the previous auction and secondary market rates. The 91-day, 182-day and 364-day T-bills fetched averages of 2.617 percent, 2.831 percent and 3.054 percent, respectively.

“Market flushed with liquidity and rates dropped with reassuring statements from [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] Governor [Benjamin Diokno.] Additionally, NG [national government] resources augmented by ODA [official development assistance] inflows and NG announcement of issuing in dollar market,” said National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon in a Viber message to reporters.

Monday’s auction was also more than 4.5 times oversubscribed,

A MAN uploads boxes of personal protective equipment and other medical supplies donated by the Tzu Chi Charity Foundation from China to the Philippine government to aid in its response to the pandemic. ROY DOMINGO

with total bids reaching P91.1 billion, prompting the committee to double the accepted noncompetitive bids for the 91-day and 182day securities to P4 billion each.

With the decision, the Treasury raised a total of P24 billion, higher than the P20 billion initial offer.

On top of upsizing the issuance, the Treasury on Monday also decided to open the tap facility for an

additional P10 billion for 364-day T-bills. The Treasury fully awarded P10 billion in 364-day T-bills as tenders reached P16.556 billion.

To fund its battle against Covid-19, Indonesia—the country’s Southeast Asian neighbor—also recently raised $4.3 in dollar bonds, which included its longest-dated debt paper of 50-year bonds, according to international reports.

ADB, WB loans

EASTERLIES AFFECTING THE EASTERN SECTION OF THE COUNTRY INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE AFFECTING SOUTHERN MINDANAO as of 4:00 am - April 27, 2020

By Joel R. San Juan

A

This is the second time that the Philippine Treasury will tap the offshore bond market this year after selling $1.33 billion from eurodenominated bonds early this year.

While the Treasury has yet to disclose the amount it plans to raise through the dollar bond sale, benchmark-sized dollar bonds usually amount to at least $500 million to $700 million.

This also comes at a time that the government aims to raise more funds to finance its response to the pandemic.

In January 2019, the Philippines raised $1.5 billion from the sale of dollar-denominated global bonds.

At the same time, the Treasury also upsized the volume of debt papers it awarded in Monday’s auction as it sold P24 billion in Treasury bills (T-bills) on the back of strong

Lawyers’ group asks SC to free at-risk PDL

FINANCE Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III earlier said the government plans to borrow $5.7 billion in loans from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank.

Finance Undersecretary Mark Dennis Y.C. Joven also told BusinessMirror they are “exploring all ODA financing options to ensure that financing costs are minimized and tenors prolonged.”

Last Thursday, the Manila-based ADB approved lending $1.5 billion to the Philippines—the largest budgetary support it granted—to boost the government’s war chest against Covid-19.

Last month, the country also secured a $3-million grant from ADB. The Washington-based lender, meanwhile, has also so far approved a $100-million loan to the Philippines on top of a $500-million loan to help it fight Covid-19.

As of April 27, the Department of Health reported that the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country has reached 7,777, including 198 new cases.

Total recoveries have reached 932, with 70 new ones.

The Covid death toll in the country reached 511, with 10 new deaths.

@jrsanjuan1573

N international group of human-rights lawyers on Monday urged the Supreme Court to immediately grant the petition filed before it seeking the temporary release of elderly, sickly and other persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) who are vulnerable to Covid-19. disease.

In a statement, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) said the subhuman, overcrowded and unhygienic situation in the country’s prison and jail facilities would expose vulnerable persons to the real threat of acquiring the highly transmissible respiratory disease that had infected more than 7,500 people in the country.

“The spread of the infectious novel coronavirus in jails and detention facilities all over the world would be irreparably disastrous if not immediately prevented. We are witness to the atrocious condition of prisoners who have been forgotten by society,” the group noted.

The IADL said it has assisted and campaigned for political prisoners and against unjust imprisonment and repression worldwide.

It said even countries such as Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Morocco, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom and the United States have responded to such calls and have released a number of prisoners on humanitarian considerations.

On the other hand, the IADL said some governments have created ad hoc bodies such as a prisoner release committee to immediately formulate and implement guidelines.

Continued on A4

EX-D.O.T. CHIEF JIMENEZ, ARCHITECT OF ‘MORE FUN IN PHL,’ DIES AT 64

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

T

HE architect of the popular“It’s More Fun in the Philippines” brand campaign, former Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr., passed away at his home in Tagaytay, on Monday morning. He was 64.

His death was confirmed by his family in a statement: “It is with profound sorrow that we confirm the passing of Ramon Jimenez Jr., ‘MonJ’ to his closest friends and colleagues. He died early this morning at his home [due to reasons unrelated to Covid-19]. MonJ was a beloved husband, father, brother, friend and public servant. He will be greatly missed. We wish to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support for the family during this difficult time.”

A source told BusinessMirror that Jimenez recently underwent surgery on his lungs due to a pulmonary edema. “He had congenital heart failure and water needed to be sucked out of his lungs,” the source said. The surgery was done at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Global City, Taguig, in the first week of March and he was discharged on March 23.

A high-profile advertising executive prior to his appointment at the Department of Tourism (DOT), “Mon J.” is survived by his two daughters, Nina and Melissa. His wife, Abby Lee, also an advertising executive, had died in 2016. The couple were co-owners of Winning Over Obstacles (WOO) Communications Corp., a marketing communications agency, and advertising firm, Jimenez Basic, whose list of clients included San Miguel Corp., Globe Telecom, Unilab, Chowking, CocaCola, Cebu Pacific, and Jollibee. At his first press conference after his appointment, he claimed that “The Philippines should be as easy to sell as Chicken Joy.” Jimenez has been credited with reinjecting vigor in the tourism industry with the DOT’s “It’s More Fun in the Phil-

JIMENEZ ippines” brand campaign launched in January 2012. That year, visitor arrivals jumped 9.07 percent to 4.27 million, the first time the inbound travelers crossed the 4-million mark.

Working with a limited budget of less than P3 billion, Jimenez knew the key in the campaign was to harness the power of social media; this made it possible for every Filipino to be part of promoting the Philippines, as they shared their travel photos and used the slogan in their memes. The brand campaign has received several awards for the DOT and its advertising agency BBDO Guerrero.

The success of the DOT’s brand campaign had encouraged the Duterte administration in 2016, to offer Jimenez to remain at his post. He declined, however, due to personal reasons. (See, “Duterte wants Tetangco back on economic team, in the BusinessMirror,” May 13, 2016.)

In a Viber message, Aileen Clemente, president of Rajah Travel Corp. and executive vice president of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines when Jimenez was DOT chief, said: “You don’t have to be close to Sec. Mon to know how big his presence is. He was able to influence the direction of tourism without having

to say anything much, but by doing. He dealt with one of the biggest challenges in tourism which is, mindset change about what is TOURISM is really all about.

“As a person, he was a man of integrity and vision. He was very down to earth and never excluded anyone. We had this one travel to Manado—which was practically just an hour from the Philippines, but because of connectivity was a total of about 12 hours for us. I just happened to be on the same flight. He just asked me to sit with them regardless of whoever else was greeting him and meeting him.

I tried several times to excuse myself, and he said ‘No need.’ So I stayed.”

In a news statement, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat expressed her condolences to her predecessor’s family, adding:“The DOT family pays tribute to the immeasurable contributions of Secretary Jimenez who laid down the foundation for the country’s most famous tourism campaign, ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines,’ which I have chosen to retain until now, and the DOT policies that helped shape the National Tourism Development Program [NTDP] for 2016-2022.

“Today, we mourn the loss of Mon Jimenez but we will be forever grateful to him for the growth of the tourism sector, and for promoting the Philippines as a place that is wonderful, joyous and fun.”

Among Jimenez’s other accomplishments included drawing up the first blueprint for tourism development, the NTDP 2010-2016; strategic promotional tie-ups with international news networks like CNN during the Asian Development Bank General Members Meeting in 2012; after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, a “thank you” ad on the billboards of key markets like New York, London, etc. for the Philippines’s donors; and marketing the Philippines as the center of gastronomy in Southeast Asia by hosting Madrid Fusion Manila starting 2015.

Jimenez was DOT Secretary from 2011 to 2016.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

B1

Aboitiz group slashes 2020 capex to ₧47B

T

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

he Aboitiz group on Monday said it is cutting its capital expenditures (capex) this year by a third to P47 billion from the previous P73 billion, as it scales down some of its investments in its big-ticket projects.

The expected slowdown in the economy due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic prompted the company to cut its

capex for 2020. Most of the capex reductions were from the infrastructure, power and land units, but these mostly covered operating, mainte-

nance and expansion costs, it said.

This year's capex is 42 percent lower than the P81-billion expenditure program of the company last year. Of the 2019 capex, however, the actual spending reached only P53 billion.

“Most of our businesses are in industries that are vital to keeping the economy running. Filipinos need electricity, food products, and money, for example. And for our other businesses, we have been prudent in capital expenditure spending so this should not be much of a problem,” said Sabin M. Aboitiz, Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.’s president and CEO. The company said it is allotting

some P33 billion for Aboitiz Power Corp., where the bulk of the company’s revenues come from, down from the previous allotment of P41 billion. Some P7 billion will be for its infrastructure arm, lower than the previous allocation of P16 billion.

The company is also setting aside P4 billion for its property development unit, while the remaining amount will be for its other business units.

Unit 1 of GNPower Diningin, an ongoing AboitizPower project considered to be of national significance, will synchronize by the fourth quarter of 2020 and will commence commercial operations by the first quarter of 2021, it said. Unit 2, mean-

while, will synchronize by the first quarter of 2021 and will commence commercial operations by the second quarter of 2021.

Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., which has reiterated its support for the government’s infrastructure program dubbed “Build Build Build,” is closely reviewing the impact of Covid-19 on its projects, especially in the airport sector.

For its bulk water supply unit Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc., the company is closely coordinating with its contractors on which specific work streams can be executed amid Davao City’s enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), recovery time, and any implications on obli-

gations with Apo Agua’s partners.

Property developer Aboitiz Land Inc. expects the local real estate market to be quite resilient, with the large unmet demand for housing a significant contributing factor.

AboitizLand’s early investments in contactless residential sales and marketing continues for the year and are now paying early dividends.

The Aboitiz Group’s privatelyheld construction arm Aboitiz Construction Inc. continues to operate and work on its projects in Balamban, Cebu, and Mindanao, but with stricter precautions. The company hopes to immediately resume work on all its first and second quarter projects in ECQ-affected areas.

ICTSI, Solaire workers undergo Covid-19 tests Kacific all set to serve

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

T

he port and casino businesses of billionaire Enrique K. Razon Jr. has started the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) rapid antibody testing of their employees, as it seeks to prepare for their eventual reentry into the workplace.

Roughly 2,500 employees of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) and Bloomberry Resorts Corp.’s (BRC) Solaire Resort & Casino are now being tested for Covid-19. They will comprise the

PLDT gives more aid to Covid-19 hospitals

skeletal work force for the expected lifting of the enhanced community quarantine.

This, according to Razon, complements the government’s initiatives to prevent the further spread of the deadly disease. Both groups have partnered with the Tropical Disease Foundation (TDF) and Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc. (AC Health) to screen employees for Covid-19.

“Our employees are our number one asset. As we try to overcome this most difficult phase and into the ‘new normal’, we do so without letting our guard down,” he said.

The mass testing of the employ-

ees employs a two-pronged strategy.

Health experts that it employed suggested to do an initial rapid testing, which takes about 10 minutes to 15 minutes. A second confirmatory test will also be done using conventional methods.

Razon has also sought the assistance of the Department of Health (DOH) and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) to fasttrack the validation and approval of its required laboratory certification to do coronavirus tests. It is now awaiting the approval of the government for this part of the testing program.

“Consistent with our aim of helping the country’s health infrastructure in tackling the extent of the pandemic, our decision to invest in mass testing will give us, our employees, and their loved ones the reassurance that they will have a safe working environment, which ICTSI and Solaire are well-known for,” he said.

Bloomberry Cultural Foundation Inc. has procured 100,000 test kits from China and South Korea to augment the testing capacity of the government. It has also donated P60 million worth of medical gear to the health department to protect frontline health workers.

URC, GBF design face shields for frontliners

C

oronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) hospitals and their health workers have received a fresh dose of help in the form of decontamination services and packages of hygiene and food items from telecoms and digital services provider PLDT Inc. and the Makati Medical Center Foundation.

PLDT sponsored the provision of high-level decontamination services using Steramist Asia’s Binary Ionization Technology (BIT) for the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City.

BIT is a powerful disinfectant that has been certified by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) as being effective in eliminating the novel coronavirus. This is applied in parts of the hospitals in need of specialized sanitation such the laboratories, Covid wards, ambulances and even the reprocessing of N95 masks and personal protective equipment (PPEs).

Working with the Makati Medical Center Foundation, PLDT also turned over care packages containing hygiene and food items to the personnel of these hospitals including their sanitation team, maintenance staff and security officers.

The rest of the care packages will be distributed to the frontline staff of quarantine facilities of the National Task Force. The company also donated 210 blankets to Paco Catholic School which serves as a temporary shelter for over 200 people. This includes street dwellers and stay-in volunteers and staff. PLDT also gave financial assistance to the school to procure some immediate needs such as medicines and food supplies.

Moreover, PLDT is supporting the Kaagapay: Protect our Healthcare Heroes project. This is a fund-raising initiative that provides life-saving medical equipment which includes PPEs, test kits and ventilators for the health-care sector. This is spearheaded by the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, Zuellig Pharma, ABS-CBN, Metro Drug and Go Negosyo.

Health workers using the face shields provided by URC and GBF. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

U

niversal Robina Corp.

(URC) and the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF) are currently producing much-needed face shields using URC’s available resources.

The Gokongwei-owned food firm has temporarily repurposed some parts of its production line to manufacture 100,000 reusable face shields vital to frontline health workers battling the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. According to GBF Director Grace Colet, these will go to some of the hospitals that have been at the forefront of the country’s efforts to slow the spread of the virus.

GBF is targeting over 25 beneficiaries including: Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Philippine General Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, Philippine Heart Center, San Lazaro Hospital, Rizal Medical Center, East Avenue Medical Center, The Medical City and Chinese General Hospital.

“We [GBF] were experiencing problems securing our personal protective equipment [PPE] orders from suppliers,” said Colet. “Sometimes they’ll back out a day or two even after placing the order. And prices were increasing. It was a struggle to secure the very valuable PPE that we needed for donation to

our health workers.”

Colet said, “Being an engineer, David Lim of URC got inspired to study the design and make it more efficient in terms of using available resources. We consulted doctors and specialists from the Philippine General Hospital to ensure we are providing appropriate PPEs.” URC Senior Vice President for Quality Engineering, Sustainability and Technical Services David Lim created the face shields, taking into consideration the urgency for these protective gears.

“Some face shields are generally disposable. That’s why they had to make a lot. Our team decided to come up with a face shield design that can both be easily manufactured and is reusable,” he said.

For Dr. Maria Julieta Germar from PGH’s obstetrics and gynecology department, disinfecting URC’s face shield is easy because it doesn’t have foams.

“The distance from the mask makes it easy for us to use goggles, loop and N95 masks underneath it.

It is also not prone to fogging which is important when we do our surgeries,” she said.

According to Germar, the face shields are used by their medical personnel but later on, they intend to provide to patients who may need

additional protection.

URC’s face shields are made from just three basic materials, making mass production easier: a polypropylene (PP) strip that is 14mm thick and about a meter long; an 8-by-13-inch PET sheet; and some staples.

The company buys the PET sheets and staples, but it produces the PP strips in its facility in Calamba, Laguna.

With minimal materials needed, URC is able to produce 3,500 face shields a day at two of its production facilities in Laguna. To date, it has delivered 40,000 to various hospitals and will complete deliveries by May. According to Lim, the demand for the face shields is continuously growing. “This [Covid-19] fight is a battle for everyone. It is an honor for URC to be able to contribute and collaborate with GBF and hospitals, with safety, quality and sustainability in mind. That is the URC way.”

The Gokongwei Group’s URC is one of the largest food and beverage manufacturing companies in the country, producing Filipino favorites like C2, Great Taste and Jack ‘n Jill snacks. Also from the same parent company is GBF, a foundation dedicated to contributing to the country’s progress by helping educate its work force in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

remote areas in PHL

K

acific Broadband Satellites Group, a next-generation broadband satellite operator, is now ready to offer its commercial services to the Philippines, especially in remote and rural areas that are generally underserved or unserved.

Christian Patouraux, the company’s CEO, said its first satellite called Kacific1 is now "ready to support the commercial services of its Filipino partners by providing high-throughput, low-cost broadband connectivity in the Philippines.”

“There are many places in the Asia Pacific that are still unconnected for reasons such as lack of existing infrastructure, geographical challenges and the high cost of such services. A HighThroughput Satellite [HTS] is ideal in addressing these challenges as it enables a broadband connection for places cables struggle to reach,” he said.

Kacific1, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon9 rocket last December, has a 15-year service life and will orbit above the Asia Pacific. It is “dedicated to providing reliable broadband that can be applied across many industries, including education, health care, e-government, enterprise, defense, and disaster and emergency scenarios in remote and rural communities.” “ T he K ac if ic1 h a s st a r ted transmitting its high-speed Kaband broadband signal covering more than 600 million people across 25 nations, including all

islands in the Philippine archipelago. Its range of services, including mobile backhaul, disaster and emergency response, and broadband Internet via small and easy-to-transport very small aperture terminal dishes, will serve as a catalyst for positive change in the improvement of the Philippines’s Internet capabilities,” Patouraux said.

Kacific plans to sell its broadband capacity wholesale to licensed telecommunications providers, Internet service providers, governments and other service providers. This will enable end-users to connect to Kacific1 with “small, low-cost and maintenance-free satellite dishes, which can be transported easily to remote locations.”

“By prov iding high-quality broadband in rural locations at a fraction of the current cost, the Kacific1 will allow more Filipinos to participate in the transformation toward a digital age for everyone,” Patouraux added.

Home broadband connectivity is still low in terms of penetration in the Philippines. According to Department of Information and Com mu n ic at ions Tec h nolog y (DICT) Undersecretar y Eliseo M. Rio Jr., only 20 percent of Filipino homes have broadband connectivity.

“The Kacific1 sees opportunities in rural or remote areas in the Philippines where fixed-line broadband is currently slow or nonexistent,” Patouraux said.

Lorenz S. Marasigan

Manila Water allows bill inquiry via SMS

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

C

ustomers of Ma n i l a Water Co. Inc., the private water contractor and agent of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the East Zone, has launched its bill inquiry program through SMS or short messaging system.

The launch of the program is in response to customers’ requests for easier and faster ways to find out their current water bills amid the extended enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and general quarantine in some areas in Luzon.

Manila Water has launched its bill inquiry program using the SMS platform or text messaging to provide billing information to customers.

Using their mobile phones, customers simply need to send the following details to 225600: MW<space>BILL<space>CAN<sp

ace>last 8 digits of contract account number.

The sender will then receive information on outstanding balance and a link to a list of channels and facilities through which customers can settle payment without leaving the comfort of their homes. Customers may also receive a reply informing them of overpayment or of no outstanding balance, when applicable.

Manila Water has earlier announced the extension of payment due date for 30 days in consideration of the economic impact of the ECQ to its customers. While the ECQ also necessitated the suspension of actual meter reading, water bills are currently derived from the average actual consumption for the past three months prior to the implementation of the ECQ. Currently, Manila Water said it is also exploring other digital platforms for easier account information access for its customers.

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

April 24, 2020

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

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

48 99.95 59.5 19.84 7.8 38.8 8.5 23.45 41.05 17.5 102 54 0.64 16.4 2.83 0.9 0.29 601 0.57 163 1520

48.5 100 59.55 19.9 7.85 39 8.8 23.5 42.35 17.52 103.4 54.6 0.88 16.42 2.98 0.94 0.3 639 0.66 165 1640

48.5 101.9 60 19.9 7.96 39.45 8.65 23.4 41.2 17.94 106 54.8 0.88 16.2 2.84 0.94 0.295 600 0.65 162.5 1510

48.5 101.9 61.5 19.98 7.98 39.5 8.65 23.9 42.45 17.94 106 54.8 0.88 16.42 2.84 0.94 0.295 600 0.65 163 1510

48 99.6 59.2 19.84 7.78 38.75 8.5 23.4 41 17.5 102 54 0.88 16.2 2.84 0.9 0.29 600 0.65 162.5 1510

48 100 59.5 19.84 7.85 39 8.5 23.5 41 17.52 102 54 0.88 16.4 2.84 0.9 0.29 600 0.65 163 1510

1300 2092570 1272440 113300 283600 4574900 26200 68500 2500 34600 347160 12100 1000 74400 6000 3000 40000 20 10000 350 500

63000 209750110.5 75838087 2252210 2220026 178774415 223027 1614620 103735 610264 35729060 653465 880 1213312 17040 2780 11650 12000 6500 56980 755000

-4800 -42652834.5 -47880128.5 -1188038 -728505 46749265 -277880 -15768 -21143652 -

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 2.3 2.31 2.28 2.36 2.24 2.31 9113000 20899340 ABOITIZ POWER 26.55 26.85 27.4 27.4 26.35 26.55 883500 23458280 BASIC ENERGY 0.17 0.18 0.17 0.18 0.17 0.18 50000 8700 FIRST GEN 18.48 18.5 18.56 18.66 18.24 18.48 2901400 53643628 FIRST PHIL HLDG 55.5 56.2 55.9 56.05 55.5 55.5 9910 554356 MERALCO 256 256.4 258 262.4 255 256 146090 37457966 MANILA WATER 10.7 10.84 10.9 10.94 10.7 10.7 1426100 15382756 PETRON 3.14 3.15 3.2 3.26 3.12 3.14 2520000 7972900 2.34 2.35 2.5 2.5 2.35 2.35 25000 59050 PETROENERGY PHX PETROLEUM 11.24 11.38 11.96 11.96 11.1 11.38 499900 5852878 18.2 18.38 18.66 18.8 18.18 18.2 609900 11179250 PILIPINAS SHELL 7.82 7.95 7.9 7.95 7.8 7.95 30000 237642 SPC POWER AGRINURTURE 8.3 8.31 7.68 8.36 7.68 8.31 2294200 18644508 2.67 2.7 2.61 2.72 2.6 2.67 1955000 5222020 AXELUM 12.56 13.94 13.96 13.96 13.96 13.96 100 1396 CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD 14 14.08 14 14.06 14 14 640200 8975352 DEL MONTE 3.5 3.65 3.5 3.52 3.36 3.52 43000 150090 DNL INDUS 5.47 5.5 5.6 5.69 5.45 5.5 1501500 8253596 EMPERADOR 7.9 7.97 7.98 7.98 7.9 7.9 3070400 24377604 SMC FOODANDBEV 57.7 57.95 59 59 57 57.7 346220 19860791 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.53 0.54 0.52 0.54 0.52 0.53 1148000 606320 FRUITAS HLDG 1.4 1.41 1.44 1.45 1.39 1.4 11107000 15673980 JOLLIBEE 134.3 134.4 137.8 137.8 133.7 134.3 1040620 140113927 MACAY HLDG 6.34 6.35 6.34 6.34 6.31 6.34 4800 30318 6.03 6.06 6.08 6.09 5.85 6.05 467700 2803310 MAXS GROUP 0.126 0.144 0.115 0.144 0.115 0.144 120000 14670 MG HLDG 1.9 1.91 1.91 1.91 1.87 1.91 3120000 5928190 PEPSI COLA 5.97 5.99 6.12 6.12 5.87 5.97 386200 2312577 SHAKEYS PIZZA 1.59 1.63 1.45 1.7 1.44 1.63 9927000 14864980 ROXAS AND CO 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.49 4.5 9000 40490 RFM CORP 1.39 1.44 1.39 1.44 1.38 1.43 27000 37810 ROXAS HLDG UNIV ROBINA 118.4 118.5 120 120 116.5 118.4 1141500 135349064 VITARICH 0.8 0.81 0.83 0.83 0.8 0.81 2443000 1984590 CONCRETE A 51.05 59.85 59.9 59.9 49.05 50.5 430 22099 CONCRETE B 52.05 69 69.8 69.8 69.8 69.8 110 7678 CEMEX HLDG 1.04 1.05 1.03 1.05 1.03 1.04 2555000 2657520 EAGLE CEMENT 8.2 8.45 7.97 8.47 7.97 8.45 58300 483044 EEI CORP 5.08 5.1 5.12 5.24 5.05 5.08 5018600 25612643 HOLCIM 11 11.28 11.4 11.4 10.9 11.28 578600 6487928 MEGAWIDE 6.65 6.75 7.2 7.2 6.55 6.65 1871100 12533703 8.5 8.88 8.88 8.88 8.88 8.88 1300 11544 PHINMA TKC METALS 0.75 0.79 0.74 0.8 0.74 0.79 41000 31780 VULCAN INDL 0.69 0.71 0.7 0.72 0.69 0.69 315000 218980 140.3 188.6 140.3 140.3 140.3 140.3 50 7015 CHEMPHIL 1.76 1.79 1.79 1.79 1.76 1.79 109000 193740 CROWN ASIA EUROMED 2.9 2.91 2.94 3.3 2.9 2.9 22867000 70292340 4.6 4.93 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 1000 4600 LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.4 3.5 7000 24100 CONCEPCION 23.55 24 24.3 24.3 23.55 24 21900 525730 GREENERGY 1.21 1.22 1.17 1.22 1.12 1.22 5407000 6356510 INTEGRATED MICR 5.8 5.9 5.91 6 5.7 5.8 621500 3605959 IONICS 1.15 1.16 1.13 1.15 1.13 1.15 260000 298270 SFA SEMICON 1.04 1.06 1.04 1.06 1.03 1.06 528000 555340 CIRTEK HLDG 8.39 8.4 8.68 9.1 8.32 8.4 11502600 100745375

2797519.9997 -17933145 19495904.0004 -138290.5 -21490256 -6479612 -1442530 -600808 -7884576 -253821 643800 -127440 -41590 -3212794 -11962890 4327383.5 -123910 13388699 -631769 -4320 4699800 576086 14050 -4490 -55474289 -76230 -49720 -50634 -2681394 -3696224 -8518267 1400 7015 -97270 -304700 -328250 -35847 -252870

HOLDING & FRIMS ARTHALAND CORP 0.57 0.59 0.59 0.59 0.57 0.59 1472000 855760 AYALA LAND 28.9 28.95 30.25 30.5 28.9 28.9 17380700 511353825 ARANETA PROP 1.02 1.09 1.03 1.08 1 1.02 84000 88580 BELLE CORP 1.3 1.31 1.31 1.32 1.31 1.31 73000 95750 A BROWN 0.56 0.57 0.55 0.56 0.54 0.56 1598000 880440 CITYLAND DEVT 0.72 0.75 0.72 0.74 0.72 0.74 31000 22720 CEBU HLDG 5.9 5.99 5.9 5.99 5.9 5.9 3000 17709 CEB LANDMASTERS 3.92 3.98 3.95 3.98 3.92 3.98 170000 674630 0.35 0.365 0.365 0.365 0.35 0.35 3580000 1274850 CENTURY PROP 15.9 16.1 16.1 16.1 15.9 16.1 88800 1423000 DOUBLEDRAGON 7.05 7.18 7.15 7.2 7.1 7.17 49200 352180 DM WENCESLAO 0.29 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 60000 18000 EMPIRE EAST FILINVEST LAND 0.9 0.92 0.94 0.94 0.9 0.9 10052000 9133200 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.83 0.8 0.83 12000 9900 GLOBAL ESTATE 8990 HLDG 10.22 10.94 11.48 11.48 10 10.5 52100 585218 0.81 0.82 0.85 0.85 0.81 0.82 448000 369480 PHIL INFRADEV MEGAWORLD 2.59 2.62 2.68 2.71 2.59 2.59 24782000 64849460 MRC ALLIED 0.162 0.164 0.165 0.166 0.157 0.164 13250000 2141370 PHIL ESTATES 0.3 0.325 0.325 0.325 0.325 0.325 10000 3250 PRIMEX CORP 1.5 1.51 1.52 1.65 1.49 1.51 691000 1043380 ROBINSONS LAND 15.38 15.5 15.6 15.6 15.2 15.5 5214900 80599468 PHIL REALTY 0.234 0.238 0.24 0.24 0.233 0.235 160000 37690 ROCKWELL 1.5 1.54 1.55 1.55 1.54 1.54 127000 195910 SHANG PROP 2.68 2.69 2.67 2.7 2.67 2.69 30000 80620 1.85 1.88 1.89 1.89 1.85 1.88 18000 33740 STA LUCIA LAND SM PRIME HLDG 28.6 28.65 30.25 30.25 27.5 28.65 16089200 465182705 3.93 4 3.96 4.09 3.93 4 57000 228830 VISTAMALLS SUNTRUST HOME 1.25 1.28 1.2 1.33 1.2 1.28 3194000 4064270 VISTA LAND 4.04 4.07 4.1 4.15 4.02 4.06 713000 2,892,200(

-239048170 -3930 5500 -575670 -10800 -605036 164580 -733450 -62886 -30536610 1580 -18937226 -53770 -153417450 1,264,190.0001)

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.56 0.57 0.56 0.57 0.55 0.57 732000 407710 AYALA LAND 30.2 30.3 30.6 31.15 30.2 30.2 5184700 158624895 ARANETA PROP 1.04 1.08 1.08 1.08 1.04 1.04 54000 56200 BELLE CORP 1.31 1.34 1.31 1.34 1.3 1.31 119000 156140 A BROWN 0.54 0.55 0.54 0.57 0.53 0.55 1671000 914090 CITYLAND DEVT 0.72 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.74 0.74 12000 8890 CROWN EQUITIES 0.121 0.131 0.134 0.134 0.134 0.134 10000 1340 CEBU HLDG 5.92 5.99 5.9 6 5.9 5.99 65200 390563 3.92 4.02 4 4.02 3.98 4.02 376000 1509300 CEB LANDMASTERS 0.36 0.365 0.355 0.36 0.355 0.36 5310000 1901700 CENTURY PROP DOUBLEDRAGON 16 16.08 16 16.1 15.9 16.08 58300 935424 7.1 7.15 6.98 7.15 6.95 7.15 11800 83813 DM WENCESLAO 0.29 0.325 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.29 90000 26100 EMPIRE EAST FILINVEST LAND 0.92 0.94 0.93 0.94 0.92 0.94 2236000 2077880 0.83 0.85 0.8 0.87 0.79 0.83 444000 361010 GLOBAL ESTATE 8990 HLDG 11.5 11.52 11.56 11.56 11.5 11.5 9300 106956 PHIL INFRADEV 0.8 0.82 0.8 0.83 0.79 0.8 1112000 892740 MEGAWORLD 2.67 2.71 2.74 2.77 2.67 2.67 8556000 23250880 MRC ALLIED 0.165 0.166 0.171 0.171 0.162 0.165 17690000 2934970 PHIL ESTATES 0.305 0.325 0.33 0.33 0.3 0.325 1010000 320500 PRIMEX CORP 1.53 1.66 1.68 1.68 1.53 1.65 32000 49650 ROBINSONS LAND 15.54 15.6 15.32 15.8 15.3 15.6 2365700 36701108 PHIL REALTY 0.233 0.242 0.231 0.248 0.23 0.241 320000 75780 ROCKWELL 1.51 1.53 1.51 1.56 1.51 1.53 266000 410950 2.65 2.7 2.7 2.71 2.65 2.65 43000 115420 SHANG PROP 1.85 1.87 1.89 1.89 1.85 1.85 35000 65430 STA LUCIA LAND SM PRIME HLDG 30.25 30.4 30.2 30.45 30.05 30.25 8418700 254802130 3.9 4.1 4.19 4.5 3.87 4.1 300000 1233160 VISTAMALLS SUNTRUST HOME 1.2 1.23 1.23 1.26 1.18 1.2 1893000 2310870 VISTA LAND 4.07 4.08 4.1 4.17 4.06 4.08 3564000 14550680

-32247860 -37400 8140 307287 -598040 265319.9997 -8393 -99170 -11500 -9651510 2888486 -26420 -63074950 -522650

SERVICES

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

16.6 4.92 0.36 10.22 2208 1225 0.037 2.85 2.28 0.071 1.48 1.87 0.199 2.45 10.92 15.54 3.42 47.55 78 13 0.7 5.09 2.63 2.51 7 0.9 1.11 0.029 1.51 0.405 6.04 0.355 2.43 5.49 1.68 1.5 2.86 0.315 5.75 1.72 46.3 60.8 130 1.19 13.98 0.3 6.9 320 0.265

16.74 4.93 0.375 10.68 2210 1227 0.039 3.03 2.29 0.08 1.96 1.88 0.203 2.48 10.98 16 3.45 47.6 79.9 13.5 0.79 5.1 2.64 2.59 7.3 0.91 1.23 0.03 1.84 0.42 8.4 0.36 2.49 5.5 1.69 1.51 2.99 0.32 5.8 1.73 46.4 61.3 135.9 1.2 14.1 0.32 7 330 0.27

16.78 4.93 0.37 10.68 2200 1174 0.039 2.81 2.27 0.08 1.78 1.9 0.196 2.6 10 16.88 3.6 47.05 82.2 13 0.79 4.78 2.17 2.1 7.29 0.93 1.24 0.03 1.32 0.415 8.4 0.35 2.27 5.71 1.68 1.51 2.81 0.31 5.9 1.73 46.95 61.6 137.8 1.22 14.1 0.31 7.67 320 0.24

16.8 4.93 0.37 10.68 2216 1230 0.039 3.03 2.33 0.08 1.78 1.91 0.206 2.6 12.5 16.88 3.68 48 82.2 13.5 0.79 5.09 2.89 2.82 7.35 0.95 1.24 0.03 1.51 0.42 8.4 0.36 2.6 5.71 1.69 1.51 3.1 0.315 5.9 1.75 46.95 61.6 137.8 1.24 14.4 0.32 7.67 320 0.275

16.6 4.92 0.36 10.68 2172 1172 0.038 2.81 2.22 0.079 1.78 1.85 0.196 2.42 9.5 15.4 3.42 47 78 13 0.79 4.69 2.06 2.1 7 0.89 1.11 0.029 1.32 0.4 8.4 0.335 2.27 5.46 1.65 1.5 2.81 0.305 5.7 1.71 45.95 60.8 130 1.2 13.8 0.31 6.8 320 0.24

16.6 4.93 0.36 10.68 2208 1227 0.039 3.03 2.28 0.079 1.78 1.88 0.203 2.45 10.92 16 3.42 47.55 78 13.4 0.79 5.09 2.64 2.51 7.3 0.91 1.11 0.03 1.51 0.42 8.4 0.355 2.49 5.5 1.69 1.5 2.99 0.315 5.75 1.72 46.4 60.8 130 1.2 14.1 0.32 7 320 0.265

74000 54000 290000 100 54135 371905 1500000 27000 40507000 550000 3000 1637000 9000000 2277000 5156200 8500 3472000 137800 797280 1700 22000 10297000 31020000 1012000 16900 1244000 9000 7600000 2000 1550000 1000 9710000 1145000 4701000 211000 122000 35000 6020000 1637000 1620000 3980300 475570 72450 2532000 4922800 480000 320900 60 47690000

1237072 266030 104600 1068 119128610 -37620160 452470040 102133905 57600 80620 92115680 -3141750 43800 5340 3082600 -19290 1810460 5648290 123090 58618684 -526768 134516 12240010 -22520 6525800 -1576845 63779560 -10370622.5 22650 -1300 17380 51,003,150( 13,842,260.0003) 80695900 2577640 -303500 122763 1131670 10120 227800 2830 628800 8400 3371950 34000 2827990 25917961 -1854096 348770 87450 183260 103920 1851650 9488023 4507734 2787810 184528275 10495555 28992740 -9303856 9648138 -231570 3059240 -2222650 68737970 20178186 151300 2267630 19200 -12800 12472330 -299800

MINING & OIL

ATOK 10.06 10.6 10.7 10.7 10.7 10.7 500 5350 APEX MINING 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.05 1 1.02 3706000 3827380 ABRA MINING 0.001 0.0011 0.001 0.0011 0.001 0.0011 144000000 145000 ATLAS MINING 1.78 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 3000 5700 BENGUET A 1.04 1.1 1.03 1.03 1.03 1.03 10000 10300 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.201 0.205 0.209 0.209 0.205 0.205 160000 33060 CENTURY PEAK 2.69 2.72 2.71 2.71 2.71 2.71 50000 135500 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.7 6.5 6.5 4600 30350 DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL 0.74 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.73 0.75 1009000 747170 GEOGRACE 0.203 0.207 0.198 0.218 0.196 0.203 940000 190840 LEPANTO A 0.083 0.084 0.079 0.085 0.079 0.083 15530000 1259720 LEPANTO B 0.081 0.094 0.088 0.094 0.088 0.094 1370000 121380 MANILA MINING A 0.0066 0.0067 0.0065 0.0066 0.0065 0.0066 87000000 570900 MANILA MINING B 0.007 0.0075 0.0075 0.0075 0.0075 0.0075 5000000 37500 MARCVENTURES 0.57 0.58 0.58 0.58 0.56 0.58 325000 185100 56999.9999 NIHAO 0.9 0.96 0.89 0.96 0.89 0.96 12000 11400 NICKEL ASIA 1.62 1.63 1.63 1.69 1.6 1.62 7987000 13122180 -3760480 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.475 0.5 0.495 0.495 0.48 0.48 490000 236400 PX MINING 2.28 2.32 2.33 2.34 2.29 2.32 564000 1306660 -302830 SEMIRARA MINING 11.82 11.88 12 12.02 11.82 11.82 956500 11367590 -4990594 UNITED PARAGON 0.004 0.0041 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 16000000 64000 ACE ENEXOR 6.75 7.03 7.22 7.22 6.7 6.75 240700 1656293 -673 PHILODRILL 0.0082 0.0084 0.0083 0.0084 0.0083 0.0084 14000000 117300 4.45 4.46 4.52 4.74 4.31 4.46 1242000 5565350 -206200 PXP ENERGY

PREFFERED AC PREF B2R 495 504 495 504.5 495 504.5 1550 769845 CPG PREF A 98 100 99.5 99.5 99.5 99.5 500 49750 DD PREF 99 100 100 100 100 100 6720 672000 FGEN PREF G 103 107.4 107.5 107.5 103.2 103.2 3420 353030 MWIDE PREF 99.7 100 100 100 100 100 130 13000 PNX PREF 3A 98.85 99.5 98.8 98.8 98.8 98.8 380 37544 PNX PREF 4 1000 1010 1005 1010 1005 1010 555 558050 1001 1010 1000 1000 1000 1000 100 100000 PCOR PREF 3A PCOR PREF 3B 1020 1035 1011 1020 1011 1020 230 234510 SMC PREF 2C 76.5 76.9 76.5 76.5 76.4 76.4 2200 168280 SMC PREF 2D 74 74.5 74.9 74.9 74.9 74.9 10 749 SMC PREF 2E 74.2 74.9 74.2 74.2 74.2 74.2 30 2226 SMC PREF 2F 75.05 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 40000 3020000 SMC PREF 2G 74.4 75.05 74.4 75.05 74.4 75.05 11160 831057 SMC PREF 2H 74.1 75 74.1 74.1 74.1 74.1 3720 275652 SMC PREF 2I 75 75.5 75.5 75.5 75 75.5 7000 526000

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 15.5 15.9 15.78 15.9 15.78 15.9 510000 8108212 8106622

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 0.78 0.79 0.79 0.79 0.78 0.79 4000 3150

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 2.18 2.2 2.25 2.33 2.13 2.18 9011000 19911690 177470 KEPWEALTH 7.15 7.19 7.2 7.25 6.9 7.15 89800 632729 XURPAS 0.63 0.64 0.66 0.66 0.61 0.64 4150000 2613230 -64270

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 83.5 85 86 86 83.5 83.5 27770 2344917.5 115552.5

www.businessmirror.com.ph

LNG investment pulls down Meralco net income in Q1

By Lenie Lectura

T

@llectura

HE Manila Electric Company (Meralco) reported a 54-percent drop in reported net income to P2.61 billion in the first quarter of the year as it recognized an impairment of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) investment in Singapore.

Core profit was slightly up by 2 percent to P5.7 billion. Revenues were down by 7 percent to P70.02 billion at end-March this year as electricity revenues declined by 8 percent to P67.9 billion, mainly on account of lower pass-through charges.

The volume of energy sold for the first quarter stood at 10,879 gigawatt hours (GWh), up by 5 percent in the same period of last year, mainly due to warmer temperature.

Meralco’s residential and commercial customers registered an 11-percent and a 5-percent growth in sales volume, respectively, while industrial recorded a 2-percent decline.

Commercial sales volume, which accounted for 40 percent of total volume grew, by 5 percent to 4,343 GWh. Real estate, retail trade, and hotels and restaurants continue to support growth.

Industrial sales volume, meanwhile, declined by 2 percent to 3,135 GWh as most sectors registered negative growth, with only the food and beverage and medical products industries registering increases.

Overall customer count grew to 6.9 million at end-March.

Electricity demand for the first quarter peaked at 7,614 megawatts last March 10, six days before the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was enforced. However, this went on a downtrend beginning March 16, losing up to close to 40 percent in a single day during the ECQ. Victor Genuino, Meralco first vice president and head of customer retail services and corporate communications, said the company is now seeing the full effect of ECQ in relation to energy sales recorded this month.

“We’re going to see a very sharp

decline coming particularly from our commercial customers. Industrial has ramped up a bit. For commercial, we also see a bit of uptick coming from food, but when it comes to real estate, retail trade and hotel— which are key drivers for commercial sales—we don’t see much growth there. So, April sales are expected to be lower than what we’ve seen in March,” he said.

Meralco CFO Betty Sy-Yap even expects “more than [a] 10-percent decline in volume over the original budget for the year.” The target volume was not disclosed.

According to Meralco Chairman Manuel Pangilinan, “the full tragedy of Covid-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] has yet to unfold.”

He expects though that the second quarter figures would be lower than what Meralco reported for the first three months.

“Too early to give earning outlook for the full year. So far, what we are experiencing in April is a decline in our build volume. That’s likely to hold true for the entire second quarter so with the lower volumes and lower revenues, it is likely that the second quarter results will come in below the first quarter results. Below the P5.8 billion we’ve seen for the first quarter,” he said.

However, the company remains optimistic that a recovery in the overall business environment will happen starting the second half of

2020. He noted that demand peaked at 5,491MW last April 22, the first time since the start of ECQ, which had always hovered at a range of 3,500MW to more than 4,300MW. “We do hope that the second half will be better and we’re looking forward to that,” said Pangilinan.

Meralco President Ray Espinosa, meanwhile, said the Covid-19 outbreak has created an extremely challenging environment of “unprecedented scale.” As such, he assured Meralco’s continuity of its services.

“Our business continuity and resiliency plans and the dedication of our employees and personnel have allowed us to continue delivering reliable and affordable power and to swiftly respond to service outages and interruptions in this time of great public need,” said Espinosa.

Meralco claimed force majeure and this resulted in reduced fixed cost for certain baseload plants and suspension of mid-merit and peaking supply contracts. These claims cut the April generation charges by P129.4 million, which translates to P0.0506 per kilowatt hour. Had Meralco not taken this recourse, the April 2020 generation charge would have been P0.0259 per kWh higher than in March 2020.

“Yes, we invoked [force majeure].

We sent notice to our suppliers. We arrived at an amicable settlement on how to address the Force Majeure,” said Espinosa.

Fruitas to reopen stores in some areas

By VG Cabuag @villygc

F

ood and beverage kiosk operator Fruitas Holdings Inc. has started reopening some of its stores in Metro Manila and the rest of the Philippines as certain regions shift to general community quarantine later this week.

Fruitas said it has already reopened more than 10 stores in the past week and is set to reopen at least 10 more stores this week, bringing total active stores to more than 60.

Fruitas said it will gradually expand operations taking into account local circumstances.

Once allowed, the company said it is prepared to open almost all of its stores with the necessary employees and adequate goods supply.

“We will continue strict implementation of safety measures for both employees and customers, including provision of employee transportation where necessary, temperature checks, compulsory wearing of face masks for employees, and regular disinfection of operating stores,” it said.

The reopening of more stores coincides with the ramp-up in its delivery operations. More products from its brands have been onboarded for delivery.

For one, Sabroso Lechon has resumed delivery by-the-kilo and of other dishes in Metro Manila after a relaunch in Cebu.

The Cebu delivery hub is also offering shakes, lemonade, halo-halo and pizza.

To address increasing delivery demand, Fruitas said it is exploring partnerships with more on-demand delivery service providers.

“As we resume operations in more stores, we will continue to adapt our business model and optimize the use of our resources. We are looking at ways to make it easier and faster for our customers to order our products and at contactless pick-up options,” said Fruitas President and CEO Lester Yu. “We are harnessing our model of maximizing sales and profits with limited space, including the utilization of kitchen capacity in our food parks to fulfill delivery orders. We will also repurpose or upgrade some stores into delivery hubs,” Yu added.

Phoenix to continue giving fuel for free ride program

B

us units participating in the Free Ride Service for Health Workers Program of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) will continue to receive free fuel from Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. as the oil firm extends the assistance following the extension of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila and in other areas.

The extension of the assistance aims to sustain the fuel aid being given to several bus companies that have committed to support the transport of health workers to their designated hospitals and medical communities daily amid the country’s fight to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

UntilMay15,PhoenixPetroleumPhilippinesInc. has assured to continuously provide 50 liters of fuel a day to 60 private bus companies participating in the DOTr Free Ride Service for Health Workers or a total daily allocation of 3,000 liters.

Guidelines covering the initial implementation of the fuel subsidy assistance will also cover the subsidy program's extension. To avail of the free fuel assistance, bus units participating in the Free Ride Service for Health Workers Program should at least complete 2 round trips on a given day. They will then be provided with a voucher, which will be certified and signed by the leaders in the different

staging areas. The voucher will then be signed by an authorized representative at the assigned Phoenix Petroleum gas stations.

For the extended fuel subsidy program, participating bus units can proceed to 7 designated Phoenix Petroleum gas stations: PX RETAIL CODOTimog and PNX RETAIL CODO-Bahay Toro in Quezon City; PNX RETAIL CODO-Mall of Asia in Pasay City; PNX AFA PSPC-NAIA Road in Parañaque City; PNX RETAIL CODO-Malanday 1 in Valenzuela; PNX RETAIL CODO-Potrero in Malabon; and PNX AFA PSPC-Filinvest-Northgate in Alabang, Muntinlupa.

DOTr Undersecretary for Administrative Service and official representative to the IATF Artemio Tuazon Jr. welcomed the decision of Phoenix Petroleum Philippines to extend its fuel subsidy assistance for the whole duration of the ECQ period.

“We are grateful to Phoenix Petroleum for their continuous partnership. As [DOTr] Secretary Tugade had mentioned, our drivers and operators are considered as frontliners too and because of that, they also need all the support they can get,” said Tuazon.

For his part, Phoenix Petroleoum Philippines, Inc. Senior Vice President Raymond Zorilla said the extension of the free fuel grant is a way to ease the burden of frontline health workers that have been sacrificing their lives to end the crisis.

mutual funds

April 27, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 180.91 -31.2% -12.37% -8.72% -28.18% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 0.9395 -41.05% -14.48% -8.95% -32.02% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.4156 -41.42% -17.12% -11.21% -34.33% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.626 -32.59% n.a. n.a. -30.22% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.645 -25.89% n.a. n.a.

-24.06% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 3.9363 -28.34% -9.64% -7.76% -26.12% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,6 0.6107 -30.32% -13.69% n.a.

-28.46% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 74.79 -41.21% n.a. n.a.

-27.62% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 36.0953 -30.69% -11.02% n.a.

-29.61% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 388.87 -28.5% -10.3% -7.75% -27.01% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,8 0.8245 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-19.96% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 0.9312 -29.04% -10.16% -6.9% -27.64% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 27.242 -29.54% -9.61% -6.86% -28.12% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.7127 -31.48% n.a. n.a.

-30% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 3.6761 -30.3% -10.51% -6.88% -29.62% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 614.38 -30.21% -10.51% -7.09% -29.55% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.5585 -40.25% -14.51% -10.99% -34.4% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 2.887 -33.35% -11.28% -8.01% -31.41% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7051 -30.34% -10.65% n.a.

-29.55% United Fund, Inc. -a 2.617 -30.03% -8.41% -5.85% -28.37% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 82.378 -30.05% -10.03% -6.28% -29.56% ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$0.8787 -14.84% -2.36% -4.17% -14.56% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.2093 -6.86% 2.54% n.a. -12.29% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.489 -13.56% -5.47% -5.2% -4.72% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 1.9315 -16.72% -6.15% -3.89% -11.44% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.2833 -13.44% -3.84% -4.98% -13.23% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,5 0.1809 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-20.83% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.7658 -7.94% -2.15% -2.08% -10.05% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.2449 -11.73% -4.28% -3.77% -14.36% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 14.5135 -12.54% -4.45% -3.85% -14.43% -5.3% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 1.8077 -15.59% -3.5% -14.96% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.069 -20.37% -6.24% -4.86% -20.57% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d,2 0.8776 -12.1% n.a. n.a.

-13.6% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d,2 0.7671 -22.97% n.a. n.a.

-23.01% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d,2 0.7446 -25.11% n.a. n.a.

-25.03% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.7497 -23.65% -7.63% -6.68% -23.09% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03788 5.02% 2.19% 1.32% -0.92% -2.6% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -a $0.9125 -8.52% -1.22% -12.08% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.5255 -5.49% 1.92% 1.1% -9.85% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,7 $1.0488 -3.64% 0.69% n.a.

-7.09% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 361.77 3.98% 2.96% 2.38% 1.11% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.9272 2.28% 0.84% -0.28% 1.32% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1648 4.82% 5.17% 5.11% 1.56% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2594 4.62% 2.61% 2.07% 1.55% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4048 6.68% 2.79% 1.59% 1.94% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.4549 10.53% 1.94% 1.88% 3.24% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a

3.8493 6.67% 3.48% 1.76% 1.61% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0111 10.06% 3.04% 1.25% 4.85% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1065 7.63% 4.42% 2.7% 0.99% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.7187 7.45% 3.97% 2.31% 1.03% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $467.3 2.86% 2.23% 2.33% -0.2% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є213.61 -1.17% 0.49% 0.52% -2.79% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.174 0.57% 1.64% 1.64% -2.75% 1.06% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0257 1.98% 0.96% -0.39% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -a $1.0439 -1.75% -0.77% -0.88% -4.68% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.3822 5.44% 2.61% 2.11% -0.9% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0594998 2.25% 1.45% 1.36% -1.35% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.1477 5.78% 2.07% 2.04% -0.87% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 127.26 3.83% 3.07% 2.32% 1.18% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a,3 1.0365 2.74% n.a. n.a.

0.99% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a 1.2714 6.22% 3.48% 1.87% 1.17% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2768 3.37% 2.99% 2.52% 0.96% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.041 1.67% n.a. n.a.

0.37% Feeder Fund Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,4 $0.9 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-9.09% 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 January 3, 2019. 2 - Launch date is January 28, 2019. 3 - Launch date is February 1, 2019. 4 - Launch date is November 15, 2019.

5 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 6 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.).

7 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019.

8 - Launch date is December 09, 2019.

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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

UnionBank boosts hedging vs losses due to lockdown

U

nion Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) hiked provisions to cushion the impact to its credit portfolio of government’s measures to address the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

In a disclosure on Monday, the Aboitiz-led bank said it has set aside P1.3 billion for potential loan losses, up by more than seven-fold from P174.6 million the previous year.

“We deemed it prudent to set aside higher provisions for the year given the uncertainties brought about by this unprecedented health crisis,” UnionBank Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Jose Emmanuel U. Hilado said. “Our solid financial performance and capital base shall provide us the cushion to withstand the economic impact of the enhanced community quarantine [ECQ].”

UnionBank saw its net profits soar by 22 percent to P2.6 billion in the first quarter on the back of robust revenue growth.

Its topline figures were up 37 percent to P9.5 billion for the period supported by net interest income which rose by 47 percent to P6.8 billion.

The double-digit growth in commercial lending, consumer loans, small and medium banking and credit cards business drove customer loans up by 24 percent to P391.8 billion in the first three months.

Margins increased by 114 basis points to 4.5 percent in the first quarter from 3.4 percent the previous year for the same period. UnionBank attributed this to lower funding costs from expansion of current account/ saving account deposits and cuts in policy rate and reserve requirement ratio.

As of end-March, total assets, liabilities and equity stood at P751.86 billion, P656.41 billion and P95.44 billion, respectively.

Amid the extended ECQ, UnionBank President Edwin R. Bautista encouraged the public to transact

via digital channels despite some of its branches remaining operational.

These transactions include digital account opening, online check deposits, fund transfers and remittance.

“UnionBank is committed to support the economy and its customers by ensuring access to liquidity and other financial needs amid this crisis,” he said.

Protection vs phishing scams

Amid increasing phishing scams during the lock down, UnionBank is ensuring that its customers are protected through cybersecurity measures.

“We continuously invest in strong cybersecurity technology that ensures strong customer protection,” UnionBank Chief Information Security Officer Jose Paolo G. Rufo told the BusinessMirror.

Local banks have warned that fraudsters—pretending to be bank representatives—were asking customers their one-time password (OTP) and other account details via mobile message and e-mail, among others, since ECQ announced midMarch to contain the virus.

Rufo said that UnionBank is also employing banking industry practices, including 24/7 security operations center monitoring and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS).

PCI-DSS outlines guidelines on information security for firms handling credit cards to increase data control and avoid fraud.

To boost customer protection, Rufo shared that UnionBank online application requires biometrics and in-app OTP. Its digital platform is also continuously subjected to vulnerability management and penetration testing, he added.

“As people shift to digital banking with the [Covid-19] situation, scammers are taking advantage of the crisis to lure people into panic, and lure them into being phished,” Rufo earlier said. Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

Investments, lower costs boost Insular Life’s 2019 performance

I

nsular Life Assurance Co. Ltd. announced that its consolidated net income soared by 62 percent in 2019 to P4.85 billion from P3 billion in 2018 due to higher earnings from investments, various businesses and lower operational costs.

The growth in Insular Life’s consolidated net income last year was attributed to its earnings in strategic equities, rental income and other investments, the insurer said in a statement.

Citing audited data, Insular Life said consolidated member’s equity or net worth rose by 8.4 percent to P43.92 billion from P40.51 billion in 2018. Consolidated assets also grew by 6 percent to P143.2 billion from P135.1 billion in 2018.

Insular Life Executive Chairman Nina D. Aguas said the company’s growth stemmed from its “continuing pursuit of disciplined investing and operational excellence aimed at sustained profitability.”

For President and CEO Mona Lisa B. De la Cruz, a long-term view “continues to be a key investment strategy of the company.”

“Our sustained investments in technology and in our people, enabled us to keep our operating expenses in check, driving our net income up,” De la Cruz said in a statement.

De la Cruz added the company’s flagship equity fund and balanced fund both continued to outperform other VUL [variable unit-linked] funds in terms of 10-year performance as of end-2019.

The firm’s equity fund posted a 10-year average return of 10.8 percent, beating even the barometer Philippine Stock Exchange Index’s 9.9 percent, according to De la Cruz.

“Our Balanced Fund, meanwhile, recorded a 10-year return of 7.4 percent,” she added.

She noted the company released P11.1 billion in gross benefits and

claims, posting a 35-percent increase from the P8.2 billion paid in 2018.

De la Cruz said that during the enhanced community quarantine that began mid-March, Insular Life used alternative work arrangements for its employees and took advantage of its end-to-end digital platform.

De la Cruz said the company used a multi-platform system “hinged on the digital tools and innovative procedures that enable their financial advisors to complete the sales process without a face-to-face interaction with a client.

“In this global pandemic, we are assuring our policyholders that all claims and benefits due them will be released as fast as we can. Our processes are digital so even our work from home arrangements will not impede our fast service and timely release of benefits,” she added.

Last year, the company launched various innovative products targeting different market segments.

These included a 3-in-1 product that addresses the unique health, protection, and investment needs of women; products that address protection from the most basic with features such as double insurance coverage and money back; and, products that offer maximum protection and fund build-up to generate more living benefits. The insurer recently offered a themed fund “anchored on the performance of companies around the world that benefit from technological advancement and improvement.”

ERRATUM There were certain key errors in BusinessMirror’s story on Monday (April 27) about Insular Life’s 2019 performance. We’re running the correct version as an apology to the company and our valued readers.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020 B3

Despite revenue losses, Dominguez bats for restrictions on ‘sin’ products

D

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

espite the revenue hit on “sin” tax collections with the imposition of community quarantine in parts of the country, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III will still not recommend the lifting of restrictions on cigarettes and liquor.

Dominguez stood his ground that doing so may not bode well at the time that the country is dealing with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

“Sin taxes are imposed to discourage consumption of products that are detrimental to health. We do not wish to exacerbate the current health crisis,” Dominguez said in a message

to reporters. While the country is trying to control the spread of the virus, the sale and use of liquor is prohibited by the government.

Dominguez has since rejected the appeal to lift the liquor ban even after major liquor makers said the industry can no longer survive if the ban continues.

Although Dominguez said manufacturing for export of cigarettes is allowed, domestic manufacturing of tobacco products are reportedly halted due to the lockdown.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue suffered huge losses from excise tax collections across all product categories, with tobacco and alcohol—consistent large excise tax collection drawers—recording significant declines.

Excise tax collections from tobacco reached only P33.19 billion as of mid-April, dropping by 42.5 percent from last year’s P57.75 billion collection.

On the other hand, excise tax collection from alcohol products for the same period amounted to only P17.85 billion, a 26-percent dip from P24.09 billion in 2019.

In terms of total excise tax collections across all categories, the BIR failed to hit its P161.84 billion target for the January to April 15 period as actual payments only amounted to P76.47 billion, or 47.25 percent, of the collection goal.

Its actual excise tax collection for the period also dropped by 33 percent this year compared to P114.23 billion in 2019.

More clients used LandBank’s e-banking platform in March

M

ore customers transacted via the electronic banking channels of Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) last month as the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed all over Luzon restricted mobility, the government financial institution said.

In a statement issued on Monday, LandBank said its five major electronic channels posted 57.7-percent growth in transaction volume as of end-March from end-February.

“Due to the Covid-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic, we are seeing an increased demand for LandBank’s electronic and digital financial services,” LandBank President

and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo said.

The LandBank Electronic Modified Disbursement System for national government agency partners had the most growth in transactions last month at 94 percent.

LandBank said its platform that provides online banking services for individual retail clients registered 52-percent uptick in transactions for the period. The bank’s platform catering to corporate clients booked 62 percent more transactions last month. The state-owned bank’s mobile banking app saw a 61-percent surge in volume of transactions in March. The transactions completed through online payment platform

LinkBiZ Portal, meanwhile, climbed by 23 percent last month.

Amid increasing e-banking transactions, LandBank reminded the public to remain vigilant against phishing and vishing (voice phising) scams. Several fraudsters are attempting to obtain information like username, password and saving account or credit card details through e-mail or telephone, it explained.

The bank said it would never ask for these information in such methods.

“LandBank remains committed towards serving our clients’ growing needs through innovative, accessible, and safe banking solutions, even dur-

ing the ECQ period,” Borromeo said.

Earlier, LandBank began distributing in coordination with other government agencies P148.816-million cash assistance to 18,602 transport network vehicle service drivers in Metro Manila.

The bank said it also distributed P1.2-billion worth of financial assistance to 250,000 workers under the labor department’s subsidy program.

In addition, the governmentowned bank recently launched a lending program aimed at supporting small and medium enterprises, microfinance institutions and cooperatives to recover from the lockdown. Jasper C. Piad

Retiring soon? This is how you should invest

T

he average life expectancy of Filipinos is currently at 71 years old. This means that if you retire at 60, then your retirement fund should be able to sustain you for at least 11 years.

And it could be more, as new advancements in fitness, nutrition and medicine are making people healthier and live longer.

Close family ties are part of our culture. And it’s a double-edged sword for retirees to become dependent on their children or relatives when they reach their senior years.

While the financial support provides a good amount of security, they are however, taking away a portion of their loved ones’ income; money that could otherwise be used for building their own retirement fund.

Thus, financial planning for retirement is an important task that all retirees must do; especially if they don’t want to become a burden to their family. This includes making smart money management and investing decisions. This will ensure that their golden years remain as bright as possible.

List your assets and liabilities

The starting point for retirement investing is determining what you currently have.

This means making an inventory of all your cash and the current value of all your assets. Keep in mind all the investments and properties that you’ve accumulated during your working years.

Moreover, you should ideally have no debts or loans upon retirement. But if you do, then give it important consideration in your monthly budget, so you can pay and eliminate them as a liability.

Study your retirement cash flow

You may have received a lump sum for your retirement and wondering if that amount will last your lifetime.

Instead of worrying, my recommendation is to focus on creating a guaranteed income source for your

Fitz Gerard Villafuerte

personal finance day-to-day expenses.

Determine how much money you’re expected to receive as pension benefits from Social Security and other sources. Check your insurance investment policies and ask for their cash value and inquire if they can, or if you’re already eligible, to receive annuity payments.

Take stock of your health

During retirement, the biggest threat to your finances is medical problems.

Hopefully, you’ve managed to live a healthy lifestyle up to this point.

If not, then it’s certainly time to change your bad habits and make better food choices and become physically active.

Moreover, consider your family history and determine the diseases that you have a genetic disposition to. Use this information to calculate the possible added costs to your monthly budget. Specifically in case you start taking maintenance medicine and require medical procedures.

Live within your guaranteed income

Hopefully, you can comfortably live off your guaranteed income.

If so, then you can use the rest of your assets to generate income for non-necessities, such as travel and entertainment. You can also afford to invest your cash in higher-risk instruments. If not, then your focus should be in creating additional income.

The easiest would be to do some freelance work. You can do consultancy jobs or start a low-capital business. Not only will this augment your budget, but it will also keep you mentally active.

If you have a hobby, such as photography or baking, then you can likewise find ways to make money off your passion. This allows you to not only enjoy doing these activities that you like, but also to earn from it. And possibly, make it selfsustaining as well.

Lastly, if your financial capacity allows it, you can also invest on real estate and earn from rental income.

Do bucket investing

With your present needs properly met by your cashflow, it’s now time to invest.

Financial planning at this stage is similar to how you should create your portfolio during your younger years. The main difference would only be to avoid putting too much money on high-risk and volatile investments.

The bucket investing approach is a great way to plan and determine where and how much you should invest during retirement.

This strategy was first proposed by financial-planning guru Harold Evensky. He recommends that you should segment your portfolio based on when you expect to need your money.

Short-term (Bucket 1) The first bucket is for your near-term needs and should be parked in a savings account, time deposits, and in lowrisk funds. The money here should be enough to cover for your expenses in the next 2-3 years.

Medium-term (Bucket 2) The second bucket is for your intermediate-term needs and your investment choices here are government securities, corporate bonds, and funds with low-to-moderate risk profiles. The money here is meant to be used after 3-7 years.

Long-term (Bucket 3) The last bucket is for your far-future needs and your investment choices here are dividend stocks, index funds, balanced funds, and exchangetraded funds. Whatever’s left in your cash after filling up Bucket 2 should be parked here.

How bucket investing works Retirees should first fill up Bucket 1, and then proceed to the second and then third buckets.

When Bucket 1 starts to run low, they will replenish it by redeeming an appropriate amount of investments from Bucket 2. They can sell some of their government securities, for example, and put them in their savings account.

The process continues until Bucket 2 starts to run low. At this point, it will then be replenished by getting a portion of Bucket 3 and reinvesting them towards the investments in Bucket 2.

Normally, the transfers and portfolio rebalancing are done once a year. Moreover, any extra cash or income that you might receive during retirement is always used to replenish Bucket 1, so that there’s less need to reallocate investments from one bucket to another.

Retirement doesn’t mean you stop working

A lot of people see retirement as a time when they finally stop working; the time when they can do whatever they want, whenever they want.

But have you noticed that most billionaires, despite their immense wealth, still continue working?

I believe it’s not because they’re workaholics, but because they work brings them a sense of purpose and it’s a source of self-fulfilment.

That’s why, in my opinion, the better way to spend your retirement years is to remain active. You should continuously learn, and to work on new projects. Do try to avoid too much stress, but it’s important to keep challenging yourself.

If you’re retiring soon, or has already retired, I hope you found these tips helpful.

Fitz Villafuerte is registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal financial planning, attend the 82nd RFP program this May 2020. To inquire, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text <name><e-mail> <RFP> at 09179689774.

B4

Art

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

An injection of ingenuity: Nurse honors medical frontliners through syringe art

Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Horoscope

CIRCLES

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Jessica Alba, 39; Penelope Cruz, 46; Jay Leno, 70; Ann-Margret, 79.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Speak openly and offer suggestions.

Use charm and finesse to persuade others to see things your way. A calm but ambitious demeanor will be far more attractive than aggressive behavior and anger.

Use intelligence to get your way and realistic plans to avoid opposition. Progress will be yours. Make a personal change that will help ease stress. Your lucky numbers are 8, 15, 23, 26, 38, 43, 46.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Look at every option before making a decision. Refuse to let your emotions take over or cause you to take action too quickly. Put your energy into something constructive, and you will avoid getting involved in a debate. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;

JT NISAY

jtnisay@gmail.com

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Reconnect with people you collaborated with in the past, and you will come up with exciting options. An unexpected opening will interest you before you make a decision; consider the pros and cons. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;

P

RIVATE companies and individuals have shared their riches. Performers have collaborated to sing praises. In the latest turn of helping and recognizing frontliners in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, medical workers got a unique nod from one of their own.

Kimberly Magbanua broke into Internet fame last week for her tribute paintings using syringes and needles. The 27-year-old nurse from Negros Occidental has so far created two entries under her Inang Bayan series, depicting medical professionals in their continued service to the country amid the global health crisis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;y para sa aking mga kapwang frontliners at sa lahat ng naging biktima ng Covid-19,â&#x20AC;? Magbanua wrote on her Facebook post. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lalaban tayo, Inang Filipinas.â&#x20AC;?

The first piece of the series is an appropriated version of Chief of the Medical Staff, a painting by American Christian painter Nathan Greene, where doctors are physically guided in the operating room

by Jesus Christ. Magbanuaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s version features surgeons operating on a damaged Philippine flag.

The second of the Inang Bayan paintings shows a nurse laying on a stretcher and blanketed by the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tricolors. The subject appears defeated by the rigors of demanding hospital duty; a scene inspired by a real event where Magbanua witnessed a coworker at Valladolid District Hospital collapse on duty.

The pieces are uploaded on Magbanuaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Facebook page. Each artwork is accompanied by a poem that the nurse-artist also wrote. One of the poems reads:

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make promises or let anyone take advantage of you.

Protect against illness and con artists. Do your best to stay fit, and keep busy doing things that are beneficial to you. Get down to business, and take care of responsibilities. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;

CANCER (June 21-July 22): You have everything in place but your confidence.

Stop making excuses, and start believing in yourself and your ability to surpass any competition you encounter. Once you take the first step toward your goal, everything else will fall into place. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;

Mahal na Juan, Ang puso ko ay nagsususumamo.

Ang inyong tungkulin ay gawin ninyo.

Yung iba sa inyong mga kapatid ay nagdudurusa na sa sakit.

Walang humahawak ng kanyang kamay, kaunting pag asa lang sa puso ang taglay.

Yakap yakap ko syang humihikbi, ramdam ko ang pagdadalamhati. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Inang Bayan, ang mensahe koâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;y nais kong ipahatid, Naway makipag tulungan ang aking mga kapatid.â&#x20AC;? ang mga huling salita na ibinanggit nya habang hinahabol ang kanyang hininga.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Keep a low profile, and go about your business. If you complain or fall short on a promise, you will be subject to scrutiny. Take care of your responsibilities before you point the finger at someone for his or her shortcomings. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;

Nagdaramdam, Inang Bayan Magbanua said she has no formal art training, and only started painting four years ago as a hobby. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Inject Art,â&#x20AC;? as Magbanua calls her practice, was an idea formed when she was giving medications to patients. She thought of filling up syringes with paint to do her art. She has since established a distinct and expansive portfolio.

Prior to the Inang Bayan series, Magbanua has created syringe paintings of anything from lively parrots and koi fishes to a dramatic black-and-white portrait of Christ. Magbanua also has a YouTube channel, featuring videos of her take on the Holy Family, Mona Lisa and Vincent van Gogh. â&#x2013;

Bacolod native wins Don Papa Rum 2020 art competition

BY RIZAL RAOUL REYES THE Don Papa Rum canisters

By Eugenia Last

GEOVANNI ABING, represented by Talimbaw Art Gallery, bagged the grand prize for this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Don Papa Rum competition, with his theme â&#x20AC;&#x153;Timeless Landscapeâ&#x20AC;?, a stunning 3x5 collage and acrylic on canvas with an archival coating that perfectly encapsulates the spirit of Sugarlandia. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My artwork portrays Sugarlandia as a magical place pulsating with life and floating over a sea of clouds, a place that governs mankind,â&#x20AC;? Abing told the media when asked about the inspiration for his artwork.

For winning the competition, Abing won a monthlong artistic sojourn in Barcelona. Airfare, accommodations and allowance will all be provided by the Bleeding Heart Rum Co. Moreover, his winning design will also be brought to life through special edition canisters which will be sold in limited quantities worldwide.

Returning to the Art Fair 2020 for its annual art competition, Don Papa Rum rallied local artists and their impressive line-up of artworks, with a culmination event held on February 22 at The Link Ayala Car Park in Makati City.

Now running for the fifth year with its theme â&#x20AC;&#x153;Flora and Fauna of Sugarlandia,â&#x20AC;? the competition continues to tap into

the creative genius of the local art scene as they showcase their interpretation of Don Papa Rumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brand story.

The island of Negros, colloquially known as Sugarlandia, finds richness not just in its sprawling sugarcane fields but also in the diversity of its foliage and wildlifeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the perfect

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Rely on friends, relatives and peers for help to get things done on time. An opportunity will present itself if you network, or you can make a change to the way you do things. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll face opposition at home and work. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make waves or neglect your responsibilities. The less that others have to complain about, the easier it will be for you to sail through your work with time to spare for enjoyment. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Take care of business, and move on to more pleasurable tasks. A creative endeavor will be enlightening. Collaborating with people who enjoy the same things you do will inspire you to spend more time doing the things you enjoy most. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;

formula for inspired works of art.

Erica Larkins, Don Papa Rumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brand manager for the Asia-Pacific, said the aim of the contest is to expose the local talent overseas. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We started the program in 2015. The goal of the program is to create a platform for local artists to be able to showcase their talent outside the Philippine. We do distribute the canisters and the product in international markets,â&#x20AC;?

Larkins said.

Right now, we are present in 27 markets in North America, South America, South Africa, Europe and Asia. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re very pleased with this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outcome, and the number of talented individuals who participated has been overwhelming. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winning piece serves as a testament that we have an abundance of untapped artistic talents that we can be proud of. And the Bleeding Heart Rum Co. is thrilled to be at the center of the emerging local art scene in the Philippines,â&#x20AC;? Larkins said.

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s art competition was made possible by Don Papaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, pulling in some of the most respected personalities in the art industry, such as Tina Colayco, Maja Co, Lisa Periquet and Arch. Manny MiĂąana.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Take a close look at your schedule before you offer your time or your services to others. You may like to help, but if you take on too much, you will jeopardize your health or your reputation. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Personal situations can be dealt with if you address your concerns openly. An adjustment you make at home or to your way of life will end up having more benefits than anticipated. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get angry; get busy improving your experience. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Be careful what you say or reveal about yourself or those close to you. Someone will use personal information against you if given a chance. Focus on selfimprovement, fitness, health and romantic encounters. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Choose the path less traveled. Try something youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never done, or venture out with people who have something to offer. Live, learn and be open to suggestions, as well as change. A financial gain looks promising. â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026;â&#x2DC;&#x2026; BIRTHDAY BABY: You are intuitive, compassionate and tenacious.

You are meticulous and helpful.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;natural lookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; BY EMILY CARROLL The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Unyielding 6 Skate park feature 10 Thick rug type 14 Bakery draw 15 Brickell or Falco 16 Ancient Roman garment 17 Seasonal marshmallow treats 18 Poisonous plants with bell-shaped flowers 20 Mmes., in Monterrey 22 Got started 23 Sherwood Forest fellow 26 Offer bait to 30 Cheers spin-off 31 Chew out 32 Bingo relative 33 Direct-to-consumer sales 36 Shade from sunlight?

37 Option on In-N-Out Burgerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s secret menu, or a hint to 18-, 23-, 51- and 56-Across 40 One may like a celebrityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tweet 42 Zany 43 Rombauer of cookbook fame

46 Wonder Woman, for example 48 More mean-spirited 50 Frozen chicken brand 51 Show for aspiring entrepreneurs 53 Specialized area 55 Cash register part 56 Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re crafted by mixologists 60 Aphrodite or Lakshmi 63 Fingerprint, perhaps 64 Barbershop sound 65 Actor Davis 66 Future sunflower 67 Hot 68 Playful swimmer DOWN 1 J. Coleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s genre 2 Fury 3 Snaps 4 Opposite of the verb â&#x20AC;&#x153;freeâ&#x20AC;?

5 Alternative to Aquafina 6 WNBA official 7 Spicy marinade 8 Jumbled 9 Simon of Hot Fuzz 10 Pothead

11 12 13 19 21 23 24 25 27 28 29 31 34 35 38 39 40 41 44 45 47 49 51

Carpool lane letters Word before â&#x20AC;&#x153;gapâ&#x20AC;? or â&#x20AC;&#x153;groupâ&#x20AC;?

What a Tesla doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use In recent days The Bonfire of the Vanities character McCoy D.C.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ___ Stadium Minerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s find Mountain nymph Person who sees value in things?

After-school org.

Target score for Simone Biles Small role â&#x20AC;&#x153;Waterfallsâ&#x20AC;? group Yogiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pose â&#x20AC;&#x153;Will do!â&#x20AC;?

Superlative for a runt Marbling in meat Comedian Schumer All Supreme Court justices before Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor Biblical boat Exhausted, slangily Big name in snowmobiles Take a ___ to (start liking)

52 54 56 57 58 59 61 62

Corkscrewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shape Musical Mama Keeps in the loop, email-wise Cheer at a Real Madrid match Signal on stage One may hide a camera No-win situation? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Get ___ Ya-Yaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Out!â&#x20AC;? (Rolling Stones album)

Solution to yesterdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Biden campaign says it has refunded donation from Louis C.K. WASHINGTON—Joe Biden’s presidential campaign said on Wednesday that it has refunded a $2,800 donation from Louis C.K., a comedian and writer whose career was derailed after five women accused him of sexual misconduct.

The comedian, whose real name is Louis Szekely, donated to Biden on March 4, according to Federal Election Commission records. The donation was made the day after the former vice president’s commanding win in more than a dozen Super Tuesday contests put him on the path to becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee to take on President Donald J. Trump.

A Biden campaign spokesman said the contribution has since been refunded, which will be reflected in his next report filed in May. The spokesman declined to comment further.

Szekely did not immediately respond to an email on Wednesday requesting comment, and a publicist who once represented him also did not immediately respond to a message.

The New York Times in 2017 published an investigation in which five women, four of whom spoke on the record, detailed misconduct by the comedian in the late 1990s and in the 2000s. Some of the women said he abruptly began masturbating in front of them. One said he requested to do so, but she refused his request. Another said she could tell he was masturbating while speaking on the phone with her.

Szekely later said that their stories were true and that he was “remorseful” of his actions, but the fallout was swift. FX Networks quickly dumped him from shows he was part of, Netflix scrapped plans for a stand-up special and the release of his feature film I Love You, Daddy was shelved. HBO also removed his work from its on-demand video streaming service.

Presidential campaigns typically vet who donates to their campaigns and often return contributions from figures who could pose a problem. AP

Whitney Houston biopic in the works LOS ANGELES—A feature film about Whitney Houston’s life is in the works from the screenwriter of Bohemian Rhapsody. The biopic is being shepherded by the Whitney Houston Estate, music producer Clive Davis and Primary Wave Music, the partners said on Wednesday.

I Wanna Dance with Somebody will follow Houston from obscurity to pop stardom and promises to be “frank about the price that super-stardom exacted,” according to the announcement.

“From all my personal and professional experience with Whitney from her late teenage years to her tragic premature death, I know the full Whitney Houston story has not yet been told,” Davis said in a statement. He said Anthony McCarten’s script will finally reveal the “whole Whitney whose vocal genius deeply affected the world while she fiercely battled the demons that were to be her undoing.”

Houston sold over 200 million records worldwide during her 25-year career and won six Grammys, 16 Billboard Music Awards and two Emmys before her death in 2012.

McCarten, who has gotten Oscar nominations for his scripts for The Theory of Everything, The Darkest Hour and The Two Popes, said in a statement that he’s grateful to be working closely with the people who knew Houston best.

The announcement also said that Stella Meghie is in “advanced talks” to direct. Meghie most recently directed The Photograph with Issa Rae and LaKeith Stanfield.

The project does not have a studio or distribution yet. AP

B5

Lee Je-hoon (from left), Choi Woo-shik, Park Jung-min and Ahn Jae-hong in the hit Netflix film Time to Hunt.

‘Time to Hunt’ stars, director talk up the hit Netflix film

I

By Gianna Maniego

N this day and age of Korean dramas that are either romantic comedies or funny slice-of-life situations, finding really meaty roles that would challenge your prowess is not easy to find.

In the case of Time to Hunt, a Korean movie now streaming in Netfix, the roles were pretty unusual that the actors immediately rose to the challenge.

The premise was simple: a few down-on-their-luck friends decide to beat the odds that crashed the South Korean won and change them by stealing from a local gambling parlor. None of them were prepared for the harrowing consequences that follow.

Time to Hunt is a simple movie about a group of guys who decided on stealing the day’s take of a gambling den. It’s not even the biggest gambling den in the city, but it is run by big time gangsters. That alone should keep it off your radar.

But there’s no accounting for common sense.

Specially if it’s someone who just came from prison.

Jun-seok (Lee Je-hoon, who people remember from one of the most intriguing series of 2016, Signal) just came out of prison. Before he left incarceration, he had been talking about leaving the city, going to a remote beach and starting afresh there.

His plans, however, hit a snag when he learns from his friends that the money he amassed from his last heist has become practically worthless, thanks to an erring economy.

Because of that, he asks his friends, Ki-hoon (Park Yoon-sik) and Jang-ho (Ahn Jae-hong), as well as another friend who happens to be a server at a casino, Sang-soo (Park Jung-min), to help him to steal the day’s take in an underground gambling den.

Along the way, Jun-seok insists that Jang-ho leave with the digital records of the casino, to make sure there is no evidence of their presence in the casino.

The heist is a success and they leave with the money. The group makes plans for their after heist lives. But the digital records, which contain their faces as well as the other bigtime gamblers involved are also missing. That’s what causes the gangsters to run after the group. The gangsters hire Han (Park Hae-soo, from Prison Playbook) to hunt down the group and put them down.

Han starts with the firearms. He kills the firearms dealer, who is related to a police big wig.

Je-hoon says he was really stoked about appearing in the movie. “Even before I read the script, I was excited at the thought of working with director Yoon Sung-hyun and Park Jung-min [Sang-soo].” He worked with both nine years ago on Bleak Night.

“Midway through the script, I wondered, ‘Is this a heist movie about young people?’ But past that point, I was fascinated by how a film can feature such diverse elements of different genres and became very curious to find out how this story would be visually brought to the screen. All I could think about was how quickly we could gather everyone to start filming this great story with the cast members and great staff.”

Ahn Jae-hong, who plays the asthmatic Jang-ho, says he was a huge fan of the director beforehand.

“I’ve been a huge fan of director Yoon Sung-hyun since Bleak Night and I loved the short films he made before that, so, I’ve always wanted to work with director Yoon, and the fact that I could do that plus work with all the actors that I admire in and of itself

was a very exciting start for me...I read the script for the first time at home, and I got so excited that I screamed.” According to Jae-hong, his character, Jangho, was a young man who had been neglected from society. For him, Joon-seok and Ki-hoon were the world. So when his character, who had no idea what to do with a gun at first, is later driven into a corner and fires a gun the moment he sees Joon-seok in danger it seems like he is breaking out of his shell.

“That was how I saw and portrayed him, and by having him later take the lead in the reckless plan, I wanted to express the emotional character that Jang-ho conveyed,” says Jae-hong, who insists the Jun-seok character was closer to him than Ki-hoon’s, despite everything. “This was my first time working with Hae-soo, Woo-shik and Jae-hong,” says Je-hoon.

“I don’t think I would’ve been able to portray Jun-seok the way I did without them. Physically, it was a very challenging project, but I couldn’t have asked for better emotional and mental support than what these friends provided me.”

The Signal actor also revealed his character was written by the director for him, which is why he was so in tune with Jun-seok.

“I could slip into the character as if he was me, although being a leader among a group of friends and taking the lead is something I grew out of over the years—I think I was more like that in elementary and middle school. That’s why being surrounded by the cast members often reminded me of my school days.

Rather than studying and analyzing the character, I focused on how much back-and-forth interaction I could have with the actors, expressing the emotions of someone being hunted, and how much I can push myself to express the fear of someone being completely cornered. That’s why I pushed myself to the extreme at every take, which was fine-tuned and shaped in a lot of ways by director Yoon’s notes.”

According to director Yoon, the filming of the movie was hard, depending on what day or the atmosphere was, but this never hindered the cast, which got along really well with each other.

Park Hae-soo, who plays bad guy Han in the movie, claims he and his character are nothing alike. “My character is the stark opposite of myself, so I didn’t try to find any commonality between us. I simply thought about what kind of person Han was and never assumed that I should align myself with the character in any way. That’s what director Yoon wanted as well, and he helped me to go through some extreme experiences playing this role, so I forgot about myself in a way when we were filming. There’s no similarity between us. There’s nothing I like about the character of Han, but I do think he has some intriguing aspects to him—he is quite mysterious.”

Korean-Canadian actor Choi Woo-shik, who has already come out in such hits like Train to Busan and recent Oscar-winning movie Parasite, says he and his character Ki-hoon may be similar, but he related more to the Sang-soo (the server in the casino) character.

“I’m always a little passive and can come across as being pathetic. On the other hand, Ki-hoon doesn’t have any problem expressing himself to others. Kihoon is a rebel. It’s not that I can’t do it, but I only do it with people that I’m comfortable with, which is why I think I’m more similar to Sang-soo.”

The movie, which is a totally different film from usual Korean dramas, was recently shown at the

Berlin International Film Festival. It threw the cast and crew for a loop.

According to Hae-soo, “I thought to myself, ‘Wow. This cannot be true,’ because I was so moved to see it all happening before my eyes. It was deeply moving to be there, and as the movie started, I could feel how the audience was genuinely supporting us and eager to watch the film, so I kept thinking, ‘I don’t ever want to forget this moment.’ I felt so grateful.”

Park Jeong-min, who played Sang-soo, says he couldn’t believe that he was invited to a film festival that he had “dreamed of attending as a film student.

I felt immensely grateful. I had a great time in Berlin enjoying every moment, and when I came back to Korea, I realized, ‘That must’ve been one of the most important moments of my life!”

Director Yoon, for one thing, is very appreciative about the whole thing.

“The film is so clearly genre-driven—it has elements of a caper movie, suspense, and a Western film. Time to Hunt has a lot of crime/thriller elements of a caper movie at the beginning, transitions into suspense-driven middle part, and becomes a complete Western film toward the very end. Considering the amalgamation of these genres, I didn’t even dream of going to the Berlin Film Festival. My hope was to have the film screened at fantasy film festivals, but being invited to such a huge segment of the Berlin festival— for a section that is the biggest following the official competition to boot—was surreal.”

“At first I thought, ‘I never imagined something liked this for myself,’ and couldn’t believe that it was happening. But when the [gala] screening ended, no one out of the 1,600 audience left the theater, and they gave us a huge round of applause. Even when the closing credits were over, they didn’t stop applauding each and every one of the cast member. I was very, very emotional, and all of us teared up on the stage.” n

Stay home and binge on free Filipino movies on TFC Online

STAY safe by staying at home and enjoy a variety of free Filipino movies until April 30 on TFC Online.

Just register on TFC Online for free and choose from the 200 films of different genres like the romantic films Barcelona starring Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, the Enrique Gil-Liza Soberano starrer My Ex and Whys, and A Second Chance with Bea Alonzo and John Lloyd Cruz. There are also family oriented films, like Seven Sundays and Familia Blondina.

Get to watch also again some of Vice Ganda and Coco Martin’s films, like their comedy movies The Super Parental Guardians and Beauty and the Bestie. There are also several horror films, like Feng Shui, The Ghost Bride and Buy Now, Die Later, as well as films in the action genre, like We Will Not Die Tonight and AWOL. More information is available at tinyurl.com/y8wdkkww.

B6 Tuesday, April 28, 2020

AFP and PNP frontliners get equipped by Metrobank Globe extends support to military frontliners manning command centers, checkpoints in Luzon

Globe Security team turn-over 6 units of Home Prepaid Wifi to BGen. Sonny Mariano (Photo at the Center) Commander Army Signal Regiment at ASR Headquarters Fort Bonifacio Taguig City.

T

O keep security forces manning key military installations in Greater Metro Manila connected and updated with the AFP Chain of Command, Globe has extended its support by providing much needed gadgets, equipment and technology to the front liners in uniform.

Globe has provided military front liners in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic with Cellular Signal Boosters, mobile phones with load credits and Globe at Home Prepaid WiiFi devices in their offices, communication trucks and vans and checkpoint stations deployed all over Luzon.

Globe hopes the support will make the exchange of guidance, information and communications between the different uniformed services--Philippine Army, Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force-of the Armed Forces of the Philippines faster, reliable and accessible during the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) as a part of the government’s strategic campaign to stop the pandemic from further spreading in other parts of the country.

“Aside from sending day-to-day instructions to its different joint commands like the Northern Luzon Command

Globe Security Team turnover of Celfis and Femtocell Signal Boosters to Phil Navy received

by Capt Salvador Sambalilo to be used for our military frontliners.

(NOLCOM) and Southern Luzon Command (SOLCOM), our military front liners also play a major role in implementing the ECQ by manning checkpoints in major thoroughfares in Metro Mania and all over Luzon. They are also expected to maintain high alert status against possible criminal syndicates or terrorist groups that might exploit the current situation. We need to help ensure that their communication lines remain open and working at all times,” Melvin Santos, Globe Corporate & Legal Services Group’s Division Head for Access and Regulation, said.

For his part, Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo, Flag Officer in Command of the Philippine Navy, acknowledged the support given by the company.

“The Philippine Navy is grateful for the assistance received from Globe Telecommunication, Inc. in enhancing the Philippine Navy’s communication requirements as it helps the government mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This donation will ensure an improved communication connectivity among fleet-marine teams deployed to the different quarantine control points,” Bacordo added.

Among the units that has received

support from Globe include: The Philippine Navy Headquarters in Roxas Boulevard, Manila The Presidential Security Group in Malacanang Complex Army Signal Regiment in Ft. Bonifacio, Taguig City Philippine Navy Bonifacio Naval Station, Ft. Bonifacio AFP Communications Van stationed in SLEX, Cavitex Philippine Navy Frontline Support deployed at the Marikina Sports Complex Quarantine Facility Army station deployed at Marcos Highway in Marikina Globe is also looking at the possibility of extending the assistance to boost the signal of more AFP units deployed in other parts of Luzon.

Globe has been providing fast, reliable and accessible internet access to various hospitals all over Metro-Manila and Luzon, including several government designated quarantine areas, supermarkets, NAIA terminals and in other key areas to keep people from being connected with their loved ones and be updated of all government efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic.

M

ETROBANK, through its corporate social responsibility arm Metrobank Foundation, Inc. (MBFI), donated PhP 2.2 million pesos’ worth of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Comprised of gloves and N95 masks, it will benefit more than 12,000 deployed AFP and PNP personnel tasked to ensure peace and order during the period of enhanced community quarantine.

MBFI is also set to donate PPEs to PNP General Hospital and Victoriano Luna General Hospital. The AFP and PNP institutions

are valued institutional partners of MBFI in the implementation of its CSR programs and activities. Annually, MBFI recognizes exemplary teachers, soldiers and police officers for rendering service beyond their call of duties through the Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos.

“Metrobank recognizes the heroic efforts of the PNP and the AFP in these trying times,” said Metrobank President Fabian Dee. The donation is part of the P200 million pledge by Metrobank and GT Capital Holdings Group in support of the efforts to combat COVID-19.

Amway Philippines donates over PHP 3 million in cash, products, and PPEs to help in the fight against COVID-19

FamilyMart launches rolling stores, to offer delivery service

FamilyMart’s rolling stores, Fam on Wheels, open at select locations, providing alternative convenience to customers wanting to get their basic supplies without the long lines during transactions. FamilyMart’s online ordering and delivery service will also start operations next week for customers who prefer convenience at their doorsteps.

A

MID the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent quarantine policies imposed by the national government, convenience store chain FamilyMart launched two rolling stores and is also set to offer a delivery service to make its products more accessible.

Bringing basic essentials and a selection of FamilyMart goodies to different neighborhoods in Metro Manila, Fam on Wheels will be visiting communities to provide a variety of items from 8 AM to 5 PM. Offering contactless transaction and payment options to ensure the safety of everyone, these stores will be stationed in Phoenix gas stations where customers can visit and get their supplies. Aside from the truck, a tent will be set up for the displays and a menu board will indicate the products available. Available products can also be viewed on FamilyMart’s Facebook page.

Additionally, Metro Manila residents will soon be able to order FamilyMart food through Facebook Messenger

starting April 26, 2020. Initially, six FamilyMart stores will start offering delivery service through GrabFood and Lalamove Food. From 8 AM to 4 PM, orders for bento meals, chicken liempo, crispy pata, and FamilyMart ramen can be accommodated.

“At FamilyMart, we always prioritize the convenience of our customers. While many of our stores remain open to be of service, we want to bring FamilyMart closer to where we are needed. Our Fam on Wheels and delivery service are our ways to provide alternative convenience during this enhanced community quarantine, while also ensuring the safety of our customers and personnel. FamilyMart will continue to innovate and adapt its services depending on the needs of the community,” FamilyMart President and Phoenix Petroleum Chief Operating Officer Henry Albert Fadullon said.

Fam on Wheels started serving clients on April 22, 2020 at Phoenix Dahlia in Quezon City and Phoenix West Service Road in Muntinlupa City.

Updates, available items, and schedules of these rolling stores will be posted on FamilyMart’s official Facebook page.

Meanwhile, clients can start availing of FamilyMart’s online ordering and delivery service next week.

Previously, FamilyMart items have also been made available for those who are staying at home through a partnership with GrabPh for GrabMart, an online grocery delivery service.

For more updates and information about FamilyMart’s Fam on Wheels and online delivery service, visit www. facebook.com/familymartph.

FamilyMart is a Japanese convenience store brand managed by Phoenix Petroleum in the Philippines.

Last year, the brand opened the biggest stand-alone FamilyMart store in the world at Udenna Tower, BGC, Taguig City. It has since been redefining convenience retailing by offering more in-store meals and expanding its dining capacity. The brand has also recently started offering Coffee Creations, its own line of brewed coffee.

Amway Philippines Country Manager Leni Olmedo (left) with Ria Rivera, RN (right) of Philippine Red Cross, Chapter Administrator-Rizal Chapter

D

IRECT selling industry leader Amway Philippines has pledged over PHP 3 million in cash, products and personal protective equipment (PPEs), including its marketing budget, to benefit various groups in the frontlines during the fight against COVID-19.

“Amway Philippines is taking collective steps in providing relief to those working bravely amidst the pandemic,” said Amway Philippines Country Manager Leni Olmedo.

“We believe that everyone can play an integral part in caring for our health workers and countrymen.”

Amway partnered with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) to provide over PHP 2 million worth of its nutrition and personal care products and PHP 400,000 in cash to aid the organization’s ongoing initiatives against the coronavirus disease. The company will also be providing PPEs to San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, one of the government hospitals over-burdened by the pandemic.

Some of the company’s direct sellers called Amway Business Owners (ABOs) are also currently serving as frontliners in various medical facilities. Through their ABO’s, Amway has reached out regionally with donations of their eSpring Water Purifier units to health workers and hospitals

in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao.

Committed to be an integral part in the fight against COVID-19, the company has also reallocated their marketing budget for this period towards their relief efforts. On top of this, Amway launched a program to further raise funds. A portion of the sales from their line of health supplements, Nutrilite, will go to their COVID-19 relief fund wherein the final amount will be matched and doubled by Amway by May 15.

“The desire to do the common good in uncommon times defines us,” said Olmedo.

“However, it’s also important to take care of ourselves. We can only make positive contributions and live our purpose if we ourselves stay healthy and focus on the things that we can control.”

The direct selling company continues to operate through a strict work-from-home policy, while employees came together and pitched in with cash donations as assistance to some of the staff heavily affected by the lockdown.

“Amway Philippines will continue to embody our values of Freedom, Family, Hope and Reward: principles that have guided us and taught us the importance of family and solidarity in all that we do; of transforming our lives and others’ through giving,” Olmedo concluded.

Sports BusinessMirror

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

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

B7

AUSTRIA NAMED TOP COACH ANEW W

EMPTY STADIUM? SUPPORTERS put “cardboard comrades” of soccer club Borussia Mönchengladbach in Mönchengladbach, Germany. AP

WAIT A MINUTE

By Steve Douglas & James Ellingworth

I

The Associated Press

T will soon be the new norm, a cold and often unnerving sight that soccer and many other sports will have to get accustomed to over the coming months.

Games taking place in empty stadiums.

But will these stadiums actually be empty?

Far from it.

“It’s not about 22 players walking onto a pitch and [kicking] a ball about,” Fifa Vice President Victor Montagliani told The Associated Press, referring to what he called the “phasedin approach” that soccer—and society as a whole—will need to take to get back to normal following the coronavirus outbreak.

Some teams in Europe have experience in staging games without flag-waving and loudly cheering fans—be it while serving a punishment for crowd trouble or, as was the case in February and March, because of a rapidly spreading virus that turned into a pandemic.

Now, almost every club will be planning for such a scenario as soccer leagues start to ramp up preparations for a resumption which will be staggered depending on how well countries have managed to contain the virus.

Of Europe’s major leagues, Germany appears to be closest to lifting its suspension, with some state governors even hoping to resume games on May 9. The Bundesliga is planning to have a maximum of 213 people in the stadium— everyone from players to TV cameramen.

In Britain, which is in the peak of the virus

outbreak, a return in late June is the possible— albeit optimistic—call from clubs in the Premier League. One leading club official spoke of the need for at least 300 people at matches.

In Sweden, where soccer authorities are planning for a June 14 restart, a venue official at champion Djurgarden told the AP that it would be possible to limit numbers to 50 if fans aren’t allowed in stadiums. In Switzerland, leaked plans attained by daily newspaper Blick this week stated there should be no more than 200 essential staff at games.

Much depends on the directives from governments and the demands of domestic and international broadcasters, whose money clubs increasingly rely on.

INSIDE STADIUMS

PLAYERS and match officials obviously are on the list. Each squad for a match has 18 or 20 players in major European leagues, and some back-ups will be required in case of late withdrawals. There is a four-person team of match officials (referee, two assistant referees and a fourth official), along with a replacement official.

Then there’s the coaching staff—managers, assistants, fitness coaches, physios and a club doctor.

Other essential people include a match delegate, an anti-doping official, official photographers and staff from broadcasters (like sound engineers, technicians, camera crew and producers), and medical workers. In England, for example, there needs to be four paramedics and an ambulance driver at every game.

In a list provided by the Spanish league while it planned for games without fans in March,

other groups getting stadium access included both teams’ board of directors, community managers, integrity officials and what it termed “technical staff with functions strictly related to holding the games,” which could be a group of up to a maximum of 100 people. That could include caterers, ground staff, ball boys and girls, maintenance, ground-safety officers, people who run advertising hoardings and stewards.

The number of journalists attending would vary from country to country, but that could easily be slimmed down. However, what’s unlikely to be altered is the TV set-up for top European competitions that generally uses between 10 and 15 cameras, plus technicians and interviewers for the host broadcaster.

When Borussia Mönchengladbach played Cologne last month, under different societal circumstances, there were 600 people in the stadium, Gladbach said. That included 250 media representatives, 200 security staff, 80 players and team staff members, 50 other club employees and smaller numbers of ball boys and paramedics.

Tomas af Geijerstam, head of matches and venues at Djurgarden, said if a game was restricted to 50 attendees, as mass gatherings in Sweden currently are, the number of coaches needed could be shrunk, fewer ball boys could be used and press could be limited. He said two locker rooms could be used by each team.

“We can manage a match with 50 people,” af Geijerstam said. “We have to if we want to play.”

OUTSIDE THE STADIUM

GAMES can still attract a crowd even when

spectators are not in the stands.

Thousands of fans gathered outside the empty Parc des Princes to celebrate a Paris Saint-Germain win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on March 11, tightly packed together and waving flares. Players went to celebrate with them.

So, any game played in an empty stadium still will need security guards or police posted around the venue to stop people from gathering.

Information from Spain included the need for “public and private security agents,” firefighters and first-response personnel.

Some public officials have expressed concern about people crowding together for TV viewing parties. Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp made similar comments before the shutdown.

BEFORE AND AFTER MATCHES

THERE’S also the question of what players do away from the stadium.

Germany is proposing coronavirus tests for players before each game, which risks a public backlash. The league says it would use “less than 0.5 percent” of the national testing capacity, but that still means thousands of tests to finish the season.

The deputy head of Germany’s public health body has criticized the plan, saying that tests should be reserved for people who have symptoms or are suspected to be part of an outbreak.

The National Rugby League in Australia has come up with its own idea. Its “Project Apollo” think tank proposed making players live on a remote island camp. No soccer league has yet tried to copy that plan.

INNING championships has become a habit for Leo Austria.

And so does bagging Coach of the Year awards.

For the fourth time in the last five years, the San Miguel Beer mentor will receive the coveted Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan trophy in the annual Philippine Basketball Association Press Corps Awards.

Austria, 62, edged Barangay Ginebra coaching great Tim Cone for the honor named after the late great “Maestro” of Philippine basketball.

The crowning glory for Austria will have to wait further however, as the ceremony, originally scheduled last March 16 at the Novotel Manila in Araneta Center and to be aired over Cignal TV, was postponed indefinitely following the coronavirus pandemic.

Austria, the former Rookie of the Year (1985), clinched the award annually given by the men and women who regularly cover the PBA beat, after guiding San Miguel to back-to-back championships in the 2019 season, including a record fifth straight crown in the Philippine Cup. Following their title triumph in the mid-season Commissioner’s Cup, the Beermen were a title shy of a rare grand slam, but faltered in the homestretch of the Governors Cup, which Cone and the Gin Kings won.

But there was no denying Austria—who now owns a total of eight championships since becoming San Miguel Beer’s coach in 2014—of winning the honor again.

The soft-spoken coach from Sariaya, Quezon, made history three years ago when he became the first to win the award for three consecutive seasons to earn the right to permanently keep the Perpetual Trophy which was first given in 1993.

He lost to Magnolia’s Chito Victolero for the 2018 award. The Coach of the Year title is the fourth for Austria, moving him to solo No. 2 in the all-time winning list after previously being tied with Cone and Ryan Gregorio.

Chot Reyes, the former Gilas Pilipinas coach, is the only fivetime winner of the award.

Other multiple winners were Yeng Guiao, Jong Uichico and Perry Ronquillo with two each.

SAN Miguel Beer’s Leo Austria bags his fourth Coach of the Year award.

Armstrong: Rodman always brings energy

D

ENNIS RODMAN was one of the rivals Michael Jordan had to conquer on his way to his first run of three straight National Basketball Association (NBA) titles. And Rodman then became one of the teammates who helped Jordan pull off his second three-peat.

BJ Armstrong saw both sides.

Armstrong was there in the beginning, when Jordan and the Chicago Bulls needed time to figure out how to eventually beat Rodman and the Detroit Pistons for Eastern Conference supremacy and a trip to the NBA Finals in 1991 that started the title run. And Armstrong was on the other side in 1997-98, playing for a Charlotte team that lost to Jordan, Rodman and the Bulls in the East semifinals that season.

For as good as the likes of Jordan and Scottie Pippen were, Armstrong—the longtime NBA guard and three-time NBA champion with the Bulls who is now a California-based sports agent—cautions against underestimating Rodman’s role on those Chicago title teams in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

“The thing I always admired about Dennis was he was a very, very intelligent player, and after all of the hair colors and semantics and all those things, underneath that was a really, really good basketball player, very fundamentally sound,” Armstrong told The Associated Press.

“And I would argue that it would have been very difficult for the Bulls to win without him, because it’s hard to win when you don’t have bigs who can play with the physicality that’s necessary to win at a championship level. And Dennis could meet the challenge.”

Rodman’s colorful tenure with the Bulls was

Rodman

one of the primary story lines covered Sunday night when the third and fourth episodes of the ESPN and Netflix documentary The Last Dance—a 10-part series built around Jordan’s final season with the Bulls in 1997-1998—aired for the first time. Among the Rodman stories covered Sunday night: His “vacation” to Las Vegas, one that went longer than the 48 hours that the Bulls were willing to allow him for a break.

“Dennis always brought energy and always brought effort,” Armstrong said. “And the way he did it, it was contagious.”

The Pistons famously had “The Jordan Rules” when they were atop the NBA and holding off the up-and-coming Bulls during Detroit’s title runs in 1989 and 1990.

Armstrong said in 1998, Charlotte had its version of special rules as well—not for Jordan, but for Rodman.

“I mean, the guy just understood how to rebound,” Armstrong said. “We had an assistant coach on our staff at the time, Paul Silas. And Paul used to always tell us that what Dennis is doing, you can’t prepare for. He was that good.

You couldn’t box him out. You had to face-guard him. The reason he was a great rebounder was he understood offensive schemes and he understood the timing of the shots.”

The Rodman rules didn’t work: He averaged 17.6 rebounds, by far the best in the series, and Chicago ousted Charlotte in five games.

“All the other things that went on around him, that was just Dennis,” Armstrong said.

“But make no doubt about it—when he was between the lines, he was an excellent, excellent basketball player.” AP

Italian government sets May 18 return for soccer training

R

OME—Nearly seven weeks after the last game was played, Italy’s top soccer division finally has a target date to resume practice.

Premier Giuseppe Conte announced Sunday that professional sports teams can resume training on May 18, while individual sports can resume practice on May 4.

The move means that the Serie A league could resume playing games in June—albeit without any fans in the stadiums.

Conte said that starting on Monday, Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora “will work intensely with...the soccer system, the professional sports in general, to find a road map that we have already partly defined in terms of the resumption of individual training on May 4 and teams on May 18.

“Then we’ll evaluate if the conditions will allow the leagues that were suspended to be completed,” Conte added.

Serie A has been suspended since March 9, when the government ordered a nationwide

lockdown due to the coronavirus emergency.

Italy had the bad luck of being the first Western nation to be slammed by the outbreak, and its official total of 26,600 fatalities lags behind only the US in the global death toll “Being a big soccer fan like so many Italians, at the start it seemed strange to me that the season could be interrupted and suspended,” Conte said.

“But obviously we found ourselves involved in this health, social and economic emergency. And I think everyone, even the most ardent fans, understood that there wasn’t any alternative.”

Twelve rounds remain in Serie A, plus four other games that were postponed from the 25th round. Also, the Italian Cup was suspended after the first leg of the semifinals.

Eight-time defending champion Juventus leads Lazio by one point in the Serie A standings.

At least 15 Serie A players have tested positive for Covid-19. Most of the infected players have recovered, although Atalanta’s reserve goalkeeper Marco Sportiello was still

positive as of Wednesday, according to the ANSA news agency.

Sports medicine officials have clashed over a proposed health protocol for soccer players— specifically over the issue where if a player or team official tests positive for the virus, how long—if at all—their teammates should be quarantined.

“There needs to be a gradual return and it requires a rigid protocol,” Spadafora said. “The FIGC [the Italian soccer federation] presented a protocol and the technical-scientific commission said it wasn’t sufficient yet. It needs more analysis and only after that analysis can we say if the season will resume or not.”

Before Conte’s nationally televised speech and news conference, health ministry figures indicated that Italy had seen its lowest dayto-day increase in deaths—260—since midMarch, during the first week of lockdown.

Conte said that all sports would resume with the maximum precautions. AP

BOXING IN NICARAGUA People watch a fight organized by Nicaraguan two-time world box champion Rosendo “El Búfalo” Álvarez in Managua

over the weekend. With nearly all the world’s sports shut down by the coronavirus pandemic, Nicaragua hosted the event with a full card of matches before a live audience, organized by álvarez, who like the Central American nation’s government, waved aside the threat of Covid-19. AP

Sports BusinessMirror

B8 Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Linsanity finally gets another run on MSG Network

N

By Steve Douglas The Associated Press

EW YORK—Linsanity is finally getting another run on MSG Network.

In search of content with no games because of the coronavirus, the network is turning to Jeremy Lin’s memorable National Basketball Association (NBA) breakthrough, which was once ratings gold.

The network said it will dedicate a week of programming to the 2012 stretch when Lin got his chance with the New York Knicks and took the league by storm, looking back at a feel-good story during a difficult time in the city.

Undrafted out of Harvard, the NBA’s first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent outplayed Kobe Bryant in one game, dominated the defending champion Dallas Mavericks in another and created a buzz that the late Commissioner David Stern said was unlike any he had seen for one player in such a short time.

It was one of the biggest highlights of the last two decades for the Knicks, but it has been largely ignored by them. Lin left as a free agent after that season and has received little acknowledgment from the team or the station since.

His decision to sign an offer sheet that July with the Houston Rockets that was structured in a way that was difficult for the Knicks to match may have angered MSG Chairman James Dolan. So while the Lin-led victory over Bryant’s Lakers has been replayed recently on NBA TV, his achievements haven’t been aired again on MSG Network.

This will be the first time his dazzling stretch can be seen again in its entirety.

It begins Monday with the Knicks’ victory over the Nets on February 4, when the then little-known point guard came off the bench and scored 25 points. That is followed by a victory two nights later over the Utah Jazz, when Lin made his first start and scored 28 points.

He went on to become the first player with at least 20 points and seven assists in each of his first five starts since the Elias Sports Bureau began charting starts in 1970.

On Wednesday, MSG will televise the February 14 victory over Toronto, when Lin beat the buzzer with a tiebreaking 3-pointer. The nationally televised victory over Bryant and the Lakers will air Thursday, and Lin’s 26-point performance against the Mavericks follows on Friday.

Lin hurt his knee that March and required season-ending surgery. He signed the deal with the Rockets after the season that the Knicks refused to match.

Lin now plays professionally in China. AP IN search of content with no games because of the coronavirus, the network is turning to Jeremy Lin’s memorable National Basketball Association breakthrough. AP

W

ITH tears in her eyes, Nadine Apetz asked herself “why not one more day?”

The German boxer had waited four years, and a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics was tantalizingly close when the qualifying tournament in London was suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak.

“One day longer and I might have had it,” said Apetz, a 34-year-old welterweight who is studying for a doctorate in neuroscience. “I was crying because I was so disappointed. You are so close to your biggest goal, and it’s all stopped.”

The pandemic has forced many Olympic hopefuls to wait it out, but the delay is particularly painful for the European boxers who were on the verge of qualification last month.

Several were only one victory away.

The competition at the Copper Box was suspended after three days. A short time later, the Tokyo Games were postponed for one year and are now set to open on July 23, 2021.

“They probably shouldn’t have started it in the first place,” Apetz said, citing public health risks.

Fighters including Apetz, Emilie Sonvico of France and Charley Davison of Britain won their opening bouts. If they win their next one, they’ll qualify.

Likewise, lightweights Luke McCormack

F

ALLON SHERROCK is casting her mind back four months, to a time when the world was a very different place, when sporting venues were full, and when she was briefly the talk of Britain.

She had become the first woman to beat a man at darts’ flagship world championship—in fact, she would do so twice—and her phone was flashing nonstop with messages of congratulations and support from around the world.

Among them was an Instagram post from Sarah Jessica Parker, the Sex and the City actress with 6.2 million followers on social media, who wrote: “Making history and our hearts stop as we watched in astonishment and awe. A household of fans and admirers send their congratulations.”

That was “absolutely mental,” Sherrock recalled, but the biggest

“wow” moment was when she was messaged by tennis great Billie Jean King.

“I mean, she is one of the biggest people there is for women in sport.

To get

someone like that tweeting me, that was incredible,” Sherrock said.

Indeed, she was planning to meet up with tennis’s female pioneer in New York in June. That was before the world was brought to a screeching halt by the coronavirus pandemic.

“I hope she

of Britain and Nikolai Terteryan of Denmark can qualify in their next bout, while their welterweight twin brothers Pat McCormack and Sebastian Terteryan can guarantee spots with two more wins each.

The London competition lasted long enough for 16 boxers to qualify. Among them was British featherweight Peter McGrail.

“Tokyo 2020 see ya there,” he wrote on Instagram, followed by an expletive about the virus.

Sixty-one European spots remain available.

“It was so painful for me,” the 31-year-old Sonvico, who, like Apetz, was scheduled to fight again on Day 4, said of leaving London emptyhanded. “It’s difficult because we have to go back to training. It’s a lot of work, a lot of sacrifice.”

Like other athletes, they also have practical challenges in lockdown. Davison, a flyweight who set aside earlier Olympic aspirations to start a family, trains at home while co-parenting three young children.

Apetz is trying to finish her PhD in neuroscience, examining brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease.

Sonvico is an investigator with the gendarmerie, which conducts police duties but under French military jurisdiction. She’s been on leave while with the national team,

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

QUEEN OF DARTS SPEAKS HER MIND remembers me next year,” Sherrock said, laughing.

The way her career is trending, that shouldn’t be an issue.

Easily recognizable with her now-trademark pink top, her long and blonde hair and for regularly sipping water between throws to regulate an ongoing kidney problem, Sherrock is standing out in the darts world. It is helping to shatter the widely held image of darts being a beer-fueled pub game typically played by out-of-shape men.

Online haters lurk—a woman has no place competing with men, the misogynists claim—but Sherrock is now firmly ensconced in the men’s game, even a leading name on promotional literature, following her exploits at London’s Alexandra Palace late last year.

Invitations have poured in for the “Queen of the Palace” for men’s tournaments and exhibitions around the world. From Germany and the Netherlands to Australia, New Zealand and New York, where she would have competed in the high-profile World Series of Darts event at Madison Square Garden— and met King. Sherrock partnered Luca Toni, the former Italy soccer striker, in an event in Bonn, Germany, in January.

Money, she says, is no longer a problem.

It’s a far cry from her life this time last year, when she was “sitting at home every day” and worrying about how she was going to pay the rent.

“I was going to ladies competitions but that was at weekends, two or three a month,” Sherrock, who worked as a mobile hairdresser as a teenager, told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “That was about it. I’d be literally at home, looking after my boy and doing the odd practice.

That was my life.

“Now—well, before the virus—I was exhibition, exhibition, exhibition. Darts, darts, darts. It was nonstop.”

The outbreak of the virus, then, has given Sherrock

her old life back to some extent.

Currently, she is juggling practice in the living room of her house in Milton Keynes, north of London, with looking after her six-year-old son, Rory, who is being encouraged by his mother to play the game to help his counting for when he goes to school.

The hiatus has also allowed her to take stock of a wild last few months when she became something of a trailblazer.

“I’m proud of myself that I’m inspiring more people to pick up darts, but I don’t think it’s hit me yet,” Sherrock said of her new-found status, including being recognized in local shops.

“I proved women can be as good as men. And there’s loads of other women who, given the opportunity, could beat them. In five years’ time, our consistency is going to be 10 times better than what it is now.

Who’s to say a woman can’t maybe win [the world championship]?”

The raucous, party backdrop for darts tournaments on TV could make for a daunting atmosphere for anyone not used to such an environment.

Sherrock, who only threw a dart for the first time at the age of 17, reveled in it at the world championships when she beat Ted Evetts and 11th-seeded Mensur Suljovid, who were occasionally being jeered as they took their throws.

And she believes darts’ leadership is thinking of ways to make the atmosphere such that women “feel more welcome and can properly join in.”

There are no longer walk-on girls to accompany players to the oche for matches. There

‘WHY NOT ONE MORE DAY?’

NADINE APETZ waits four years and a ticket to Tokyo 2020 is tantalizingly close when the qualifying tournament in London is suspended because of the pandemic. AP

are now female scoring officials and announcers. Since 2018, two places in the 96-person field for the world championship are guaranteed for female players (previously they had to go through qualification).

“I am hoping we get more opportunities and that there are more spaces available,” Sherrock said, “because people are looking at the women’s game and thinking, ‘You know what, they can compete.’”

Certainly, Sherrock has shown she can compete. And she believes she is improving the more she plays with the men, through her consistency, her stamina and her three-dart average that is now constantly in the 90s.

It’s safe to say the world hasn’t seen or heard the last of Fallon Sherrock.

“My next step is to get a ‘like’ off Katy Perry,” she said, “that would be me sorted.”

THE world hasn’t seen or heard the last of Fallon Sherrock. AP

but that was to end soon.

“If it goes well, I’ll need one more year,” said Sonvico, who uses a rowing machine and heavy bag at home in the south of France.

“It’s a problem. The president of the French [boxing] federation is asking the gendarmerie to see what we can do.”

Both Apetz and Sonvico set goals for Tokyo only after their division—welterweight—and one other was added after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The Tokyo Games will have five women’s classes; the men’s divisions were cut from 10 to eight.

For Sonvico, representing her country is like carrying on a family tradition. Her father spent his career in the military.

“Since I was a little girl, I’ve lived with people who wear the French uniform,” she said. “For me, it’s very important.”

Sonvico, who finished ninth at the 2019 world championships, may turn professional after the Olympic cycle.

“People say I fight like Mike Tyson,” she said.

Any athlete who had already qualified for Tokyo has been assured they will keep their spots for 2021. The International Olympic Committee’s task force overseeing boxing said the European qualifier, when rescheduled, will “pick up from where it was suspended” and

that other boxers won’t be eligible.

Qualifying tournaments in Africa and Asia/ Oceania preceded the London competition, which began on March 14.

The Turkish boxing federation said at least two of its boxers and a coach tested positive for the virus after the London event. However, the IOC task force said it was “not possible to know the source of infection.”

Apetz, a bronze medalist at the 2018 world championships and a six-time national champion, is scheduled to fight 6-foot-1 Karolina Koszewska, a 38-year-old Polish southpaw who won gold at the 2019 European Games.

Apetz, who describes herself as a “clever boxer,” had planned to stop fighting in 2016, but her national team asked her to continue when welterweight was added to the program for Tokyo.

Until recently, Apetz was limited to yoga sessions in her cramped Cologne apartment and some jogging. Relaxed rules now allow her to work out at her gym, but numbers are restricted, so there are no partner drills or sparring sessions.

Eased restrictions may allow German athletes to return to serious training sooner than others, but Apetz hopes that’s not the case.

“It’s not what the Olympic spirit is about,” she said. “You want to earn it.” AP