BusinessMirror April 30, 2020

DTI crafting rescue for exporters

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TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR VOWS TO MAKE IT MORE FUN AGAIN IN THE PHL—AND SAFE, TOO

By Elijah Felice Rosales

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HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will carry out a series of measures to rescue exporters reeling from the economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic.

In an e-mail to the BusinessMirror, the DTI’s Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) reported that it is crafting a comprehensive package of support for exporters that will be submitted to Congress in due time. The proposed assistance, which was based on consultations with industry players, seeks to provide relief at a time supply chains are disrupted by the health crisis.

However, the EMB did not disclose further details about the supposed package, or when it plans to present the proposal to lawmakers.

The agency is also calling on ex-

porters to utilize the country’s preferential trade treatment from certain economic partners, such as the European Union. It pressed exporters to register in the EU’s REX System before the deadline on June 30 to avail themselves of preferential tariffs granted by the economic bloc under the Generalised System of Preferences Plus.

The EU REX is a system of self-certification that replaces the certificate of origin (CO) Form A with a statement of origin; thereby, simplifying the process of exporting to Europe by removing the requirement of getting CO Form A from the Customs for every shipping.

The EMB also assured exporters there will be no letup in efforts to secure for the Philippines free-trade agreements (FTA) with economic partners. The government, it said, continues “to participate actively in the negotiations for the Regional Compre-

hensive Economic Partnership and is looking at a much improved bilateral FTA with South Korea.”

For the meantime that a lockdown is in place in many areas of the Philippines, the EMB said it is hosting webinars and information sessions intended to promote products and services, give market updates, generate reference materials and introduce the new normal.

Moreover, the agency tasked to promote the country’s export goods is doing online business matching and facilitation of trade leads for the time being that trade fairs here and abroad are canceled. It is assisting manufacturers in terms of movement of inputs and personnel under the quarantine.

The export sector is one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, as the flow of supplies was disrupted by the lockdowns implemented in many nations.

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BANKS PROTECTING CREDIT PORTFOLIO VS INCREASE IN NPLs

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

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WORKERS convert container vans into quarantine facilities for Covid-19 patients at the historic Quirino Grandstand at Rizal Park in Manila. ROY DOMINGO

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

MID lawmakers’ proposals to pass a stimulus package in Congress to prime the economy, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III instead pushed for the passage of the pending Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (Citira), saying that this will provide a needed boost to industries and businesses gouged by the pandemic-induced lockdowns.

This, as Dominguez expressed doubt that the proposed stimulus bill would be passed immediately, considering the length of time it takes to have all the hearings from the House to the Senate.

The country’s finance chief also said they are going to push Citira bill “very hard,” considering that the reduction in corporate income taxes that the bill provides would be a “good stimulus to the economy.”

Speaking at “The New Normal” webinar hosted by the Harvard Business School Alumni Association of the Philippines on Wednesday, Dominguez said, “You want a stimulus? There is a bill. It’s been sitting in the Senate for the last six months. Why don’t we get that passed and you have immediately a tax stimulus in place?”

He added: “They are trying to

pass legislation for the stimulus bill and that legislation is not going to pass very easily. You have all the hearings that you have to do in the House, pass it in the House and you have to go to the Senate. Right now, we have the Citira bill, passed in the House and sitting in the Senate. This is a stimulus bill because it reduces taxes whether or not you are hit by the Covid virus,” he said.

“There is already a bill so I am going to encourage them to please pass the Citira bill particularly because of the tax incentive there that will in fact act as a stimulus to the economy,” the DOF chief stressed.

Dominguez also shut down criticisms on the Citira bill, saying a lot of people misunderstood it, referring to oft-repeated fears from investors, especially in ex-

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.6910

port processing zones, that the rationalization of incentives would drive them out of business or out of the country.

Dominguez explained they are not removing incentives but making these “targeted” specifically for industries.

He said the government’s current incentive system accounted for why the Philippines was left behind by other countries.

“Why do we keep on doing the same thing? Why don’t we make a targeted program tailor-fit to the companies who we want to come here?” he said.

“That is what we want to do in Citira but of course, all they really want to talk about is how some companies are going to suffer.

Companies who have been here for 40 years, receiving tax incentives which, frankly, I don’t think they deserve. I mean if you’re sucking on the tit after 40 years, maybe you should grow up,” he added.

The Citira seeks to gradually lower CIT to 20 percent by 2029, from 30 percent at present. On the other hand, it will overhaul the current menu of tax perks enjoyed by economic zone firms, including the 5-percent tax on gross income paid in lieu of all local and national taxes. These incentives are what keeps the Philippines competitive against Southeast Asian competitors in the face of high logistics and energy cost here, critics of the bill have said.

No bailout

IN the same webinar, Dominguez

also said the government has so far no plans to bail out financially troubled companies even amid the economic fallout from the pandemic.

Dominguez said he is “not comfortable that the government has any talent to decide what kind of investments are made in what industry especially using taxpayers’ money.”

He added: “I am also asked about government financial assistance to companies who are having problems. Right now, actually we do not have any plan to bail out anybody, to invest taxpayers’ money in companies that have gotten into trouble,” he said.

“What we will do, however, is we will ask the Monetary Board and the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) to support banks who support their clients so the credit decision will still remain with the private sector in the banks,” he added.

Economist-lawmaker Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda has proposed a stimulus bill which consists of programs with a gross fiscal cost of P1.65 trillion from 2020 to 2023.

He also wants the government to mandate the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines to carry out stimulus loans and repurpose the National Development Co. (NDC) as its bailout agency.

Salceda is proposing that NDC bail out firms that would go bankrupt due to the coronavirus pandemic.

HILE the fate of the Philippine economy amid the pandemic remains up in the air, the banking sector has taken a measure to protect itself from market volatility by hiking provisions for potential credit loss.

Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) President Cezar Consing, in a webinar on Thursday, said that local banks have been increasing their buffer for an expected hike in nonperforming loans (NPLs) due to the economic slowdown forced by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

“All you have to look at to see that credit risks are actually rising is … what banks have taken as loan provisions,” said Consing, who is also the president of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI). “They are all taking huge provisions for the potential of NPLs.”

Both local and international banks were gearing up for the expected increase in default, he added.

BPI, for example, recently reported that its loan loss provision was increased by more than twofold to P1.8 billion, prompting its first-quarter earnings to decline.

Security Bank set its loan loss buffer at P5.7 billion in the first three months, which already surpassed 2019 full-year provision of P4.2 billion.

Union Bank of the Philippines accrued P1.3 billion for potential loan losses in January-March period, up by over sevenfold from P174.6 million the previous year.

BDO Unibank Inc. allocated P2.3 billion for potential loan loss in the same period despite a stable gross NPL ratio of 1.3 percent and NPL coverage of 151.4 percent.

BDO Leasing and Finance Inc., meanwhile, earmarked a P29million provision for credit and impairment losses.

“The banks are trying to figure out what this scenario [pandemic] is going to look like. And to be honest, we don’t know yet. We are only getting an inkling of that after the ECQ [enhanced community quarantine] is lifted [and] businesses go back to work,” he said.

Despite this, the BAP chief said the banking industry can withstand the adverse financial impact of the pandemic given its robust capitalization.

In its latest report, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) noted that capitalization of local banks rose by 14 percent to P2.07 trillion in 2018 from P1.76 trillion the previous year. Moody’s Investor Service, meanwhile, said that capitalization will remain stable given that rated local Continued on A2

DRIVE-THROUGH for a burger? No, for a Covid-19 test, a novel approach introduced on Wednesday

by Taguig’s city government. In photo, a motorist gets tested for Covid-19 at a drive-through site set up at the Bonifacio Global City financial district in Taguig City. NONIE REYES

n JAPAN 0.4744 n UK 62.9886 n HK 6.5407 n CHINA 7.1593 n SINGAPORE 35.7861 n AUSTRALIA 32.8934 n EU 54.8578 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.4888

Source: BSP (April 29, 2020)

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A2 Thursday, April 30, 2020

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LBP, DBP tapped to kick-start firms in post-quarantine period

By Samuel P. Medenilla & Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

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HE government is now eyeing to jumpstart the economy by injecting over P30 billion of loan aid for companies which are still reeling from the business disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crisis.

On Wednesday, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced it has requested the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to secure P30 billion for its proposed lending activities for Covid-affected firms.

At the same time, Congress leaders pushed to authorize the same two state-owned banks to administer a plan to offer proposed negative interest loans.

House Ways and Means Chairman and House Stimulus Cluster Co-Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda said the negative-interest loan proposal is an incentive to retain employees and sustain the size of a firm’s operation.

The proposal is a P350-billion program, which will be conditional on retaining employees.

Meanwhile, in an online press briefing on Wednesday, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said, “We are making extra programs in getting more funds for entrepreneurs themselves, not just workers, so they could be given loans, which they could use for their working capital requirement.”

This proposed program is on top of the P1.2-billion low-interest loans which the DTI earlier announced to help micro, small and

medium enterprises (MSMEs) that were affected by the six-week ECQ in Luzon. Lopez said they will also start extending them their P1.2billion loan program.

“This loan [program] will be triggered upon lifting [of the ECQ in some areas] because one of the [requirements] is for the inspection of their businesses. So this means they should be operating. We cannot start this until the ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) is lifted,” Lopez said.

The ECQ was extended by another two weeks from April 14 to 30.

However, the government, noting the need to sustain the gains in keeping low the infection rate, extended further to May 15 the ECQ in Metro Manila and nine other areas deemed at high risk, while imposing a more relaxed regime, a general community quarantine (GCQ), elsewhere.

Soft opening

THE country’s economy is expected to undergo a soft opening this week as the government starts relaxing its anti-Covid-19 measures in areas under GCQ, where more businesses will be allowed to operate.

The DTI said it anticipated the GCQ implementation will have minimal impact on the country’s economy since it will not include

HEALTH workers inspect a classroom converted into a monitoring area for residents who have undergone Covid-19 testing at Parañaque National High School. Two tents with a bed and fan each are allotted in each classroom. NONIE REYES

areas which it considers business powerhouses.

“The bulk of the [business] operations are in Metro Manila, Regions 3 and 4, [cities of] Cebu and Davao. All of these are under ECQ, so we will have to wait for 15 days or more before the rest of our economy could start moving,” Lopez said.

Based on the new Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) resolution, National Capital Region (NCR); Central Luzon except the province of Aurora; Calabarzon; the provinces of Pangasinan, Benguet, Baguio, Iloilo, Cebu; as well as the cities of Cebu and Davao will remain under ECQ up to May 15, 2020.

Under ECQ, all onsite business operations except those dealing with essential goods and services, remain suspended.

Negative-interest loans

EXPLAINING the negative-interest loans, Salceda said, “Essentially, it will be an off-balance-sheet loan

Congress will authorize LBP and DBP to administer. That means that they will not affect the overall financial position of the GFIs [government financial institutions].”

He added, “The negative interest benefit serves essentially as the government’s co-pay for whatever investment the firm will make.”

Salceda proposes that the maximum loanable amount be equivalent to 50 percent of the company’s direct labor costs. The loan shall be payable for three to five years, with the corresponding interest rates as follows: -9 percent for three-year loans; -7 percent for four-year loans, and -3 percent for five-year loans.

Deductions on the negative-interest benefit will be imposed when the company terminates a certain percentage of employees.

“In return for what are essentially subsidized loans, the government will set labor retention as the primary conditionality. By being labor-conditional, the negative-interest benefit essentially becomes a

wage subsidy,” Salceda said.

Under the proposal, companies that terminate less than 1 percent of employees during the loan term will see a 3-percentage point (pp) deduction in the negative-interest benefit; a 6-pp deduction will be made if 1-5 percent of employees are terminated; 9-pp deduction for 5-10 percent of employees terminated; and 12-pp deduction for terminating more than 10 percent during the loan term.

“We believe that a negativeinterest rate loan is a fiscally viable economic stimulus program primarily because while it fulfills a liquidity-expanding function, most of its upfront costs are recoverable, and the only real net fiscal cost to government will be loan administration costs and the negative-interest benefit,” Salceda added.

Negative-interest loans are loans where the lending institution effectively pays the borrower to access credit, by seeking a payment that is lower than the amount lent.

“Negative-interest loans can also be used flexibly: to refinance existing obligations [complementing the proposed credit refinancing and mediation service], to support expansion plans already planned for and deemed viable, but which were affected by changes in revenue performance due to Covid-19, maintain the size of existing operations until revenue performance normalizes, or support projects that will help the firm be more adaptive toward Covid-19 [such as e-commerce ventures, digital compatibility and logistics enhancements],” Salceda added.

“And the fiscal cost is just the amount of negative-interest benefit you provide borrowers, and the administration costs. Given the labor conditionalities, actually, in some cases, it will be a net positive for the government. So, it’s a bang-for-thebuck proposition,” Salceda said.

The negative-interest loans plan is part of the proposed Economic Stimulus Act.

A DIFFERENT kind of test is administered at the Parañaque National High School as members of the Philippine National Police are subjected to Covid-19 rapid tests to protect the frontliners from the coronavirus disease. NONIE REYES

Business tops survey on Covid response Banks…

Continued from A1

By Cai U. Ordinario

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USINESSES topped four sectors in a survey that measured efforts to respond to the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, while the government and three others got “passing marks” in an online survey by the country’s former national statistician.

In his Statistically Speaking 2.0 blog, former National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Secretary General Romulo A. Virola said businesses and the government, even the community and citizens, received positive net satisfaction ratings.

But among the four sectors, businesses received the highest positive net rating at 75.3 percent followed by the community at 61.94 percent. The government and citizens trailed behind at 56.1 percent and 25.31 percent, respectively.

“In other words, everybody got a net positive rating with an average net rating of 54.66 percent across the four institutional sectors,” Virola said.

Around 77.33 percent of respondents gave businesses a Very Effective and Effective rating followed by the community with 70.85 percent; the government, 70.73 percent; and the citizens, 44.9 percent.

At least 68.4 percent of respondents rated businesses effective and 8.9 percent of respondents considered the sector very effective. Only 2 percent rated it ineffective and very ineffective, zero.

Most of the country’s top business firms have in the past six weeks been seen actively donating badly needed equipment and supplies to overburdened hospitals; lending their accommodation and other facilities and mobility resources; providing food to frontliners and to underserved communities.

They also helped government build quarantine facilities, or retrofit or transform existing assets to fit the purpose.

Other conglomerates tweaked their manufacturing processes in order to produce badly needed supplies

like alcohol and disinfectants; or personal protective equipment (PPE).

They also advanced salaries and benefits of staff despite operations being at bare minimum, meaning, plunging incomes.

Government

THE government, meanwhile, was rated effective by 52.8 percent of respondents and 17.9 percent very effective. However, 11.8 percent rated government as ineffective and 2.8 percent very ineffective.

Virola’s data showed 57.5 percent of respondents rated their community as effective and 13.4 percent rated it very effective. Only 8.9 percent of respondents said their communities were ineffective and zero respondents rated them very ineffective.

In terms of the citizens, around 39.2 percent of respondents rated them effective and 5.7 percent deemed them very effective. Around 17.6 percent rated them ineffective and 2 percent said they were very ineffective.

“Overall, I would say that busi-

ness, the community and the government got a passing grade. In our fight against Covid-19, we are eternally grateful of course to our frontliner heroes—the healthcare workers, the police and the military, security personnel, the volunteers, and others,” Virola said.

“Let us also congratulate the generous and compassionate members of our business community, the civic organizations, the church organizations and the city/municipal/barangay leaders in our community, and the national and provincial leadership as well as the dedicated staff of key agencies in government like the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) and DOH (Department of Health),” he added.

Data also showed government, business, the community and the individual citizens received higher net positive ratings from respondents who are older as well as those who belong to the lower-income groups.

Virola said the lowest-income group gave a high net positive rating of 75 percent to government, indicat-

ing satisfaction with the support being given under the various programs of government.

However, respondents with higher educational attainments gave consistently lower net positive ratings to businesses, government, communities and citizens.

Meanwhile, in terms of gender, men gave slightly higher net positive ratings than women, especially when it came to the performance of the government and business.

Virola said, however, that women gave higher net positive ratings than men to the community and to individual citizens.

Further, respondents based in the Visayas gave the highest ratings to business, the community and the individual citizens; while those from Mindanao gave the lowest rating.

For government, respondents from the Visayas still gave the highest rating, but Mindanao gave the second highest.

However, Virola said there were only 7 respondents from Mindanao and 18 respondents from the Visayas.

banks have an average common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 13.7 percent as of end-2019.

BSP moves

CONSING, meanwhile, acknowledged that the BSP’s monetary policy moves have been freeing up liquidity in the economy. “All the liquidity bazooka introduced by the BSP is working its way to the banking system and to the borrowing clients,” he said.

The Central Bank recently slashed rates by 50 basis points (bp) ahead of the policy meeting on May 21, bringing overnight repurchase rate to 2.75 percent.

The BSP also trimmed the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) on reservable liabilities of universal and commercial banks by 200 bp to 12 percent, which is seen to release around P180 billion worth of liquidity into the banking system.

The Monetary Board said the RRR could be cut by another 200 bp before the year ends.

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Solons seek to modify ECQ, GCQ ‘ban’ on senior citizens

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AWMAKERS on Wednesday appealed to the national government to reconsider banning everyone over 60 years old from going outside their homes during the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and general community quarantine (GCQ).

House Committee on Labor and Employment Chairman Enrico Pineda and House Committee on Senior Citizen’s Affairs Chairman Francisco Datol Jr. issued the joint statement after the ECQ guidelines, as well as GCQ guidelines released by the government disallow senior citizens from going out of residence.

“Many of our senior citizens are still strong and gainfully employed, or are active in business. We don’t need to completely disallow them from leaving their homes just because of their age,” said Pineda.

“Seniorcitizensalsoneedtogooutside,[or],tomove around, as long as they are practicing social distancing.

Especially those who live alone, we should not isolate themintheirhomes,assuchmaybedetrimentaltotheir health. They should be allowed to do their errands and work if they are still able,” added Datol.

Pineda also noted no less than the President,

most members of the Supreme Court and Cabinet officials, as well as chairpersons of most companies, belong to this category.

“Key executives in corporations are seniors. Majority of Cabinet members are over 60, even President Duterte is a senior citizen. More than 100 congressmen are over 60 years old. I’m not saying that everyone should be allowed out, because many seniors do have health problems— but there should be exemptions, maybe allow those below 70 years old without any high-risk health conditions,” Pineda said.

Pineda said mandatory quarantine of senior citizens even beyond the lockdown period may be deemed inhumane at worst or ill-thought of at the least. Protecting them from Covid-19 does not justify complete disregard of their civil liberties, as well as their right for gainful employment and practice of their profession.

For his part, Kabayan Rep. Ron Salo also urged the national government to respectfully reconsider this provision to ensure that their rights are not unduly curtailed, but still ensuring the protection of their health and safety. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

DA eyes to ship pork from Visayas, and Mindanao for Luzon consumers

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

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HE Department of Agriculture (DA) revealed a plan on Wednesday to transport surplus pork from Visayas and Mindanao to Luzon to help hog raisers cope with supply disruptions and stabilize prices in Metro Manila.

Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar, in a news statement, said they are eyeing an initial ready volume of 1,700 metric tons (MT) of pork from Davao and General Santos City to be transported to Visayas and Luzon.

“This is a welcome development as relayed by DA Undersecretary Evelyn

Senate ready for ‘hybrid’ session on May 4

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HE Senate will aim for a “hybrid session” that combines physical presence with teleconferencing, as rules and circumstances would allow when it resumes regular session on Monday (May 4) amid the still-raging coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said.

On the first session day, however, the Senate President clarified they will need to have a physical quorum of “at least 12 senators to decide on teleconferencing” because the Senate

rules require such in order to revise their internal guidelines for conducting their business.

Once those physically present on Monday succeed in revising their rules, “We will be allowing a vote via teleconferencing in a hybrid session.”

Sotto said, adding, “Those not there may participate online.”

In an interview with CNN Philippines on Tuesday evening, Sotto said some senators were expected to attend on Monday with a skeletal staff.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Thursday, April 30, 2020 A3

However, some others sent feelers they may not attend physically, as an apparent precaution against the risks of infection from Covid-19.

At least three senators—Majority LeaderJuanMiguelZubiri,JuanEdgardo Angara and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel— tested positive for Covid-19 just after the Senate adjourned in March, a development attributed to their exposure to many people, including resource persons who attended the last Senate hearings before the long recess. Butch Fernandez

Laviña, whom we tasked to coordinate with hog raisers and logistics providers in Mindanao to bring surplus pork to where it is most needed in Metro Manila and other areas in Luzon and Visayas,” Dar said.

Citing Laviña, the DA said Davaobased hog raisers have committed to ship 500 MT of surplus pork monthly, while those in General Santos City and Cagayan de Oro would transport 3,000 MT every month.

Despite this, Dar pointed out that they have yet to overcome certain challenges to transport “frozen pork” from Mindanao to Visayas and Luzon due to prevailing quarantine situation and African swine

fever (ASF) concerns.

“While strongly advocating for the unhampered movement of pork due to the enhanced community quarantine [ECQ] in Luzon, the DA assures the public that pork from Mindanao is free from the African swine fever and of good quality,” Dar said.

“We continue to strictly enforce the biosecurity and quarantine measures to effectively manage, contain and control ASF, and prevent it from spreading to Visayas and Mindanao that are free from the dreaded swine disease,” he added.

The DA projects a 31-day pork deficit this year due to the adverse

impact of ASF in the hog sector in Luzon, which contains the bulk of the country’s pig production.

“Right now our pork sufficiency is 93 percent, as we forecast a deficit by the end of the year at 31 days. In lieu of pork, we enjoin consumers to shift to other protein sources like chicken, as we have an abundant supply of up to 233 days or till August 2021,” Dar said.

“To help our poultry raisers, we encourage local government units [LGUs] in Luzon to consider buying chicken and eggs from them and include these in food subsidy packs for distribution to their constituents,” Dar added.

Covid-19 claims lives of two CIW inmates

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HE Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) bared on Tuesday that two inmates at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) had died due to complications brought about by the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19).

The first reported Covid-19 case at the CIW, a 72-year-old inmate who was confined at the Sta. Ana Hospital in Manila last April 13, 2020, after a bout with pneumonia, expired on Tuesday.

“The CIW administration had

reached out to her next of kin and had coordinated with the hospital for the proper disposition of the patient’s remains,” the BuCor said.

The BuCor has conducted contact tracing, which resulted in the isolation of more than 100 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and CIW staff.

The BuCor also said it has received an official report from East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC) that another CIW inmate, who was admitted last April 13 and expired last April 21 due

to sepsis, systemic lupus and pneumonia, was positive of Covid-19.

It noted that the Covid-19 test was conducted on the inmate a day after she was brought to EAMC but the result was only released on Wednesday, or two weeks after.

The inmate, according to the BuCor had been in and out of the EAMC since February 2020 because of her lupus, kidney disease and other ailments but was last admitted at the hospital on April 13, 2020. Joel R. San Juan

TheBroa

Business

A4 Thursday, April 30, 2020 | www.businessmirror.com.ph

Travel and tourism se

more fun again in th

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz Recto S. Mercene Reporters

Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

S

Contributing Editor

UN, sand and sea are what the Philippines boasts of. Sadly, a virus smaller than a grain of sand has brought such picturesque image into still life, literally.

According to Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat the absence of frolickers to these tourism draws would likely stay for a long time.

During Tuesday’s special meeting of the House Committee on Tourism, Puyat said the effects of travel restrictions and quarantine measures of the government to address the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic would continue to be felt by the sector, as travel most likely will “not revert to normal” any time soon.

“International travel might not happen this year,” she told lawmakers on Tuesday. “At this point in time, traveling is but a dream.”

The virus and the measures adapted to address it have also pressed the pain points of the airline industry, an essential partner of the travel and tourism business.

“All this will ravage the balance sheets of many Asian carriers, who cannot reduce their fixed costs such as labor, aircraft and office space quickly enough,” David Yu, Co-Founder of Inception Aviation Holdings Ltd. told the BusinessMirror. “Fuel is the biggest cost for airlines; [but] while the fuel price has decreased in response to the situation, this is not much help if aircrafts are not flying at all.”

The numbers provided by Puyat also says it all.

Milestone dims

PU YAT told l aw m a kers t h at revenues from foreign arrivals sank by 40.62 percent in the first quarter of the year.

She added that revenues from foreign arrivals for January to March are estimated to reach P79.8 billion, nearly half of the P134.3 billion recorded in the first quarter last year.

Puyat estimates foreign arrivals in the first quarter to hit 1.3 million, less than half of the 2.2 million recorded in January to March 2019.

The first-quarter forecast dims the milestone the Philippines reached in 2019 when tourism saw a record-high international tourist arrival of 8.3 million.

Puyat said micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprises in the travel and tourism industry are among the hardest hit by “The magnifying effect of ECQ [enhanced community quarantine] is also felt by the communities that are highly-dependent on tourism such as Cebu, Bohol and Boracay,” she added.

Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) President Jose C. Clemente III predicts “virtually no business for the remainder of the year as projections when the Covid-19 situation will improve still cannot be determined.”

A study by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) indicated the tourism

sector would post a loss in gross value-added between P77.5 billion and P156 billion. This is equivalent to 0.40 percent to 0.8 percent of the gross domestic product, and will likely reduce the number of people employed in the sector to 56,600 from 90,400.

Off-target

MUCH needs to be done to get back the record-breaking inbound arrivals the Philippines has recorded in the past.

Under the National Tourism Development Plan for 2016 to 2022, government had targeted foreign tourist arrivals to reach 9.2 million this year, from 8.26 million in 2019, while inbound tourists receipts were targeted to hit P661 billion this year, from the P482.15 billion earned in 2019.

Clemente said their main concern now is “weathering the storm” for the next several months as tourism is not expected to bounce back immediately.

“We are probably looking at a window of about 18 months to 24 months for this to get back to normalcy; maybe 12 months to 16 months with the development of a vaccine,” he said. “Business continuity is our prime concern now.”

Puyat said the P43 billion to be allocated for assistance and promotion of the tourism sector under the proposed Economic Stimulus Act is a big help to the industry.

Resuming operations

HOUSE Tourism Committee Chairperson Marisol A. “Sol” Aragones said new standards and protocols will be implemented as part of the “new normal” in the country’s tourist industry after restrictions are lifted, hopefully, after May 15.

House Tour ism Committee Chair person Marisol A. “Sol ” Aragones said the Philippine hotel industry should come up with new standards and protocols that would allow them to resume operations while preventing the spread of highly-contagious diseases including Covid-19.

“We have to learn the painful lessons of this pandemic and recognize that the old practices and previous standards applied in our hotel industry will no longer be sufficient to prevent outbreaks like Covid-19,” Aragones said. “Our priority now should be to come up with ways to make our hotels as outbreak-proof as possible.”

The lawmaker said the DOT hotel industry representatives together with the Department of Health are now determining how to best prevent outbreaks like Covid-19.

“They must review everything a hotel guest must go through, from check-in to check-out, to identify and address potential vulnerabilities and opportunities for virus transmission,” Aragones said.

Enacting adjustments

ARAGONES said part of the “new normal” in the country’s tourism industry involves putting in place systems like contact-less check-ins.

She said this method could allow guests to simply get their keycards and proceed straight to their rooms.

Other methods that Aragones said hotels can use is doing away with breakfast buffets that require guests to hold the same serving spoons to get food. She said food could be served using bento, a Japanese takeaway lunch served in a box.

The lawmaker also recommended expanding hotel kitchens and instituting better spacing of tables in restaurants to allow for proper physical distancing.

“When guests becomes sick, there must be PPEs (personal protective equipment) on hand and hotel staff must be trained to immediately respond so they can properly isolate the guests until health authorities can be called in to assess the situation and determine the next course of action,” she added.

A ragones sa id t hat hotels should be able to tap into stimulus funds that have been set aside for the local tourism industry to help them implement the necessary precautions and adjust to this “new reality.”

She said that the DOT should design “model hotels” with the new protocols in place, as well as come up with information materials for both the hotel industry and tourists in order for everyone to be familiar with the standards of an “outbreak-proof ” establishment.

Facilities, fees

ACCORDING to Puyat, the Department on Tourism (DOT) has come up with a Tourism Response and Recovery Program to support the industry, particularly business owners and laborers relying on it for income.

She said the program provides for the tourism stakeholders, workers and business owners the necessary means in restoring the continuity of their economic needs and business.

Puyat added it also seeks to minimize the impact of the pandemic on all stakeholders while identifying and develop special protection measures ensuring that the disadvantaged group is not adversely affected.

Likewise, she said the DOT would be implementing measures to adapt to the conditions after easing restrictions ensue. These measures include the regular sanitation of hotels, resorts, transport services, restaurants, spas, meeting venues and the like.

The DOT, Puyat said, would also regularly inspect tourism establishments. The measure calls for involving relevant agencies, such as the health department, in relations to health and safety standards.

Another measure under the program is the development of an online system that can facilitate tour ism-rel ated transact ions digitally such as applications for accreditation, training and modules and retail.

Puyat said there would be capacity limits for tourism transportations, restaurants, tourist spots, such as parks and museums, and meeting conventions.

She said the DOT and the Tourism Promotions Board have waived

A woman crosses a usually busy street during a community quarantine to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus in Manila, Philippines on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. AP/Aaron Favila

the participation fees in international fairs and exhibitions between now and the end of 2021.

Undertakings, changes

UNDERSECRETARY for Tourism Development Planning Benito C. Bengzon Jr. told the BusinessMirror the TRRP is based on the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council planning guide.

The plan considers local and international best practices in tourism response and recovery, he explained.

“Consultations with stakeholders have been and will continue to be conducted as part of the needs assessment. The plan will encompass interventions in infrastructure, social services and livelihood, business continuity, strategic communications, and marketing, market and product development,” Bengzon added.

Bengzon said that aside from crafting the TRRP, the DOT was also ordered to create a program management committee.

According to Department Order 2020-02 signed by Puyat on March 30, several committees have been set up to identify projects, address bottlenecks and potential issues in certain aspects such as funding and coordination

with other government agencies, with the private sector, through the TCP and its various membergroups and associations, taking an active role.

New ways

THE TCP had forwarded in midApril its recommendations to kickstart the recovery of the industry.

In his letter to Romulo Puyat dated April 2, 2020, Clemente said, “the road ahead will be uncertain and difficult but we are confident that, in close partnership with the DOT, we will be able to gradually rise again and reassume our role as one of the prime drivers of the economy.”

Among the group’s recommendations for the short term, or until December 2020, is for the DOT to “allocate funds for the staging of familiarization trips from our major markets, continue funding marketing to the domestic market, [increase the] budget for media placements with international media networks, [and assist] the MICE [meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions] sector to eventually bid for events to be held in the Philippines.”

The TCP also asked the DOT to intervene to halt the Department of Transportation’s modernization program for the land tour-

ist transportation sector, as this entails a significant amount of capital which the sector does not have right now.

The stakeholders group, likewise, urged government to expedite “low or interest-free loans” from government banks for accredited enterprises, suspend employer/employee contributions to the Social Security System and Pag-Ibig and lower rent for offices and event spaces, among others.

For t he me d iu m - te r m , or from January 2021 to December 2022, the TCP said it was vital to maintain as many airline routes as possible; thus, low-interest loans for airlines should also be extended to help them cope with their losses this year.

Initiatives, restructuring

PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) President Gilbert F. Santa Maria listed five key points so local airlines can recover from the health crisis.

These are: government support; salary cuts of senior executives; internal cost-control measures; negotiating with aircraft lessors and other suppliers to defer payment while the fleet is grounded; and banks to unfreeze credit lines.

Santa Maria said PAL has advanced the 13th month pay of its employees on April 15 for the first

aderLook

sMirror

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace | Thursday, April 30, 2020

ector vows to make it

A5

he PHL—and safe, too begin with the reinstatement of trunk domestic routes and, depending on travel restrictions, possibly some international markets—keeping in mind that this may be a time when only essential travel will be done.”

Still, Lao said “ultimately, while there will be a recovery, “it may take some time before business goes back to normal.”

He said since the situation is quite a dynamic and rapidlychanging scenario, “We cannot provide exact guidance.”

“But our conservative outlook is that there will be a gradual recovery and we are hopeful that things normalize by the end of the year,” Lao said.

He, however, said, “it is likely for there to be a change in travel patterns in the short-term at least.”

Ensuring readiness

tranche, and the remaining half on June 15.

In a taste of what is to come to PAL, with a fleet of 98 aircraft, it plans to release 300 workers on furlough as part of a business restructuring initiative to “strengthen the company in the wake of losses sustained in 2019, aggravated by the ongoing travel restrictions and flight suspensions to areas affected by Covod-19.”

Santa Maria said the mass layoff is part of PAL’s business restructuring initiative “to increase revenues and reduce costs.”

“Other initiatives include revenue generation from an optimized route network and new ancillary products, more aggressive costmanagement efforts, and investment in digital technology,” PAL said in an earlier statement.

Number of factors

PAL said it continues to be focused on managing the risks related to the Covid-19 situation, in the interest of public health and safety.

“In fulfillment of its flag carrier duties, PAL has assisted in bringing home Filipinos from affected areas via recent repatriation flights from Xiamen and Tokyo,” the carrier said.

In a letter to passengers in the last week of March, when govern-

ment ordered all flights to and from the country stopped, Santa Maria said, “the challenges are immense.”

“We can only ask for the cooperation and support of all our valued customers, our partners in government and the transport and tourism industry, and our family of PAL personnel, as we devote our energies to recovery and a gradual restoration of our flights and network,” he said.

Seeing the rough road ahead, the letter said the company also has plans to resume flights, albeit in a limited ways.

“PAL’s plans are highly subject to change, depending on a number of crucial factors related to the Covid-19 outbreak such as the status of relevant travel bans and restrictions imposed by various governments and the public health and safety situation.”

Taking action

SANTA Maria said PAL will resume limited flights in May. However, he said there will still be no flights to Auckland, New York JFK, Dubai, Doha, Perth, Melbourne, Port Moresby and Sapporo.

Santa Maria said he has told employees that PAL is doing its best to survive.

“We are taking urgent action to ensure the continuity of our business while also responding to the needs of our customers and employees.”

Together with other airlines, such as Gokongwei-owned Cebu Pacific and Romero-led Air Asia, “PAL is also asking for government support similar to the assistance extended by other governments to their hard-hit airlines.”

Santa Maria said he is also encouraging employees to go on leave without pay while others with nonessential roles are placed on leave with the proper entitlements. He said they have been allowed to do so by the labor department to enable companies like PAL to deal with business interruption because of the lockdown.

Hoping for normalization

LOW-COST carrier Cebu Pacific, with a fleet of 72 aircrafts, aims to emerge from this crisis with minimal damage but cautions that the situation remains fluid.

Alexander G. Lao, Chief Strategy Officer of Cebu Pacific told the BusinessMirror last week they are still assessing their recovery plan.

“For now, we are planning for a gradual introduction of our network, but it depends on how things progress,” Lao said. “We will likely

LAO said they continue to monitor the situation and work with relevant authorities, “as well as continuously engage with our customers, our employees and stakeholders, in order to mitigate as much of the impact of this crisis as possible.”

Asked about the carrier’s paths or strategies being considered to arrest, if not ease, a predicted recession, Lao said “the shutdown of key hubs and other countries’ travel restrictions pose a significant challenge.”

“We anticipate the possibility of additional requirements or regulations imposed on the travel industry, once the situation stabilizes and some degree of normalcy returns.”

On the other hand, Lao said he believes that CEB will be capable of adjusting its operations to cater to routes where air transport services are needed. “Looking at our financial side, we consider ourselves as one of the more conservative airlines,” he added.

Lao said that at the end of 2019, Cebu Pacific hds a cash balance of about P18 billion and a low netdebt-to-equity ratio of 1.26x. “[These] clearly indicate the strength of our balance sheet, giving us financial liquidity and strength to face these challenging times with more resiliency.”

He said the airline’s focus at the moment “continues to be the welfare of our customers and our employees, cash conservation and ensuring our readiness for a restart of operations.”

Playing the part

MEANWHILE, AirAsia Group said it “has temporary hibernated most of its fleet across the network.”

AirAsia Group has about 200 aircraft, composed mostly of Airbus, in its fleet.

In response to BusinessMirror’s questions about recovery plans, Air Asia said it “always places the safety and wellbeing of its guests and employees as its top priority.”

The airline said: “With governments imposing travel and movement restrictions including home quarantine orders, AirAsia is also playing its part in helping curb the spread of the virus in order to keep flying safe for everyone.”

The airline added that critical operations and customer support continues “by implementing a work-from-home scheme with a very lean rotational workforce reporting on-site.”

Air Asia said it has distributed equipment such as laptops

and portable Wi-Fi devices to some of their employees to make their homes more conducive for working.

They have also been well-connected online through AirAsia’s work connectivity platform in ensuring productivity and mental wellness, the company said.

Health situation

THE carrier said measures have been put in place to manage and contain costs, including a review of its annual budget and voluntary unpaid leaves among management and senior employees.

“These will help ensure that the company can ride out this prolonged period of extremely low travel demand and at the same time minimize the impact on employees.”

AirAsia said they continue “to evaluate the situation closely and is prepared to reinstate its services as soon as the situation improves, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals.”

The Air Asia Group said the current situation has proven the importance of collaboration with the government.

“This is not only in terms of the alignment of procedures in terms of how to handle guests but also operations amid this pandemic,” it said. “More importantly, both the public and private sectors have come together to address the needs of the Filipinos at this time.”

Due to subdued demand for travel in some of its key markets, Air Asia said “necessary adjustments will be made to our network to reflect consumer demand.”

The company said it “will continue its close partnership with the DOT to promote domestic travel to stimulate the tourism industry once the [public] health situation improves.”

Industry request

FOLLOWING restrictions on all forms of travels, the Air Carriers Association of the Philippines (Acap) has requested government assistance for the airline industry.

The Acap—composed of PAL, Cebu Pacific, AirAsia Philippines, PAL Express and Cebgo—said the assistance could be in the form of relief on current working capital credit lines, emergency lines of credit for six months, longer term facility and waiver of all navigational and airport charges.

Addressed to Cabinet Secretaries, the letter dated March 25 said “Acap member airlines are not seeking a ‘handout’ at the expense of Filipino taxpayers.”

The group said, “What is being sought is ready access to working capital which is required to restart and sustain continued viable operations,” as it gave an assurance that the government’s financing intervention will be used for legitimate business stabilization purposes with the corresponding corporate governance in place.

Acap said the initial assistance—deferring navigational and airport charges—is no longer enough since all member airlines have shut down their passenger operations until April 14. This translates to 30,000 cancelled f lights and affecting almost five million passengers, the organization said.

“With no revenue flow seen for the next several weeks or even months, Acap member airlines will urgently need government intervention,” it said.

Line of credit

RELIEF on current working capital credit lines is among the urgent government intervention local airlines are seeking.

The group said that banks have already tightened credit and cut off access to undrawn lines even without defaults on payments.

“We request government to provide a credit guarantee scheme (not cash) that guarantees the banking sector’s loans and credit lines, most of which are secured with collaterals, to remove its aversion to the poor credit risk of the airline industry under the present operating environment,” Acap said.

To enable airlines and support industries to restart operations after the lifting of the ECQ, the local carriers are also asking the government to provide access to emergency lines of credit “to help fund six months of operations, or longer, if the crisis extends.”

This is in order for the industry to remain viable until overall demand recovers, it said.

The Acap said a long-term facility at attractive rates, or a guaranty facility, would enable airlines to restructure debt to a more manageable level and give them leverage to negotiate better terms from aircraft lessors, bankers and creditors.

The group is also calling for uniformity in the implementation of aviation transport regulations in the entire country upon the lifting of the ECQ. This, they said, would ensure a quick resumption of operations domestically.

“We are partners of the government in this fight against Covid-19 and the Acap member-airlines and all of their dedicated frontliners will be ready to serve the riding public upon resumption of operations. But as partners, our member airlines will need the government support requested for herein,” the group said.

The International Air Transport Association had also written to the heads of government of 18 states in Asia-Pacific, including the Philippines, to appeal for emergency support to airlines as they fight for survival due to the dramatic loss of air travel demand.

Still a long way

THE TCP said temporarily suspending the collection of terminal fees and airline surcharges could help boost domestic travel.

The group is also urging the Philippine government to continue to promote “holiday economics,” a strategy began by the administration of Gloria Arroyo.

The TCP stressed that government can also waive the corporate and individual income taxes of accredited tourism enterprises this year, as well as permits and licenses for 2020 and 2021.

It asked for tax credits and discounts “for companies that continue to stay in operation as the recovery continues.”

The group also urged the continued availability of soft loans from government banks “so that capita l e x pend itures are not postponed.”

Clemente stressed that while the industry is eager to welcome guests into the country again, “we still have a long way to go, and every bit of direly needed assistance from the government to help us get back on our feet, will be greatly appreciated.”

A6 Thursday, April 30, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Let’s help flatten the curve of misinformation

I

N a press conference on March 19, President Donald J. Trump promoted chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as promising treatments for Covid-19. Right after that press briefing, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a statement clarifying that although the drugs are under investigation for treating Covid-19, they should not be used for that purpose until they’ve been thoroughly tested in clinical trials. A few days later, a 60-year-old man from Arizona died and his wife was hospitalized after both of them self-medicated with chloroquine.

This incident illustrates the harmful effects of misinformation. Trump must have followed tweets about a potential “coronavirus cure” circulating among tech investors on Twitter, which reportedly gained traction after technology entrepreneur Elon Musk shared a Google doc purporting to be a scientific paper from an adviser to Stanford University’s School of Medicine. Fox News later featured the Google doc author, who claimed that hydroxychloroquine has a “100 percent cure rate” against Covid-19 on the basis of a small study in France.

In the wake of the Fox News broadcast, Stanford University clarified that the author was not an adviser and the school was not involved. Efforts by doctors and scientists to use their personal social-media accounts to counter this dangerous speculation paled against the tweet storm.

Social networks are under pressure to combat misinformation surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. Facebook, for example, deleted a video from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that claimed hydroxychloroquine was totally effective in treating the virus. Twitter also deleted a homemade treatment tweeted

by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The exact scale of online misinformation is difficult to measure. Facebook said it has removed hundreds of thousands of posts that could lead to physical harm, including misinformation about the effectiveness of social distancing and bogus “cures” like drinking bleach. It also disclosed that it has put more than 40 million warning labels on videos, posts and articles on its platforms, sent over 350 million people to health information sites, and stopped over 95 percent of people from clicking on fake coronavirus news.

A 2018 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said false news is 70 percent more likely to be retweeted than true stories. What makes the matter even worse, according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, is that the spread of stories containing misinformation can increase if celebrities share these online. Another irony of this current situation, added the CMU researchers, is that stories that call out disinformation can spread that inaccurate information as if it is accurate.

Amid calls for social-media companies to help flatten the curve of misinformation, Facebook is taking more aggressive action to eliminate fake news.

The tech giant will soon let users know if they interact with misinformation related to the pandemic on the site. Facebook users will receive notifications informing them if they have “liked,” reacted to or commented on dangerous or false claims about Covid-19 after moderators have removed the post. The alert will also direct users to a World Health Organization site debunking myths about the virus.

Given the gravity of the problem, the World Health Organization, which is leading the UN’s response to the pandemic, has added a “mythbusters” section to its online coronavirus advice pages. It refutes a staggering array of myths, including claims that drinking potent alcoholic drinks, exposure to high temperatures, or, conversely, cold weather, can kill the virus.

How to identify fake news? Look out for the source. Check on official web sites if stories are repeated there. Check whether any organization’s logo is being used because many fake news creators try to make their sites look like the official web site. Look for grammar mistakes or bad English. Anything written in capital letters or containing a lot of exclamation marks should raise your suspicions. Be wary if the message presses you to share—this is how viral messaging works. Fake news spreads faster and more easily today through social media and instant messaging platforms. We must be careful not to become carriers of the false information virus.

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James Jimenez

spox

S

outh Korea conducted elections while the pandemic was raging and managed to do it successfully. With more than two years to go before our own national and local elections, it would be incredibly defeatist to say that we can’t do the same and that the polls should be postponed. Defeatist and anti-democracy.

However, these fears of the country not being ready are not entirely imaginary. Even leaving aside the need to reengineer even the most fundamental processes related to elections, to ensure the safety of both the voting public and election workers, there is much work to be done in eliminating the gray areas that riddle our campaign rules, plugging up the loopholes that have made many of those rules illusory, and updating existing guidelines to account for new developments in technology.

Gray areas

One of the most exploited gray areas in the last elections was the use of commercial billboards featuring electoral candidates shilling for products and services. That strategy clearly worked because now, others

seem to want to do it too. This early, a drive around the metropolis will tell you that there are more incumbent government officials on these billboards now than ever before in what may just as well be early positioning or, at the very least, a long-term effort to desensitize the public.

Another gray area is the use of outdoor media, particularly those LED billboards that seem to defy easy categorization. On the one hand, those electronic light boards are able to play video advertisements that you used to see only on broadcast advertisements; and yet it seems they share many of the limitations of printed election propaganda. In the last election, the ad hoc solution— that the size restrictions applied to printed advertisements would have to apply to LED billboards as well

PHL 2020 forecast

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

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

—was immediately and obviously problematic. We have the time now to settle this rule once and for all.

Lourdes M. Fernandez

Senior Editors

Creative Director Chief Photographer

Start now

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

A

S individuals and as a nation we are faced with the almost impossible predicament of multitasking in the short term and the long term. Local companies are in the same situation, trying to make some income today and figuring out what they need to do when the lockdown ends and how to get back in business.

San Miguel Corp. said on April 26 that it has so far released full compensation with benefits amounting to over P3 billion for all its 66,557 employees, consultants, and contract workers. “While we, as a company, are not immune to the challenges of this crisis, the safety and security of our work force will always come first,” said SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon Ang. While it may be true that SMC is concerned about the welfare of its employees on a “humanitarian” level, the company also needs to make sure

that its work force is ready to put the company back in business after the lockdown is lifted. Companies need to do all that they can to make sure the employees and supply chains are intact on Day One of the lifting of the quarantine.

In a similar fashion, the government has its Inter-Agency Task Force to handle the short-term needs of the country. But the government is also moving more rapidly to deal with the challenges post-Covid-19.

But it is the situation of trying to plan for a future full of unknowns. We are beginning to get

Loopholes

And if it sounds like gray areas are trouble, wait until you get to the prepre-campaign (no, I didn’t stutter) spending loophole.

Under the existing rules, a candidate can only spend so much on their campaign. Go beyond the spending limit and you risk being knocked out of the race on a charge of campaign overspending—as one governor found out to his cost. But here’s the loophole: election regulators start tolling your campaign expenses only at the start of the campaign period. All expenditures made before that date—which is typically about four months from the time the candidates filed their certificate of candidacy—fall outside regulatory reach.

This is the reason why, as early as October of the year before elections, our airwaves start getting saturated with political ads pretending not to be political ads.

Aside from enabling this insult to the intelligence of the average voter, this loophole means that campaigns probably do overspend all the time, and that they’re getting away with it. Just like how keyboard armies got away with weaponizing social media since 2016.

enough first quarter data to begin to make some assumptions and a lot of guesstimates about the months to come.

In general, this is what we do know. The global economy is collapsing and that is not too strong a word. What we do not know is when the downward spiral will end. More critically is how long it will take to see recovery. Trying to project a time frame for a return to normal is a fool’s game and is useless.

Also, for policy planners, there is a genuine disconnect between local forecasters and foreign think tanks.

A silly comparison would be that Filipino “spaghetti” does not taste like the one made in the US, and certainly is unlike anything served in Italy. Except, of course, at the Jollibee in Milan.

My source for well thought-out and unbiased analysis is Capital Economics in the UK. And their analysis is different from what the Philippine government is projecting.

For 2020, Capital is saying that the Philippine GDP will contract by 4 percent from 2019. Not good.

Vietnam is expected to have 0.5percent growth while Indonesia may come in a positive 1 percent.

New tech In 2022, we don’t just have to be on our guard against pandemic viruses, we also have to do something about the viral problem of digitally propagated misinformation and disinformation—fake news. Even now, more than two years up the road from elections, the technological advancements in the field of audiovisual communication already portend massive assaults on truth. And with software for making deepfakes now easily downloadable on the Internet, it is not far-fetched to imagine that we will soon see digitally manipulated audio and video of people saying or doing things they would never say or do.

From the point of view of election management, the deployment of deepfakes in the information environment during election season is almost as a scary as a runaway pandemic.

Start now

For this reason, work on addressing these vulnerabilities—and many others besides—needs to start now.

Thankfully, many civil society organizations are capacitated and poised to tackle these problems. Some, in fact, have already started. It’s going be a long slog, but in the end—like this quarantine that we’re still under—it will prove to be worth it.

But the rest of Asean looks dismal: Thailand (-9 percent), Malaysia (-5 percent), and Singapore (-5.5 percent).

Also interesting is that Vietnam is expected to see increased inflation at 4 percent, while Thailand will deflate at -1 percent. Philippine inflation for 2020 is expected at 1.7 percent. All of Asean will see lower interest rates.

Regarding local currencies, the Thai baht is expected to appreciate against the dollar while the Philippine peso is seen depreciating to 53.50. I doubt that, but a drop to that level would not surprise me.

The Philippines does stand out in one prediction. The other stock markets in the region are expected to be relatively flat or lower by the end of 2020. The Philippine Stock Exchange Composite Index though is forecast to end 2020 at the 6,300-level or about 12 percent higher than it is now. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Stay safe.

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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

The pandemic diaries

The Shepherd-gate

BusinessMirror

Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Val A. Villanueva

Businesswise

I

t’s been almost eight weeks since we were all placed under house arrest. The pandemic, the cause of it all, has shown no visible signs of slowing down despite global efforts to institute stringent measures to stop it from possessing and thriving inside human hosts.

The home of the brave, the United States, has decided to bite the bullet.

In the face of opposition from health experts and the general public, POTUS Donald J. Trump heeded the call of Southern states to reopen their borders and restart the nation’s stalled economy.

Alabama, Ohio, Missouri, and Iowa are the latest states to commit to reopening their coronavirus-ravaged economies despite dire warnings that doing so is too soon and could result in a new surge of infections. Fourteen states that are home to more than 95 million people have so far started reopening or announced plans to reopen. As of April 29, the US has tallied 1,035,765 pandemic cases, 59,266 deaths and 142,238 recoveries.

Here at home, President Duterte declared on Monday the relaxing of quarantine restrictions in low- to moderate-risk parts of the country in a gradual regenerating of the economy starting May 1, and continued quarantine until May 15 in areas that have yet to stabilize the rate of infections.

According to Duterte, some sectors of the economy, such as construction, might be allowed to “partially” open, but under strict public health regulations to prevent the spread of the virus. As of April 29 the number of people infected in the country has swelled to 7,958 with 530 deaths and 975 recoveries. Public transportation and selected businesses in specific industries will be allowed partial resumption of operations in parts of the country where quarantine restrictions will be loosened.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), the temporary government body assigned to oversee the country’s response to the pandemic, was completing guidelines to be implemented in parts of the country under the “general community quarantine” imposed on Metro Manila and other parts of the country with high infection rates. GCQ is the government’s term for limited restrictions in areas with low-to-moderate rates of infections; the opposite is “enhanced community quarantine” (ECQ) or lockdown.

Is the virus about to leave us soon?

Microsoft Corp. cofounder Bill Gates said that, without a vaccine, the world cannot expect a return to normalcy.

And even when a cure is found, we would have to face the new normal.

Overzealous, trigger-happy ECQ implementation

The police are again facing public backlash over their “heavy-handed” implementation of ECQ rules. The public is now on edge and perplexed about what to do if the police were to barge into their private residences, accost homeowners, and arrest them without valid court-granted warrants.

And even outside their dwellings, people can be beat up or shot dead.

Contrast this scenario with Chinese workers of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) who are even being given police escorts to evade quarantine checkpoints, while fake Chinese doctors operating illegal hospitals in Manila enjoy the due process of law.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army (PA) on Thursday both called for an investigation on the shooting of a former soldier suffering from mental illness who was killed by a cop in a quarantine confrontation in Quezon City.

The killing of former Private First Class Winston Ragos by the gun of Police Master Sergeant Daniel Florendo of Quezon City Police Station 5 highlights the brutal enforcement of ECQ regulations. Ragos who suffered from mental illness received two fatal gunshot wounds. Despite joint efforts of the PNP and the PA to get into the bottom of the incident, the public still

could not comprehend why a simple violation of ECQ is now almost equal to the crimes of rape, murder, and terrorism. Ragos was buried with military honors.

On April 27 a fish vendor was mauled and dragged by Quezon City authorities for not wearing a face mask and going about his business without a quarantine pass. Members of the Office of the Mayor’s Oplan Task Force Disiplina repeatedly hit Michael Rubuia with a stick. The residents in the area were incensed and could be heard shouting: “He’s a human being; not a pig.”

And then the issue of whether the police can invade private properties came to light when the Makati City Police tried to arrest Javier Parra, an expat, who lives in the posh Dasmariñas Village in Makati. The incident was caught in a viral video, which thousands of people have viewed.

The point here is that ECQ is a community regulation that should not usurp or prove supreme over established laws enshrined in the Constitution. There is no justification for a warrantless arrest. The police at all times should respect civilian supremacy. They have to observe maximum tolerance even in the face of hurtful provocation. They are mandated to protect and not do harm to the public. Rules of engagements are clear.

Force should only be applied if there is imminent and grave danger to the arresting officer. In all these cases, I see no reason for the police to have acted so brazenly.

Shackling the seniors

I had a lengthy engaging talk with my long-time friend, National Geographic awardee and travel photographer George Tapan, who’s worried about the rules crafted by the Department of Health (DOH) which will be enforced by the government that seeks to prevent senior citizens or people 60 years old and above from going out of their respective homes. George and his wife are empty-nesters who fend for themselves. Their children have all grown up and living with their respective families. George is gainfully employed, and his work entails a lot of travelling. He’s as healthy as anyone else younger than him.

George is a perfect example of an able-bodied senior who is still in the thick of the game. I have friends much older than me by 10 to 15 years who are even more agile and stronger than me. They are, like George, gainfully employed and enjoying their life to the fullest. I really don’t know how this rule was crafted. Was it well thought out by people with sufficient research data about senior citizens? Or was it created by a person who has two or three decades more to live before being entitled to senior-citizen discounts?

Maybe, someone over 60 years old helped draft this rule, a senior citizen who can stay home 24/7 without worrying about where to get money for his or her next meal. There are many seniors who are much healthier and more productive than those alcoholguzzling, bar-hopping, pill-popping, party-going millennials. Most people aged 60 and above started their careers in their early 20s. Just consider the contributions they have made to the country through all these years either through the taxes they paid or the level of know-how they have shared to keep our economy growing.

The proposed mandatory quarantine for seniors is ill-conceived.

The DOH assumption is not based on any conclusive study or research.

I hope Atty. Romy Macalintal reads this because senior citizens across the country need his voice.

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

Alálaong Bagá

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raditionally known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” the Fourth Sunday of Easter portrays Jesus in His mission as both the Shepherd of the flock and the gate of the sheepfold (John 10:1-10), ensuring the welfare of the sheep. He has come that they may have life and have it in its fullness, a life of communion with God.

The true Shepherd IN John, the gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Easter corresponds to the gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Lent. With the healing of the man born blind (John 9:1-41), the rejection of Jesus by the Pharisees became outright. The Jews, who claimed to see but were actually blind, judged the light, pronouncing that they did not know “where this one is from.” The man born blind saw and experienced Jesus in His compassion and believed in the Son of Man. In an immediate follow-up, the evangelist presents Jesus in His mission of love and self-sacrifice as the Good Shepherd, even as the biting contrast with the Pharisees refers to them as thieves

and robbers who come only to steal and slaughter and destroy.

The incomparable character of the mission of Jesus comes out in His encompassing and dedicated service to the flock entrusted to Him by His Father. He is the true Shepherd. He does not break into the sheepfold; He enters by the gate, unlike the thieves who try stealthily to get inside. The gatekeeper of the communal pen knows the Shepherd and opens the gate for Him. And His sheep hearing His voice as He calls them by name readily follow Him, when He collects them from among the other sheep, just as they would shy away from any stranger whose voice they do not recognize.

As the legitimate Shepherd, Jesus

Thursday, April 30, 2020 A7

Jesus’ clear condemnation of those who do harm to the flock is together with the invigorating promise that as the gate guaranteeing the well-being of the flock, He gives the assurance to all that “whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” (compared unfavorably with Moses by the Pharisees, cf. John 6:30-33) leads all sheep out like a Moses in a new exodus for the good and wellbeing of God’s flock.

The gate of safety

TO avoid any ambiguity, Jesus explicitly states, “I am the gate for the sheep.” The Shepherd is now appreciated as the gate. Far from a mix-up in metaphors and figures of speech, the continuity of concept is obvious: the good Shepherd literally becomes the gate as He posts Himself at the entrance of the sheepfold to ensure the safety and welfare of his flock. Jesus is not only the Shepherd-leader sent

by God like Moses who brings out the sheep to the needed pasture, he is the very “gate” guaranteeing protection and the sure way for the flock. Jesus is the only way to salvation.

Jesus came so that we “might

have life and have it more abundantly.” Anyone else before Him or after Him trying to fill up this role of necessary mediator would be an impostor, a thief disguised like a Shepherd but out to steal and plunder the flock and bring destruction to the sheep. Utterly unacceptable to Jesus would be “false prophets” who come in sheep’s clothing but are actually ravenous wolves underneath (Matthew 7:15). John notes that the Pharisees did not realize the point Jesus was making as He contrasted Himself from them.

Alálaong bagá, Jesus’ clear condemnation of those who do harm to the flock is together with the invigorating promise that as the gate guaranteeing the well-being of the flock, he gives the assurance to all that “whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” Anyone who has communion with Him and follows Him is sure of belonging to God’s flock and shares in the salvation for which the crucified and risen Lord is the gate. But we must be on the lookout against other voices and pretenders today that come to steal and destroy.

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

Growing a ‘flattened’ PHL economy: DOF and Neda should do more consultation with the people Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo

LABOREM EXERCENS

I

N the April 14 strategy meeting of the Cabinet on how to manage the economy amid the Covid-19 crisis, the Department of Finance (DOF) cited a quotation from John Maynard Keynes, which reads: “The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs….

In the long run we are all dead.”

Interestingly, the we-are-alldead-in-the-long-run quotation from Keynes has the following continuation: “Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task, if in tempestuous seasons they can only tell us, that when the storm is long past, the ocean is flat again.”

(Keynes, “Tract on Monetary Reform,” 1923) The foregoing reminds us of the obsession by the architects of PDP 2017-2022 to project sustained GDP growth up to 2040 as the main instrument to transform the country into an advanced middle-class economy. The issues of social and economic inequality, labor precarity and informality, and ecological balance and sustainability are given marginal attention in the said PDP. Further, the writers of PDP 2017-2022 have failed to reflect on the numerous misses in growth targets in the past that were projected by the gung-ho economic liberalizers, such as the following: Philippines becoming a newly-industrialized country when it adopted National Economic and Development Authority’s (Neda) labor-intensive industrial strategy in the 1970s; Philippines becoming a major industrial and agricultural exporting nation by joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, and so on and so forth.

With the pandemic, it is indeed useless to draw up economic policies around the PDP’s growthgrowth-growth program. T he world economy is in recession. The GVC system in Asia and around the world is broken. And the Philippines, with its dependence on migrant remittances and BPO earnings likely to go down, is in no position to achieve a miraculous rapid “V” recovery in a short time. It is going to be a prolonged “U” recovery, if not an “L” recovery with a long horizontal base. Indeed,

in the long run, the economy shall be dead, like what happened in the 1980s despite the rosy projections made by Neda in the 1970s, or what happened at the turn of the millennium despite the overly optimistic projections by the liberalizers on increased export earnings and job creation due to membership in the WTO. Now back to Keynes. The basic idea of this 20th century economist is that the government should play an activist role in boosting aggregate demand during crisis periods to arrest further decline of the economy and trigger an economic upturn. This idea became the guiding economic doctrine of the world in taming the Great Depression of the 1930s. Keynesianism got further entrenched in the 1940s-1960s when a war-ravaged Western Europe combined growth promotion with massive social welfare spending to cover unemployment insurance and the health, education and other basic needs of the citizenry.

However, Keynesianism got buried in the late 1970s up to the turn of the millennium with the dominant rise of neo-liberalism, an economic doctrine that promotes untrammelled free trade and minimalism in government’s role in the markets. The IMF and the World Bank marketed neo-liberalism among debt-dependent economies as the pathway to growth and imposed acceptance of the doctrine by requiring borrowers to adopt the triple “structural adjustment” programs of trade and investment liberalization, privatization and economic deregulation.

Today, the world has rediscovered Keynesianism as a weapon to counter economic downturns. Earlier, during the 2008-2010 global financial crisis, affected governments resorted to Keynesian-style stimulus spending in order to revive

The point is that the Covid-19 crisis presents an opportunity to economic planners to address the concerns of the poor in a direct and decisive manner, not through the trickle-down economics implicit in the 20172022 PDP blueprint.

their respective economies. The United States allocated a trillion dollar budget under the Troubled Assets Reform Program.

Today, with the Covid-19 pandemic unchecked, governments worldwide are once more engaged in stimulus spending, this time at twice or more than what they did in 2008-2010. A good example is the United States. As of April 23, 2020, the US government has enacted the following budgetary allocations: $2.3 trillion (around 11 percent of GDP) for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economy Security Act, $484 billion for “Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement,” $8.3 billion for the “Coronavirus Preparedness and Response” program, and $192 billion for the “Families First Coronavirus Response” program.

In the Philippines, the DOF and Neda (under a new leadership) are leading the Keynesian-style offensive against the ill economic effects of the coronavirus. The DOF has a P1.4 trillion “four-pillar” programs: a) emergency support for vulnerable groups, b) expanded medical resources to contain Covid-19 and provide safety for the frontliners, c) fiscal and monetary measures to finance emergency initiatives and keep the economy afloat, and d) an economic recovery plan to create jobs and sustain growth.

However, the details related to the four programs remain to be fleshed out, or are still not clear to the public, especially to the barangay officials, micro, small and medium enterprises entrepreneurs, farmers’ associations, trade unions and CSOs. It will be wise for DOF and Neda to do more IEC programs and to be fully transparent on how these programs are designed and how they shall be implemented.

There is clearly a need for broad and continuing consultations with all the major sectors of Philippine society.

In this context, this column would like to raise the following questions:

Are these four pillars addressing the weaknesses uncovered by the Covid crisis, namely: Drop in migrant remittances and return migration of a substantial number of overseas Filipino workers, decline of earnings from the call centerBPO sector, weakened electronics and auto parts production due to disrupted GVC system worldwide, fall in tourism receipts, collapse of consumption in the service industry due to the foregoing, anemic agricultural sector, and the existence of a huge chain nationwide of informal sector colonies?

Is the government still bent on pursuing its flagship program, the trillion-peso “Build, Build, Build” program, based on its original design? Can this program be tweaked or modified, so that infra development shall focus more on the upgrading and renewal of the urban, rural, peri-urban, highland and coastal poor communities? If the big corporations are not interested in BBB for the poor, can the government transform CSOs and organized barangays as partner developers?

The point is that the Covid-19 crisis presents an opportunity to economic planners to address the concerns of the poor in a direct and decisive manner, not through the trickle-down economics implicit in the 2017-2022 PDP blueprint. In the Keynesian-style spending in America in the 1930s, the infra development was focused on creating jobs for the unemployed through public works, forest management, water and sewer line development and so on. In Western Europe, in the postwar period, the focus was on the mobilization of the displaced to rebuild their war-ravaged communities and industrial plants. And in both cases (United States and Western Europe), the governments also gave special attention in recognizing the workers’ right to form unions, bargain collectively and even participate in corporate governance through a system called works councils. Is this not the right formula for people empowerment?

In short, stimulus spending should not be done in the abstract, that is, without identifying major players and beneficiaries and clarifying the role of the poor. Are they objects of development, or are they active partners in building a stronger Philippines?

(Next week: an alternative development agenda in Covid times).

A8 Thursday, April 30, 2020

As longer tenors stay hot, BTr eyes ₧170-B local borrowings

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE Bureau of the Treasury is set to take advantage of strong appetite for longer tenors next month as it aims to borrow a total of P170 billion from the local debt market.

The Treasury is now set to offer three-year and five-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds), longer than the one-year and two-year T-bonds it

offered in April when the entire Luzon and several parts of the country remained under lockdown.

“We are already lengthening

tenors as investors feel comfortable with belly of the curve for yield pick up as rates are low,” said National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon in a message to reporters on Wednesday.

Recent auctions have resulted in full awards on the back of lower rates and strong demand for government securities, prompting the Treasury to open the tap facility window for additional offerings or upsizing the volume of awards or both.

The May borrowing program for the domestic market is also P20 billion lower than P190 billion program for April.

Of the P170 billion program

for May, a total of P80 billion is programmed to be raised through auctioning off 91-day, 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills (T-bills), P30 billion in 35-day T-bills and P60 billion from Treasury bonds.

A volume of P20 billion in usual T-bills with 91-day, 182-day and 364-day tenors will be offered on each of the four auctions scheduled on all Mondays of May. In terms of the 35-day T-bills, Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana said debt papers worth P15 billion per auction will be up for bids every other Tuesday, particularly on May 5 and May 19.

For the Treasury Bonds, P30 billion worth of three-year debt papers

will also be offered on Tuesday, May 12, while another P30-billion offering with five-year tenor will be auctioned off on Tuesday, May 26.

For this year, the government earlier set a P1.4-trillion borrowing plan.

However, the Department of Finance (DOF) said earlier this month that the government intends to borrow up to P310 billion from multilateral institutions, such as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Due to the pandemic’s economic fallout, the DOF said the deficit this year is estimated at P990.1 billion or around $19.5 billion.

SC postpones 2020 Bar exams on Covid, releases 2019 results

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

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H E Supre me Cou r t on Wednesday decided to postpone the 2020 Bar examinations as the country remains under a state of public health emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has infected

nearly 8,000 in the country and has so far claimed the lives of almost 600 people.

The high court made the announcement hours after revealing the list of passers for the 2019 Bar exams, which saw five women on the top 5 list of 2,103 successful examinees.

Bar topnotcher Mae Diane

A zores, from University of Sto. Tomas-L ega zpi, sa id she d id not expect to become No. 1 although she prayed to be in the top 10. “My prayer is to pass the Bar exams or be in the top 10, specifically top 8 if God wills it.

But, being the top 1 is beyond my w i ldest d rea m s,” A z ores said.

A zores is c u r rent ly working as a certified public accountant at the Commission on Audit (COA), which keeps her busy during the quarantine period while awaiting for the results of the bar examinations.

She took up accountancy in college and graduated cum laude. She also finished her law studies at the top of the class.

Azores sees herself as a litigant lawyer, focusing on labor disputes, but pointed out that she is not closing the door to other opportunities.

2020 exams deferred

“UPON the recommendation of the 2020 Bar Examinations Chairperson, and in view of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the country, as well as the social and economic disruption caused by the pandemic and the resulting enhanced community quarantine, the Supreme Court en banc resolved to postpone the 2020 Bar Examinations,” the SC said in a statement.

The 2020 Bar examinations which was supposed to be chaired

by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen has been scheduled sometime in 2021.

The postponement, said the Court, will give it ample time to determine the necessary adjustments and to make adequate preparations for the safe and orderly conduct of the examinations.

The Court said it would announce the exact schedule of the next Bar exams by June 2020, “when the current adjustments to the present pandemic become clearer.”

The SC banc also approved Justice Leonen’s proposal for regionalization of the Bar exams.

Thus, the next Bar exams will be held in Manila and in Cebu City.

5 women on Top 5

EARLIER on Wednesday, the SC said a total of 2,103 or 27.36 percent out of the 7,685 examinees passed the 2019 Bar examinations held on four consecutive Sundays of November last year, with five women on the top 5 list.

Azores, a law graduate from University of Sto.Tomas-Legazpi (formerly Aquinas University), topped the exams with 91.049 percent.

Also in the top 10 are Princess Fatima T. Parahiman (University of the East, 89.523 percent); Myra M. Baranda, (University of Sto. Tomas-Legazpi, 88.825 percent); Dawna Fya O. Bandiola (San Beda College-A labang, 88.336 percent); Jocelyn B. Fabello (Palawan State University, 88, 263 percent); Kenneth Glenn L. Manuel (University of Sto. Tomas, 88.173 percent); Rhowee D. Buergo (Jose

Rizal University, 87.871 percent); Anton Luis A. Avila (Saint Louis University, 87.582 percent); Jun Dexter H. Rojas (Polytechnic University of the Philippines, 87.576 percent) and Babelan A. Madera (University of St. La Salle, 87.379 percent).

SC Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe, who chaired the 2019 Committee on the Bar Examinations, said the Court en banc took into consideration, among others, the current Covid-19 pandemic in deciding to lower the passing rate from 75 percent to 74 percent.

Bernabe said there is a “discerned need for more [of the] younger and technologically adept lawyers to help different fronts of society as we meet the peculiar challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and transition to the new normal.”

She also explained that the SC decided to skip the usual viewing of the list of successful Bar examinees at its compound in Padre Faura in compliance with safety and healthy protocols being implemented by the government under the state of public health emergency.

“Always be reminded that with the distinction you gained as lawyers comes the concomitant responsibility to further the ideals of justice and the rule of law,” Bernabe told the Bar passers.

“Our society, especially during the most trying, beckons you not only to become learned experts but more so to fight for the cause of the oppressed, to advance the pleas of the helpless and to inspire others as a living example of integrity above all,” she added.

In 2018, a total of 1,800 or 22.07 percent out of the 8,158 examinees who took the Bar examinations passed.

The percentage is lower than the 25.5 percent (1,724 out of 6,748) examinees who passed the 2017 Bar examinations.

The Bar exams covers eight subjects, namely, Political Law, Civil Law, Taxation, Labor Law, Criminal Law, Remedial Law, Mercantile Law and Legal and Judicial Ethics.

SC Associate Justice Leonen also reminded Bar passers to stay humble and to fulfill their responsibility to “address inequality, strive for social justice and serve the people.”

For those who failed the exam, Leonen said: “Your time will come.”

“What may seem to you as a failure will only continue to be so if you allow it to diminish you as a human being rather than strive to learn from it. Do not be tempted by hate, anger or envy,” he added.

Sotto backs September class start, files bill

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ENATE President Vicente Sotto III is asking Congress to enact remedial legislation adjusting the school calendar to defer the opening of classes from August to September this year, even as he left the door open for Malacañang to suggest “any month as may be determined

by President Duterte.”

In filing Senate Bill 1438, Sotto sought to amend Section 3 of Republic Act 7977, also known as the Act on Lengthening of School Calendar, which specified the school year schedule starting on the first Monday of June but not later than the last day of August.

He reported that President Duterte has accepted the recommendation of the InterAgency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) resetting the opening of classes for school year 2020-2021 to September following findings by a study indicating that children and youth up to 20 years of age are “possible transmitters of the coronavirus.”

Sotto explained that SB1438 allowing the start of the school year to be moved from August to September, or such other month as may be determined by the President, would “give the Department of Education more time and opportunity to prepare and adopt measures for the ‘new normal’of the education system while helping the government fight the Covid-19 outbreak.”

He pointed out that “since what we have at the moment is a health emergency, there are no other views more important than the ones from the medical experts, particularly on the matter of preventing, fighting and eventually, putting an end to this virus.”

Therefore, Sotto stressed, the suggestion of the IATF-EID to reset the school year to September“must necessarily be put into effect.”

The Senate leader cited RA 7977 which provides that the Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports “shall determine the end of the regular school year, taking into consideration the Christmas and summer vacations and the peculiar circumstances of each region.”

The same law “also authorizes the Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports to hold Saturday classes for elementary and secondary levels for public and private schools nationwide.”

Noting that Covid-19 kept students at home since March this year, Sotto observed that a lot of school activities, both curricular and extracurricular, had been put on a hold.

He added that other schools opted for online classes or the use of social media to interact with students so as not to hamper the academic year and to have a semblance of normalcy. “No one knows when this pandemic ends and what the future holds for the country and its people. The national government is doing its best to “flatten the curve” and steps are being undertaken based on medical experts’ studies and assessments. We shall take appropriate steps to make education accessible to all,” Sotto said.

Villanueva bill

SEN. Joel Villanueva filed a similar measure authorizing the Secretary of Education to postpone the start of the school year in case of a declaration of a state of emergency, state of calamity or similar occurrence. Villanueva’s Senate Bill 1452 seeks to amend RA 7977 to allow the Secretary of Education, in case of a declaration of a state of emergency, state of calamity or similar occurrence, to move the opening of the school year to a later date per area or region, with due regard to the safety of students, faculty and staff. Under the bill, the DepEd shall ensure education continuity by utilizing alternative modalities of learning such as modular instruction, online, digital or mobile learning, radio or television-based instruction and blended learning or a combination of various modalities.

SB 1452 requires the DepEd, in coordination with relevant agencies and sectors, to submit a report to Congress with regard its decision on the opening of school year within one month from making such decision. “This bill will give the Secretary of Education the flexibility to open the school year 2020-2021 any time after August, especially considering that experts from the UP Resilience Institute have pointed out that the suspension of classes until December or the end of the year would be an effective way to limit further Covid-19 infections,” Villanueva said. Butch Fernandez

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Robinsons Retail income expands by 45% in Q1

By VG Cabuag

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@villygc

obinsons Retail Holdings Inc., the retail arm of the Gokongwei family, on Wednesday said its attributable net income grew 45 percent to P923 million in the first quarter, from the previous year’s P637 million.

The company said the increase was partly a result of the strong financial performance of Rustan’s, the supermarket chain that it bought from the Tantoco group.

Consolidated net sales rose 7 percent to P40.06 billion, from the previous year's P37.35 billion, de-

spite the temporary store closure of the discretionary formats starting March 17 due to the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon.

Only the essential retail formats such as supermarkets, drugstores and convenience stores,

which are establishments providing basic necessities are allowed to operate by the government during this period. These three segments comprised 77 percent of consolidated sales, it said.

About 40 percent of its stores excluding The Generics Pharmacy were closed during the ECQ. Blended s a me - store s a les growth, or SSSG, for the first quarter ending March was at 6.9 percent, as high sales induced by panic buying for essential goods such as food and medicines were done by the public with the announcement of lockdown.

Supermarkets generated a record high SSSG of 18 percent and the drugstore segment sustained a double-digit growth of 13 percent coming from an already high base

in the comparable period last year.

“Both segments significantly drove SSSG while the rest of the formats are in the negative territory,” the company said.

Operating income was up 17 percent to P1.7 billion lifted by the better performance in Rustan’s.

Robinsons Retail continues to be in a net cash position of over P27.7 billion as of end-March. The company spent a total of P558 million in capital expenditures for the quarter.

Excluding the franchised stores of The Generics Pharmacy, Robinsons Retail ended the quarter with a total of 1,891 stores comprising 262 supermarkets, 49 department stores, 223 do-it-yourself stores, 511 convenience stores, 518 drugstores and 328 specialty stores.

LinkedIn: Virus creating ‘network gap’ for Gen Z

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

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he coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic is preventing the younger generation of Filipinos from creating wider networks that they can use to build strong careers, according to a survey

by LinkedIn. In a statement, LinkedIn said 84 percent of Gen Z Filipinos believe they either have weak or no networks. Younger Filipinos also expressed difficulties in starting their businesses due to the lack of networks.

LinkedIn said this indicates there may be a knowledge gap on how to build reliable professional networks. This is compounded by the current pandemic which requires

EEI helps build more Covid centers

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EI Corp. continues to build more coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) centers as its contribution to combating the dreaded virus.

In partnership with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Filinvest Development Corp., EEI started working on the conversion of the Filinvest Tent in Muntinlupa into a 108-bed quarantine facility.

EEI is also putting up panelized temporary structures at the Marikina Hospital.

Earlier, the Yuchengco-led construction firm helped in the conversion of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Forum Halls and Rizal Memorial Coliseum (RMC) into Covid-19 treatment and monitoring facilities.

EEI deployed a total of 275 workers in these sites which were contributory to the completion of the facilities ahead of the schedule.

Moreover, the major construction firm made available 64 modules to hospitals across Luzon designed to accommodate frontliners or patients.

These were distributed to eight hospitals identified to be in most need of the modules which are San Juan City Medical Center; Mandaluyong City Medical Center; Lung Center of the Philippines; Philippine General Hospital; Quezon Institute; Antipolo City Hospital System; The Medical City South Luzon; and the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center (Ilocos Norte).

social distancing.

“Amidst the global Covid-19 pandemic, it is all the more important for professionals to stay connected with their networks and even form new connections, to gain access to opportunities now, and in preparation for the future,” LinkedIn said in a statement.

Data showed that Filipino who have stronger networks have the added advantage of accessing opportunities they want through connections.

This is what is called a “network gap” which is influenced by various factors such as education and residence. LinkedIn said those who came from top schools and those living in major cities tend to believe they have moderate to strong networks.

LinkedIn believes that narrowing

the network gap is an equalizer that will allow more Filipinos, especially the younger generation, gain equal access to various opportunities.

“We’re facing uncertain times as a global community. We are seeing organizations and workers everywhere impacted. During challenging times like this, we believe it is all the more important to build stronger networks. This can potentially aid us in seeking out new opportunities even as we weather through, and recover from this crisis,” said Olivier Legrand, managing director of LinkedIn Asia Pacific.

The company said younger professionals should get in touch with others if they need help, and those in a position to give advice or support are encouraged to do so as well.

Pag-IBIG Fund grants grace period to nearly 4.8 million borrowers

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ag-IBIG has granted a grace period on loan payments of all its borrowers during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), in compliance with the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, top officials of the agency announced on April 27.

The implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 11469, commonly known as the Bayahinan to Heal as One Act, provides borrowers of all lenders in the country which include Pag-IBIG Fund, a 30-day extension for loan payments which can be further extended until the end of the ECQ period.

“Following the Bayanihan Law and the directive of President Duterte to alleviate the burden of Filipinos during this pandemic, we are happy to announce that we have deferred loan payments of our 4.77 million borrowers for the duration of the quarantine. All of them are automatically covered by the grace period so they don’t have to apply for this anymore,” said Secretary Eduardo D. del Rosario, who heads both the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees.

With the grace period, Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti said they have allowed the deferment of loan payments amounting to over P15 billion from 713,225 housing loan borrowers and over 4 million cash loan borrowers.

“Our members’ welfare is of primary importance to us, which is why we initiated in March a moratorium program, which is a separate program from the grace period prescribed under the law,” said Moti.

Under Pag-IBIG Fund's moratorium program, qualified borrowers are given a longer loan payment reprieve of three months, with all penalties and interests waived.

Members eligible to apply are borrowers of Pag-IBIG Housing Loan, Multi-Purpose Loan (MPL), or Calamity Loan, whose incomes have been impaired by the ECQ or by the loss of jobs or closure of businesses as a result of the declarations of state of calamity or state of public health emergency in their area.

“Our moratorium program provides longer payment relief to members who have lost their jobs or business during the quarantine. But since this is optional, members have to apply for it online,” Moti said.

B1

UnionBank to rely on digital channels to grow loan portfolio

U

nion Bank of the Philippines is banking on its digital platforms to widen customer base and provide more loans for small and medium enterprises (SME) and retail segments this year, parent firm Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) said. AEV President and CEO Sabin M. Aboitiz, in a recent annual stockholders' meeting, said UnionBank is beefing up efforts to expand its loan portfolio and client reach this year.

“In 2020, UnionBank will continue to focus on growing its retail customer base due to digital channels,” said Aboitiz.

“We will endeavor to sustain aboveindustry loan growth driven by a robust growth in SME and retail segments. To do this, we will leverage on a fully digital loan engine and alternative credit scoring capability to extend credit to platform users,” he added. UnionBank President and CEO Edwin R. Bautista, in a separate statement, said the number of its customers transacting online grew tenfold as mobility is being restricted by pandemic-induced lockdown.

The Aboitiz-led bank also recently upgraded its online app, enabling users to directly transfer funds across the country to remittance centers including Cebuana

Lhuillier, LBC Express and Perahub.

UnionBank recently reported that its net profits hiked 22 percent to P2.6 billion in the first quarter on the back of robust revenue growth. Three-month topline figures rose 37 percent to P9.5 billion, supported by net interest income which rose by 47 percent to P6.8 billion.

Customer loans in the January-toMarch period climbed by 24 percent to P391.8 billion on the back of double-digit growth in commercial lending, consumer loans, small and medium banking and credit-cards business.

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

It also allocated P1.3-billion loan loss buffer—up by over sevenfold from P174.6 million the previous year—in the first quarter to mitigate adverse impact of the pandemic to its credit portfolio.

UnionBank shares slid P1.15, or 2.10 percent, to close at P53.55 each amid the 1.24-percent hike for the benchmark index on Wednesday. Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Thursday, April 30, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

April 29, 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 PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG IREMIT MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH

48 98.7 58.45 19.74 7.61 37.6 16.5 23.4 42.45 16.6 102.9 53.55 15.44 2.74 0.91 0.335 610 0.57 166.5

48.5 98.9 58.5 19.78 7.8 37.75 18.86 23.5 42.5 17 103 53.75 15.9 2.83 0.96 0.35 639 0.64 168.7

48.5 98.9 58.4 19.8 7.8 38 16.7 23.15 42.45 17 104.4 54.6 16 2.72 0.96 0.325 639 0.64 167.9

48.5 99.5 59.05 19.84 7.83 38.05 16.7 23.4 42.5 17 106 54.6 16 2.94 0.96 0.37 639 0.64 167.9

48.5 98.5 58.3 19.74 7.61 37.4 16.5 23.15 42.45 16.5 103 53.5 15.42 2.7 0.96 0.31 639 0.64 166.5

48.5 98.7 58.5 19.74 7.61 37.6 16.5 23.4 42.5 16.6 103 53.55 15.42 2.74 0.96 0.345 639 0.64 166.5

5000 2041860 1843740 62800 181900 2108600 700 10600 6100 9700 970310 4060 20400 112000 1000 9810000 10 1000 170

242500 201859496 108054930.5 1242056 1403415 79440720 11650 247330 259160 162450 101051136 218502 316976 307270 960 3415100 6390 640 28485

INDUSTRIAL

AC ENERGY ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PETROENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER VIVANT AGRINURTURE AXELUM BOGO MEDELLIN CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT FRUITAS HLDG GINEBRA JOLLIBEE MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP MG HLDG PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CONCRETE A CONCRETE B CEMEX HLDG DAVINCI CAPITAL EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CHEMPHIL CROWN ASIA EUROMED MABUHAY VINYL PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

2.3 27.3 0.17 18.52 56.05 261.8 10.88 3.15 2.36 10.72 18.24 7.82 13.66 8.19 3 73.45 14.28 3.66 5.39 7.86 58.95 0.54 1.44 31.95 146.5 6.04 6.7 0.129 1.9 6.82 1.6 4.36 1.4 0.109 122 0.84 2.3 55.2 61 1.1 4.4 8.03 5.3 11.1 6.39 8.8 0.86 0.72 145.4 1.75 2.79 3.66 4.16 24.5 1.3 5.82 1.16 1.22 8.81

2.31 27.5 0.179 18.58 57 262 10.94 3.17 2.4 11.16 18.3 7.83 15.08 8.25 3.01 87 14.3 3.75 5.4 7.89 59.05 0.56 1.45 32 147 6.68 6.71 0.143 1.91 6.83 1.62 4.49 1.43 0.11 123 0.85 2.5 60 62.95 1.11 4.99 8.1 5.32 11.2 6.4 8.88 0.89 0.74 183.9 1.78 2.8 3.67 4.69 24.75 1.33 5.85 1.18 1.23 8.83

2.34 27.05 0.169 18.64 57.05 264 10.9 3.17 2.47 11.26 18.5 7.9 13.52 8.36 3.04 86.95 14.3 3.83 5.5 7.86 59.9 0.57 1.43 32.3 141.2 6.4 6.52 0.121 1.91 6.62 1.65 4.36 1.43 0.113 123.1 0.86 2.5 58.5 51 1.1 4 8.29 5.5 11.2 6.6 8.88 0.88 0.72 188.6 1.73 2.8 3.63 4.21 25 1.24 6.07 1.2 1.22 9.2

2.34 27.5 0.179 18.64 57.2 264 11.02 3.17 2.47 11.26 18.5 7.96 13.52 8.36 3.08 86.95 14.4 3.83 5.55 7.9 60 0.57 1.47 32.4 147 6.52 6.74 0.14 1.92 6.85 1.65 4.4 1.43 0.115 123.7 0.87 2.5 60 63 1.12 4 8.29 5.5 11.2 6.6 8.88 0.89 0.75 188.6 1.79 2.93 3.66 4.21 25 1.34 6.1 1.2 1.3 9.4

2.27 27 0.169 18.4 57 255.2 10.82 3.13 2.4 11.16 18.24 7.82 13.52 8.12 2.95 86.9 14.28 3.66 5.36 7.85 58.7 0.53 1.41 32 139.1 5.9 6.4 0.121 1.91 6.4 1.57 4.35 1.4 0.11 119.7 0.83 2.5 58.5 50.55 1.08 4 8.02 5.29 10.98 6.39 8.88 0.82 0.71 180 1.71 2.74 3.6 4.2 24.75 1.22 5.8 1.17 1.18 8.61

2.3 27.5 0.179 18.58 57 261.8 10.88 3.15 2.4 11.16 18.24 7.83 13.52 8.2 3 86.95 14.3 3.75 5.4 7.9 59 0.55 1.45 32 147 6 6.7 0.14 1.91 6.82 1.62 4.35 1.4 0.11 122 0.85 2.5 60 62.95 1.11 4 8.1 5.3 11.2 6.39 8.88 0.89 0.73 183.9 1.75 2.8 3.66 4.2 24.75 1.33 5.85 1.18 1.22 8.81

5915000 628500 190000 812800 21010 203710 3276300 2721000 18000 213700 652400 26700 100 715200 3567000 300 2275900 23000 1690200 612500 153780 1449000 9749000 56500 1477640 10200 978000 50000 644000 1470200 2121000 101000 84000 1150000 1307530 4861000 1000 3260 11580 4861000 500 457300 5617800 666600 1875000 200 370000 1202000 430 100000 2001000 18000 297000 11900 5411000 610400 358000 4236000 4362900

13567110 17166345 33510 15062506 1198006 53113332 35770410 8576020 43300 2388928 11945736 209851 1352 5866941 10706920 26082.5 32546684 86370 9,198,667( 4838451 9080146.5 796300 13993570 1810370 212998092 64424 6422869 6420 1230520 9742241 3364510 439600 119310 130440 158711812 4096710 2500 193695 657928.5 5368810 2000 3704143 30026729 7454012 12096262 1776 318290 874220 78650 176260 5639580 65520 1247420 296960 6886540 3616171 424350 5206690 39306834

242500 -134055063.5 -61319313 -640278 62501 -45235535 -69960 -33310 -139069 -100885 -196250 -89719.9997 -3043280 -4968932 -564810.5 -16825522 -15809836 -632820 -113852 -1460240 7830 -60470.9999 1324190 -5591720 -3780 7,661,424.0003) -4740000 410980.5 31739.9997 -2860 25839.9999 7812167 -38402 -51643 1104140 1974518 176700 30400 -93024710 30240 -671060 -2256677 -3873458 -1950676 -413765 -3700 -29000 -1020620 -121960 1238440 -1046162 334305

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.58 0.59 0.57 0.59 0.57 0.59 1957000 1141190 -162200 ASIABEST GROUP 7.59 7.6 7.29 7.78 7.2 7.59 22000 167538 587.5 588 583 591 573 588 231420 135116745 -2438715 AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY 41.5 41.9 42 42.75 41.15 41.5 745900 31025145 -5506815 6.25 6.29 6.37 6.37 6.25 6.25 3356900 21069178 -13928325 ALLIANCE GLOBAL AYALA LAND LOG 1.78 1.8 1.81 1.81 1.72 1.8 1693000 2994240 58080 ANSCOR 6 6.08 6 6.08 6 6 6700 40240 0.54 0.55 0.53 0.53 0.53 0.53 6000 3180 ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A 0.53 0.54 0.51 0.53 0.5 0.53 2831000 1459700 0.53 0.55 0.53 0.55 0.53 0.55 90000 48900 22000 ATN HLDG B COSCO CAPITAL 4.93 4.95 4.93 4.94 4.91 4.93 2446000 12055880 112300 DMCI HLDG 4.13 4.14 4.21 4.21 4.13 4.14 2945000 12246440 -3053430 2.91 3.89 2.89 2.89 2.89 2.89 1000 2890 FJ PRINCE A GT CAPITAL 459.8 460 452 464 451 460 130080 59462150 -10546740 3.63 3.79 3.71 3.71 3.7 3.7 149000 551310 -518000 HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT 50.7 50.95 50.6 51.7 50.25 50.95 1029720 52332990.5 -33097374 4.71 6.22 4.51 6.22 4.51 6.22 3000 15240 JOLLIVILLE HLDG LODESTAR 0.485 0.49 0.495 0.495 0.485 0.485 30000 14650 LOPEZ HLDG 2.66 2.67 2.68 2.7 2.67 2.67 350000 936680 -56140 7.7 7.72 7.7 7.8 7.7 7.72 1141800 8831823 3367170 LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG 0.45 0.475 0.455 0.475 0.455 0.475 180000 82700 2.52 2.54 2.53 2.55 2.51 2.52 28672000 72,544,810( 28,540,209.9996) METRO PAC INV 2.9 3.14 2.9 3.11 2.9 3.11 2000 6010 PACIFICA HLDG PRIME MEDIA 0.82 0.85 0.84 0.85 0.81 0.85 115000 94160 165 169 170 170 165 166 160 26660 SYNERGY GRID SM INVESTMENTS 831 834 820 843 805 831 115960 96168925 -36861830 97.05 97.45 97.85 97.85 97.05 97.05 250200 24364120.5 2619364 SAN MIGUEL CORP SOC RESOURCES 0.64 0.65 0.64 0.64 0.6 0.64 547000 342350 TOP FRONTIER 139 142 139.5 142 139.5 142 1640 229030 0.175 0.185 0.178 0.185 0.175 0.185 110000 19470 WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG 0.15 0.159 0.155 0.159 0.15 0.159 830000 126950

PROPERTY

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

0.56 31 1.02 1.35 0.57 0.73 0.122 5.9 3.91 0.355 0.3 16.14 6.97 0.08 0.94 0.81 10.8 0.84 2.56 0.167 0.3 1.5 15.32 0.233 1.5 2.7 1.87 30.8 3.9 1.26 4.12

0.57 31.2 1.05 1.38 0.58 0.77 0.133 5.98 3.98 0.36 0.315 16.16 7 0.089 0.95 0.85 10.98 0.87 2.57 0.168 0.32 1.52 15.48 0.245 1.54 2.74 1.9 30.95 4.01 1.27 4.13

0.57 30.45 1.05 1.4 0.58 0.75 0.125 5.9 3.98 0.355 0.295 16.14 6.95 0.08 0.93 0.85 10.72 0.84 2.57 0.171 0.32 1.52 15.3 0.245 1.54 2.75 1.85 29.75 4.04 1.25 4.07

0.58 31.7 1.05 1.4 0.59 0.77 0.134 5.9 3.98 0.36 0.31 16.16 6.99 0.08 0.96 0.85 11 0.88 2.6 0.172 0.32 1.52 15.5 0.245 1.54 2.75 1.9 31 4.05 1.29 4.18

0.56 30.3 0.99 1.37 0.56 0.75 0.123 5.9 3.91 0.35 0.29 16.02 6.95 0.06 0.92 0.8 10.7 0.83 2.55 0.167 0.3 1.52 15.1 0.24 1.47 2.7 1.85 29.15 3.9 1.23 4.04

0.56 31 1.01 1.38 0.58 0.77 0.134 5.9 3.98 0.36 0.295 16.14 6.95 0.072 0.95 0.85 10.7 0.86 2.57 0.167 0.3 1.52 15.48 0.24 1.54 2.73 1.9 30.95 4.01 1.26 4.13

665000 12591200 77000 285000 2986000 132000 640000 100 1298000 3550000 780000 92400 10700 2120000 5537000 6000 19600 994000 39505000 10810000 20000 1000 558000 50000 21000 68000 79000 6020100 41000 1243000 894000

378970 390503390 76890 398550 1699660 99230 82290 590 5100430 1270350 230600 1490762 74410 142110 5233410 4950 212214 850740 101439980 1815620 6200 1520 8537276 12050 32020 184100 149260 181694165 164460 1570410 3689320

-50384830 28000 82500 -292900 -154648 -47261 2400 1848490 -19668 -15959250 -17200 -2186218 12320 13550 -12252365 -358400

SERVICES ABS CBN 16.56 16.6 16.6 16.68 16.48 16.58 193100 3194878 GMA NETWORK 4.8 4.85 4.8 4.8 4.77 4.8 133000 637110 0.355 0.37 0.37 0.37 0.37 0.37 30000 11100 MANILA BULLETIN MLA BRDCASTING 10.22 10.5 10.22 10.22 10.22 10.22 600 6132 2230 2244 2258 2258 2186 2230 26950 59787390 -15026250 GLOBE TELECOM PLDT 1262 1270 1231 1270 1231 1270 394375 497832980 105631555 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.042 0.043 0.042 0.042 0.04 0.042 17700000 736700 3.01 3.08 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 1000 3100 DFNN INC DITO CME HLDG 2.18 2.19 2.05 2.18 2 2.18 55259000 116735810 2103079.9997 0.083 0.084 0.082 0.083 0.081 0.083 1410000 115560 ISLAND INFO NOW CORP 1.83 1.84 1.8 1.84 1.77 1.83 1297000 2342890 63350 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.185 0.19 0.19 0.191 0.181 0.19 1320000 248590 2.31 2.35 2.3 2.39 2.3 2.35 1232000 2876800 -44690 PHILWEB 2GO GROUP 11.1 11.2 9.5 11.3 9.15 11.2 1448900 15292949 -50729.9999 14.02 16.48 16.48 16.48 16.48 16.48 300 4944 ASIAN TERMINALS CHELSEA 3.28 3.35 3.27 3.35 3.24 3.34 741000 2457950 49.35 49.4 49.75 50 49.1 49.4 76500 3789835 -1424120 CEBU AIR 86.2 86.3 86 86.8 85 86.2 1554540 133837021.5 -30533636 INTL CONTAINER LBC EXPRESS 13 13.7 13.7 13.7 13.6 13.7 2800 38310 0.72 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.72 0.78 41000 31840 LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA 5.12 5.14 5.1 5.25 4.98 5.12 14792500 75,935,526( 20,665,899.9996) 2.68 2.7 2.9 3.19 2.56 2.68 28995000 82604740 METROALLIANCE A METROALLIANCE B 2.67 2.9 2.8 3.05 2.79 2.91 337000 1002230 -58400 PAL HLDG 7.2 7.25 7.2 7.3 7 7.25 9000 64571 0.88 0.89 0.9 0.91 0.88 0.89 366000 327000 90000 HARBOR STAR BOULEVARD HLDG 0.028 0.029 0.028 0.029 0.028 0.029 4500000 128800 1.52 1.81 1.51 1.51 1.51 1.51 1000 1510 DISCOVERY WORLD WATERFRONT 0.4 0.41 0.405 0.41 0.4 0.41 250000 101400 CENTRO ESCOLAR 6.15 6.48 6.1 6.2 6.1 6.2 2700 16570 0.34 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.335 0.35 5240000 1792300 -277700 STI HLDG BERJAYA 2.35 2.41 2.35 2.42 2.31 2.35 151000 352000 5.53 5.59 5.73 5.73 5.53 5.53 6691800 37383361 -2606425 BLOOMBERRY LEISURE AND RES 1.44 1.45 1.45 1.48 1.44 1.44 96000 139290 10080 MANILA JOCKEY 2.05 2.2 2.05 2.05 2.05 2.05 13000 26650 2.81 2.9 2.82 2.97 2.82 2.94 154000 435230 PH RESORTS GRP PREMIUM LEISURE 0.31 0.315 0.31 0.315 0.305 0.31 2050000 635550 5.7 5.74 5.83 5.83 5.7 5.7 14486500 83171578 62061586 ALLHOME METRO RETAIL 1.91 1.92 1.89 1.91 1.85 1.91 2235000 4224250 -1062760 46.35 46.4 46.9 46.9 45.8 46.4 7425900 345326435 -45472560 PUREGOLD 64.25 64.95 62 65 62 64.95 1613800 103121466.5 -31061162 ROBINSONS RTL PHIL SEVEN CORP 120 129 129 129 125 125 41720 5348419 -733659 1.3 1.31 1.23 1.33 1.2 1.3 20537000 26038570 -14572500 SSI GROUP WILCON DEPOT 14 14.06 14.3 14.3 13.9 14 3841300 54021960 13137974 0.295 0.3 0.31 0.31 0.295 0.295 370000 110450 APC GROUP EASYCALL 8.03 8.09 7.56 8.95 7.56 8.03 1300400 10969133 67360 GOLDEN BRIA 310.8 329 320 329 310.8 310.8 1110 363740 -15540 0.25 0.255 0.255 0.255 0.247 0.25 10590000 2628680 PRMIERE HORIZON SBS PHIL CORP 5.14 5.2 5.21 5.21 5.2 5.2 10400 54113

MINING & OIL

ATOK 10.3 10.7 10.7 10.7 10.7 10.7 4400 47080 0.94 0.95 0.97 0.97 0.92 0.94 1590000 1492620 APEX MINING ABRA MINING 0.001 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.001 0.0011 28000000 30500 2200 1.81 1.91 1.85 1.85 1.85 1.85 35000 64750 ATLAS MINING BENGUET A 1.02 1.09 1.02 1.1 1.02 1.1 3000 3140 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.2 0.205 0.2 0.205 0.2 0.205 160000 32650 2.69 2.72 2.69 2.73 2.69 2.73 221000 598130 251120 CENTURY PEAK DIZON MINES 6.77 7.01 6.59 7.22 6.59 7 16300 113265 0.89 0.9 0.88 0.91 0.86 0.9 6659000 5950600 -278600 FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE 0.2 0.205 0.201 0.204 0.2 0.201 440000 88100 LEPANTO A 0.082 0.083 0.081 0.084 0.081 0.084 1700000 139310 0.085 0.09 0.09 0.091 0.085 0.09 220000 19720 LEPANTO B MANILA MINING A 0.0065 0.0066 0.0066 0.0066 0.0065 0.0066 36000000 234200 0.58 0.6 0.59 0.6 0.58 0.58 132000 77430 MARCVENTURES NIHAO 0.9 0.96 0.96 0.96 0.91 0.91 2000 1870 1.67 1.68 1.7 1.72 1.68 1.68 6698000 11366280 -3063550 NICKEL ASIA 0.4 0.44 0.395 0.4 0.395 0.4 40000 15950 OMICO CORP ORNTL PENINSULA 0.49 0.51 0.51 0.52 0.49 0.49 80000 40700 2.3 2.34 2.3 2.35 2.3 2.3 107000 247120 -69280 PX MINING SEMIRARA MINING 12.08 12.1 12.2 12.2 12 12.1 973800 11782758 2207214 0.0041 0.0043 0.0042 0.0042 0.0042 0.0042 4000000 16800 UNITED PARAGON ACE ENEXOR 6.7 6.87 6.94 6.94 6.65 6.7 47300 319938 680 ORNTL PETROL A 0.0084 0.0087 0.0084 0.0084 0.0084 0.0084 12000000 100800 0.0085 0.0095 0.0085 0.0095 0.0085 0.0095 12000000 108000 ORNTL PETROL B PHILODRILL 0.0083 0.0084 0.0083 0.0083 0.0083 0.0083 1000000 8300 8300 4.32 4.34 4.27 4.39 4.18 4.32 1103000 4739840 -560999.9998 PXP ENERGY

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A 97 99 99 99 99 99 40 3960 490 500 500 500 500 500 20 10000 AC PREF B1 ALCO PREF B 99 100 100 100 100 100 1060 106000 99 99.5 99 99.5 99 99.5 9950 985095 693000 CPG PREF A DD PREF 99 99.95 99 99 99 99 44640 4419360 FPH PREF C 495 499 495 495 490 490 40 19700 500 505 500 500 500 500 240 120000 GLO PREF P GTCAP PREF B 970.5 982 982 982 981 982 3600 3532100 100 100.1 100 100.1 100 100 440 44001 MWIDE PREF PNX PREF 3A 98.7 100 99 99 98.8 98.8 14000 1383712 PNX PREF 3B 100.1 104.5 102 104.5 100.1 100.1 8270 833609 52250 997 999 1000 1000 997 997 1590 1585260 PNX PREF 4 PCOR PREF 3A 1011 1012 1013 1013 1011 1011 550 556760 1020 1040 1040 1040 1040 1040 10 10400 PCOR PREF 3B SMC PREF 2C 76.5 77 76.45 77 76.45 77 25450 1946395 77000 75.2 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 9500 717250 SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2I 75 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 10 755

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 15.26 15.6 15.24 15.24 15.14 15.24 88600 1349064 -1121664

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 0.77 0.78 0.74 0.78 0.73 0.77 155000 115530

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 2.24 2.25 2.3 2.43 2.2 2.24 15631000 36331770 1473750 7.5 7.55 6.9 7.72 6.9 7.5 243100 1804465 -26070 KEPWEALTH XURPAS 0.62 0.63 0.61 0.63 0.61 0.62 1023000 640310

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 86 86.25 85.05 86.75 84.5 86.25 10930 938225.5 123878

www.businessmirror.com.ph

MGen gets OK to resume work on Bulacan solar power project

By Lenie Lectura

T

@llectura

he Meralco PowerGen Corp.

(MGen) has been cleared by the local government to partially resume work on its P4.25-billion solar power project in Bulacan.

“We have been given partial authority to restart work there because we wanted to do advance works on the drainage of the site so that when the rains come, we will just be ready to mount the panels,” said MGen President Rogelio Singson.

PowerSource First Bulacan Solar Inc. (PFBSI) is the project proponent.

It is 40-percent owned by MGEN Renewable Energy Inc. (MGreen), 36 percent held by PowerSource Global Holdings Corporation and 24 percent

by Singapore’s Sunseap International Pte. Ltd. MGreen is the renewable energy subsidiary of MGen. It has tapped SUMEC Complete Equipment & Engineering Co. Ltd. to construct the solar facility in Bulacan.

In February, Singson said the 50-megawatt (MW) Bulacan solar power project experienced a delay in the delivery of the PV panels from China brought about by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

“Unfortunately, there are two projects that we are supposed to be already on COD [commercial operation date] this year.

First is the one in Bulacan with Power Source. Unfortunately, because of the lockdown and because our EPC [engineering, procurement and construction] contractor here is from China, the delivery of solar panels have been delayed,” said Singson.

The other project experiencing delay in the delivery of solar panels is in Tarlac.

Despite the setback, MGen is still committed to achieve its target renewable energy portfolio of 1,000MW over the next 5 to 7 years.

The focus is on the development of a portfolio of utility scale solar, wind and hydro-power projects to supply Luzon grid and electricity consumers with competitive tariff.

MGreen recently secured an equity funding amounting to P424 million from Meralco that will be

invested in various solar projects.

The power to be produced from PFBSI will be sold to Meralco under an approved 20-year power supply agreement (PSA) for P4.69 per kilowatt hour (kWh), subject to a 2-percent annual escalation.

The rate, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has said, is “reasonable” because the PSA underwent the competitive selection process (CSP).

Even with the application of the 2-percent annual escalation, the rate of P4.69 per kWh is “still significantly lower than the prevailing feed-in-tariff [FiT] rate and most of the approved rates for solar power plants.”

From P4.69 per kWh, the rate will go up to P5.7516 per kWh on the 20th year. The ERC said this is still lower than the prevailing FiT rate of P8.69 per kWh for solar.

The 20-year term of the PSA will not be extended, the ERC said.

‘New SEC rule to protect minority investors’

By VG Cabuag @villygc

T

he Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the rules allowing minority shareholders of publicly listed companies to put items on the agenda that will be discussed during its regular or special meeting.

The SEC approved the new rule during its en banc meeting last Tuesday. The SEC Memorandum Circular 14, Series of 2020 paved the way for the right of a shareholder or a group of shareholders holding at least 5 percent of the outstanding capital stock of a publicly listed corporation to include items on the agenda prior to a regular or special stockholders’ meeting.

“The newly issued rules promote good corporate governance and the protection of minority investors, in line with our mandate as the over-

seer of the corporate sector and the champion of the investing public,” said SEC Chairman Emilio B. Aquino.

“The rules also bolster the reforms that the Commission and other government agencies have been pursuing to further improve the ease of doing business in the Philippines and make our economy more competitive globally,” he added.

All items added on the agenda by qualified shareholders pursuant to the circular after the definitive information statement has been filed with the SEC, and shall be filed under “other matters.” The reporting company shall no longer be required to amend its Definitive Information Statement.

Any officer or agent of the corporation who shall unjustly refuse to allow a qualified shareholder or group of shareholders to exercise his/ her right to put items on the agenda

Makati City taps GCash to disburse financial aid

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

M

akati City has tapped GCash to disburse its financial assistance to the transportation sector and to its student scholars to help them cope with the effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

The stimulus program will benefit 12,000 students and 8,376 jeepney, tricycle, and pedicab drivers in Makati. Via their GCash accounts linked to their Makatizen cards, students will receive P1,000 in financial assistance, while drivers will receive P2,000 in aid.

“It’s a big help for both the city and its residents not only because it’s a faster way of transferring money for everyday use, but also because it also promotes public health by avoiding physical contact,” said Makati City Mayor Abby Binay.

The local government deemed it wise to tap GCash for this round of financial aid, as the first one, done via manual cash distribution, was slower and more operationally rigorous.

GCash, Binay said, “is much faster and more efficient versus having city hall employees go through each house to send money.”

T he M a k at i z e n c a rd w a s launched in 2017 as a shared ini-

tiative by the City Government of Makati, GCash, Globe, and iBayad. The card allows thousands of Makati residents and employees to go cashless and digital. Students found it to be an easy alternative to ATM cards, since it can easily be accessed through their smartphones.

For her part, GCash Chief Technology and Operations Officer Pebbles Sy said drivers may use the financial aid that beneficiaries received through GCash to buy food, medicines, and other products from grocery stores, convenience centers, and even pharmacies. Likewise, they may use their digital wallets to pay for bills or transfer funds to families and friends.

Student, she added, may use the cash grant from Makati for elearning and expand their knowledge to purchase educational materials online. They can top-up their mobile load credits to gain greater access to various information and services that are accessible online. Given that schools are shifting to virtual classrooms, having an e-wallet is more crucial than ever, she added.

“The new normal is driven by the digital arena and having access to financial technology could help students to be in tune with the rapid changes that we are experiencing today,” Sy said.

shall face administrative sanctions provided under Section 158 of Republic Act 11232, or the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines, the SEC said.

If the refusal is made pursuant to a resolution or order of the board of directors, the liability for such action

mutual funds

shall be imposed upon the directors who voted for such refusal.

Furthermore, it shall be a defense to any action under the proposed circular that the shareholder exercising any of the rights provided therein was not acting in good faith or for a legitimate purpose.

April 29, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 184.13 -29.87% -11.85% -8.31% -26.9% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 0.9587 -39.92% -13.9% -8.88% -30.63% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.4663 -40.05% -16.55% -10.98% -32.95% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.6392 -31.32% n.a. n.a. -28.75% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.6577 -24.15% n.a. n.a. -22.56% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.0087 -26.73% -9.09% -7.42% -24.77% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 0.6224 -28.74% -13.14% n.a.

-27.09% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 74.86 -40.84% n.a. n.a. -27.55% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 36.807 -29.09% -10.44% n.a. -28.23% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 395.92 -27.02% -9.76% -7.35% -25.69% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5 0.8322 n.a. n.a. n.a. -19.21% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 0.9452 -27.7% -9.71% -6.54% -26.55% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 27.6986 -28.14% -9.11% -6.46% -26.91% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7296 -29.65% n.a. n.a. -28.34% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 3.7484 -28.69% -9.93% -6.38% -28.24% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 626.56 -28.58% -9.92% -6.59% -28.15% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.5704 -38.75% -13.91% -10.56% -33% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 2.935 -32.05% -10.79% -7.57% -30.27% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7191 -28.72% -10.07% n.a. -28.15% United Fund, Inc. -a 2.6696 -28.33% -7.8% -5.46% -26.93% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 84.0259 -28.42% -9.43% -5.76% -28.15% ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$0.892 -13.3% -1.87% -4.09% -13.26% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.2283 -5.31% 3.07% n.a. -10.91% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.491 -13.17% -5.43% -5.16% -4.59% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 1.9488 -15.69% -5.87% -3.78% -10.65% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.3132 -12.09% -3.42% -4.74% -12.1% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.1833 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-19.78% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.7658 -7.81% -2.15% -2.02% -10.05% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.2877 -10.44% -3.86% -3.46% -13.23% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 14.6961 -11.34% -4.05% -3.56% -13.35% -14.71% -5.01% -3.25% -14.16% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 1.8247 Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.1011 -19.38% -5.92% -4.57% -19.74% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.8911 -10.54% n.a. n.a. -12.27% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.7824 -21.3% n.a. n.a. -21.48% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.7592 -23.49% n.a. n.a. -23.56% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.762 -22.26% -7.13% -6.24% -21.83% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03784 4.88% 2.15% 1.3% -1.02% -2.63% -11.49% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b $0.9186 -7.39% -1% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.5598 -4.48% 2.25% 1.17% -8.98% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.0546 -2.99% 0.87% n.a.

-6.57% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 362.16 4.09% 3% 2.42% 1.22% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.9282 2.32% 0.86% -0.21% 1.38% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1676 4.94% 5.2% 5.12% 1.65% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2688 5.06% 2.75% 2.17% 1.97% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4164 7.09% 2.95% 1.72% 2.43% 10.96% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.4764 3.41% 2.03% 2.37% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a,6 1.2754 6.54% 3.59% 1.93% 1.49% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.8671 7.14% 3.64% 1.9% 2.08% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0176 10.78% 3.26% 1.48% 5.53% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1139 7.9% 4.5% 2.77% 1.24% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a

1.7228 7.73% 4.05% 2.45% 1.28% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $467.42 2.88% 2.24% 2.32% -0.17% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є213.64 -1.1% 0.5% 0.52% -2.77% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.1781 0.92% 1.76% 1.69% -2.41% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0256 1.59% 0.93% 0.96% -0.78% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.0426 -1.82% -0.81% -1% -4.8% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.3771 5.2% 2.54% 2.04% -1.11% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0594955 2.23% 1.44% 1.35% -1.36% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.1334 5.32% 1.91% 1.93% -1.32% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 127.31 3.87% 3.08% 2.32% 1.22% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0369 2.77% n.a. n.a.

1.03% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2774 3.41% 3% 2.52% 1.01% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0412 1.68% n.a. n.a.

0.39% Feeder Fund Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,2 $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."

Editor: Eleanor Leyco-Chua

Health&Fitness BusinessMirror

BEST WAY TO SNEEZE:

The BOPISS way W

By Dr. Gil M. Vicente

e are going through perplexing times because of Covid-19. We are confused with the continually changing directions from health authorities.

At present as you see on TV or in print media, it has been recommended that if you sneeze or cough, use your upper sleeve or elbow.

However, in doing this, we have to consider the following: n The droplets produced should be totally contained.

No amount of droplets should escape the exact spot where the sneezing or coughing was done or else droplets can be caught by somebody near you. n No tinge of wetness, secretions or phlegm or even food particles should be visible in the sleeve after the cough or the sneeze as it will be unsightly. n The fastest way to contain the cough or the sneeze must be employed. Most of the time, you are caught unaware.

The idea of coughing or sneezing onto the sleeve will not satisfy the above mentioned criteria. It is, therefore, not recommended.

The trajectory is toward your chest area. This is what I call the BOPISS maneuver.

BOw down Pull Shirt forward and upward and Sneeze

neck, it may be really a good trap for the sudden sneeze, but if you sneeze and it gets soiled or wet, it is advised not to wear it anymore for the rest of the day.

Store it immediately in a laundry bag or soak it in a basin of sudsy water upon arriving home.

It is best to bring an extra scarf.

You should have some kind of practice and proper positioning (loosely and doubly worn) to perfect it.

Since thin scarves can allow the passing through of droplets, choose a thicker scarf.

One disadvantage of wearing a scarf is that your hand may catch the droplets, requiring you to wash your hands at once.

Besides, most of the male population may not like the idea of having a scarf around the neck.

Wearing a mask will, of course help, but once it gets soiled after the cough and the sneeze, it should be changed and disposed off right away.

If you wear the ordinary mask and not the N95, the droplets still go out to the sides, up and down as well. So it cannot contain all the droplets from the sneeze.

Most of the time, you also remove the mask when you feel like relaxing from the feeling of suffocation, when your ears are aching or when your head feels compressed, such that sneezing during those moments may catch you unaware.

Definitely, using your sleeves or your elbow will not suffice to contain the droplets that may escape upward, downward and even at the sides.

Second criteria, it should not leave any tinge of wetness, phlegm, secretions or even food particles visible anywhere after the cough or the sneeze.

Using the BOPISS maneuver, all of these unsightly matter are all confined within your chest area and hidden and

covered by the t-shirt or dress.

If it is too much for you to tolerate its presence, then you can calmly and slowly go the comfort room and clean the part well with wet or dry tissue or clean the chest area with soap and water. You may spray alcohol, as well. Bringing an extra dress or shirt is a good idea.

The scarf will be able to catch the particles and secretions. Again, practice should make it perfect and also, do not forget the proper tying around the neck—doubly wrapped and loose.

The mask generally catches everything sneezed out of the nose but it needs immediate replacement once soiled.

The sleeve/elbow maneuver will leave the cloth wet, stained and soiled.

That will be an unfavorable sight.

Third criteria, take the fastest way to contain the cough or the sneeze.

Discussion on the third criteria to follow.

Imagine you are in meeting with your friends, or on a date with your sweetheart or wife. The maneuver, which will satisfy the three criteria is by sneezing or coughing inside your shirt or dress.

Bow down and pull forward and bring your dress or shirt towards your nose and mouth before sneezing or coughing.

Let us review our criteria.

First criteria, it should contain all or almost all of the droplets.

With this BOPISS maneuver, almost all of the droplets are trapped. Most droplets will be directed to the chest and if it rebounds, it is caught by the shirt or the dress.

If you have a regular dress or t-shirt which is not too thin, it will be enough to contain most, if not all of the droplets.

It is best to have an undershirt to catch the droplet. But with or without the undershirt, that maneuver will still be a better option to effectively catch the droplets.

The wearing of a tie by men will be a limitation for this maneuver. Because ties are generally not washed after each use, they can be considered fomitecarrying bacteria, virus or germs. The recommended new normal, therefore, is not to wear ties anymore!

A scarf may be helpful too. If loosely worn and wound twice around your

How to effectively disinfect your home against Covid-19

Breastfeeding advocates call on L.G.U.s to prohibit giving out milk formula

What do you think is the best way?

R

ealizing how the coronavirus disease 2019 can spread through small respiratory droplets which can survive for days on surfaces, people have started to disinfect their homes and offices, especially if they have family members and colleagues who are vulnerable to infection.

Here are a few guidelines on how to effectively disinfect one’s surroundings against coronaviruses such as the Covid-19.

Use disinfectant sprays and multipurpose cleaners to routinely clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. This includes tables, doorknobs, light switches, elevator buttons, countertops, door and cabinet handles, desks, phones and other hand-held gadgets, remote controls, computer keyboards, toilet seats, faucets and sinks. Carpets, rugs and curtains can also be disinfected.

It is best to use products that can disinfect 99.9 percent of viruses and bacteria since they can kill human coronaviruses.

To make disinfection more efficient, dirty surfaces should ideally be cleaned first using detergent soap and water, or other appropriate cleaning solutions. It is also advisable to wear disposable gloves while cleaning and disinfecting, or wash hands immediately after using disinfectant products.

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

T

o encourage breastfeeding among mothers, ensure good health and adequate nutrition of infants and young children, Save the Children Philippines is urging local government units (LGUs), private groups, charitable organizations and individuals to adhere to existing laws that prohibit the distribution of infant formula or breastmilk substitute as part of relief goods.

Atty. Alberto Muyot, chief executive officer of Save the Children Philippines, said nutrition and health support to children, pregnant and lactating mothers must be integrated into the national and local government response during the Covid-19 pandemic including the promotion of breastfeeding.

Muyot has called on the local executives after several cities and municipalities have been distributing milk formula as part of relief goods to their constituents, which raised concerns of breastfeeding advocates.

“We call on local governments to support parents and guardians by encouraging mothers to breastfeed, and provide access to affordable and healthy food,” Atty. Muyot said adding that “children suffer the worst impact of the Covid-19 pandemic due to rising levels of poverty, illhealth and malnutrition.”

He said donations of infant formula in times of disasters, calamities and emergencies including pandemic are strictly prohibited under the Milk Code or Executive Order 51 of 1986, the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion under Republic Act 10028, and the Republic Act

11148 or Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act which is being implemented nationwide.

Save the Children Philippines joined the Department of Health and the National Nutrition Council in calling all LGUs to strictly adhere to these laws and guidelines, especially during emergencies like the Covid-19 pandemic.

These laws mandate local government units to establish milk banks during emergency situations to provide access to breastmilk when mothers become sick or not able to breastfeed their babies. The milk banks will provide a venue for lactating mothers who wish to donate their breastmilk.

Dr. Amado Parawan, Health and Nutrition advisor of the Save the Children Philippines said breastfeeding during the Covid-19 pandemic is highly encouraged to strengthen the immune system of babies, protect children from respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses, prevent malnutrition, and ensure bonding between the mother and her baby.

He said breastmilk is safe and ensures babies grow up healthy, and increases IQ. “Breastmilk is the best source of nutrition for babies and there is no milk formula that can provide the same optimum health and nutrition benefits to infants and young children,” said Dr. Parawan. He added that colostrum-the the first milk formed after the delivery of the new-born contains antibodies that protect the newborn against diseases. Recent studies also state that colostrum has properties against diseases caused by viruses.

He said mothers, even those infected by Covid-19, can still continue breastfeeding

Dr. Gil M. Vicente, MD., Ear, Nose and Throat, Head and Neck Specialist, St. Luke’s Medical Center.

Belongs to a group of unique group of specialists whom we can consider as chosen few.

Vicente is currently the chief of the Rhinology Section of the St. Luke’s Medical Center. He is also currently the president of the Philippine Society of Oncologists.

He is also a Diplomate of the Philippine board of ORL-Head and Neck Surgery; fellow, Philippine Society of Oncology; fellow, International College of Surgeons; president, International Symposium on Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyposis (2017); president, Philippine Society of Otolarynology Head and Neck Surgery (2008); president, International Society on Infection and Allergy of the Nose (1999); president, Asian Research Symposium in Rhinology (2005).

while limiting the baby’s exposure to the virus by using respiratory precautions. Mothers who have been infected by Covid-19 may choose to breastfeed, but they must wear a facemask and wash hands thoroughly with soap and water. “There are no clear scientific studies that the Coronavirus can be transmitted through breastmilk,” said Dr. Parawan.

Also, mothers who are sick can choose to manually express breastmilk to maintain milk supply. These mothers should wash their hands properly before doing breast milk expression.

Dr. Parawan said expectant mothers should eat healthy food, maintain personal hygiene, and take iron folic supplements. Breastfeeding mothers must have a support system through their husbands, partners, and other members of the family. He reminded pregnant mothers to go to birthing facilities, lying-in clinics, and infirmary with a midwife, nurse, or doctor as many hospitals are crowded with Covid-19 patients. He also advised mothers giving birth to seek help from health and nutrition workers and breastfeeding support groups when facing difficulties in initiating and continuing breastfeeding.

Save the Children Philippines advocated for the passage of First 1,000 Days law or RA 11148, which mandates exclusive breastfeeding for babies up to six months and continued breastfeeding up to two years while starting complementary feeding.

“Children, including pregnant and lactating mothers, are most vulnerable during Covid-19 pandemic, and local government units should prioritize their health and nutrition,” Dr. Parawan concluded.

Thursday, April 30, 2020 B3

FWD enhances coverage with COVID-19 Assist

F

WD Life Insurance Philippines (FWD Insurance) today announced its enhanced Covid-19 coverage for eligible existing customers. FWD Covid-19 Assist will also provide customers who are medical and health-care workers at the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus with lump sum death benefits for claims between April 16 and 30, 2020.

“FWD is committed to providing customers with the right support. As such, we constantly review our products to ensure appropriateness of our benefits and offerings,” said Li Hao Zhuang, FWD Insurance president and chief executive officer. “As the Covid-19 pandemic evolves, our Filipino bayanihan spirit is important to us now more than ever, and our enhanced benefit aims to provide extra coverage for medical and healthcare workers on the frontline whom many consider to be our unsung heroes amidst the pandemic.”

FWD Covid-19 Assist provides additional death benefits for: Individual plan (except KanDüü, Set Ka Na, and Peace plans): P100,000, with additional P50,000 if the insured is a medical frontliner; KanDüü plan: P10,000, with additional P5,000 if the insured is a medical frontliner; Additional P25, 000 will be paid if the policyholder is registered with FWD Tapp upon

claiming the Covid-19 Assist benefit.

FWD customers with individual policies and KanDüü are eligible for the P100,000 benefit.

For any FWD Covid-19 offer including the previous Covid-19 Ready and the enhanced Covid-19 Assist, the benefit can only be claimed once.

In addition, FWD Insurance will continue to provide its individual customers additional benefits and consideration in response to the Covid-19 outbreak until April 30, 2020: For plans with due dates from March 6 to April 30: extension of insurance premium payment grace period to 90 days for customers diagnosed with Covid-19, and 60 days for all other customers; Accepting and processing claims including those filed beyond 30 days; Accepting insurance claim documents in soft copy format.

FWD Insurance also launched its Covid-19 Charity Drive, whereby every eligible FWD protection policy purchased in April 2020 will generate a donation for the St. Luke’s Medical Center Foundation. Funds raised will be used to buy additional personal protective equipment (PPE) for the hospital’s medical frontline.

For more information on FWD Covid-19 Assist, customers can visit fwd.com.ph or contact their FWD advisors.

Top 3 quarantine checklists according to a dietitian-nutritionist

A

ccording to dietitian-nutritionist Cheshire Que, “immune system is our first line of defense against infection. It is composed of a network of cells and proteins, much like the different units of a military system that works synergistically to kill pathogens in the form of viruses and bacteria.” Left with a weak immune system, our body is open to diseases.

Jeunesse Anion, a brand that’s committed to women’s wellness, asked Que how you can make use of this social distancing to help reset your overall health. Here are her tips: n Take immunity boosters. Plan your meals to include functional foods in your diet. These are food items that offer health benefits beyond nutrition. The Philippines boasts an array of choices, including brown rice and several other rice varieties that are rich in antioxidants and dietary fiber components. Mung bean, on the other hand, is not only affordable and easy to find. It’s also a great source of zinc which is an immunity enhancer.

Have your daily dose of phytonutrients from veggies and fruits in season, beginning with malunggay that reigns supreme in vitamins A, B, C. Bitter gourd is another affordable, antioxidant-rich staple with anti-diabetes potential that will work well in a variety of recipes from sauté, stews, to soups.

Tubers or starchy vegetables are natural sources of complex carbohydrates, antioxidants, they tend to have a lower glycemic index load, and cause less digestive or inflammatory reactions than wheat. Potato, taro, yam and cassava are abundant year-round and available wherever vegetables are sold.

When shopping for fruits, choosing what’s in season and available locally will increase your spending power. Since they’re usually cheaper and easier to find, make mangoes, pineapples, bananas, and papayas a regular part of your staple. They’re filled with highly nutritious vitamins and fiber, which are all beneficial for our immune health. Coconut water is also a great soda replacement that’s low-calorie, low-sugar, and a rich source of potassium!

If budget and availability permit, take it up a notch with fiber and omega-3 rich chia seeds, which you can liberally sprinkle on salads and smoothies. Add as well the probioticspacked kimchi and superfood wheatgrass that is both helpful in maintaining a good balance of microbiome in your gut. Honey, onions and garlic are also the three superfoods that will greatly benefit the immune system. n Stay active while practicing social distancing. “Schedule your exercise daily. Choose an activity that you enjoy so it won’t feel like a chore. There are so many exercise videos available on the Internet but caution must be taken

if you have a health condition. It’s best to get your doctor’s approval if you plan to get serious in starting a program. Otherwise, house cleaning, dancing, brisk walking, and walking will be a good start. Don’t forget to pace while talking on the phone. Just keep moving! Remember to dress the part including wearing the proper footwear.

This alone will keep you motivated to quit being a couch potato in a lockdown,” Que reminded. n Adapt new wellness habits. If you’ve been a restless sleeper, now is the time to take back that much-needed quality slumber. According to Que, “lack of sleep depresses the immune system and impacts your rate of recovery from infection.” That said, sleep hygiene is just as vital as exercise and nutrition! Meditation and prayer have been essential aspects of wellness, but today science backs its effects in improving our overall health. Dealing with worry and anxiety lately? “Do not discount the power of a 15-minutes. pause to reduce stress, anxiety, and lack of mental alertness. “Take advantage of this time as well to find spiritual healing as it’s one of the areas that will help us realign with our purpose and meaning that’s greater than ourselves. Read the Bible, find a group that can help you reinforce your connection with God and others,” added Que. Stay away from anything that disturbs your inner peace, gossips, toxic social-media posts, or opinions of people that do not matter.

The tension of pandemic can contribute to women’s hormonal imbalance, especially now that we understand that anxiety stress, and not following the basics of healthy living can only make us susceptible to diseases and PMS. Jeunesse Anion is made of virgin pulp breathable cotton material, nontoxic glue, and highly absorbent cellulose core that locks away menstrual fluid. But its most-prized benefits are antibacterial, antifungal, and odor control properties, which was proven in a test conducted by the Laboratory of Inorganic Nanomaterials Institute of Chemistry, UP Diliman. While it sounds too good to be true, Jeunesse Anion also helps to alleviate cramps and dysmenorrhea by stopping the nerves in sending pain signals to the body! These pain-busting benefits were found in the same study which strengthens claims of its avid users.

Jeunesse Anion offers its five variants— ultra‐day pad, day pad non-wing, ultranight pad, all-night pad, and panty liner. They all guarantee reliable protection, comfort and convenience that you’ll love. Order now on our Facebook and Instagram or Official Lazada Store in this link: http://bit.ly/2R1OeG3.

For more health tips, visit www.jeunesseanion. com and follow Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram: @Jeunesse Anion. For inquiries, email: wellgoldinternational@gmail.com or call (02) 4701294.

Insurance company provides employees financial, mental health aid A

llianz PNB Life has taken measures to ensure the health and overall well-being of its employees during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period.

Allianz PNB Life Chief Marketing Officer Gae Martinez shared that these include the release of their full month salaries for March and April, financial assistance for its intermediaries and full-time contractual workers, work-from-home arrangements, and mental health benefits.

“Even before the Insurance Commission

(IC) issued guidelines for companies during the ECQ, Allianz already developed an immediate Human Resource guideline for assessment and action steps for specific scenarios to ensure the physical, mental, and financial well-being of our employees and intermediaries,” Martinez said.

Among them is the development of an enhanced framework in identifying persons under monitoring (PUMs), persons under investigation (PUIs), and Covid-19 positive patients to promote and strengthen the safety of its employees and

office environment. As of current time, no Allianz PNB Life employee has contracted the virus.

In addition, Allianz’s employee assistance includes a mental health card, which it first issued as early as May 2019.

“We constantly remind our employees from all over the country to use their health card to avail of the tele-counseling services of our partner clinic, Childfam-Possibilities Psychosocial Services [CPPS], should they experience anxiety and other mental health problems during these

challenging times,” Martinez shared. With stress levels rising due to the situation brought about

by Covid-19, this benefit is added assistance to Allianz PNB Life employees.

Allianz also has an in-house registered guidance counselor who oversees the engagement and wellness initiatives of the company’s executives, employees and consultants/vendors.

“We offer guidance to our employees on how to work at the right pace while working from home and how they can practice self-care dur-

ing the pandemic,” she further related.

Through its Crisis Management Committee, Allianz also came out with reminders and bulletins for its employees and intermediaries. It also activated its work-from-home arrangement through the provision of facilities during the ECQ and released Maxicare memos and guidelines.

For those working from home, Allianz has an employee check-in that helps assess their current situation. This also serves as the basis of the company’s next steps for employees

who have been experiencing anxiety and fatigue. It would also help in strengthening the company’s employee communications and engagement throughout the ECQ. Allianz also offers several online learning programs for its employees that are geared toward resiliency and well-being. With many confined to their places of residence, the online learning tools also provide an added way to learn and understand new skills for further self-improvement.

B4

Parentlife BusinessMirror

Thursday, April 30, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

z

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Dianna Agron, 34; Kirsten Dunst, 38; Kunal Nayyar, 39; Johnny Galecki, 45.

Happy Birthday: Make each move strategic. You won’t have much wiggle room this year. Precision, detail and simplifying your life will help ease stress and encourage you to make lifestyle changes that will give you more time to spend doing things you enjoy.

Thinking ahead will motivate you to incorporate plans that cost less and serve you adequately. Cutbacks are favored. Your lucky numbers are 5, 18, 21, 24, 33, 35, 47.

FROM left: Meagan as a baby during Tummy Time on an activity blanket; preschool Marcus with his own drawings while I write the Chinese words for him to match and doing Tangrams with me in the car on his Learning Journey 2-in-1 Magnetic Board; both kids’ active time swimming with my husband in our backyard when they were in grade school.

The ‘active opportunity’ in this quarantine period: Part II

T

HIS week, let me share my thoughts on how a learning mindset helps us in seizing the active opportunity this quarantine period presents.

When we become a parent, it is common for us to feel overwhelmed. With so many things we’re told we need to do, we are almost always questioning ourselves if we are doing enough. I learned for myself a few years after giving birth to my first child that I did not want to always feel pressured. I did not want to look back at my parenting journey and say all I did was be afraid. If my goal for my child is to be happy and fulfilled, shouldn’t we as a parent-and-child team take each day at a time to find learning and laughter together? So, I made a self-declaration that “my child and I will build happy learning memories together!”

I also wanted something simple, time-friendly and effective. I knew from the outset that it should be expert-based. Through the years, I have also discovered that there is no one-size-fits-all formula because each child is unique and, we should love and respect our child for that. In parenting two kids for the past 14 years, what ticked all the boxes for me was one activity: Learn Through Play.

As shared last week, I have seen positive results with my own kids, both academically and

psychologically, by having play as my foundation. I have seen them more confident, open to mistakes, bold in trying new things and, most of all, happy.

More than this, the learning goes both ways. The more I played with my kids, the more I got to know them. I got to know what makes them smile the widest. I got to know how they reacted to difficult tasks. So, I also got to know how to support them better. Because the learning took place during play, we got to laugh a lot with all the fun and mess.

Later on, when I was taking my BS Education, I really wanted to find a way to build a happy and effective parent-child learning relationship. Below are some tips I recommend for parents during play time: n Safety is my top priority. I buy tools and toys from brands I know that follow US/Europe safety standards. Also, make sure you clean toys, play surfaces like tables and playmats with food-grade antibacterial cleansers or wipes. Playmats and activity blankets should be washed with gentle detergents. n Start and end each play session with washing both your and your child’s hands with gentle antibacterial soap or wipes. n For infants, sensory development is key. Look for objects that can stimulate the babys’ sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. The three must-haves are a) an activity blanket or play gym that has black-andwhite graphics; b) a mobile with black-and-white graphics; c) a textured rattle that can both produce sound and provide tactile stimulation when shaken. n For toddlers and preschoolers, it would be great to have your own learning centers. It is quite simple to do. I suggest a corner with toys, puzzles and books sorted in boxed organizers preferably clear or labeled.

Then another side can be more nurture or pretend play like a play kitchen. Then, finish it off with a center table where your child can do arts and writing.

An art kit complete with coloring materials is good for easy pack away. n For grade school kids, use your tutoring sessions or your conversations with your kids’ teachers to find out the concepts your child is having difficulty with.

Don’t bring it up with your kids right away. I suggest that for your routine weekend game nights, buy games, puzzles or other toys that may help them gain interest in the concept. Ask advice from your trusted support system like teachers or parents with older kids for needed enrichment. n Remember that a few but “hardworking” toys allow better familiarity for kids, not to mention savings on expenses. That’s why I use a lot of Melissa & Doug toys for my own kids. The colored pegs I used when they were babies are the same toys I used to teach them to count, draw shapes and sort. So, when I used it to teach my daughter addition in her preschool years, I felt she learned faster because the toy was familiar to her. n As you do these activities, try to wear a learning mindset. Try to see how your child picks up the information. Does he or she enjoy looking at things, hearing things, or touching things? I realized when my daughter was three that she was more visual.

When she had to learn songs, I would draw the words out and she would learn things faster. I also saw how I needed to improve on her auditory skills because it was difficult for her to absorb information without visual boards. For my son, he was more tactile. It always helps that he writes or draws on his own, and then we identify his drawing together. That’s how he learned his Chinese vocabulary. You can also join play groups like Casa Tykes or social-media communities that promote Learn Through Play. n Last, always remember to appreciate yourself and your kids for each play session by giving each other a tight hug and kiss after. n

How Metro Retail cares during the Covid-19 crisis Thousands of Filipinos have been caught in the middle of the global Covid-19 pandemic, making it harder to get necessary supplies and maintain a living.

In response to this, Metro Retail is keeping their doors open to provide for shoppers and grocery workers alike.

As the government provides a new curfew to help

quell the spread of infection, life goes on and there is still a need for food and supplies for the home.

Thus, Metro will remain open but with adjusted operating hours for select stores in order to best serve the people while adhering to government policy and ensuring the well-being of the valuable Metro grocery team.

Along with guidelines on schedules, shoppers can also expect a more tightly woven procedure from here on out to ensure the safety and protection of both staff and customers from Covid-19.

Daily disinfection of store premises, consistent practice of social distancing, providing masks for

personnel, and encouraging hygiene procedures with customers by keeping sanitizers available throughout store premises have become the new normal in Metro locations.

With everyone working from home but still having to pay for home and health needs, Metro is taking an extra step to help shoppers

maximize their budget by reducing prices of select items under “Metro Health Savers.”

As these necessities become more accessible and affordable, Metro hopes to do its part in continuing to serve people and contribute to the fight against Covid-19.

More information on Metro Retail is available at www.metroretail.com.ph.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Gather information, and figure out the best way to pursue something new. Making a move or rearranging your place to better suit your needs is favored. Romance is on the rise and will bring you closer to someone you love.

HHHHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Take a moment to consider what’s best for you before jumping into something unfamiliar. Emotional issues will surface if you get into a battle with someone who can influence your position, reputation or finances.

Be smart and sit tight. HH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Refuse to let anyone stand in your way or push you in a direction you don’t want to go. Put more emphasis on your physical well-being, diet, exercise and a healthy attitude. Stick to a budget and ease your stress. HHHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don’t feel you have to make a change to please someone else. Consider what you want and what you can afford, and choose whatever will cause the least amount of anxiety. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Don’t be influenced by others. A reserved attitude and a wait-andsee approach are better options. Channel your energy and your emotions into quality time spent with someone you love or doing something that benefits our planet or another worthy cause. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Work diligently toward a goal. Keep your plans simple, be precise and don’t go over budget. An emotional setback should not interfere with your projects. A change someone close to you makes will turn into a learning experience for you. HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Your persuasive charm will end up getting you in trouble if what you promise cannot be fulfilled. Rethink your strategy, and work on personal growth, not trying to convince others to do things your way. HHHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Slow down, look at every angle and don’t make a move until you are sure you are doing the right thing. Pour your energy into accumulating money, not spending it. HH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Speak your mind, and you’ll find out who your allies are. Emotional spending will not bring you happiness. An activity that promises adventure and excitement will lift your spirits and encourage you to live a healthier lifestyle. Romance is encouraged. HHHHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Expand your business or take on extra work that will bring in extra cash. Make home improvements, but don’t count on getting help or pleasing everyone with the alterations you want to make. HHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Be realistic. If you make an abrupt move or change, you will have regrets. Stick close to home, and focus on what you can do to improve your health, appearance and relationship with someone you love. HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Confusion will set in if you trust someone who has ulterior motives. Don’t believe everything you hear, and refrain from letting your heart rule your head. A cash-flow problem will surface if you are too generous or careless with your cash. HHH Birthday Baby: You are engaging, persistent and outgoing.

You are commanding and intense.

‘side dish’ by gabrielle friedman The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 ___ up (common palindrome) 4 Computers with Finder 8 Like this answer 14 Sound of satisfaction 15 “This can’t be good!”

16 Everest expert 17 Scot’s refusal 18 Small setback 20 Heavy instruments in marching bands 22 You: Fr. 23 Bangalore bread 24 Small piece of paper 25 Sore, perhaps 27 Best part of the weekend, for some 32 Consumer protection org.

34 “Be right with you” 35 Give off 36 Site of a siege to remember 38 Quite proficient 39 Headey of Game of Thrones 40 Cousin of a clam 45 Code breakers’ org.

46 Hogwarts class about nonmagical

beings 9 Fanciful thoughts 4 50 Communicate nonverbally 53 Betty of old cartoons 55 Neither’s partner 56 Political debate topic 57 Alley targets 60 Pampering, for short 61 Available to chat, say 62 Morales of Titans 63 Animal hidden in Immanuel Kant 64 Amount prescribed 65 Word after “sleep” or “national” 66 Blog feed initials DOWN 1 Huffs and puffs 2 Do-it-yourself moving rental 3 Explosive start?

4 Fall flowers, briefly 5 ___ tuna 6 Hold 7 Chasing away 8 Eruption fallout 9 Bar exercise 10 Pulled from shelves

11 Sea creature with no natural predators 12 ___ sugar 13 Gunk on a trunk 19 Beatles drummer Starr 21 Imitate 25 Mom-and-pop org.?

26 Good times 28 However, informally 29 “Preach it, girl!”

30 Jar contents at a restaurant 31 Jones or James of jazz 32 Skin soother 33 Cordon ___ 37 Mississippi’s state flower 38 Krieger of the US women’s national soccer team 40 NYC art museum, with “The” 41 Employing 42 Bent over 43 Early daily occurrence 44 Red pencil users, briefly 47 Taking great strides 48 Count conclusion?

51 Shore birds

2 Guitar parts with frets 5 53 Pro ___ (for free) 54 Barn birds 56 “That so?”

57 Gym figure 58 Born, in the society pages 59 Seize suddenly

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Show BusinessMirror

Thursday, April 30, 2020

B5

FROM left: Jaime Fabregas, Lui Quiambao Manansala, Sue Prado and Sandino Martin

Under the quarantined sky, stars read poems I

T is night, which is really early morning, and Kristian Sendon Cordero and I are talking about poetics and what poems to assign to readers. In this age of death, it is business as usual between the two of us.

It is as if Savage Mind remains in operation. This is the bookstore and cultural hub established by Kristian, a nationally recognized writer, in Naga City.

The place has developed a reputation for inviting to town and hosting established writers and artists. It has lived to the meaning of its name, with “savage” no more a derogatory term implying the primitive, but recovering the beauty of the “untamed” mind, as Claude Levi-Strauss has said, a mind that freely gathers things and bundles them into new, brave ideas.

But if the Catholic Masses could be reimagined with only the priest present and the Olympics canceled, what can a bookstore do?

It was in that state of isolation and anxiety that a small but insanely daring project was born—a poetry reading online.

Could we ask celebrities to read? Kristian was raising this point because the main goal of Savage Mind is to develop reading and generate a love of

literature and books.

As the discussion went on, we started to zero in on actors as readers. We were aware of online postings from actors showing that they—like other ordinary people—were struggling and coping with being cooped up in homes and condos. They have time.

Can you call Jimmy? “Jimmy” is Jaime Fabregas, the actor. I did and explained to him what we were planning. Jimmy said yes. We talked via Messenger.

Before Jimmy, Kristian and I already settled on the first three poems to be read. Just three, we told ourselves. The reading was not meant to be an academic display but an attempt to interest anyone about poetry. There would be no discussion. The poems as read would be the gift of Savage Mind to a nervous world that has retreated into itself.

Jimmy would read an English poem from Luis G. Dato. The poet is a legend among Bikolano readers and artists. He was celebrated among the prewar greats, which included Jose Garcia-Villa and Angela Manalang-Gloria. After that—a week or so—Jimmy would recite the poetry of two major writers: Luis Cabalquinto and Marne Kilates. They just happen to be Bikolanos.

Luis is based in New York while Marne is in Manila. Between the two are hundreds of verses and numerous awards. Luis and Marne are heralded for their gift in crafting poems in English. In the Bikol language, both writers sing of the sad and the fleeting, the sensation of remembering always an open season.

Jimmy was free to do anything with the three poems. If there was an imposition, it was that Kristian mainly selected the poems and I commented here and there. Kristian reviewed the finished product and engaged an editor to refine the video. Then the video was released online. No fuss, no frills.

From Jimmy, we learned a different way of

reading a poem—by not reading it. Jimmy showed us the pauses, giving us the open spaces of those tiny silences. And when the quick reviews from readers came, we knew we had a good event.

Whoever said art should stop when there are threats of annihilation? More than ever, art stands for life, the negation of negation and poetry is one solution for the lockdown, the death promising to come anytime.

Who do we invite next? I volunteered to do the calling. Focused as we were on Bikol writing, we sort of limited ourselves to Bikolano actors.

Lui Quiambao Manansala was next. She agreed to read even as she was candid about the lack of idea of what to do. The fault was ours. We never had any formal letter of invite. For some reason, we avoided that. The world was in desolation. We might as well open up ourselves to those reaching out. We also did not have stepby-step instruction. I have a feeling Lui did not have any idea she would take the video of herself reading.

But, like Jimmy, she never asked.

Even before Lui had sent in her videotaped reading (using a phone), Kristian and I were already talking about who to invite next.

By the time Lui’s readings hit us with such a thud, Christian Bables had already signified his interest.

What happened was I saw Christian online. I greeted him. What are you doing? Are you okay? Would you want to read a poem?

Sandino Martin was also online when we met for the project that by this time had already a title—“Himati.” It is a Bikol word for sensing and deep feeling to the point of empathy. Would you have time to read a poem?

“I have ideas” was the response of Sandino. “I like to experiment,” he told us.

Last Sunday, Sandino surprised us with a question:

‘Wowowin’ continues to provide solid entertainment NOTHING can stop well-loved GMA host Willie Revillame in pursuing his passion and commitment to bring happiness and extend support among fans and TV viewers wherever he may be.

Following the government’s implementation of a lockdown in Luzon and other parts of the country, the entertainment industry has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic with the suspension of TV production and a ban on mass gatherings.

In order to help his fellow Filipinos in need, Willie pushed for the return of the live broadcast of his program Wowowin, with the help of GMA, to continue bringing joy and hope among kababayans especially during this tough time.

With strict adherence to social distancing measures and important guidelines given by experts, Willie decided to rehash the format of his show without compromising the fun and amazing prizes at stake for those watching at home.

“Iba na po ang tema ng Wowowin. Parang talk show na ’to. Talk show na may entertainment, may games, at siyempre may puso para sa bayan,” he explained.

Wowowin is now being held live at the Wil Tower

instead of its newly renovated studio in GMA. There is no audience present, only a few production staff and a band for Willie’s song numbers and performances.

It also launched a new segment, called “Tutok to Win,” wherein Willie calls a lucky viewer to win cash prizes ranging from P10,000 to P50,000 if they answer his questions right.

It’s as simple as it sounds since Willie believes that everyone, techie or not, should have a chance to receive help: “Hindi ako techie, wala akong alam. Tawag lang ho ako at text. Salamat kasi pinagkatiwalaan n’yo po ako at gumagawa po ako ngayon ng bagay na talagang gusto kong gawin para sa inyong lahat. Gusto ko hong makatulong sa gobyerno natin. Gusto ko hong makatulong sa mga kababayan natin.”

Recently, Willie also pledged P1 million for the relief efforts of GMA Kapuso Foundation to widen their reach in giving out to less fortunate communities who have no means of providing for their families.

“Napakalaking bagay po nito sa buhay ko eh. Kasi una, gusto ko ho talaga makagawa nang mabuti sa inyo. Hindi lang ho ’yung pagbibigay ng saya, ’yung pagbibigay ng

tulong, ’yun po bang sinserong kumanta, mapasaya kayo, may kumakanta na maganda, napapangiti namin kayo sa panahon na ’to,” he added.

Wowowin can be streamed simultaneously online through its official social-media pages, and is seen on TV weekdays at 4:30 pm on GMA.

“Can I e-mail now my video?”

The video arrived. Sandino was reading as he seemed to rock back and forth. He read a line about the moon appearing and a moon did appear. I will stop there lest I spoil your viewing of the video. Suffice it to say that Christian and Sandino performed, and not read, the poems given to them.

As of this writing, the following have said yes to this small project: Angeli Bayani, Sue Prado, Dexter Doria, Rocco Nacino and Max Eigenmann. The last three actors are “courtesy” of Will Fredo.

We are yet to finalize talks with Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, another Bikolana artist (Max is Bikolana on her mother side). Jimmy Fabregas contacted the actress for us. I speak of “talks” as if there are contact signing and other protocols. There is none and credit for the success of our initiative is greatly due to these actors. Every night is a lesson in reading and interpretation, with Kristian and me the avid listeners to these great teachers.

With our listeners or viewers having reached more than 100,000, we are inspired to craft a syllabus so we could use these videos for classroom instruction. We hope the actors would agree because they are as much a part of this phenomenon with the Ateneo de Naga University Press and Savage Mind.

We are moving away from our original focus on “Bikol” and “Bikolano artist.” We feel the labels, at best, provide heuristic devices good for teaching but are not useful anymore in understanding human societies and the Humanities. Like our poetry readings which are not grounded on physical geographies, teaching about good poetry and art is limited by the concept of regional identities and authenticities, both problematic constructs.

Contactless, the teaching of poetry and literature will never be the same again. This is good reality. ■

WINFREY, ROBERTS TO APPEAR IN GLOBAL VIRUS RELIEF LIVESTREAM

LOS ANGELES—Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts and former President George W. Bush will be among 200 star-studded participants in a 24-hour global livestream event.

The “Call to Unite” event will kick off Friday evening to offer performances and conversations about overcoming the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. Event organizers hope participants can help inspire people to “emerge from this crisis better than when it began.”

Quincy Jones, Jennifer Garner, Common, Maria Shriver, Questlove, Yo-Yo Ma, Eva Longoria, Naomi Campbell and Alanis Morissette are expected to participate in the event.

Each participant will answer calls in their own way, whether through performing a song, sharing a story or offering a prayer.

The event will be livestreamed at www.unite.us and on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Twitch, LinkedIn and SiriusXM Stars. AP

B6 Thursday, April 30, 2020

How the workplace is evolving amid the COVID-19 pandemic

A

S we continue to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies and organizations have had their operations disrupted and upturned amid the observance of community quarantine and social distancing.

As such, a growing number of companies with officebased work have strengthened their work-from-home scheme in order to keep things business as usual at a time when things are very unusual.

This now raises the question on the evolving definition of the workplace. No longer bound by a traditional office setup but through a digitally-enabled environment, the workforce can essentially ‘work’ anywhere as long as they are connected to a stable internet.

And while a work-from-home setup has a lot of advantages, the challenge now for many organizations lies in how they will manage their employees and keep track of their progress and productivity online. And while many companies are learning as they go, some already have existing policies in place and are arguably well-equipped to adapt to these changing times.

One such company is Mondelez Philippines, which implemented a flexible work-from-home setup for most of its people as early as 2017. This, coupled with extended benefits such as 120-day maternity leave and comprehensive health plans which benefit same-gender domestic partners too. These policies have enabled the company to quickly adjust to a remote work setup and have the proper channels and support systems in place.

In employing a remote team setup, the snacking company quickly understood that such a drastic change in the work dynamic requires the collective effort from everyone in the organization: From the leadership to its

people. Moreover, this system is built heavily on open communication, objectivity, proactivity, and trust from its workforce.

And in its effort to bring on a sense of normalcy and continuity, Mondelez Philippines has also employed online employee engagement tactics such as virtual town halls, as well as utilizing online channels for continuous learning and development opportunities – even at home.

“We’re not all together right now, but we are #strongertogether. This means that though we might not all be physically present in the office, we retain a sense of normalcy in terms of goals, connections and even fun while working from home,” shares Shiela Pangilinan, Mondelez Philippines’ HR Business Lead. “We have regular catch-ups on video calls, we have an information campaign on safety and what we’re doing for the community and try to have fun through contests like“Show your workplace right now.”

We are privileged to be able to continue operations at this time, so that we can provide food to consumers. That’s why we’re making sure our team is equipped and inspired to continue working for the country’s benefit.”

During this time, many other initiatives were launched by the Company to provide support to its people, like an online on-boarding session for new hires, teleconsulting for medical needs, and a reprieve on payment of company loans.

Furthermore, the Company also ensures a continuity of its social responsibility efforts. It is guided by four pillars: Where employees make it with pride, make it possible, make it with impact, and make it uniquely theirs. Since the quarantine, Mondelez Philippines as well as its employees in their individual capacities, have pledged donations and other support, in cash and in-kind, for employees of

its service providers who are unable to work right now.

The Company has also shared snack product donations – including its chocolates and cookies like Oreo and Tiger, and Eden Cheese – with health front liners and communities in danger of facing hunger.

Pangilinan adds, “We are also showing our full support to our own brave food front liners who continue to produce our snack products, so consumers will be able to have them. These are our manufacturing colleagues, and sales and logistics team. Their courage to provide service to Filipino consumers is very much appreciated and recognized by our Company. We owe them a lot.”

“I maintain a positive outlook amidst these challenging times. I know that I am able to contribute to bringing joy to the homes of people by making our snack products available to them,” shares Ronaldo “Rani” Roque from the Company’s Sales team.

“I would like to extend my thanks to our leadership for providing us the needed tools like safety equipment to be able to continue our work,” adds Melvin Castañeda, also of the Sales team. “I know our Company is not alone in facing challenges, and I am thankful that we continue to be supported through benefits. Rest assured that I will do my best amid this very extraordinary time.”

Having implemented these people policies to create a winning growth culture of fulfillment both professionally and personally, the Company strongly believes that organizations should move forward into the changing times and adapt to ways of how people should be working.

And so, once the quarantine is over or when the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, how will companies adapt to continue supporting its people through the ‘new normal?

#InThisTogether: Living the Work-from-Home-Allstar Life!

Bayad Center’s BAYADnihan campaign makes bills payment more meaningful

W

HILE most utility and loan companies have announced extended due dates for bills payment in consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic, those who are able to still pay on schedule can contribute to the spirit of bayanihan and help their fellows in need while still managing their finances responsibly.

Even the simple act of paying bills can be a way to help disadvantaged individuals and communities through Bayad Center’s “BAYADnihan, Tulong-tulong para sa

DOT and SSI support Philippine food producers in online Philippine harvest

T

HE Department of Tourism (DOT), in partnership with leading retail group Stores Specialists Inc. (SSI), announces the online leg of the Philippine Harvest trade fair starting April 22, 2020.

The Philippine Harvest online leg will help promote local food products from MSMEs and small farmers, and make them more accessible to Filipino consumers despite the circumstances brought about by COVID-19.

The Philippine Harvest Facebook page at facebook.com/PhilippineHarvest will feature products from 27 local food producers. Consumers may order directly from the respective social media accounts of participating merchants, and products will be sent to consumers via available delivery services such as GrabExpress and Lalamove, while practicing social distancing.

The participation of featured merchants is free of charge, and intends to soften the economic impact of COVID-19 on local food and farm producers whose operations were affected by the pandemic. It is also a way of promoting local cuisine and ingredients

I

elements, Allstars are taking the opportunity to reskill and upskill themselves with digital skill sets that will allow them to navigate through an increasingly new business landscape especially in a post-COVID-19 environment.

This learning opportunity is made available through AirAsia’s RedBeat Academy - a one-stop tech, leadership and innovation academy aiming to be the catalyst to fulfil resources for a digital economy within the region. RedBeat Academy is a collaboration between AirAsia Group’s corporate venture arm, RedBeat Ventures, with Google.

Since the work-from-home rule started, over 1,000 AirAsia Allstars from various functions, including pilots and cabin crew have signed up to be part of RedBeat Academy, signifying a strong hunger for learning across the organisation aside from a workforce who

share the company’s digital vision.

Lessons covering five different learning paths have commenced in webinar format involving up to 800 Allstars per session. Each Allstar will receive certification from Google upon completion. Allstars are able to follow learning paths from these topics: ICT & Cybersecurity , Data Analytics, Data Engineering, Data Science, Software Development Aside from the RedBeat Academy, Filipino Allstars in particular have access to e-Learning courses via Workday and Zoom sessions on fitness, grooming, cooking and other topics. Allstars are encouraged to participate in the Clarify, Establish, Keep Focus, Align, and Pivot (CEKAP) Program training. CEKAP is a systematic set of tools and processes designed to drive cost optimization, productivity and growth within the company - the AirAsia way.

amidst the quarantine period.

“With our efforts in taking the Philippine Harvest online, we are showing that COVID-19 will not stop our mission of making locally-sourced food sustainable and available to Filipinos”, said Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat. “Not only can Filipinos continue to enjoy the best of local food products, but our hardworking farmers of our farm tourism sites and MSMEs can still receive the support they need”.

DOT’s Philippine Harvest Trade Fair was established in 2018 in partnership with SSI Group and Central Square Mall in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig to champion the richness of Philippine agriculture, through local, organic, artisanal, and indigenous food products from each of the Philippines’ regions. The endeavor also aims to link the farms and the private sector to new markets.

Interested buyers may get more information on how to support local farmers and producers by visiting the official Facebook page at facebook.com/ PhilippineHarvest.

8 tips to help your TikToks stand out

W

NDEED, all of us across the globe live in an unprecedented time where working from home is the new normal.

While some find it hard to cope with at first, many have grown accustomed to it and developed new ways not just to adapt but also learn and improve ourselves while staying safe at home.

At AirAsia, it is no different as all of us are #InThisTogether.

Allstars are a creative and talented bunch, and in almost the blink of an eye, once the community quarantine started in the Philippines, there was a list of things to keep all of us occupied while staying at home (aside from working, of course).

From cooking lessons, language classes, exercise regimens to origami sessions, there is something for everyone across the whole AirAsia Group to go through this tough season together.

However, aside from these fun

Bayan” campaign.

This is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative where a portion of payments settled from March 1 to April 30, 2020, at any Bayad Center branch or using the mobile app is donated to One Meralco Foundation.

The funds raised will be used to distribute food for the homeless and underprivileged families whose plight has become more challenging with the threats of the health crisis and economic impact of the enhanced community quarantine.

In support of the endeavor, Bayad Center employees are also pledging a part of their salaries to generate funds and further the cause.

Through the “BAYADnihan” campaign, settling and managing their monthly financial obligations has become more meaningful as it opens up an avenue for the paying public to make a positive contribution to communities in their own humble way.

The biggest and most trusted multichannel payment platform in the Philippines, Bayad Center stays true to its mission of making payments convenient and accessible to all, and more meaningful, in this time of crisis. In fulfilling this commitment, it also fuels communal solidarity among Filipinos.

HEN you hear the song “Don’t Start Now” by English singer/songwriter Dua Lipa, what initially comes to mind? Do you imagine the visually stunning music video tied to it, or is your mind flooded with mental images of a plethora of dance covers on TikTok? Indeed, TikTok has become a global phenomenon and, lately, has sort of become a therapy for most people especially in light of the community quarantines enforced worldwide. And with millions of active users on the platform, coming up with fresh and unique videos may seem like a daunting task.

Fear not because collecting plenty of views, likes, and followers on this rapidly growing platform is not impossible. Here are 8 tips on how to make Tik-Toks that stand out: Immerse yourself in the “For You” page Developing ideas and crafting them into your latest TikTok might be difficult due to the sea of clips already out there. But who says you can’t draw inspiration from these clips? Binge watch videos on the “For You” page to get a sense of what’s hot, what’s not, and what hasn’t been created yet.

Use your own audio clips While TikTok has a vast library of songs and audio clips, they are only offered in segments lasting no more than a minute. Got a favorite?

Why not use a separate device to play audio clips of your choice. Be wary of copyright infringement though.

Make every second count To get a higher viewership count, make sure that the first few seconds of your TikTok has an impact that will easily reel people in. Try baked-in captions or brief and creative intros on your videos to entice viewers to watch your clips entirely.

Showcase your “talent,” but be yourself TikTok is considered a safe space for people who want to explore and broadcast their skills

and talents. Whether it’s dancing, singing, acting, cooking, or showing how talented you are at being talentless--that actually garners a lot of engagement--show the world what makes you, you. Just make sure to maintain authenticity because that is what the audience likes.

Go all out While you’re at it, make sure to give it your all and showcase the best version of you. Don’t be ashamed of being a bit “extra”. Put on your best outfits, apply makeup, and unleash a burst of energy--it’ll only be a few seconds anyway.

Be relatable Another way to make your TikToks stand out is to make them as relatable as possible. Try kickstarting ideas with a few unique questions like “How do I react during monumental scenes in a certain renowned movie?” or “How do I look when I wake up on different days of the week?”

Add in multiple hashtags Maybe you’re thinking: “...but having a ‘gazillion’ hashtags is so 2013.” While that may be true for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, there is certainly zero judgement on the use of hashtags by the TikTok community. In fact, using a ton of hashtags like #fyp and #tiktokph, increases your chances of landing on the “For You” page.

Engage in a “Duet” Joining forces with fellow “TikTokers” not only allows for wider audience engagement, but ensures a fun and interactive experience. Plus, you get to make new friends in the process.

Bonus tip: Follow influential profiles Much like in fashion and design, it’s always good to have pegs that are consistent with your style and taste. Follow your favorite TikTokers and celebrities to be in the loop for latest trends. And while you’re at it, follow the brand on TikTok at @vivophilippines to get fresh and creative updates on products and services.

Envoys&Expats BusinessMirror

B7 Thursday, April 30, 2020

SFA leads PHL side in Asean-US foreign ministers’ forum on Covid-19

SECRETARY of Foreign Affairs Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. (right), US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo (left-center) and other regional foreign ministers converge online during the Asean-US Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Covid-19. DFA

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ECRETARY of Foreign Affairs (SFA) Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. and his counterparts in the Asean, along with United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, convened on April 23 for a special foreign ministers’ meeting on the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) via a videoconference.

At the meeting, Pompeo reaffirmed the US’ commitment to the region by using all available tools to minimize the economic and social damage from the pandemic and to restore global growth. He announced the release of more than $35.3 million (approximately P1.78 billion) in emergency-health funding to help the Asean, on top of the $3.5 billion (approximately P177.25 billion) in public health assistance given to the region over the last 20 years.

The state secretary also introduced the new Asean-US Health Futures initiative to enhance joint

efforts in health security. A major focus of the initiative will be the training of the next generation of medical professionals from the bloc.

Pompeo called for “sticking together, and sticking together to our values.” According to him, it is “the best way to defeat the virus and emerge from the crisis stronger than ever.”

Planning for recovery

WITH many of their countries enforcing community quarantine policies, the foreign ministers discussed the expansion of Asean-US cooperation to manage the socio-

economic impact of the pandemic and to plan for future recovery.

They also reaffirmed their collective resolve to prioritize strengthening their public health systems to provide ample care for their peoples, ensuring the stable supply and reliable flow of essential goods and services, as well as cooperating in research and development of vaccines and therapeutics.

Locsin dwelled on the importance to the Philippines of strengthening its health-care system through increased production and supply of medicines, medical equipment and other medical supplies; ensuring food security by keeping Asean markets open; safeguarding supply chain connectivity for staples such as rice; and the streamlining of research and development of vaccines and cures without which the world cannot prevail over the virus.

The SFA underscored the invaluable role of Filipino health-care workers as the core of health-care systems, including Filipino-American frontliners who are risking their lives in the US. He conveyed his hope for America to continue

protecting the said workers and remember their contributions as the US crafts its immigration policy in the wake of Covid-19.

Peace despite the pandemic

THE foreign ministers also noted concerns expressed over recent developments in the South China Sea that have increased tensions, at a time when all efforts and resources are focused on battling the pandemic. They recognized the importance of contributing to the perpetuation of peace, security, stability and the rule of law in the region amid the fight against the disease.

“This is essential at a time when countries must not only navigate the Covid-19 crisis, but must also prepare a post-pandemic plan of social and economic recovery,” Locsin stated. “In Asia, that recovery hinges on China’s recovery from the ravages of the pandemic; but it can never be at the price of our honor and sovereignty,” he added.

The videoconference forms part of a series of meetings aimed at strengthening Asean-US international cooperation in addressing the outbreak. DFA

Enduring partnership: Working together to defeat Covid-19

By Sung Y. Kim

Ambassador of the United States to the Philippines

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ODAY’S global pandemic severely affects public health, economies and our daily lives. Yet even in these trying times, the resilience and courage of the (Filipino) people continue to inspire me. From the terrorist attacks on Marawi City, through devastating typhoons, to Taal Volcano’s eruptions, I have seen the reflections of the strength of our partnership in every moment of challenges. I salute the brave frontline workers risking their lives, and extend my deepest sympathies to those who fell victim to or lost a loved one to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Last week, Presidents Duterte and Trump reaffirmed their shared commitment to our respective countries’ relationship, and in prevailing over this pandemic. The US has thus far provided more than P470 million to support the Philippines’s Covid-19 response, in addition to 1,300 cots donated to the Office of Civil Defense and Philippine General Hospital. US assistance is strengthening the capacity to detect, treat and defeat the virus. This complements nearly P30 billion in assistance we have provided over the past 20 years to improve local health care.

This assistance is but one part of American support for our friends in the Philippines. US-based companies are doing their share in the fight against (the

Producing young leaders

outbreak). To cite a few examples, Ford is lending vehicles for medical use. UPS and FedEx are delivering critical supplies.

Procter & Gamble and 3M are producing personal protective equipment. CocaCola and Pepsi are supplying beverages for frontline workers. CapitalOne, Marriott, Dow, Cargill, AIG, Google, Airbnb and Facebook are also providing assistance.

Contributors against ‘Covid’

THE beating heart of our friendship enlivens the robust ties between individuals and families. These bonds are continuously strengthened and refreshed by a wide range of academic-exchange programs (that are) bringing together scholars, policy-makers, entrepreneurs and innovators—in short, our future leaders. Each year, the embassy sends more than 300 Filipinos to the US on programs: from economics, leadership, to health. Upon return, these exchange alumni make extraordinary contributions to the Philippines. I would like to applaud some of those working to stop Covid-19.

Our flagship exchange program is Fulbright, and the Philippines hosts the oldest continually running Fulbright Commission in the world. Drs. Beverly Lorraine Ho and Ronald Law are former Fulbright scholars supporting (the) Covid-19 response efforts at the Department of Health (DOH). After studying Health Policy and Management at Harvard University, Doctor Ho now serves as special assistant to the secretary for

KIM EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES Universal Health Care. Meanwhile, Doctor Law is chief of the DOH’s Emergency Management Bureau Preparedness Division, where the research he conducted on enhancing health security at the University of Washington is more relevant than ever.

Dozens of Filipinos have pursued scientific degrees and conducted research under Fulbright and Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow scholarships. Dr. Vikki de los Reyes, medical specialist in the DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau; Dr. Mario Jiz, head of the Immunology Department at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine; and Dr. Maria Lourdes Otayza, medical center chief (of the) Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital, are applying their exchange program experiences to combat Covid-19.

PERHAPS what’s most inspiring to me are the exceptional initiatives of dynamic young Philippine alumni of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative who are harnessing the skills and experiences gained from their exchange programs to assist communities across the country. YSEALI Academic Fellow and Accessiwheels founder Miggy Bautista recently mobilized volunteers to provide critical transportation to medical facilities for chronically ill patients in Metro Manila.

YSEALI alumna Cherrie Atilano previously launched the “Move Food” Initiative, which has helped more than 3,000 farmers in Luzon and Mindanao deliver produce to quarantined consumers. In Mindanao, US Exchange Alumni Associations partnered with Coca-Cola Philippines and Unilab Foundation to supply water to frontline workers and military personnel. YSEALI alumni also teamed up with the band Ben&Ben to hold an online concert, (which raised) P4.2 million for Covid-19 response.

To succeed against this pandemic, we all have a role to play: government, businesses and individuals. The Philippines can count on continued support from the US government, US businesses and our incredible exchange alumni.

For more than a century, our two nations have met and overcome challenges hand-in-hand. I am confident that together, we will overcome the challenge brought by Covid-19 as well.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PHL keen to join Russia-led clinical trials for vaccine

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HE Philippines has expressed its interest to participate in Russia-led clinical trials for a coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine, Ambassador Igor Khovaev said.

“The Department of Science and Technology [DOST]...has approached the embassy with a proposal to participate in clinical trials for vaccine development through [a] partnership with a competent Russian institution,” Khovaev told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

The agency referred to is the State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology. According to the ambassador, the Novosibirsk-based institute has so far achieved “promising results” in the development of a Covid-19 vaccine.

“We recommended [to] the DOST to get in touch with the said center,” he said.

The envoy also revealed that Russian pharmaceutical company Polysan has offered to donate “an unlimited supply” of cycloferon for Covid-19 patients in the Philippines. He said the medicine “has proven effective against a wide variety of viral infections,” and that the same drug was given to Indonesia in early April.

“We officially conveyed the relevant offer to Philippine partners,” the diplomat disclosed. “As far as I know, it has been under consideration.”

Khovaev believes these efforts reflect the improving ties between the Russian Federation and the Philippines: “Trials and challenges may not be particularly pleasurable, but apart from all hardships and ordeals, the Covid-19 crisis provides us with new opportunities.”

“I am happy and proud to state that the cooperation and friendship between Russians and Filipinos is a real fact—not propaganda,” he added. “Our partnership based on common humane values has endured a stiff test with flying colors, thereby creating unprecedented preconditions for developing and strengthening a fruitful collaboration in the post coronavirus period.”

AMBASSADOR Igor Khovaev PNA

Grateful for repatriation

KHOVAEV also thanked the Philippine government for helping repatriate Russians affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed in different parts of the country, “No embassy in the world has its own boats or airplanes. Therefore, we owe a debt of gratitude to the Philippine government, because the Department of National Defense [DND] and Hon. Secretary Carlito G. Galvez [arranged for] the flights and ships that took our compatriots from Davao, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, Camiguin, Siquijor and many other [cities] to the evacuation airports,” he told the PNA. Due to the Luzon-wide ECQ, domestic flights have been suspended, which left a number of Filipino and foreign tourists stranded in different parts of the country.

Khovaev said two special flights, operated

by Russian air companies, had repatriated 650 of their nationals. The first one took off from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport on March 26, while the other from the Kalibo International Airport on March 31.

Along with Galvez, Khovaev also conveyed Russia’s gratitude to DND Chief Delfin N. Lorenzana, Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. and the local governments for facilitating the Russians’ evacuation. Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA

Managing a pandemic: Lessons from Taiwan

A TURNOVER ceremony for the donation of 1,000 units of personal protective equipment from the Taiwan Association Inc. Philippines to the medical frontliners of the 3rd District of Pangasinan was held on April 24. TECO PHILIPPINES

By Roderick L. Abad Contributor

A

@rodrik_28

S the global community grapples with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis, several affected countries—including the Philippines—remain struggling internally in trying to “flatten the curve.”

While they continue battling this fatal virus from spreading further, Taiwan is currently leading the pack in successfully combating this pandemic. To date, Taiwan has only six recorded deaths, making it a role model for the effective implementation of crisis management on infectious disease.

How does it successfully combat the dreaded malady?

First and foremost, the Taiwanese government has learned the lessons from its experience during the severe accute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2004. In the early stages, it quickly executed a comprehensive forward planning: Testing was standardized, cases of transmission were thoroughly traced, and suspected patients were proactively and quickly examined.

Thanks to the effective governance of its leaders, Taiwan has effectively implemented the programs and guidelines set by its national government.

Most of these political figures, who have had vast experiences in epidemic management as public health experts, include President Tsai Ing-wen, Vice President Chen Chien-jen, Vice President-elect William Lai, Premier Su Tsengchang, Vice Premier Chen Chi-Mai and Health Minister Chen Shih-chung.

Soon as Covid-19 hit their territory and realized the scale of its magnitude, Taiwanese officials immediately carried out early courses of action to contain the virus, given the timing of the outbreak vis-à-vis the Chinese New Year, when majority of the populace traveled.

More than 850,000 Taiwanese reside and work in mainland China.

On January 20, the government activated its Central Epidemic Command Center. It formulated key measures to address the health crisis, including managing the supply of basic goods, relaying timely and reliable information to the public, creating a framework for localized travel advisories, as well as the distribution of face masks and hand sanitizers to the citizens, among others.

Taiwan’s effective handling of the crisis serves as a good template globally for crisis management in a virus outbreak. In fact, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau supports Taiwan’s observer status at the World Health Organization, and has been asking for its re-invitation to be an observer at the World Health Assembly this May. As the country now returns to the “new normal,” Taiwan helps the entire world with its “mask-diplomacy” campaign launched on April 1 by donating 10 million face masks to European countries, the United States, and diplomatic allies.

In the Philippines, a shipment containing 300,000 face masks arrived on April 15.

Of late, Taiwan has kept its number of Covid-19 cases at a minimum, considering its proximity to China. Its success rate in containing this pandemic could be mainly attributed to the people’s trust to its national government administered by competent, expert and transparent leaders.

Sports BusinessMirror

B8 Thursday, April 30, 2020

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

PSC TO CUT COSTS, PARA GAMES OFF

TOKYO 2020 President Yoshirō Mori presents a worst-case scenario for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games.

MORI: IF NOT IN 2021, TOKYO OLYMPICS WILL BE SCRAPPED

RORY MCILROY likens the absence of fans to an early tee time. AP

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OKYO 2020 President Yoshirō Mori claimed the Olympic and Paralympic Games would be “scrapped” if they could not be held next year.

Competition was postponed until 2021 last month due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the Olympics set to take place from July 23 to August 8 and the Paralympics scheduled for August 24 to September 5.

There are concerns that the pandemic may still be an issue next year, however.

In an interview with Japanese sports newspaper Nikkan Sports, Mori was asked whether Tokyo 2020 would be delayed again if it could not take place in 2021.

“No,” Mori said. “In that case, the Olympics will be scrapped.

“We have delayed the Olympics until next summer after we will have won the battle. The Olympics would be much more valuable than any Olympics in the past if we could go ahead with it after winning this battle,” he said.

“We have to believe this otherwise our hard work and efforts will not be rewarded,” he added.

Mori has already warned that the Games could not be rescheduled again, while International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Richard Pound recently said he believed 2021 will be the only chance for Tokyo 2020 to take place.

Japan Medical Association President Yoshitake Yokokura has added fuel to the fire, claiming Tokyo 2020 could not be held next year if a vaccine against coronavirus has not been developed.

“My opinion is that it will be hard to host them unless an effective vaccine is developed,” he said, as reported by Kyodo News. “The global state of infections at that particular time will be a key issue. It will be difficult even if the situation in Japan has become better if infections continue to spread abroad.”

The cost of the postponed Tokyo 2020 is also expected to be an issue.

Neither the IOC nor Tokyo 2020 have given any details regarding the cost of postponing the Games, although it has been reported it could be as high as $3 billion.

In his interview with Nikkan Sports, Mori suggested the Olympics and Paralympics may share Opening and Closing Ceremonies to save costs.

There are normally separate ceremonies for each event.

Tickets have already been sold for all four ceremonies, however, complicating Mori’s idea.

The medical community in Japan is moving toward a consensus that holding next year’s Tokyo Olympics may hinge on finding a coronavirus vaccine.

Yokokura said in a video media conference that the Olympics were possible only if the infections were under control, not only in Japan, but globally.

He did not say whether he opposes the Olympics without vaccines. A Japanese professor of infectious disease said last week he was also skeptical the Olympics could open in 15 months.

“I am very pessimistic about holding the Olympics Games next summer unless you hold the Olympic Games in a totally different structure such as no audience, or a very limited participation,” said Kentaro Iwata, professor of infectious disease at Kobe University.

Devi Sridhar, a professor of Global Health at the University of Edinburgh, also said holding the Olympics may depend on finding a vaccine. This could also apply to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in China, where the coronavirus was first detected.

She said a vaccine was “optimistically 12 to 18 months away.”

“Science is just half the battle,” Sridhar said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “The other half is manufacturing enough doses and getting these into people across the world. How would prioritization be done?”

She asked who would get the vaccine first, health workers, those working with the vulnerable or the elderly, or the elderly themselves. Sridhar said it was unclear how young, strong, Olympic athletes would “fit” into the “priority process.”

“I’m sure there is going to be some innovative thinking about how to combine safety of athletes, their coaches and teams, with the awareness that sports play a crucial role for the world—for economic reasons, but also socially,” she said.

Masa Takaya, a spokesman for the Tokyo Olympics, said he was aware of the comments from the head of the Japan Medical Association.

“We understand there are a variety of insights, opinions around the possibility of hosting the games next year,” Takaya said. “Some medical experts are also expressing that it is too early to made a judgment.”

There will a push from many quarters to hold the Olympics next year—vaccine or no vaccine, fans or no fans.

“This is placing tremendous pressure on all involved to devise an acceptable, rather than optimal solution,” David Carter, who teaches sports business at the University of Southern California, said in an e-mail to the AP. “Add to this the unwavering importance the IOC places on its brand, and the uncertainty in terms of public health and you find yourself with international sports’ version of a Rubik’s cube.”

Insidethegames and AP

No fans means same sport, different arena

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By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press

ORY MCILROY contemplated what golf would be like without fans. This was five days before there was no golf

at all.

“I’d be OK with it,” he said at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, unaware the new coronavirus was about to shut down golf for at least three months. “It would be just like having an early tee time on the PGA [Professional Golfers’ Associaton] Tour.”

And then he added with a laugh, “I guess for a few guys, it wouldn’t be that much different.”

McIlroy had one of those early times when he was a 20-year-old rookie on the PGA Tour. He teed off in the second round of the Honda Classic at 6:59 a.m.

So this will be going back in time for McIlroy, along with the rest of the sport.

The PGA Tour set a target of June 8 to 14 at Colonial in Texas to resume its schedule, with no fans for at least a month. Even if the Charles Schwab Challenge doesn’t prove to be the return, golf will be without spectators whenever it starts.

Will it matter?

Low score still wins, no matter who’s there to see it.

But it will be a new arena.

“I could play without fans, but I don’t think I’d play as well,” McIlroy said Tuesday on his GolfPass podcast with Carson Daly and Stephen Curry. “Especially on a Sunday, back nine, you feed off that energy. You hear roars on other parts of the golf course and you sort of know what’s going on. All those dynamics are in play when you have people there.”

The dynamics go beyond noise, of course.

Nathan Grube, the tournament director of the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, is preparing it to be the third tournament, the last weekend in June, if golf resumes on schedule. There is hope. There is excitement.

There are no grandstands being erected.

That wouldn’t be a big problem at the TPC River Highlands, which features a stadium design and allows for

good viewing, especially over the closing holes.

But imagine other courses without stands, without hospitality suites, with nothing but green grass, white sand in the bunkers, the occasional water hazard.

Think about Mackenzie Hughes trying to play a cut into the 18th green at the Honda Classic, only to pull it into the middle of the bleachers. He was given a free drop. Years ago, the safe play on the 18th at Doral was to put it into the grandstands beyond the green to take water out of the equation, knowing there would be a free drop.

“They’re not going to catch errant shots on some holes,” said Mark Russell, a senior rules official on the PGA Tour.

They are temporary immovable obstructions, and they are a big part of modern golf.

That’s why the USGA, and then the R&A, created a number of drop zones (white circles) in front of the grandstands around the 18th hole, starting with Winged Foot in 2006, to avoid taking too much time figuring out where to drop for shots into or behind the stands. In a few cases, it allowed for a player to advance his ball closer to the hole without hitting it.

Speaking of Winged Foot, consider that no fans on the course means the rough will remain just that. Phil Mickelson, as an example, has been known to hit tee shots so far off line that the ball comes to rest in an area where gallery traffic has trampled thick grass and led to a reasonable lie.

(Maybe if there were no fans at Winged Foot, he would have had to play toward the 18th fairway instead of hitting 3-iron, which led to double bogey and a runner-up finish in the 2006 US Open.)

Fans were Arnold Palmer’s best friends—literally, in so many cases, but also keeping some of his wild shots from straying too far off line.

Tiger Woods once came to the 18th hole at Bay Hill tied for the lead when he pulled his tee shot. It was headed out of bounds but instead struck one of the thousands of spectators in the neck. From grass that had been flattened by the gallery, he hit 5-iron to 15 feet and made birdie to beat Mickelson by one shot.

No major sports events in France until September

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ARIS—The French soccer and rugby leagues will not complete their matches this season after the government called them off as part of efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

France is set to come out of lockdown on May 11, but the government banned all major sporting events until September.

“The 2019-20 season of professional sport, notably soccer, won’t be able to resume,” French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Tuesday.

Rugby’s Top 14 league had reached the semifinal stage and France’s top 2 soccer divisions have 10 games remaining in their seasons.

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) leads the topflight and is still hopeful of somehow playing in the Champions League, where it is through to the quarterfinals.

“We respect of course the French Government decision,” PSG Chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi said. “We plan on competing in the Champions League with UEFA agreement—wherever and whenever it is held. If it is not possible to play in France we will play our matches abroad subject to the best conditions for our players and the safety of all our staff.”

The French soccer league said it will meet on Thursday to study “the sporting and financial consequences of the measures announced.”

The LFP must also decide on the league standings. PSG is 12 points ahead of second-place Marseille, which holds the last position for automatic entry into next season’s Champions League.

Third place goes into the qualifying rounds, with Rennes one point ahead of fourth-place Lille.

Toulouse and 19th-place Amiens are in the automatic relegation slots, with Nimes in 18th place—which normally leads to a relegation-promotion playoff with the team third in division two (Ajaccio).

While PSG had completed its Champions League last16 games, Lyon was unable to play its second leg against Juventus in Turn after beating the Italian champions 1-0 at home.

UEFA has given leagues until May 25 to provide details on how and if they can complete their season. Germany’s Bundesliga wants to restart within weeks and England is trying to complete the Premier League by getting underway again in June. AP

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HE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) would drastically reduce expenses after Malacañang, through the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, imposed stiff priorities on government spending.

As a results, the PSC would no longer fund the country’s hosting of the twice-postponed Asean Para Games and shelved major activities such as the Philippine National Games and Batang Pinoy.

“We heed the call of the national government to cut expenses as we reroute majority of our resources to fighting the pandemic,” PSC Chairman William Ramirez said.

“But we also stand by our commitment to keep supporting members of the national team,” he added.

Ramirez presided over the PSC’s virtual board meeting on Wednesday to draw measures to fulfill the agency’s commitment within the and Management (DBM) which advised to halt non-priority projects under the National Budget Circular 580.

Despite withdrawing support for the 10th Asean Para Games that were moved tentatively for September, Ramirez said the PSC would honor its previous commitment to finance the Games Organizing Committee’s initial operations expenses.

The PSC committed P400 million for the country’s hosting of the Para Games, P100 million of which was already released to the Philippine Paralympic Committee headed by Michael Barredo.

Ramirez also put on status quo the release of allowances for national athletes and coaches, which were jeopardized because the lockdown has resulted to the closure of casinos, the principal source of the PSC’s National Sports Development Fund (NSDF).

“We continue to study projections and proposals and the board is ready to take necessary actions should they be needed,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez thanked the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) for having released P409.10 million representing its share to the NSDF for the first quarter of the year. The PSC sources its funds from the NSDF for elite sports programs.

Joining Ramirez in the virtual meetings were Commissioners Celia Kiram, Ramon Fernandez, Arnold Agustin and Charles Maxey, Executive Director Merlita Ibay, Deputy Executive Directors Dennis Rivera and Atty.

Guillermo Iroy and Chief of Staff Marc Velasco.

Ramirez, however, did not confirm if the PSC would employ a social amelioration program for national athletes and coaches after Pagcor officials said its remittance to the PSC would end this month.

Pagcor has zero revenue during the enhanced community quarantine because casinos all over the country were closed, and will remain shut until May 15.

WILLIAM RAMIREZ: We stand by our commitment to keep supporting members of the national team.

Fiba freezes 3x3 rankings

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HE International Basketball Federation (Fiba) froze the 3x3 rankings in all categories as activities remain suspended amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sanctioned events were shelved since March 13 due to the outbreak and there is no certainty on when the suspension would be lifted with majority of the countries still in lockdown.

“All rankings are frozen as of April 1, 2020, until the suspension of competitions is lifted by Fiba or until any later date so communicated by Fiba,” the basketball governing body said in a statement.

The 3x3 scene endorses a points system on its tournaments, giving ranking points to national federations, ball clubs and players.

Every point counts, as it serves as gate pass to Fiba events, including the supposed Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Bengaluru, India, last March 18 to 22.

The Philippine federation is in the 22nd spot in the world rankings after factoring the combined performance

of the men’s and women’s teams.

The men’s team—composed of Joshua Munzon and Alvin Pasaol, along with 30th Southeast Asian Games gold medalists CJ Perez and Moala Tautuaa—are No. 20 in the world.

“The freezing of the ranking is undertaken with the full support of the 3x3 athletes of the Fiba Player’s Commission, with whom Fiba will continue to liaise before the rankings are unfrozen,” Fiba said.

“Fiba will continue to monitor the situation on a regular basis and will evaluate the options for the continuation or not of the respective competitions, when and if the siutation allows,” the governing body added.

The Philippines is at No. 31 in 5x5 basketball dominated by the United States, Spain and Australia with Iran (22), China (28) and South Korea (30) leading the Asia rankings.

In women’s 5x5, the Philippines is at No. 49 with the US also at No. 1 while Australia was at No. 2 with Spain at No. 3. Ramon Rafael Bonilla