BusinessMirror August 18, 2020

Tieza to House: Tourism firms need aid

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo Special to the BusinessMirror

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HE Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza) has asked the House of Representatives to direct financial assistance to tourism stakeholders under its proposed House Bill 6953.

But the letter of Tieza Chief Operating Officer Pocholo D. Paragas to Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano dated August 11, 2020, a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror, was silent on the P10 billion specifically allocated to Tie-

THE Binondo-Intramuros Bridge, which will connect Intramuros on Solana and Riverside Drive and Binondo on San Fernando Street, is now 36 percent complete, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways. After months of inactivity due to the coronavirus pandemic, construction resumed in May, and it is targeted to be finished by March 2021. ROY DOMINGO

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za for infrastructure projects under the House version of the proposed Bayanihan 2 Act. Said provision in House Bill 6953 has been criticized by tourism stakeholders for not being responsive to their needs, i.e., working capital loans.

“On behalf of the tourism stakeholders, we would like to appeal to our lawmakers to prioritize the financial support and assistance to our tourism workers, travel agencies, resort and accommodation facilities and other tourism-related establishments to allow them to rebuild their businesses once the travel restrictions

have been lifted,” said the Tieza COO in his letter.

“The Department of Tourism (DOT) in consultation with the stakeholders has already prepared a tourism response and recovery plan to enable the tourism sector get back on its feet. They can also be accountable in managing the finance programs that will assist the recovery of the entire industry. Without the direct financial support from the government, the tourism micro, small and mediumscale enterprises (MSMEs) cannot rebuild their businesses and pay See “Tieza,” A2

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JUNE REMITTANCES UP 7.7% AMID RECESSION www.businessmirror.com.ph

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UPSKILLING, HEALTH INVESTMENTS KEY TO PANDEMIC-PROOFING

By Cai U. Ordinario

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PEOPLE from different walks of life buy basic necessities at a covered court in Sta. Lucia, Pasig City. The latest survey by the Social Weather Stations says adult joblessness in the country has reached a record high of 45.5 percent in July, with half of the unemployed saying they lost their job during the coronavirus pandemic. NONIE REYES

A

MID the backdrop of economic recession and ballooning government debt, Filipino migrant workers offer a ray of hope for the country by increasing cash remittances sent in June by 7.7 percent.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported late Monday that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were able to increase their remittances in June to compensate for decreases in the previous months due to the pandemic disruptions.

Total cash remittances during the month hit $2.4 billion, $175 million more than the level of cash they sent back home in June 2019.

Their total June remittances was

also $359 million higher than the volume sent in May.

Remittances—one of the Philippine economy’s pillars—were also hit hard by the global economic downturn due to Covid-19. Remittances started with a 6.6-percent growth in January, just before the pandemic becomes global. This 6.6-percent growth was trimmed to 2.5 percent in February as news of the pandemic spread.

Continued on A2

‘PhilHealth’s ₧27.7-B IRM exceeds ₧3.3-B cost of Covid hospitalization’

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

A

N economist-lawmaker said on Monday the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.’s (PhilHealth) P26.8-billion allocation for its Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) has far exceeded the estimated cost of Covid-19 hospitalizations.

Her estimates come as the Philippine Red Cross repeated its

accusation that PhilHealth has failed to reimburse it in timely fashion for hundreds of millions in costs for doing Covid-19 RTPCR tests for priority sectors, such as returning OFWs and locally stranded individuals.

(Story in Nation, page A3)

At the continuation of the joint hearing of the House Committee on Public Accounts and Committee on Good Government,

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.8050

Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo said her computation showed the total estimated cost for Covid-19 this year is only P3.3 billion.

According to her, the PhilHealth has estimated 209,000 Covid-19 cases this 2020. “[But of these estimated cases] about 20 percent of Covid cases develop difficulty breathing and require hospital care according to See “PhilHealth,” A2

QUIMBO: “From a P26.8-billion IRM total fund, the estimated loss due to fraud is P2 billion.”

ANDEMIC-PROOFING industries should begin with K-12 and the upskilling of workers instead of just resorting to automation, according to local economists.

Economists said the K-12 curriculum should include multidisciplinary skills, while upskilling workers should include skills needed by industries leaving China. Investing in workers’ health is also paramount.

These investments are more crucial if industries will survive this pandemic and future health emergencies rather than going full blast with automation. Automation will still require workers albeit with higher skills.

“Automation is welcome for it boosts productivity, but this must not be done at the expense of inducing massive job losses.

Technology must serve humankind, not the other way around,” Action for Economic Reforms Coordinator Filomeno Sta. Ana told the BusinessMirror.

Sta. Ana said the experience of Tesla is a good example. When the company intended to rely on robots to produce their electric cars, the experiment failed.

He said with bottlenecks that could not be cleared by robots, Tesla was prompted to hire workers in the production of electric cars, aided by cutting-edge technology.

National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon told the BusinessMirror that there should actually not be any trade-off between automation and upskilling at this point.

Edillon said even if automation will introduce more machines in the production line, firms would still require workers, as Tesla found out. These workers should have sufficient skills to operate in a company that has automated its processes.

She said it is the government’s recommendation for businesses to automate their operations in stages along with upskilling their personnel. This can begin with business support activities and making sure their processes are resilient.

Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (Acerd) Director Alvin P. Ang said K-12 will help a lot in pandemicproofing Philippine industries. Equipping students with more multidisciplinary skills such as data analytics and other less specialized skills will help industries cope.

“Even if we do not invest in automation, that [automation] is where we are headed with the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” Ang told the BusinessMirror. “We need to determine which sectors we can automate and where we need skills training.”

Watch the China exit

DE La Salle University economist Maria Ella C. Oplas told the BusinessMirror that in terms of upskilling workers, the country should focus on skills needed by industries leaving China.

As manufacturers, including those producing semiconductors, leave China, the Philippines should position itself as a viable option for these companies by having available the workers they need and attractive business-friendly policies.

Oplas said upskilling workers means that the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) should also become updated with its course offerings.

She said it is not enough for Tesda to bring its courses online.

This could even pose issues since many of the courses they teach require teachers and students to be physically present.

“Tesda has lagged behind [in its course offerings]. We need Tesda to partner with industries because machines are expensive due to advancements in technology,” Oplas told this newspaper.

Apart from upskilling workers, Oplas said delaying the incentive rationalization provisions of the Corporate Recovery Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4578 n UK 63.9687 n HK 6.2968 n CHINA 7.0222 n SINGAPORE 35.5955 n AUSTRALIA 34.9932 n EU 57.8046 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.0150

Source: BSP (August 17, 2020)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, August 18, 2020

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Pump prices up this week; DOE helps LGUs grasp pricing modes

By Lenie Lectura

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UMP prices are on the rise this week. Oil firms said Monday they will raise gasoline prices by P0.60 per liter and diesel by P0.10 per liter. There is no price movement for kerosene.

There was a move by the Department of Energy (DOE) to unbundle pump prices, but oil firms obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) to halt implementation of the agency’s circular.

On Monday, DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said, “We will continue to unbundle upon the request of LGUs [local government units].”

He added, “It’s pending in courts. There are cases in which LGU needs to be enlightened as to why oil retail prices differ.”

To assist the LGUs with queries about petrol prices, Fuentebel-

la said the DOE will send experts to explain how pump prices are computed.

“There are requests from LGUs, even from provinces, to explain how oil firms arrived at their pricing,” he said.

The DOE unbundling circular was supposed to require oil companies to unbundle their price adjustments. They should submit a report to the DOE with a detailed breakdown of their import costs, tariffs, biofuel costs, oil company take components, and other essential cost components that contribute to the changes in retail prices.

These enhancements would provide the DOE and other relevant government agencies with data necessary to formulate proactive and appropriate policy initiatives for the benefit of consumers and the downstream oil industry.

Furthermore, the data provided will support the DOE-DOJ (Department of Justice) task force investigations on reported incidents of anti-competitive behavior.

Oil firms, however, are against this because, among others, they would have to reveal their so-called industry take amid a deregulated environment.

Phoenix Petroleum, Seaoil Philippines, Cleanfuel, Petro Gazz and Pilipinas Shell said Monday the oil price hike will be implemented at 6 am of Tuesday, August

18. Other oil firms will announce their price adjustment soon.

Oil firms adjust their prices every week to reflect movements in the world oil market.

Locsin lauds govt field staff in repatriation job as Beirut OFWs return

Ex-Usec Rio scores, Roque defends Covid app M

Continued from A8

Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary Emmanuel Fernandez announced that the total number of Covid-19 cases among Filipinos abroad is nearing 10,000.

“It has reached over 9,900, with 12 new confirmed cases in Asia and the Pacific and the Middle East, while two new recoveries were recorded in Asia and the Pacific and one new fatality was reported in the Middle East,” Fernandez announced.

A DFA graph showed there were 5,844 who recovered, 3,338 undergoing treatment and 726 deaths from 72 countries where OFs are present.

Fernandez said as DFA personnel in the foreign service posts continue to report on the status of Filipinos abroad, “the DFA remains steadfast in its tireless efforts to attend to the needs of our people and facilitating requests for repatriation, whenever possible.”

ALACAÑANG on Monday said former Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary Eliseo Rio’s proposed application system for tracking novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases did not push through due to procurement issues.

“What happened probably is the app, which is being proposed by Rio, did not qualify even for purposes of emergency procurement,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in an online press briefing.

Roque issued the statement in response to Rio’s post on social media during the weekend, where he alleged that his proposal “was not considered” by the “gatekeeper” of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

Rio said his proposed system, which would have integrated granular data from concerned agencies and the private sector, could have prevented the spread of Covid-19 by allowing the government to keep track of the cases nationwide in real time.

Roque, however, claimed Rio’s proposal was considered by the IATF, but was deemed impractical since it has yet to be developed.

He noted the IATF opted to make use of an already existing and free data system, StaySafe.PH, created by Multisys Technology Corp. (MTC), together with the apps already developed by Google and Apple.

“Based from what I know, what is now being implemented is…what many countries in the world are using because the program jointly developed by Google

and Apple is free,” Roque said.

The Palace official said MTC already completed the donation of the system to the government and transferred all its data to the Department of Health (DOH) for safekeeping.

In June, the IATF ordered the DOH to take control of StaySafe.PH to ensure its data will be protected by the government.

Rio claimed in last weekend’s post that the ICT subtechnical working group of the IATF has been “preventing the contribution” of groups and individuals in favor of ICT Assistant Secretary Manny Caintic’s ideas.

Rio, who now represents Covid-19 Central Advocacy Group, said his team is offering the necessary infrastructure and software free of charge to the government, as opposed to emergency procurement. This was

favorably endorsed by ICT Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II and IATF Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito G. Galvez Jr.

Rio’s proposal is an open system, wherein anyone can pitch in to collectively implement the testing, tracing and treating of Covid-19 patients.

However, Caintic’s group decided to move forward with the emergency procurement and this, according to Rio, has proven to be ineffective in helping test, trace and treat Covid-19 patients. The move cited Resolution 36, which closed the IT ecosystem of the IATF.

Resolution 36 was dated May 13. Rio’s proposal was signed April 29. This irregularity had earned the ire of Rio, who said this was “a clear case of deception.”

Samuel Medenilla, Lorenz Marasigan

Continued from A8

The same can be said of our political market.... If a handful of families have managed to control all elected and appointed positions, in practically all the local government positions and national [sic], then that is an indication of a political market failure,” said Dr. Julio Teehankee, professor of Political Science and International Studies and former dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the De La Salle University.

President Duterte earlier vowed to end oligarchy, while House Speaker Peter Alan Cayetano called for a change in the oligarchic system.

Rather than focusing on business owners, Teehankee said the government should start the reforms in the political system that perpetuates political dynasties.

If the current trend of political power consolidation continues, he cautioned that “by 2040, 70 percent of local government officials will be dynastic.”

Roderick L. Abad

Continued from A1

for the salaries of their workers,” added Paragas, the son-in-law of Angelito Banayo, former head of the Philippine Tourism Authority, Tieza’s forerunner.

In another tweet on Monday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., reiterated his support for the P10-billion Bayanihan 2 funds to be given to tourism stakeholders through loans, instead of Tieza. “Tourism’s about people— comin’ in, receiving ’em, having ’em enjoy [the] best the Philippines offers. It’s nothing to do with construction and kickbacks. Give money to DOT. [Tourism Secretary] Berna [Romulo Puyat] shut down operations to focus on helping get foreign nationals out and earn us a world of goodwill,” he stressed.

Tieza is the infrastructure arm of the DOT, and is also tasked to oversee the development of tourism enterprise zones. A government corporation, Tieza gets its operational funds from travel taxes. Of the total travel taxes collected by government each year, 50 percent goes to Tieza, while the rest are split between the Commission on Higher Education and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

‘Hoarding’ funds?

LAST year the government collected around P6 billion in travel taxes, said Paragas in a previous interview, with P3 billion going to Tieza.

He said, after deducting operation costs of the agency, “this leaves us with 32 percent, more or less.”

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III had been constantly nagging Tieza for its slow implementation of infrastructure projects. Last year, he said Tieza had been “hoarding” P14 billion in travel taxes, instead of pushing infrastructure projects.

The Bicameral Conference Committee is currently discussing ways to reconcile the House and Senate versions of Bayanihan 2. Three former DOT Secretaries—Narzalina Lim, Gemma Cruz Araneta and Rafael Alunan—had already come forward to publicly support the Senate version of Bayanihan 2, which allocates P10 billion for working capital loans to tourism stakeholders through GFIs, instead of being channeled to tourism infrastructure via Tieza.

(See, “Former DOT chiefs ask senators to uphold spirit of Bayanihan 2, stick to their version in bicam,” in the BusinessMirror, August 16, 2020.)

Recto L. Mercene

‘Takeover threats will drive away investors’

Tieza…

MEDICAL frontliners and health workers in Pasig City wait for the free shuttle service provided by the local government. All commuters are now required to wear both mask and face shield as protection from Covid-19. ROY DOMINGO

June remittances up 7.7% amid recession Continued from A1

Since February when it began mass repatriations of OFWs, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said more than 130,000 have come home, many of them losing jobs as the pandemic-induced lockdowns gouged economies around the globe, shutting down businesses.

March, April and May were the hardest for Filipino migrant workers. In March, remittances sent back home declined by 4.7 percent. The decline hit 16.2 percent in April, reversing gains seen in the first two months of the year. In May, remittances declined by 19.3 percent.

Land-based workers

THE June recovery was fueled mainly by remittances from landbased workers. The continued drop in sea-based workers’ remittances, meanwhile, was due to the repatriation of many sea-based workers amid the ongoing pandemic.

At one point, more than a dozen international vessels that lost business in the lockdowns and were prevented from berthing in various locations had to drop anchor at Manila Bay, with thousands of Filipino crew.

Remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more grew 14.2 percent to $2.164 billion in June 2020 from $1.896 billion in the same month last year.

Meanwhile, remittances mainly from sea-based workers fell by 13.1 percent from $593 million posted a year ago to $515 million in June 2020.

The total decline in cash remittances for the period January to June 2020 was reduced to 4.2 percent from a cumulative contraction of 6.4 percent in May 2020.

In the first half of the year, remittances from the United States, Japan, Singapore, Oman and Taiwan were among those that registered continued growth, while declines were noted in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The highest share to total remittances at 39.7 percent for January to June emanated from the US, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the UK, the UAE, Canada, Hong Kong, Qatar and Taiwan.

The combined remittances from these countries accounted for 78.9 percent of total cash remittances.

UPSKILLING, HEALTH INVESTMENTS KEY TO PANDEMIC-PROOFING Continued from A1

and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) bill would improve the country’s investment climate.

Oplas said a five-year delay in the implementation of the removal of incentives for industries is recommended to attract foreign businesses to locate in the Philippines.

She said this is necessary to attract the companies who have left China. The incentives and capable workers will allow the country to maximize the opportunities facing the economy. “[We have to] invite them in first, that’s important and should be the priority right now. I would like to be bold by saying give it another five years. [We have to] bring out that card again,” Oplas said.

Invest in health

MEANWHILE, Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) President Calixto V. Chikiamco said one of the most important ways to pandemic-proof industries is to ensure the health and safety of workers.

Going full blast on automation

at this time, Chikiamco said, would mean further job losses. In April 2020, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that about 5 million Filipinos became jobless during the pandemic-induced lockdowns.

The number of unemployed Filipinos reached 7.3 million, while the country’s employment rate declined to 82.3 percent in April.

“Better invest in a good public health system so we can better combat pandemics. South Korea, Germany, New Zealand, Taiwan show that with a good public health system, countries can manage the pandemic,” Chikiamco said.

In March, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said 56 percent of workers in Southeast Asia could be displaced by the global shift to automation.

In the Philippines alone, ILO Enterprise Development and Skills Technical Officer Jordi Prat Tuca said at least 18 million workers could lose their jobs to automation over the next 20 years if Manila will not retool them for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

House leaders, however, led by Rep. LRay Villafuerte, have stood pat on the House version that transfers that P10 billion to Tieza, insisting that construction and infrastructure create a multiplier effect on the economy—a view disputed by all 17 major stakeholder groups in the sector.

About 70 percent of the tourism industry is composed of MSMEs, with the industry employing 500,000.

(See, “Tourism sector loses P190 billion in March-July,” in the BusinessMirror, August 13, 2020.)

PhilHealth…

Continued from A1

WHO [World Health Organization],” she said.

Also, citing the Department of Health, Quimbo said 90.3 percent of Covid-19 patients in the country are mild cases, 0.9 percent are severe cases, and 0.6 percent critical cases.

With this, Quimbo, quoting the PhilHealth case rate for Covid, said the cost for mild, severe and critical cases, which are estimated to represent 41,800 hospital admissions, will only reach P3.3 billion.

“From a P26.8-billion IRM total fund, the estimated loss due to fraud is P2 billion,” she said, citing the study conducted

by PhilHealth showing the fraud index in the country was at 7.5 percent.

On top of that, Quimbo added there is also P541 billion missing in PhilHealth’s forgone opportunities due to excess IRM.

“In total, [we have] P2.5 billion—P2 billion from fraud and P541 million from forgone investment income for one year— lost due to wrong policy on IRM and design,” Quimbo added.

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Senator prods PhilHealth to shoulder Covid testing for workers as PRC issues ultimatum

By Butch Fernandez

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@butchfBM

OTING that the high cost of Covid-19 testing deters many employers—already hard-hit by lockdowns—from having their workers tested regularly, Sen. Joel Villanueva on Monday pressed the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to foot the entire bill of workers’ virus testing and prodded the state insurer to formulate a reimbursement system for employers.

This, as Sen. Richard Gordon reiterated his complaint about PhilHealth’s failure to honor an agreement to reimburse the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) for doing tests on certain priority sectors, such as the tens of thousands of returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and locally stranded individuals.

Gordon, who chairs the PRC, said on Monday the PhilHealth’s debt to the Red Cross has ballooned to P800 million, in violation of an agreement that the state insurer would promptly replenish the seed fund it gave to PRC. As the Red Cross gets no government funding, it has had to scrounge around for funds to buy badly needed supplies to continue its testing service.

“After P100 million [initial funding], bihira na [silang] magpuno. Kami nang kami ang nag-a-advance ng gastos. PhilHealth didn’t reimburse what we spent; we were forced to keep advancing to cover the costs],” Gordon said in a radio interview.

Asked what accounted for PhilHealth’s repeated failure to release the funds promised, Gordon replied: “red tape.”

“We were supposed to buy fresh supplies but we’re cash-strapped,” he said, adding: “I can’t do something when I don’t have the money.”

He, however, added that the Red Cross had moved fast to set up molecular testing laboratories to help the government deal with the massive

challenge, especially after wave of pandemic-displaced migrant workers started coming back. He said Red Cross volunteers and the Coast Guard had incurred many Covid victims from doing the tests besides the funding woes.

Meanwhile, Villanueva, who chairs the Senate Committee on Labor, stressed that “the cost of testing workers for Covid-19 should be charged to PhilHealth since both employer and employee share the mandatory monthly contributions to the state health insurer’s fund.

This, as Villanueva noted the full impact of the Covid-induced quarantine drove the country’s economy to contract by 16.5 percent in the April-June period, as unemployment soared to an estimated 17.7 percent, or 7.3 million displaced workers, citing statistics that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), as of August 10, received notices of permanent closure of 766 businesses, as 6,993 establishments implemented retrenchment of 143,200 employees.

He recalled that on August 15, the DOLE and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) had issued supplemental guidelines on workplace prevention and control of Covid, including a provision that stated the conduct of regular testing of employees.

In a news statement, Villanueva acknowledged efforts by the DOLE and the DTI to ensure employers comply with a directive to “regularly send their employees for testing once every quarter, at no cost to the employees.”

The senator stressed there should be no equivocation on the need to let employees undergo the test as the cost could be charged to PhilHealth.

“Hindi po tayo dapat mag-alinlangan na isailalim sa test ang ating mga empleyado. I charge po natin ang gastos sa PhilHealth dahil obligasyon nila sa kanilang mga miyembro na tugunan ang pangangailangan, lalo na ngayong panahon ng pandemya,” Villanueva said.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, August 18, 2020 A3

BOC probes new modus in cigarette smuggling

T

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE Bureau of Customs (BOC) has seized a total of P2.2 billion worth of smuggled cigarettes and other related paraphernalia during the Covid-19 induced lockdown.

In his report to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said the bureau seized these items in various ports from May 28 to July 15 as it continues its drive against illicit tobacco trade despite the ongoing pandemic.

The Customs chief also said the recently seized items included an estimated P53 million worth of cigarettes sneaked into the country from China through a suspected new smuggling scheme.

The shipment confiscated last July 12 at the Port of Davao originated from Ningbo, China, and was transported by SITC Container Lines Philippines Inc. (SITC) to the country, he said.

Its consignee Golden Aark Enterprise declared the shipment contained in two 2x40 footer containers as “tissue paper.”

It first entered the country through the subport of the Mindanao Container Terminal in Misamis Oriental,

where it was first declared to be containing tissue paper and bound for the Port of Davao.

But when the cargo reached its final destination, the containers of smuggled cigarettes were not included in its inward foreign manifest despite other Customs documents proving the existence of the shipment. After the BOC and Coast Guard boarded the vessel, it was determined that the containers were onboard the vessel and that they were destined for Port of Davao.

This discrepancy, along with information received by the BOC’s Intelligence Group regarding the suspected smuggled items, led Customs officials to seize the shipment at the Port of Davao.

This prompted Guerrero to order the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) to investigate this new modus operandi in smuggling cigarettes into the country.

“Rest assured that the men and women of the Bureau of Customs will remain vigilant and committed in securing our country’s borders against smuggling and other customs fraud,” Guerrero said in his report.

The Customs chief said the accreditation of Golden Aark has already been revoked and appropriate charges will be filed against the firm and its cohorts.

“From said circumstances, there is prima facie evidence that the carrier, SITC Container Lines Philippines Inc., is abetting the consignee in concealing/smuggling the seized contraband in violation of Republic Act [RA] 10863 [Customs Modernization and Tariff Act],” Guerrero added.

On top of intensifying its campaign against smuggling amid the pandemic, the BOC has also been undertaking measures to facilitate and minimize disruption in the movement of critical medical equipment and supplies entering the ports since President Duterte placed the entire country under a state of public health emergency in March.

The BOC has also confiscated P244 million worth of smuggled, unregistered or counterfeit personal protective equipment (PPEs) and other medical supplies since March 25 up to May 31, 2020, as part of its ongoing efforts to stop the illegal importation, storage and hoarding of goods deemed essential to the fight against Covid-19.

A4 Tuesday, August 18, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Manufacturers press for investment, fiscal perks in Bayanihan 2 measure

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

M

@alyasjah

ANUFACTURERS are urging legislators to extend fiscal incentives and relax investment rules in Bayanihan 2 to improve their chances to recover from the operational and revenue decline they are enduring amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a letter to Congress, the Aerospace Industries Association of the Philippines (AIAP) declared its support for the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) proposed additions to the second Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, or Bayanihan 2. The pandemic held the aerospace industry to the ground, it lamented, and is now demanding financial reprieve.

Likewise, the Samahan sa Pilipinas ng mga Industriyang Kimika (SPIK) called on lawmakers to include the measures submitted by the DTI geared to reverse the slowdown suffered by the manufacturing sector in the second quarter.

“Manufacturing sector has been badly affected by the pandemic and certain provisions of the Bayanihan

can help companies at this time. We laud that the Board of Investments, headed by Honorable Ramon Lopez, has been supporting the industry to recovery and we also agree with proposals by the DTI,” read the AIAP letter dated August 12.

“In behalf of members of SPIK, we fully support the inclusion of the manufacturing sector and the construction industry in the funding allocations provided in the consolidated bill that will be deliberated on by the bicameral committee of the Philippine Congress,” SPIK said in its statement issued the same date as the AIAP letter.

Last week, Lopez conveyed to Deputy Speaker Raneo E. Abu his appeal to insert incentives in Baya-

nihan 2. He argued this should keep industries afloat until they recover from the economic impact of the health crisis.

One of the DTI proposals to Congress is the grant of tax perks to all firms for one year provided they maintain at least 90 percent of their workers until 2021.

Those who will qualify may choose to have their net operating losses for 2020 and 2021 carried over as a deduction for gross income from 2022 to 2027. Or, they may opt to avail one year of income tax holiday on their first year of positive income after 2021.

Further, economic zone regulators will be authorized to either waive, or reduce, rent payments of locators who retained no less than 90 percent of their labor force.

The DTI is also seeking to enhance the incentives for investments locating in areas outside of Metro Manila. Likewise, it is appealing to ease requirements for the proclamation of economic zones that employ more than 500 workers and are situated near a toll road, or an infrastructure project.

As part of efforts to attract foreign capital, the DTI is pushing to loosen nationality restrictions under Executive Order 226 for investors moving their manufacturing facilities here.

The DTI is also asking lawmakers to temporarily remove locational restrictions for new busi-

ness-process outsourcing projects. It explained the BPO industry can recruit overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and teachers displaced by the pandemic.

As of Sunday, over 135,000 OFWs have been brought home by the government since it started in February repatriating migrant workers rendered jobless by the global crisis.

Moreover, the DTI is pleading incentives be made available as well for those who source from micro, small and medium enterprises, as well as from marginalized communities. Similarly, the agency said Bayanihan 2 should require government procurement to favor domestic products over imports in order to save the jobs of Filipino workers.

This domestic preference should cover personal protective equipment worn by health workers, construction materials used in infrastructure projects, automotive parts needed by public-utility vehicles in the new normal, among others, the agency listed.

“Government expenditure to effectively stimulate the economy should create demand for the domestic manufacturers,” Lopez explained. “We should maximize the use of government funds to save Filipino jobs and not foreign jobs.”

Gross domestic product in the second quarter contracted 16.5 percent to post the economy’s steepest decline in about four decades, as industry plunged 22.9 percent and services fell 15.8 percent to cancel out agriculture’s growth of 1.6 percent.

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Safe haven: Fitch unit sees higher gold prices

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

F

ITCH Solutions revised upwards its average gold forecast for the year, as more investors are seen trooping to the safe haven asset in the short term.

In a research released on Monday, the Fitch unit said that it is now seeing gold trading at an average of $1,850 per ounce this year from $1,680 per oz previously after it surpassed the all-time high of $1,900 per oz in July.

“With a year-to-date average of $1,694/oz and spot prices of $1,938/ oz at time of publication, we expect gold prices to remain supported in the coming months with rising geopolitical tensions and an uneven and slow global economic recovery,” the research arm said.

While the economic shock has passed already as shown by the easing of lockdowns in major economies, Fitch said that the path to recovery remains to be “uneven and bumpy.”

It is anticipating the global economy to decline by 3.9 percent this year before booking 4-percent growth in 2021.

Apart from this, the research unit noted that geopolitical tensions between the US and China are rising anew as US President Donald Trump ordered to ban several Chinese apps.

“Given the intensifying rivalry between the US and China, we believe that a new ‘cold war’ between the world’s two largest economies is a growing possibility over the coming years,” Fitch Solutions said. “Such an event would most likely result in a shift in global risk appetite, potentially catalyzing gold bulls throughout 2020 at least as investors seek security in safe haven assets.”

On the health front, Fitch Solutions said that should the coronavirus cases continue to rise, force a major lockdown again and impact the global economy, investors are likely to buy more of the safe haven assets, bringing the prices higher.

“Despite President Vladimir Putin announcing that Russia has approved a vaccine for Covid-19, we are unaware of any widely available safety and efficacy data for the vaccine and believe that Russia has granted a conditional approval ahead of a large-scale Phase III trial,” it said.

Lower interest rates are likely to push the demand for gold because these mean that bond yields will remain low as well, Fitch Solutions said.

Next year, the Fitch unit is seeing gold prices to remain trading at an average of $1,850 per oz.

The ‘future of work’

expected to offer?

Let’s look at the impact of new technologies that are shaping the way we work. These impacts will be felt in a variety of ways:

Fromjust-in-timetoproactivecontextualcomputing WE’LL move from time-consuming foreground computing to ambient, proactive, contextual computing. This means that our smart, wearable systems will negotiate with embedded sensor networks and pervasive information to process patterns of our activities, patterns of places where we work, and perform tasks on our behalf.

From formal to emergent and cooperative organizational structures

K

By Henry J. Schumacher

ENNETH COBONPOE was quoted in the papers a few days ago as saying that, “You can schedule Zoom, you can’t schedule inspiration.”

The global Filipino designer is coming up with designs for the post-pandemic world and creates his iconic designs for home and office uses.

Let me expand Kenneth’s statement: “You can schedule Zoom, you can’t schedule the future of work.”

Plenty of research institutes and economic groups have produced extensive visions regarding the “future of work.” I will share a few interesting lines in a while.

However, they were all written prior to the arrival of Covid-19—and, at least—for some time, they need to be reassessed. Let me quote Kenneth again: “This long pause during lockdown gave me time to pick up different loose threads of my life.” That’s exactly what we have to do with the future of work.

We are facing lockdowns, social distancing, work from home, consumer behavior changes, business closures, layoffs, increases in poverty, companies being on survival mode…. Companies are not hiring (with the exception of the few large tech companies dominating the world) and our BPOs, cash is kept for survival and a least temporarily not being made available for training of employees, or for the development of potential employees through dual-tech, apprenticeship, or internship.

If you are a K to 11, or K to 12, student, or a new college graduate, how will you get a job? How do we help these young people? How do we get the message across to them that there is a future for them? How do we bridge the situation today with so many young people trying to find learning opportunities and jobs with the exciting opportunities the “future of work” is

NEW cooperation technologies, including social software and peer-to-peer architecture, will enable us to move from working in small co-located and formally aligned clusters of enterprise workgroups to larger, loosely coupled, ad hoc networks of mobile colleagues. In this new structure, we will work virtually in distributed teams cooperating on specific tasks and projects together in real time. Upon task completion, these teams will dissolve and reform in new arrangements based on the next task.

From desk-bound to ubiquitous displays

WE are growing closer to a world where interaction with displays will be seamless and ubiquitous. As we move through our workspaces, our mobile personal information artifacts will be capable of seamlessly projecting a personal, common digital workspace on nearby ambient displays, on desktops, in meeting rooms and public spaces, on wearable displays, and on dashboard screens.

From real world to virtual world interaction

THROUGH a combination of pervasive connectivity, abundant computational resources, and new graphic- and media-rich telecommunications, we will be able to stay in continuous contact with colleagues and share work tasks seamlessly in both virtual and physical spaces, regardless of location. As we see the emergence of new real worlds that combine the fluid social interactivity of applications like Second Life with the spatial integrity and veracity of Google Earth, we’ll be able to meet, share data, and work together with new graphical visualizations and simulations.

What about some crazy potential job titles?

Collective Intelligence Officer Amplification Engineer Data Ecologist Chief Visualization Officer Junior Catalyst Affinity Agent Biocitizen Liaison Exciting? I am excited and will discuss the bridge from today to the future of work in my next columns, looking at short-term, mid-term and long-term steps to become part the future of work. Today we are at the intersection of work and technology!

Feedback is more than appreciated; contact me at schumacher@eitsc.com

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Trump keeps pressure on China ahead of polls

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h e almost daily drumbeat of tensions between the US and China shows little sign of letting up, while touching on everything from the coronavirus to trade to defense issues to monetary policy.

President Donald J. Trump has made his tough positions on China a key element in the lead-up to the US presidential election, now less than three months away, and he seems intent on keeping the pressure on.

Tensions have been mounting since the Covid-19 pandemic spread across the globe early this year. Barely a day goes by without Trump slamming what he calls a “plague” unleashed on the world by China in press briefings, Twitter and elsewhere.

“We were unfairly treated by China because they could have stopped it,” Trump told reporters on Saturday about the coronavirus.

Some China hawks in the Trump administration, from Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, see a historic opening to re-balance decades of US-China relations. Senior officials from Washington and Beijing late last week postponed trade talks that had been set for this past weekend to discuss the status of the “phase one” trade deal signed early in the year.

Against that background, it’s unclear how heated things may get between now and November, while the provocations mount: n The Trump administration on Friday approved the sale of F-16 military jets to Taiwan, and the president ordered the Chinese owner of the TikTok to sell its US assets after a review of the national security dangers posed by the popular music video app. n The president earlier this month moved to ban WeChat, a popular social networking and mobile payment app developed by Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. n Trump on Saturday boasted about the actions he’s taken against Huawei Technologies, including jawboning other countries into avoiding the Chinese firm’s products, and didn’t rule out actions against other companies. While he didn’t elaborate, those comments are sure to keep markets on edge. n The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets this month said US stock exchanges should set new rules that could trigger the delisting of Chinese companies. n The administration has also taken a markedly tough stance against Beijing’s crackdown on political and press freedoms in Hong Kong, including the recent sanctions on a range of officials, and China’s treatment of ethnic minorities.

Although bilateral trade talks seem to be on hold for now, Trump said China is buying large amounts of US corn, soybeans and cattle. “China has been buying a lot of—a lot of things, and they’re doing that to keep me happy,” he said on Saturday.

Even so, he said, China’s government would prefer that he lose in November to Democrat Joe

Biden. On Sunday he retweeted a Twitter post from a Republican aide noting that Biden and running mate Kamala Harris “didn’t mention China a single time” in their joint announcement last week.

Flash points

Be yond the Covid-19 pandemic and Beijing’s tightening grip over Hong Kong, the relationship has a series of flash points including 5G technology and defense as Trump, formerly a fan of Chinese President Xi Jinping, sours on the relationship.

“I had a great relationship with President Xi,” Trump said in an interview last week with Fox Sports Radio. “I like him, but I don’t feel the same way now.”

Trump on Friday had ordered ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese owner of the popular music video app TikTok, to sell its US assets on national security grounds. Asked whether there are other companies he’s looking at banning or restricting in the US, Trump said: “We’re looking at other things, yes.”

He didn’t elaborate.

The Trump administration in July rejected China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, reversing a previous policy of not taking sides in such disputes. The US Navy sent an aircraft carrier there on Friday to conduct maritime air defense operations.

Taiwan on Friday formally signed an agreement to buy 66 of the latest model F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp. The purchase marks the first sale of advanced fighter jets to the island since President George H.W. Bush announced approval for 150 F-16s in 1992.

The US is gathering its Asian allies to discuss deploying medium-range missiles in the region as an effort to counter China’s nuclear buildup, the Nikkei Asian Review reported on Sunday, citing Marshall Billingslea, US special presidential envoy for arms control.

Military tests

On Sunday, the Chinese army released footage of its Hong Kong garrison firing cannons and torpedoes in a drill in the South China Sea. The People’s Liberation Army recently tested the weaponry, including a torpedo launch from the vessel Huizhou that successfully hit its target, according to state media.

China has its own complaints with US policy. On Sunday, the chairman of China’s banking watchdog said that the Federal Reserve’s unparalleled stimulus to shore up the economy from the coronavirus risks plunging the world into a financial crisis, given the dominance of the US dollar in the international monetary system.

“The unprecedented, unlimited quantitative easing policy of the US actually consumes the creditworthiness of the dollar and erodes the foundation of global financial stability,” the China Banking Regulatory Commission’s Guo Shuqing wrote in the Communist Party’s Qiushi magazine on Sunday. Bloomberg News

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

A5

Australia sees deadliest day as India fatalities top 50,000

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ustralia had its deadliest day in the pandemic, with 25 fatalities in the state of Victoria.

The nation’s second-most populous state, which has imposed a lockdown and nighttime curfew in its capital Melbourne, on Monday also reported 282 new cases in the past 24 hours, down from daily tallies in the 700s in late July.

Victoria is isolated from the rest of the nation as other states have closed their borders—threatening to deepen and prolong the economic recession. On Sunday, Victoria’s government announced it will extend a state of emergency until mid-September.

Meanwhile, India reported 941 additional fatalities, bringing the country’s death toll above 50,000. India has the fourthhighest number of fatalities globally, after it last week surpassed the UK’s tally. The spread of Covid-19 continues to accelerate through the world’s second most populous country, with the total number of confirmed case at more than 2.6 million, the third most in the world.

Key developments:

Malaysia finds more infectious strain

Malaysia has detected a strain of the new coronavirus that’s been found to be 10 times more infectious. The mutation has become the predominant variant in Europe and the US, with the World Health Organization saying there’s no evidence the strain leads to a more severe disease.

A paper published in Cell Press said the mutation is unlikely to have a major impact on the efficacy of vaccines currently being developed.

The mutation called D614G was found in at least three of the 45 cases in a cluster that started from a restaurant owner returning from India and breaching his 14day home quarantine. The strain was also found in another cluster involving people returning from the Philippines.

New Zealand postpones election

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has delayed the general election by four weeks until Oct. 17 as a community outbreak of Covid-19 worsens.

Ardern said on Monday she delayed the election from Sept.

19 after consultation with other political parties, to provide certainty to voters.

A fresh outbreak of the virus in Auckland has seen the largest city locked down since Aug. 12 with people urged to stay home and consumer-facing businesses shut—denting consumer confidence while making political

campaigning and fund-raising impossible. The city, home to almost one third of the nation’s 5 million citizens, is a key battleground for Ardern as her Labour Party seeks a second term.

South Korea reports 197 new cases

South Korea reported 197 more cases of coronavirus on Monday, amid a flare-up of infections. The country warned over the weekend of another mass infection after reporting the highest number of coronavirus cases since early March, most of which are linked to an outbreak at a church in the capital.

Spain and Italy move to shut nightclubs

Spain will start shutting nightspots this week after they were blamed for spikes in cases that triggered new travel warnings.

Suspending operations again was one of 11 measures Spain’s regional governments agreed to take to curb the fastest virus growth rate among Europe’s major economies.

Italy also ordered nightclubs to close and broadened rules on wearing protective masks.

Brazil cases, deaths down

Br a zil reported 23,101 cases, down from 41,576 the previous day, for a total of 3,340,197.

Another 620 deaths, down from 709 the day before, were added in the nation hit worst by the pandemic after the US. Total deaths are now 107,852.

Virus cases at University of North Carolina

A new cluster of Covid-19 cases has broken out at a University of North Carolina residence, the fourth in the last three days, the Daily Tar Heel reported on Sunday.

A university spokesman said it

would not say how many students were infected, according to the student newspaper. The university defines as five or more cases in “close proximity.”

Singapore steps up measures for air crew

Air crew of Singapore carriers who return from overseas from Aug. 20 will have to undergo Covid-19 testing on top of existing health and safety protocols already in place, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said in a statement. There have been no positive cases among air crew of Singapore carriers for more than three months.

China, Russia plan joint tests: Chinese scientist

Zhong Nanshan, a top virus expert in China, said at a meeting on Sunday that China and Russia have plans to jointly conduct vaccine clinical trials, without giving further details. The meeting, held in China’s Guangdong province, is about virus cooperation between the two countries and attended by virus experts from both sides, according to local reports.

Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin’s drugmaker Petrovax is starting a phase III trial in Russia of Chinese company CanSino Biologics Inc.’s Ad5-nCoV vaccine candidate, it said on its website on Saturday. Petrovax plans to produce the vaccine at its facilities in the Moscow Region once it’s registered in Russia.

Russia gets Saudi Arabia to test vaccine

Russia reached an agreement in principle to conduct clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to the head of its sovereign wealth fund.

Bloomberg News

Thousands protest in Bangkok against government, monarchy

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or e t h a n 10,0 0 0 people ra l lied in the Thai capital of Bangkok on Sunday, one of the biggest gatherings yet among anti-government protesters demanding an end to the military-led administration and calling for the monarchy’s powers to be reined in.

Demonstrators in masks and carrying placards assembled at the Democracy Monument, which commemorates the 1932 revolution that ended absolute monarchy. They held up three fingers to reflect their demands for dissolution of parliament, the end of threats on civil liberties, and for a new constitution.

“We’re not just a movement on social media anymore. We’re out here calling for real change and they have to listen,” said Chanita Chananusorrasit, a 24-year-old law graduate who attended the protest. “We want a charter that belongs to all people, not just the military.”

The protests are breaking deeply entrenched taboos in Thailand, where openly criticizing the monarch can lead to long jail sentences and worse.

Besides taking down the government, some protesters have also called for revoking strict lese-majeste laws, separating the monarch’s properties from

the Crown Property Bureau, banning the sovereign from expressing political opinions and prohibiting the monarchy from endorsing any coups.

P r i me M i n i ster P ray ut h Chan- Ocha, a for mer ar my chief who staged a coup in 2014, said last week the majority of Thais disagreed with the protests as calls grow from the royal establishment to stop them.

The protest’s official hashtag, loosely translated as #SettingADeadlineToEndDictatorship, was the top-trending one on Thai Twitter with more than three million tweets.

The rally was organized by Free People, an umbrella group that includes several student organizations as well as gay, lesbian and transgender youths.

Some student leaders have been arrested, one as recently as Friday, before being released on bail. No arrests were reported on Sunday.

“If we call for changes both inside and outside the parliament, the government should listen more,” said Taopiphop L imjit t ra kor n, a l aw m a ker from the opposition Move Forward party, who attended the protest to observe and talk to people.

Thai student activist leader Parit Chiwarak, who was arrested last week and later released on

dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani Universit y in nor theaster n Thailand.

‘Nothing like the past’

Students and anti-government protesters attend a rally at Democracy Monument in Bangkok on Sunday, August 16. Bloomberg

bail, said before the rally that he would continue to protest against the government. “ We’re not only fighting against the military dictatorship, but also fighting to solve issues w ith the monarchy,” Parit said on his Facebook page after being released on Saturday on condition he doesn’t repeat his alleged offenses.

Charges against him include sedition.

Dozens of pro-government and royalist supporters gathered on Sunday morning and also attended the afternoon demonstration, though they were corralled to avoid clashes with protesters. They waved the Thai flag, held up portraits of the king, and wore yellow shirts, a color associated with

the Thai monarch. Police were stationed around the main protest area, screening people at several entrances.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Prayuth questioned the motives of the group and said the country is facing more important problems related to a hobbled economy following the pandemic. His party, Palang Pracharath, condemned some of the protest leaders who spoke out against the monarchy and said people in the country “won’t let anybody destroy an institution that’s loved and respected.”

The government should look to engage in talks with students on how the monarchy can evolve instead of just declaring any discussions on the matter illegal, said Titipol Phakdeewanich,

“The government can’t turn a blind eye on the movement,” he said. “This is nothing like the past.”

Si nce t a k i ng over, K i ng Maha Vajiralongkorn has displayed his authority as head of state more overtly.

The king rebuked exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra after an election in which his allies won the most seats, took command of some army units and approved legal changes that gave him ownership of Crown Property Bureau assets. Those include stakes in Siam Commercial Bank Pcl and Siam Cement Pcl worth about $6.7 billion combined, according to the firms’ websites and Bloomberg calculations.

Pa nu s ay a Sit h i j i r aw at t anakul, another student leader, said on Friday she would continue to speak out against the monarchy even though she expected to be arrested in what may be a violent crackdown.

“Eventually it will happen, yes, but if I can, I will try to not lose everyone in violent protests,” she said. “I don’t want violence so I will try to focus on peace.” Bloomberg News

A6 Tuesday, August 18, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Help people first

T

he Covid-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented negative impact on the country’s tourism industry, which accounted for 12.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and 13.5 percent of national employment in 2019.

Tourism revenues fell by P190 billion from March to July this year owing to the international travel restrictions implemented by various countries to contain the pandemic.

There have been zero foreign tourist arrivals recorded since May this year.

Visitor receipts in the first seven months of 2020 amounted to P81.05 billion, a 71.5-percent decrease from P284.82 billion in the same period last year. From January to July 2020, foreign visitor arrivals slumped by 73 percent to 1.32 million.

The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which make up 70 percent of the tourism sector, have been the ones most devastated. If the crisis has been difficult for our largest airlines like Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Air Asia Philippines, as well as our major tour operators, then more so for these MSMEs, which often operate on razor thin margins. They do not have the cash reserves to sustain them during this pandemic. Many if not all are finding it more difficult to borrow or raise capital and are unlikely to survive without government assistance.

The Bayanihan 2 bill pending in Congress has a P10-billion aid package to help ensure their survival, so they could prepare for the future recovery of the tourism market. But even this lifeline is now in jeopardy after congressmen in House Bill 6953 (the lower chamber’s version of Bayanihan 2) allocated the money for infrastructure instead of working capital loans for MSMEs. The House bill diverted the P10 billion to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, the infrastructure arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT), a move that, quite ironically, even Tourism Secretary and Tieza Chairman Bernadette Romulo-Puyat opposes.

The Bayanihan 2 is supposed to provide funding appropriations to several government agencies, to help stimulate the economy, which contracted 16.5 percent in the second quarter of the year.

It makes sense for any government aid to any sector during this pandemic to help the people who are most in need of assistance first. This is why the Senate version of Bayanihan 2 had allocated the P10-billion fund directly under DOT, not under Tieza, to help Covid-impacted tourism enterprises instead of pouring the money into infrastructure.

Working capital loans are what the tourism industry needs most to get back on its feet. This is what 17 of the biggest stakeholder groups in the country said in separate letters to House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Senate President Vicente Sotto III. The groups said, “While we understand that infrastructure is important to tourism development, it is not the need of the stakeholders at this time. We have been consistent from the beginning of the pandemic, in consultations with the DOT and even with the House of Representatives, that financial assistance for our working capital is what will be needed as we navigate through this situation.

The country cannot afford a collapse of the tourism industry.”

Philippine Tour Operators Association (Philtoa) President Cesar Cruz said the P10-billion fund for working capital was urgently needed to save 5 million jobs and 500,000 MSMEs. Since former Tourism Secretary Narzalina Lim aired her views, two other former Tourism chiefs—Gemma Cruz-Araneta and Raffy Alunan—have weighed in on the issue and expressed strong support for the Senate version of that Bayanihan 2 provision.

“To me this is nothing but another shameless and brazen exercise to embed pork barrel in Bayanihan Act 2,” Lim said. “The tourism industry does not need tourism infrastructure at this time when destinations are closed. Before the pandemic, the DOT had already identified key infrastructure needed by tourist destinations and the funding for these.”

In a tweet last Thursday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said putting the P10-billion into infrastructure would be “a recipe for stealing.”

It is when people and their businesses are in survival mode that government policies must really be in line with what’s happening on the ground. Without the P10-billion working capital loans, many MSMEs in the tourism industry will have to shut down. So why not give it to them? The government should help them stay afloat since they are the heart and soul of the tourism industry.

Anyway, these are loans and not dole outs (as claimed by some congressmen like LRay Villafuerte); loans MSME tourism enterprises can use to cover payroll and other bills at a time when they have no revenues; and loans that they eventually have to pay when times get better.

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THE Entrepreneur

A

leader should inspire his people in the face of this growing pandemic to clear the cloud of pessimism hovering in the Philippines. President Duterte is playing that role. He remains confident the Philippines will overcome the current health crisis, and even offers himself as the first man in the Philippines to test the Russian vaccine.

The availability of an effective vaccine against Covid-19 will certainly lead the way to the full reopening of the Philippine economy this year or early next year.

With Russia recently approving Sputnik V as the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, other nations such as China and the United States are soon expected to announce their own progress in the search for the Covid-19 cure.

It only means we are a step closer to finding a solution to end the pandemic, which has infected over 20 million people worldwide and claimed the lives of over 730,000 individuals as of August 12, 2020.

President Duterte’s bold offer to become the first person in the Philippines to test the vaccine shows his resolve to find a solution to the health crisis and boost the public’s confidence. Initial reports said the vaccine can offer two-year immunity against Covid-19 based on the studies approved by the Russian

Ministry of Health.

The news that Russia approved its own vaccine is like a breath of fresh air, providing us hope that we will survive this health crisis that took the lives of more than 2,400 Filipinos, including Filipino statesmen like former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, former Senator Heherson Alvarez, former Commission on Elections chairman Sixto Briliantes Jr. and Senior Citizens Party-list Rep. Francisco Datol Jr. It is sad to note that these distinguished Filipinos spent their last days fighting the virus in ventilators while scientists around the world are in a rush to find a vaccine. How we wish that an effective and safe vaccine were formulated soon enough to save them.

While we are excited that the Russian government approved the first vaccine, it is important to note that it will still take several months to test the vaccine developed by Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute

Making sense of the peso

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 Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

Manny B. Villar

Lourdes M. Fernandez

Senior Editors

Creative Director Chief Photographer

Duterte’s confidence reassuring to the public

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

M

easured by value, it is the largest business in the world and the biggest in the Philippines. But it is almost impossible to find anyone outside of the industry that has the slightest understanding of how the business works.

On a big trading day the Philippine Stock Exchange trades P10 billion worth of shares. On an average day, the local foreign currency exchange market trades P25 billion, all buying and selling the Philippine peso using US dollars.

Although I have also said it many times, it is totally inaccurate to say that “it is not that the peso is strong; it is that the dollar is weak.” There is no such thing as “weak” or “strong.”

Maybe a better way to look at it is “heavier” or “lighter,” like on one of those old balance scales.

You put an object on one side

and another on the other side. The heavier one pulls the scale down, in this case, that’s because more people want to own pesos rather than dollars.

Money is flowing into the Philippines—mostly US dollars—that are converted to pesos to be used domestically rather than pesos being converted into dollars to be used abroad.

You can see money being stored all around in the economy and it is being stored in pesos. Hence, the local currency is “heavier” than the dollar. People are buying less-

of Epidemiology and Microbiology on a select group, before the Philippine government can endorse it for public use. Our own Food and Drug Administration is tasked to make sure that any vaccine is safe and effective, with no serious side effects, before being made commercially available.

In its own timeline, the government which held discussions with Gamaleya representatives, said the Phase 3 clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccine would be conducted in the Philippines and other countries from October 2020 to March 2021 prior to its registration for commercial use

by April next year. Phase 3 involves large-scale clinical trials to check for the efficacy of the vaccine. In Russia, authorities are conducting Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials of Sputnik V until September and plan to administer mass vaccination by October.

The long process aims to make sure the vaccine is indeed safe and to erase the suspicion of health experts from other countries, particularly the US, which are developing their own vaccines against the coronavirus.

Once approved by the FDA, the Philippines may reproduce the vaccine in the country, with the consent of Gamaleya. President Duterte has thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for offering to supply the Philippines with doses of the vaccine.

Other vaccines on clinical trials are those being developed by Sinovac, Sinopharm and Fosun Pharma in China; AstraZeneca and University of Oxford in the UK; Pfizer, Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy

and Infectious Diseases in the US; and BioNTech in Germany.

FDA Director General Eric Domingo expressed hope that with more than 100 vaccines being developed across the globe, one will become available by the end of the year or early next year. Alongside the search for the vaccine, the Philippines is joining the clinical trials of medicines such as Avigan and Remdesivir as possible Covid-19 treatment. This gives us hope that we can fully reopen the economy sooner than later, and allow Filipinos to go back to work to be able to earn and feed their families.

The impact of the border lockdown and quarantine restrictions has decimated thousands of business establishments in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, as evidenced by the 16.5-percent contraction of the gross domestic product in the second quarter. The recent return of Metro Manila and nearby provinces to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), for example, reduced power demand in the Luzon grid by around 700 megawatts, which means a lot of factories and commercial establishments halted operations.

Fortunately, we have solid economic fundamentals that continue to shield our financial system from the crisis.

The peso, for example, breached the 49-per-US dollar level last week as our gross international reserves climbed close to $100 billion as of end-July.

A survey by the Department of See “Villar,” A7

expensive local sardines rather than Chinese “Spam” and saving the difference. The amount of personal savings in banks is up 13 percent year-on-year by P600 million.

Net inward capital flow was P850 million or 17 percent higher in March 2020 over March 2019.

Even as remittances have fallen, the lowest monthly amount for 2020 is still above $2 billion. Let’s hope it stays close to that level.

People read this headline—“US Dollar Suffers Its Worst Month in a Decade”—and think there is a problem. In fact, that is the only thing that is keeping many countries from debt disaster. Japan’s huge debt is 90 percent domestic. They do not need dollars to pay their debt.

But Greece and Turkey both owe about $450 billion, payable mostly in US dollars. Indonesia owes $390 billion and Thailand has $165 billion in dollar debt. The Philippines’s debt is $84 billion. Both Thailand and the Philippines have enough foreign exchange reserves to cover their total debt if ever needed. But Indonesia’s foreign debt is three times its reserves, with Turkey’s debt

at nearly 10 times its reserves and Greece with debt at an astounding 50 times its reserves.

A “strong” dollar means it costs more in local currency to service the debt and we found out in 1997 that can quickly kill an economy. Ask Thailand and South Korea.

Before March, there was a large global dollar shortage as countries scrambled for dollars to pay their bills. In March alone, emerging economies lost around $1.5 billion in foreign exchange reserves per day. Since March, the US Federal Reserve has pumped $2.5 trillion into the global system to weaken the dollar to keep nations like Greece and Turkey from defaulting.

The Fed’s balance was increased by a 60 percent.

Be glad the Philippines is not desperate for a “strong” peso. But it does help reduce the cost of our debt servicing as well as imports.

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

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, August 18, 2020 A7

Request for reconsideration Kamala Harris: The lotus girl or reinvestigation?

Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

Atty. Irwin C. Nidea Jr.

Tax law for business

T

ax remedies have complexities that an ordinary taxpayer may find overwhelming. There are technical intricacies that should be considered when replying to a tax assessment, especially when it already involves a Final Assessment Notice (FAN) or a Formal Letter of Demand (FLD).

What should a taxpayer do, after absorbing the shock of receiving a bloated FAN or FLD? According to Revenue Regulations 18-2013, the taxpayer may protest administratively against the FAN or FLD within 30 days from date of receipt. The said protest must be written and may either be a request for reconsideration or reinvestigation. Request for reconsideration refers to a plea of re-evaluation of an assessment on the basis of existing records without need of additional evidence. Request for reinvestigation, on the other hand, refers to a plea of re-evaluation of an assessment on the basis of newly discovered or additional evidence.

In both motions for reconsideration and reinvestigation the taxpayer must state the following (i) the nature of protest whether reconsideration or reinvestigation, specifying newly discovered or additional evidence he intends to present if it is a request for reinvestigation, (ii) date of the assessment notice, and (iii) the applicable law, rules and regulations, or jurisprudence on which his protest is based, otherwise, his protest shall be considered void and without force and effect. These are very important details that must not be omitted in a protest. So, a one-pager general denial of a tax liability will not fly.

A protest must lay down the legal basis for it to be considered valid. If not, the taxpayer will be considered as not having filed a protest at all, making the tax assessment against him final and executory.

According to Bureau of Internal Revenue regulations, in requests for reinvestigation, the taxpayer must submit all relevant supporting documents in support of his protest within 60 days from date of filing of his letter of protest, otherwise, the assessment shall become final. But in a recent case, the Supreme Court ruled that the submission of additional documents within 60 days refers to the Preliminary Assessment Notice and not to the FAN or FLD. This SC ruling is contrary to the BIR’s interpretation on when the 60-day period to submit additional documents must be commenced. According to the BIR, it must be reckoned from the submission of the protest to the FAN but according to the SC, it must be counted from the filing of the protest to the PAN. So, effectively all tax assessments where the BIR immediately issued a FAN or FLD after the expiration of the 15day period for the taxpayer to reply

Villar. . .

Continued from A6

Finance among businessmen shows that some industries are beginning to recover, including real estate, telecommunications, and water and energy sectors. The businessmen, however, favor a further opening of the economy, subject to health and safety protocols, to allow the movement of more workers and consumers.

We may not see a substantial recovery in the third quarter, but the onset of the fourth quarter may shore up demand and consumer confidence as long as we stay on the course of economic reopening while containing the spread of the virus and making the necessary preparations for mass vaccination.

Critics of the administration, or the doomsayers, meanwhile, are running out of ideas in their bid to put

to the PAN, and the BIR did not wait for the taxpayer to submit additional documents within 60 days from the filing of the protest to the PAN, are void. This apparent contradiction between the BIR rules and the recent SC ruling, on when the counting of the 60-day period to submit additional documents must commence, have far reaching legal implications.

In a request for reconsideration, on the other hand, the taxpayer cannot submit additional documents. He should only rely on the documents that he submitted when he filed his protest to the FAN or FLD. In a motion for reinvestigation, the BIR must accept the request for reinvestigation. Some jurisprudence say that such acceptance may either be expressed or implied. What is the significance of the BIR’s acceptance to conduct a reinvestigation? It is only when a request for reinvestigation is accepted that the running of the five-year prescriptive period for the BIR to collect is tolled. If there is no expressed or implied acceptance of the taxpayer’s request for reinvestigation, the BIR’s right to collect will be limited only to five-years from the issuance of the FAN or FLD. The running of the five-year prescriptive period for the BIR to collect does not stop in a motion for reconsideration. So, after five years from the issuance of the FAN or FLD, taxpayers will have a sigh of relief because when this time comes, the BIR has lost it right to collect.

In filing a protest, the taxpayer must be conscious of the completeness of its content. Also, in choosing whether to file a motion for reconsideration or reinvestigation, the taxpayer must understand that in choosing the latter, he is effectively waiving the five-year limit for the BIR to go after his properties.

Tax remedies are meant to protect taxpayers against unjust assessments. But taxpayers are expected to do their part and be aware of the consequences of their choices.

The author is a Senior Partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a memberfirm of WTS Global.

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

down the Duterte administration.

The economy may have faltered in the second quarter, but it remains fundamentally sound and strong.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno correctly reminded the economic pessimists that the 16.5-percent contraction in the second quarter gross domestic product was just temporary. I share Mr. Diokno’s sentiment. Our economy has strong fundamentals: falling interest rates, an appreciating peso, sound external sector with international reserves close to $100 billion and low debt-to-GDP ratio.

The economy slumped because of rigid, nationwide lockdowns that impaired the movement of people and goods. But the lockdowns will soon ease. We should look forward to better days ahead.

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

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he 2020 Democratic National Convention, which will officially proclaim the party’s presidential and vice presidential standard bearers begins today in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For the first time in history, this year’s convention will be virtual, minus all the excitement and the rapturous crowd, but is still expected to send the Democrats across the nation to frenzy and solidarity. The convention shall create a further surge in Biden’s favor, which will widen the lead of the challenger over the incumbent president. Most pollsters placed Biden ahead by at least 10 percent. It’s no wonder that President Donald J. Trump has even suggested postponing the November 3 election and has rejected the release of funds to the US Postal Services to derail the implementation of the mail-in ballots that many Democrats adopt.

As usual, the convention will be heavy with speeches from the leading lights of the Democratic Party headed by former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, but focus will be on the newly anointed running mate of Biden, Kamala Harris.

Her speech definitely will be one of the most watched and listened to by political observers from both sides of the political aisle. But who is Kamala Harris?

In the preface of her autobiography, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey”, she introduced herself: “My name is pronounced “comma-la; like the punctuation mark. It means “lotus flower”, which is a symbol of significance in Indian culture. A lotus grows under water, its flowers rising above the surface while its roots planted firmly in the river

bottom.” Kamala, despite suffering from social prejudices as a daughter of immigrant parents and racial discrimination as a member of the black and Asian minority, demonstrated her prodigious talents and shining qualities as a student and as a young lawyer. While Kamala has been reaching for the stars, her feet are firmly planted on the ground.

Kamala was raised by a family where political activism was second nature. She was born to a highly educated couple. Her parents are graduate students in Berkeley, and they both earned their doctorates and excelled in their respective fields. They met while marching in the streets. They joined the antiVietnam protests and marches for civil rights and voting rights. Her grandmother, Rajam Gopalan, was

an active community organizer back in India and championed the cause of the abused women in her country. Her grandfather P.O. Gopalan worked with Gandhi to win India’s independence from Britain. Kamala practically imbibed the liberal ideas of social justice and human rights from her family and “learned that it was service to others that gave life purpose and meaning.” Her parents often brought her and her sister, Maya, in a stroller to street protests and civil rights marches. While still a toddler, during meals, her mother would ask, “What do you want? And Kamala, without any cue, would yell on top of her voice, “Fwee-dom.” Her diminutive mother, only 5’1”, told her that “being a good person meant standing for something larger than yourself; that success is measured in part by what you help others achieve and accomplish.” And she always told Kamala and her little sister: “Fight systems in a way that causes them to be fairer, and don’t be limited by what has always been.” That’s how she developed political consciousness and to stand for her rights and those of others.

It was no surprise that after passing the bar, she chose to serve the Alameda County district Attorney’s office and later transferred to San Francisco D.A. Office. Kamala was the first black woman to be elected as the Attorney General of California.

She again made history by becoming the first black senator from her state and only the second black woman senator in the nation’s history. But her journey was not always rosy. She flunked the bar examination on her first attempt. She dilly-dallied on her first run for an elective public

office—the District Attorney of San Francisco. She knew it would be a bruising and expensive contest to run against her former boss. But she was inspired by the foremost black novelist, James Baldwin, who said: “There is never a time in the future in which we will work for our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now.”

In her book, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey”, Kamala wrote: “We need to speak truth; that there are forces of hate in this country— racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and anti-Semitism—and we need to confront them. We need to speak the truth about what it will take for all American workers to earn a living with dignity and decency. We must speak the truth about who we send to jail in this country and why. We must speak the truth about companies that make a profit taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us. And I intend to do just that.” Yes, if and when you get elected, Kamala.

Kamala’s climb to the top of her game as the first woman of color to become a nominee for VP by any major political party hopefully will eventually hurdle the barrier, which had been previously attempted without success by two women, Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin.

This is not to mention Hillary Clinton who went for the biggest prize of them all, the presidential plum.

If Biden wins in November, Harris will be the first woman VP of the US and hopefully make her the first female American president. Go ahead Kamala, break the glass ceiling. With your enormous ability, the sky’s the limit.

ENTREPRENEURS’ FOOTPRINTS

Footprint of some rich dads

By Dr. Carl Balita

W

hat can be more rewarding to parents than having their children talk about them with the highest respect and admiration? Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon-Chua must have been a very self-actualized soul watching his son D. Edgard A. Cabangon talk about him with so much pride and heartfelt admiration, and whose memorabilia of life are immortalized in a museum “Antonio L. Cabangon Chua: A Saga of Success,” which is adopted from the title of his early life biography penned by National Artist for Literature, the late Nick Joaquin. Asked about the greatest advice from his dad, whom he regards as a best friend, he pointed to a set of footprints adjacent to his dad’s favorite chair. It said: “The best fertilizer for any business is the footprint of the owner.”

That wisdom led this writer to propose that this column be called “Entrepreneurs’ Footprints.” The theme of every feature shall be the marks that entrepreneurs make in their journey. Inspired by that encounter, this writer dedicated this maiden article to the footprint of fathers seen through the lens of their children, and the legacy they imprint upon generations. Some of these fathers are gone, while some are still navigating to create more meaningful footprints.

Character. Culture. Care.

Alfredo Yaochun joined the Creator and left his family with a sari-sari store when his eldest was only 12 years old. But he was successful in teaching his son the powerful lesson that in this world, nothing is free. Then he instilled the value of hard work and honesty in building a trustworthy character. His eldest son Ambassador Afredo M. Yao, the founder of Zest-O, Macay Holdings, and Philippine Business Bank, recalls these lessons. Similarly, Viviene Co echoes the reverberating reminder from her father that integrity is everything, and that family togetherness will overcome challenges and bring success. The founder of ICCT Colleges Dr. William Co resolves that family togetherness is expressed through shared responsibility, family tradition, and mutual support.

Meanwhile, the legendary Mang Inasal brothers Injap and Ferdinand Sia who grew up sharing the same bedroom got one major advice from their father Edgar Sia Sr.—never to fight whatever it takes.

The lesson of character extends

beyond business. Cory Quirino recalls her grandfather’s great lessons of forgiveness, which was evident when he, as president in 1953, granted clemency to 114 Japanese war criminals on death row. To President Elpidio Quirino, despite the fact that he lost his wife Alicia and three children in the hands of the Japanese, forgiving them was the right thing to do. He echoed to the family the lesson of integrity, and showed how to protect a good name—by honest living.

World-class architect and urban planner Felino “Jun” Palafox Jr. got a similar advice about honesty and integrity from his father, the physician-surgeon Dr. Felino Palafox Sr. who successfully sent all his 10 children to school.

Some fathers were unassuming and were not the type to express their lessons verbally. Noli M. Lopez worked his own way through education to become a loyal accountant to a multinational company until retirement, and is described as a quiet and calm but loving father. He would only share his views when needed. His diligence, loyalty, honesty and frugality are lessons emulated by Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.

Word of honor being as precious as gold is the advice of Police General Enrique Atanacio to his son Emerson Atanacio, who in his early 20s founded the National College of Science and Technology. Captain Jesus Yujuico was conscripted into the military as a graduating college student and survived the Bataan Death March. But his son Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) President Ambassador Bene-

dicto Yujuico recalls his role modeling of humility, kindness, and generosity. The same lesson of generosity, to help whenever or wherever you can, was also learned by Raffy Jose from his father, the Arlington Chapel’s patriarch Nestor Lopez Jose.

Learn. Relearn. Unlearn.

Sharon Tan shares the simple advice of the Kapitan, Dr. Lucio Tan— study hard and be humble. Similarly, Eduardo Siojo Enriquez, who founded Enriquez Security, pushed his children to complete their education.

His son Jun Enriquez says that his father wanted all his 17 children to achieve what he failed to accomplish in life—to have a degree. But it is different for Dr. Ernesto Y. Sibal, a Doctor of Laws graduate of the Yale University who walked-the-talk of education and also emphasized the value of lifelong learning to his children. He believed that education is a wealth that will never be taken away from them. He taught his daughter the value of work. At the young age of eight, his daughter served as cashier at Alemar’s bookstore. He left his footprint in the volumes of Supreme Court annotated books for the lawyers and for his family, the Phoenix Publishing, Central Books, and Central Publishing. His footprint includes his daughter who is now regarded as the Mother of Philippine Franchising, Ms. Alegria “Bing” Sibal Limjoco. On the other hand, the father of Philippine Franchising Samie Lim is cited by his son Christopher Lim as a man who will always remind him to honor the past, to humbly accept that we are who we are because we are standing on the shoulders of the giants, and to learn from the successes and the failures of the people who came before you. Toby Claudio shares the lessons from his dad Bobby Claudio, who founded Toby’s Sports, to not be afraid to make mistakes, with an assurance that the lessons learned from each and every one are invaluable.

Feliciano Belmonte became a public personality as a three-term Chief Executive of Quezon City and as two-term Speaker of the House of Representatives. But prior to that political move, he had a long list of executive corporate engagements including the Government Service Insurance System, The Manila Hotel,

San Miguel Corp., Philippine LongDistance Telephone Co., and Philippine Airlines. He taught his children to keep their eyes on the goal, and to regard everything else as distracting noise. His daughter, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte treasures the greatest advise as having a career and try to excel in it, but continue to live a simple and humble life.

Faith. Hope. Love.

Spirituality should not be missed, according to the great Ambassador Antonio Cabangon-Chua, who is known as a man of God and a man for others. His spirituality was evident not only in his personal encounters and close associations with religious leaders, but also in his consistent philanthropy. This value is shared

by Glen Yu, who said that his father Francis Yu modeled loving God and loving his family and his neighbor.

Francis Yu, the founder of SEAOIL, is remembered for his trust in the Almighty Father. Yvette Pardo-Orbeta shares that her father Jose T. Pardo, the former secretary of Finance and of Trade and Industry, follows POMP, which stands for Prioritize, Organize, Manage and Pray. The current chairman of the Philippine Stock Exchange teaches even his grandchildren that the difficult takes a while, and the impossible… a little longer. And it takes a lot of faith to be able to do that.

Federico Moreno cites that his late father seldom gave pieces of advice but was a best friend to all and generous to many. German Moreno lived his life by example and this, to his son, is his father’s best advice. This writer’s father is the retired Colonel Carlo Balita, Sr., who does not speak much, but leads a life that did not prepare the road for his family, but prepared his family for the road.

As fathers are hailed as sources of lessons in this article, it is on record that a 10-year-old Antonio learned the enterprising spirit for his mother Dominga, with whom he travailed the agonies of Calvary, as Ambassador Antonio Cabangon-Chua described it. The next article shall celebrate the footprint of the mothers because it is for sure that the secret behind the greatness of these men are the women. Until then…

But wait, how will your children talk about you?

A8 Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Locsin lauds govt field staff in repatriation job as Beirut OFWs return

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HE remains of eight overseas Filipinos (OF), four of whom were killed at the August 4 explosion in Beirut Port, were flown in on Monday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, aboard a chartered Qatar Airways. On board the same flight, QR 3150, which touched down at 12:55 p.m., were 386 distressed OFs. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., welcomed them at the airport Terminal 3, wearing dark glasses.

He briefly removed his face mask to address them, partly in Filipino: “I will be brief, I am aware that you are all tired, what I am going to say is, ‘welcome home.”’

He added, “I want to thank the people around me. Everyday, they’re here to welcome back our people. We do it because we love you, and we do it because we respect our president, the first and only president who has cared for the least of the Filipino people.”

He paused for a while and concluded, “Thank you for the honor of serving you.”

In a brief interview that followed, he appealed to local government units (LGU) not to subject the returning OF to a second swab test, after they have undergone the first test at the premier airport.

“My only appeal is to the local

government units. They are...our people are being swab-tested, they will be quarantined when they come out [of the airport].... I ask the local government units to please not repeat the ordeal they are going through, have a little pity for our people.”

He added: “I said you cannot blame the LGUs, but I think the LGUs have to rethink. They [OFWs] are being swabbed, they’re going to be quarantined, they’re going to be released when it’s negative, and when they go back, the LGU will demand they be swabbed again and they’d be quarantined in the LGU hotel.

“Does that make sense? Maawa naman sila [have pity on them].

Later in the day, Locsin tweeted about the event at the Naia, and once again gave the credit to government field personnel for the unflagging efforts to bring home migrant workers, both the hundreds of thousands displaced by the pandemic and those distressed for various reasons.

“See the people around me, OWWA [Overseas Workers Welfare Administration], my people, the Coast Guard, they are there everyday night and day to welcome back our people. Don’t thank me.

I’m just the face; they are the hands and heart.”

Continued on A2

11 RTCs assigned to handle big infra expropriation cases

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By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Supreme Court has designated 11 special courts to handle expropriation cases involving national government infrastructure projects under President Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” program.

The designation of Special Expropriation Courts (SECs) for Public Roads was in response to the request made by Public Works Secretary Mark Villar.

Villar asked Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta and the Office of the Court Administrator to “look into the possibility of considering expropriation proceedings for the acquisition of right-of-way for priority ‘Build, Build, Build’ projects of the DPWH as an urgent matter.”

This is in line, according to Villar, with the policy issue and procedural guidelines for efficient

handling of expropriation cases involving national government infrastructure projects and for the immediate issuance of writs of possession during community quarantine.

With the designation of SECs, the completion of “Build, Build, Build” projects such as the North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway (Nlex-Slex) Connector Project and the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) Project is expected to be fastracked.

Chief Justice Peralta along with Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Associate Justice Marvic Leonen signed the two-page memorandum circular creating the 11 SECs that are all regional trial courts.

Of the 11 SECs, two are from Imus, Cavite—namely, Branch 20 presided by Judge Amabel RoblesBuenaluz, and Branch 22 of Judge Mary Charlene Hernandez-Azura; two are from Trece Martires City in Cavite, namely, Branch 23 of Judge Purificacion Baring-Tuvera,

and Branch 131 of Vice Executive Judge Jean Susan Desuado-Gill; and Branch 90 in Dasmariñas, Cavite of Judge Francisco Victor Collado Jr. Two of the SECs are in Tagaytay City, namely, Branch 133 presided

by Judge Gian Enrico Navarro and Branch 134 of Judge Michael Maranan; three RTCs in Manila, namely, Branch 22 of Judge Tammy Ann Reyes-Mendillo, Branch 18 of Judge Carolina Sison, and Branch 49 of Judge James Sy; and one RTC in Caloocan, Branch 232 of Judge Rosalia Hipolito-Bunagan.

The SC said it might assign additional SECs in key cities with priority infrastructure projects, depending on the recommendation of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The DPWH intends to file in the coming months an estimated 902 expropriation cases before the RTCs in the cities of Imus, Trece Martires, Dasmariñas, Tagaytay, Caloocan and Manila, in connection with its two ongoing big-ticket projects— the Calax and Nlex-Slex Connector Road Project. The High Court said these SECs for Public Roads “shall have jurisdiction over newly filed expropriation cases involving national government infrastructure projects in their respective territorial jurisdictions.”

Currently, according to Villar, a total of 308 expropriation cases are pending before several RTCs in the six cities, in connection with the Calax and the Nlex-Slex Connector Road Projects.

‘Takeover threats will drive away investors’

F

OR the Philippines to rise above the ensuing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, experts agreed on the need to strengthen both the public and private institutions nationwide.

Stratbase ADR Institute President Dindo Manhit said the country should not abandon the rule of law to cope with the health crisis.

He noted that stronger public institutions, responsive legislation, good governance and more responsible citizenship are much needed at present.

“There is a need to focus on the importance of whole-of-society solutions, strengthening institutions and legislation, the shift to e-governance and continuous political development in building a new and better normal for the country,” Manhit explained.

Ateneo School of Government Dean Ronald Mendoza, on the other hand, warned that the government’s recent threat to close down and take over private companies, supposedly as part of its response to Covid-19, would drive away investors from the country.

“At this point, rising cases, rapidly filling hospitals, our return to tighter lockdown, and a slowing economy could push us toward some of the same strategies unsuccessfully deployed during the dictatorship [of the late President Ferdinand Marcos],” he said.

According to him, there were similarities in the way President Duterte and then-President Marcos address any crisis, particularly the narrative track of “ending the oligarchy.”

Mendoza said such term, which can be broadly defined as a small group of powerful individuals or groups that can shape society, can also apply to political dynasties, as they are very much concentrating power in the political system.

“You can own the business and become senator, and also become president, and also become congressman,” he pointed out.

Oligarchs existing both in the government and the private sectors somehow indicate wrong political and economic systems.

“In economics, if ever there is a monopoly or an oligopoly, more often than not, this is considered to be a market failure.

Continued on A2

DA asked to clarify ban on MDM; processed meat supply gaps seen

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HE country could suffer a shortage of processed meat goods as they may start running out of stocks of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of chicken after a month following the import ban on Brazilian chicken meat, local meat processors have warned.

In a letter addressed to Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar, the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) raised concern that the recent import ban imposed on Brazilian chicken meat may jeopardize supply of raw materials for canned and processed meat products.

Pampi sought clarification from Dar if the ban, which took effect August 14, includes chicken byproducts, particularly MDM, from accredited Brazilian foreign meat establishments (FMEs).

The letter was also sent to IATF Chairman and Health Secretary Francisco Duque, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo, Agriculture Assistant Secretary William Medrano, Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) Director Ronnie Domingo and National Meat Inspection Service Executive Director Reildrin Morales.

Dar ordered the blanket ban on Brazilian chicken meat imports following the detection by China of Covid-19 on certain imported chicken meat from the Latin American country and rise of Covid-19 cases in FMEs in Brazil.

Citing a World Health Organization (WHO) report, Dar in his Memorandum Order (MO) 39, said there has been over 3.1 million re-

ported confirmed Covid-19 cases in Brazil with deaths reaching to over 103,000, with a “significant number of cases in workers of their local meat establishments.”

His order, made public on Monday, added: “The health status of the workers in meat establishments is a primary consideration in the accreditation of foreign meat establishments in compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices certification.”

Dar also cited the provision of the Food Safety Act of 2013 in imposing the import ban. This states that the DA could adopt precautionary measures in circumstances where there is insufficient information for use in risk assessment to safeguard food and consumer health safety.

Ticking clock

HOWEVER, Pampi said if chicken MDM from Brazil would be covered by the ban, then local meat processors may start running out of stocks of raw materials after a month, which could lead to shortage of processed meat products.

Pampi explained that their current inventory of chicken MDM is only good for 30 to 45 days, making it “crucial” that trade of the imported raw material remain unhampered.

Pampi said it takes about 60 days before a shipment of chicken MDM from Brazil arrives in the country from the time of booking to delivery.

“We are seriously concerned that if the ban is inclusive of all

poultry products from Brazil, we will not be able to comply with our commitments to the President and the IATF to provide a stable supply of processed meat products for the rest of the year which we had done since the pandemic occurred. In short, no question—there will be shortage,” the group said.

Pampi pointed out that Brazil is the country’s second-largest source of chicken MDM next to Netherlands and the Latin American country is playing a more pivotal role this year due to limited supply in European sources.

Besides, chicken MDM imported from Brazil is currently cheaper than European and American prices at $680 per metric ton, compared to $800 per metric ton from other sources, according to Pampi.

Citing government data, Pampi said chicken MDM imports from Brazil as of end-July has reached 40,000 metric tons, the same volume of chicken MDM that local meat processors imported from Brazil for the entire 2019.

Pampi asked for chicken MDM’s exclusion from the import ban on Brazilian chicken meat to avert shortages, since MDM-based processed meats are the “cheapest sources of protein” today.

“Keeping the flow of MDM importation from Brazil going, will not be prejudicial to the interest of any party, not even to the domestic poultry industry, which we know you are trying to protect and promote,” it added.

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

Companies BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

GT Capital H1 income falls as lockdowns cut car sales

G

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

T Capital Holdings Inc., the holding firm of the Ty family, on Monday said its net income in the January-to-June period slid by 62 percent to P2.74 billion, from last year’s P7.17 billion, as automotive sales plunged by half.

Consolidated revenues fell 48 percent to P52.62 billion, from last year's P100.74 billion. Most of those revenues came from its automotive operations, which booked some P43.33 billion in revenues or just half of last year's P86.99 billion.

“We continue to closely monitor the development of the Covid-19 pandemic with concern. During this period of uncertainty, GT Capital continues to practice fiscal discipline, resulting in a strong and stable bal-

ance sheet, adequate liquidity, and access to credit facilities, in case of need,” GT Capital President Carmelo Maria Luza Bautista said.

“We are taking all the precautions for our employees’ health and safety as we continue to deliver products and services to customers.”

Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. generated a net income of P9.1 billion during the period, 30 percent lower than last year’s P13 billion, as the company increased its loan provisions for potential risks.

Toyota Motor Philippines reported a profit of P1.03 billion, down 77 percent from P4.42 billion last year. It booked revenues of P37.5 billion for the period, or just half of the P76.1 billion it reported last year.

Retail vehicle sales plunged to 35,648 units in the first semester, from 73,454 units last year. Toyota dealerships nationwide gradually reopened beginning May, with all 71 outlets resuming operations by June, after temporarily closing down in March due to the enhanced community quarantine.

From a low of 36 units sold in April, when all dealers were closed, Toyota Philippines attained a sales volume of 7,485 units in June, after all its dealers reopened.

“As the government takes steps to reopen the economy, the automotive sector is showing signs of a gradual recovery. Toyota dealerships across the country reopened in full last June with a wide suite of health protocols to assure customers of a safe environment to visit,” GT Capital Auto Dealership Holdings Chairman Vince S. Socco said.

“Digital initiatives were rolled out to provide platforms for car buyers to engage with dealers. Pent-up demand drove new vehicle sales in May, but in June, new reservations increased indicating an encouraging return of buyers to the market.”

Federal Land, the property developer, reported a 57-percent drop in net income to P171 million, from last year’s P404 million.

It booked total revenues of P3 billion for the period, down 37 percent from P4.8 billion last year.

Reservation sales were flat at P9.1 billion, while lease revenues rose by 15 percent, the company said.

Insurer AXA Philippines’s net income grew 29 percent to P1.5 billion for the period, from P1.2 million last year.

Consolidated life and general insurance gross premiums for the period rose 11 percent to P16.7 billion, from P15 billion last year, driven by better loss experience in general insurance, as well as higher sales of protection and health and single premium products, which grew 48 percent year-on-year.

AREIT to seek SEC nod for bond sale T he board of AREIT Inc., the country’s first listed real estate investment trust (REIT), has approved the company's filing of a shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its P15-billion bond offering.

“This will provide AREIT the ability to leverage for future acquisitions while preserving cash for dividend distributions,” the company said in a statement.

The said shelf registration is valid for three years and the company can sell the bonds anytime after it secures the regulators’ approval.

The company also said it has declared has declared a cash dividend of P0.59 per outstanding common share from the rental income generated by its highperforming commercial assets

in the first half.

This is broken down to P0.28 and P0.31 per outstanding common share, for the first and the second quarter of the year, respectively. The payout will be on September 15 to stockholders on record as of September 2.

Its board also approved a policy that calls for the distribution of quarterly dividends.

The planned distribution dates will be on or before March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31 of the calendar year.

“AREIT provides investors regular dividend income derived from prime commercial properties, higher than most fixed income instruments,” AREIT President Carol T. Mills said.

The company’s portfolio consists of Ayala North Exchange, Solaris One and McKinley Exchange all in Makati. These prop-

erties cover a total gross leasable area of about 153,000 square meters and have a total occupancy rate of 99.9 percent.

AREIT said it is on track to acquire Teleperformance Cebu, a BPO office property in Cebu IT Park from ALO Prime Realty, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ayala Land. This brings AREIT’s

portfolio to more than 170,000 sqm by the end of the year.

“Beyond the purchase of the Cebu property, we are focused on growing AREIT’s portfolio with yield accretive acquisitions for our shareholders,” Mills said. VG Cabuag

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

B1

Globe to buy majority stake in Third Pillar

G

lobe Telecom Inc. is acquiring a majority stake in business application consulting and systems integration company Third Pillar Business Applications Inc. for P173 million, effectively expanding its ability to provide digital solutions to enterprises.

The transaction involves the acquisition

by Globe of a 67-percent stake in Third Pillar, making it the majority shareholder in the company which has been instrumental in the growth of customer relationship management firm Salesforce.

The agreement also mandates Third Pillar to acquire shares of Third Pillar Global Delivery Center Inc., its outsourcing affiliate. The cost for the said share purchase exercise is at P52 million.

“The acquisition of Third Pillar expands our suite of cloud business offerings and this includes

Software-as-a-Service applications, which is now the platform of choice of businesses that prefer faster service capabilities in a cost-effective manner,” Globe President Ernest L. Cu said.

The transaction was made through Globe’s wholly-owned subsidiary, GTI Business Holdings Inc. “Globe’s investment in Third Pillar empowers both entities to face the digital future from a position of strength. Globe will be able to enhance its ability to provide enterprise business solutions to its customers, which is a critical complement to its core business,” Third Pillar President Jennifer Ligones said.

“In turn, Third Pillar will be able to achieve greater efficiencies and sustainable local and global growth as it gains access to Globe’s platform, customer base and expertise.” Lorenz S. Marasigan

SBMA tests Subic container terminal workers for Covid-19

By Henry Empeño Correspondent

S

ubic Bay Freeport—Close to 250 workers of the Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC), operator of the new container terminal here, were tested on Monday for Covid-19 after confirmed cases surged last week.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) ordered the testing of SBITC workers. SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said a total of 14 positive cases were recorded among SBITC workers since July 30 when a worker from Olongapo City, who had no history of travel to any high-risk area, first manifested symptoms of the disease. “It was either mass testing by RT-PCR [reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction] or shutdown of terminal operations—that’s the only choice left if we wanted to contain the outbreak,” Eisma said.

Part of the mass testing was held onsite at the SBITC terminal, with two medical technologists taking swab samples from 80 SBITC staff already at the terminal.

The other 158 SBITC workers, who are mostly from nearby Olongapo City, will be swabbed at the SBMA swabbing center near the Subic main gate.

Eisma said the SBMA also required disinfection of the whole terminal complex, closure of engineering and maintenance areas subject to focused disinfection, and daily in-house disinfection. “Thankfully, the SBITC management was very cooperative in our strategy to contain the spread, as we knew that closure is a last resort because testing is the key to preventing the spread and that the Red Cross lab at our doorstep makes for fast turnaround for results,” she added.

Continued on B2

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

DMCI Mining ships more nickel ore in January-June

D

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

MCI Mining Corp. on Monday said its nickel ore shipments in the first half rose 25 percent to 853,197 wet metric tons (WMT), from 681,360 WMT last year following the resumption of its Zambales operations.

Its Zambales Diversified Metals Corp. accounted for about a quarter of its shipments and sold some 202,440 WMT in the first

half. The company made no shipments last year.

Berong Nickel Corp., the company’s nickel asset in Palawan,

exported 650,757 WMT of nickel ore, a 4-percent decline year-onyear from 681,360 WMT. In the second quarter alone, Berong and Zambales units shipped 321,966 WMT and 101,140 WMT, respectively.

“The Indonesian ban on nickel ore exports and easing of Covid-19 containment measures in May allowed us to sustain our production and shipments,” DMCI Mining President Cesar F. Simbulan said.

“We also benefited from shifting market demand. Nine of our 16 shipments to China were for low-grade nickel ore, which was

previously unsellable,” he said.

T he demand for low-grade nickel was driven by China’s sustained steel production during the first half, the company said.

In addition to the Indonesian nickel ban, the coronavirus pandemic induced-trade restrictions pushed Chinese buyers to shift to low-grade nickel to support its raw material requirements.

Nickel is primarily used for stainless steel production, but demand for the metal is projected to increase in the coming years on the back of higher battery production for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.

SBMA tests Subic container terminal workers for Covid-19 Continued from B1 Eisma said that SBITC President Roberto Locsin gave the assurance that aside from those already traced and tested after some workers turned out positive, all other personnel working in the container terminal will undergo RT-PCR test.

These include a total of 238 shift workers, port users, security personnel, canteen staff, and even SBMA checkers.

Eisma said test results can be generated within 24 to 48 hours, depending on the volume of samples tested at the Red Cross molecular laboratory here in the Freeport.

Records at the SBMA Public Health and Safety Department (PHSD) showed that at least 50 employees have been identified as close contacts after the first Covid-19 infection was discovered.

The PHSD said that after the first worker tested positive on August 4, tracing identified 15 contacts in the workforce. When three of the 15 contacts tested positive on August 7, 25 close contacts were identified in turn and

mutual funds

of these, 7 came out positive. Since then, 3 other positive cases were recorded.

Of the 14 infected workers, 9 are from Olongapo City, 4 from Zambales, and one from Aurora.

Only two of the confirmed Covid-19 patients have been admitted to a hospital, as the rest, who are mostly asymptomatic, were placed on home quarantine.

Locsin also informed Eisma that the company has also implemented other measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace.

Aside from contact tracing and immediate quarantining of close contacts, the firm had since closed its administration building to visitors, started issuing gate passes online, encouraged online payments, closed the operations barracks, ordered the mandatory wearing of face mask and face shield, and prohibited dine-in at the company canteen.

Locsin also said terminal facilities have been disinfected first by the SBMA Fire Department on August 8 to 10, and by a third party contractor on August 11. The facilities were again disinfected on August 15 and 16.

August 17, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 199.46 -22.49% -10.42% -5.37% -20.8% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.0145 -34.56% -13.89% -5.61% -26.59% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.6695 -33.31% -15.15% -7.89% -27.42% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.69 -26.77% -11.83% n.a.

-23.16% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.6925 -19.32% n.a. n.a. -18.46% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.2835 -20.4% -8.73% -5% -19.61% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 0.6725 -22.13% -11.21% n.a.

-21.22% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 77.53 -34.15% n.a. n.a. -24.89% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 40.049 -22.34% -9.07% -4.26% -21.9% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 430.31 -20.21% -8.25% -4.43% -19.23% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5 0.8967 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-12.95% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.0161 -22.3% -8.62% -4.06% -21.04% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 29.8986 -22% -8.12% -3.73% -21.11% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7944 -22.09% n.a. n.a.

-21.97% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 4.088 -21.91% -8.48% -3.56% -21.74% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 683.38 -21.83% -8.49% -3.76% -21.63% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.6138 -32.71% -12.62% -7.87% -27.91% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.1617 -26.31% -9.86% -4.95% -24.88% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7832 -22.04% -8.68% -3.77% -21.74% United Fund, Inc. -a 2.8697 -22.19% -7.45% -3.21% -21.45% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 91.7687 -21.64% -8.03% -2.94% -21.53% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$1.0569 16.72% 1.17% 2.35% 2.77% 18.69% 8.39% n.a.

8.58% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.497 Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.5676 -6.92% -4.38% -3.33% 0.31% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.0607 -10.55% -4.74% -1.87% -5.52% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.4195 -8.65% -3.18% -2.83% -8.06% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.1848 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-19.12% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.8436 -5.51% -1.42% -0.22% -6.02% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.5118 -7.54% -2.46% -1.3% -7.32% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 15.6439 -8.03% -2.74% -1.48% -7.76% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 1.9236 -10.06% -3.96% -1.37% -9.35% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.2883 -15.49% -4.96% -2.72% -14.89% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.947 -7.24% n.a. n.a.

-6.76% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.8498 -15.59% n.a. n.a.

-14.71% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.8233 -17.95% n.a. n.a.

-17.11% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.8088 -18.82% -6.12% -3.77% -17.03% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03966 2.83% 3.44% 2.22% 3.82% 1.87% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b $1.0474 9.24% 2.77% 3.5% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $4.1125 10.96% 5.91% 4.95% 5.16% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.1611 5.17% 3.2% n.a.

2.87% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 367.9 4.14% 3.2% 2.58% 2.78% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.9488 2% 0.97% -0.05% 2.46% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.198 4.07% 4.95% 5.02% 2.57% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.3115 3.99% 3.23% 2.35% 3.96% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4584 4.47% 3.59% 2% 4.21% 8.67% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.6973 4.88% 2.76% 7.42% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a,6 1.3082 5.61% 4.33% 2.42% 4.1% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.9592 5.74% 4.39% 2.3% 4.51% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0412 9.01% 3.9% 1.84% 7.97% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.185 4.97% 4.98% 2.76% 3.56% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.7504 4% 4.35% 2.24% 2.9% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $478.43 3.43% 2.63% 2.81% 2.15% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є216.97 -1.32% 0.74% 1.07% -1.28% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2458 4.47% 3.32% 2.78% 3.2% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0265 2.32% 2.1% 1.66% 2.71% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.0951 -0.54% 0.52% 0.53% 0.14% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.5199 4.32% 4.09% 3.5% 4.84% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0610896 1.78% 2.13% 1.93% 1.31% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.2463 2.32% 2.48% 2.71% 2.24% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 128.73 3.51% 3.28% 2.49% 2.3% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0439 2.33% n.a. n.a.

1.71% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2875 2.93% 3.04% 2.61% 1.78% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0471 1.59% n.a. n.a.

0.85% Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a,d,7 1.0263 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

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

-4.04%

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

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

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

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

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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

August 17, 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 PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG MEDCO HLDG NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE

44.6 90.9 65.15 20.25 7.8 35.5 19.88 47.75 16.5 96.65 53.7 0.83 21.5 2.65 0.28 0.64 154.5 1810

45.7 91 65.4 20.3 7.83 35.55 19.9 48 16.6 96.75 53.8 0.85 22.1 2.9 0.285 0.66 155 1920

45.8 91.95 65.5 20.2 7.83 35.95 20 48 16.6 99 54.4 0.83 22.4 2.76 0.275 0.65 155 1920

45.8 91.95 65.5 20.3 7.84 35.95 20.05 48 16.6 99 54.4 0.84 22.4 2.76 0.28 0.67 158 1920

45 90.2 64.2 20.1 7.76 35.2 19.8 48 16.4 96.3 53.7 0.83 22 2.62 0.275 0.64 155 1920

45.7 91 65.15 20.3 7.83 35.55 19.9 48 16.6 96.75 53.8 0.83 22.1 2.62 0.28 0.65 155 1920

6100 787550 837530 56300 278100 1496500 260400 300 578000 237970 12890 77000 600 33000 150000 516000 580 5

275280 71467532.5 54570910.5 1139100 2172860 53196150 5189763 14400 9504390 23046397.5 692749.5 64110 13310 89040 41550 336550 90168 9600

270700 -15675661.5 4991703.5 -505128 -12428600 -1845272 -4213513 -392231 -6500 -

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 2.65 2.66 2.73 2.73 2.65 2.66 3630000 9705150 1.36 1.37 1.34 1.44 1.31 1.37 66894000 91881240 ALSONS CONS 25.5 25.6 25.3 25.6 25.2 25.6 448500 11377005 ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY 0.158 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.157 0.16 420000 66980 23.5 24.1 23.1 24.15 23 23.5 4340600 102880760 FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG 58.8 59.05 59 59.1 58.8 58.8 15640 922889 273.6 274.8 275 277.8 271 274.8 73720 20205488 MERALCO 13.08 13.1 13.16 13.16 13 13.08 687100 8984398 MANILA WATER PETRON 3.09 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.08 3.1 1416000 4379280 PETROENERGY 3.18 3.35 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.2 39000 124800 11.14 11.3 11.1 11.34 11.1 11.34 72700 818794 PHX PETROLEUM 17.04 17.18 16.9 17.18 16.72 17.18 1905300 32034822 PILIPINAS SHELL 8.1 8.15 8.1 8.14 8.05 8.1 246200 1993968 SPC POWER 7.99 8 7.93 8.09 7.9 8 221200 1770266 AGRINURTURE AXELUM 2.37 2.38 2.35 2.38 2.35 2.38 1681000 3966080 76.25 84.95 76.2 76.2 76.2 76.2 10 762 BOGO MEDELLIN 10.9 11.2 10.84 11.2 10.84 11.2 10700 119660 CNTRL AZUCARERA 15.96 15.98 16.2 16.24 15.9 15.96 781200 12499570 CENTURY FOOD 4.7 4.74 4.8 4.8 4.6 4.7 93000 435490 DEL MONTE DNL INDUS 4.85 4.92 4.96 4.97 4.85 4.85 2035000 9965770 EMPERADOR 10.24 10.3 10.38 10.38 10.12 10.3 7852400 80779994 SMC FOODANDBEV 67.95 68 68 68.2 66 68 266000 18053425 0.63 0.64 0.65 0.65 0.63 0.65 434000 274980 ALLIANCE SELECT 1.16 1.18 1.17 1.18 1.16 1.18 8119000 9479200 FRUITAS HLDG GINEBRA 39.45 39.7 39.75 39.75 38.5 39.45 10300 403490 JOLLIBEE 140.8 140.9 144 144 137.5 140.9 392420 55210424 MACAY HLDG 7 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.3 300 2190 4.88 4.98 4.8 4.9 4.76 4.88 194000 941840 MAXS GROUP 0.138 0.139 0.138 0.139 0.138 0.139 80000 11050 MG HLDG 5.32 5.34 5.39 5.39 5.31 5.34 342300 1821111 SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO 1.25 1.26 1.28 1.28 1.22 1.25 3100000 3870030 RFM CORP 4.26 4.43 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 1000 4300 1.56 1.68 1.63 1.66 1.6 1.66 81000 131850 ROXAS HLDG 142.6 142.8 142.7 142.8 139 142.8 683940 96785006 UNIV ROBINA 0.78 0.79 0.79 0.8 0.77 0.78 3072000 2395690 VITARICH CONCRETE A 53 56.35 52.05 53 51.15 53 530 27861.5 54 55.45 53 53 53 53 20 1060 CONCRETE B 1.15 1.16 1.19 1.19 1.14 1.16 20431000 23730480 CEMEX HLDG 9.99 10 10.44 10.44 10 10 1987200 19900230 EAGLE CEMENT 5.14 5.15 5.14 5.16 5.12 5.14 71300 366827 EEI CORP HOLCIM 5.26 5.27 5.3 5.4 5.11 5.26 1102700 5794138 MEGAWIDE 6.3 6.31 6.49 6.51 6.24 6.3 1041300 6582793 PHINMA 8.37 9.05 9 9 9 9 10100 90900 0.68 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.69 0.7 118000 82570 TKC METALS 0.75 0.76 0.77 0.77 0.73 0.75 284000 213520 VULCAN INDL 1.84 1.87 1.83 1.88 1.83 1.87 14000 26070 CROWN ASIA EUROMED 1.88 1.9 1.91 1.91 1.85 1.88 526000 982400 MABUHAY VINYL 3.76 3.85 3.83 3.85 3.83 3.85 5000 19190 4.16 4.18 4.15 4.2 4.12 4.16 491000 2044240 PRYCE CORP 17.72 18.74 18 18 18 18 6200 111600 CONCEPCION 1.84 1.85 1.77 1.85 1.74 1.85 5954000 10781760 GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR 4.7 4.71 4.76 4.76 4.65 4.7 103000 483030 IONICS 0.97 0.98 0.98 0.98 0.96 0.98 142000 138290 SFA SEMICON 1.52 1.53 1.51 1.54 1.45 1.53 2041000 3042820 5.9 5.91 5.64 5.9 5.51 5.9 17270200 99363637 CIRTEK HLDG

-713500 21720 3947315 7890915 -98522.5 -3236896 3156130 -750290 -1412590 -1693072 -270448 -0 -2429556 -6232660 -12211864 -12914157 -30680 -152640 -8997569 -19280 -516190 -409690 6083156 10937400 46660 -266434 -1265918 5610 -229910 50400 -172010 -46730 48800 -15300 334338

HOLDING & FRIMS

ABACORE CAPITAL ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL AYALA LAND LOG ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PRIME MEDIA SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.47 7.65 745 49.85 6.24 1.76 6.41 0.485 0.57 4.93 3.69 8.51 0.176 424 2.89 63.1 0.6 2.32 8.3 0.495 3.32 0.76 0.97 169 880 103.5 0.67 128 0.185 0.147

0.475 7.8 760 50.2 6.25 1.78 6.48 0.5 0.58 4.95 3.71 8.95 0.208 425 2.9 64 0.61 2.4 8.31 0.53 3.33 0.8 1 172 887 103.6 0.68 131 0.2 0.149

0.47 7.93 749.5 49.45 5.96 1.8 7 0.5 0.58 5 3.75 8.96 0.176 407 2.9 62 0.61 2.32 8.2 0.54 3.35 0.8 0.98 170 900 103.5 0.68 130 0.188 0.145

0.475 7.93 760 50.25 6.25 1.8 7 0.5 0.58 5 3.79 9 0.176 424 2.9 64 0.61 2.32 8.35 0.55 3.35 0.81 0.98 170 905 103.5 0.68 130 0.188 0.15

0.465 7.61 740.5 49.3 5.96 1.74 6.41 0.5 0.56 4.93 3.69 8.51 0.175 402 2.9 61.55 0.59 2.32 8.2 0.49 3.22 0.78 0.98 168 875 102.1 0.68 128 0.188 0.145

0.475 7.8 760 50.2 6.25 1.78 6.41 0.5 0.57 4.93 3.69 8.51 0.175 424 2.9 64 0.6 2.32 8.3 0.55 3.33 0.8 0.98 168 880 103.5 0.68 130 0.188 0.148

3480000 34300 66210 223940 14498800 558000 28000 60000 941000 3697000 40429000 38500 50000 248110 24000 1736320 122000 125000 1490500 53000 14237000 79000 7000 220 386070 108690 120000 3020 150000 1470000

1638300 262752 49941135 11185191.5 89167261 990560 185063 30000 535250 18264960 150319290 345045 8770 103381552 69600 109272786.5 73180 290000 12348191 26630 47054950 62210 6860 37360 340175890 11201752 81600 392560 28200 218890

-102550 61760 -4971095 2361111 30914232 17750 -3093700 -5765970 -14214412 -66700 -787499.5 1770 -1287459 2378390 166372710 4405086 20800 -

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.51 0.52 0.53 0.54 0.52 0.52 1910000 1006060 33.05 33.1 33.4 33.4 33 33.1 2393500 79270060 AYALA LAND 0.99 1.02 1.03 1.03 0.98 1.02 78000 77350 ARANETA PROP AREIT RT 25.9 25.95 24.65 26.45 24.65 25.95 14178700 368018435 BELLE CORP 1.35 1.37 1.34 1.34 1.34 1.34 1000 1340 0.84 0.85 0.84 0.88 0.83 0.84 9892000 8505830 A BROWN 0.75 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.78 0.8 84000 66960 CITYLAND DEVT 0.121 0.124 0.12 0.124 0.12 0.124 380000 45990 CROWN EQUITIES CEBU HLDG 5.8 5.99 5.99 6 5.99 5.99 45800 274568 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.99 5.02 5.02 5.03 5 5.02 648000 3250602 CENTURY PROP 0.35 0.355 0.35 0.355 0.35 0.35 2720000 953650 0.25 0.26 0.255 0.255 0.25 0.255 130000 33100 CYBER BAY 15.48 15.5 15.48 15.82 15.3 15.5 750800 11723094 DOUBLEDRAGON 5.98 6.04 6.05 6.05 6 6.04 696800 4203827 DM WENCESLAO EMPIRE EAST 0.255 0.27 0.275 0.275 0.275 0.275 10000 2750 0.09 0.093 0.087 0.096 0.087 0.093 880000 79700 EVER GOTESCO 0.91 0.92 0.92 0.92 0.9 0.91 3845000 3497830 FILINVEST LAND 0.77 0.78 0.79 0.79 0.78 0.78 1633000 1274050 GLOBAL ESTATE 7.95 8 8 8 7.95 7.95 3800 30300 8990 HLDG PHIL INFRADEV 1 1.01 0.9 1.05 0.89 1 19239000 18997960 MEGAWORLD 2.99 3 2.99 3.04 2.99 3 5854000 17580770 MRC ALLIED 0.26 0.265 0.25 0.27 0.249 0.265 112200000 29156120 1.18 1.2 1.2 1.23 1.18 1.18 208000 246870 PRIMEX CORP 15 15.02 14.9 15 14.76 15 1392000 20708726 ROBINSONS LAND PHIL REALTY 0.225 0.233 0.233 0.233 0.233 0.233 10000 2330 1.54 1.59 1.52 1.52 1.52 1.52 2000 3040 ROCKWELL 2.61 2.7 2.71 2.71 2.7 2.7 4000 10830 SHANG PROP 1.82 1.84 1.77 1.84 1.77 1.84 7000 12600 STA LUCIA LAND 31.05 31.4 31.05 31.4 30.2 31.4 2630900 82208520 SM PRIME HLDG 3.74 3.81 3.73 3.76 3.73 3.73 34000 127530 VISTAMALLS SUNTRUST HOME 1.13 1.15 1.14 1.15 1.13 1.14 781000 884340 VISTA LAND 3.34 3.35 3.36 3.38 3.31 3.34 2139000 7166410

10500 -7277900 -145322005 8000 137770 -270351 -700500 -7550888 -721812 -525040 -7900 -1964090 -606060 -136950 -3611252 7282435 11299.9999 -582110

SERVICES ABS CBN 7.35 7.38 7.47 7.47 7.35 7.35 362800 2685941 5.08 5.1 4.97 5.1 4.91 5.09 1082000 5425440 GMA NETWORK 0.4 0.41 0.4 0.41 0.4 0.41 540000 217000 MANILA BULLETIN MLA BRDCASTING 11.5 12.06 11.9 11.9 11.7 11.7 5600 65640 2118 2128 2136 2140 2116 2118 12945 27468650 GLOBE TELECOM PLDT 1348 1356 1350 1364 1341 1348 125645 169705055 0.05 0.051 0.051 0.051 0.05 0.051 1030000 51520 APOLLO GLOBAL 2.9 3 2.9 3 2.9 2.91 6000 17520 DFNN INC DITO CME HLDG 3.24 3.25 3.13 3.24 3.13 3.24 45188000 144696600 JACKSTONES 1.61 1.64 1.6 1.68 1.6 1.61 54000 87690 2.13 2.14 2.1 2.17 2.08 2.13 2539000 5390420 NOW CORP 0.18 0.183 0.18 0.183 0.178 0.18 3980000 718420 TRANSPACIFIC BR 1.96 1.99 1.98 2 1.96 1.96 533000 1054440 PHILWEB 8.5 8.6 8.78 8.78 8.28 8.5 47000 400125 2GO GROUP ASIAN TERMINALS 15.72 16.7 15.72 15.72 15.72 15.72 100000 1572000 CHELSEA 3.33 3.34 3.26 3.34 3.25 3.33 618000 2030900 39.45 39.5 40.1 40.1 37.9 39.45 136900 5354435 CEBU AIR 107.3 107.5 107 108 105.1 107.5 832870 89465294 INTL CONTAINER 14.98 15.8 15.8 15.8 15.76 15.8 2600 41068 LBC EXPRESS LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.75 0.79 0.75 0.75 0.72 0.75 56000 41470 4.87 4.89 4.99 4.99 4.8 4.88 2074000 10118370 MACROASIA METROALLIANCE A 1.68 1.7 1.69 1.7 1.64 1.69 356000 592900 1.47 1.87 1.76 1.76 1.76 1.76 2000 3520 METROALLIANCE B 5.94 5.95 6 6 5.91 5.95 53400 318017 PAL HLDG HARBOR STAR 0.8 0.81 0.77 0.8 0.77 0.8 505000 400040 0.031 0.032 0.032 0.032 0.03 0.031 39200000 1207900 BOULEVARD HLDG GRAND PLAZA 10.34 11.6 10.26 11.74 10.26 11.74 300 3226 0.385 0.395 0.38 0.395 0.38 0.385 1660000 641700 WATERFRONT 571 598 598.5 598.5 598 598.5 50 29920 FAR EASTERN U 7.41 8.17 7.22 8.19 7.22 8.17 3200 25198 IPEOPLE STI HLDG 0.305 0.31 0.315 0.315 0.305 0.305 1000000 306450 2.11 2.17 2.11 2.17 2.11 2.17 84000 180860 BERJAYA 6.17 6.23 6.28 6.28 6.04 6.23 3428500 21059717 BLOOMBERRY 1.97 1.98 1.99 1.99 1.98 1.98 25000 49620 PACIFIC ONLINE 1.27 1.29 1.25 1.26 1.25 1.26 21000 26260 LEISURE AND RES MANILA JOCKEY 2.12 2.48 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2983000 7159200 2.14 2.18 2.26 2.26 2.15 2.15 32000 70570 PH RESORTS GRP 0.285 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.285 0.29 2600000 751500 PREMIUM LEISURE 7.11 7.89 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.6 281900 2142440 PHIL RACING 6.29 6.3 6.39 6.39 6.2 6.3 1746100 10964894 ALLHOME METRO RETAIL 1.45 1.46 1.49 1.49 1.45 1.46 668000 977780 PUREGOLD 49.65 49.75 50.5 50.5 49.05 49.65 3141630 156138221.5 ROBINSONS RTL 62 62.05 62.75 62.75 61.4 62 524430 32479377 125 127 128 128 122 125 13380 1672495 PHIL SEVEN CORP 1.04 1.05 1.07 1.07 1.03 1.05 2200000 2299690 SSI GROUP 15.26 15.68 15.66 15.68 15.2 15.68 1307000 20231218 WILCON DEPOT APC GROUP 0.295 0.3 0.295 0.305 0.295 0.3 1150000 344350 6.55 6.59 6.45 6.6 6.4 6.55 26900 175090 EASYCALL 0.213 0.214 0.219 0.219 0.213 0.214 10670000 2293270 PRMIERE HORIZON 4.5 4.87 4.87 4.87 4.87 4.87 1000 4870 SBS PHIL CORP

-10980040 18563615 -3131850 -303010 -9350 -0 58500 -1284230 -3004820 -146750 -12000 -10193601 -4709942 -760880 -83919870 -20549015 372470 228000 -7122420 -

MINING & OIL APEX MINING 1.58 1.59 1.61 1.64 1.54 1.58 13293000 21280160 56980 0.0008 0.0009 0.001 0.001 0.0008 0.0009 2162000000 1961000 -348500 ABRA MINING ATLAS MINING 2.67 2.7 2.65 2.68 2.65 2.67 846000 2256670 -1877080 BENGUET A 1.95 2.08 2.1 2.1 1.95 1.95 129000 253210 1.88 2.04 1.98 2.12 1.85 2.12 28000 55690 25740 BENGUET B 0.185 0.198 0.187 0.198 0.187 0.198 30000 5720 COAL ASIA HLDG 2.61 2.66 2.61 2.67 2.61 2.67 82000 218700 213480 CENTURY PEAK DIZON MINES 7.33 7.64 7.66 7.68 7.36 7.64 13500 101168 1.11 1.12 1.14 1.14 1.1 1.11 6453000 7254430 -381939.9996 FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE 0.239 0.24 0.241 0.243 0.238 0.239 210000 50410 0.138 0.139 0.142 0.142 0.138 0.139 19640000 2751700 LEPANTO A 0.137 0.14 0.144 0.144 0.137 0.137 300000 42470 LEPANTO B 0.0098 0.01 0.0099 0.01 0.0098 0.0099 59000000 583600 MANILA MINING A MARCVENTURES 0.94 0.95 0.97 0.98 0.94 0.95 4602000 4419270 1.77 1.78 1.77 1.8 1.76 1.77 584000 1036170 NIHAO 3.22 3.23 3.3 3.37 3.17 3.22 26482000 86021980 -4040080 NICKEL ASIA 0.39 0.395 0.39 0.395 0.39 0.395 400000 156300 OMICO CORP 0.57 0.59 0.6 0.6 0.57 0.59 916000 534880 ORNTL PENINSULA PX MINING 3.32 3.33 3.4 3.45 3.31 3.33 1742000 5877430 -676760 SEMIRARA MINING 9.22 9.25 9.11 9.22 8.62 9.22 16318700 145848054 -31247879 UNITED PARAGON 0.0055 0.0057 0.0055 0.0055 0.0055 0.0055 2000000 11000 5.65 5.7 5.66 5.99 5.65 5.7 89500 507629 ACE ENEXOR 0.0086 0.009 0.0086 0.0086 0.0086 0.0086 15000000 129000 -129000 ORNTL PETROL B PHILODRILL 0.0097 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0097 0.01 13000000 127110 5.82 5.83 5.9 5.9 5.7 5.82 610600 3521511 -214178 PXP ENERGY

PREFFERED AC PREF B1 508.5 519 509 509 508.5 508.5 30 15260 507 517.5 507 507 506 507 4910 2484950 AC PREF B2R 101 102 101 101 101 101 500 50500 CPG PREF A DD PREF 100.7 101 101.3 101.3 101 101 24640 2489053 104.9 105.5 105 105 104.9 104.9 14000 1469679 FGEN PREF G 510 517 510 510 510 510 1000 510000 GLO PREF P 1010 1020 1010 1010 1010 1010 2000 2020000 GTCAP PREF B 100 101.3 100.6 101.5 100 100 23940 2395662 MWIDE PREF PNX PREF 3A 102 103 102 102 102 102 4400 448800 106 108 108 110 108 108 17560 1900575 PNX PREF 3B 1020 1070 1020 1020 1020 1020 30 30600 PCOR PREF 2B 1058 1059 1059 1059 1059 1059 410 434190 PCOR PREF 3A 1075 1090 1105 1105 1090 1090 140 153975 PCOR PREF 3B 1.4 2 1.35 1.35 1.35 1.35 1000 1350 SFI PREF SMC PREF 2C 78.1 78.35 78.35 78.35 78 78 420 32889.5 75.55 76.9 76.95 76.95 76.95 76.95 50 3847.5 SMC PREF 2E 77.5 78.9 78.9 78.9 78.9 78.9 21330 1682937 SMC PREF 2F 75.7 76.9 76.9 76.9 76.9 76.9 30 2307 SMC PREF 2G 75.65 77.5 76 76 75.65 75.65 13200 998795 SMC PREF 2H

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 6.9 7 6.9 6.92 6.8 6.9 76500 528300 -242100 4.71 4.74 4.65 4.74 4.65 4.74 409000 1908590 -1202980 GMA HLDG PDR

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 0.64 0.65 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.64 11000 7040

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ALTUS PROP 13.22 13.36 13.48 13.84 13.04 13.22 593100 7971138 11226 1.85 1.86 1.87 1.89 1.85 1.86 1451000 2709400 ITALPINAS 5.3 5.33 5.3 5.45 5.18 5.34 42900 224251 KEPWEALTH MERRYMART 2.99 3 3.03 3.06 2.95 2.99 19821000 59490470 120250 XURPAS 0.57 0.58 0.57 0.59 0.56 0.58 1748000 1020620

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 91.5 92 94 94 91.5 91.5 38720 3595912.5 2164525

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Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Investing in the Philippine countryside

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he Covid-19 pandemic has caused the Philippine economy to slip into a recession.

The Quarter-2 2020 GDP shows a steep decline of -16.5 percent as economic activities have been hampered to prevent the further spread of the pandemic.

This decline is the lowest quarterly dip in the 1981 series. Almost all of the major economic sectors are down.

However, one bright light was the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector, which was able to post 1.6 percent growth. Thus, it may be a good time to revisit countryside opportunities.

In the Philippine economy, there are three major economic sectors.

As of Quarter-1 2020, the biggest sector is the Services sector, which accounts for 60 percent contribution to the GDP. This is followed by the Industry sector, which accounts for 30 percent. The smallest sector is the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Sector, which accounts for 10 percent.

From the years 2017 to 2019, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector exhibited a modest 2.17 percent average annual growth rate.

The advent of the “New Normal” is poised to change things.

There are good reasons to invest in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing.

The Philippine Statistics Authority projects the Philippines to reach a population mark of 142 million Filipinos by 2045. This implies that there will be an average annual population growth rate of 1.21 percent from 2010 to 2045.

More Filipinos will mean more mouths to feed.

If the Philippines desires to be a great economy, it must be able to provide the necessary food resources to support the growing population. Food security is a must and not an option.

The demand for the products of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing is not limited to domestic demand.

There are global opportunities represented by exports.

Based on the latest data from the Department of Trade and Industry as of 2019, the top exports of the sector are bananas, coconut oil, pineapples, tuna, tropical fruits, fish, coconut, seaweeds and carrageenan, and forest products.

If the government and businesses continue to tap more alternative global markets for our products, export growth can further accelerate.

Investing in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing can lead to positive

Genesis Kelly S. Lontoc

personal finance multiplier effects apart from potential profits earned by entrepreneurs and investors. One example would be providing a source of livelihood.

The record-high unemployment rate registered for April 2020 equivalent to 17.7 percent is a problem that can cripple the economy. Livelihood and employment opportunities in the countryside can help soften the blow. Displaced overseas Filipino workers who return for good to the country may also find new hope in the countryside.

Just like any investment, there are considerations that should be noted. In order to mitigate risk and have assured income, product diversification must be explored.

One practical example would be multi-cropping where two or more agricultural products are planted in a given farm to address peaks and lows of demand.

The farmers, forestry stakeholders and fisherfolk in the countryside should explore various ways and means to build capacity and be in a better position to match supply with the expected growing demand.

In the countryside, there is really strength in numbers.

According to the latest data from the Cooperative Development Authority, there are around 678 agricultural cooperatives, 637 agrarian reform cooperatives and 39 fishermen cooperatives operating in the country. Joining cooperatives can benefit the countryside stakeholders through the sharing of best practices, financial access and “bayanihan” community synergy.

While there are many benefits in revisiting the countryside, we should all be cognizant that we only have we only have one earth.

Therefore, in all cases, sustainable development must be pursued through the prudent use of farming, forestry and fishing methods that are environmentally-sound.

If we earn a living and take care of the environment today, in the future, the environment will be the one to take care of us.

Genesis Kelly “Gemmy” S. Lontoc is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal financial planning, attend the 85th RFP program this September. To inquire, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text <name><e-mail> <RFP> at 0917-9689774.

Think before clicking on link, bank advises vs scams

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @Tyronepiad

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cammers are finding new ways to trick the public who must need to be smarter to protect their account, according to BDO Unibank Inc. In an advisory, the Sy-led bank said scammers are now sending “urgent-sounding” emails to trick the customers into clicking malicious links.

BDO Unibank said that fraudsters are telling clients to click on the said links to “block unauthorized transactions” or “make sure your account is updated as part of a new system processing.”

The scammers, BDO said, are sending these links to email addresses they find online or on social media.

The bank earlier also warned the public of a similar scam. It noted there are new scams via text messages and emails asking clients to click on links to supposedly verify their accounts.

The phishing messages claim they detected a suspicious activity in the

clients’ accounts, tricking them to visit a fake website to check.

“Scammers will use the ‘User ID’ and ‘Password’ entered in their lookalike BDO login page to access online accounts,” the bank said.

The bank is reminding clients “it will NEVER” ask them to verify their accounts or transactions in such a manner.

Earlier, it also warned the public about fake social media posts regarding its supposed distribution of cash assistance amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A fake BDO Facebook page was claiming that it was releasing a P10million financial aid to the public. To avail, one needs to comment on the said post and send a message to the page administrator.

The page also appears to be deceiving the public that it is associated with a government agency in-charge of distributing social amelioration.

BDO advised its clients to never share any information about their BDO account or debit card to the said page as the scammer may use it for online shopping or money transfer.

Tuesday, August 18, 2020 B3

T-bill rates move sideways on expected rate-cut pause

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

he expected pause in rate cuts by monetary authorities failed to dampen investor appetite on safe havens like Treasury bills (T-bills) as its average rates during Monday’s auction moved sideways albeit still lower than secondary market benchmark rates.

Despite the average rates of 91day and 182-day T-bills going slightly above the previous rates, the Bureau of the Treasury still fully awarded

P20 billion in government securities during the auction, which was met with robust investor demand.

The auction was oversubscribed

by more than thrice the offer as total tenders amounted to P63.306 billion.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon told reporters the demand was driven by investors looking for reinvestment outlet as P118 billion in debt papers are set to mature.

“Rates plateauing as MB [Monetary Board] seen to leave rates unchanged,” De Leon said.

The 91-day T-bills fetched an average rate of 1.118 percent, which is 0.5-basis points higher than the previous auction’s 1.113 percent.

The tenor also attracted as much as P17.542 billion in total bids, more than triple the P5-billion offer.

Likewise, the 182-day T-bills also ended up slightly higher at 1.388 percent or 0.2-basis points up compared to 1.386 percent

previously. Tenders for the security reached P15.020 billion, thrice the P5-billion offer.

Sought whether the rates have bottomed out especially for the 91-day and the 182-day T-bills, De Leon said it would be relative to the monetary authorities’ move as the MB “still has room to lower policy rates.”

Seeing strong demand for 364day T-bills, which reached total bids of P30.744 billion, the Treasury decided to open the tap facility for an additional P5 billion-offering.

During the auction, the security attracted tenders equivalent to thrice the P10-billion offer.

The average rate for the tenor also settled at 1.745 percent, slightly lower by 0.1 basis point from 1.746 percent previously.

OFW sovereign funds in fruition as bill OK’d

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awmakers on Monday endorsed for plenary approval the measure creating the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) sovereign funds.

This stage was reached after members of the House Committee on Ways and Means approved the tax provision of House Bill (HB) 530 principally authored by Abang Lingkod Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano.

Albay Rep. and Panel Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda said the committee has adopted an amendment to the bill, which states that the earnings of OFWs and former OFWs from their investment in the bonds or other debt or investment instrument that the government shall issue in the implementation of this proposal shall be exempt from income tax and documentary stamp tax.

Provided, the lawmaker said, that the amount of investment exempted shall not exceed P250,000 per OFW and former OFW per year and that the tax exemption shall be reviewed after five years of the effectivity of the tax regulation implementing this proposal.

According to Paduano, the bill on the OFW sovereign fund was approved during the 17th Congress but failed to reach the Palace due to lack of time.

“Considering the huge number of our OFWs and the high volume of remittances they bring into the country, there is no doubt that they continue to largely contribute to the economic growth of the country,” Paduano said. “Notwithstanding these contributions, the government can still find other mechanisms to help our OFWs utilize their money better.

He added that in the process, doing so would also help government raise more revenues “to be used solely for select key government programs or projects and likewise to introduce a new revenue generation mechanism for the country other than the traditional taxes.”

HB 530 covers all land-based or sea-based OFWs and former OFWs. The measure said the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) is tasked to implement this proposal. Thus, the BTr is mandated to create a program

specifically designed to encourage all OFWs to invest their money or remittances with the government.

The BTr is also mandated to define all guidelines including, but not limited to the minimum amount acceptable for investment, terms of the investment and interest rates.

The bill also said the BTr is tasked to create a separate special fund to be referred to as the OFW Sovereign Fund, where all investments made by all OFWs under the program herein created shall be initially lodged, until it is utilized by the government for key projects.

It added the BTr, the Department of Budget and Management and the Commission on Audit, shall make an accounting of all the receipts and disbursements from the OFW Sovereign Fund and prepare a complete annual report made available to the public.

The bill said proceeds of all the investments lodged in the OFW Sovereign Fund shall be used solely by the national government to finance significantly urgent national government and private projects with strong emphasis on productive and

job-generating industrial or agricultural projects, which shall be directed by the President.

The measure said no amount from the OFW Sovereign Fund shall be released neither for government expenditures like personal services, maintenance and other operating expenses nor for any capital outlay inconsistent with the proposal.

HB 530 also directs the BTr to regularly adopt a strong information drive, with assistance from other relevant agencies of government it may deem appropriate. This information drive should help notify and educate all OFWs about the program, the creation and purpose of the OFW Sovereign Fund and how investment in the fund will be mutually beneficial to the OFW and the government.

It said the implementing rules and regulations shall include rules and guidelines to ensure that the bonds or other debt or investment instruments that the government would issue shall be denominated in Philippine peso and in small denominations such as, but not limited to, P5,000. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

ABN Amro clips investment bank after virus losses

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BN Amro Bank NV will cut its investment bank by about a third and shut down lending outside of Europe as the Dutch bank tries to turn around business hit hard by the market chaos caused by the coronavirus crisis.

ABN Amro will stop providing corporate finance outside Europe and exit trade and commodity financing altogether, the Dutch bank said on August 12. As many as 800 jobs could be lost over three to four years as the investment bank pulls back from activities that currently bring in about 45 percent of client loans.

European lenders including Deutsche Bank AG, Societe Generale SA and BNP Paribas SA have been slashing and refocusing their investment banks as they seek to cut costs and get out of higher-risk businesses. Chief Executive Officer Robert Swaak accelerated his review of the investment bank as volatile markets hit profitability and caused large impairments at the unit.

“The new CEO has essentially delivered what we asked for over a year ago, namely a proper wind-down of the CIB business. A pity that it took a pandemic to do so,” Barclays Bank Plc analyst Omar Fall said in a note.

“The focus will now be on how much of the very sizable 2.5 billion euros of CIB wind-down capital will eventually return to shareholders.”

ABN Amro rose as much as 9.4 percent in Amsterdam trading, the most in two months, and was up 8.3 percent as of 3:40 a.m. of August 12. The stock has declined by 46

ABN Amro is among the four banks with the highest exposure to Wirecard AG, the defunct payments company that prompted competitors ING Groep NV and Commerzbank AG to take provisions of about 175 million euros each in the second quarter, Bloomberg reported in June.

The bank said an “exceptional client file” contributed to the high impairments in the second quarter.

The logo for ABN Amro Group NV is displayed on the exterior of the bank’s headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Bloomberg

percent this year. That compares with a 32 percent drop by the STOXX 600 Banks Index.

Net loss

The bank reported a net loss of €5 million ($5.9 million) for the quarter on writedowns and a slowdown in lending prompted by the Covid-19 crisis. Provisions for loan losses declined to 703 million euros from 1.1. billion euros in the first quarter. ABN Amro said it expects provisions to total 3 billion euros this year, partly on costs to wind down loans at the investment bank. That’s up from an earlier prediction of 2.5 billion euros.

Corporate banking in the US, Asia, Australia and Brazil will be wound down, but the bank will retain its global clearing business, one of the world’s biggest, the company said.

The natural resources and transportation and logistics parts of the business will focus on European clients only.

“Clearing has taken several de-

risking measures in the past months following a large loss incurred earlier this year,” it said. The bank said it expects additional impairments related to job losses and the wind down of corporate loans.

‘Tough decision’

“It’s a tough decision,” to exit trade and commodity finance, a business that has been historically strong for the Netherlands, Chief Financial Officer Clifford Abrahams said in an interview. “We’ve been in these businesses in some cases for hundreds of years. It’s tough for our clients and our staff, but we are convinced it’s in the best interest for the bank.”

CEO Swaak said that ABN Amro lacks scale in the rest of the world but it is looking to “invest and grow” in its corporate banking business in northwest Europe. The lender is currently also conducting a strategic review on operational efficiency, financial targets and capital distributions, which will be presented in November.

Exceptional charges

“WE don’t comment on specific clients, but the exceptional client file that caused high impairments reflect a potential fraud case in Germany” Abrahams said when asked about the impact of Wirecard. ABN Amro reported provisions of 616 million euros for three exceptional client files in the first half of this year. Two cases in the first quarter accounted for 460 million euros, leaving 156 million euros for the German case. The corporate and investment bank accounted for 14.5 percent of group profit last year and the unit’s headcount was a similar share of the total. The investment bank’s activities carry much more risk than ABN Amro’s retail business and require more capital as well, making it costly to squeeze out decent profits in good times.

In the previous quarter, the lender wrote down 460 million euros on two individual client cases, which contributed to its first loss since 2013.

Even before the coronavirus crisis, the investment bank fell short of ABN Amro’s 10 percent to 13 percent return on equity target. Bloomberg News

B4

Tuesday, August 18, 2020 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

Art

BusinessMirror

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Today’s Horoscope

❶ Bandila,

Lydia Velasco, 1996, acrylic on canvas, 59” x 106”

By Eugenia Last

❷ Sanctum,

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CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Madelaine Petsch, 26; Andy Samberg, 42; Edward Norton, 51; Robert Redford, 84.

Arnica Acantilado, 2020, oil on canvas, 96” x 120”

Happy Birthday: Expand your mind, interests and spiritual awareness this year. Personal growth will encourage you to envision life from a different perspective. Don’t buy into the changes others make.

Create what you want to happen in your life. It’s up to you to soothe your soul and live life your way. Set goals, and pick up the knowledge and the skills to reach your destination. Your numbers are 7, 12, 19, 22, 26, 35, 47.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): It’s up to you to finish what you start. Put your energy to good use, and take care of business before moving on to the things you’d prefer to pursue. Too much of anything will end up dragging you down. HHHHH

❶

b

❷

Ilomoca honors women artists, pushes for gender equality with online exhibit

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HE Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art (Ilomoca) in Megaworld’s Iloilo Business Park township celebrates women artists and their contribution to Philippine art with its first online art exhibit.

Titled 7.23%, the group show features 44 artists whose artworks are on view on Ilomoca’s Facebook page until October 19. The exhibition’s concept is attributed to the ratio of female-created works that comprise Ilomoca’s entire collection. “[The proportion] is neither judgment nor appraisal of the collected works. Most definitely, it is also not an endorsement of the disproportion,” said 7.23% curator Marika Constantino. “The number relates to women’s representation and gender inequities that also exist in art and cultural institutions, which are not in isolation from the overall power structures and patriarchal culture that are still inherent in our society today.”

Constantino added that the assembly of works do not necessarily aim to provide answers. On the contrary, she said the group show poses questions regarding “the actuality of inequality.” The curator then calls on people to avoid complicity, and to “challenge ourselves to better understand the predicament, and be part of the solution in achieving justice, equality and empowerment for all.”

For his part, Valencia maintained that he has always been “gender-neutral” with his art following and collection. The patron wants the exhibit to lead meaningful discussions about gender imbalance and inequities, particularly for women artists and for women in general. He also noted that a Filipina

National Artist in Visual Arts is long overdue.

“I hope that beyond this discussion and exhibit, we reflect individually and collectively how we can do our share in addressing this imbalance,” he said.

The virtual exhibition, according to Tefel PesiganValentino, vice president and head of marketing and business development of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, is part of the group’s effort in bringing their museums closer to people, including the international community, especially during this time of pandemic.

“The digital realm has allowed us to engage more people in real time while still promoting the safety of everyone,” she said. “More importantly, this also helps us promote art as an interactive platform for ideas that supports and celebrates women’s role in the art community.”

The show 7.23% was launched through Facebook Live on Ilomoca’s account at exactly 7:23 pm on Friday, August 14, coinciding with the 11th anniversary of the signing of Republic Act 9710, or The Magna Carta for Women (MCW).

The MCW stands as comprehensive women’s human-rights law based directly on international law. It seeks “to eliminate discrimination through the recognition, protection, fulfillment and promotion of the rights of Filipino women, especially those belonging in the marginalized sectors of the society.”

The salient features of the law include the “provision for equal access and elimination of discrimination in education, scholarships, and training” and “nondiscriminatory and non-derogatory portrayal of women in media and film.”

The theme of women empowerment in 7.23% applies not only to the gender of the participating artists, but extends to the very characters and narratives of the featured pieces.

One of these is Lydia Velasco’s Bandila, a poetic depiction of Philippine independence that portrays Filipina heroes with their hands on the country’s tricolors. Another is Arnica Acantilado’s verdant oil on canvas creation, titled Sanctum. The piece shows a more modern Filipina resigned on a studded leather chair, surrounded by flora and fauna from different regions.

To further advance discussions on gender equality,

the virtual exhibit launch included a panel discussion with Constantino and a few of the participating artists.

One question was how the culture sector can better support women artists. In response, Constantino quoted American feminist painter Joan Semmel, who said: “If there are no great, celebrated women artists, that’s because the powers that be have not been celebrating them, and not because they are not there.”

“I feel that on a macro level,” the 7.23% curator continued, “we must revamp the nature of our institutional structures, whether it be cultural or educational, so that we can bring attention to identity, sexuality, politics and history. If we feel that art is a record of culture, and you see the record based on just the male perspective, then this results into a history of patriarchy, and not the whole story of who we are.”

The artists also gave insights and advice to people who want to pursue a career in the arts.

According to Moreen Austria, who’s “coming from the point of view of someone who did not study art formally,” anyone gearing up to join the industry must first get ready for rejection. “And if you really want it,” she added, “just go for it.”

A good jump-off point, according to Alee Garibay, is to know one’s self. Lyra Garcellano agreed, saying that by knowing the factors which define and constrict a person, one can avoid pigeonholing herself into doing things that are expected of her.

“We need to study these things—to question what is traditional and move around that,” she said.

For Michelle Hollanes Lua, an aspiring artist must have the courage and will to push further. “Being an artist is really a gift as well as a curse, and we just have to live with it,” she said. “It’s a lifetime process.”

Meanwhile, Constantino advocates for societal awareness.

“We should constantly read and be aware of what’s happening around, not just as artists but also as citizens,” she said. “By being aware, we can be part of a more energized dialogue, a more proactive action, and [contribute] to reshaping the normative structures that continue to subjugate women artists, women in general, and all the marginalized sectors of our society.” n

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Take care of yourself. Fitness, exercise, diet, rest and anything else that eases stress and makes your life better are encouraged. A healthy attitude will promote a better and brighter lifestyle. HH

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GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Sit tight, take care of personal and domestic matters, make adjustments to the way you live and do your best to avoid anyone who likes to disrupt your life. Don’t share secrets or gossip. HHHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Reach out to someone you enjoy working with, and an opportunity to do something unique will arise.

Before you make a decision, confront issues that may become a problem before you begin. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Pick up the pace, and focus on whatever will help you accomplish what you set out to do. Change is about following your heart, not someone else’s dream.

Put your heart into whatever you feel passionate about, and you’ll achieve peace of mind. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Be creative when dealing with changes you are facing or want to pursue. Taking a different approach will alter your perspective regarding how you feel about someone close to you. Romance is on the rise. HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Take the initiative, and do something that will help your community or family. Getting angry will not solve problems, but making reasonable suggestions will. Don’t take a risk when it comes to your health; proceed with safety measures in place. HHHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Do what you can, and stop wasting time trying to achieve the impossible. Look for an alternative way to use your talents that will also improve your lifestyle, as well as your relationship with the people you deal with daily. HH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Concentrate on what’s important to you. There is money to be made if you market your skills, knowledge and experience to fit the current economic trends. Don’t sit back when you have so much to offer. A contract looks promising. HHHHH

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Thrive on change, but don’t go overboard. Know what you want, and focus on what’s important. Make your home environment welcoming, and it will help keep you and those you love and live with safe, happy and emotionally sound. HHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Don’t be a follower or fold under pressure. Consider what’s best for you and the people you love. Don’t let temptation or uncertainty created by an outsider’s influence overrule what is in your best interest.

Be reasonable, respond intelligently and proceed with your plans. HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Look for innovative ways to help those in need without yielding to unsafe situations. A positive change in your personal life will make your life easier. Share your intentions with someone you love, and make romance a priority. HHH Birthday Baby: You are passionate, rambunctious and generous.

You are ambitious and impressive.

‘look out below’ by jules p. markey The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Ewe’s pronoun 4 ___-school 7 Pesto ingredient 12 Magical curse 13 Terrier tether 16 Tolerate 17 Word after latte or lost 18 Cosmetician Lauder 19 Admit knowing 20 Jewish wedding dance 22 Juicy, as a memoir 24 “Plus...”

26 Its higher scores imply less interest 27 M.A. seeker’s hurdle, often 30 Hedonists’ opposites 33 Submits tax forms online 35 Subject of 1917 36 Vocally 38 Part of LGBTQ, informally 39 Friendliness 41 Longtime forensic drama 42 Refuse to throw out?

43 Ploys 44 Funny Cheri 46 Lead-in to “Diego” or “Pedro”

7 Chicago university 4 49 Open to advice 51 Like a fox 52 Mani go-with 54 Finding ___ 55 Slowly gathered 57 Palindromic man’s name 60 Crime-themed party game 63 Palindromic principle 65 Onetime M&M’s color 66 ___ supervision 67 Love to pieces 68 Acne pad brand 69 Rich cake 70 ###-##-#### no.

71 Shuffle DOWN 1 Former Iranian ruler 2 Sub sandwich 3 Like some fried chicken (see the last 3 letters) 4 Spanish cheer 5 Cleanser whose name suggests saving labor 6 Romantic Zoom call, say 7 Bundle for bundling (last 4)

8 ___ Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd 9 Enjoy a beanbag chair 10 Bride’s words 11 Actor Cariou 14 Able to continue independently (last 7) 15 Prefix with “pad” 21 The “A” in IPA 23 Get everything right on 25 Puts off retiring? (last 5) 27 Feature of some tour boats, or what the end of each starred answer can have?

28 Amazon Prime Video offering 29 Possible Dead Sea Scrolls writer (hidden in “boundless energy”) 30 Emmy and Grammy 31 Composer Barber 32 Pixar film set in Mexico 34 Roth or SEP plan 37 Per ___ (daily) 40 Leaves in the afternoon?

45 Hands down, as a verdict 48 Second most common Korean surname 50 “Te ___”

53 Spreadsheet figures 55 Gold-coated 56 Nephew of Cain 58 Vehicle at a stand 59 Stone in some black chess pieces 60 Cobra pose surface 61 Fuss 62 It might fly in a tussle 64 Square root of 100 Solution to Friday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Tuesday, August 18, 2020

B5

Radiating success, the RS Francisco way RS FRANCISCO

Marge Simpson uses her voice to call out Trump adviser LOS ANGELES—Marge Simpson has advice for a lawyer with the Trump campaign: Do not name call.

In a clip posted Friday by Fox’s animated series The Simpsons, matriarch Marge chided the attorney over a tweet comparing her voice to that of the Democratic vice presidential contender, Sen. Kamala Harris.

“I usually don’t get into politics, but the president’s senior adviser, Jenna Ellis, just said Kamala Harris sounds like me,” Marge says in the clip, adding that daughter Lisa Simpson says “she doesn’t mean it as a compliment.”

“If that’s so, as an ordinary suburban housewife, I’m starting to feel a little disrespected,” Marge said, balefully. “I teach my children not to name call, Jenna.”

Earlier this week, US President Donald J. Trump tweeted that the “’suburban housewife’ will be voting for me” because he “ended the long running program where low income housing would invade their neighborhood.”

As the half-minute clip ends, an off-camera Marge is heard muttering: “I was gonna say I’m pissed off, but I’m afraid they’d bleep it.”

Harris of California was announced this week as presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s pick for his running mate. The party’s convention will be held next week, mostly virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ellis, senior lawyer for President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment. The campaign also did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

On Tuesday, Ellis she posted on Twitter that “Kamala sounds like Marge Simpson.”

The long-running The Simpsons is known for mocking public figures and celebrities, Trump among them. Actor Julie Kavner is the voice behind Marge Simpson. AP

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elebrity businessman, actor and philanthropist RS Francisco marked his recent birthday with another milestone in his already very colorful life by launching his RS Luxxe Wear fashion line.

Known for his midas touch, Francisco surely spent a lot of time studying both the products his brand will offer and the market before dipping his fingers into this new venture. “The long weeks of quarantine gave me a lot of time to think, ponder and explore. It helped me do a lot of soul-searching, too, evaluating what I can and cannot control, eliminating nonessentials, and think of what can still be done with whatever is available,” he explained.

The idea of coming up with his signature clothing brand started to grow in his very creative mind, and he thought that it should serve something higher than just being a commercial and business undertaking. “I thought this new endeavor should be relevant in these extraordinary times, so I decided that compassion should be integrated with fashion when we make the clothing line available to the general public,” he shared.

Part of every sale will be used to continue his pledge of touching the lives of as many people as possible who have been displaced by this pandemic.

“Those who can give, give. Those who can help, help.

Those who can share, share. During these times, a little help can mean so much. There are so many people in need and there are so many ways to help,” he added. As a man of many artistic skills, Francisco is one who likes to create. Ever since his student days at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, he was already involved in campaigns and activities of school-based organizations that nurtured his being a creative. The characters he gave life to in the school’s annual Live AIDS event were testaments of his many gifts as a future successful artist, all of which he was able to realize one after another.

Francisco also developed his business acumen quite early on, specially on how to market something successfully, until he had the resources to take on bigger adventures, eventually producing top productions like M. Butterfly. He is one half of the success story of Frontrow International, the leading multi-level marketing company in the country today.

And now, he is channeling all his energies to the RS Luxxewear brand, his new “baby.”

“This is giving me a lot of joy and excitement, especially when I was informed that our online launch was very well-received. Since these months of lockdown prevent the majority of the population from going out, my team considered online as the next best way to market this new brand,” he shared.

For someone who loves fun and colors, the new clothing line would have a lot of color combinations.

“We cater to different taste levels, that’s why there

are a variety to choose from. Aside from our shirts, we also have masks that come in handy during these times. Our designs are dynamic and these will constantly evolve.”

Francisco also made an important realization from the recent launch of his clothing brand. “People patronize our items and order from us because they know that they, too, can help. I believe there is still so much goodness, compassion and concern in people.”

Francisco is more than his wonderful image, which is certainly his most powerful tool in reflecting his experiences, achievements and style, built through time and hard work. He is one who is not afraid to make choices that will make the change.

With the kind of vision that he has, and the wonderful person that he is, RS Francisco will continue to radiate success because his heart is always in the right place. n

‘Prima Donnas’ stars thrilled to be back on air DUE to insistent public demand and in celebration of its first anniversary, GMA brings back to Filipino homes the favorite and wellloved drama series Prima Donnas, which went back on the air yesterday, August 17, in the afternoon block.

The all-star cast gifted its loyal fans and followers with a recap of the heartwarming series which they have consistently followed since its pilot airing. As the top-rating drama airs anew, the cast members expressed what they feel about the recap, their unforgettable experiences on set, and what’s in store for viewers in the coming episodes.

Veteran and award-winning actress Chanda Romero, who breathes life into the sophisticated matriarch Lady Primarosa Claveria, believes that the recap will reintroduce the show back into viewers’ lives:

“Because of this pandemic, parang the whole world stopped. Our taping had to stop. The telling of the beautiful story of Prima Donnas stopped. Ngayon, with the airing of the recap, we can refresh everyone’s memory. So this is our way to reintroduce our show to the viewers, bring back to mind what some may have forgotten bago namin ituloy ang kwento na naging part na of their everyday life.”

Multi-awarded actress Aiko Melendez, who portrays main antagonist Kendra, is delighted with their return and teases fans on what to anticipate in the series, “Happy and excited that we are finally airing again. We know our viewers have missed us so much. They should look forward sa mangyayari sa kasal ni Kendra kay Jaime, pati na rin kung saan hahantong ang bangayang Kendra at Lilian.”

On the other hand, top character actress Katrina Halili, who plays the mother of the Donnas Lilian Madreal, is also elated with the retelling of the story, “Happy ako kasi marirefresh ang aming viewers para maka-keep up sila kapag may fresh episodes na. Hindi dapat palampasin dahil mapapalapit na ang Donnas sa mga Claveria at mapapatunayang sila ang totoong nawawalang mga tagapagmana.”

Bannering the show and playing equally vital roles are three of GMA’s sought-after teen stars: Jillian Ward as Donna Marie, Althea Ablan as Donna Belle, and Sofia Pablo as Donna Lyn. The three of them shared what their fondest memories are while taping for the soap. The highly anticipated recap of Prima Donnas, directed by Gina Alajar, airs weekdays at 3:25 pm on GMA.

THE cast of the top-rating afternoon drama Prima Donnas.

Dev Patel celebrates India from his Los Angeles front yard LONDON—Quarantine brought opportunities to Dev Patel’s front yard.

From a safe distance, the British actor was able to enjoy both his birthday and his relationship with India without leaving his Los Angeles home.

The first was courtesy of his girlfriend, Australian actress Tilda Cobham-Hervey, who arranged for Patel’s friends to drive past with paper planes and letters while he sat in front of the house.

Second was the offer to celebrate India’s culture and civilizations by narrating a National Geographic special, India From Above, which airs on September 30.

As he quarantined, a portable recording booth was sent and parked in his driveway. “It was like a trailer hitched to a car, that had been completely sanitized,” Patel explained.

Apart from being reminded of the pandemic by the sound of a passing ambulance, it worked well for the voice-over.

“It was incredible to be able to make some art in a way, to voice this beautiful thing, linked up to India,” said Patel.

India From Above is a two-part documentary which uses drone footage to show aerial views of

towering temples, religious gatherings, EDM festivals and solar technology.

Patel frequently films in India, but high above the crowd is not a perspective he’s used to. “As soon as I step off that plane and out of the airport, you’re sucked into this massive humanity, the crowds and the people and your eye level just kind of being swept along with this tide of people. And that will sweep you somewhere really inspiring and quite magical.”

“But to zoom further and further out and higher and higher. That is pretty special,” he added.

Patel, who earned an Emmy nomination for portraying a heartbroken dating app developer in Modern Love, admits to being tempted to go “full Attenborough” after growing up listening to Sir David narrate natural history shows.

“For me, it was just telling the story of the ingenuity of the people, the everyman. How people find a way in India, no matter how hard the condition is,” he said. As a result, he now plans to visit Loktak Lake, which features in the program, where people live in houses on small islands of vegetation.

“It feels like something out of James Cameron’s Avatar movie. There’s a stillness and a serenity that is

just breathtaking.”

Patel describes his own relationship with India as “ever changing.”

“I feel the sense of belonging when I go there. And I also feel like a total alien at times.”

From Slumdog Millionaire, Lion and Hotel Mumbai, the Oscar-nominated actor is often in India on location and was preparing another film when the pandemic struck. It’s a passion project called Monkey Man, a thriller set in Mumbai. Patel is set to star and make his directorial debut.

It meant he was on one of the last planes leaving India before lockdown and says the locals went “above and beyond” to help him.

“Mumbai during that time, it was kind of dystopian. There’s no cars or rickshaws on the road.

It was empty. The hotel that we’re staying at, those are eight of us. So it felt like The Shining, being in this empty, humongous hotel with all the lights switched off.” Since his return to the US, he’s spent some rare time at home prepping for future projects. “Even though we’re hibernating, and we can’t physically live in the world between action and cut right now, it doesn’t mean that we can’t be exploring ideas.” AP

B6 Tuesday, August 18, 2020

International online masters event Savoy Hotel Boracay is recognized at Trip Advisor's Traveler's Choice Awards 2020

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ORACAY Island, PhilippinesSavoy Hotel Boracay, a Megaworld Hotels homegrown property, is proud and honored to announce that it has been recognized on TripAdvisor's Travelers Choice Awards for 2 consecutive years!

"Winning the TripAdvisor Traveler's Choice Awards is a true source of pride for the entire team at Savoy Hotel Boracay, and we'd like to thank all of our past guests who have made it known that our exceptional service, luxury comforts, and friendly staff deserve a round of applause", says Rolando Galano, Jr., Area General Manager at Savoy Hotel Boracay. This coveted award program celebrates travelers' favorite hotels, restaurants,

and airlines around the world, honoring 4,817 unique businesses this year.

Winners are calculated based on the quality and quantity of the millions of reviews, opinions, and ratings collected on Tripadvisor in 2019, prior to the pandemic.

More than the sun, sand, and the sea, this hip and stylish 6-story hotel with four room types offer the perfect spot for cooling down and relaxing after a day out in the sun. Fullyequipped meeting rooms and a banquet facility for any social and business matters, and a fitness center and spa which provides a welcome respite for everyone. Surrounding the hotel is a huge party pool that’s open to the public for events, parties, and concerts. Savoy

Hotel also has other food and beverage outlets like the Savoy Cafe which offers all-day dining, Vienne Lobby Lounge, and The Chambery Pool Bar. Savoy Hotel Boracay is part of the Megaworld Hotels' brand, the largest homegrown developer of 100% Filipino hospitality in 3,500+ rooms and suites all over the Philippines, and is located at Newcoast Drive, Boracay Newcoast, Brgy. Yapak, Boracay Island, 5608, Malay, Aklan. To find out more about our ongoing promotions and offerings, visit our website at www. savoyhotelboracay.com.ph or call us at +63 (36) 286 2800 or +63 (917) 828 4495. Like us on Facebook at Savoy Hotel Boracay and follow us on Instagram at @savoyboracay.

Taganito Mining to give diving lesson and recruit environment warriors

Agapito S. Cuadra, Jr., TMC’s dive master prepares employees of the mining company as first time divers.

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AGANITO Mining Corp. (TMC) launches ‘DiSCUBA’, a program that aims to get more people in the mining community of Claver and adjacent towns in Surigao del Norte to experience and appreciate diving.

Diving has been considered a sport for the elite due to the expenses for a single dive plus the cost of travel to dive spots.

TMC, a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), has a different objective for introducing the sport and that is to invite more people to become environment warriors – protector of the environment especially of the marine resources around the mine site.

Agapito S. Cuadra, Jr., a marine biologist and TMC’s Coastal Resource Management Specialist, says that part of his job is to research on the characteristics of marine landscapes and help design programs for environment enhancement and protection.

“I have seen many dive spots, in and out of protected areas, near and far from mine sites, and the learnings are the same, that if we do not introduce structured protection programs,

these dive spots will be endangered,” explains Cuadra.

But, Cuadra says, seeing is believing.

Thus, DiSCUBA, a portmanteau of Discover and Scuba, was launched to bring more people to see the underwater beauty around the mine site.

“Seeing is believing. It makes one feel part of a grander world and to become an environment warrior” program?

“The pilot program will first have TMC employees as participants – 2 per department – each of whom will go through a medical check-up and thorough orientation before the actual dive. And as soon as necessary clearances are in, we will open it to the community hopefully by January,” Cuadra details.

TMC is the first mining company to have this kind of program and Engr.

Artemio E. Valeroso, Resident Mine Manager, is proud and excited.

“Our challenge has always been to make more people appreciate what we do as a responsible mining company and what it means that as miners we are also environment protectors and we are environment warriors,” exclaims Valeroso.

Valeroso is confident that once people experience actual diving, there will be many more to link arms with TMC in its campaign to protect and enhance the environment.

As a dive master, Cuadra explains why TMC is proud of a dive spot that the mining company has adopted – the Malingin islet, some 791 meters from the wharf of TMC and about 1,234 meters or 1.2km from the mouth of Taganito river.

“The beauty of the natural corals around the dive spot in Malingin, right in front of the mine site, is proof that responsible mining and the sport of diving can co-exist,” declares Cuadra.

Cuadra shares that the cost of a basic dive in a commercial setting starts at around P6500 pesos so he believes that the success of DiSCUBA is a matter of commitment from TMC. “First off, DiSCUBA is possible because TMC has a dive master like myself, which is a strict requirement in diving. The use of the equipment, the orientation and snacks, and the dive certificate to be given to participants, are courtesy of TMC,” Cuadra excitedly shares.

And because of strict health protocols due to the pandemic, participants will be limited and dive suits will not be shared and will be disinfected for 7 days before it can be used again.

“Diving makes one feel part of a much wider, much grander, world and I believe after a dive, everyone will want to be part of TMC’s campaign to convert everyone to become environment warriors,” Cuadra ends.

TMC mine site is located in barangays Cagdianao, Hayanggabon, Taganito and Urbiztondo, municipality of Claver, province of Surigao del Norte. Its area of operations is within the Surigao Mineral Reservation.

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CCESS Masters Tour, offering uniquely personalised educational events, will organise its event for prospective applicants to international Masters degree programmes in Manila, entirely online on 14th September, the organisers, Advent Group, announced today.

“Since the introduction of the Access Masters Tour to the world of postgraduate education events in 2009, it has grown to feature 80 events held all over the world. It continues to grow in popularity as every season we work towards improving the experience for schools and event attendees,” said Christophe Coutat, Founder and Managing Director of Advent Group.

The Online One-to-One sessions enable prospective students to identify international business and management related Masters programmes taught in English that correspond to their background. Aspiring STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) applicants can also benefit. Prior to the event, the academic and professional profiles of aspiring Masters candidates are carefully evaluated and matched with suitable programmes. The individual online meetings conducted with school representatives help each event participant identify the business school programmes that can provide them with the educational experience and career prospects they are looking for.

The Open Fair enables attendees to explore international Masters programmes in a variety of fields such as Marketing, Management, Finance and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics), Social Sciences and Humanities.

The Access Masters Spring 2020 Tour showcases 60 leading international business schools and takes place in 23 cities across the world. Senior Bachelor’s degree students and recent graduates in Manila can expect to meet representatives from universities such

as ESSEC Business School, INSEAD Business School, Maastricht School of Management and more.

Masters graduates in a variety of fields of study value their international postgraduate experience because of the prospects of higher starting positions, better starting salary, and faster career progression around the world.

Demand for Masters degree-holders in business-related fields is on the rise all over the world. The brightest hiring prospects are currently found in the Products and Services sector (20% of business school alumni respondents are employed in the field), Finance and Accounting, Consulting, and Government and Non-profit, according to a 2018 survey report by the Graduate Management Admission Council, the organisation that administers the GMAT exam.

Confirming the widely-held opinion that postgraduate education enhances career prospects, GMAC’s report reveals that business school alumni earn a median base salary of USD 115,000.

Event Registration, In order for Access Masters to identify the most suitable business school options for them, event attendees are required to register on https://www.accessmasterstour.com/link/ Eg4 in advance of the event date. Online registration is free of charge.

About Advent Group, Established in 2004, Advent Group is an independent event and media agency specialised in business education. Each year the Access MBA Tour and the Access Masters Tour introduce 50,000 potential applicants to over 200 top business schools at more than 155 events around the globe. As the worldwide leader in One-toOne MBA events, Advent Group’s mission is to increase the awareness of business schools through media outreach, as well as to guide potential applicants towards the right schools and programmes.

MHP expands products, promotes partnerships

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IKA’S Homemade Products (MHP) was launched last May 11, 2020

by Michaella Bienne C. Tolentino, a twenty-year-old entrepreneur. The business started selling Youngpork Tocino and Skinless Longganisa for starters until it became a big hit. Once a small business venture, and now have expanded its menu. As of the moment, MHP is already selling other staple Classic Filipino Breakfast food like Chicken Tocino Bites, Garlic Longganisa and our own version of a famous Polish cuisine, Kielbasa Sausage with a Filipino twist.

MHP’s goal is to be able to provide Premium Quality food with an affordable price. The business believes that eating quality food doesn’t have to be expensive. MHP aims to expand their small business by opening partnerships with different local meatshops and small entrepreneurs like her.

You may visit Mika’s Homemade Products through the following: Facebook Page: Mika’s Homemade Products, Instagram: @mikashomemadeproducts, Email: mikashomemadeproducts@gmail.com You may also check Foodtrip Ba Kamo’s review on our products through the following: Facebook Page: Foodtrip ba Kamo? Instagram: @ foodtripbakamo

PROC donated P1M, PPEs to Philippine medical frontliners

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HE People’s Republic of China (PROC), yesterday donated P1 million in cash and some personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Philippine medical frontliners “as a token of appreciation and support for their hard work in fighting against COVID-19,” says Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian.

Huang met with the representatives of medical frontliners and turned over the cash and PPEs at the Chinese Embassy.

He expressed his appreciation to the dedication and contribution of the medical frontliners in the battle against COVID-19 and hopes “they could always stay safe and healthy as the last line of defense so as to make continued contributions to COVID-19 fight.”

The Chinese Embassy will continue to provide support and assistance to the best of its ability to the Philippines. “We firmly believe that the dawn of victory will come at the earliest,” Ambassador Huang said.

The Embassy has donated several batches of surgical masks to several local hospitals in recent days.

In April this year, China has announced that it has provided assistance to over 130 countries and international organizations to

fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said such efforts demonstrate concept of a community with a shared future for mankind.

China has sent face masks, protective suits, test kits to 127 countries and four international organizations, 13 medical teams to 11 countries.

In April, the latest available record, it has held over 70 video conferences sharing experience and data with more than 150 countries and regions as well as international organizations, Zhao noted.

Expressing sympathy, Zhao said China's local governments, companies and organizations have donated medical supplies to over 100 countries, adding 58 countries and regions as well as four international organizations have signed contracts with Chinese manufacturers.

From March 1 to April 4, China exported medical supplies including 3.86 billion face masks, 37.52 million protective suits, 2.41 million thermometers, and 16,000 ventilators, 2.84 million test kits and 8.41 million pairs of protective glasses, worth a total of 10.2 billion yuan (1.4 billion U.S. dollars), according to China Custom.

Sports BusinessMirror

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

Tuesday, August 18, 2020 B7

‘AERIAL VOYAGER’ SETS GOALS HIGH FOR BULAKEñOS F

BULAKAN Mayor Vergel Meneses is optimistic about the benefits the new Manila International Airport project would bring to his constituents.

PHL Olympiad bets crash out

IRST-TERM Mayor Vergel Meneses—known as the Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) “Aerial Voyager” because of his gravitydefying jumps—has all the reasons to be hopeful for his constituents in Bulakan, Bulacan, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meneses’s hopes lie on the Philippines’s largest and most modern international gateway—the Manila International Airport project of San Miguel Corp.

(SMC) that will soon break ground in Bulacan.

“Malaki talaga ang maitutulong [It will be a big help]. There will be more opportunities in terms of jobs and employment, increase of revenues from businesses and real property will appreciate in value as well,” said the 51-year-old Meneses, referring to benefits from the upcoming project that is seen to solve the decades-old congestion in and around the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

SMC’s airport project, set to start construction in October, will hold its

own against the best airports in the world. It will have four parallel runways and a provision for two more, a worldclass terminal, supported by a seamless transport system, among other features.

Also included in the massive project are measures to address flooding in the whole of Bulacan.

The project may seem overwhelming for a small town, but Meneses is concerned about his constituents’ welfare in the long term.

“Definitely yes, may ilang mga nagalala. Pero nang napaliwagan sila at nakita ang benepisyo na ibibigay sa pagtatayo ng airport sa bayan ng Bulacan ay naging excited sila [Yes, there were doubters, but after enlightening them of the benefits the new airport would bring, they were convinced],” he said.

Once completed, the airport project can accommodate up to 100 million passengers annually, generate over a million direct and indirect jobs, give rise to small industries in Bulacan and significantly boost tourism, leading to more jobs across all industries.

The 1995 PBA Most Valuable Player knows too from experience what kind of partner SMC is. He has seen for himself how the conglomerate treats its employees and

Jennifer Brady wears a mask as she poses with her trophy. AP

Brady preps for US Open with first tour title

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EAM Philippines swept its last two matches but still fell short in the International Chess Federation (Fide) Online Olympiad on Sunday.

The Philippines beat Bangladesh, 4.5-1.5 in the penultimate round and Turkmenistan by the same score to close out its campaign in Pool A of Division 2 of the tournament Russia was supposed to host but was ran over by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Those consecutive victories weren’t enough to offset a decisive 1.5-4.5 loss to Bulgaria in the seventh round, dashing the Filipinos’ hopes for a strong finish. The Filipinos also took a 2.5-3.5 beating at the hands of Belgium in the fifth round, forcing them to scramble for victories.

Grandmaster Mark Paragua, Woman GM Janella Mae Frayna and International Master Daniel Quizon sat out the match against Belgians, a decision that produced a sour result for the national team.

Paragua, the team’s Board One player, collected 10 points on five wins and four losses.

The Philippines amassed 30.0 points to crash out of contention, along with Australia (32.5) which missed advancing in the 10-team group topped by Bulgaria (41.5 points), Germany (34.5 points) and Indonesia (34 points), which the Filipinos beat in round two.

Paragua, the highest rank player in the squad with an ELO of 2573, was the best scorer with 5.5 points he built on five wins, one draw and one loss.

Quizon followed with 4.5 points on four wins a draw and one loss, while Frayna added 3.5 points on two wins, three draws and two defeats.

Chairman Ramirez in online PSA forum

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HILIPPINE Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William ‘Butch” Ramirez holds another round of discussion in the online Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday.

Ramirez will update sportswriters following a two-week leave of absence.

He will also expound on the potential restoration of national team members’ allowances through the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act 2.

The 10 a.m. public sports program is presented by San Miguel Corp., Go For Gold, Milo, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and is powered by Smart with Upstream Media as webcast partner.

The weekly forum is regularly seen live on the PSA Facebook page fb.com/ PhilippineSportswritersAssociation and shared on Radyo Pilipinas 2 Facebook page.

EXINGTON, Kentucky—Wearing a pandemic-appropriate mask, Jennifer Brady walked over to accept the first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) trophy of her career, making sure to apply hand sanitizer before raising the new hardware overhead.

Brady claimed her initial tourlevel title at the Top Seed Open on Sunday, overcoming some shaky serving and using a five-game run to seize control for a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jil Teichmann in the final.

It was the the first professional tennis event in the United States since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, and no spectators were allowed.

The unusual circumstances did not bother Brady at all.

“It didn’t take away anything.

It didn’t take away [from] the win for me,” said the 25-year-old American, who is based in Florida and began the week ranked 49th. “I was just

communities as a Barangay Ginebra player from 1999 to 2002.

Even today, amid the pandemic, Meneses and Bulakan can feel SMC’s trademark “malasakit [concern].”

“SMC has shown its deep concern for the people of Bulakan especially in the pandemic.

They take care of the people, especially Boss RSA [Ramon S. Ang],” he said.

Just recently, SMC provided financial assistance to fishpond workers who used to live in the coastal zones so they can rebuild their lives within Bulacan and nearby provinces. The company will also provide skills training to coastal settlers through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or Tesda.

With a lot to look forward to in the near future, Meneses is focused on attending to his constituents, many of whom are affected by the pandemic, as well as the economic downturn from the quarantine.

“Bulakan is not spared from the ills of the pandemic, but we make sure we continuously attend to the people’s needs,” he said.

In handling this big responsibility during the health crisis, Meneses said he draws strength from his years of experience as player and coach.

super happy to stand there with the trophy.”

She did not drop a set throughout the hard-court tournament and ceded only 24 games in all. It was a perfect way to prepare for the US Open, which begins August 31 in New York.

And now Brady, who began the season needing to qualify to get into WTA events, is in line to be seeded for the US Open.

“Definitely would not have expected that if you told me that earlier this year—or that I would win a WTA title,” said Brady, who was appearing in her first final.

Against Teichmann, a 23-year-old lefthander from Switzerland with two previous titles on clay, Brady put only 33 percent of first serves in play during the first set.

After one double-fault, Brady slapped her left thigh with her palm three times. After another, she exclaimed: “I’ve never missed this many first serves! I don’t get it!”

But at 3-all in the first set, she saved four break points, then earned the first break of the match in the next game to lead 5-3 when the 63rd-ranked Teichmann shanked a forehand.

That was part of a stretch where Brady

Iranian drools for Vera’s belt

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ORMER world champion Amir Aliakbari of Iran on Monday expressed motivation to resume his career in One Championship after signing up with the Singapore-based promotion early this month.

The 32-year-old Aliakbari was stripped of his 2013 world championships Greco-Roman gold medal because of doping, but vowed to resuscitate his career via mixed martial arts.

Considered one of the most feared mixed martial artists in the world, Aliakbari’s move to the One Circle along with former UFC star Arjan Bhullar and grappling legends Tom DeBlass and Marcus

“Buchecha” Almeida, among others.

“I had many great offers from many promotions but One Championship was the only promotion that saw my vision,” Aliakbari said. “For One, it wasn’t just another contract but rather a bridge they were willing to build between me and my country and MMA. This was very important for me.”

Aliakbari enters the title picture with an impressive 10-1 professional record he laced with seven knockouts..

“I only want one fight and that’s Brandon Vera. This is the fight to make.

None of these heavyweights can last in the

“The leadership and discipline I learned while playing and coaching in basketball help me a lot. We do it hands-on. I have to be firm in whatever decision I make and make sure that it is for the betterment of my constituents,” he said.

While he wears the hat of a public servant, he can’t help but think about PBA and National Collegiate Athletic Association players—he was one of Jose Rizal University’s brightest products.

“Honestly, the risk of catching the virus is high when the players go back to training and competition. Self-conditioning and discipline must be their priority,” said Meneses, who as an 18-year-old playing for the Heavy Bombers beat Alvin Patrimonio, Jojo Lastimosa, Bong Alvarez and Nelson Asaytono in the 1987 Philippine Amateur Basketball League Slam Dunk Contest.

That catapulted Meneses to a stellar 14year career studded with three championships and countless accolades—including membership in the Philippine Centennial Team (1998).

Meneses is bringing the same optimism that carried him through dozens of career highs as he embarked on a different flight of serving his fellow Bulakeños.

punished any mid-court ball from Teichmann with powerful groundstrokes and went up by a set and 2-0 in the second.

“Maybe I wasn’t using my legs enough... or the toss was coming a little bit to the left. It could have been nerves. A little bit of everything,” said Brady, who eliminated 16-year-old Coco Gauff in the semifinals. “I put a little bit more expectations on myself to perform well, so I was getting a little bit frustrated. And that obviously wasn’t helping. But I was able to reel it in and come back to reality.”

And she owns a trophy to prove it.

In Prague, top-seeded Simona Halep defeated third-seeded Elise Mertens, 6-2, 7-5, in the Prague Open final on Sunday to claim her 21st WTA title.

The second-ranked Romanian broke Mertens for a 6-5 lead in the final set before converting her first match point to win her second title this year after the Dubai Championships in February.

Before the Wimbledon champion recovered from a foot injury she sustained in Dubai, the coronavirus pandemic forced a five-month break. AP cage or ring with me, including Brandon,” said Aliakbari, throwing a challenge out to the king of the division.

Filipino-American mixed martial arts icon Brandon “The Truth” Vera is the reigning One heavyweight world champion. He won the belt in 2015 he twice defended.

“I ask One to give me Brandon and I promise to smash him brutally,” the Iranian said.

The 32-year-old Iranian plans on sweeping the division and then calling out the rest of the heavyweights around the world.

“I envision having the belt wrapped around me and defending it for many years to come. After I take the belt, I want to defend it successfully and clear out the division,” he said. AP

SPORTS WITHOUT BORDERS Vincent Juico @VJuico, Instagram vpjp_j vince.juico@gmail.com

Recruitment war winners I HAD the privilege of guesting alongside veteran sports journalists Rick Olivares and Rico Navarro, Philippine Superliga Chairman and Athletics Association President Dr. Philip Ella Juico and De La Salle Green Archers Head Coach Derrick Pumaren in Benny Benitez’s “Bull by the Horn” Pinoyliga.com podcast last Saturday.

The subject was coffee table conversation for any die-hard alumnus and for sports journalists like yours truly. Using corporate language, what are the key performance indicators for coaches in search for the next big talent to bring their basketball program to the crescendo, brink and on the verge of honor and glory for the school.

The character and personality of the kid are tops among a laundry list of things you look for in a recruit. If the recruit, early in his career, is already a prima donna, has a sense of entitlement, then, no matter how good he is, no matter how athletic he is, nobody would want to work with him. The kid may just disrupt cohesion and team chemistry. Those are the foremost things Coach Derrick checks with the student athlete.

The recruit needs to fit in the system or there must have complete buy-in by the student athlete of the system the coach intends to implement. I wish all recruits would have Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant’s mentality of never being satisfied—working hard and bringing something new into their game year in and year out.

We were all one and the same that La Salle and University of the Philippines were the big winners of the recruitment wars also known as the arms race. First to topple Ateneo wins. La Salle successfully bagged 6-foot-8 athletic big Kevin Quiambao and UP welcomed to its fold Carl Tamayo, Gerry Abadiano and RC Calimag.

Are both schools done? We don’t know and that we’ll see in the next few days and weeks.

UP, as of this writing and on paper, is not just loaded with talent, but overflowing. If I’m Coach Bo Perasol, how do I talk to these kids into playing cohesively with chemistry hopefully gelling and peaking at the right time. Can their scorers produce without the ball in their hands?

Can their stars score without the ball? Will there be egos that need to be checked at the door in order to win the school’s first championship since 1986?

La Salle will enter Season 83 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines as arguably having the biggest lineup in all of Philippine collegiate basketball. You have their foreign student athlete Ndiaye at 6-foot-11, then Brandon Bates, Michael Philips and Benjamin Philips all at 6-foot-8. And you have Balti Baltazar at 6-foot-7 and Tyrus Hill, who may be a converted small forward at 6-foot-6, so that’s six young guys who are 6-foot-5 and taller.

Coach Derrick indicated on the program that he’ll be giving a lot of premium and priority to rebounding this coming season. You can’t score without the ball, right?

Unfortunately, I’m only familiar with the National University kids, but the rest of the 2020 recruiting class are made up of young guys who can do it all, scorers and facilitators who can produce buckets if necessary.

Scouting reports on these kids will mean nothing unless they work hard on their games and bring something new to their repertoire.

Martinez makes Colombia proud in Dauphiné race

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EGEVE, France—Colombian rider Daniel Martinez won the Critérium du Dauphiné race for the first time after leader Primoz Roglic pulled out before Sunday’s final stage.

Martinez becomes the third Colombian to win the stage race—shortened slightly this year because of the coronavirus—after Martin Ramirez (1984) and Luis Herrera (1988 and 1991).

“It’s one of the most amazing days of my life, it’s one of the most important races and I’m just so happy to have achieved it,” Martinez said.

“I’m still so tired from the race and still can’t quite believe that it’s happened. It’s incredible.”

The 24-year-old Martinez rides for the EF Pro Cycling team, which is headed by American CEO Jonathan Vaughters—a former climbing specialist who rode on the Tour de France.

Martinez dedicated the win to his family.

“Without doubt I want to say that this race is for all my family and my little boy, this win is for them,” he said. “This is for all the people who have believed in me and the ones who have helped support me.”

The Slovenian Roglic led Frenchman Thibaut Pinot by 14 seconds overnight but decided to abandon after crashing midway through Saturday’s penultimate stage.

That gave Pinot, who is expected to be among the contenders to win the upcoming Tour, an ideal chance. But it was Martinez who jumped from fifth overall to claim an unexpected victory, finishing 29 seconds ahead of Pinot overall and 41 clear of French rider Guillaume Martin.

“I failed in reaching the goal I had set myself this morning. I can only feel disappointed,” Pinot said. “I didn’t have the legs, I didn’t do

what I needed to in order to win, I can only be angry with myself.”

American rider Sepp Kuss won the fifth and final stage itself, a 153.5-kilometer mountain trek which started and finished in the Alpine ski resort of Megève.

Kuss won comfortably in three hours, 58 minutes and 39 seconds. Martinez was 27 seconds behind and Slovenian Tadej Pogacar 30 seconds back in third.

Another big-name rider pulled out on Sunday, with Colombian climbing ace Nairo Quintana deciding his knee pains were too much.

Quintana has won the Giro d’Italia and Spanish Vuelta, but has his heart set on winning the Tour.

He must now recover in time for the August 29 to September 20 race. AP

DANIEL MARTINEZ wins the Critérium du Dauphiné race for the first time.

Sports BusinessMirror

B8 Tuesday, August 18, 2020

O’Sullivan wins 6th world snooker title, at age 44

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onnie O’Sullivan became world snooker champion for the sixth time and at the age of 44 by beating fellow Englishman Kyren Wilson, 18-8, in the final on Sunday.

O’Sullivan moved to within one of the alltime record of world titles, held by Stephen Hendry, and tied the number won by Steve Davis and Ray Reardon.

O’Sullivan had a tough run to the final, beating Chinese star Ding Junhui in the second round, former world champion Mark Williams in the quarterfinals, and then three-time winner Mark Selby in a spectacular semifinal that went to a decider.

The best-of-35-frame match against Wilson, a first-time finalist, ended up being a procession after O’Sullivan won seven straight frames in Sunday’s afternoon session from 10-8 up.

Returning for the evening session at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, O’Sullivan needed just one more frame for the win and sealed it with a slick break of 96.

“I was happy to get one [title]. Two was great. When I got four, I called myself a great.... Anything above four, you are in fantastic company,” O’Sullivan said.

“It’s nice to be living your dream,” he added.

Regarded as the most talented player ever, O’Sullivan—a right-hander who is also comfortable playing left-handed—won the world title in 2001, ’04, ’08, ’12 and ’13. He now has 37 career ranking titles, a record, and is the only player to make more than 1,000

competitive centuries.

He also has made more maximum breaks of 147 in competitive play (15) than anyone else, including one officially timed at only five minutes and 20 seconds at the worlds in 1997.

The outspoken O’Sullivan made waves during this tournament by saying the standard of players coming through was “not that good really” and that he’d “probably have to lose an arm and a leg to fall outside the top

50” in the world.

He has now won world titles in three different decades. Reardon won all of his in the 1970s, Davis won all of his in the ’80s, and Hendry won his seven in the ’90s.

“My thing has been longevity,” O’Sullivan said. “I go in and out of form. My mind can wander sometimes, but then I get a bit of a taste of it. I think, ‘Come on, let’s see if you’ve still got it.’”

Snooker fans were allowed in for the final, with the sport being used by the government as a pilot event to test the safe return of spectators in the hope that bigger crowds can start attending venues from the start of October.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called off previously planned pilot events—including at the Crucible after the first day of the world championship— with some fans in attendance in early August amid fears over the coronavirus infection rate. AP Ronnie O’Sullivan moves to within one of the all-time record of world titles. AP

LET NBA PLAYOFFS BEGIN!

THE Heat’s Bam Adebayo dunks during their game against the Suns last Saturday as the Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma (0) is congratulated by his teammates after hitting a gamewinning three-pointer against the Nuggets on Monday. AP

By Tim Reynolds

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The Associated Press

HERE seem to be fewer players fishing at Walt Disney World these days. Getting a tee time or streaming video games might not be as much of a priority as it was a few weeks ago, either.

Summer vacation is over.

The restart gets real now.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs start Monday, the beginning of a two-month journey to see which team will be able to say it won a championship. It would come in the most unusual, most trying season the league has ever seen because of a shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic and 22 teams eventually moving into a so-called bubble at the Disney complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, to salvage the season.

“This is why we got here, why we worked so hard, why everyone put their egos aside and put their effort into this, so we could get to that point where we could crown a

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

champion,” said guard Kyle Lowry of the defending champion Toronto Raptors. “The best part of the NBA season is the playoffs.”

The Raptors are back, with realistic aspirations to repeat their title. The Eastern Conference field also includes the Milwaukee Bucks, who posted the best regular-season record for the second consecutive year and have a likely back-to-back Most Valuable Player in Giannis Antetokounmpo.

In the Western Conference, for the first time since 2015, the Golden State Warriors won’t be going to the NBA Finals—their gap year, so to speak, meant they fell to the bottom of the West as they look to reset with a healthy Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson

next season, possibly with the No. 1 overall draft pick as well.

LeBron James is back in the playoffs, after taking the Los Angeles Lakers—who couldn’t get to the postseason in his injury-marred first year in Hollywood—to the best record in the West. He’s gone to the NBA Finals in each of his last eight postseason trips—four with Miami, then four more with Cleveland.

“We’ve been through a lot this year,” Lakers Coach Frank Vogel told reporters last week. “But really, all of it is just a buildup to us...going into the playoffs. So we’re here, we’re excited about it and confident in what we can accomplish.”

The matchups: Milwaukee-Orlando, Toronto-Brooklyn, Boston-Philadelphia and Indiana-Miami in the East, with the Lakers against play-in game winner Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers against Dallas, Denver-Utah and Houston-Oklahoma City.

Some of those clubs can say they are happy to be in the postseason. For others, only a title will do.

“I didn’t mention that we secured the 2 seed,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “I don’t think anybody in the locker room talked about it. We really don’t care. Like, we want to win it all.... That’s the only thing that matters right now for us.”

Teams have been in the bubble for nearly six weeks now, first for a couple weeks of training camp, then three scrimmages followed by eight seeding games that were critical to some clubs and little more than tuneups to others.

The vibe was different in the opening days of bubble life. Bass fishing on the Disney campus was all the rage, more than a few players tried golf for the first time—a group from one team, perhaps not yet fully versed in golf etiquette, tried to play with nine people,

compared with the typical max of four—and everything from poker tabletops to wine fridges were being shipped in to help players pass the time.

Some gamers have put down their controls for the next few weeks; Miami’s Meyers Leonard, generally considered the best Call of Duty player in the NBA, announced that he needs a break to focus on the playoffs.

“For now, it’s time to lock in and help my team win a championship,” Leonard said.

There’s no travel in these playoffs, obviously. It’ll be 16 teams, with games limited to two arenas at Disney. For the first round, it’ll be four games per day at each site, meaning drama will begin in the early afternoon and continue until late in the evening.

Outside the Disney gates, the coronavirus pandemic continues. Most NCAA sports won’t be played this fall, and college football’s hopes seem to be hanging by a thread. When the US Open tennis tournament begins this month, both reigning champions—Rafael Nadal and Bianca Andreescu—will be among the many big names sitting out because of virus concerns. Baseball has dealt with outbreaks, though it continues pushing to complete its much-shortened season.

But inside the bubble, daily testing is working and the value of the strict protocols has been proven. No players inside have had a confirmed positive test and now the best time of the NBA year is set to begin.

Finally.

“Two months ago, it didn’t really look like this was a realistic opportunity,” Miami Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You just see what’s going on around the world. Other leagues, colleges, not everybody has been given this opportunity to continue to do what you love. We have and we want to take advantage of it.”

Hamilton rules Spanish GP for 88th victory in F1

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ewis Hamilton was worried about Max Verstappen before Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Worried, too, about how the Mercedes tires would cope under a searing summer sun after wilting last week in the lesser heat of Silverstone.

His concerns proved as unfounded as his 88th career victory was comprehensive. The six-time world champion is now within three of Michael Schumacher’s Formula One record of 91 wins.

Hamilton beat Verstappen by 24 seconds to extend his championship lead over him to 37 points—132 to 95—after six races.

“I was just in a daze out there. I felt really good,” Hamilton said. “I didn’t even know it was the last lap I was so zoned in.”

His teammate Valtteri Bottas is fading from the picture, and already languishes 43 points behind Hamilton despite winning the first race of the season.

Hamilton’s fourth win of the coronavirusshortened campaign was also timely, considering Verstappen’s superb win last Sunday—when Mercedes anxiety levels rose.

“It was a surprise because we had that problem with the tires last weekend,” Hamilton said. “But we seem to have understood it.”

The prerace thinking from Mercedes was that Verstappen—who has eight podiums in the last nine races—was favorite. But a thrilling contest never happened, and Verstappen’s priority became keeping Bottas in third place.

“It was good to split the two Mercedes. I didn’t have the pace like Lewis but I’m happy with second,” he said. “The start was crucial to get ahead of Valtteri.”

Although Bottas secured a bonus point for the fastest lap, he is six points behind Verstappen in the standings.

The winding 4.7-kilometer Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with its combination of slow and fast corners, is one of the hardest for overtaking.

After narrowly securing a record-extending 92nd career pole position Hamilton made a strong start on the long straight to the first corner. But Bottas was overtaken by Verstappen and the Racing Point of Lance Stroll—who jumped from fifth to third with a fine move on Bottas’s right flank.

“The start was the key point, I lost a position and then had to push hard to make ground and suffered the tire condition,” Bottas said. “I was behind Max and everyone knows how hard that is.”

Track temperatures on the circuit were around 50 degrees C (122 F) and Bottas was concerned.

“These black overalls are hot,” he said during the race, throwing in an expletive for emphasis.

It was another miserable day for struggling Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel seventh and Charles Leclerc abandoning after his engine cut out on track.

“I don’t know why the car switched off completely,” Leclerc said.

He crawled into the pits but his race was over on lap 41.

Had he stayed out on track, he would likely have been lapped by

THE six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is now within three of Michael Schumacher’s Formula One record of 91 wins. AP

Hamilton just as Vettel was.

Hamilton set the pace with a confident start.

While he and Verstappen swapped fastest lap times, Bottas labored behind Stroll for four laps.

It was Verstappen—and not Hamilton—who was complaining about his rear tires and by lap 20 of 66 he said there was “nothing left” in them.

The ice-cool Dutchman was getting flustered.

“Do you want me to repeat it again?” he shouted moments later on his radio. “I’m losing so much time.”

Finally, his team brought him in for new tires on lap 22 but he was 10 seconds behind Hamilton.

Both Mercedes pitted for new tires on the next lap. But a blip attaching the rear left saw Hamilton emerging about four seconds clear of Verstappen. He was given a brief glimmer of hope as Hamilton’s tire was showing signs of blistering only six laps after being fitted.

But Hamilton was soon pulling away again.

Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, who missed the last two races as he recovered from the coronavirus, finished in fourth place ahead of Stroll with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr. in sixth.

Vettel is having his worst start since 2008 but drove very well with just the one tire stop.

It proved the right choice but came after a tense exchange between Vettel and his race engineer.

“What do you think about going to the end on these tires?” his engineer asked.

After barking out an expletive, Vettel replied: “I asked you this before!”

Minutes earlier, Vettel had asked his team whether they thought he could go to the end on the same tires—and got no response.

His final season with Ferrari could prove to be long and arduous while Hamilton is odds-on to end it with a seventh title to equal Schumacher—Vettel’s childhood hero. AP