BusinessMirror August 28, 2020

Debts in focus as ₧160-B borrowing eyed

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HE Bureau of the Treasury is no longer offering 35-day Treasury bills (Tbills) in September as it once again shifted its gears in a bid to match investors’ appetite for longer tenors.

The Treasury is set to borrow a total of P160 billion from the local debt market next month. This is slightly lower than the P170 billion it programmed in August.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon told the BusinessMirror they removed the 35-day T-bills from their set of offerings next month because they already had a huge Retail Treasury Bond sale.

Asked whether she thinks investors now prefer to park their funds in longer tenors of debt papers, she said: “Yes for yield pick-up but not beyond 10 years.”

According to the schedule released by the Treasury on Thursday, P100 billion is

ATTY. Clarence V. Guinto, Land Transportation Office (LTO) NCR West regional director, presents to the media the newly designed motorcycle license plates on Thursday at the LTO-NCR West regional office on G. Araneta Avenue, Sto. Domingo, Quezon City. Release of the plates had long been awaited by the public, even as authorities noted a rise in the number of people opting to use motorbikes amid public-transport restrictions during the Covid-19 lockdowns. NONOY LACZA

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set to be raised through the issuance of 91day, 182-day and 364-day T-bills, while P60 billion in three-year and 10-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) will be sold during the month.

A volume of P20 billion in 91-day, 182day and 364-day T-bills will be auctioned off August 31 and all the four Mondays of the month.

September program

MEANWHILE, P30 billion in three-year Tbonds will be offered on September 8, while another P30 billion in 10-year T-bonds will be auctioned off on September 22.

The government borrows to finance its spending requirements as well as to cover its budget deficit.

As tax collections are down amid the pandemic, the Development Budget Coor-

dination Committee (DBCC) is projecting the country’s budget deficit to more than double to 9.6 percent of GDP or P1.815 trillion from only 3.4 percent of GDP or P660.2 billion last year.

The DBCC also expects the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio this year to increase to 53.91 percent of GDP—a level that it has not seen in over a decade—from a record low of 39.6 percent of GDP last year.

Senate seeks explanation

MEANWHILE, senators indicated on Thursday they are setting early hearings on the 2021 proposed budget, where they expect Malacañang officials to explain to lawmakers details of the over P9-trillion debt burden seen to balloon to P10 trillion before the yearend.

Continued on A2

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

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‘CREATE’ BILL TO COST www.businessmirror.com.ph

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Friday, August 28, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 323

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

GOVT P249B IN REVENUE T

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

HE proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE) bill is projected to reduce government’s coffers by a total of P249.402 billion between this year and the time President Duterte steps down from office, budget documents showed.

Should the Department of Finance (DOF)-backed bill be legislated and implemented by the second half of this year, the government is seen to lose P44.572 billion in revenues by yearend due to the immediate 5-percent reduction in corporate income tax (CIT) rate.

In the next two succeeding years, the DOF projects state revenue losses of P97.219 billion in 2021 and P107.611 billion in 2022.

Given the expected revenue loss from CREATE, among other measures under the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP), Continued on A2

PHL BANKING SECTOR UPS DEFENSE AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

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HE Philippine banking industry is committed to investing in technology for financial crime compliance in the year ahead as most of the local financial institutions believe that artificial intelligence (AI) can help counter money laundering.

Global analytics software firm FICO revealed in its survey that 100 percent of the banks claimed they will continue to shell out funding for compliance in the coming year. However, only 41 percent said they plan to “significantly increase” the investment in 2021.

“This survey, conducted in May, shows that even in the recent economic downturn triggered by the pandemic, banks remain committed to targeted spending that boosts their AML [anti-money laundering] compliance defenses,” said Timothy Choon, FICO’s Financial Crimes Leader in Asia Pacific.

“There is an increased willingness to perceive compliance and fraud as a common financial crime risk—a fraudster is more likely to launder money, and vice versa,” he added.

The same trend is also seen for the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, FICO said. Majority or 93 percent of the banks are likely to continue See “Money Laundering,” A2

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.5300

THIS scene might as well be called “The passion of Juan in the New Normal.” Umbrella fixer Boboy Cotengco, 46, has been roaming the streets during the lockdowns in search of ways to earn money for his two children. He but survived on food packs from Barangay San Roque in Cainta, Rizal, and his meager earnings from fixing umbrellas. Working beside a wooden cross used for the Cenaculo, a Filipino dramatization of the life and times of Jesus Christ, he says the Pinoys’ agony mimics the Passion of Christ. BERNARD TESTA

₧3.8-B pandemic-proofed census starts Sept

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HE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has spent P3.8 billion for a pandemic-proofed census of population and housing that will be conducted next month.

In a press briefing on Thursday, National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said the results of the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (CPH) will be presented to the President in the second quarter of next year.

This year, due to the pandemic, faceto-face interviews and self-administered questionnaires (SAQ) are no longer the only data-collection means that PSA will employ. Filipinos can now opt to answer the survey questionnaires via Paper-Assisted Telephone Interview (PATI), or the Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI).

“The total budget is around P3.8 billion. We [made] adjustments on the expenditures side, such as the purchase of face

masks, face shields and alcohol [which were] not planned before. However, a number of trainings were done online creating savings to cover the additional expenditures,” Mapa told the BusinessMirror.

Mapa said starting September 1, PSA’s enumerators will conduct house-to-house visits to conduct the survey personally or to ask household heads how they wish to answer the survey questionnaire, which is 8 pages long and contained 53 items. The

entire survey can be completed in 15 to 30 minutes.

He assured the public that every visit by enumerators will be coordinated with local government units (LGUs), including barangay officials, to ensure the safety of both the PSA personnel and the households.

Mapa said enumerators have been trained not only to conduct the survey but also observe minimum health standards

See “Census,” A2

n JAPAN 0.4579 n UK 64.1178 n HK 6.2617 n CHINA 7.0482 n SINGAPORE 35.5349 n AUSTRALIA 35.0920 n EU 57.4158 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.9413

Source: BSP (August 27, 2020)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Friday, August 28, 2020

Money laundering…

Continued from A1

investing in technology to upgrade or enhance their compliance systems.

Apart from the Philippines, FICO listed Indonesia, Australia and Thailand among the markets that would invest the most in 2021.

“This convergence is a global trend. Banks in the US and the UK are well on their way to fully integrating their compliance and fraud functions, bringing together teams, leaders and technologies,” Choon said. “We believe banks in Asia-Pacific are looking to these markets to see what will work, with plans to follow quickly in the next 24 to 36 months.”

Meanwhile, 73 percent of the local banks said that AI can fortify their systems to combat money laundering. However, “many remain unsure how to operationalize the advanced technology.”

Despite this, 95 percent still claimed that the older rules-based technology in AML systems is still reliable, but 36 percent said “they experience significant struggles modifying them.”

While rules-based compliance systems remained to be heavily used in Asia-Pacific, Choon said that some banks are already using AI to keep up with the level of threats now.

The FICO official said that it might be best to use the advanced AI technology along with the old rules-based systems.

According to FICO, banks are improving their financial crime strategy to provide better customer experience and to avoid reputation damage and financial losses.

“Banks are challenged by the need for more information to deal with high rates of alerts from ineffective systems, while not vexing customers with incessant due-diligence questions,” Choon said.

FICO produced its Integrated AML Compliance Survey in May with over 250 senior executives from banks across the Asia-Pacific region as respondents.

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Palace wants to keep ₧4.5B for Census…

2021 confidential, intel expenses Continued from A1

By Bernadette D. Nicolas & Samuel P. Medenilla

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MID revenue shortfalls in the pandemic, Malacañang is pushing to maintain over P4.5-billion funds for its “confidential, intelligence and extraordinary expenses” next year, which it said could be tapped for the government’s measures for the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Of the sum, P2.25 billion will be for confidential expenses; P13.9 million will be for extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses; P2.25 billion will be for intelligence expenses.

Presidential Spokesperson

Harry Roque defended the proposal under the 2021 National Expenditure Program (NEP), which he said can be used by the President for practical purposes, as he did this year.

“This is a fund, which can

be used by the President if there is a need for it, and many of his use for the confidential fund [this year] was used for Covid, soldiers who died, and those who died because of Covid,” Roque said.

Roque noted that an advantage of confidential fund is that, “whether or not it’s included in the line item, it could be spent by the President but it is still subject to audit.”

To note, under the General Appropriation Act (GAA) of 2020, the Office of the President was given P2.25 billion for confidential expenses; P16.98 million for extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses; P2.25 billion for intelligence expenses.

Replying to the BusinessMirror, Budget Undersecretary Laura Pascua said the necessary legislation must be

passed before such realignment—the President using his confidential and intelligence funds for Covid-19—could be allowed.

“This could only be done through Bayanihan Law, which directs the discontinuation of certain PAPs [programs, activities and projects] and allocates them in the law specific programs for Covid effort,” Pascua told the BusinessMirror.

Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Law provided several emergency powers to Duterte, which include realigning the budget for the government’s Covid-related measures.

On Tuesday, the Department of Budget and Management finally submitted its P4.506-trillion 2021 NEP to Congress for its consideration.

Debts in focus as ₧160-B borrowing eyed Continued from A1

This, as senators are poised to tackle early the P4.506-trillion 2021 national budget bill endorsed by the Palace to Congress following the President’s

approval of the Executive proposal containing the annual money transmitted to Congress for enacting an enabling law.

Senators have been conducting parallel hearings in recent years even while the House

of Representatives conduct theirs, so that once the House sends its approved version to senators, the latter will not take too much time passing theirs.

Asked if senators have set a date to start scrutiny of the 2021 budget bill, Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, Finance committee chairman, said they are looking to start by next month.

“We are fixing the calendar,” Angara told BusinessMirror, adding, “most likely early September.”

President Duterte approved the proposed P4.506-trillion national budget for 2021, the Department of Budget Management (DBM) confirmed on Sunday, and DBM transmitted this to both chambers of Congress earlier than usual.

In a separate radio interview, Sen. Panfilo Lacson signalled the senators’ readiness to start tackling the annual money measure, conducting parallel hearings with the House of Representatives in a bid to ensure the budget bill is passed before Congress adjourns for its traditional Christmas recess. This will avert a reenacted budget by January.

“We will tackle the budget for 2021 soon,” Lacson said, as the budget documents for the 2021 National Expenditure Program were transmitted to Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Speaker Alan Cayetano.

Lacson added: “There we will tackle the so-called Budget Expenditure and Sources Financing, including the program for deficit for 2020 and the projected deficit to see if it will match borrowings.”

The senator recalled that during last year’s budget deliberations, he questioned the disparity in data, citing the P200billion deficit and P800-billion borrowings.”

“I recall asking them last year why the projected budget deficit at the time was only P200 billion, but we were planning to borrow P800 billion. Where will we use that?” Lacson asked, citing a simple example: a family has a budget shortfall of P1,000 but decides to borrow P3,000 and then has to pay interest?

Lacson recalled that executive officials invoked “classified information” in declining to explain the glaring disparity, “until,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino, “the explanation was never given.”

The situation today is a different matter, he said. In December the figure being cited was an P8-trillion debt, “likely P7.8 trillion.” But now, he noted, “we have breached P9 trillion and they’re still saying that before yearend, that could climb to P10 trillion. We won’t have to carry this burden. It will be borne by succeeding generations.”

Bernadette D. Nicolas, Butch Fernandez

which include wearing face masks and face shields, as well as observing social and physical distancing.

“The 53 items can be answered even if our enumerators only stay at the gate of houses. They do not need to enter the homes. In fact, we don’t want our enumerators to enter houses when doing the survey,” Mapa said.

The National Statistician also said if certain areas are on strict lockdown, the PSA can either return there once the lockdown is lifted or make the other options of accomplishing the survey forms available to the affected households.

Mapa said their coordination with LGUs also helped them finance the swab tests of their enumerators. He explained that since Covid-19 was not factored in the budget for the census, they did not have additional funding for these exigencies.

However, he said they had to make adjustments in their spending and many LGUs were generous enough to have the enumerators tested.

Apart from these, Mapa said the PSA had to hire enumerators to conduct the survey. In previous censuses, the PSA usually employs public-school teachers to conduct the survey since the original schedule of the census is the whole month of May.

However, given the ongoing pandemic, the PSA had to move the census and hire 140,783 enumerators, supervisors and area supervisors to conduct the decade census. These include 113,364 enumerators; 22,672 supervisors to handle the enumerators; and 4,747 area supervisors.

“Among the data to be gathered are sex, age, marital status, education, religion, ethnicity, disability, occupation, and records of birth and death. Information on main sources of water, electricity, fuel resources, housing units, garbage disposal, toilet facility, ICT devices, vehicles, and Internet access will also be collected,” PSA said. Mapa added that the situation of households during the pandemic will also be included in the survey.

Truthful answers THE Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 10625 or the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013 states under Rule 29 that respondents in surveys must provide “truthful and complete answers” to the PSA and other statistical offices of the Philippine Statistical System (PSS).

It bars the PSA from divulging “the name, address and telephone numbers; the business and products that they are engaged in; and the specific ranges of number of employees.”

Under Rule 30 of the IRR, individuals who violate Rule 29 face 1 year imprisonment and a fine of P100,000. Companies that violate this will be fined anywhere between P100,000 to P500,000.

Any person caught divulging confidential information from the PSA will be fined P5,000 to P10,000 and face jail time of three to 12 months.

Failure to complete with survey clearance provision will also be fined P50,000 to P100,000, depending on the gravity of noncompliance. Cai U. Ordinario

‘CREATE’ bill to cost govt ₧249B in revenue Continued from A1

total incremental revenues are expected to go down by 80.95 percent to P25.657 billion this year from P134.685 billion in 2019.

Finance Undersecretary Maria Teresa Habitan also attributed the decline in the expected incremental revenues this year to the projected economic contraction this year.

“Partly that [is because of the revenue losses from CREATE], partly because of decline in GDP growth in 2020. Tax base is also reduced,” Habitan said in a message to the BusinessMirror.

For 2021, total incremen-

tal revenues from CTRP are expected to recover and more than double to P62.734 billion. This is expected to increase further by 31.78 percent to P82.67 billion.

The Department of Finance earlier said they project a P667billion revenue loss between 2020 and 2027.

Of which, the state’s total revenue losses could reach P625 billion between 2021 and 2025 and P42 billion in the second semester of the year.

The estimate, however, still does not include specific projections for 2026 and 2027, when the CIT rate is expected to further decrease.

After the reduction in CIT this year, the tax will be reduced by one percentage point annually between 2023 and 2027.

With this, the CIT will reach 24 percent in 2023 followed by 23 percent in 2024; 22 percent in 2025; 21 percent in 2026; and 20 per-

cent in 2027.

Other key features of the bill include the extended applicability of net operating loss carry-over for losses incurred during the current year, more flexible tax incentives, and a longer sunset period for companies currently receiving tax incentives.

To recall, the earlier version of the CREATE, or Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act (Citira), was passed by the House of Representatives in September 2019, but was pending in the Senate when the Covid-19 outbreak began and forced a recalibration of its key features.

To fast-track its approval, House Ways and Means Committee chairman Joey Salceda earlier said the lower chamber is willing to adopt the Senate version of the bill as long as it is fiscally sound.

The Citira bill was also certified as urgent by President Duterte in March. However, critics have said the passage of the bill will not help the country in the middle of the pandemic, as they argued that it will not entice foreign investments while the global economy is in a downturn.

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Friday, August 28, 2020 A3

PNP chief beefs up police forces in Sulu

By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

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HE chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) has ordered the deployment of Special Action Force (SAF) and Police Regional Office in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PROBAR) to beef up police and military forces in Sulu following Monday’s noontime twin suicide bombing in Jolo.

The directive was issued by PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa amid the hoisting of a “red alert” status in Sulu as part of the security measures to prevent further attacks and to stabilize the peace and order situation in the volatile province in the aftermath of the bombings that killed 15 people and wounded 64 others.

Gamboa ordered SAF Director Maj. Gen. Clifton Empiso and PROBAR Director Brig. Gen. Manuel Abu to reinforce police forces in Sulu, even as he dismissed calls for the relief of members of the Jolo Police Station.

“Unless there is sufficient evidence establishing criminal involvement, or administrative lapses leading to the attack, the PNP maintains full confidence in our ground personnel,” he said.

One of the two suicide bombings that was carried out, and which occurred in front of the Development Bank of the Philippines build-

Lawyers group hits revgov proponents

By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

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HE Philippine Bar Association Inc. (PBAI) on Thursday expressed its opposition to the proposal for the establishment of a revolutionary government (revgov), saying such an ill-timed advocacy must be condemned.

In a news statement signed by the group’s President Jose Perpetuo Lotilla and its trustees Mariano Jesus Averia, Joel Raymond Ayson, Othello Carag and Rodelle Bolante, the PBAI stressed that every freedom-loving Filipino should block such plan as it would erode the “rule of law” in the country.

“It is fitting that the groups calling for a revolutionary government received near universal condemnation. But it must not end there. The gathering was just the latest in a series of openly defiant acts that target the duly constituted government,” PBAI said.

“While the true principals have yet to show their faces, their method is already clear—to sow the subtle seeds meant to erode the rule of law and the Constitution,” the group said.

The group said such move should not be allowed to fester without immediate action because doing so would encourage them to “coagulate and gather.”

PBAI said the proponents of the revolutionary government are taking advantage of the current pandemic, the economic crisis and a presidency on its last years to gather supporters from those who desire power themselves.

“History shows that revolts do not happen overnight. It summons its strength over time and creeps on the unwary. It capitalizes on the overconfidence. The greatest sin we can commit right now is to dismiss, or ignore, the true dangers these repeated calls for ‘revgov’ pose,” PBAI said.

Earlier, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines also criticized those calling for a revolutionary government, saying that such move is “repugnant to the Constitution.”

Lawmaker pushes addl budget to boost Covid contact tracing

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HE chairman of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development on Thursday called for additional budget for contact tracing as he pushed for the development of a unified contact tracing application that could harmonize anti-Covid-19 efforts across all local government units (LGUs).

Manila Rep. Manuel Luis Lopez, the panel chairman, issued the statement after contact tracing czar and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary RJ Echiverri lamented how LGUs are having a hard time using different applications and systems for Covid-19.

“I envision this single, unified app like a hybrid wiki accessible to the public, health workers and the government and can be verified in a seamless and timely manner. Lahat nandito na, contact tracing, tele-consultation, request for testing, and monitoring,” Lopez said.

“As I said during a hearing with DICT [Department of Information and Communications Technology] Director Gian Carlo Ignacio…, time is of the essence here. We cannot afford to be lax. Making an app at this point in time would be crucial in containing the pandemic,” the legislator added.

Lopez said the application should allow ordinary Filipinos to get the help they need in just a few clicks.

The public, he added, should be able to input symptoms in the app, subject for verification, and request tele-consultation, testing, and admission to hospitals.

“In essence, the system will bridge the public to health-care providers and the government. This app should be free and accessible.

The government will shoulder the cost of server charges and will take care of validating public disclosures, managing public requests, and coordinating with health-care professionals and health-care institutions,” added the lawmaker.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Ignacio said that DICT is “working on integrating” the six systems they are currently “supporting.”

These are KiraCovid, Telemed, StaySafe, CovidKaya, TanodCovid and FASSSTER. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

ing at Barangay Walled City in Jolo, was directed against police forces who were on security patrol.

Both suicide bombings were carried out about an hour apart by two women who were wives of two Abu Sayyaf Group members believed to have been radicalized by the Islamic State (IS).

Both women were the subjects of pursuit operations by intelligence personnel in July when four Army operatives were killed by members of the Jolo police.

The IS claimed responsibility for the bombings but military officials dismissed the claim as mere “propaganda” intended prop up the terrorist group’s image.

Gamboa has issued an order for a deeper probe into the attacks by mobilizing the Philippine Bomb Data Center (PBDC) and Crime Laboratory for technical support to the ongoing investigation.

The PNP chief said the PBDC analysts will determine any specific bomb signature of the explosives that were

detonated based on reconstruction of forensic evidence gathered by Crime Laboratory and other security forces that responded to the explosions.

Gamboa said “any specific bomb signature that will be determined from the technical analysis will be compared with known bomb signatures from previous incidents that are stored in the PBDC database to possibly identify the person, or group, to whom the bomb signature can be associated with.”

A4 Friday, August 28, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

COMP rolls out ‘sustainable’ mining program in Mindanao

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By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

AYING it is determined to improve mining operations, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) has recently launched Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative among member-companies in Mindanao.

TSM, a set of social and environmental performance measurement tools, w i l l a lso be launched in Luzon and the Visayas in mid-September.

The Canadian mining model was adopted by COMP with the hope of convincing the Duterte administration that it is willing to go beyond mere compliance as part of its commitment to responsible mining.

At the onset of the Duterte a d m i n i s t r at ion , t he m i n i n g industry’s operations suffered huge setbacks with various policies put in place by then Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez.

During her short stint, Lopez, an environmentalist, ordered the suspension, or closure, of 26 large-scale metallic mines, cancellation of 75 inactive Mineral

Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) in areas within or near watersheds, and imposed a ban on open-pit mining method.

The launching of TSM was participated in by Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Peter MacArthur, Mines and Geosciences Bureau regional directors Glenn Noble of the Caraga region, Hernani Abdon of Region 9, and Felizardo Gacad Jr. of Region 12 who have all expressed their encouragement and support for mining industry’s big players in Mindanao.

Some 80 representatives of mining and exploration projects in the country’s second-largest island group have committed to implement TSM in their respective projects.

“TSM has produced a decade and a half of reliable performance

information which we can show governments and international organizations…continued significant improvements in the way mines are managed in terms of their environmental and social aspects,” MacArthur said in a news statement.

TSM was established by the Mining Association of Canada in 2004 and adopted by COMP in 2017, making the Philippines the first in Asia to subscribe to this self-assessment system coupled with external verification that is rapidly evolving into a global standard for best practices in sustainable mining.

COMP has made compliance with TSM mandatory to all its members.

Apart from Canada and the Philippines, other countries that have adopted TSM are Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Finland and Spain.

“Our industry, and how each of us performs, has been under tremendous scrutiny for some time now,” COMP Chairman Gerard Brimo said. “We not only need to get things right, but we have to prove it to our stakeholders, and even beyond. TSM will help us achieve that. It is the commitment of our member-companies to essentially ensure best practices in what we do, and to demonstrate that annually. It is also our way of demonstrating that we go beyond mere compliance, which again means employing best practices

in everything that we do.”

Noble, for his part, said the adoption of TSM in the Philippines is “a great milestone for the Philippine minerals industry...this is what we need so much. Implementing TSM will greatly improve [the industry’s] image and ensure that mining will be conducted in the most socially, economically and environmentally responsible manner.”

“I am very happy to see that the national mining association here is using TSM, including a Community of Interest [COI] advisory panel to allow a cross section of society as stakeholders to be involved, to be consulted,” MacArthur added. “This [panel] not only oversees development and implementation but it provides an interesting dialogue for transparency and disclosure and a strong consultation so everybody realizes the efforts being made to ensure that the mining process is responsible.”

The COI is a multi-stakeholder group composed of 15 individuals from various sectors of society that provides guidance to COMP in the implementation of TSM. T he TSM l aunc hing— conducted via a videotelephony platform hosted by The Embassy of Canada—came after nearly three years of substantial review of the program’s various components to assure applicability to conditions in the Philippines.

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DA chief urges LGUs to include dressed chicken in relief packs

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

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HE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday urged local government units (LGUs) to include chicken meat in their food packs to help ease the domestic glut that has pushed the farm-gate price of live broilers below profitable levels.

In a news statement, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said the inclusion of chicken meat in the national and local government’s relief goods would “hike the demand and increase farm-gate price of broilers.”

Dar explained that he issued the appeal as a response to the concerns of the United Broiler Raisers Association (UBR A) of low farm-gate prices due to weak demand and oversupply.

“We need to explore new markets to prop up demand after a great number of food establishments and restaurants have discontinued, or reduced their operations,” he said.

Dar disclosed that the DA has been in talks as well with the Departments of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to purchase local chicken meat and include it in their relief goods.

Dar said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III was amenable about the idea and had been exploring the option to do it through the DOLE’s “Tulong Panghanap-buhay sa Ating

Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers.”

“We will also present the proposal to the Department of Social Welfare and Development to include chicken meat in their relief food packs,” he said.

The DSWD is a member of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases’ Task Group on Food Security (TGFS) and its sub-group on procurement, food packs and distribution, according to the DA.

P4B financial, food subsidy

IN a webinar on the same day, Dar revealed that P4 billion of the DA’s P24-billion fund under the Bayanihan 2 would be used to provide 800,000 farmers and fisherfolk with a P5,000 financial and food subsidy.

Dar added that P3,000 would be given in cash, while the remaining P2,000 would be in kind with P1,000 being spent on chicken and the remaining amount for rice.

Through this way, Dar explained, the domestic glut on chicken meat supply would ease and provide favorable farm-gate price for broiler raisers and would also stabilize palay prices during the harvest season.

“It will stimulate [demand] and create a market. For our rice farmers it will mean that the current stocks would be sold and millers would buy more again from the farmers to replenish their stocks,” he said.

A6

Friday, August 28, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Lessons we might have learned

W

E are probably not the only ones in the deepest dark of night silently whispering, “Why God? What’s the plan? What’s the purpose?”

The Philippines has the same number of deaths per 1 million population as Iceland, and fewer cases per capita than Norway. Yet by the time this pandemic is over, most of us will at least “know someone who knows someone” who has fallen sick from Covid-19. These are depressing times.

So what lessons might we have learned in the past few months?

The road to “One World Government” encountered a catastrophic roadblock from the disease. Just when we were told that peace and harmony with justice for all would come under a big umbrella like the United Nations, the UN turned out to be toothless and nearly pointless.

The UN has been in existence for 75 years and has revenues of over $50 billion. That is actually larger than what the Australian government takes in. The UN has 150 offices and employs “44,000 specialized men and women” and about 75,000 overall. The World Health Organization (WHO) itself has over 5,000 staff.

Yet we found out that WHO was probably the last place to go for accurate information and advice on the pandemic. In the first few days of the pandemic, the WHO made statements that healthy people do not need to wear a mask. On April 1, WHO recommended that only patients and their caregivers should wear medical masks. On June 5, WHO advised the general public to wear masks.

In May, WHO said it was temporarily halting a clinical trial of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 patients. In June it resumed the trial. In July, WHO again stopped a clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine.

While it is true that the pandemic created a greatly fluid situation, WHO has a broad mandate to guide and coordinate international health policy. If we add the situation that WHO was taking information from China as fact without independent confirmation, does the world really want an international body like the United Nations trying to run things?

We have been told that we need to “listen to the scientists.” Forget that the WHO is supposed to be all “science.” Forget that not too long ago, the science was settled that another ice age was upon us in the 1970s. Covid-19 is a very serious disease for the aged and those with comorbidities—other serious health conditions. But was it serious enough to merit locking down much of the world’s economy for months on end?

While the politicians and the shielded elite inside gated communities will suffer on without that shopping trip to Singapore or exclusive Palawan island resort vacation, “The People” are actually suffering. While some are posturing, hoping for votes in the next election, others are trying to figure out how to educate their children and put food on the table.

The pullback in Metro Manila to tighter quarantine restrictions had a devastating economic effect. Just as companies were starting to increase employment and reopening, they were cut off at the knees. That cannot happen again. We also need to learn from shortterm mistakes.

This year is going to be a write-off no matter what happens in the next months. However, we must keep moving forward.

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

Bayanihan 2: Strengthening our health response against Covid-19 Sonny M. Angara

Better Days

A

S this paper goes to print, the tally of Covid-19 cases in the country is most likely to have breached the 200,000 mark already—a little more than three weeks after surpassing the 100,000 mark earlier this month. More than 130,000 have recovered, yes, but there are still more than 61,000 active cases. One should not also discount that more than 3,000 Filipinos have already died due to the virus. We clearly have much more to do to fight this pandemic. This is why it’s important that the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act—or Bayanihan 2, which we sponsored and defended—is now awaiting the President’s signature.

The measure has up to P140 billion in regular appropriations— P40.5 billion of this will be allocated for programs and expenses that will be used in the medical frontlines that define our war against Covid-19.

For instance, there is a need to procure 6 million N95 face masks, 8.5 million gowns, 1 million head covers, and 2 million coveralls— three months’ worth of supplies for our health- care workers and indigent persons in danger. Under Bayanihan 2, P3 billion will be made available to

the Department of Health for this.

Equipment such as PPEs made in the Philippines will be preferred, subject to price and quality standards, and with the help of incentives and fiscal policies.

To help our health-care workers (HCWs), the frontline soldiers in this war, Bayanihan 2 appropriates P13.5 billion for the Department of Health’s continuous employment and hiring of emergency human resources for health (HRH). Such appropriation shall cover the hiring of

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an additional 4,228 HRH personnel and the extension of service of 5,143 others. It also includes fund augmentation for the operation of DOH hospitals; the special risk allowance for at least 89,551 public HCWs; and the hazard duty pay for 66,249 private HCWs. Due to concerns of how some HCWs are treated, accommodation, transportation, and meals for them will also be provided under Bayanihan 2. Mandatory testing of public and private HCWs will also be done every 15 days.

The measure also retains the compensation provided in Bayanihan 1 for HCWs who have been infected by,

Sever the roots of corruption

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Publisher

Finally, there will be a P10-billion standby fund with the InterAgency Task Force for Covid-19 testing and the procurement of medicines and possible vaccines.

We expect up to 4 million beneficiaries for testing. Now, we need to act swiftly and decisively, if we want to recover faster from this pandemic. With proper implementation of the Bayanihan 2 Act, our country should be able to get back on its feet, sooner rather than later.

B

rothers and sisters, many people have used the verses 5:2930 from the book of Matthew to justify claims that the Bible agrees with the brutal and inhumane acts of punishment for those who committed a grave sin. This is what we hear from Jesus during his sermon in the mountains about adultery. “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go to hell.”

A fierce warning, isn’t it?

But like what you have heard, we must not take these words literally.

According to Bible experts, what Jesus stated is a clear example of hyperbole, phrases or statements intently exaggerated to emphasize the message he wants to convey to his followers and listeners. In this case, our Lord focuses on the importance of avoiding sin and man’s ability to stop himself or herself from committing sin. Beyond the meaning of these words, which seemed to be having a cruel tone, we

can see that the will of God is our way of redemption. If we keep ourselves away from sin, we will keep ourselves away from hell.

Nevertheless, it is easier for some of us to interpret the words spoken in the Bible in a literal sense.

And we can see this being done by some of our leaders. In the past week, for example, the loyal assistant of President Duterte, Senator Bong Go, suggested to punish those behind the immense PhilHealth corruption by cutting their fingers to “end the calvary of the Filipinos.”

According to Bible experts, what Jesus stated is a clear example of hyperbole, phrases or statements intently exaggerated to emphasize the message he wants to convey to his followers and listeners. In this case, our Lord focuses on the importance of avoiding sin and man’s ability to stop himself from committing sin.

He made this proposal “out of frustration” during the virtual public hearing conducted by the Senate on PhilHealth irregularities. It was also said that Senate President Vicente Sotto III would have liked the idea, but as he mentioned, severing the fingers of corrupt government officials was inhumane and unconstitutional. They may not have used the Bible to justify their suggested cruel punishment, but what they said proves that the belief of using cruel ways to stop people from committing sin exists.

No matter how many fingers we sever from corrupt officials, corruption per se will not cease as long as the mechanisms that oversee every step taken and decisions made by those we entrusted to serve the people remain weak. As long as there is a chance for some of our leaders to

or have died because of, Covid-19. The addition is that under Bayanihan 2, compensation will also be given to HCWs who are considered “mild” Covid-19 cases. With the appropriations under Bayanihan 2, compensation will be given to some 5,171 HCWs who have been infected, and 44 who have died, as well as an estimated 9,000 who could be infected by Covid-19 from August to December.

Bayanihan 2 also responds to the need for more quarantine facilities. P4.5 billion will be used by the DOH for building temporary medical isolation and quarantine facilities, field hospitals, and the expansion of hospital capacities across the country. Dormitories for frontliners will also be included as well as support and funding for the upgrading of existing biosafety laboratories, and capital outlay support for Covid-19 related medical and laboratory equipment. Another P4.5 billion will be used by the Department of National Defense’s Office of Civil Defense for building and maintaining isolation facilities. This will include hotel billings, food, and transportation used for our Covid-19 response. The estimate is that we have up to 128,000 Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms, as well as suspected cases.

See “Angara,” A7

do wrong, corruption will continue.

As long as those on top of our government continue to dismiss the allegations against their allies, corruption will continue. As long as we overlook the crooked ways of government officials because of fear or beneficial prejudice, corruption will continue. Corruption is a complicated problem in government because it is not only about our officials’ capabilities to stop committing sin; this is accompanied by the systems and structures needed to be maintained strong so that from the beginning, there wouldn’t be any room for corrupt acts and practices.

Brothers and sisters, the Catholic social teaching Centesimus Annus considers corruption of our officials in government as one of the many reasons for the loss of strength of a country, and the loss of this strength is an obstacle toward true progress.

In other words, corruption in government has a large and extensive negative effect. We cannot sever this by just cutting the fingers of corrupt officials in government.

Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 Ang Radyo ng Simbahan in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph, and follow its Twitter and Instagram accounts @veritasph, and YouTube at veritas846.ph. For your comments, e-mail veritas846pr@gmail.com.

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Corona comma, public finance, and more

Goodbye to August Tito Genova Valiente

Luis F. Dumlao

EAGLE WATCH

P

araphrasing, induced coma is when physicians set a patient in a temporary comma so that the rest of the body can rest and focus its energy on healing its potentially lethal sick part (often the brain). Comparing to the term first used by Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, corona coma is when the economy is set on a shutdown and its people on a lockdown so that the Covid-19 can be isolated and eliminated. Such are the cases when the government implemented community quarantines of different variations like ECQ, MECQ and GCQ. While the corona comma Philippine style has not eliminated Covid-19, it certainly adversely affected the economy and the government/public finance.

With people losing jobs and income plummeting, government needed to spend more pesos to ease the suffering. For example, government subsidy is up to P170 billion in the first half of 2020 compared to P27 billion in the same period of 2019; that is up by 530 percent! Overall government expenditure in the said periods is up to P2 trillion in 2020 compared to P1.6 trillion in 2019; that is up 25 percent. As the corona comma squeezes out consumption, investment, and expenditure in general, there are less for government to tax and less to accumulate revenue.

For example, government revenue is down to P1.45 trillion in the first half of 2020 compared to P1.54 trillion during the same period in 2019; that is down by 6 percent.

Corona comma consequently caused the deficit-to-gross domestic product (GDP) and debt-to-GDP ratios to increase. This is via the numerator effect. For example, the increase of expenditure and decrease of revenue increased the government budget deficit to P560 billion in the first half of 2020 compared to P43 billion in the same period of 2019; that is up by 1,200 percent! Because deficits are funded by borrowing, the debt is increased by approximately P560 billion. The increase of the numerators of the deficit-to-GDP and debt-to-GDP ratios then result in the increase in the entire ratios.

Going back to the GDP, the combination of Covid-19 and corona comma resulted in the contraction of the GDP by 9 percent in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. These consequently caused the deficit-to-GDP and debt-to-GDP ratios to increase further. This is via the denominator effect. Hence, the decrease of the denominators of the said ratios results in the increase in the entire ratios.

Ultimately, the deficit-to-GDP ratio went up to 6.5 percent compared to 0.5 percent in the first halves of years 2020 and 2019, respectively.

The bad news is that 6.5 percent is twice as much as the generally accepted safe threshold of less than 3 percent. On a comparative basis, one can look at the budgetary fiscal responses of grouped economies or the increase in deficits through direct budgetary effects excluding additional guarantees and funding. These

Angara. . .

continued from A6

This recognition of the need for more facilities also makes it a goal to increase the bed capacity for Covid-19 cases—20 percent for private hospitals, and 30 percent for government hospitals.

Meanwhile, PhilHealth is directed to reimburse all due funds to district, provincial, and city hospitals. Government financial institutions are also implored to prioritize in their lending and credit line services hospitals and health-care institutions that are having cash flow or liquidity issues due to the pandemic.

P5 billion will be allocated for the Department of the Interior and Local Government to hire at least 50,000 contact tracers, and for the creation

The Department of Finance with Bayanihan laws I and II seems to think that the deficit-to-GDP and debt-to-GDP ratios have gone up enough. However, some members of Congress proposing addition stimulus packages on top of the Bayanihan laws think that the Philippines can still afford higher ratios. The question is whether the benefit of additional stimulus packages is greater than or less than the cost of worse public finance position. are 4.6 percent for G-20 economies, 8.3 percent of advanced economies, and 2 percent for emerging market economies where the Philippines belong (source: Bank of International Settlements).

Finally, the debt-to-GDP ratios are projected to have gone up to 52 percent compared to 42 percent in the first halves of years 2020 and 2019, respectively. The ratio in which countries are deemed to have unsustainable debts is at a debt-to-GDP ratio of greater than 85 percent, hence the Philippines is way from that. But the ratio in which countries and especially developing economies become under special watch of multilateral institutions is 60 percent, hence the Philippines is 8 percent away from that.

The adverse effect of corona comma on public finance comes from “all” directions. It comes from an increase government expenditure and decrease in government revenue, i.e. numerator effects. It also comes from the contraction of GDP, i.e. denominator effect. The Department of Finance with Bayanihan laws I and II seems to think that the deficit-to-GDP and debtto-GDP ratios have gone up enough.

However, some members of Congress proposing addition stimulus packages on top of the Bayanihan laws think that the Philippines can still afford higher ratios. The question is whether the benefit of additional stimulus packages is greater than or less than the cost of worse public finance position.

Luis F. Dumlao, PhD, Dean, John Gokongwei School of Management, Ateneo de Manila University.

of a national online electronic application system for contact tracing.

Finally, there will be a P10-billion standby fund with the Inter-Agency Task Force for Covid-19 testing and the procurement of medicines and possible vaccines. We expect up to 4 million beneficiaries for testing.

Now, we need to act swiftly and decisively, if we want to recover faster from this pandemic. With proper implementation of the Bayanihan 2 Act, our country should be able to get back on its feet, sooner rather than later.

Sen. Sonny Angara has been in public service for 15 years—nine years as Representative of the Lone District of Aurora, and six as Senator. He has authored and sponsored more than 200 laws. He is currently serving his second term in the Senate.

E-mail: sensonnyangara@yahoo.com| Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara

annotations

I

can see from where I sit that the winds are here. The tall plants outside our perimeter, the one with white flowers, are bending over away from the small street fronting our home. Across the street, the plants of the newly-transferred tenants are swaying away from that home. It must be the sun these wide leaves are seeking.

Where is this wind coming from?

Is it blowing from above the roofs of the houses in our village? I am looking to the east but the wind is coming from above; this mover of trees, leaves and flowers must of purer origin. Ask me the question please: Yes, the best winds come from heaven— that unexplored part above the atmosphere. Nothing mythical, nothing scientific—the unknown holds more promises than the known.

It is breakfast and I am at the head of the table. When did I start occupying this honored place?

Ever since we moved to this old city from the island, we have gone on to live in four houses, until we settled in this subdivision. There was a house fronting the Jesuit school known for apparitions of ghost armies of Japanese soldiers who tortured and killed Filipinos during the war. A warm field of cogon grasses separated us from the American Jesuits and their unusual piety and our curiosity for the cuisine “those Americans preferred.”

The next home was in what appeared to be the rustic part of the city. Calesas, long banned from the major streets of the city, linked our place to the other side of the river.

One day, for some reason, we transferred to another home behind that house at the corner where horses were tethered to shrubs. In this house, we could hear groans and mournful wails by midnight. One night, my older brother came home, drunk, and woke me up to tell me he was getting married.

I realized that each time we moved to another place, I was always somewhere—on fieldwork, fellowship or some excuses to study refugees and cultures in transit. Thus, when we

moved to another place—a house vacated by another grandmother— I was not around. By this time, our family had expanded: my brother had a family. Children were in that house.

A younger brother would marry from that home. I still remember the time this brother visited us a day after his wedding. He was alone. As he was about to leave, our father asked me to accompany him till he got a ride.

It was an odd request that strangely I heeded.

The grandparents who were with us from the island to this old, charming city passed away in this home.

My older brother would have a terminal sickness in this last home. Although he passed on in a hospital, we thought of that home as the place of significant deaths.

It was because of this older brother’s passing that the decision to finally build our own home was reached.

When at last the family had to leave that home, I was somewhere again. I thus did not witness the tears on my nieces’ faces because they did not want to leave that place.

Now, I know why I sit at the head of this table. My father and mother are gone. A brother is in far Europe and the youngest—our only sister—is in Japan. Distance is dislocation.

My sister-in-law should be seated at the head of the table. She is too kind and gentle to allow me this male privilege. Her eldest son,

‘Bravo, Supreme Court’ Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

‘B

ravo, Supreme Court!” It’s been a long while since we heard the highest judicial body of our land lauded by a prince of the church, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Caloocan, for upholding the rights of a drug suspect to due process. The accused was arrested without a warrant following an illegal search and seizure based solely on an unverified and anonymous tip.

Bishop David, one of the most acerbic critics of the present administration, once referred to his diocese comprising Caloocan, Malabon and Navotas, as the “killing field” of the drug campaign. His diocese has become notorious, as it has been the site of relentless killings of drug suspects who are mostly poor residents of the area since the war on drugs was launched by the Duterte administration. Bishop David, who is one of the most acerbic critics of the present government, has praised the Court for its decision acquitting a drug suspect from Tabuk, Kalinga because he was arrested without a warrant following an invalid search or seizure based on an anonymous tip. Bishop David has said: “Now the words are written by our Supreme Court justices, who thankfully are mustering the courage to behave as an independent and co-equal branch of government in a supposedly democratic nation.” The SC voted 11-3 in upholding the rights of the accused to due process. The bishop added that the time has come when

judicial authorities should hearken to the muffled voices of the disadvantaged poor around us when they say: “We can’t breathe” or “The lives of the poor matter.” In its decision, the SC emphasized that it will not allow the Constitution to be added to the mounting body count in the war against drugs. It stressed: “A battle waged against illegal drugs that tramples on the rights of the people is not a war on drugs; it is a war against the people” Brave words from our SC magistrates, majority of whom were named by President Duterte. In fact, out of the 15 current members of the SC, only the chief justice and three associate justices were not appointed by the President.

Barring any impeachment, resignation or removal by way of quo warranto, by the time President Deterte completes his term in 2022, only two—Justices Marvic Leonen and Benjamin Caguioa—will be nonDuterte appointees. The President could pack the SC with his men who share his judicial philosophy, if not his politics, with all due respect to

Friday, August 28, 2020

A7

my nephew, has the right also to take this spot. But he is married, has moved to another place. I am thankful not for the honor (well, the notion of supremacy is dated and contentious) but for the vantage point my chair allows me. I am able to look in front of me a window where orchid plants are. One of these mornings, buds and blooms would greet me as if the world has become an unabashedly sentimental greeting card.

When I turn to my left, the door and the window open to the porch.

On the iron fence, on one of the posts is a small container. Do neighbors ever notice it? That plastic bowl contains cooked rice or bits of cookies and crackers for the birds. What do they say when I inspect it? When the rains come, and the food gets soggy, I change it with new leftovers. These tiny birds can be fastidious.

We have become ornithologists, with expertise in the area of bird diet.

Sometimes, the local hummingbirds would drop by but they do not care about human recipe. They swirl in and out of the tiny flowers outside the fence. They must be the gourmet

of their species.

The wind sometimes brings in a bit of chill. September and October must be there already at the edge of the blues and grays of the sky. In the morning, when the coffee is condemned to be boring, I notice more things—a huge, green grasshopper has not budged from the lintel of the door screen; lizards are creeping up the post where the bowl for birds are—are they competing for the cereal or are they bird murderers?

I leave this scenario to the eternal food chain.

A butterfly with dominoes on its wings has been lately a constant citizen of the spaces my windows and door frame. In another time, this butterfly is a visitor from beyond. In this time, however, of diseases and deaths, this butterfly comes from a loss. The butterfly to be one has to shed off a part of itself, which is not its self. Not original and even a cliché, but morning life at the head of the table is never original. That seat is ephemeral. And that is assuring.

the esteemed members of the Judicial and Bar Council.

If the subject case is of any indication, an appointment by the President is not an assurance that the Court’s decision will always be supportive of the President’s policy or position. It is heartening to note that in this particular case, the current SC under Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta showed exceptional courage to uphold the so-called “fruit of a poisonous tree” doctrine and rejected evidence that was obtained illegally. Simply stated, if the source of the evidence is tainted, then anything derived or gained from it is tainted as well. We should credit the 11 justices for not allowing our legal system to be dishonored. It is the first time in recent years that the Court has veered from the conventional practice of supporting a government action either through technicality or sheer disregard of the merits of the case. The Court should be able to say “no” to the Executive and demonstrate that it is not a stamp pad of the President; that it is capable of exercising its judicial power to protect the Constitution from the onslaught of overzealous law enforcers. We expect an activist Court to be able to fulfill its role as the ultimate guarantor of the people’s freedom. It would be unhealthy to our democracy if it is passive and just kowtowing to the Executive in its decision-making.

The merits of the case, not political consideration, should be the Court’s ultimate guide in reviewing and deciding a case before it. Through its power of judicial review, the SC should be able to assert its independence and supremacy when it comes

to interpreting the law, particularly those involving the so-called individual rights cases. Of late, the SC appears to have shrank from a position of leadership and reduced as a mere adjunct of the more powerful Executive branch. It’s true that only minority justices are holdovers from previous administrations but this is not an ironclad indicator of how the justices will vote. The rule of law is anathema to arbitrary power and police state and assures anyone who displeases political power gets a day in court. Only an independent and uncompromising Court that does not act merely as a mere functionary under the control of the political leadership can give the people a fair shake.

CJ Peralta is one of the holdover justices. He rose from the ranks, starting as an Assistant City Prosecutor of Laoag City and later appointed as RTC Judge of Quezon City in 1994. He served as Sandiganbayan Justice in 2002 and was promoted as Presiding Justice in 2008. He was appointed to the SC by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and as Chief Justice by President Duterte on October 23, 2019. He is a product of the UST Faculty of Civil Law, which awarded him the highest decoration that his school could bestow.

It takes an equally courageous man to recognize and praise a daring act. May Bishop David’s praise serve as the SC’s epiphany and embolden the Court to be undaunted in deciding cases that come before it. Much is expected of the Peralta Court and may it live up to our people’s hope that the SC remains the bulwark of justice and the rule of law.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com

A8 Friday, August 28, 2020

Sugar millers seeking higher export volumes for US T

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

HE Philippine Sugar Millers Association (PSMA) has proposed to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to allocate 7 percent of the next crop year’s projected 2.19 million metric tons (MMT) output for export to the United States in order to minimize high carry-over stocks, as pandemic lockdowns dampen local demand.

In a position paper submitted to SRA Administrator Hermenegildo R. Serafica, PSMA President Pablo L. Lobregat outlined why the group is pushing for a higher “A” quota al-

location in the next crop year 20202021, when local production is projected to reach a four-year high.

The SRA allocated 5 percent of the sugar production in the current crop

year 2019-2020 for export to the US. SRA earlier disclosed it expects sugar output in the next crop year, which starts on September 1, to increase by 2 percent from the current crop year’s 2.145 MMT volume.

Lobregat explained that they recommended a 7-percent US quota sugar allocation to “reduce the high carry-over stocks of both raw and refined sugar” for the incoming crop year.

Based on the estimates of PSMA, the country would enter the next crop year with a carry-over stock of about 678,460 metric tons (raw sugar equivalent).

“Unless this volume is brought down in crop year 2020-21, it shall be a perennial carry-over for the

succeeding crop years,” Lobregat said in his letter dated August 24.

“Hence, with a slightly higher ‘A’ allocation of 7 percent, the carry-over is shown to go down to 541,986 metric tons by August 31, 2021, notwithstanding a higher estimated production of 2.19 million metric tons and a same volume of sugar demand projected for crop year 2020-21 with the current crop year,” he added.

Based on PSMA’s computations, the country would have a 13,884 carry-over “A” sugar in the incoming crop year. A 7-percent A sugar allocation would mean about 153,300 MT of locally produced sweetener next crop year would be exported to the US, making total volume avail-

able for shipment at 167,184 MT. This means if the Philippines would ship the almost 137,000 MT raw sugar to the US under its quota, then Manila would still have a remaining “A” balance of 30,184 MT, according to PSMA’s letter.

“An ‘A’ allocation of 7 percent puts the Philippines in a better position for an additional quota in April next year by preparing the volume as early as now,” Lobregat said.

“The 30,184 metric ton’s ‘A’ ending balance by August 31,2021, provides the country with a ready volume when an additional quota will be announced,” he added.

Further more, Lobregat explained that a higher “A” allocation

will help the industry move sugar supplies “to an available market— the crucial US market—instead of remaining in warehouses” amid a tepid domestic demand.

Lobregat noted that the pandemic-induced restrictions on mass gatherings limit weddings, birthdays, and fiestas, wherein “huge quantities of sweetened products and beverages” are consumed.

The PSMA chief added that demand from restaurants remained lackluster as customers are limited by social distancing and quarantine pass requirements.

This, Lobregat pointed out, has resulted in “severe reduction in economic activities, particularly sales of sugar-based products.”

Govt cuts 2021 infra budget to P1.107 trillion to fund recovery programs amid pandemic

T

HE Executive Branch slashed its proposed public infrastructure budget under the 2021 National Expenditure Program (NEP) to P1.107 trillion—an amount lower than it was eyeing in June—to fund the country’s recovery programs from the pandemic.

On Tuesday, the Department of Budget and Management finally submitted for Congress’ approval the P4.506-trillion national budget for next year.

While this budget ceiling was nearly 4 percent higher than the P4.335 trillion approved by the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee in June, the country’s economic managers back then were proposing a slightly

higher public infrastructure budget of P1.131 trillion. Compared to this amount, the proposed P1.107 trillion public infrastructure budget is 2.12 percent lower.

Budget Assistant Secretary and Spokesman Rolando Toledo said the adjustment was made in consideration of the other expense items amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The public infrastructure budget under the 2021 NEP is smaller than what was being eyed in June because of the higher requirements of other expense items, particularly for PS [Personnel Services] and MOOE [Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses] owing mainly to Covid-19 recovery Programs/Activities/Projects [PAPs],”

Toledo said in a message to BusinessMirror.

Despite the reduction in proposed public infrastructure budget, this is still significantly higher by 13.4 percent than the P976 billion programmed for this year. It is also equivalent to 5.4 percent of GDP. For this year, the public infrastructure budget was equivalent to 4.6 percent of GDP. In his budget message, President Duterte said the proposed infrastructure budget for 2021 consists of shovel-ready projects focused on enhancing the delivery of health and essential services and improving the transportation and mobility of people and goods amid the pandemic.

Because of its high multiplier effect on economic growth, infrastructure development is “indispensable”in reviving the Philippine economy during and after Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

Duterte said some 140,000 to 220,000 additional jobs next year are expected to be created under the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program. This would be on top of private sector investments in manufacturing and construction activities that would be generated to fuel the country’s economic recovery.

“The intensified infrastructure spending for 2021 will fortify our fight against Covid-19. It signifies that, in spite of the bleak economic perceptions and uncertainties brought by the

pandemic, we are still confidently on track in marshalling the Philippines’s Golden Age of Infrastructure, which will build a solid foundation to our promise of providing a comfortable life and a bright future for all Filipinos by 2040,” he said.

The bulk or 71 percent of the total P1.107 trillion proposed infrastructure program would be allotted to government’s main infrastructure agencies.

Of this, the government is seeking to allot P667.3 billion for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and P122.9 billion for the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to be used to implement major projects under government’s

massive infrastructure program that seek to establish better connectivity for Filipinos.

Under the proposed DPWH budget, 57.9 percent or P386.7 billion will be for the implementation of its core programs, particularly the Asset Preservation Program, Network Development Program, Bridge Program and Flood Management Program; while P176.2 billion is intended for the Local Program to support various local infrastructure programs and projects, such as the construction of local roads and bridges, multipurpose buildings, school buildings, water supply, septage and sewerage, among others.

Bernadette D. Nicolas

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More LGUs told to fast-track release of telco applications

T

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

he Anti-Red Tape Authority (Arta) on Thursday said it issued compliance orders to 44 local government units (LGU), which failed to immediately release permits to telecommunication companies for the construction of new communication towers.

Of the said the affected LGUs, Arta Director General Jeremiah Belgica said 21 have already submitted the necessary compliance report covering 52 permit applications, which the agency deemed automatically

approved.

Belgica noted the other 23 LGUs, which have contested Arta’s compliance order.

“It is either [they claimed] they did not get any application [from

telecommunication companies], it is still pending, or the requirements or payment for it is yet to be completed,” Belgica said in a online interview with PTV on Thursday.

The Arta chief said the agency has scheduled a summary hearing next week to iron out these issues.

LGUs, which will refuse to comply with Arta's compliance order, will face charges under Republic Act 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business Law. “If they will refuse...that is the time they could be charged, suspended, or remove [from office] if they will do it multiple times. This is the clear directive [from the President] and with the help of the DILG [Department of Interior and Local Government], we will implement this," Belgica said.

Arta said telecommunication companies have submitted to the agency 1,571 pending permit applications for the construction of new communication towers. However, Beligica said they found only 122 of the said applications are pending with LGUs. In July the Arta signed with various agencies a joint memorandum circular that cuts processing time to 16 days, from 241 days, and reduces documentary requirements to 35, from 86, for the application of permits, licenses and certificates needed to build telco towers.

During his fifth State of the Nation Address last month, President Duterte vowed to improve the country's telecommunication services before he steps down from office in 2022.

Meralco penalized for ‘confusing’ bills

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

T

he Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) was ordered by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to pay a fine of P19 million and provide over P200 million in discount to lifeline customers.

The ERC said Meralco violated its advisories issued during the community quarantine period from March to July. In particular, the ERC said Meralco failed to clearly indicate that the bills were estimated and it also did not comply with the mandated installment payment arrangement set by the commission.

Meralco said it has yet to receive the order. “We will study the Order and we will file the appropriate pleading after consultation with our lawyers,” said Jose Ronald Valles, Meralco's head of regulatory management.

In the past months, Meralco caught the ire of lawmakers, regulators, government agencies and consumer groups who all complained about “confusing and hard to understand” electricity bills.

In July, the ERC said it received 47,000 complaints related to “bill shock” and non-compliance with ERC advisories. Majority of the 47,000 complaints came from Meralco customers.

ERC Chairperson and CEO Agnes

Cebu Pacific strengthens contact info database

T

he Philippines’s leading carrier, Cebu Pacific, enhances its Manage Booking portal to allow passengers to easily update their contact information after booking has been finalized. This is available for both passengers who booked online or through a travel agency.

“Now more than ever, we have seen how important it is for airlines to have accurate passenger contact information— not only to keep passengers updated on flight changes, but also to support contact tracing efforts,” said Candice Iyog, Cebu Pacific VP for marketing and customer experience.

This enhancement will provide support to local government units that require passenger details prior the flight.

“We believe with this multi-layer approach to safety and convenience, we will be able to restore trust and confidence in air travel for everyJuan,” added Iyog.

Starting August 26, passengers may already conveniently update their contact information anytime, from postbooking until check-in, through CEB’s Manage Booking portal on the web site (https://bit.ly/CEBmanageflight).

VST Devanadera noted that there was neglect on the part of Meralco.

“Meralco’s neglect to provide accurate and timely information especially during this time of pandemic has created chaos and confusion to most of the electricity consuming public.

The Commission issued the relevant Advisories with the intention of alleviating the financial burden of the electricity consumers who were mostly adversely affected by the community quarantine measures implemented by the government. This serious neglect by Meralco resulted to a multitude of complaints filed by its consumers to this Commission,” Devanadera said.

The ERC maintained that under the circumstances, prudence dictates that Meralco, in the presentation of information to the consumers, should always account the normal behavior of consumers.

In its evaluation, the agency considered the following: billing statements from the consumer complaints filed with its Consumer Affairs Division; billing statements from its employees; billing statements forwarded to it by the Office of Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian; and billing statements sent by the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. (NASECORE). Based on the Commission’s

evaluation, the utility firm incurred a total of 190 days of violation.

According to the commission’s Guidelines to Govern the Imposition of Administrative Sanctions in the Form of Fines and Penalties Pursuant to Section 46 of Republic Act No. 9136, as amended, for any violation of the provisions of EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act), its IRR, Rules and Regulations, and any other orders or directives of the Commission, a basic penalty of P100,000 shall be imposed. The ERC then multiplied this by the number of infractions committed by Meralco.

“Considering the number of Advisories that were violated by Meralco and the number of days that lapsed before serious efforts were undertaken to comply to the Commission’s directives, the Commission computed as number of violations the number of days lapsed reckoned from the date of issuance of each Advisory violated up to the date of Meralco’s latest personalized billing statement released last July 9,” the agency said.

Moreover, Meralco was ordered to set to zero the Distribution, Supply, and Metering (DSM) charges of lifeline consumers whose monthly energy consumption does not exceed 100 kWh for one month billing cycle. This should take effect in the

DMCI to build more homes in Taguig

D

MCI Homes said it will build another residential development in a 150-hectare property in Taguig City dubbed the Acacia Estates three years after it launched its project in the area.

DMCI Homes President Alfredo R. Austria said the company is finalizing plans to launch the new property to be called Alder Residences in Acacia Estates, the company's largest land bank.

“Sales of our projects are still encouraging despite current circumstances which give us confidence to launch 2 to 3 new properties before yearend,” Austria said. “Acacia Estates is always in our list because of the strong residential demand in the area. We’re also currently working on permits to utilize our land bank in Makati and Manila.”

DMCI Homes recently delivered the first building of the last project it has launched at Acacia Estates called Mulberry Place. The four-building mid-rise development was sold-out just weeks after it was launched in 2017.

Since it was first developed in 2007, Acacia Estates has grown to be a community of over 8,000 families living in various themed subdivisions and condominium developments.

In 2012, DMCI Homes started introducing lifestyle establishments through Acacia Estates’ commercial quarter called Acacia Town Center.

Spanning approximately 22,000 square meters, Acacia Town Center now houses restaurants, bills payment facility, currency exchange, salons,

automated teller machines, coffee shops, commercial gym, supermarket, as well as event venues like The Tent and the Casa Real heritage house.

The company has also worked with the Taguig government to open alternative routes going to and from the development for residents’ additional convenience.

DMCI Homes said it is instituting a number of safety and productivity measures to adapt to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since May, the company has been expanding the barracks capacity in its construction sites to limit the exposure of its workers and reduce their dependence on public transportation.

Its barracks can now house 4,202 workers compared to 3,108 prior to the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine in mid-March.

Over 2,900 workers are currently staying at the onsite barracks provided by DMCI Homes.

The company said it has been providing its skilled workers with free supplements to help improve their overall health.

“We understand the mobility limitations and health risks faced by our workers. By increasing our barracks capacity, we hope to attract more workers and contain the spread of the coronavirus,” Austria said.

The company has also launched a bike loan program wherein bicycles are purchased by DMCI Homes for the personal transportation requirements of its qualified skilled workers. VG Cabuag

next billing cycle immediately upon receipt of the subject ERC decision dated August 20.

The DSM comprised of 22.4 percent of the total retail rate. The total discount to be provided to all lifeline consumers is estimated at over P200 million. The cost of the discount shall not be charged to the non-lifeline consumers, the ERC said.

Meralco should submit a compliance report within 15 days after its implementation of the Commission’s directives.

Friday, August 28, 2020

B1

Nestlé PHL, CEMEX to collect and divert plastic waste in Cebu

J

ust before the Covid-19 quarantine was imposed in the country, a partnership agreement to divert plastic waste laminates away from landfills in Cebu province by collecting and co-processing them in cement kilns was signed by Nestlé Philippines and CEMEX Holdings Philippines.

The agreement is one of the initiatives of Nestlé Philippines under a long-term plastic waste collection and recovery program.

Nestlé Philippines Chairman and CEO Kais Marzouki and CEMEX Holdings Philippines President and CEO Ignacio Mijares Elizondo signed the agreement.

Under the partnership, Nestlé Philippines, through its program partners and authorized transportation provider, will collect postconsumer soft plastics, and preprocess and transport these to the APO Cement Corp.’s plant in Tinaan, Naga City in Cebu. APO Cement, a subsidiary of CEMEX Holdings Philippines, will in turn co-process the post-consumer soft plastics.

The waste plastic laminates will be sourced from different cities and municipalities in Cebu.

In April 2018, Nestlé announced its global commitment to make 100 percent of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025. Nestlé’s vision is to achieve a waste-free future with none of its packaging, particularly plastic, going to landfills, the oceans, or as litter.

“We welcome this new agreement and we thank CEMEX Holdings Philippines for making it possible for us to further intensify our actions to

address plastic waste. We are happy to extend this initiative beyond the National Capital Region to Cebu in our efforts to reach various areas of the country,” said Marzouki.

Elizondo said, “We’re very excited to jumpstart our partnership with Nestlé, the largest food and beverage conglomerate in the world. We recognize and gladly support Nestlé’s commitment to tackling plastic waste."

“CEMEX and Nestlé have a shared vision to make a significant difference and contribute to the economic, social and environmental growth of the Philippines. A green environment will always be at the center of CEMEX’s ‘Build A Nation Together’ CSR efforts. Our advocacies are dedicated to uplift lives, communities, and protect the environment.”

CEMEX is a leading global company in the construction materials industry that manufactures and distributes cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates in more than 50 countries. CEMEX operations in the Philippines started 23 years ago in 1997. Today CEMEX Holdings Philippines, with its cement manufacturing subsidiaries Solid Cement and APO Cement and its brands APO, Island and Rizal, is one of the top cement producers in the country based on installed annual capacity.

As a method of waste disposal, co-processing is permitted by local environmental laws and regulations, and is practiced in various countries.

In the Philippines, cement kiln coprocessing is preferable to landfilling and physical treatment, since energy and minerals from waste are almost completely used up.

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Friday, August 28, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

August 27, 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 CITYSTATE BANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FIRST ABACUS FERRONOUX HLDG FILIPINO FUND IREMIT MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE

45 87.05 65.25 20.6 7.9 8.52 34.25 19.66 48.4 16 96.4 54 0.8 20.85 0.56 2.53 7.09 0.97 0.295 700 0.6 154.1 1920

45.45 87.3 65.7 20.65 8 8.53 34.4 19.94 48.95 16.4 97 54.05 0.85 22 0.59 2.59 8.5 0.98 0.305 755 0.62 156.4 1925

45.95 87.15 63 20.65 8 8.19 34 19.68 48.95 16 95.65 53.9 0.84 22 0.56 2.58 8.6 0.97 0.31 735 0.62 155 1915

45.95 87.8 65.7 20.65 8 8.54 34.5 19.8 48.95 16 97.45 54.05 0.85 22.2 0.59 2.58 8.6 0.97 0.31 735 0.62 156.8 1920

45.45 87.05 63 20.3 8 8.17 34 19.62 48.95 15.9 95.1 53.9 0.84 22 0.56 2.58 8.6 0.97 0.31 735 0.6 154 1915

45.45 87.05 65.7 20.6 8 8.52 34.4 19.8 48.95 16 97 54.05 0.85 22 0.59 2.58 8.6 0.97 0.31 735 0.62 156.8 1920

1100 2611860 2793950 55300 200 1626600 3672600 87300 1300 7200 381300 11580 178000 22700 32000 3000 100 12000 30000 170 153000 1590 390

50045 228310207 180604533.5 1133250 1600 13611956 126088415 1718594 63635 115190 36784629 625243.5 150690 502580 18160 7740 860 11640 9300 124950 91840 245002 748100

45450 -111739382 73070615 -745005 -76557930 -510126 -35190 -1033189.5 -490807 517800

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 2.78 2.79 2.8 2.81 2.73 2.78 9148000 25343160 ALSONS CONS 1.29 1.3 1.31 1.32 1.28 1.3 1963000 2548200 ABOITIZ POWER 26.25 26.3 26 26.65 26 26.3 1311100 34520405 0.165 0.166 0.163 0.166 0.162 0.166 1710000 281270 BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN 24.1 24.35 24.25 24.4 24.05 24.35 793600 19242300 59.3 59.7 59.9 60.05 59.1 59.3 12830 763157 FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO 267 269 275 275 267 267 213050 57325006 MANILA WATER 14.28 14.3 14.18 14.28 13.8 14.28 5471700 76867190 3.05 3.07 3.07 3.09 3.04 3.05 1480000 4529110 PETRON 11 11.2 11.18 11.2 11 11.2 81200 908822 PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL 17.5 17.52 17.66 17.7 17.5 17.52 2273100 39794572 SPC POWER 8.42 8.45 8.4 8.42 8.38 8.42 34700 291534 AGRINURTURE 7.55 7.77 7.85 7.9 7.53 7.77 33200 253935 AXELUM 2.45 2.46 2.37 2.46 2.23 2.45 4639000 11037300 11.4 12.14 12.16 12.16 12 12 3900 47398 CNTRL AZUCARERA 16.18 16.2 16.3 16.3 16.16 16.2 4609500 74677746 CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE 4.88 4.9 4.96 4.96 4.85 4.89 23000 112260 DNL INDUS 4.74 4.75 4.71 4.83 4.71 4.75 1274000 6041420 EMPERADOR 9.99 10 9.99 10 9.85 10 475000 4709124 67 67.5 67.4 67.5 67.2 67.5 269960 18199555 SMC FOODANDBEV 0.66 0.67 0.67 0.67 0.67 0.67 98000 65660 ALLIANCE SELECT FRUITAS HLDG 1.16 1.17 1.17 1.18 1.14 1.17 7379000 8502320 GINEBRA 37.8 39.2 38.25 39.4 37.75 37.75 3700 140910 JOLLIBEE 138.6 138.7 138.3 138.8 136.5 138.7 308450 42522273 7.78 8 8.03 8.03 8.03 8.03 100 803 MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP 4.74 4.75 4.76 4.76 4.7 4.75 57000 270290 5.69 5.7 5.67 5.7 5.65 5.7 743700 4221876 SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO 1.17 1.18 1.26 1.26 1.16 1.18 7275000 8621840 RFM CORP 4.36 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 2001000 9004500 1.56 1.65 1.56 1.56 1.56 1.56 1000 1560 ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS 0.105 0.11 0.105 0.105 0.105 0.105 100000 10500 UNIV ROBINA 138.8 138.9 138.7 140.5 138.5 138.8 1118030 155760861 VITARICH 0.77 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.77 0.77 695000 536470 VICTORIAS 2.25 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2000 4800 CONCRETE A 51.5 52 51.1 52 51.1 52 300 15510 52.25 54.75 52.2 52.25 52.2 52.25 100 5224 CONCRETE B 1.5 1.51 1.36 1.52 1.31 1.51 58405000 83324050 CEMEX HLDG DAVINCI CAPITAL 3.45 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 10000 35000 EAGLE CEMENT 11.9 11.98 11.3 12.44 11.3 11.98 905500 10938800 EEI CORP 5.5 5.55 5.37 5.51 5.36 5.5 2396100 13070386 5.45 5.48 5.25 5.52 5.2 5.45 3660600 19781791 HOLCIM 6.46 6.47 6.55 6.6 6.37 6.46 530600 3418365 MEGAWIDE 8.5 9.1 9 9.1 9 9.1 11400 102620 PHINMA TKC METALS 0.65 0.68 0.67 0.67 0.67 0.67 59000 39530 VULCAN INDL 0.74 0.75 0.73 0.75 0.73 0.75 14000 10270 1.91 1.94 1.95 1.95 1.91 1.91 60000 116140 CROWN ASIA EUROMED 1.8 1.81 1.86 1.87 1.81 1.81 216000 394780 3.8 3.93 3.9 3.94 3.8 3.94 4000 15490 MABUHAY VINYL PRYCE CORP 4.06 4.08 4.05 4.06 4.05 4.06 15000 60780 CONCEPCION 18.52 19 19 19.2 19 19 203700 3870598 1.77 1.81 1.79 1.84 1.76 1.81 7629000 13762910 GREENERGY 4.68 4.69 4.68 4.75 4.67 4.67 94000 440340 INTEGRATED MICR 0.96 0.98 0.98 1 0.96 0.96 200000 193370 IONICS PANASONIC 4.25 4.68 4.26 4.71 4.26 4.71 19000 83890 SFA SEMICON 1.38 1.39 1.44 1.44 1.36 1.39 1136000 1589500 CIRTEK HLDG 5.84 5.85 6 6.05 5.8 5.85 1619000 9518329

-118180 -574220 12149260 10077870 -577573 -35399972 -5255820 -493940 2146164 59872 -3426610 46198 -64124674 -24400 -5101190 -2076424 -74870.5 -84120 26425 -25810214 23780 1314232 202500 -29427110 -780 4180 7512400 -35000 -1917046 5383575 -579984 -203582 -5610 -3800000 11480 -252930 5600 -11769

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.47 0.475 0.47 0.475 0.465 0.47 2000000 939850 ASIABEST GROUP 7.7 7.98 8.08 8.08 7.63 8.08 2700 20696 AYALA CORP 723.5 735 720 735 718.5 735 148800 108432980 47 48.15 48.55 48.6 47 47 415700 19681515 ABOITIZ EQUITY 6.15 6.18 6.09 6.21 6.05 6.18 5058900 31134170 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 1.76 1.77 1.82 1.82 1.77 1.77 496000 882710 AYALA LAND LOG ANSCOR 6.12 6.28 6.28 6.28 6 6.12 27800 172868 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.52 0.53 0.52 0.52 0.52 0.52 178000 92560 0.56 0.57 0.56 0.57 0.56 0.57 1368000 771420 ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B 0.56 0.58 0.56 0.58 0.56 0.58 535000 299700 5.08 5.1 5.05 5.1 4.96 5.08 15326900 76643667 COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG 3.9 3.92 3.93 3.93 3.85 3.92 3885000 15098570 FILINVEST DEV 8.4 9.09 8.4 8.4 8.4 8.4 4800 40320 GT CAPITAL 404.8 405 405 406.8 402 405 142550 57782280 3.03 3.15 3.02 3.15 3.02 3.15 33000 101700 HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT 63.6 63.95 63.15 64 63 63.6 912450 58062873 LODESTAR 0.59 0.61 0.59 0.61 0.59 0.59 77000 45670 LOPEZ HLDG 2.27 2.3 2.28 2.39 2.23 2.26 4151000 9435760 LT GROUP 8.26 8.29 8.35 8.35 8.1 8.26 1297200 10709184 0.51 0.56 0.51 0.58 0.5 0.56 210000 108480 MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV 3.41 3.42 3.33 3.42 3.29 3.41 39399000 133912180 2.86 2.98 2.98 2.98 2.98 2.98 2000 5960 PACIFICA HLDG PRIME MEDIA 0.77 0.8 0.75 0.8 0.75 0.8 2000 1550 SOLID GROUP 0.99 1 0.98 1.02 0.98 1 32000 31810 153 170 155 155 155 155 50 7750 SYNERGY GRID SM INVESTMENTS 873 882 887 887 872 873 15279810 13445085410 100.3 101.4 101.4 101.4 100 101.4 37360 3776686 SAN MIGUEL CORP TOP FRONTIER 130.8 132 131 132 128 132 9070 1190898 WELLEX INDUS 0.191 0.197 0.191 0.191 0.191 0.191 160000 30560 0.146 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.146 0.15 310000 45340 ZEUS HLDG

-140750 -38227415 -12795730 -2758910 2424 2800 -75717064 -2919140 -28743416 -9796857.5 -346460 2429579 -26558440 -115563010 -739409 -540060 -

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.52 0.53 0.51 0.53 0.51 0.52 965000 496180 AYALA LAND 29.7 29.9 30.05 30.1 29.7 29.7 17572500 525268660 ARANETA PROP 0.95 1 1.02 1.02 1.01 1.01 8000 8090 25.7 25.75 25.5 25.85 25.05 25.75 1529600 39151250 AREIT RT 1.33 1.35 1.34 1.35 1.33 1.33 193000 256950 BELLE CORP 0.81 0.82 0.83 0.83 0.81 0.81 2405000 1960310 A BROWN CITYLAND DEVT 0.81 0.86 0.86 0.87 0.81 0.86 167000 143530 CROWN EQUITIES 0.122 0.124 0.121 0.125 0.121 0.124 680000 82390 5.8 5.94 5.63 5.8 5.63 5.8 1300 7489 CEBU HLDG CEB LANDMASTERS 4.98 4.99 4.99 4.99 4.98 4.98 63400 316196 0.365 0.37 0.355 0.37 0.355 0.365 3750000 1354850 CENTURY PROP CYBER BAY 0.26 0.275 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.26 130000 33800 DOUBLEDRAGON 14.9 14.92 14.96 15.08 14.9 14.92 178800 2674500 DM WENCESLAO 5.96 5.99 5.99 5.99 5.95 5.95 37600 224212 0.255 0.26 0.25 0.26 0.25 0.26 90000 22650 EMPIRE EAST FILINVEST LAND 0.92 0.93 0.93 0.93 0.91 0.92 11768000 10823190 GLOBAL ESTATE 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 69000 55200 8990 HLDG 7.64 7.7 7.9 7.9 7.7 7.7 72300 558777 PHIL INFRADEV 1.18 1.19 1.18 1.22 1.15 1.18 4154000 4938140 0.7 0.73 0.74 0.74 0.73 0.73 42000 30790 CITY AND LAND MEGAWORLD 3 3.01 2.99 3.04 2.98 3.01 3734000 11245460 0.242 0.243 0.249 0.249 0.24 0.242 31590000 7704050 MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES 0.285 0.305 0.285 0.285 0.285 0.285 30000 8550 PRIMEX CORP 1.15 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.15 1.15 565000 659450 14.82 14.84 14.62 15 14.62 14.84 1820300 26988414 ROBINSONS LAND 1.53 1.57 1.52 1.53 1.52 1.53 8000 12230 ROCKWELL SHANG PROP 2.71 2.72 2.73 2.73 2.73 2.73 10000 27300 STA LUCIA LAND 1.84 1.86 1.85 1.86 1.72 1.86 86000 159350 SM PRIME HLDG 29.5 29.8 29.5 29.95 29.5 29.5 3828100 113460320 3.7 3.78 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 2000 7400 VISTAMALLS SUNTRUST HOME 1.2 1.21 1.2 1.21 1.19 1.21 570000 683800 VISTA LAND 3.13 3.15 3.18 3.18 3.11 3.13 858000 2688840

12240 -362944750 -17938405 140980 14451 -108000 -1370054 -224212 -3291000 -342380 4840 -2276020 -12220 11600 -10405074 -33480 -26891790 -1324820

SERVICES

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

7.23 5.14 0.395 11.4 2132 1441 0.052 3 3.38 1.23 1.58 2.16 0.178 1.9 8.35 15.82 3.36 35.9 104.8 15.4 4.85 1.59 5.85 0.9 0.027 0.38 560 7.26 0.3 2.17 6.01 1.94 1.2 2.1 2.14 0.285 6.13 1.42 51 68.8 121.1 1.03 15.86 0.295 6.22 0.23 4.5

7.24 5.15 0.4 11.9 2134 1446 0.053 3.06 3.39 1.28 1.6 2.2 0.179 1.92 8.45 16.68 3.37 36 105 15.84 4.87 1.61 5.9 0.91 0.028 0.385 594.5 7.5 0.305 2.25 6.03 1.99 1.23 2.25 2.21 0.29 6.14 1.43 51.2 69.1 125 1.04 15.96 0.3 6.4 0.231 4.6

7.45 5.05 0.4 11.9 2140 1441 0.052 3.05 3.28 1.22 1.61 2.2 0.18 1.88 8.4 15.72 3.31 36.5 107 15.38 4.96 1.58 5.9 0.88 0.029 0.38 560.5 7.5 0.305 2.19 6.19 1.94 1.2 2.17 2.24 0.285 6.11 1.44 51.95 67.8 121.1 1.05 15.8 0.295 6.21 0.228 4.5

7.65 5.17 0.4 11.9 2146 1463 0.053 3.06 3.39 1.22 1.61 2.23 0.18 1.92 8.49 15.72 3.36 36.95 107 15.88 4.96 1.63 5.9 0.9 0.029 0.38 560.5 7.5 0.305 2.28 6.19 1.98 1.21 2.2 2.24 0.29 6.2 1.44 52.15 69.4 125 1.05 15.96 0.3 6.4 0.231 4.5

7.23 5.01 0.39 11.9 2114 1430 0.052 3.05 3.24 1.22 1.6 2.16 0.175 1.88 8.35 15.72 3.28 35.5 104.5 15.38 4.85 1.58 5.85 0.88 0.027 0.375 560 7.5 0.3 2.17 6.01 1.94 1.2 2.06 2.14 0.285 6.1 1.42 51.1 67.8 121.1 1.02 15.7 0.295 6.21 0.225 4.5

7.23 5.14 0.395 11.9 2134 1446 0.053 3.06 3.39 1.22 1.6 2.16 0.178 1.9 8.35 15.72 3.36 36 105 15.88 4.85 1.62 5.9 0.9 0.027 0.38 560 7.5 0.3 2.25 6.01 1.94 1.2 2.2 2.14 0.285 6.14 1.43 51.2 68.8 125 1.03 15.96 0.3 6.4 0.23 4.5

522600 1073600 120000 2000 42770 152430 4530000 12000 33158000 1000 16000 7838000 1670000 84000 13900 100 455000 327400 1371620 2200 1657000 58000 13000 1086000 27400000 460000 300 600 1570000 213000 5677900 62000 81000 26000 14000 1660000 2099200 736000 1256240 451080 900610 1464000 748300 60000 27700 8060000 1000

3866752 5490044 47000 23800 91220370 220288240 236010 36690 109345750 1220 25650 17209450 294030 159560 116388 1572 1505940 11798255 144244907 34160 8077700 92800 76685 970400 756300 174300 168120 4500 473250 474430 34217969 120320 97240 55380 30360 474450 12882546 1050940 64819241 30781112 112576172 1507470 11862300 17850 172398 1837230 4500

-20596700 -11728875 1454920 -162000 62800 -8542700 -54487005 9970 -27414977 -12440 -135200 -5381319 -607740 1039600.5 -192144.5 -0 79840 7011988 -

MINING & OIL ATOK 7.55 7.89 7.11 8 7.11 8 1900 13696 7130 APEX MINING 1.63 1.64 1.58 1.63 1.58 1.63 9919000 15978420 -1141000 0.0009 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.0009 0.0009 4324000000 3909100 50000 ABRA MINING 3.12 3.14 3.03 3.13 3 3.13 390000 1200110 -125790 ATLAS MINING 2.89 2.9 2.84 2.95 2.7 2.9 698000 1993210 BENGUET A BENGUET B 2.72 2.8 2.7 2.88 2.58 2.8 719000 1986270 50060 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.207 0.208 0.201 0.207 0.2 0.207 190000 39010 2.59 2.64 2.6 2.65 2.59 2.65 207000 541710 290430 CENTURY PEAK 7.99 8 7.79 8.06 7.79 8 89400 712366 DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL 1.33 1.34 1.26 1.35 1.26 1.33 27834000 36719010 847540 GEOGRACE 0.233 0.234 0.23 0.235 0.23 0.233 190000 44360 LEPANTO A 0.153 0.154 0.144 0.153 0.144 0.153 39190000 5914420 LEPANTO B 0.15 0.151 0.142 0.151 0.142 0.15 2840000 424750 0.0094 0.0097 0.0097 0.0098 0.0095 0.0095 25000000 241200 MANILA MINING A MANILA MINING B 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.01 14300000 146000 -83000 MARCVENTURES 1 1.01 0.95 1.05 0.94 1.01 20693000 20978700 328560 NIHAO 2.12 2.14 2 2.16 1.98 2.12 2386000 4987300 -423460 NICKEL ASIA 3.26 3.27 3.1 3.26 3.08 3.26 25218000 80500630 677700 0.6 0.61 0.58 0.63 0.58 0.61 4839000 2945920 ORNTL PENINSULA PX MINING 3.74 3.75 3.6 3.76 3.59 3.75 5133000 19090110 2902440 9.35 9.38 9.25 9.38 9.25 9.38 1502600 14013456 4618744 SEMIRARA MINING UNITED PARAGON 0.0051 0.0054 0.0051 0.0053 0.0051 0.0053 21000000 110800 ACE ENEXOR 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.5 5.3 5.4 101000 540669 0.0085 0.009 0.0086 0.0086 0.0085 0.0085 20000000 170900 ORNTL PETROL A ORNTL PETROL B 0.0086 0.0092 0.0086 0.0086 0.0086 0.0086 15000000 129000 -129000 0.0094 0.0097 0.0095 0.0097 0.0091 0.0094 64000000 606000 PHILODRILL PXP ENERGY 5.39 5.4 5.42 5.48 5.35 5.4 494700 2673468 -507116

PREFFERED AC PREF B1 515 519 512 519 512 519 7420 3799180 AC PREF B2R 507 515 507 507 507 507 22620 11468340 DD PREF 100.8 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.5 11930 1210895 105.2 106 105.5 105.5 105.5 105.5 31800 3354900 FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P 503 516.5 505 505 502 502 5010 2515645 GTCAP PREF B 1020 1030 1020 1020 1020 1020 580 591600 PNX PREF 3A 97.1 97.5 97.5 97.5 97.05 97.05 30380 2959260 PNX PREF 3B 100 102.8 102.8 102.8 100 100 2510 251028 942 950 950 950 941 949 38090 36022495 PNX PREF 4 PCOR PREF 2B 1030 1070 1060 1080 1060 1070 25 26750 PCOR PREF 3A 1020 1060 1060 1060 1060 1060 40 42400 PCOR PREF 3B 1075 1089 1080 1080 1080 1080 10 10800 SMC PREF 2C 78 78.2 78.15 78.2 78.15 78.2 630 49254.5 SMC PREF 2E 75.4 76 75.3 75.3 75.3 75.3 4000 301200 75.85 76.6 76.6 76.6 76.6 76.6 30 2298 -2298 SMC PREF 2G 78.3 78.95 78.3 79 78.3 79 50 3929 SMC PREF 2I

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 6.8 6.9 7 7.01 6.9 6.9 431000 3002510 -2999032 GMA HLDG PDR 4.78 4.85 4.75 4.85 4.7 4.85 646000 3093270 -2211000

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 0.61 0.62 - - - - - -

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ALTUS PROP 12.62 12.66 13.1 13.1 12.6 12.62 520900 6645432 -242048 ITALPINAS 1.83 1.84 1.88 1.9 1.82 1.84 2137000 3976270 KEPWEALTH 5.16 5.18 5.16 5.18 5.16 5.18 33600 173690 3.11 3.12 3.1 3.15 3.08 3.12 19671000 61450180 474420 MERRYMART 0.54 0.55 0.56 0.56 0.54 0.55 364000 199350 XURPAS

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 89.65 89.7 89.9 90.35 89.7 89.7 8700 782471 21564

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CPG sets sights on office leasing, affordable housing

By VG Cabuag

P

@villygc

roperty developer Century Properties Group Inc. (CPG) said it will focus on office leasing and affordable housing in the next few years.

Jose E.B. Antonio, the company’s chairman said, these two segments are expected to corner about a third each of the company’s revenues in the future. The remaining will still be contributed by sales from its high rise developments.

“The affordable housing continues to be buoyant because of the unmet demand for affordable housing in the Philippines. And office leasing continues to be very vibrant considering the fact that despite the realignment of office spaces the vacancy in the industry remains to be very low at a single digit rate

of 5 percent,” Antonio said during the company’s annual stockholders meeting conducted online.

“Our locations are ideally located both for these companies to continue expanding their operations,” he added.

For the first half of the year, the company saw the combined net income contributions from the two business segments jump to P225 million or 42 percent of the total net income of P546 million, compared to 29 percent a year ago.

Its combined revenue contribution is at P1.27 billion, or 28 per-

cent, from 15 percent last year, the company said.

Antonio said while there might be some perceived softening in the market due to prevailing economic sentiments, the company sees affordable housing demand to continue as it serves the need of a real market or the first home buyers.

“The same is true for office leasing, especially for projects located within developments that are ecosystems in themselves, such as our project in Century City, Makati, where we have residential, office and commercial establishments,” he said.

The company has focused on these two segments as it is running out of condominium units to sell and so far, there are no more new high-rise developments in the pipeline.

Company President and CEO Marco R. Antonio said the company will continue to diversify its portfolio towards the original goal of balanced contributions from affordable housing, commercial leasing, and in-city vertical developments businesses.

The company’s affordable hous-

ing brand, Phirst Park Homes, announced in July that it is launching its seventh community development to be located in Magalang, Pampanga later this year.

The company posted reservation sales of 1,548 units worth P3.12 billion for the first six months of the year from its six projects in Tanza, Cavite; San Pablo and Calamba, Laguna; Pandi, Bulacan; and Lipa and Nasugbu, Batangas totaling 97 hectares.

For commercial leasing, CPG will end the year with about 137,000 square meters of gross floor area.

Earlier last week, it announced the buyout of the 40-percent stake of its joint venture partner Mitsubishi Corp.’s newly-completed Century Diamond Tower in Makati. The company has bulked up its recurring income assets threefold since 2017.

“We will confront challenges as innovators. We will maintain business resilience with an eye towards growth. And we will view the world with an evolved vision towards sustainability,” Antonio said.

‘Tollways to go cashless by November’

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

T

he Department of Transportation (DOTr) has given toll road operators until November 2 to fully migrate to cashless toll collection systems in a bid to reduce human interaction on expressways, as the Philippines continues to grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement, the department said the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) will “concessionaires and operators to transition to a hundred percent electronic toll collection lanes,” no later than November 2.

Cashless systems include RFID and automated fare collection systems, among others.

“Coordination is already ongoing between TRB and our concessionaires and operators. We are also working on the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the new policy to

ensure smooth and expedient transition to contactless and cashless transactions,” TRB Executive Director Abraham Sales said.

For Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the largest toll operator in the Philippines, the group is ready to implement this new directive.

“Our group-wide RFID roll out is on track to comply with Department Order 2020-012 and we will be ready to implement contactless toll payments consistent with the timeline. Our expressway network… is primed for cashless and contactless transactions within the year,” MPTC President Rodrigo Franco said.

Department Order 2020-012 refers to an order issued earlier this month directing the TRB, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and Land Transportation Office (LTO), to formulate a concrete policy that will ensure the smooth implementa-

Vivant Energy unveils retail power service

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

V

ivant Energy Corp. has formally launched its retail electricity service, COREnergy, an entity task to sell, broker, market or aggregate electricity to the end-users.

While it started operations last year, Vivant Energy Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Emil Andre M. Garcia said COREnergy will start aggressively tapping the retail market this year.

Garcia said COREnergy’s vision is to be the preferred energy solutions partner of the retail electricity market in the Philippines by 2030 and their mission to accomplish this is to build lasting partnerships with customers by providing “superior energy solutions” to its customers.

“We recognize that the power industry is evolving. For business owners, this brings both an opportunity and a challenge. We adapted COREnergy’s approach to enable business owners to optimize their opportunities, and convert chal-

lenges into benefits,” he said.

COREnergy offers a customized and end-to-end solution for business owners, from engineering to testing and due diligence. This enables businesses to focus on their core competencies, rather than worrying about their power needs.

“With COREnergy as a partner, business owners can be sure about getting the kind of excellent service that Vivant has been known and respected for decades. Our team does not only have decades of experience in the power sector, we have also proven ourselves to be forwardlooking and adaptable in providing the kind of service that our partners need,” Arlo G. Sarmiento, Vivant Corp. president said.

COREnergy is currently providing their services to various clients in different capacities, such as semiconductors, aggregates, the poultry industry, and schools.

Vivant Energy, the energy arm of listed Vivant Corp., has built a portfolio of both renewable and nonrenewable power generation plants with total attributable capacity of 356 megawatts.

tion of cashless transactions on toll expressways.

The new policy will cover all existing and future expressways. It aims “to ensure further protection of the public from the Covid-19, as it promotes adherence to health protocols such as physical distanc-

mutual funds

ing through limiting human intervention, and removing the traffic queues as well as congestion at toll plazas.”

Currently, expressways offer motorists various modes of payment for their toll. These include cash, tapand-go payments, and RFID.

August 27, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 195.35 -24.53% -10.95% -4.64% -22.43% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.0369 -32.47% -13.73% -3.38% -24.97% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.6073 -35.07% -15.79% -6.95% -29.11% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.6695 -29.91% -12.71% n.a.

-25.45% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.6893 -20.28% n.a. n.a. -18.84% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.2129 -22.23% -9.18% -3.93% -20.93% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 0.6569 -24.58% -11.99% n.a.

-23.04% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 78.68 -33.71% n.a. n.a.

-23.78% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 39.1418 -24.77% -9.59% -3.43% -23.67% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 421.52 -22.4% -8.75% -3.63% -20.88% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5 0.8822 n.a. n.a. n.a. -14.36% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1 -23.9% -9.04% -3.15% -22.29% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 29.301 -24.09% -8.65% -2.79% -22.68% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7748 -24.99% n.a. n.a.

-23.9% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 3.9955 -24.35% -9.08% -2.69% -23.51% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 667.99 -24.23% -9.08% -2.8% -23.39% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.5984 -34.3% -13.22% -7.03% -29.72% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.0964 -28.18% -10.4% -4.04% -26.44% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7655 -24.45% -9.27% -2.88% -23.51% United Fund, Inc. -a 2.7876 -24.94% -8.15% -2.27% -23.69% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 89.7041 -24.1% -8.63% -1.98% -23.3% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b $1.077 16.5% 1.16% 4.88% 4.73% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.5254 18.93% 9.03% n.a.

10.64% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.5724 -6.35% -4.26% -2.64% 0.61% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.0469 -11.43% -4.9% -1.25% -6.15% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.3978 -9.79% -3.44% -1.84% -8.88% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.1831 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-19.87% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.8281 -6.7% -1.69% 0.46% -6.81% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.4738 -8.97% -2.75% -0.73% -8.32% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 15.4646 -9.48% -3.08% -0.89% -8.82% 1.9039 -11.72% -4.26% -0.95% -10.28% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.2502 -16.71% -5.28% -2.08% -15.87% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.9343 -8.69% n.a. n.a.

-8.01% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.8348 -17.58% n.a. n.a. -16.22% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.8074 -20.03% n.a. n.a.

-18.71% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.8043 -19.47% -6.28% -2.78% -17.49% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03919 1.9% 2.97% 2% 2.59% 9.34% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b $1.0567 1.7% 4.24% 4.42% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $4.1623 11.09% 6.25% 6.37% 6.43% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.1671 5.1% 3.3% n.a.

3.4% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 368.18 4.08% 3.16% 2.59% 2.86% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.9491 1.97% 1.14% -0.01% 2.48% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1989 4% 4.92% 5.04% 2.6% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.3102 4.06% 3.04% 2.34% 3.9% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4582 4.68% 3.56% 1.98% 4.2% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 8.62% 4.77% 2.81% 7.46% 4.6992 Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a,6 1.31 5.75% 4.36% 2.45% 4.24% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.9558 5.69% 4.27% 2.28% 4.42% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0383 8.83% 3.72% 1.8% 7.67% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1803 5.02% 4.89% 2.77% 3.4% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a

1.7452 3.89% 4.22% 2.2% 2.59% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $478.21 3.37% 2.55% 2.88% 2.1% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є217.05 -1.32% 0.71% 1.14% -1.25% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2407 3.84% 3.1% 2.78% 2.81% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0264 2.33% 1.83% 1.67% 2.33% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.0911 -1.03% 0.26% 0.24% -0.23% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.5075 4.16% 3.81% 3.58% 4.33% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0609867 1.62% 2.05% 2.06% 1.14% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.2272 2.08% 2.16% 2.71% 1.64% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 128.84 3.52% 3.29% 2.49% 2.39% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.044 2.28% n.a. n.a.

1.72% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2885 2.93% 3.05% 2.61% 1.86% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0477 1.61% n.a. n.a.

0.91% Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a,d,7 1.0304 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."

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Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

DBP approves ₧1.35-B loan for Batangas hospital build

T

he Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) announced its approval of a P1.35-billion term loan for a hospital project in Batangas.

In a statement on Thursday, the staterun bank said that the proceeds will be used to construct the 10-storey Level 2 hospital building of Santo Tomas Doctors Hospital and Medical Center Inc. The project is set to have an initial capacity of 200 beds.

The DBP said the financing was approved under a program aimed at improving healthcare services in the country.

Earlier this month, the DBP extended a P450-million term loan to fund the medical facilities expansion spearheaded by the provincial government of Camarines Norte.

A portion of the borrowings is allocated to build the new Santa Elena District Hospital’s 2-storey building with an initial capacity of 25 beds. The loan proceeds would also be used to build the

new 3-storey Camarines Norte Provincial Hospital with an additional 50-bed capacity and the 2-storey Labo District Hospital with 25-bed capacity. The rest is for acquisition of various hospital equipment and machinery.

The state-owned bank also recently inked an agreement with the local government of San Fernando, Pampanga and payments solutions providers i-Pay MYEG Philippines Inc. to streamline digital business payment processes of the city.

DBP President Emmanuel G. Herbosa said the agreement is aimed at improving the automation of the business permits and licensing system of San Fernando while providing digital payment channels for the public.

DBP, under the partnership, is tasked to be the consolidator and settlement bank of all collections from the local government’s e-Services systems, including the payment solution provider’s accredited electronic payment centers.

Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

Rural bank to accept Visa, KFTC cards

T

he rural banking arm of BDO Unibank Inc. announced that its network of automated teller machines (ATMs) can now accept Visa and Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute (KFTC) international cards.

BDO Network Bank said this recent development is allowing the bank to serve more ATM cardholders with internationally-issued cards.

These cardholders, BDO said, can withdraw and inquire about their account balance from over 250 ATMs across the country.

“The widening variety of ATM acceptance complements our continuous expansion, which in turn is part of our thrust to reach more unserved and underserved markets,” BDO Network Bank President Jesus Antonio S. Itchon said.

KFTC is a payment settlement institution in Korea while Visa is a globalpayments technology.

Itchon said that with rural banks accepting more international cards, more foreigners in the major tourist spots can

benefit as well. He even noted that Koreans account for the country’s top foreign arrivals since 2010.

Shares in BDO climbed by 0.12 percent, or 10 centavos, to close at P87.05 each amid the 0.17-percent slip for the benchmark index on Thursday.

The bank said it was eyeing to double the number of its branches in the next four years as it boosts lending to small and medium enterprises.

Its parent BDO Unibank saw its net profits declined to P4.3 billion in the first half from P20.1 billion year-on-year as it earmarked higher provisions for bad loans. Reserves for potential credit losses reached P22.4 billion as of end-June.

Total capital base for the period stood at P367.billion with capital adequacy ratio at P13.8 percent and common equity tier 1 ratio at 12.7 percent. Both are above the minimum regulatory requirement and deemed enough to fund asset growth and regular quarterly dividends.

BDO Network Bank also accepts Mastercard, Maestro, Cirrus and Bancnet cardholders. Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

Orly Peña: Association leader extraordinaire

T

he first time I wrote a eulogy here was in my March 8, 2019, column entitled, “BSP Gov. Espenilla and the Association Community,” a tribute to the late Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla for his contribution to the association community as chairman of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) whose sole shareholder is the BSP. This time I thought I would pay homage to the person who showed me the ropes of managing an association and his many contributions to the association community.

Orlando P. Peña, or Orly to family and friends, was my boss and mentor at the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (Adfiap). He was the founding secretary general of Adfiap, which was established in 1976, and served the association for 27 years. He expanded ADFIAP’s reach from a 31-member, 17-country association in 1976 to triple that number when he retired in 2004. He built the professional development program of Adfiap because of his passion and expertise in training and people management.

Before and during his work in Adfiap, he was, among others, chairman of the World Trainers in Development and the Council of Employer Organizations, and president of the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Council of Management.

These institutions have bestowed him the highest accolades for his long and volunteer leadership contributions.

In his 255-page autobiography, “My Rainbow Run: From the Boondocks to the World,” published less than a year before his death, there is a section on managing associations and I am sharing a few excerpts below, confident that these will resonate to association executives here and elsewhere: n Associations are purpose-driven and service-oriented organizations.

Association World Octavio Peralta Their biggest challenge is how to attract and retain members. The key to success in managing associations is good leadership and credibility. n The important value of association management is its advocacy, which is the soul of an association. n Associations can be sources of strengths but they can also be wasteful endeavours. It is important that associations are clear about their purpose and advocacy. n Volunteerism is the foundation of successful associations so motivating volunteers is essential. n Fundraising is a major activity to support the programs and activities of an association. n To be successful in managing an international association, one has to be like an ambassador.

These nuggets of wisdom on associations and association management can only come from the insights and experience of an association leader extraordinaire: Orlando“Orly”Peña. The association community here and abroad will surely miss you!

The column contributor, Octavio “Bobby” Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific and the Founder & CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives. PCAAE is holding the Associations Summit 8 on November 25 and 26, 2020 with the theme, “Leading with Agility.” The two-day virtual event is supported by Adfiap, the Tourism Promotions Board and the PICC. E-mail inquiries@adfiap.org for more details on AS8.

Friday, August 28, 2020 B3

Singapore’s CB head urges Asean integration vs Covid

M

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

@Tyronepiad

onetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Chairman Tharman Shanmugaratnam is urging the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to build regional integration and allow the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) benefit from the opportunities.

The key, according to the head of Singapore’s central bank, is digitalization.

“Digitalization is fundamental to the way we help our SMEs in the next phase of growth,” Shanmugaratnam said in a webinar hosted last Tuesday by the Standard Chartered Bank.

The MAS chief added that Singapore is developing a platform that can link SMEs to buyers, suppliers, logistics providers and lenders, among others, in the region. He said this could ease the operations of SMEs which are importing and exporting goods and services.

“Fundamentally, we have now the opportunity on building a more resilient and more integrated Asean supply chain... as well as Asean markets that is opened to the world and become an example how through openness, integration and risk management of supply chains, we can really have a win-win,” Shanmugaratnam said.

“Covid has brought major shocks; but we are now in the stage where we are looking at the next scenes of building back and also building stronger and more resilient out of Covid,” the Singaporean official added.

Train, educate

Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment of the Republic of Indonesia, agreed with Shanmugaratnam’s view.

“If we can move together, within Asean, we can [be] much stronger,” he said, noting that the region holds about 30 percent of the global market.

Pandjaitan said that the COvid-19 pandemic is an opportunity to “reform” relationships among neighbors.

He explained that out of 60 million SMEs in Indonesia, only 8 million are connected through digital platforms. The Indonesian official said they were eyeing to increase this to 11 million by the end of this year— through further integration via the digital space—which could translate into a 2,000-percent growth in sales.

While integration means more revenue channels, Pandjaitan said this could also spell reduction in cost, which is quite beneficial for emerging markets.

Meanwhile, both officials said it was only imperative to invest in human capital. They emphasized the need to train and educate the human capital as the Asean and the rest of

the world move into the new normal.

“Going forward, we have to double down on our efforts to invest in human capital. Not just the … professionals ... [but also] blue-collared jobs,” Tharman added.

Policy support

Standard Chartered Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters, meanwhile, acknowledged the efforts of central banks across the region in addressing liquidity concerns.

“We know the liquidity impacts in the financial system were dealt with quite aggressively early on and have been very effective,” he said.

In the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has cut the key policy rate by a total of 175 basis points to 2.25 percent.

Apart from this, the BSP also slashed the reserve requirements for banks to boost lending activities.

Recently, the Monetary Board also approved the amendments of BSP to increase the real estate loan limit of universal and commercial banks and thrift banks to 25 percent from 20 percent. BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said that the ease in restriction translated to additional P1.2-trillion worth of liquidity for the property sector.

Poe chides Executive branch on priority bill for banks

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

V

oicing disappointment, Senator Grace Poe last Wednesday reminded feuding officials in government’s Executive branch to get their act together to ensure the early passage of the administration-backed Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer, or Fist, bill.

Presiding over the hearing of the Senate Committee on Banks, Poe aired disappointment over the officials “lack of cooperation on its own priority bill,” referring to Fist, a remedial legislation that will allow banks to “offload soured loans and free up more funds” to boost the economy.

“I’d like to note also that this is a priority measure, and yet it’s disappointing to see that the heads of agencies didn’t really attend,” Poe said after officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) took opposite sides on the bill, with the BTr supporting Fist and the BIR voicing its strong opposition to it.

Poe pointed out that with the economy experiencing its biggest fall in eight decades, the Executive, the Finance department in particular, should heed its own call for unity.

“They are the ones saying that the economy needs it now. So, how will we know for sure that the economy needs it now if we don’t even have a commitment, an actual presence from those heads explaining to us in detail what their commitments are and the safeguards they’re willing to accept,” says Poe. The Senator noted that the BTr said only P3 billion to P13 billion in revenues will be waived as part of the incentives under the Fist. But Poe said that with only a low-level bureaucrat of the BIR attending the hearing, she is having second thoughts on the certainty of the opposition expressed by its representative.

“We are now officially in recession. Companies are closing shop, people have lost their jobs and millions have gone hungry; add to that people dying because of the pandemic including healthcare workers,” she said.

The Senator stressed that banks and financial institutions are seen to “play a key role,” noting that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas expects the bad loans ratio of banks to double by the end of the year,

projecting “this will tie up funds that can otherwise be used to fuel the economy.”

“While the threat to the banking sector is not immediate,” Poe reminded that “it is best to have the

measures in place sooner rather than later for the big corporations and MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises] to recover and for people to get their livelihoods back.”

Moreover, the Senator reminded

that “this crash precipitated urgent measures from the government,” adding that the Senate Committee on Banks “would like to stop playing catch-up with the pandemic and prepare the policy for the worse.”

B4

The World BusinessMirror

Friday, August 28, 2020

US-China tensions in disputed sea escalate with ballistic missile tests

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NITED States-China tensions over the South China Sea escalated on Wednesday, with Beijing firing four missiles into the waters around the same time as the Trump administration took action against Chinese companies that helped set up outposts in the disputed region.

In this July 8, 2016 file photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese missile frigate Yuncheng launches an anti-ship missile during a military exercise in the waters near south China’s Hainan Island and Paracel Islands. China is holding another round of military drills in the South China Sea amid an uptick in such activity in the area highlighting growing tensions.

Zha Chunming/Xinhua via AP

China launched four mediumrange ballistic missiles into the South China Sea on Wednesday amid broader military exercises by the People’s Liberation Army, according to a US defense official who asked not to be identified.

The missiles landed in the sea in an area between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands, the official said, and were fired a day after Beijing protested a flyover by a US spy plane.

“As long as they’re doing it in accordance with international law and norms they have every right to do so,” Scott D. Conn, a US navy vice admiral, told reporters on Thursday in response to a question about the missile tests. He said the US is ready to respond to any threats in the region, and said if all militaries operate professionally “you can have the same ships in the same water space.”

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, addressing the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii, called the Indo-Pacific the “epicenter of great power competition with China.”

Esper accused Beijing of failing to abide by international law and militarizing features in the South China Sea. The People’s Liberation Army “continues to pursue an aggressive modernization plan to achieve a world class military by the middle of the century,” Esper added.

“This will undoubtedly embolden the PLA’s provocative behavior in the South and East China Seas and anywhere else the Chinese government has deemed critical to its interests.”

US restrictions

Separately on Wednesday, the US announced trade and visa restrictions on 24 companies for their efforts to help China “reclaim and militarize disputed outposts” in the contested maritime area, according to a statement from the US Department of Commerce.

The most prominent were units of state-owned China Communications Construction Co., one of the largest builders of projects in President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road” initiative, which saw its shares slide as much as 5.6% on Thursday in Hong Kong.

The escalating tensions come as the Trump administration is trying to push back against what the US sees as an intensifying Chinese campaign to dominate the resource-rich South China Sea and smaller nations in the region. Last month it explicitly rejected China’s expansive maritime claims in the region for the first time, and sent aircraft carriers to the waters to conduct military exercises.

US stance

President Donald J. Trump has made taking a tougher stance on China a key element of his reelection campaign against former Vice President Joe Biden, even as the two nations seek to sustain a “phase one” trade deal reached early this year. Asian stocks began Thursday’s session mixed after a surge in technology shares earlier pushed the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite to fresh highs for a fourth consecutive day.

China conducted similar mis-

Unicef says Covid-19 creates global education emergency

U

NITED NATIONS—The UNchildren’s agency says at least a third of children couldn’t access remote learning when the Covid-19 pandemic closed schools, creating “a global education emergency.”

At the height of lockdowns meant to curb the pandemic, nearly 1.5 billion children were affected by school closures, Unicef said.

“For at least 463 million children whose schools closed due to Covid-19, there was no such a thing as remote learning,” Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore said.

“The sheer number of children whose education was completely disrupted for months on end is a global education emergency,” she said in a statement. “The repercussions could be felt in economies and societies for decades to come.”

The report released late Wednesday night highlights significant inequality across regions, with schoolchildren in sub-Saharan Africa the most

affected. The highest numbers of affected children by region were in South Asia, at least 147 million, according to the report.

Unicef said the report used a globally representative analysis on the availability of homebased technology and tools needed for remote learning, such as access to television, radio and Internet, and the availability of curricula delivered by the platforms.

Children in the poorest households and in rural areas were most affected.

The youngest children are also most likely to miss out on remote learning during critical years, the report said, largely due to challenges and limitations to online learning for young children and lack of assets at home.

Unicef warned that the situation is likely far worse, because even where technolog y exists at home, children may not be able to learn due to pressures to do chores or work. AP

sile tests in July 2019 over contested waters and islets in the South China Sea. Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said China’s latest move was a measured step.

“As with most of China’s foreign policy lately, it seems intended to signal strength to the domestic audience and smaller neighbors, not actually tell the US anything it didn’t already know,” Poling said. “Beijing was careful to do it within acceptable limits—firing into undisputed waters off the southern coast with due notice.”

In announcing the measures against China Communications Construction and other companies, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the entities “played a significant role in China’s provocative construction of these artificial islands and must be held accountable.” Earlier in the day, Vietnam called on China to cancel its drills this week near the Paracel Islands, saying they violated the country’s sovereignty.

“The United States, China’s neighbors, and the international community have rebuked the CCP’s sovereignty claims to the South China Sea and have condemned the building of artificial islands for the Chinese military,” Ross said, using an abbreviation for the Chinese Communist party.

In a related statement, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the US would impose visa restrictions on Chinese individuals

“responsible for, or complicit in, either the large-scale reclamation, construction, or militarization of” South China Sea land.

A senior State Department of f ic ia l, spea k ing to repor ters on customar y condition of anonymity Wednesday, said the visa restrictions were the “mere start” of what could be more US action to punish China over its reclamation work in the South China Sea. The official encouraged other countries to take similar measures against the people who were targeted to make it even harder for them to conduct business abroad.

The US moves should be understood in China as politically motivated due to the looming November presidential election, said Wang Huiyao, an adviser to China’s cabinet and founder of the Center for China and Globalization, noting that businesses on both sides are desperate to keep working together.

“China doesn’t need to respond to that,” he said.

China Communications Construction is involved in projects around the world, from Sri Lanka to Pakistan to Italy. The immediate impact on the company’s bottom line remains unclear, Eurasia Group said in a note.

“China’s immediate response will be strident but measured,” the note said. “In this case, the Entity List is a less potent tool than Treasury sanctions, but China could still respond with retaliatory sanctions against US individuals in roughly comparable positions.”

Bloomberg News

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

India reports record 75,760 new coronavirus infections

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EW DELHI—India has recorded another single-day record of new coronavirus cases, reporting 75,760 new confirmed infections in the past 24 hours.

The Health Ministry on Thursday also reported 1,023 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 60,472.

India’s previous highest daily count was 70,488 on August 22. India has been recording more than 60,000 new infections per day for the last two weeks and now has reported 3.3 million cases since the pandemic began.

With an average of more than 800,000 tests every day, India has scaled up testing per million to more than 27,000, the ministry said.

It also said India’s recovery rate is now around 76 percent with a fatality rate of 1.84 percent.

India has reported the third most cases in the world after the United States and Brazil, and its reported fatalities are the fourth highest in the world.

Other developments:

Victoria records 3rd deadliest day

MELBOURNE, Australia—Australia’s virus hotspot Victoria state has recorded its third deadliest day of the pandemic as well as the lowest tally of new Covid-19 infections in more than eight weeks.

The 23 dead reported on Thursday followed 24 deaths on Wednesday. The all-time daily record of 25 deaths was set on August 17.

Victoria’s Health Department said 22 of the most recent deaths were related to aged care.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said outcomes in four Melbourne aged care homes were “unacceptable.”

But while 56 percent of British aged care homes had staff or residents infected with Covid-19, the proportion was only 8 percent in Australia, he said.

Only four out of 700 aged care facilities in Victoria had been “acutely effected,” he said.

“My fear when the Covid pandemic hit in Victoria was that we could have potentially seen far more,” Morrison said.

The 113 new cases reported on Thursday was the lowest count since 87 on July 5.

South Korea reports 441 new cases

SEOUL, South Korea—South Korea has reported 441 new cases of the coronavirus, its highest single-day total in months, as fears grow that lockdown-like restrictions are becoming inevitable.

The countr y has added nearly 4,000 infections to its caseload while repor ting triple-digit daily jumps in each of the past 14 days, prompting health experts to warn about possible strain on hospitals.

The 441 cases reported on Thursday was the biggest daily increase since the 483 reported on March 7.

The National Assembly in Seoul was shut down and more than a dozen ruling party lawmakers were forced to isolate on Thursday following a positive test of a journalist covering the parliament.

If the viral spread doesn’t slow, health authorities have said they will consider elevating social distancing measures to the strongest “Level 3,” which could include banning gatherings of more than 10 people and advising private companies to have their employees work from home. AP

Huawei, ZTE lose patent appeal cases at Britain’s Supreme Court

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ON D ON — Br it a i n’s Su preme Court has dismissed two appeals by Chinese telecoms firms Huawei and ZTE over mobile data patent disputes.

The disputes center on the licensing of patented technology considered essential to mobile telecoms. The patents are meant to ensure fair competition and access to technology like 4G. In the first case, Unw ired Planet, an intellectual property company that licenses patents, had brought legal action against Huawei for infringement of five UK patents that Unwired acquired from Ericsson.

The second appeal concerned legal action brought by another patent licensing company, Con-

versant Wireless, against Huawei and ZTE for infringement of four of its UK patents.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld lower court rulings on the cases and dismissed appeals by Huawei and ZTE. In a statement, Conversant said the ruling was a landmark judgment that will have “significant implications worldw ide” for telecommunications patent licensing.

The ruling meant that companies like Huawei cannot insist that patent holders like Conversant prove their patents in every jurisdiction of the world, which would be “ both practically and economically prohibitive,” the company added. AP

EU trade chief Hogan resigns over Covid rules controversy

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RUSSELS—The European Union’s top trade official resigned late Wednesday after he became embroiled in a controversy over a recent trip home to Ireland and questionable adherence to Covid-19 rules.

The move will force the EU’s executive office to replace key commissioner Phil Hogan in the midst of the pandemic crisis, amid fraught trade relations with the United States and China, and as the final months of talks on a future deal with post-Brexit Britain approach.

“It was becoming increasingly clear that the controversy concerning my recent visit to Ireland was becoming a distraction from my work,” Hogan said.

He has come under fire in his home country amid allegations he skirted rules other Irish citizens have to live by to contain the second wave of the pandemic: Not only had Hogan attended a posh golf dinner with some 80 guests when maximum attendance should have been much lower, but he was also criticized for

traveling in parts of Ireland where a lockdown applied—and for emerging early from a mandatory two-week quarantine.

He contested some perceived errors but also acknowledged a fundamental flaw in not paying enough attention to the rigors of the anti-Covid-19 fight while the public at large was constrained from morning till night.

“I fully understand [people’s] sense of hurt and anger when they feel that those in public service do not meet the standards expected of them,” he said. “As a public representative I should have been more rigorous in my adherence to the Covid guidelines.”

The EU has consistently underscored the importance of obeying all restrictions imposed by the 27 member countries, and turning a blind eye to infractions by its own top officials would undermine that effort.

“I reiterate my heartfelt apology to the Irish people for the mistakes I made during my visit,” Hogan said, but insisted he broke no laws.

EU Commission chief Ursula Von der Leyen had been assessing whether to fire Hogan over his travel infractions when he said he would resign — insisting he was jumping and had not been pushed.

Hogan had earlier lost the support of the Irish government, but the final decision on his fate was for Von der Leyen to make.

“I respect his decision,” Von der Leyen said. “I am very grateful to him for his tireless work as a Trade Commissioner since the start of this mandate.”

The resignation could well mark the end of the political career of the 60-year-old, who had also been an agriculture Commissioner during a previous mandate.

The scandal was fueled further by changes in Hogan’s account of his actions, as he issued a series of statements about his travel and adherence to the rules Ireland had imposed.

Hogan’s detailed memorandum to von der Leyen on Tuesday sparked renewed allegations that he violated Irish quarantine rules after he returned to the country

from Brussels last month. Ireland requires anyone returning from a country with high levels of Covid-19 to self-isolate for 14 days.

Hogan said he returned to Ireland on July 31, filled out the required passenger locator form and self-isolated until Aug. 5, when he went to a hospital for an undisclosed medical procedure.

Hogan said he stopped selfisolating after being discharged on Aug. 6 because he tested negative for Covid-19 during the hospital stay.

Hogan said he believed this was appropriate based on advice posted on the governmentsponsored Citizens Information website. But the government website says people returning from any country that isn’t on the government’s “green list” should self-isolate for the full 14 days, regardless of testing.

Hogan was most sorry for attending the golf society dinner last week.

“Let me be very clear: I made a mistake by going to that event. I’m embarrassed about it,” he said. AP

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Friday, August 28, 2020

The 2020 Gawad Urian nominations in the age of Covid

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HESE films will go down in history both for their excellence but also for the fact that they are being honored in these bleak days of the pandemic and lockdown. With nine nominations each, two films are leading the pack: Kalel, 15 by Jun Lana and Babae at Baril by Rae Red. Cleaners by Glenn Barit and Edward by Thop Nazareno follow with eight nominations each. Ulan directed by Irene Villamor trails those four films with its share of seven nominations. All are nominated for Best Picture except Ulan.

Competing for Best Picture are eight films that display an amazing range of themes. Kalel, 15, Edward and John Denver Trending have actors playing the role of boys in transition and distress. One guards himself against a society that stigmatizes a particular affliction, the other watches over a father that he may heal, the last allowing us to observe how societies and small groups can hang a boy because of indifference and ignorance. At the edge of the comingof-age film is a film that is about the coming of gender—Metamorphosis.

This is a story of a boy born with male and female genitals.

The film noirish Babae and Baril transforms a young woman’s rage into a persona that puts her on the same level as the male brute; Cleaners challenges our notion of film visuals by photocopying each frame and celebrating both the naive and the naturally bright hues of youth.

Huwebes Huwebes has the sea present in its narrative about the drug war, collateral social damages and the insane extra-judicial killings. The film is from Cebu and provides a regional color to this collection. It shares this distinct honor with John Denver Trending, which is set in Antique.

Ang Hupa by Lav Diaz has the response to the period in which the film was made: it is set in the future, some two decades from now, when a particular flu epidemic has caused the world to be in perpetual darkness.

What is a film concourse without fandom and competition? Hotly contested always is the category for Best Actress. Age—a contentious and sexist notion that plagues discourse on women—has nothing to do with the stellar nominees this year.

You can find all generations of stars in this section. Popularity is a charming burden for the two popular actresses facing each other this year: Nadine Lustre for Ulan and Kathryn Bernardo in that megahit, Hello, Love, Goodbye. Incidentally, Lustre was last year’s Best Actress.

The list, however, is interesting:

Anita Linda, in what we may lovingly call a “farewell performance,” is nominated for Circa. Then there is theater/film stalwart Angie Ferro for that sprawling title character in Lola Igna, the old woman confronting old age, death and celebrity in the age of the social media. The reliables are here: Ruby Ruiz, Jean Garcia, Sue Prado and Alessandra de Rossi. Rounding up the list are Bela Padilla, who wowed the recently completed Tokyo International Film Festival for her role as a killer in Mañanita and Max Eigenmann who won the Asia-Pacific Screen Awards last year in Australia for Verdict.

Youth defines the nominees in Best Actor category with Louise Abuel (Edward), Jansen Magpusao (John Denver Trending) and Elijah Canlas (Kalel, 15) being the youngest of the group. Royce Cabrera (Fuccbois), Oliver Aquino (Jino to Mari), Gio Gahol (Sila Sila) and Gold Azeron (Metamorphosis) form a cluster in age with Alden Richards (Hello, Love, Goodbye). The reliables are around in the persons of Raymond Bagatsing (Quezon’s Game) and Joel Lamangan (Ang Hupa).

Just like any award-giving groups, we had our own doubts whether we could pull off the Gawad Urian this year. This list of nominations, done through virtual communications (and debates) is a sign that all’s well in the world of criticism. No shortcuts, no cutting corners.

We will be deliberating separately on the short film and documentary categories, two fields that have become complicated to categorize, and difficult but fun to critique.

Below is the list of the nominees in the top categories for Gawad Urian 2020. For the producers, please take note of the credits and spelling of names. We wait for your correction, if there are, with regard to this list.

PICTURE ■ Edward (Producer: Joyce Bernal and Vincent del Rosario) ■ John Denver Trending (Producer: Sonny Calvento and Sheron Dayoc) ■ Babae at Baril (Producer: Bianca Balbuena) ■ Cleaners (Producer: Nonilon Abao and Manet Dayrit) ■ Metamorphosis (Producer: Ronald Arguelles) ■ Huwebes Huwebes (Producer: Don Gerardo Frasco, Kris Villarino, January Yap) ■ Kalel, 15 (Producer:Ferdinand Lapuz, Vito Lazatin, et al.)

■ Ang Hupa (Producer: Joyce Bernal) DIRECTOR ■ Thop Nazareno (Edward) ■ Arnel Mardoquio (Alma-ata) ■ Arden Rod Condez (John Denver Trending) ■ Jun Lana (Kalel, 15) ■ Rae Red (Babae at Baril) ■ Lav Diaz (Ang Hupa) ■ Glenn Barit (Cleaners) ■ JE Tiglao (Metamorphosis) ACTRESS ■ Kathryn Bernardo (Hello, Love, Goodbye) ■ Janine Gutierrez (Babae at Baril) ■ Nadine Lustre (Ulan) ■ Jean Garcia (Watch Me Kill) ■ Ruby Ruiz (Iska)

■ Sue Prado (Alma-ata) ■ Max Eigenmann (Verdict) ■ Alessandra de Rossi (Lucid) ■ Angie Ferro (Lola Igna) ■ Bela Padilla (Mañanita) ■ Anita Linda (Circa) ACTOR ■ Oliver Aquino (Jino to Mari) ■ Alden Richards (Hello, Love, Goodbye) ■ Raymond Bagatsing (Quezon’s Game) ■ Jansen Magpusao (John Denver Trending) ■ Royce Cabrera (Fuccbois) ■ Gio Gahol (Sila Sila) ■ Gold Azeron (Metamorphosis) ■ Louise Abuel (Edward) ■ Elijah Canlas (Kalel, 15) ■ Joel Lamangan (Ang Hupa) SUPPORTING ACTRESS ■ Perla Bautista (Ulan) ■ Meryll Soriano (John Denver Trending) ■ Maricel Laxa (Hello, Love, Goodbye) ■ Yayo Aguila (Metamorphosis) ■ Angie Castrence (Iska) ■ Cherie Gil (Kaputol) ■ Pinky Amador (Ang Hupa) SUPPORTING ACTOR ■ Dido de la Paz (Edward) ■ J. C. Santos (Babae at Baril) ■ Ricky Davao (Fuccbois) ■ Noel John Nuval (Huwebes Huwebes) ■ Kristoffer King (Verdict) ■ Topher Fabregas (Sila Sila) ■ Yves Flores (Lola Igna) SCREENPLAY ■ John Bedia (Edward) ■ Don Gerardo Frasco (Huwebes Huwebes) ■ Arden Rod Condez (John Denver Trending) ■ Jun Lana (Kalel, 15) ■ Rae Red (Babae at Baril) ■ Lav Diaz (Ang Hupa) ■ Glenn Barit (Cleaners)

BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL TO MAKE ACTING PRIZES GENDER NEUTRAL

BERLIN—The organizers of the Berlin International Film Festival say they will stop awarding separate acting prizes to women and men beginning next year.

Berlinale organizers said on Monday the performance awards will be defined in a gender-neutral way at next year’s festival, for which a physical event is planned.

The festival awards a Golden Bear for the best film and a series of Silver Bears, which until this year included best actor and best actress honors. Organizers said those prizes will be replaced with a Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance and a Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance.

In a statement, the coheads of the festival, Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, said “not separating the awards in the acting field according to gender comprises a signal for a more gender-sensitive awareness in the film industry.”

At the same time, the Alfred Bauer Prize, which is named after the festival’s founding director, will be permanently retired. The prize was suspended this year due to revelations about Bauer’s role in the Nazis’ moviemaking bureaucracy.

Commenting on the decision to hold a physical event next year, despite uncertainties due to the coronavirus pandemic, the two directors stressed the need for a “lively relationship with the audience.”

The 2021 festival is scheduled from February 11 to 21.

This year’s festival was one of the last major events that took place before the coronavirus pandemic largely shut down public life in Germany. AP

First unified Hiligaynon morning show TWO years after it launched the pioneering unified Hiligaynon newscast One Western Visayas, GMA Regional TV (RTV, www. gmaregionaltv.com) brings viewers in Western Visayas the first-ever unified Hiligaynon TV morning show GMA Regional TV Early Edition.

Airing weekdays at 8 am beginning August 31 via GMA Iloilo and GMA Bacolod, GMA Regional TV Early Edition is hosted by Atty. Sedfrey Cabaluna, Adrian Prietos, and Kaitlene Rivilla. Together, they give viewers in Iloilo, Bacolod, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, and Negros Occidental the right information and the daily inspiration.

A seasoned local media personality, Sed is also the main anchor and senior news desk manager for GMA RTV’s One Western Visayas. Through the years, he has continuously advocated for sustainable tourism and volunteerism in various communities. Meanwhile, broadcast journalist Adrian coanchors for One Western

Visayas. Aside from being one of GMA RTV’s dynamic news correspondents, Adrian has also mastered the intricacies of hosting, being one of the most sought-after event hosts on the island of Negros.

Young, trailblazer Kaitlene also coanchors for One Western Visayas. An active campus leader at the University of San Agustin, Kait is also a writer, public speaker and entrepreneur. On top of One Western Visayas, the three news personalities are also seen on GMA News TV via the prime-time national English newscast, GMA Regional TV Weekend News, which features segments that will set out a great day for viewers of Western Visayas, including “Spotlight,” “BizTalk” and “Kabalo Na Kamo?”

“We are excited to bring a new morning to our Kapuso viewers in Western Visayas via GMA Regional TV Early Edition—the first and only unified Hiligaynon morning program to date,” says GMA Regional TV and Synergy Vice President and Head Oliver

KAITLENE RIVILLA

Amoroso. “With GMA Regional TV Early Edition, we remain ‘Buong Puso para sa Pilipino’ as we aim to continue giving our Kapuso more reasons to look forward to the rest of their day by jump-starting it with the right information and inspiration. Join us every morning starting August 31 and together let us face each day well-informed

ATTY. SEDFREY CABALUNA

and with renewed hope.”

GMA Regional TV Early Edition is the third morning show that GMA RTV launched this year following the success of GMA Regional TV Live! in Central and Eastern Visayas last April, and At Home With GMA Regional TV in North, Central, and Southern Mindanao last June.

B5

IN this May 2, 2018 photo, director Roman Polanski appears at an international film festival, where he promoted his latest film, Based on a True Story, in Krakow, Poland. AP

Polanski’s request to restore film academy membership denied LOS ANGELES—A judge on Tuesday denied Roman Polanski’s request to restore his membership in the organization that bestows the Academy Awards two years after he was expelled from it for raping a minor.

The fugitive film director sued in April 2019, asking the court to compel the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to make him a member in good standing again.

A year earlier, the academy made the rare move of expelling Polanski and Bill Cosby, months after ending the membership of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Polanski appealed the decision, and in January 2019 the academy rejected his appeal.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary Strobel on Tuesday ruled that the academy had a right to expel Polanski, afforded him a fair hearing and gave him sufficient notice of his expulsion. She adopted a tentative ruling that she had issued earlier on Tuesday as her final order.

Harland Braun, Polanski’s lawyer said the 87-yearold director has no plans to appeal Strobel’s decision.

“Roman’s membership in the academy is pretty worthless and we would not waste legal fees for an appeal for no real purpose,” Braun said in an e-mail Tuesday to The Associated Press. “Roman is one of the greatest directors in movie history. His art will survive long after the academy is a forgotten relic.”

An e-mail seeking comment from academy officials wasn’t immediately returned. In 2019 the academy said in a statement that “the procedures taken to expel Mr. Polanski were fair and reasonable.”

Polanski, who won a best director Oscar for The Pianist in 2003, remains a fugitive after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in 1977 and fleeing the United States the following year. He has been living in Europe since.

He had been an academy member for nearly 50 years at the time of his expulsion, and his films had been nominated for 28 Oscars.

But he had long been one of the organization’s more divisive members. At the 2003 ceremony, Polanski’s win—his first—received a standing ovation. He was not in attendance. He’d previously been nominated for writing his adaptation of Rosemary’s Baby, and directing Chinatown and Tess.

Polanski’s ouster from the group means he can no longer vote for nominees and winners, but he and his films can still win Oscars. AP

TFC LAUNCHES GLOBAL FILIPINOS’ ULTIMATE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE HUB

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—A lot has changed in people’s lives since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. People are encouraged to stay at home, most activities like buying groceries and reunions are now done online, and businesses are either closing or laying-off employees to sustain the business due to the plunging economy. These changes made an impact on the lives of the people, including overseas Filipinos. Being an innovative company that caters to the everchanging needs of the overseas Filipinos, TFC evolves with them by ensuring their safety but not sacrificing the access to their essential needs—from timely and relevant information and entertainment, to keeping the connection with their fellow overseas Filipinos, up to the aid they need to get through the everyday life of living abroad.

Thus, TFC Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) launches TFCX (TFC Experience), the home of TFC’s digital experiences for the global Filipinos that brings to them various interactive activities right at the comfort of their homes.

These TFCX initiatives aim to bring a sense of normalcy and aid to the needs of the overseas Filipinos around the globe, especially amid the ongoing battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. Marking the launch of TFCX is TFC Win From Home, a virtual game show where participants get a chance to win various prizes from TFC and its generous sponsors: cable and satellite provider OSN, coffee brand Alicafé, food delivery app GoFood, and cargo company GP Express Cargo.

“TFCX presents an interactive platform where the audience can indulge from their chosen virtual experience, including gaming, engaging their favorite stars up-close, digital concerts, and even win gifts and prizes. There’s no better way to launch TFCX than giving away big prizes for our loyal audience through TFC Win From Home,” said Joseph Arnie Garcia, ABS-CBN Global managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Each valid entry may win minor prizes from each sponsor, or be among the three winners of P50,000 in each monthly draw. Those who will not win during the monthly draws get a chance to be among the winners of P100,000 or the lone winner of the P250,000 grand prize in the grand draw.

Viewers may submit as many entries as they can on or before December 14. More information is available at www.mytfc. com/tfcwfh or bit.ly/TFCWinFromHome.

B6

Friday, August 28, 2020

Globe Telecoms donates P1.4M worth of phones, load for e-learning to Saranggani National Sports Academy

SIF super app opens platform for businesses, offers opportunities to rebound from the crisis

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IF, the country’s first super app services and curated products aggregator, opens its platform to create revenue opportunities for displaced Filipino workers and entrepreneurs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With over 40% of the country’s adults without jobs, a significant increase of 17% brought about by the virus that slowed the economy locally, the threat to financial survival is real. As millions of businesses in the food, service and consumer sector anticipate a more glum third quarter, revenue generation both on a personal and business level has become alarming. After the quarantine showed strain on the economy and resulted in both employees and business owners transitioning from workplace to home enterprises, the COVID-19 crisis has also accelerated the automation and digitization of most businesses and service providers. While there are a number of good case studies, many are left in the dark without the resources or skills to transition their businesses to successfully weather the pandemic.

It is in this perspective that the team of SIF devised a plan to provide these start-ups, new freelancers and even established consultants access to the SIF platform that would offer strong community access to consumers who already preferred to stay home. It also saw the benefit it could lend these entrepreneurs the app’s push marketing, cashless transactions and delivery network thereby making it easier for new businesses to flourish.

It was all these benefits, coupled with the recognition to play a catalyst role that led SIF to launch The PIVOT PROJECT. “As we were developing the framework for SIF as an independent business, we didn’t know that we were inadvertently developing a model for the Filipino entrepreneur. Naturally, we were engaging businesses and individuals who were already aligned with our vision of providing location-based services such as grooming, beauty & wellness, health, nutrition, fitness that one would usually go out for,” Luigi Nuñez, SIF founder and chair shared.

Nuñez extends a helping hand to budding entrepreneurs, professionals, and individual contractors through SIF’s PIVOT PROJECT. SIF already had an established process for marketing, promotion and

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S part of its corporate social responsibility, Globe Telecoms recently turned over 80 mobile phones, SIM cards and at least P 640,000 worth of prepaid cards to help the student-athletes, teachers and coaches of the Sarangani National Sports Academy (SaNSA) cope with the challenges of the blended mode of learning. The P1.4 million worth of support is part of the partnership of the telecoms firm, the Sarangani provincial government, and the Department of Education Sarangani Division. The gadgets will be used or borrowed by SaNSA student-athletes and their parents, and a platform for the online

Luigi Nuñez, SIF founder and chairman

transaction for services that were already on the app, all geared to encourage download, registration and purchase of SIF’s offerings long before the pandemic occurred. With the current economic conditions, it was also forced to pivot the original business model into one that addresses a significant national concern. It remains faithful, however, to its core focus which is to monetize residential assets or unrealized resources not unlike how Airbnb found use for extra rooms in homes or Uber creating a revenue stream from vehicles that were merely parked. In the case of SIF, it realized that there is a surplus of quality time that can be monetized, whether because they lost their jobs or have reduced work hours and turns it into income via location-based service, teleconsult or empowering start-up enterprises to scale up.

“The PIVOT PROJECT is actually a win-win plan for both SIF and those who wish to modernize the operation of their business with a strong online presence and process. Cloud kitchen operators or those who cook amazing dishes from their homes, barbers, retailers on social channels and even professionals can benefit tremendously. In today’s workfrom-home model, specialists can still manage to monetize on their extra hours and add income. As for us, we get to offer a wide array of products and services that our users will find convenient,” Nuñez said.

The PIVOT PROJECT, as SIF’s corporate

social responsibility program, has also tiered its usual revenue model for larger businesses by taking no commission outside of the operational expenses that transactions will incur. This decision further benefits the small enterprises that would usually spend a significant amount of expenditure setting up a dynamic promotion and marketing system as well as online cashless payment options on their own.

The app also enables users located in other parts of the country to consult or engage the services of professionals such as doctors, teachers, musicians and other consultants with different specializations located elsewhere without having to leave the comfort of their homes. This will also allow those with extra time on their hands to monetize this time according to the number of hours they wish to work.

Brands and individual contractors that will get on board from August to December of this year can obtain a zerocommission partnership, based on their revenue projections, for a period of one to three months under SIF’s PIVOT PROJECT program. They will also have the option to offer their products in certain cities in Metro Manila or make it available nationwide, especially useful for individual contractors who prefer to work in a specific area.

For more information, reach out through info@lugginventures.com. For consumers, the SIF app is available for download in both the App Store and Google Play.

Three Philippine teams named as finalists to the Alibaba GET Global Challenge 2020

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LIBABA Business School, in partnership with The Royal Beijing Language and Culture Center, names the Top 3 Finalists for Global Ecommerce Talent (GET) Programme in the Philippines. The Makati-based language center also recently teamed up with iAcademy, the first Philippine educational institution that will be implementing the Alibaba GET Program.

The competition simultaneously takes place in over a dozen other countries such as the African Region, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Philippines, Colombia, France, Serbia, Russia, and Mexico.

This year’s Alibaba GET Global Challenge 2020 theme is “Digital Solutions During and Beyond COVID-19.”

The “GET Global Challenge 2020” event aims to discover solutions that can be used during this pandemic and even after.

The challenge wants to identify those innovative digital solutions that pass criteria and will be of help to many people, businesses and institutions as everyone needs to adapt to the new normal.

Applications were opened in April with a deadline of submission set on May 4. Developers and entrepreneurs were challenged to come up with digital solutions for everyone that would promote inclusive development and empowerment for the youth.

The vision of this global challenge is “To inspire, inform, and enable." Students and universities have been encouraged to join and present their ideas that will hopefully reduce day-to-day struggles,

combat the virus, and improve work efficiency and quality of life. During the competition, the teams were able to take advantage of everything the Alibaba GET Network offered, from individualized 1-on-1 coaching to different resources (case studies, industry reports, etc.) and live-stream sharing and training sessions. More than a hundred teams have entered the challenge from over ten countries and regions.

Three teams have been chosen from the roster of participants to represent the Philippines: NEIGHBOURLY, CHECKMADE (Las Chicas), and SYMLIFY. They will be competing with 52 other teams from 14 different countries.

Neighbourly is an e-commerce platform for residential neighbourhoods that promotes “bayanihan” by empowering community building and commerce.

CheckMade is a startup that aims to create a fraud-free online marketplace in the Philippines. Beyond fraud, it is CheckMade’s goal to help create a better and more secure eCommerce ecosystem.

Symlify is a single platform that helps online sellers manage their businesses.

Symlify is an order management system designed for small business online sellers that depend on social media.

academic and sports training sessions will also be provided to the learners. The undertaking is part of the Learning Resources on Wifi Hub for Expanded e-Learning in Sarangani (LR on WHEeLS), an innovative program of DepEd Sarangani, to make e-learning accessible to more students in the province. In photo at the ceremonial turnover of the gadgets are (from left) Globe security manager for Mindanao Eric Bergavera, Sarangani governor Steve Chiongbian Solon, Alabel municipal mayor Vic Paul Salarda, and DepEd Sarangani Curriculum Implementation Division chief and SaNSA school head Donna Panes.

Dr. Carl Balita supports Mowelfund via Video Home Festival in September

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EPTEMPER is "Video Home Festival” featuring millennial filmmakers and their lockdown stories One of the hardest-hit industries in the coronavirus pandemic crisis is the entertainment industry. All over the world, film, television, and theater productions were put to a halt. Premieres, public screenings, and festivals were either put on hold or were cancelled altogether.

Good thing the crisis has also brought in opportunities and a new home for entertaiment which is online.

Since the mid March quarantine, programs, series, films, and even festivals are held online which has proven that the entertainment industry holds a significant part in people’s lives especially in time of crisis.

Dr. Carl Balita Productions’ “VHF: Video Home Festival” which aims to not just to challenge the creativity of the filmmakers to create films under limited resources due to the quarantine but also to help the industry workers through the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation or Mowelfund.

Different filmmakers from diverse

backgrounds have sent their entries to the festival. 19 films have made it to the final list of films competing for the Top 3 Best Films among other awards such as Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Audience Choice Award.

VHF is screening on September 3-4, 2020 through Binge Wave, an international screening platform based in the US, which screens different film festivals all over the globe through their virtual theaters. Tickets are now available via bingewave.com. It will be followed by You Tube streaming at youtube. com/cbrcreview on September 5-11. Awards night is on September 20, 2020.

Valenzuela commends neonatalogist Dr. Kharen Abat-Senen

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NOWN for her beautiful singing voice in a trending video after recovering from COVID-19 last July, the City Government of Valenzuela commends the late Dr. Kathlynne Anne “Kharen” AbatSenen for her services as a medical frontliner despite being exposed to COVID-19 – a risk that eventually led to her passing after being reinfected by the virus.

Dr. Abat-Senen also hails from Barangay Gen. T. De Leon and sadly passed away after a COVID-19 reinfection last August 23, 2020.

Apart from being the only neonatologist in Valenzuela City, Dr. Abat-Senen is also a consultant at the Department of Pediatrics of Valenzuela Medical Center (VMC), a medical frontliner at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), an infectious disease expert, and has also served patients in the province of Bulacan.

Dr. Abat-Senen is also one of the doctors who attended to “Baby Jade” back in 2016.

The “Baby Jade” case, a newly-born infant found on a trash bin at the Jade Garden Condominium and Townhomes in Brgy. Marulas, Valenzuela City, drew national attention in 2016 as the poor infant battled a two-week coma after suffering from

deprivation of oxygen due to a brain tissue destruction. Baby Jade later died and her mother, a housemaid at the townhomes, is currently serving a life sentence at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City since 2017.

Together with the City Government of Valenzuela, Dr. Abat-Senen is at the forefront in providing medical attention to Baby Jade at the VMC. Dr. Abat-Senen first tested positive for COVID-19 in June and was discharged last July 1, 2020 after testing negative. Two (2) days later, she was rushed back to PGH and tested positive again to COVID-19.

Mayor REX Gatchalian and Vice Mayor Lorie Natividad-Borja have extended their condolences to Dr. Jerome Senen, Dr. AbatSenen’s husband, and gave Php 300,000 as financial assistance in support to the Senen family through the passing of City Ordinance No. 776, Series of 2020.

The City Council also passed Resolution No. 1777, Series of 2020 on August 24, 2020 commending her heroic act in performing her duties despite being exposed to COVID-19, faithfully rendering services for her chosen profession.

Dr. Kharen Abat-Senen is known as one of the doctors who provided medical attention to the famous "Baby Jade" case back in 2016. (Photo by: Rodrigo de Guzman/VC PIO)

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

Sports BusinessMirror

Friday, August 28, 2020 B7

HOUSE BEHIND PSC T

HE House of Representatives on Thursday promised to support the country’s Tokyo Olympics bid by heeding the Philippine Sports Commission’s (PSC) request for a P182-million funding for the campaign.

As this developed, the PSC released also on Thursday allowances for national team members—July for athletes and para athletes and June and July for coaches.

It could be recalled that the PSC withheld releasing allowances to national team members as it fortified its salary systsem following the illegal siphoning of bogus allowances by a former employee who is now facing criminal charges.

House Committee on Youth and Sports Development Head Rep. Eric Martinez gave PSC Chairman William Ramirez the assurance that the legislators would work on the funding for the Olympics-bound athletes and those who are seeking qualification for the postponed Games.

“We are one of those government agencies that contributed to the Bayanihan Act,” said Ramirez, adding the Department of Budget and Management channeled the PSC’s P596 million from the National Sports Development Fund and P773 million from General Appropriations to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

“That amount is very significant for the PSC primarily because we are in the cusp of the Olympics,” he said.

Chef de Mission to Tokyo Mariano Araneta prepared the P182 million budget for the training and preparation of qualified athletes Carlos Yulo (gymnastics), EJ Obiena (pole vault), Eumir Felix Marcial (boxing) and Irish Magno (boxing).

Ramirez also cited the effort of Cavite Eight District Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, also president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, for including P180 million in the Bayanihan Act 2.

“Rep. Bambol Tolentino supported the inclusion of P180 million in the Bayanihan Act 2 so that our national athletes and coaches will again

be receiving their allowances in full,” he said.

National team members, including the Olympics qualifiers, are receiving half of their monthly allowances since June after the PSC’s remittances from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. were drastically cut from an average of P125 million to only P7 million a month because casinos remain closed.

“Rest assured, we will do our part to get the funding for this Olympics. All hands are in,”Martinez told Ramirez during the committee hearing on Wednesday. “We in the House will discuss this with the DBM and schedule it the soonest because the athletes need that budget for the Olympics.”

Araneta also informed the committee that

NAOMI PROTESTS

Fourth-seeded Naomi Osaka reaches the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open on Wednesday but withdraws a few hours later in a call for racial justice, drawing quick support from other players. Soon after, the whole tournament is put on hold for a day as a result of protests over the shooting by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday of Jacob Blake, a Black man, apparently in the back while three of his children looked on. AP

21 athletes are training abroad, while 65 others are training in the country and that a total of 82 athletes still have the chance to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

Olympic qualifiers in many of the sports on Tokyo’s program would end in June next year.

The Olympics are set July 23 to August 8 in 2021.

PSC National Training Director Marc Velasco also said that the PSC is in the process of preparing specialized health protocols and identifying at least six multipurpose facilities as training venues for the Olympic qualifiers and hopefuls.

Velasco said that Bases Conversion Development Authority President Vince Dizon also offered to cover the swab testing of the athletes.

Janiuay officials promise support for boxer Magno

IRISH MAGNO makes the No. 1 sign as she pays Janiuay Mayor Bienvenido Margarico a courtesy call with her father, Rodrigo Jr. (fifth from left). With them are (from left) Sangguniang Bayan member James Ian Adelantar, Sports Coordinator Armando Pepino and Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer Joven Barranco.

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HE municipality of Janiuay in Iloilo vowed to fully support Irish Magno’s bid in the Tokyo Olympics that was postponed to 2021.

Magno told BusinessMirror on Thursday that Mayor Bienvenido Margarico would start a campaign to raise funds to augment expenses for her training and preparation for the Tokyo Games.

“I am very grateful to Mayor Margarico for supporting me,” said Magno, who paid the town’s chief executive a courtesy call on Wednesday. “He also promised me that the municipal government would immediately address the support.”

Magno is one of four Filipinos who have so far qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed to July 23 to August 8 next year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The others are boxer Eumir Felix Marcial, pole vaulter EJ Obiena and world champion gymnast Carlos Yulo.

Like all other national athletes,

Magno was advised to go home and resume training on their own as government still imposes strict protocol for sports.

Magno trains at least two hours a day at home in Janiuay. She devotes one hour of online training with her coaches at the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines—Nolito Velasco, Mitchel Martinez, Reynaldo Galido and foreign consultant, Australian Don Abnett.

The other hour is spent at the FitStart Gym owned by Raynald Lagola Ardiente.

“People at the gym help me out, too, but we observe strict protocols by limiting the number of people during training,” she said.

With the Tokyo Olympics still a year away, Magno couldn’t yet be conscious about her weight.

“I am 56 kg now, over my flyweight limit of 51 kg,” she said. “But our sports nutritionist and my coaches say it’s okay because I don’t have a fight yet in the near future, and I easily shed excess weight.”

Dubai beckons PBA

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UBAI could be one of the answers to the Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) search for its own “bubble.”

Talks are now ongoing between PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial and Mark Jan Kar, commercial director of the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai that has hosted PBA matches in the past.

“They have communicated with us and they’re asking for the requirements,” Marcial said on Thursday.

There are more than 600,000 Filipinos living or working in Dubai and they represent more than 21 percent of the population of the ultra-modern city.

Marcial said the talks are in the

exploratory stage as the PBA, according to Chairman Ricky Vargas, wants to copy the National Basketball Association’s “bubble” at Disney World in Florida to return to competition amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marcial said keen interests were shown by Baguio City and El Nido in Palawan for the bubble on top of the other options, including Laguna, Batangas, Subic, Clark and the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Individual workout in the league resumed on Tuesday in various facilities with the teams strictly observing the PBA’s “closed-circuit” program—home-car-gymback. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

CHED won’t hesitate penalizing UST

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NIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) could face stiff sanctions if ongoing investigations show the school has a hand in the alleged unauthorized “training bubble” its men’s basketball team conducted in Sorsogon City.

Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Prospero de Vera III told a press briefing on Thursday that the commission wouldn’t think twice to penalize UST if indeed it knew of the “bubble” created by Growling Tigers Head Coach Aldin Ayo in his hometown.

“If it was sanctioned by the school [UST], the commission will punish the officials who are responsible,” de Vera said. “But if the misconduct was done internally, then UST could make its decision on the matter.”

De Vera, along with representatives from the Philippine Sports Commission,

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EMBERS of seven of 11 teams in the Chooks-toGo Pilipinas 3x3 league have already underwent their first polymerase chain reaction (PRC) testing at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City.

Members of Zamboanga City Family’s Brand Sardines, Zamboanga Peninsula Valientes, Gapan Chooks, and Bacolod Master Sardines were tested last Monday while Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, Pasig-Sta. Lucia Realtors, Palayan City Capitols and Porac-Big Boss Cement Green Gorillas got theirs last Wednesday.

The remaining teams—Bicol Volcanoes, Sarangani Marlins, Val City Classic and a special select team—will be tested on Friday and Monday.

“We were tested on a staggered basis, and so were the team’s practice sessions,” League Commissioner Eric Altamirano said.

Except for the Valientes, the first batch who had their tests Monday practiced on Wednesday at the University of the Philippines Epsilon Chi Gymnasium in Quezon City.

“We would like to thank my alma mater University of the Philippines for offering their venue to us and, of course, GET Philippines,” league owner Ronald Mascariñas. “It’s during this first week where we will see if there are things that we can adjust with our system before we get back to the games itself.”

The league is looking at one more practice facility once all teams have been tested.

The league eyes an October 2 opening for the inaugural President’s Cup at the Inspire Academy in Calamba, Laguna.

LEAGUE Commissioner Eric Altamirano is tested for the virus.

Department of Health and University Athletic Association of the Philippines and Games and Amusements Board Chairman Abraham Mitra opened its inquiry on the UST issue in an online meeting on Wednesday.

UST didn’t join the meeting but promised to submit the results of its investigation to the UAAP on Thursday.

The group will meet again on Tuesday to evaluate UST’s inquiry.

Besides the CHED, UST is also bound to be sanctioned by the UAAP. “The UAAP is committed to protecting the health and safety of each of its studentathletes,” the UAAP said in a statement.

De Vera said strict protocols are enforced since last March with all citizens told to simply stay at home.

“They shouldn’t be outside their homes. CHED issued an advisory last

Pacquiao conqueror Horn contemplating retirement

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RISBANE, Australia—Jeff Horn has been encouraged to retire after the former world champion was beaten by Tim Tszyu in a super-welterweight bout.

Three years after beating Manny Pacquiao at a packed Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, the Australian said he felt relief Wednesday when the official stopped their bout ahead of the ninth round.

Horn didn’t officially end his career after the loss, but knows it will be difficult for him to convince his wife and two daughters that the best decision is to fight on after his third loss

3x3 league good to go for training

from his last five bouts.

“I’ll go home and talk to [wife] Jo but I know what she’s going to say,” he said. “In the end, I have to ask if I have more in the tank or is that it. I probably don’t have the hunger of Tim Tszyu. I’ve been there, done the world title, I was just fighting for the big fights and the mountain was too big for me tonight.”

Tim Tszyu is the son of former world champion and Russian-born Kostya Tszyu.

Horn’s promoter Dean Lonergan suggested the time was right for former school teacher Horn to retire.

March about that,” he said. “And it’s clear, the school should make sure the students are safe.”

PSC Chief of Staff Marc Velasco told BusinessMirror that the result of the investigation on the UST “bubble” would be elevated to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Velasco said it would be up to the IATF if charges would be filed against UST or its men’s basketball team if they are proven guilty of breaching protocols.

Sorsogon City officials told the BusinessMirror on Wednesday that they were unaware of the “bubble” and stressed that “it could have been Ayo’s own initiative to hold training in the city.”

Ayo is a former councilor of the city.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Horn “I think tonight would be a nice full stop,” Lonergan said of the 32-year-old Horn’s career.

“The baton I think’s been passed.”

Horn had dropped a weight division and entered the Townsville stadium bout in north Queensland full of confidence, but it didn’t take long for Tszyu to assume control. Horn was knocked down in the third and sixth rounds and referee Phil Austin stopped the contest after eight rounds.

“He was very good; he made me look silly out there,” Horn said of Tszyu. “It was more of a relief than anything that the referee was saying he’d seen enough.” AP

Motoring BusinessMirror

B8 Friday, August 28, 2020

Editor: Tet Andolong

RSA surprises BMW7 guests; Corolla Cross comes

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AMON S. Ang, the nonstop deliverer of ideas that he turns into amazing realities mostly benefiting the Filipino people, made a surprise appearance in this week’s Zoom presser launching Spencer Yu’s new BMW7 series. And in his usual out-of-the-box but much-admired demeanor, RSA was down-to-earth in baring his multiple new road network.

This time, he wants to build an artery connecting key areas of the metropolis from east to west and vice versa, using the Manila Bay circuit cruising through the Pasig River, and then going all the way down South via Slex.

“We have always been talking about the North and South road network,” he said. “It’s about time that the East and West of Metro Manila be connected, too. We, at San Miguel Corp., are now ready to do it.”

Called the Pasig River Expressway

(PAREx), the 19.40-km artery will complement the expanded 420-km Slex to Bicol’s Matnog in Sorsogon via Quezon province, with the Toll Road 5 propping up the ambitious project. With a whopping budget of P121.8 billion, RSA said the investment will benefit thousands of workers, contractors, materials suppliers, haulers and our local and national governments.

He said the Departments of Transportation, Finance and Public Works and Highways and Neda and Toll Regulatory Board have approved the projects in principle.

The roadwork ’s socioeconomic prospects are satellite engines in the overall recovery once the pandemic is over.

“As we keep saying,” said RSA, “San Miguel is committed to help our country overcome this crisis.

Let us continue, and not hold back, on new investments. These projects will deliver hundreds of thousands of jobs and put money in the hands of Filipinos—sustaining and boosting our economic recovery.”

Already, RSA, the president/ CEO of SMC, is seeing the fruits of his recently completed TPLEx, that expressway connecting the Nlex to Ilocandia ending in Rosario, La Union—immensely easing delivery of goods and services in the Ilocos region.

“Slex TR5 will take four years to complete, and PAREx three years,” RSA said. “By that time, the pandemic would have been far behind us.”

He also spoke with pride about his Bulacan airport project.

“Our Bulacan Airport would also be completed in no time,” he said.

“Within five years, the Philippines will be transformed, and be better than ever.”

Apart from jobs, Ang said his P734-billion airport dream will significantly boost local economies, where small and medium local industries can prosper “tremendously.”

If only his fellow billionaires would also have the same mindset of helping the government’s drive for a robust thrust of long-term economic development, national progress will quickly stop being a mere utopia.

Iconic Corolla Cross

ANENT my fixation for speeches, here’s Atsuhiro Okamoto again: “Good day, dear friends!

“I am Atsuhiro Okamoto, president of Toyota Motor Philippines [TMP], and this is the Philippine launch of the All-New Corolla Cross.

“I hope you are all doing well! We at TMP are happy to welcome you to today’s virtual launch.

“The events in the past months have taught us to change how we do

New Isuzu dealership soon to open in Davao

certain things.

But one thing remains the same: Toyota believes that better, sustainable mobility can further drive progress and improve quality of life.

“And so we made this the inspiration for today’s occasion.

“Today, we are making history by introducing TMP’s first ever Hybrid crossover.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present to you the new car for our ever-changing world, the AllNew Corolla Cross.

“Guided by our philosophy of making ever-better cars, Toyota took the best of a trusted model ‘The Toyota Corolla’ and turned it into a sleek and modern crossover.

“And with its Hybrid variant, the Corolla Cross takes us closer to our vision of sustainable mobility and a greener Earth for future generations, while delivering our signature quality, durability, and reliability.

“The Corolla Cross is designed to move you in comfort and style, whether you’re seeking adventure, doing business, or simply spending time with people you love.

“It provides driving pleasure and efficiency, thanks to the Toyota New Global Architecture, while giving you and your family peace of mind with the advanced Toyota Safety Sense features.

Story & photos

by Randy S. Peregrino

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SUZU Philippines Corp. (IPC) resumes its dealership expansion with the recent formal groundbreaking ceremony of its Isuzu Davao dealership via online conference.

Soon to rise at MacArthur Highway, Matina, in Davao City, the upcoming facility will be helmed by Southern Motors of Davao Inc. (SMDI) backed with 71 years of business experience. Further, the online event commenced the actual groundworks for IPC’s 11th dealership adopting the Isuzu Outlet Standardization (IOS), which envisions the Japanese truck maker’s role in the global and Philippine automotive industry in the decades to come.

The guiding principles in forming the new design focuses on: (1) the creation of a conducive atmosphere that leads to improved customer experience and smoother business operations; (2) the application of purposeful design that is tailored to varying customer needs; and (3) the communication of Isuzu’s reputation for durable, reliable, strong and fuelefficient vehicles.

The upcoming IOS-influenced dealership will feature industrial style elements representing Isuzu’s truck and lifestyle vehicle customers. The façade will be fitted with robust-looking expanded metal mesh between long red bands, expressing Isuzu’s reputation for durable and reliable products. The interior design, meantime, conveys a minimal-

ist yet clean and sleek atmosphere with more spacious and organized area. Interior layout was carefully arranged taking into consideration the customer’s standpoint for an enhanced overall customer journey.

Likewise, productivity improvement is expected of both sales and service operations through outlined flow of people and products within the facility.

“For more than 70 years, Isuzu Davao-SMDI has been in operations catering to clients in Davao City, providing outstanding sales experience and excellent aftersales service.

Isuzu Davao has been a leader among the network and was even awarded the 2011 Isuzu Dealer of the Year.

We in IPC are very proud that Isuzu Davao and its customers will be one of the first to experience the new and improved IOS,” said IPC President Hajime Koso.

The new Isuzu Davao showroom is expected to be completed by March 2021.

Isuzu turns over donated PPE uniforms to partnerorganizations

Meanwhile, in a simple indoor ceremony, IPC recently turned over customers-donated medical personal protective equipment (PPE) uniforms to its partner-institutions. This is part of IPC’s response to the global pandemic when it launched the “Isuzu Kasama Mo” campaign last June.

The initial donation of PPE uniforms was held at the IPC head-

IPC President Hajime Koso hands over sets of PPE uniforms to select partner-organizations.

quarters in Biñan, Laguna, where representatives from Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Red Cross, Philippine General Hospital, and Caritas Manila attended the ceremony while practicing social distancing to ensure safety. Handed over by IPC executives in behalf of the customers, these PPE sets will be used by the partner-organization’s brave and devoted frontliners who continue to risk their lives in saving others.

By actively promoting the value of sharing and caring, the cam-

paign provides Isuzu customers the opportunity to support frontliners in every Isuzu vehicle they purchase. “The donation that our partners will be receiving today, comes from the kind heart of our valued customers,” said IPC Koso.

“We hope that this donation will go a long way in protecting the health and safety of our frontliners. We assure our partner organization that this will not be the end of our assistance to them, as we vow to continue to support them in fighting this pandemic,” he added.

PEE STOP Honda lovers have until

August 31 to purchase their model at huge discounts: 120k for Mobilio, 70k BR-V, 120k City, 150k CR-V and 300k Civic. What are you waiting for?

Hyundai-Petron partnership to drive DOTr’s Libreng Sakay

H

The new Isuzu dealership soon to ride in Davao. Isuzu Philippines

“Media friends, ladies and gentlemen, I cannot wait for you to see and experience what the All-New Corolla Cross can do.

“For now, get ready to cross into the new age for the world’s bestselling car model.

“Maraming salamat po.”

Launched in Japan in 1966, the Corolla has sold more than 48 million units in more than 150 countries.

I am proud to say I have bought two Corollas since 1990, the last one my indispensable Altis in 2001 (mileage: 13,419).

“Owning a hybrid vehicle is made easier and more affordable through the Balloon Payment Plus,” said TMP First Vice President Sherwin Chua Lim “Customers are guaranteed a hassle-free buying experience, and even when reselling it later.”

The 1.8 V HV is pegged at P1,665 and the 1.8 G CVT from P1,285 to P1,300 and already at Toyota’s 72 dealerships nationwide since August 26.

Nadinne B. Capistrano said more information about the hybrid electric vehicle technology can be found at www.toyota.com.ph/hybrid.

YUNDAI Asia Resources Inc. (Hari), the official Philippine distributor of the leading Korean auto brand in the country, and Petron Corp., the country’s largest oil company, forged a new partnership to support the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) Libreng Sakay program.

Libreng Sakay ensures continued mobility for health workers and frontliners, with 20 defined routes and designated drop-off and pick-up points for medical workers.

Last May, under the Ligtas Biyahe vehicle project, Hari formally turned over three Covid-Ready Vehicles that will serve the DOTr program.

Hyundai developed and produced this special Covid-ready lineup based on its best-selling H-100 Shuttle, HD36 Shuttle, and Modern Jeepney HD50S Class 2. Said units have been declared highly compliant with the DOTr’s guidelines for the transport sector under ECQ/GCQ. These vehicles, the first in the auto industry, showcase contactless payment systems, individualized seating, plastic dividers, and features for sanitation.

To date, the Hyundai shuttles have served over 3,000 medical frontliners, including doctors, to ensure uninterrupted patient care in Metro Manila.

“With Petron as our partner, expect our Ligtas Biyahe vehicles to be at optimal service for our frontliners as we move towards a better normal. This cements our commitment to provide the riding public vehicles that are safe and convenient in these challenging times,” said Hari President and CEO Maria Fe Perez-Agudo.

“We are pleased to join Hyundai in its Ligtas Biyahe program as its official fuel partner, as we look to further our mobility aid efforts by offering free fuel to the DOTr and MMDA, giving fuel discounts to frontliners,

and making essential food items available at our service stations together with our parent company, San Miguel Corp.,” said Petron President and CEO Ramon S. Ang. Since March, Petron has been actively supporting the country’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Through its Petron Foundation, the company has focused its assistance to doctors, nurses, and other hospital personnel by donating complete sets of PPEs to several Covid-19 referral hospitals in Metro Manila, as well as pre-loaded PVCs, through funds raised from its Petron Value Cards (PVC) donation drive. Petron also initiated a number of Covid-19 efforts focused on helping its scholars and fenceline communities.

“Since we began our commercial vehicle business in 2016, we have strongly supported PUV Modernization. The situation, however, has drastically changed and we have quickly adapted our vehicles in order to keep on serving the public. In just a few weeks since its conceptualization, we were able to manufacture vehicles that now allow hundreds, if not thousands of Filipinos, to get to their destination with the safety and peace of mind provided by these Covid-ready vehicles,” Agudo added.

Hyundai’s H-100 Class 1 Modern Jeepney and HD50S Class 2 Modern Jeepney received their Certificates of Compliance (COC) from the DOTr late last year; while the HD50S Class 3 Modern Jeepney, which debuted in January 2020, is poised to undergo the department’s stringent testing.

The Hari chief reiterated that the company continues to closely monitor developments in the country in order to develop new ways to assist customers and the general public as the country transitions to the Better Normal lifestyle.