BusinessMirror December 16, 2020

House is not adopting Senate version of CREATE

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

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HE House of Representatives has decided not to adopt the Senate version of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act as some of its members raised key concerns on the new tax incentives bill.

With this, the plenary elected Monday night some House members to the bicameral conference committee to reconcile the two chambers’ different versions of the CREATE. House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda, principal author of the House version of CREATE, said the bicameral conference committee will try to finish reconciling all the

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conflicting provisions of the proposal by January 2021.

Earlier, the House leader said the House will adopt the Senate version of the CREATE to fasttrack its approval.

The proposed CREATE provides for the reduction of the corporate income tax rate for resident foreign corporations and nonresident foreign corporations from 30 percent to 25 percent effective July 1, 2020; and the reduction of the minimum corporate income tax (MCIT) rate from 2 percent to 1 percent for a period of three years—effective July 1, 2020, until June 30, 2023.

House concerns

IN the Senate version of CREATE, Salceda noted that for 10 years,

there will be no change in the tax regime for businesses currently subject to the 5 percent on gross income earned (GIE) tax, while current recipients of the income tax holiday (ITH) will be allowed to exhaust all the remaining years of their ITH. The Senate version of the bill said registered business enterprises (RBEs) enjoying the 5-percent tax based on GIE shall be allowed to continue to enjoy the 5-percent tax for a period of 10 years, regardless of the number of years under 5-percent GIE. After the expiration of the transitory period, the export enterprises registered prior to the effectivity of the CREATE Act shall have the option to re-apply and avail themselves of the tax incentives under CREATE.

He also noted the sharing of tax revenues between local government units (LGUs) and the national government for registered business enterprises whose Special Corporate Income Tax (SCIT) benefit lapses.

“We take note of Baguio Rep. Mark Go’s concern that the LGUs’ share of revenues from corporate income taxes paid by registered business enterprises whose incentives will lapse may decline. We point out, however, that the SCIT is a tax in lieu of all taxes, including local business taxes and real property taxes. Once the SCIT lapses, LGUs will be able to impose local business and real property taxes, which will be revenue streams on top of their internal revenue allotment (IRA) share,” he added.

Continued on A2

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Wednesday, December 16, 2020 Vol. 16 No. 69

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HITS $104.5B AT END-NOV

By Bianca Cuaresma

CUSTOMS INSISTS TRUCK BAN ON EDSA WON’T LEAD TO PORT CONGESTION

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HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) was able to grow the Philippines’s dollar defenses by $710 million in a month’s time, bolstering the economy’s buffer against sudden shocks, especially amid the global health crisis.

The Central Bank reported on Wednesday that the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) hit $104.51 billion as of end-November this year. This is higher See “GIR,” A2

By Cai U. Ordinario

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SAN Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora inspects the on-site Autosweep RFID installation for San Juan City residents at the city hall on Tuesday, December 15, 2020. The Autosweep RFID can be used to enter SLEx, Skyway, NAIAX, STAR and TPLEx. A Senate panel has set a hearing on Thursday on the botched implementation of the shift to cashless transactions, especially at the NLEx. Related story in Companies, on page B1. NONOY LACZA

Senate OKs extension of Bayanihan 2 fund release

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HE Senate on Tuesday passed on third and final reading the bill extending Bayanihan 2 appropriations to allow the government to continue responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Voting 18-0 with no abstention, senators made it clear that it is only the appropriations that needed extending in order to buttress the government’s ability to deal with the pandemic.

Other emergency measures such as allowing the President to take over businesses were not included in the extension bill.

“We are only extending spending authority for emergency purposes,” said Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, noting that Congress is scheduled to adjourn sessions on December 19, which is the expiration date for the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, popularly known as Bayanihan 2.

Sen. Koko Pimentel earlier asked Angara, as sponsor of the extension, whether extending an emergency measure like Bayanihan 2 would not run afoul of the Constitution, which sets clear parameters for when emergency measures may

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.0540

be allowed. Angara replied that the funding authority is only “for projects that need to be continued to respond to the pandemic.”

Sen. Francis Tolentino weighed in and said the measure enjoys the presumption of constitutionality, and jurisprudence on cases seeking to strike down certain statutes is clear in requiring that a “conflict with the Constitution must be shown beyond reasonable doubt.”

Bayanihan 2, which provides for a stimulus package of P140 billion in regular appropriation and P25 billion as standby fund, is set

to expire on December 19, with a huge portion of the allocation yet to be released.

If not extended, the government will have to release the remaining funds by December 19, or else the funds will revert to the Bureau of the Treasury.

The Department of Budget and Management reported that it has so far released a total of P105.775 billion.

Republic Act 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act was signed into law on September 11, 2020.

HE Bureau of Customs (BOC) assured stakeholders on Tuesday that a repeat of the 2014 and 2018 port congestion will not occur due to the recent imposition of a truck ban on Edsa, Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare.

In a statement, the BOC said port congestion due to the truck ban could be averted as long as the agency keeps the yard utilization rate within the desired level in alignment with the global standard rate which does not exceed 70 percent.

The BOC said, however, that between December 1 and 13, the average yard utilization of Manila International Container Port (MICP) is “manageable” at 75 percent.

“To ensure the unhampered delivery of services and avoid possible port congestion, the bureau is closely coordinating with shipping lines and terminal operators as our proactive role in averting the unlikely event of port congestion,” Deputy Commissioner of Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group Edward James A. Dy Buco said.

The BOC said that in the Time-Release Study at the MICP, the average actual customs clearance time for importation is two days, 10 hours, and three minutes from the submission of Goods Declaration to issuance of clearance and three days, 13 hours, and 29 minutes on exportation.

The BOC said the immediate release of shipments greatly contributes in reducing congestion in the country’s ports.

Dy Buco also said the BOC directed the Customs Container Control Division (CCCD) of each port to ensure the loading out of empty containers. He added that all Assessment Offices personnel have been instructed to immediately process laden containers for prompt release to prevent them from piling up at the port.

Central Mail Exchange

APART from these, the BOC and Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) has decided to open the Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) Customer Care Center this December to cater to all transacting clients and attend to their inquiries and concerns.

The center will be equipped with information desks, joint directory, and informative monitors, among others, to complement stakeholders’ awareness to such.

Further, a study on the implementation of online payment of taxes in the Central Mail Exchange Center of parcel importations is ongoing to provide more options for the clients and improve facilitation of trade and collection of revenue.

See “Customs,” A2

See “Senate,” A2

n JAPAN 0.4619 n UK 64.0368 n HK 6.1991 n CHINA 7.3376 n SINGAPORE 36.0063 n AUSTRALIA 36.2183 n EU 58.3664 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.8110

Source: BSP (December 15, 2020)

News A2 Wednesday, December 16, 2020

BusinessMirror

‘Fintech tools can be used for data for green financing’

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By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

HE financial technology (fintech) sector can leverage its tools to collect climaterelated data in line with the country’s initiative of promoting sustainable financing, a fintech group said.

FintechAlliance.ph Chairman Angelito M. Villanueva told the BusinessMirror that the fintech industry can help in coming up with the valuation of climate-related risks for green financing.

“We can play a big role in the collection of data as climate-related data are not available,” he said.

“We need to properly quantify the cost of climate-related risk.”

Villanueva said the industry group has been doing its part to achieve sustainable financing through the recommendation of the Asian Development Bank, which focuses on blockchain, climate financing and innovations in financial instruments.

At the same time, FintechAlliance.ph noted that it has been collaborating with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the

financial institutions in adopting green financing.

“We provide the technology in achieving the goals of sustainable financing,” Villanueva added. “The development of digital financial technology reduces paper transactions; and this would also greatly reduce the impact on the environment.”

He said that sustainable financing can help the economy recover from the challenges posed by climate change and natural calamities.

“The problem of climate change cannot be ignored as seen in the massive flooding we experienced last month and the previous years,” the FintechAlliance.ph chief stressed.

“Cash flows are affected as people try to recover from their misery. That’s why the green fi-

nancing framework is necessary and important to mitigate the risk that our broken environment would cause us,” Villanueva added.

Earlier this year, the BSP issued the guidelines on sustainable finance framework, which require the local banks and financial institutions to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability principles into their corporate strategy, risk management and bank operations.

The banks are given three years to meet all the requirements in the provisions.

Climate-related data

SABINE MAUDERER, a member of the Deutsche Bundesbank’s executive board, said in a recent online forum that climate-related data are not readily available, which means corresponding risks are not usually priced in “adequately.”

This is where fintech players step in, she said, noting they can facilitate collection of necessary and relevant data, thanks to innovative solutions.

Mauderer said digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain allow comprehensive and cost-efficient data gathering.

Apart from data collection, the bank official said fintech firms can also contribute in analyzing the climate-related data.

“Investors and banks can use such data in their analysis modeling and evaluation of climate-related risk and opportunity where they can team up with fintechs offering specialized services in this field,” she said.

Green bonds

THE analysis will then eventually lead to the development of green financial products, Mauderer said.

An example of this is the issuance of green bonds, she cited, which can be made more efficient and credible with the aid of digital technology such as blockchain.

She said that using blockchain “could smooth the complex issuance of green bonds, saving costs and time for issues.”

“This could really open up the green bond market to wider investor base, including retail investors,” Mauderer added.

This month, two financial intermediaries pioneered the blockchain-enabled bond issuance in the country. The digital solution was aimed at providing retail investors a secure and direct access to bonds.

The dual-tranche transaction raised P9 billion at the end of offer period. The bond offering, which has an original issue size of P3 billion, includes 3-year and 5.25-year securities with interest rates of 2.75 percent and 3.375 percent, respectively.

OFW REMITTANCES SEEN HITTING $33.8 BILLION THIS YEAR G LOBAL payments company World­Remit expects an uptrend in international remittance to the Philippines, reaching about $33.8 billion this year, as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) continue to send home their hard-earned money this Christmas amid the Covid-19 pandemic and recent typhoons.

“Based on industry numbers and our experience, inward remittances to the Philippines typically increase by more than 20 percent from November to December,” said Earl Melivo, country director for the Philippines at WorldRemit.

At a recent webinar, he said the bullish projection for fiscal year 2020 would be up to 2 percent higher than $33.5 billion last year.

“As of September 2020, the decline is only at 1.4

percent—Christmas is looking optimistic, and we are foreseeing a peak at this time,” he shared.

Per Melivo, the growth in remittance could be attributed to eased lockdowns in many countries, allowing OFWs to work again; and the financial aid given by the respective governments of their host nations.

Citing the results of the latest World­R emit survey, he revealed that 84 percent of 3,167 participants in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia who have previously sent money to the Philippines plan to send more or about the usual amount for Christmas this year.

This is for the following reasons: 53 percent want to help family or friends here who were financially affected by the crisis, 37 percent like to make up for not

being there in person this year, and 34 percent seek to take advantage of the low exchange rate.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, according to him, show that OFW remittances come from around 223 countries—the top 10, which make up 78 percent of volume, being the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, the UK, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Hong Kong and Qatar.

Melivo noted that among the sending regions and sectors, the Middle East has been the most affected by the crisis, followed by the seafaring industry—both posting double-digit declines in the second quarter of 2020.

He pointed out, though, that these are offset by increasing remittance volumes from the US, Canada, Sin-

House is not adopting Senate version of CREATE Continued from A1

Salceda also noted the threshold for evaluation by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB).

“The data that was submitted to the DOF shows that, from 2017 to the first quarter of 2019, only 3 out of 409 applications to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) breached the P1-billion threshold. From 2015 to 2020, around 27 percent of investment applications with the Board of Investments (BOI) exceeded this threshold,” he said.

“For this reason, we believe that the threshold already takes into account the concerns of other stakeholders that the FIRB might be inundated by applications and might be a cause of delay. At the same time, the threshold also considers fiscal prudence, as the tax expenditure increases with the higher investment amount,” he said.

According to Salceda, the Department of Finance sees the FIRB as a core provision of the fiscal incentives reform, saying, “we strongly recommend retaining the threshold set in the Senate version.”

Under the Senate version, the FIRB has the power to delegate the granting of tax incentives to registered projects or activities with investment capital below P1 billion to Investment Promotion Agencies.

Also, Salceda said both the Senate and the House versions respect the differentiation between highly developed areas and less developed areas in determining the period of availment of incentives and both versions thus provide the longest period of availment to

investments in less developed areas.

“However, should the House of Representatives wish to amend the term of incentives, it may consider shortening the period of availment for the Special Corporate Income Tax rate for the National Capital Region, to make the incentives regime more favorable to less-developed areas,” he said.

Salceda also said they also want to address the concern on the incentives regime for exporters.

“We take note of the concern that incentives should be biased toward export-oriented industries over domestic industries. On the other hand, there are also legislators who see the need to provide incentives to domestic activities or industries that might prove to be very beneficial to the economy,” he added.

“We wish to clarify that, in general, domestic industries should only be able to avail of enhanced deductions, and the Special Corporate Income Tax Rate be limited to domestic industries that are ‘strategic’ under the Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP). Thus, not all domestic industries in the SIPP will be eligible for SCIT,” the solon said.

Under the Senate bill, a Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP) shall be formulated every three years to include priority projects or activities that are in the Philippine Development Plan and takes into account the substantial amounts of investments, considerable job-generation capacity, considerable exports, use of modern technology,

processes and innovation that will lead to SDGs attainment, addressing value chain missing links and gaps, promotion of market competitiveness, contribution to food security, and promotion of regional and global operations in the country, as well as the scope and coverage of location and industry tiers and the terms and conditions on the grant of the enhanced deduction.

HDMF exemption

ON the corporate income tax (CIT) exemption for the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), Salceda said the tax exemption of HDMF remains under Section 19 of RA 9679, which under the House version was repealed, hence, the need to amend Section 27 of the NIRC of 1997, as amended or the Tax Code to include HDMF in the enumeration of tax-exempt government-owned or -controlled corporations.

“This incorporates the HDMF exemption in the Tax Code rather than under the said special law. However, under CREATE [of the Senate], only the incentive provisions under the IPA charters are repealed. All other special laws, which include RA 9679, are not included on the repeal list. Thus, the tax-exempt status of the HDMF would be preserved,” he added.

Salceda said the House also takes note of the concern of Bataan Rep. Jose Enrique Garcia III about potential job losses due to CREATE.

“We bring to the House’s attention a study commissioned by the Department of Labor and Employment, which found that the proposed reduction in the corporate income tax rate and modernization of the tax incentives system for companies will propel economic growth, create more jobs, and lower poverty incidence,” he said.

Salceda also said the study, supported by the Asian Development Bank and the Department of Finance, noted a higher GDP growth of 8.2 percent in 2029 with additional foreign direct investment and job creation estimated at 212,000 in 2020 to 2.3 million by 2029 if the CIT reduction is reinvested in the economy.

“We are confident that this transition period will outlast the economic slowdown due to Covid-19 and help protect jobs,” he said.

gapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

“This is where the role of digital players like WorldRemit proves crucial as we help ensure a continued flow of remittances from migrant workers, despite lockdowns in host countries,” explained the country director.

Even if industry forecasts on the OFW remittances remain upbeat this year, the not-so-good turnout of events of 2020 have reinforced the importance of fast, convenient, safe and dependable financial services.

“The pandemic has definitely underscored the need to prioritize financial inclusion. The long lockdowns, while good for the health and safety of Filipinos across the globe, have limited mobility. Hence, sending and even claiming remittances were physically challenging for many,” Melivo said. Roderick L. Abad

Senate…

Continued from A1

The new measure seeks to extend the effectivity of the said law to allow the government to continue its programs and efforts taken under the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, provided that it is within its budgetary appropriations, until June 30, 2021.

Late on Monday, the Speaker of the House of Representatives expressed optimism that the passage of the bill extending the validity of Bayanihan 2 will accelerate the country’s socioeconomic recovery from the adverse impact of the pandemic.

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said the House of Representatives approved both on second and third and final reading Monday night the extension of the effectivity of the Covid-19 appropriations under the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act or Bayanihan 2 to June 30, 2021, after the chamber received a correspondence from Malacañang that the measure had been certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

“We cannot agree more with President Duterte on the need to extend the effectivity of Bayanihan 2 in order to accelerate the country’s socioeconomic recovery,” said Velasco, one of the principal authors of the measure.

Voting 179 affirmative, 6 negative with no abstention, the Velasco-led chamber passed House Bill 8063 seeking to extend the validity of Bayanihan 2 under Republic Act 11494, which is set to expire on December 19.

House Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Committee on Appropriations Chairman Eric Yap and Committee on Accounts Chairman Paolo Duterte are also principal authors of the bill.

The bill said the fund releases to the local government units and government financial institutions, and the utilization thereof for programs, projects and activities enumerated in Section 10 of the law are also extended until June 30, 2021.

It also said all unreleased appropriations authorized under the law shall be available for release, obligations and disbursement until June 30, 2021.

Butch Fernandez, Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PALACE CERTAIN CASE VS PHL IN ICC DOOMED; RIGHTS GROUPS WELCOME PROSECUTOR’S MOVE

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By Samuel P. Medenilla

ALACAÑANG on Tuesday said it is confident the pending case against the government at the International Criminal Court (ICC), for allegedly allowing extrajudicial killings in its war against illegal drugs, will not prosper.

On Tuesday, it was reported that a prosecutor of ICC found sufficient basis on the allegation and is now pushing to formally start investigation on the anti-drug campaign of the government since the administration of President Duterte took power in 2016.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque called the pending case before the ICC “legally erroneous” since the Philippines is supposedly no longer part of the Hague-based body’s jurisdiction, having formally withdrawn in 2019 its ratification of the Rome Statute, which created the ICC.

“They could do whatever they want. But we do not recognize the jurisdiction and decision of the ICC,” Roque said.

He explained this was supported by the previous decision of the ICC on the case filed against the United States for its alleged human-rights violations in Afghanistan.

Rights groups hail move

WHILE the Palace shrugged off the latest development at the ICC, it was, however, welcomed by human-rights advocates and labor groups.

In a statement, the former chief of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Loretta “Etta” Rosales said the full-blown ICC probe on the extrajudicial killings will finally lead to the prosecution of the people behind it.

“Mr. Duterte thought he could evade justice by doing everything to stop the ICC, withdrawing our nation from its jurisdiction and harassing the delegations sent here. But all Mr. Duterte has done is prove his fear of finally being brought under the law. Let this be an example of how no one is above the law,” Rosales said.

Labor coalition Nagkaisa echoed Rosales’s position, stating it will also bring justice to labor leaders who became victims of the government’s alleged human-rights violations.

“It is these activists, unionists and reformers that have been the focus of government repression, not the thieves in power that have robbed Filipinos of a dignified life for decades. We look forward to holding the Duterte government accountable for its crimes against the working people of the Philippines,” Nagkaisa said in a statement.

Customs…

Continued from A1

“Concurrent with these initiatives, the CMEC also maximizes its information dissemination capability through placement of monitors, and process flow charts in conspicuous areas in the CMEC,” BOC-CMEC said in a separate statement.

An existing Customer Care Unit will also be operational to attend to concerns of postal item claimants while waiting for the inauguration of a new Customer Care Center.

The BOC-CMEC also improved its examination and assessment areas, lobby for claimants and current offices to boost the foregoing initiatives, and will continue to support the full automation and modernization programs of the BOC.

P43.85-B loss

IN 2014, a study by state-owned think tank Philippine Institute

GIR…

Continued from A1

than the previous month’s $103.8 billion. It is also $18.27 billion higher than last year’s $83.23-billion GIR level.

The country’s GIR is the level of foreign exchange holdings being managed by the Central Bank during a given period. The GIR is a crucial component of the economy as it is often used to manage the country’s foreign-exchange rate against excess volatility.

According to the BSP’s statement, the month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected inflows mainly from its foreignexchange operations and income from its investments abroad.

The BSP said the increase in the country’s GIR could have been larger, if not partly offset by the foreign currency withdrawals the national government made to pay its foreign currency debt obligations and revaluation losses from the BSP’s gold holdings due to the decrease in the price of gold in the international market.

At this level, the BSP said the country’s GIR is “adequate” enough to provide a liquidity buffer for the

of Development Studies (PIDS) estimated that the economy lost P43.85 billion due to port congestion.

The congestion, the government said, was caused by the seven-month truck ban imposed by the City of Manila in 2014.

The researchers estimated that BOC losses cornered the lion’s share of the amount. The customs agency’s revenue losses reached an estimated P25.55 billion.

This was followed by output losses which reached P18.20 billion and vehicle operating costs, P0.99 billion during the sevenmonth period.

The truck ban in the City of Manila also caused other problems such as the doubling of shipping costs for 20-footer and/or 40 footer containers.

Prior to the truck ban, the study noted that shipping costs for these types of containers amounted to P18,000, but after the truck ban, the cost reached P36,000.

country and can help cushion the domestic economy against external shocks.

BSP estimates that the current GIR level is equivalent to 11.2 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. It is also about 9.3 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.3 times based on residual maturity.

The Philippines’s GIR has been rising significantly faster this year, as the dollar remains weak against the peso.

In 2016 the country’s GIR was at $81 billion and reached $82 billion in 2017. It then dipped to $79 billion in 2018, then recovered to $87 billion last year.

Broken down by GIR component, the country’s gold holdings declined the most during the period. From $11.655 billion in endOctober this year, gold holdings are now valued at $10.75 billion in November.

On the other hand, inflows from foreign investments registered the highest growth to hit $89 billion from the $87.4 billion in the previous month.

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Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Wednesday, December 16, 2020 A3

SC rules gender not an issue in sexual harassment cases

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

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HE Supreme Court has handed down a decision that addresses the issue of sexual harassment involving men, declaring that “it is not an issue of gender but an issue of power.”

In a news statement, the Court said its decision on the case of a male seafarer (GR 231748) promulgated on July 8, 2020 but was made public only on Tuesday would correct society’s “discriminatory” notion that “women are the weaker sex and the only victims of sexual harassment.”

Thus, the SC’s Third Division

directed a manning agency and its principal to pay the petitioner, whose name was withheld by the Court, the amount of $1,389.20 representing his unexpired portion of his contract and damages after he was sexually harassed and physically abused by a ship officer while at sea in 2014.

Likewise, the Court also ordered the respondent Anglo-Eastern Crew Management Philippines Inc. and its foreign principal Anglo-Eastern (Antwerp) NV, to pay the petitioner P100,000 reinstated moral damages, P50,000 reinstated exemplary damages, and attorney’s fees amounting to 10 percent of the total monetary award.

The Court held that all the amounts shall earn legal interest at the rate of 6 percent from the finality of the decision until fully paid.

In the decision, the Court declared that the petitioner, being a victim of sexual harassment, should not be faulted for belatedly seeking medical help considering his dire financial condition.

It also acknowledged that it usually takes time for victims of sexual harassment to come forward, even if the victim is a male due to several factors like stigma, sense of loss of masculinity, and fear of being perceived as a homosexual.

The SC recognized that male victims of sexual harassment also

suffer emotional and psychological trauma and faces risk of further sexual harassment on board ocean-going vessels.

The petitioner was employed as a messman by Anglo-Eastern Crew on behalf of Antwerp in October 2013 and was deployed on board a ship in February 2014.

Based on the records of the case, the victim recounted that on the evening of June 27, 2014, he served dinner to one of the ship’s officers who later demanded that he perform a sexual act but he resisted and left the room.

Moments later, the officer tried again to make sexual advances at him, but he resisted and escaped.

The next day, the messman filed a complaint for physical abuse and sexual abuse under the influence of alcohol against the officer before the ship’s captain.

Two of his coworkers corroborated his complaints and the incidents were entered in the Deck Log Book.

The officer threatened to kill the messman for filing a complaint.

A few weeks later, he was repatriated back to the Philippines and was later examined by the company physician who said he was sexually harassed and physically abused by the officer.

In November 2014, he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by a clini-

cal psychologist.

He filed a labor complaint but the labor arbiter, while finding he was illegally dismissed, concluded that he could not claim disability benefits because he failed to report within three days from his arrival and the medical evidence he submitted was not enough to guarantee his disability claim.

The labor arbiter granted him moral and exemplary damages and attorney’s fees.

The petitioner appealed his case before the National Labor Relations Commission and to the Court of Appeals which ruled against his petition, prompting him to seek redress before the SC.

About to leave the house? Don’t forget to wear face mask and shield, Palace reminds public

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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VERYONE is now required to wear a face mask and a face shield whenever leaving the house.

At an online news briefing on Tuesday, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATFEID) made the decision in its Resolution 88, Series of 2020, which was issued last Monday.

“All persons are mandated to wear full-coverage face shields, together

with face masks, earloop masks, indigenous, reusable, or do-it-yourself masks, or other facial protective equipment,” the IATF said in its fivepaged issuance.

Roque said this was part of government efforts to minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) during the Christmas holidays.

He noted he is confident almost all people will be able to comply with the new policy since affordable face shields are now widely available in the market.

Prior to the said issuance, face shields was only required for peo-

All persons are mandated to wear full-coverage face shields, together with face masks, earloop masks, indigenous, reusable, or do-it-yourself masks, or other facial protective equipment.”­—IATF issuance Presidential spokesman Harry Roque ple, who will be entering malls and enclosed areas, or boarding

BM

public transportation.

Aside from the mandatory wear-

ing of face shields, the IATF-EID also intensified the community quarantine in the province of Isabela, except Santiago City, to general community quarantine (GCQ) from modified GCQ (MGCQ).

This was in response to the request of the local government in the province amid the rising cases of infections in their jurisdiction.

The new classification of Isabela will take effect up to December 30, 2020.

Roque said the IATF-EID also allow the resumption of the operation of provincial buses in point to point routes approved by the

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) including their stop-over/transit terminals.

“For this purpose, the Department of Transportation through the LTFRB, is directed to craft the necessary operational guidelines,” IATF said in its latest resolution.

The IATF also allowed the resumption of the training for national athletes, who will be competing in the Tokyo Olympics in a “bubble type” setting, as well as the qualifying examinations for insurance agents in GCQ areas.

A4 Wednesday, December 16, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

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PHL eyes free trade deal with EU to widen GSP+ perks–DTI chief T

BFAR hoists ‘red tide’ flag anew in 21 coastal areas in 12 provinces

HE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has declared 21 coastal areas in 12 provinces across the country as “positive” for red tide.

In its latest Shellfish Bulletin, BFAR through its Information and Fisherfolk Coordination Unit, said that based on the latest laboratory results conducted together with concerned local government units (LGUs), several coastal areas remain positive for paralytic shellfish poison that is beyond the regulatory limit.

These are Mariveles, Limay, Orion, Pilar, Balanga, Hermosa, Orani, Abucay, and Samal in the province of Bataan; Honda and Puerto Princesa City in Palawan; Coastal waters of Milagros in Masbate; Sorsogon Bay in Sorsogon; Coastal waters of Dauis and Tagbilaran City in Bohol; Tambobo Bay, Siaton in Negros Oriental; Coastal waters of Daram Island, Zumarraga, Cambatutay, Irong-irong, Maqueda, and Villareal Bays in Western Samar; Coastal waters

of Calubian, Leyte, Cancabato Bay, Tacloban City, and Carigara Bay in Leyte; Coastal water of Biliran Islands; Coastal waters of Guiuan in Eastern Samar; Balite Bay, Mati City in Davao Oriental; Lianga Bay and Coastal waters of Hinatuan in Surigao del Sur; and Dumanquillas Bay in Zamboanga del Sur. As such, all types of shellfish and Acetes sp., or alamang, gathered from these areas are not safe for human consumption.

While fish, squids, shrimps and crabs are safe, the public is reminded that they only consume those that are fresh, and washed thoroughly before cooking.

It is also advised that internal organs such as gills and intestines are removed to avoid food poisoning.

Meanwhile, BFAR said that the coastal waters of Inner Malampaya Sound, Taytay in Palawan, Matarinao Bay in Eastern Samar; and San Pedro Bay in Western Samar are now free of the toxic red tides. Jonathan L. Mayuga

MMDA’s Garcia relents, sets reopening of some U-turn slots at Edsa on Friday

Converge achieves 1-M subscriber mark, gives free speed hike of up to 300 Mbps

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

T

HE Philippines could maximize the benefits from the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) with the European Union (EU) through a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

In a news statement issued on Tuesday, DTI said Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez recently met with Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis of the European Commission to discuss the future of the country’s GSP+ with the EU, an FTA, and other trade and investment matters.

Noting that GSP+ is hinged on the implementation of the 27 international core conventions, DTI said the Philippines stands ready to engage the EU in constructive dialogue with the conduct of a technical mission early next year.

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

I

N response to the appeal of motorists and local government units, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Tuesday assured the House Committee on Metro Manila Development that it will reopen more U-turn slots at Edsa by Friday.

MMDA General Manager Jojo Garcia confirmed the planned reopening during the committee hearing on Tuesday chaired by Manila First District Rep. Manuel T. Lopez.

Garcia said the decision was made in consultation with the Quezon City government whose residents have been greatly affected by the traffic jam triggered by the closure of many U-turn slots along Edsa, which is part of the Edsa Busway Project that ex-

“Our meeting today is indicative of the country’s continuing strong ties with the EU, and we hope to push for deeper trade and investment engagements by maximizing the benefits from the GSP+ and through a possible FTA with them,” Lopez said.

For his part, Dombrovskis welcomed the constructive first exchange with the Philippine trade chief, noting that he is looking forward to the continued cooperation in terms of trade and investment of the two parties.

Lopez and Dombrovskis expressed anticipation with the convening of the Sub-Committee of Trade, Investment and Economic Cooperation under the PHL-EU Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PCA) next year to prepare the bilateral FTA. Under the subcommittee, both sides are expected to discuss the negotiations for a bilateral FTA between the Philippines and the EU. The meeting also discussed

clusively designates the innermost lane of Edsa to buses.

He said the MMDA will open the U-turn slot in front of the Quezon City Academy, while other U-turn slots may be opened to emergency vehicles.

For his part, Lopez said his committee has conducted the hearing to provide positive results and solutions, both on a short-term and long-term basis on Metro Manila’s traffic problems.

“We are all one in recognizing this traffic situation has already reached such magnitude and that there is really no easy fix to this problem.

Today, the MMDA acknowledged the gravity of the problem and has promised by Friday to immediately cooperate with concern governments and…open-up a U-turn slot this Friday,” Lopez said.

developments at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels with both officials highlighting the importance of GSP+ and its benefits for the Philippines.

DTI reiterated the importance of GSP+ to the country’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as small communities, in the wake of the economic challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Aside from the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the EU and the Philippines, Dombrovskis also highlighted the establishment of the EU-Asean Strategic Partnership on December 1, 2020.

The landmark EU-PH PCA entered into force in March 2018, strengthening ties in political, social, and economic matters.

Meanwhile, the EU-Asean Strategic Partnership elevates the ties of the two blocs, based on shared values and principles such as rulesbased international order, effective

“Our goal is to have long-term and effective solutions to our traffic problems. Until we achieve this goal, our committee will continue monitoring the development of the projects to ensure that the public is given what it deserves,” he added.

Lopez, meanwhile, asked the MMDA to ensure the safety and welfare of the commuters and motorists in the implementation of the project, stressing the crucial impacts of heavy traffic in the major thoroughfare.

“This issue does not only affect the residents of Quezon City, or Caloocan, or Makati or those residents or localities that is traversed by Edsa. This issue affects the whole of Metro Manila and in a large part the whole of the country,” he said.

and sustainable multilateralism, and free and fair trade, with a commitment to regular summits at leaders’ levels.

In 2019, the EU was the Philippines 4th-largest trading partner with a total trade of 15.7 billion euros. The Philippines is the only Asean member-state that benefits from GSP+.

Health-conscious Europeans could be the next top market for Philippine products, such as coconut sugar, pili nuts, and dried fruits, according to a study by the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO).

The reports also indicated that natural ingredients from the Philippines, which are needed in food, cosmetics, and health products, have high export potential in European markets.

The study aims to help maximize the potential of the free trade agreement between the Philippines and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

By Ashley Manabat Correspondent

A BIKES TO GO A worker unloads a batch of brand-new motorcycles from an assembly plant

in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, in front of a shop along Quirino Highway in Lagro, Novaliches, Quezon City, on Monday, December 14, 2020. Aside from bicycles, motorcycles have seen a big spike in demand as a form of transportation and livelihood tool, especially for riders offering various services amid the Covid-19 pandemic. PNA PHOTO BY OLIVER MARQUEZ

Writ of Kalikasan seeks to halt SMC’s ₧735.6-billion Bulacan airport project

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

& Joel R. San Juan

A

@jrsanjuan1573

FFECTED fisherfolk and civil-society groups led by Oceana Philippines filed on Tuesday a petition for a Writ of Kalikasan against proponents of the P735.6-billion New Manila International Airport Project in Bulakan, Bulacan.

Among the petitioners, fisherfolk based in Bulakan, were represented by Teodoro Bacon and Rodel Alvarez.

Together with Oceana, through its Vice President Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos, Archbishop Roger Martinez of the Archdiocese of San Jose del Monte, and Aniban ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura led by Renato de la Cruz, the group’s chairman, the petitioners trooped to the Supreme Court in Manila with the hope of stopping the project, which, they said, will require massive land-reclamation, or dump-andfill activities.

Named respondents in a 95-page petition are Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, Environmental Management Bureau Region III Regional Director Wilson Trajeco, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, San Miguel Aerocity President/CEO Ramon S. Ang, and Silvertides President/CEO Hercules V. Galicia.

The respondents pointed out that it was Silvertides that acquired an environmental clearance certificate (ECC) on June 14, 2019 for land development, but not for the airport project.

At a news conference via Zoom on Tuesday, environmental lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, vice president of Oceana said the petition for the issuance of a Writ of Kalikasan aims to stop the further destruction of fishing grounds and important habitats, and compel concerned government agencies tasked to implement various environmental laws to protect the environment.

“We take this as a serious duty on our part that our right to a balanced ecology, people’s rights, especially fishers and farmers’ are protected,” said Ramos.

According to the petitioners, the SMC subsidiary had been saying that their project was different from SMC’s aerotropolis.

For this purpose, the Writ of Kalikasan is also pushing for the issuance of a court order declaring the DENR’s Freedom of Information Manual, which exempts environmental impact statement from public disclosure—as ultra vires and invalid—the agency having continuously refused to provide a copy of the document, they said.

Atty. Gregorio Tanaka Viterbo Jr., Oceana’s legal counsel who filed the petition said several Philippine environmental laws were violated, including the Environmental Impact System (EIS) law.

According to Viterbo, one of the violations of the proponents of the project is the lack of an ECC for an airport project.

“What we have on record is an ECC for land development which does not mention the airport which covers the same area,” he said.

He added that the petition emphasized that Manila Bay is a key biodiversity area.

“Based on the parameters even of the area for the airport project, it actually covers forest and permanent forest lands, which are not alienable and disposable. Even the fishponds which they say their acquired from private landowners are not possible because there are laws that say mangrove areas are forest lands,” he said.

Further, Viterbo said that portion of the project site in Barangay Taliptip is protected by 50-year-old law, after having been declared as the Bulacan Fishing Reservation, which makes it a public land that “cannot be disposed of.”

To recall, SMC, with its subsidiary-contractor Silvertides Holdings, bared plans to construct the New Manila International Airport which will be built on a 2,500-hectare foreshore area of Bulakan, Bulacan—classified by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority as forestland and permanent forestland.

The airport is part of an envisioned 12,000-hectare township that features a residential zone, government center, seaport, and an industrial zone.

In attempting to stop the reclamation of Manila Bay, the petitioners hope to save the sardines, shrimps and crabs, endangered migratory birds, and mangroves, marine habitats and ecosystem in Manila Bay, and full compliance with fisheries and other environmental laws, thereby protecting our natural life support systems and the fisherfolk who depend on these for livelihood.

M a n i l a B ay ser ves a s t he main source of livelihood for residents in the coastal cities and municipalities of the National Capital Region. It also contributes a sizable portion to the total fish production of the countr y.

According to the 2018 data of the Philippine Statistics Authority, municipal, commercial, and aquaculture workers of Metro Manila alone yielded an estimated 103,882.87 metric tons of fishery products from Manila Bay. Manila Bay is a rich sardine spawning ground, according to the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute.

“We have to keep on working together in the protection, rehabilitation, and conservation of Manila Bay, not only for its economic importance and contribution to national food security, and for its historical, cultural, and aesthetic value but to make ecosystems and people resilient to the impacts of climate change,” Ramos said.

Just last year, a newly discovered sardine species, Sardinella pacifica, was identified from the bay.

Farther out, near the mouth of the bay, the DENR also discovered coral reefs thriving despite the condition of the water.

Mangroves in Bulacan—which have since been reduced to only 27 percent of the original acreage due to rampant cutting—are critical to defending the coastal communities from storm surge, land subsidence, and other impacts of climate change.

“Environmental damage of such magnitude is prejudicial to the life,

health or property of inhabitants in two or more cities or provinces, not to mention its impacts on declining fish catch to fisherfolk communities in Manila Bay and even that of passengers and airline owners from possible bird strike,” said Ramos.

Using the conservative global average for sea-level rise (SLR) in Manila Bay of 29 cm by 2050 and the steady rates of land subsidence due to uncontrolled groundwater extraction, the air port tarmac could be back at sea level and at risk of daily flooding by the year 2052.

“This calculation suggests this project is not viable in this location and not worth the massive ecological and socioeconomic impact that it would entail. It is no wonder that the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan released in June 2020 draws a coastal line of defense that goes way inland than the project covered area,” said Ramos.

The Writ of Kalikasan is a legal remedy that provides protection of a person’s constitutional right to a healthy environment.

Article II Section 16 of the 1987 Const it ut ion states t hat t he “state shall protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.”

“Manila Bay is an active and living bay. It plays host to several species of fishes, seashells, and corals, and even endangered migratory birds. These are affected by this airport and real estate development,” the petitioners said.

NGELES CITY—The fastpaced shift to a digital lifestyle ushered by the pandemic has placed an utmost importance on the reliability of Internet connection.

Major activities that drive heavier Internet traffic such as work from home, distance learning, and at-home entertainment such as online gaming and video streaming and the increased use of features like 4K video which call for higher speeds have fueled the demand for better connectivity— a key commitment of Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc. (Converge ICT) to its ever-growing community.

Now, with a million subscribers and in the spirit of Christmas, Converge ICT celebrates this milestone by giving free speed increases to its customers of up to 300 Mbps.

Starting December 15, both existing and new subscribers will be able to enjoy permanent speed upgrades to their plans without additional fees.

But for existing Plan 1500 subscribers, which is the basic entry level, they need to pay an additional P99 per month to enjoy a 10 Mbps upgrade on top of their plan for a total of P1,599/month.

With these upgrades, Converge continues to be a driving force for Filipinos in providing fast and reliable connectivity, addressing customers’ at-home needs. “ The shifts we experienced this year have been pivotal to the growth of the fixed broadband market in the Philippines. With Converge ICT’s expertise, we are in a prime position to help the community adapt to the digital lifestyle by serving their at-home needs,” said Dennis Anthony Uy, founder and chief executive officer of Converge ICT. “The speed increase is one of the many steps we are undertaking to ensure that we follow through with our commitment to providing fast and affordable Internet nationwide,” he added.

“With the holiday season fast approaching, the speed increase is also our way of giving back to Filipinos. We want to ensure they receive uninterrupted reliable Internet that will allow them to stay connected to their loved ones this Christmas,” Uy concluded.

News BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Wednesday, December 16, 2020 A5

Antipolo IPs switch side in UMRBPL land feud

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

T

RIBAL leaders of the DumagatRemontados of Antipolo City has turned the tables against Blue Star Construction and Development Corp., operator of the Masungi Georeserve, and accused its president, Benjamin Dumaliang, of alleged land grabbing activities.

Rublou Inc. and Blue Star, which are both occupying portions of the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL) are in conflict over boundary issues.

Blue Star and Masungi filed a complaint before the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) against Rublou Inc., and its subsidiary, Green Atom, for allegedly occupying a portion of UMRBPL. After putting up fences, Masungi complained that Rublou Inc. and Green Atom deployed security guards in the area.

Masungi Georeser ve wants

Rublou Inc. and Green Atom out of the area.

Masungi Georeserve and its operators were given authority by the DENR to conduct reforestation activities within the UMRBPL. At a news conference via Zoom, the tribal leaders, who claim to represent the Kaksaan Ne Dumaget De Antipolo Inc., however, claimed it was Blue Star and Masungi Georeserve that have allegedly encroached in their ancestral land.

The Dumagat-Remontados is claiming 13,000 hectares of the 26,000 hectares UMRBPL as part of their ancestral domain although the tribe has not yet to secure its Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) from the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP).

During the news conference, they also lambasted officials of Masungi and Benjamin Dumaliang, president of the Blue Star, operator of Masungi Georeserve, for labeling them as “land grabbers, squatters and ille-

gal loggers who caused the flood in Marikina recently.”

Ernesto Doroteo, one of 7 tribal chieftains in Antipolo said they were offended by Masungi’s remarks and took the side of Rublou, adding that the Dumagat-Remontados of Antipolo is a longtime friend of Green Atom President Luizo Ticman, a retired general who has been helping the tribe since the 1990s.

He also hit the DENR for its failed National Greening Program (NGP) program in the UMRBPL, and for allegedly allowing private interests and individuals who are the ones to blame for the massive tree poaching and charcoal-making activities in their ancestral land and exploit the natural resources that are supposed to be for the benefit of IP communities in the area.

During the press conference, the tribal leaders admitted selling a 300 hectare portion of their ancestral land, which is alienable and disposable, to Ticman in the 1990s for P5

per sq m but they said the latter “subsumed” the said property back to the IPs. “Masungi is lying. They are the ones, together with the military, who forcefully intruded into our property and fenced it off as part of the Masungi last October 2020.

And if it was not for the help of Retired Gen. Luizo Ticman since the early 1990s, we would have lost by force most of our ancestral homeland,” stressed Doroteo, a 2006 Bayaning Filipino Awardee.

Doroteo said they came forward also to clarify that a written document bearing signatures of 24 Dumagat-Remontados denying their association with Rublou or its security guards has already been scrapped, overturned by a majority of 40 tribal leaders who are siding with Ticman and his company on the issue.

Enrico Vertudez, Kaksaan president; Alex Bendaña, chieftain; and the security guards of the Dumagats who also took part in

the press conference corroborated Doroteo’s claim, as they showed the map of their ancestral domain and the areas intruded and fenced off by allegedly by Masungi, which includes their Sacred Grounds somewhere in Barangay San Jose.

Doroteo said that the Dumagats and Ticman have long been partners and harmoniously working together to conserve and protect the environment of their homeland through livelihood projects since the 1990s, and now, through the leadership and assistance of the latter’s daughter, Loise Ticman.

He said they formally approached Ticman last 2019 for more help in developing their land sustainably, which resulted in the project called Sustainable Integrated Development Plan (SIDP). He added: “Gen. Ticman is a very kind and honorable man. We hope that there will be more like him in our society who treats us like his family.”

“Through the media, we are

seeking the help of President Duterte and the National Commission on Indigenous People and DENR to uphold the rule of law and not to believe the lies peddled

by Masungi. We, as the legal and real stakeholders, are culturally and legally bound to preserve and conserve our ancestral domain,” stressed Reynaldo Doroteo, chairman of the Kaksaan.

Loise Ticman, Rublou’s CSR director and project director of the SIDP, explained that she has since replaced her father in the projects for the Dumagats. The SIDP focuses on sustainable livelihood projects, reforestation, and protection and conservation of the environment and the watershed. Then a police major in Rizal in the 1990s, her father, she said, was sought for help by the Dumagats. Through the years, they became friends and allies against land grabbers, intruders, and illegal activities in the area, she narrated.

Duterte extends Janairo’s term as DOH-Calabarzon regional director

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

S

TRESSING that Covid-19 cases in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) remains relatively high and his service is still needed to address the problem, President Duterte has approved the extension of government service of Dr. Eduardo C. Janairo beyond the compulsory retirement age, as Director IV of the Department of Health (DOH) in the region.

“He still has a lot of work to do. Maraming Covid sa Calabarzon at kailangan itong solusyunan agad para hindi na dumami pa [and this should be given solution to stop the spread of the virus], Duterte said.

“At saka marami pa siyang magagawa.

[He has still a lot of work to do]. I can honestly say, the government still needs his expertise,” he added.

Janairo retired on November 20, 2020 serving the DOH for 38 years.

He has enforced the needed change on the current setup of DOH for the government to improve health access to the grass roots level and provide the necessary health care for the poor, the Indigenous People (IPs) and those in

DEPARTMENT of Health-Calabarzon Regional Director Eduardo C. Janairo addresses a recent event in this file photo. President Duterte has approved on Tuesday the Janairo’s term extension following his 38 years in government service. PHOTO COURTESY OF PIA

the Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA).

He is the only health executive to serve in nine DOH Regional Offices as director and the only one to receive an extension in service.

For his part, Janairo welcomed the privilege that was accorded to him to serve the government again.

The Executive Order from Malaca-

ñang was received by Janairo on December 15, 2020.

PRC calls for more blood donations

ANTICIPATING a possible surge in the demand for blood supply and reserves during the holiday season, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) is calling on blood donors to donate and replenish

the reserves in case of emergencies.

“Ang pangangailangan sa dugo ay hindi tumitigil [The need for blood doesn’t stop],” PRC Chairman & CEO Sen. Richard Gordon said in a radio broadcast interview.

The PRC, he said, is calling on the people to keep in touch with PRC’s 103 chapters and 98 blood centers or call 143 for urgent blood concerns.

“We know that blood will be a top concern in this season. PRC will be open to help,” Gordon assured.

To better work during any untoward incident, PRC calls on donors too, to give blood, citing that the holiday this season is the leanest month and our donation drives will surely slow down.

“We encourage

Pilot face-to-face classes limited to MGCQ areas

T

HE implementation of the pilot faceto-face classes in “very select schools” in January next year will only take place in areas under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) categorized as low-risk areas following stringent health and safety protocols, according to the Department of Education (DepEd).

As the DepEd welcomes the approval of President Duterte and the Cabinet on the conduct of pilot face-to-face classes, the agency emphasized that there must be a commitment for shared responsibility of “DepEd, the local government unit [LGU], and the parents or guardians.”

“The department would also like to emphasize that learners will not be compelled to participate and can continue their distance learning setup. Selected schools will

require consent from parents allowing their children to join the limited face-to-face classes,” the DepEd said in a news statement issued on Tuesday.

For schools, the DepEd stressed that there must be a well-documented report of readiness, including risk classification, documentation of acknowledgment of shared responsibility, students and classroom management plan, and health standard requirements at home, during travel, and in school premises.

The limited number of public schools that will participate in the pilot implementation will be determined within the month upon evaluation of their compliance and readiness.

Once selected, the participating schools, LGUs, learners, and parents will undergo a thorough process of orientation, mobilization, and readiness confirmation before the

actual implementation.

The regional directors have already submitted to Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones the nominated schools that satisfy the specific conditions laid by the department.

“The conduct and monitoring will be closely coordinated by the Department with the Covid-19 National Task Force [NTF].

External organizations are also invited to support, give feedback, and help generate resources to ensure the success of the program,” the DepEd assured.

“Recognizing that face-to-face classes remain a necessity for education, this pilot implementation in low-risk areas can help policy-makers and the department in coming up with more comprehensive recommendations and initiatives for learning continuity moving forward,” the DepEd added. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

PIDS study reveals ‘abundance’ of microplastics in Tañon Strait

By Cai U. Ordinario

A

@caiordinario

RESEARCH study recently conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) has bared the abundance of microplastics in Tañon Strait, the country’s largest marine-protected area, at levels higher than in similar bodies of water in countries like China.

In a news statement, PIDS said the finding was part of the study titled “Are Marine-protected Areas Sheltered from Plastic Pollution?” done on in the vast strait located between Cebu and Negros Islands.

The author, Maria Kristina Paler, is a grantee

of the Philippine APEC Study Center Network’s (PASCN) Thesis and Dissertation Program. The PIDS serves as the secretariat and convener of the PASCN. “The relatively high microplastic occurrence in Tañon Strait shows that the Philippines has been contributing a substantial volume of plastic debris into the marine ecosystem.

This calls for proper waste disposal to mitigate the problem of plastic pollution,” Paler said.

Paler noted, however, that banning singleuse plastics may not be “economically sound,” considering Filipinos’ preference for sachets over bottled products due to economic constraints.

She then called for the provision of economic incentives to manufacturers that use

substitutes for these plastic materials.

Another recommendation is for the “prohibition of discarding nets in seas, which is notoriously a common practice in the Philippines.” Paler also suggested recycling and energy recovery as ways to treat “residual waste,” such as diapers and sanitary napkins.

“As such, policies to reduce single-use packaging, particularly polyethylene-based plastics, should be pursued,” Paler urged.

The data showed that microplastics in the waters of the Tañon Strait ranged from 0 to 1.5 items per liter, while its abundance in the sediments ranged from 0 to 39.72 items per kilogram dry weight.

people to donate blood for this will be a great help in our efforts to provide aid to the most vulnerable,” he added.

For the location of the blood centers and available schedule, people may visit this link: https://redcross.org.

ph/give-blood/.In the National Capital Region, PRC blood banks are located in its national headquarters at 37 Edsa corner, Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong City; and in its Manila blood bank at Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila.

BusinessMirror

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

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ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS NO.

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS POSITION

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

LIN, YILING Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

ACCENTURE, INC. 7f Robinsons Cybergate Tower 1 Pioneer St Mandaluyong City 2.

LOHINOVA, OLEKSANDRA Ukrainian

TECHNICAL WRITING AND TRANSLATION PROJECT EMPLOYEE

AMERICAN EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL, INC. 15th, 25th To 30th/f Bonifacio One Technology Tower (e-square Information Technology Park) 3030 Rizal Drive, West Bgc Fort Bonifacio Taguig City 3.

WHYTE, MICHAEL EDWARD Irish

VP AND GENERAL MANAGER

ANOC99 CORPORATION 5/f Ayala Malls Manila Bay Building D. Macapagal Blvd. Cor. Aseana Street Tambo Parañaque City 4.

HOANG LY LIEM Vietnamese

5.

LAN, YANG Chinese

6.

LIM KUAN HOE Malaysian

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

7.

YANG, ZHONGXING Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

8.

ZHAN, SONGBO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

BIG EMPEROR TECHNOLOGY CORP. Eastfield Center Cbp1, Macapagal Blvd. Brgy. 076 Pasay City 9.

DU, TINGTING Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

10.

HUANG, JIANHONG Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

SONG, XIANWEI Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

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TONG, CHENGLONG Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

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WANG, LIN Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

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14.

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WU, DANYANG Chinese YANG, JIAN Chinese YI, YUQIANG Chinese ZENG, XIANGZHEN Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

ZHANG, XIAOJIE Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

19.

ZHAO, ANXING Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

20.

CHEN, JUNLONG Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

21.

DING, YUANKAI Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

22.

HO CHEN KONG Malaysian

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

18.

23.

HUANG, ZHITING Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

24.

LIAO, JIAHUI Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

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LIM EE SHING Malaysian

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

MO, JIAJU Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

26.

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PU, JIALI Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

28.

RONG, CHUANGFA Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

29.

WEN, TING Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

30.

WU, XUHANG Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

31.

XIAO, XIANG Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

32.

YE, ZHIKUN Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

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ZENG, YAOMING Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

34.

ZHAO, JUNJIE Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

35.

36.

ZHAO, JIANCHENG Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

ZOU, YANG Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

NO.

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS POSITION

BIGDOLPHIN SERVICES INC. Ug-8, Ug-9 & Ug-11 Cityland 10 Tower 2 154 H.v. Dela Costa St. Belair Makati City 37.

WENG, CHENGJIE Chinese

MANDARIN ADMIN OFFICER

CBMI CONSTRUCTION CO. LTD. Unit 37-b Rufino Pacific Tower 6784 Ayala Ave. San Lorenzo Makati City 38.

39.

40.

FAN, LIANG Chinese

MANDARIN CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGER SPECIALIST

ZHOU, PING Chinese

MANDARIN ELECTRICAL AND CONTROL MAINTENANCE SYSTEM ANALYST

LIU, SHUYONG Chinese

MANDARIN OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE RECORDING SYSTEM

COSMOLINK GLOBAL SOLUTIONS INC. Flr. No. 6th, 7th & 8th Bldg. No. 100 Necc Bldg., Andrews Ave. St. Newport City Subd. District 1, Barangay 183 Pasay City 41.

AN, DI Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

42.

HE, YU Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

43.

TANG, WANJIANG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

44.

WANG, CHUANCONG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

45.

WU, JINFENG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

DUAL PRIME FOCUS INC. Ug-04, Cityland 10 Tower 2 154 H.v. Dela Costa St. Bel-air Makati City 46.

LIN, KAIMING Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

EASTERN GOLD CORPORATION 503 Nueva St Binondo Manila 47.

CHEN, LIU Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

48.

LI, JIANJUN Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

49.

LIANG, JILIN Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

50.

LIU, ZONGKUN Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

51.

QIU, JIAFU Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

52.

YI, YUANLAN Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

53.

ZHU, ZHIPENG Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

54.

HU, SHUAI Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENTHU

EUROPAYACHTS PHILIPPINES INC. Unit 15 10th Floor One Park Drive 9th Avenue Corner 11th Drive Bgc Fort Bonifacio Taguig City 55.

CACHERA, THOMAS PHILIPPE French

www.businessmirror.com.ph

NO. 79.

56.

CHEN, SHILONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

57.

FAN, ZHONGYU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

58.

FANG, WENTAO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

59.

GONG, ZHENG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

60.

GUO, WANSHAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

61.

HE, YANGJIAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

62.

JIAO, ZHIBIAO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

63.

JING, JIAQI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

64.

LI, MIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

65.

LI, CHANGXIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

POSITION

NO.

ZHOU, HAO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

GATEWAYSOLUTIONS CORP. 8/f Edsa Cor. Sultan Brgy. Highway Hills Mandaluyong City 80.

WU, XINGEN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

GLOBALLGA BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING Ground Level, Level 2-5 Floor Silver City 4, Ortigas East Ugong Pasig City 81.

ZHANG, HUI Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT

82.

ZHENG, BINQI Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT

83.

MO, ZHONGTAO Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT MANDARIN SPEAKING

84.

NGUYEN THI MAI Vietnamese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT MANDARIN SPEAKING

85.

WU, LONGQUAN Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT MANDARIN SPEAKING

ZHANG, WENKAN Chinese

CHINESE IT SUPPORT MANDARIN SPEAKING

CHEN, JIANGCAN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

88.

CHEN, SHENGQUAN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

89.

CHENG, JIANFEI Chinese

90.

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

POSITION

117.

WIN KO KO Myanmari

COMPUTER TECHNICAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST

118.

YENNI SUSANTI Indonesian

COMPUTER TECHNICAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST

119.

XIE, HAICHAO Chinese

INFORMATION SECURITY ANALYST

120.

YANG, MEIHONG Chinese

INFORMATION SECURITY ANALYST

121.

YU, ZHUOLIN Chinese

INFORMATION SECURITY ANALYST

122.

ZHANG, SHUPING Chinese

INFORMATION SECURITY ANALYST

123.

ZHAO, RUIFEN Chinese

INFORMATION SECURITY ANALYST

124.

ZHONG, GUOCHU Chinese

INFORMATION SECURITY ANALYST

JINSHENGLONG BUSINESS SUPPORT, INC. 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th Flr. Filinvest Bay City Brgy. 076 Pasay City 125.

DENG, JIAN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

126.

GONG, YUNHAO Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

127.

HE, QIAOLING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

128.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

HUANG, ZHUANLONG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

129.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

GUO, YANG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

JI, SUYU Chinese

130.

JIANG, HUANHUAN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

91.

HUANG, YONGDING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

131.

LIN LIN Myanmari

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

92.

HUANG, DEZHI Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

132.

LUO, XIN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

93.

LIU, LEPING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

133.

SHI, FENGJIE Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

94.

SONG, PINGPING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

134.

WANG, LINSONG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

95.

WANG, ZHIGAO Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

135.

WEN, AN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

96.

WANG, YU Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

136.

YU, TONG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

97.

WEI, QINGWU Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

137.

ZHANG, PENGFEI Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

98.

XU, FEIYAN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

138.

ZHANG, ZHENGYU Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

99.

YU, JIE Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

100.

ZHOU, XUANMING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

101.

FAN, SIJIN Chinese

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

102.

GAO, KEJUN Chinese

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

LOGICALSOURCE1 CALL CENTER INC. 8/f Sultan Cityland Central Brgy. Highway Hills Mandaluyong City

103.

HUANG, YANNI Chinese

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

141.

GAO, YONGLI Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

104.

LI, HAOYI Chinese

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

142.

LEW WEI LUN Malaysian

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

143.

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

105.

LIU, PENGCHENG Chinese

LIU, YUQUAN Chinese

144.

WU, XIUXIA Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

106.

XIE, TAO Chinese

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

MASTERLINK CORP. 7/f Ba Lepanto Bldg. 8747 Paseo De Roxas Bel-air Makati City

107.

XU, BANGSHUN Chinese

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

145.

LIU, TONG Chinese

MANDARIN HR SPECIALIST BILINGUAL

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

146.

TAN, YILONG Chinese

MANDARIN IT CONSULTANT

108.

XU, JINSHENG Chinese

109.

ZHAO, ZHIWEI Chinese

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

110.

ZHONG, CIHUI Chinese

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

111.

ZHONG, QING Chinese

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

86.

87.

PRESIDENT

FLYING DRAGON NETWORK PHILIPPINES INC. 4th-11th Floor Aseana 3 Building Aseana Avenue Corner Diosdado Macapagal Tambo Parañaque City

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

66.

LI, FENG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

67.

LIU, ZHIFENG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

68.

LU, XIUZHI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

69.

LYU, XUEHU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

70.

SHANG, HUAWEI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

71.

WANG, LIANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

72.

WANG, QIYONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

73.

WU, XING Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

74.

WU, DI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

75.

YANG, FAWEI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

113.

CHANDY Indonesian

76.

YANG, ZHAO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

114.

77.

ZHANG, HAITAO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

78.

ZHAO, CHANGKE Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

JIU ZHOU TECHNOLOGIES INTERNATIONAL, INC. U-2801 28/f Pbcom Tower 6795 Ayala Ave. Cor. V.a. Rufino St. Belair Makati City 139.

LY VUONG TRUONG HAI Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

KMC MAG SOLUTIONS, INC. 20/f, Picadilly Star Building 4th Avenue Corner 27th Street Fort Bonifacio Taguig City 140.

CHOI, YOUNGJIN South Korean

BILINGUAL TECHNICAL SUPPORT ENGINEER

METRO-SEOUL FAMILY CORPORATION 22 De Leon Isidora Hills Holy Spirit 2 Quezon City 147.

KIM, TAE CHER South Korean

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING MANAGER

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. 4th-11th Flr. Nexgen Tower C4 Rd. Edsa Ext. Brgy. 076 Pasay City 148.

CHEN, HEBIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

149.

CHEN, CHANGXIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

150.

CONG, XIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

151.

GUO, XIAOHONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

152.

HUANG, HONGSONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

153.

COMPUTER TECHNICAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST

JIN, YOUXIONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

154.

EFFENDY Indonesian

COMPUTER TECHNICAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST

LI, PENGJIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

155.

COMPUTER TECHNICAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

115.

JESSIANA Indonesian

LI, LONGJIAO Chinese

156.

LIU, YUKUAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

116.

LISA Indonesian

COMPUTER TECHNICAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST

157.

SHI, KAIHUA Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

INQUICK SERVICES INC. Unit 606 6/f Itc Bldg. 337 Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. Bel-air Makati City 112.

LEAW YI FAN Malaysian

MALAYSIAN SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

News BusinessMirror

Wednesday, December 16, 2020 A7

House OKs tax on ‘sabong’ e-bets, eyes P1.25-B take

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

T

HE House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on third and final reading the bill imposing new taxes on offsite betting on locally-licensed games, including electronic betting on cockfighting, locally known as “sabong.”

Voting 215 affirmative, 1 negative with no abstention, lawmakers passed the House Bill 8065, which taxes an untaxed and non-essential activity, and will boost government revenues to fund Covid-19 response and recovery measures.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda said the proposal is expected to raise at least P1.25 billion on its first full year of implementation, which would multiply the current BIR collection of P13.7 million from cockpits by more than 90 times.

“Simply put, it’s an untaxed activity where taxes will not harm the economy. The conclusion is obvious on the revenue aspect. Let’s make better use of the industry, while regulating it,” Salceda said.

“The bill taxes an existing industry that is not yet being taxed, without causing any economic harm, as wagering is a demand inelastic non-essential,” he added. The bill will now be transmitted to the Senate for its own deliberations.

According to Salceda the operations of online betting on sabong are authorized by local ordinances.

Electronic aspect

“Because of the digital shift, there are now electronic betting operations on such games. But the electronic aspect of it is a gray area, even though the airwaves is national property. Because of this ambiguity, we

are unable to levy national taxes on these activities.

By clarifying this gray area in my proposal, we hope to raise multiples more in revenues than the BIR collection from cockpits of P13.7 million in 2019,” Salceda said.

Under the bill, the tax shall be 5 percent of gross revenues derived from Offsite Betting Activities on Locally Licensed Games, and shall not be in lieu of taxes required by the LGUs and regulatory fees and charges imposed by government agencies. LGUs will still have full regulatory and revenue collecting powers over in-premise games and betting.

The also bill empowers the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to accredit and inspect totalizators and other gambling devices used to verify tax assessments, while allowing the LGUs to maintain full authority to license the games under their jurisdiction, imposing whatever local taxes they want to.

To establish transparency and accountability in these activities, the proposal also empowers the BIR to verify tax assessments. The Committee Report also empowers the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) to issue rules and regulations for the fair conduct of offsite betting on locally licensed cockfights and derbies, including devices required of gaming operators, agents, and other related parties.

It also requires relevant gaming operators to specify “Offsite Betting Activities on Locally Licensed Games” in disclosures and documentations required by the BIR and other regulatory government agencies and instrumentalities. This requirement will help ensure that the government can monitor the activities of such operators.

According to Games and Amusements Board Chairman Abraham Mitra, the industry is worth about P50 billion annually. LGUs are yet unable to collect revenues effectively from the industry.

The Games and Amusements Board, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Department of Finance fully support the proposal.

Plantation Bay accreditation up for renewal; top exec quits post

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

M

ACTAN-based Plantation Bay Resort and Spa has been issued a show-cause order by the Department of Tourism (DOT) to explain why its accreditation should not be revoked.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat told the BusinessMirror, “Plantation Bay has recently applied for the renewal of its accreditation, and we sent it a notice to explain, based on the incident [reported by the mother of a special child], why their accreditation should be renewed despite possible grounds for suspension or revocation of accreditation. They have until December 17 to submit their explanation. Thereafter, DOT will make a decision.”

This developed, as the resort’s“resident shareholder,”Emmanuel C. Gonzalez, “resigned from his post, effective today, December 15, 2020,” according to a news statement. He is also listed as the Quality Control Consultant on the resort’s web site.

However, Gonzalez still owns 51 percent of the shares of the resort company, as per public relations consultant Gerry Zorrilla, who was contracted by the minority shareholders to deal with the controversy involving Gonzalez. Zorrilla added, “Cherry Allegro, general manager, is in charge.” On the resort web site, Efren P. Belarmino is still listed as hotel GM.

‘Empty resignation’ A lawyer consulted by this paper, however, viewed the resignation of Gonzalez as a cosmetic measure, possibly to appease the resort’s other shareholders and the public who were angered by Gonzalez’s response to the review and the alleged discriminatory attitude of the resort itself.

Ateneo Law professor Eugene T. Kaw said, “Under the Revised Corporation Code, there is no such thing as ‘Resident Shareholder.’ He added, “Shareholders are not required to be residents, neither are directors. Only the treasurer and corporate secretary are required by law to be residents of the Philippines.”

Thus, “[Gonzalez’s] resignation is empty unless it means divestment,” he stressed, adding the resignation move was

“probably meant to quell the outrage [against the resort].”

The issue stemmed from the allegations of one guest Mai Pages, in a TripAdvisor review, about the discriminatory attitude of the resort towards children with disability, after she was told by lifeguards to keep her autistic son, Fin, quiet while playing the pool.

The incident blew up because Gonzalez responded to Pages’s review in a rude manner, and proceeded to lecture her about autism, adding that her child had probably been misdiagnosed. (See, Plantation Bay gets caught in DOT’s crosshairs anew,”in the BusinessMirror, December 10, 2020.)

DOJ to explore other options Pages said, however, she was not interested in the resort.

To this, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra responded, “If the child’s mother does not want to sue the resort or its personnel, the DOJ [Department of Justice] will have to explore other options.”

He added, “The subject incident, if true, goes beyond her. I just hope she’s at least willing to cooperate.”

In a statement to the Plantation Bay’s management and staff, Gonzalez said he resigned his post, “to protect our staff from further indignities, and with sincere apologies for my error of judgment which led to so much trouble to many innocent people.”

The resort management added it is “assessing current protocols in place and has pledged to initiate more proactive efforts and implement necessary changes within the week.” For its part, the Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) declined to comment on the case involving Plantation Bay, its member, as this is already being investigated by the DOT and the Department of Justice.

But the group asserted, “We in the hotel and hospitality industry remain mindful and respectful of the needs of all our valued guests, particularly those with special needs and disabilities.”

It added, “We state categorically that we do not condone discrimination of any kind, and even make it a point to design our properties and services to cater to the needs of Persons with Disabilities. This incident is a timely reminder to all our industry colleagues to remain vigilant of this commitment at all times.”

1,900 job applicants hired on the spot at DOLE fair

A

T least 1,900 applicants were hired on the spot in recently concluded online job fair conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for its 87th anniversary last week.

In an online press briefing on Tuesday, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello said the jobseekers were among the thousands of participants who joined the event.

He said successful applicants could still increase since some of them or those near-hires, still have pend-

ing applications with their prospective employers.

The near-hires are usually required to submit additional requirements or go through additional tests before they are officially hired.

At least 21,000 job opportunities were made available during the online event. These include vacancies from 600 local employers and 15 licensed recruitment agencies.

Among the overseas positions offered in the event were for factory workers, nurses, nursing aides, and care workers. Samuel P. Medenilla

A8

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

The World BusinessMirror

US deaths surpass 300,000 as Covid vaccinations begin

T

he first Covid-19 vaccine shots were administered by US hospitals on Monday, the initial step in a historic drive to immunize millions of people as deaths passed the grim milestone of 300,000.

In New York, the original epicenter of the US pandemic, criticalcare nurse Sandra Lindsay received the first shot in that state at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens. The state is headed toward a second full shutdown if new infections and hospitalizations continue at their current pace, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

The Finger Lakes region posted the highest percentage of coronavirus cases and positive tests than any region of New York state, Cuomo said on Monday. There are 681 Covid-19 patients hospitalized in the region, about 0.06 percent of its population, compared with 1,857 in New York City, which is about 0.02 percent of its population, Cuomo said during a virtual virus briefing. The total testing positivity rate in the Finger Lakes is 8.09 percent.

The news comes as cases continue to rise statewide.

Of the 159,844 tests conducted on Sunday, 5.66 percent, or 9,044, were positive, including hot spot areas, Cuomo said. There were 83 virus-related fatalities, and 5,712 hospitalizations, up 302 from the day prior, the biggest jump since early April.

The state is increasing restrictions in several areas including Genesee, Oneida and and Niagara counties, he said.

If the state continues at its current rate, in one month hospitalizations could be at 11,000 and the number of fatalities could be at 3,500, Cuomo said. “If we do not change the trajectory, we could very well be headed to shutdown,” he said.

Vaccine meets new cases in California

With California Governor Gavin Newsom looking on, a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Los Angeles began vaccinating health-care workers on Monday, as the first 33,150 doses arrived in the state.

The first round of Pfizer vaccine doses went to four California hospitals—in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Eureka—with 29 more facilities scheduled to

receive shipments in the next two days, Newsom said.

The pandemic continues to rage across the state, and Newsom noted that the number of doses that arrived Monday was roughly equal to the number of new cases recorded in the state on Sunday.

“I’m down here in the spirit that is this moment, enthusiastic that there is light at the end of the tunnel, but mindful that we’re still in the tunnel,” he said at a press conference at the hospital.

California will vaccinate its roughly 2-million health-care workers first, and hasn’t released its plan for giving doses to anyone else, except for residents of nursing homes.

Key developments:

WHO says it’s aware of virus variant

The World Health Organization is aware of a genetic variant of the virus identified in about 1,000 individuals in the UK, Executive Director Michael Ryan said during a press briefing on Monday.

“This virus evolves and changes over time, and we’ve seen different variants emerge,” Ryan said. “The question is whether there is significance in public health terms,” since mutations of the virus are “quite common.”

The WHO is working with an international laboratory network to see if the variant is becoming more prevalent internationally, he adds.

UK plans to move London into Tier 3 Covid rules

London will be placed under England’s toughest coronavirus restrictions from Wednesday, a person familiar with the matter said. Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who is briefing lawmakers in a call, says hospitalization and infection rates in London underlined the need for harsher measures.

Under Tier 3 rules, pubs, restaurants, bars and indoor entertainment venues must close. Schools and shops can remain open.

Infection levels in the capital have risen rapidly over the past few days and are now high across the

Nurse Annabelle Jimenez (left), congratulates nurse Sandra Lindsay after she is inoculated with the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on December 14, at the Jewish Medical Center, in the Queens borough of New York. AP/Mark Lennihan

city, rather than being restricted to eastern and northern hot spots, members of Parliament were told in a video call on Monday.

France reports more than 3,000 new cases

France reported 3,063 new confirmed Covid cases on Monday, when numbers are usually low due to a lull in testing over the weekend.

The seven-day average of cases fell for the first time in a week to 12,001. Deaths increased by 371 to 55,282. France is set to end some Covid-19-related restrictions on Tuesday, such as a written justification for trips outside the home.

Instead, an 8 p.m. curfew comes into force, with an exception made for Christmas Eve.

South Africa limits alcohol, shuts beaches

South Africa’s government will curb alcohol sales and close some of the nation’s beaches at the height of the summer-holiday season, among a series of new restrictions to rein in surging coronavirus infections.

The government declared the start of a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic on Dec. 10 as the number of daily new cases doubled this month. The country is fast-approaching 1 million infections, with 866,127 people having contracted the disease so far, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday.

Czechs close bars, restaurants again

The Czech Republic reintroduced measures to combat a surge in coronavirus cases, reversing a decision two weeks ago to relax restrictions as neighbor Germany imposed a hard holiday lockdown.

T he gover n ment shut ho tels and restaurants, prolonged Christmas school holidays and imposed an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, according to Health Minister Jan Blatny. Shops and services will remain open. The cabinet approved an additional 10 billion-koruna ($460 million) aid package to cover rent and wages of the affected businesses for three months.

Russian vaccine’s efficacy over 90 percent, developer says

The efficacy of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is 91 percent, based on the analysis of the final control point from its Phase 3 trials, its developers said Monday. The calculation was based on data obtained 21 days after the first dose in trial of 22,714 volunteers, the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the Gamaleya Center said in a statement.

No unexpected adverse events were identified, the developers said, adding that the data will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Netherlands heading for tighter lockdown

The Dutch government is expected to set out plans on Monday to close non-essential stores from midnight until Jan. 19 after a jump in daily cases, public broadcaster NOS reported.

Museums and theaters are among sites that will also have to shutter, while schools have to close from Wednesday and switch to online classes, NOS said. Prime Minister Mark Rutte will address the nation this evening for the second time during the pandemic. The steps come on top of October’s curbs, which included bar and restaurant closures. Bloomberg News

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

Vaccine comes too late for the 300,000 US dead

By Adam Geller & Heather Hollingsworth

The Associated Press

W

hen Brittany Palomo was hired as a nurse in March, her parents tried to talk her out of it, fearful of the fast-spreading coronavirus. All the more reason, she told them, to start the career that had been her long-held dream.

The pandemic, though, is a nightmare—one that has now claimed 300,000 lives in the US and counting.

“Wake up, my little girl, wake up!” Palomo’s mother, Maria Palomo Salinas, screamed, her grief echoing through a Harlingen, Texas, hospital, when her daughter died of Covid-19 complications around 2 a.m. on a Saturday in late November.

Palomo was 27 and, as a health care worker, was probably weeks away from getting the new vaccine that could have protected her from the virus. Instead, she became yet another victim of the relentless outbreak whose US toll is accelerating as it eclipses another round-number mark.

“The numbers are staggering—the most impactful respiratory pandemic that we have experienced in over 102 years, since the iconic 1918 Spanish flu,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, said days before the US reached the milestone.

The US crossed the 300,000 threshold on the same it day it launched the biggest vaccination campaign in American history, with health care workers rolling up their sleeves for Covid-19 shots Monday.

The death toll was reported by Johns Hopkins University from data supplied by health authorities across the US. The real number of lives lost is believed to be much higher, in part because of deaths that were not accurately recorded as coronavirus-related during the early stages of the crisis.

It took four months for the virus to claim its first 100,000 American lives. But with cold weather driving people inside, where the virus spreads more easily, months of reluctance in many states to require masks, and an increase in gatherings over the holidays, some public health experts project 100,000 more could die before the end of January.

“It can certainly feel like you’re standing on the beach and sandbagging a tsunami,” said Dr. Leon Kelly, who attends to both the dead and the living as coroner for El Paso County, Colorado, and deputy medical director of its public health department.

Already, the number of dead in the US rivals the population of St. Louis or Pittsburgh. The toll is equivalent to repeating a tragedy on the scale of Hurricane Katrina every day for 5 1/2 months.

“To me it represents an extraordinary failure in our response,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, a public health researcher at Johns Hopkins, contrasting US officials’ scattershot response with the massive mobilization after nearly 3,000 Americans were killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“To think, now we can just absorb in our country 3,000 deaths a day as though it were just business as usual. It just represents a moral failing.”

The US accounts for nearly 1 out of 5 confirmed virus deaths worldwide, far more than any other country despite its wealth and medical resources.

While the pandemic’s toll continues to soar, much has changed since the US surpassed 200,000 deaths in late September.

Scientists’ furious pursuit of a vaccine is finally delivering results, beginning with the rollout of Pfizer’s formula. If a second vaccine is authorized soon, as expected, 20 million people could be vaccinated by month’s end.

At the same time, the country is poised for a major shift after an election that was, in large part, a referendum on the Trump administration’s handling of the virus. President-elect Joe Biden has made clear his first priority upon taking office next month will be a comprehensive overhaul of efforts to defeat the infection.

Still, experts said, it could take well into the New Year for the first wave of vaccines and other precautions to bring cases and deaths under control.

Experts are warning the country must steel itself for a deadly winter.

“We are heading into probably the worst period possible because of all the things we had in the spring, which is fatigue, political resistance, maybe the loss of all the good will we had about people doing their part,” Nuzzo said.

More than 109,000 people with the virus are now in US hospitals, according to the Covid Tracking Project, far eclipsing the 60,000 who filled wards during the previous peaks in April and July.

On a single day last week, the US recorded more than 3,300 Covid-19 deaths, easily exceeding the heights reached in April, when the New York City area was the epicenter.

Doctors now have far more experience in treating patients, and a few drugs have been approved to speed recovery. But the toll now is far more widespread, reaching into rural areas and small and medium-size communities that don’t have big-city resources.

In Waterloo, Iowa, Dr. Stacey Marlow called the wife of an 89-year-old Covid-19 patient in his final hours, not realizing until well into the conversation that the couple’s son had also died of the virus in her hospital just two days earlier.

“We see these horror stories every day so they start to run together,” said Marlow, who works in the emergency room at UnityPoint Allen Hospital.

In Los Angeles, the county’s health director, Barbara Ferrer, fought tears during a televised briefing last week as she reported a steep rise in local deaths, up to an average of 43 each day, compared with roughly a dozen in mid-November.

“Over 8,000 people who were beloved members of their families are not coming back,” Ferrer said.

In Columbia, South Carolina, the family of a third-grade teacher, Staci Blakely, asked the school district to announce her death in hopes of persuading the public to take the virus seriously.

“One of the ways we can celebrate her life is being sure that we continue to take care of each other,” schools Superintendent Greg Little said.

And then there are the families and colleagues of health care workers who are still being lost to Covid-19, even as hope draws within view.

For weeks now, Dr. James Williams has been hearing the voice of his friend Dr. Juan Fitz, an emergency room physician in Lubbock, Texas, who was hospitalized for the virus this fall after months of triaging Covid-19 patients.

“I am airborne. I am cavalry,” the 67-year-old Fitz said over the summer, describing his role in taking on the pandemic. “I go into the thick of it and, challenged by the situation, find ways to improve and sort things out.”

He died on November 3.

“I’m sorry, it still gets me,” a distraught Williams said Friday, hours before the first vaccine won approval.

Choking back tears, he recalled his last text message to Fitz, one the soldier-in-scrubs never answered.

Please know, he wrote, “you have an Army of friends and colleagues pulling for you.” (AP writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this story).

Daytime darkness: Total solar Explainer: Allergic reactions to vaccines rare, short-lived eclipse wows in Latin America V

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ARAHUE, Chile —Thousands of people gathered in the Chilean region of La Araucanía on Monday to witness a solar eclipse, rejoicing in the rare experience even though visibility was limited because of cloudy skies. Skies were clear in northern Patagonia in Argentina, where people also watched the moon briefly block out the sun and plunge daytime into darkness.

Many people wore masks to curb the spread of Covid-19, though they crowded together in some places in Pucón and in other areas of La Araucanía, 700 kilometers (430 miles) south of Santiago, the Chilean capital.

“It was worth the two minutes,” said witness Diego Fuentes, who traveled south with his family to see the eclipse.

“I liked it a lot and it was good that there were clouds because we could see it a little without glasses,” said Catalina Morales, a girl who watched the eclipse with her father, Cristián Morales. He described it as “spectacular, a unique experience.”

Thousands jumped and shouted happily in the drizzle when the sun was completely covered by

the moon and then silence descended for a few moments. People again screamed and whooped excitedly when the sun appeared again.

During the brief period of darkness, only the lights of cell phones were visible.

About 500,000 Indigenous people of the Mapuche ethnic group live in La Araucanía. They traditionally believe that the eclipse signals the momentary death of the sun after a fight with the moon and leads to negative fallout.

Diego Ancalao, member of a Mapuche community and head of an Indigenous foundation that promotes development, noted that a total solar eclipse in July 2019 was followed by civil unrest in Chile and then the coronavirus pandemic.

Experts said the solar eclipse was partly visible in several other Latin American countries as well as parts of Africa and areas of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The next total solar eclipse in Chile is expected to occur in 28 years. Another is expected to be visible in Antarctica by the end of 2021. AP

accines can sometimes cause allergic reactions, but they are usually rare and short-lived.

British regulators are looking into reports of allergic reactions in two people who received the new Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday, the first day of a vaccination program. In the meantime, they’re telling people to skip the vaccine if they’ve had a histor y of serious allergic reactions.

A look at allergic reactions to vaccines:

How often do they happen?

Allergic reactions can occur with numerous vaccines and experts say they are not unexpected.

In the Pfizer-BioNTech study of 42,000 people, the rate was about the same in those who got the coronavirus vaccine versus those who got a dummy shot. US Food and Drug Administration reviewers who examined the study’s safety data found that 137—or 0.63 percent—of vaccine recipients reported symptoms suggestive of an allergic reaction, compared to 111—or 0.51 percent—in the placebo group.

A 2015 study in the US examining the rate of anaphylaxis—a severe, life -threatening

A nurse holds a phial of the PfizerBioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at Guy’s Hospital in London on December 8, as the UK health authorities rolled out a national mass vaccination program. UK regulators said on December 9, that people who have a “significant history’’ of allergic reactions shouldn’t receive the new Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine while they investigate two adverse reactions that occurred on the first day of the country’s mass vaccination program. AP/Frank Augstein

allergic reaction—found that it occurred about once per every million-vaccine doses. The study evaluated children and adults who got vaccines against numerous diseases, including polio, measles and meningitis.

“For the general population this does not mean that they would need to be anxious about receiving the vaccination,” said Stephen Evans, a vaccines expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

He noted that even common foods can provoke severe allergic reactions.

Some people react to almost any drug or vaccine, said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s school of public health. The key is whether reactions to the vaccine are more common or more severe—and that doesn’t appear to be the case so far, he said.

What are other side effects?

Why do these reactions happen?

S ci e n tists say people can be sensitive to components in the shot, like gelatin or egg protein, or to the vaccine itself. People with egg allergies are sometimes advised not to get the flu shot, since that vaccine is mostly grown in chicken eggs.

Common symptoms of an allergic reaction include a rash, skin irritation, coughing or trouble breathing.

Pfizer’s new Covid-19 vaccine uses a new technology, and is coated in lipid nanoparticles, which have been used in drugs.

Typical side effects for many vaccines include things like a sore arm from the shot, fever and muscle aches. In the Pfizer study, participants also reported fatigue, headache and chills.

More serious side effec ts are repor ted to regulators or health officials for fur ther investigation. But it can often take time to determine if the vaccine caused the side effect or if the person just coincidentally received the shot before becoming ill.

As for the Covid-19 vaccine, “It’s just so highprofile that every little thing that happens all the time is going to get magnified,” said Jha. “We should talk about it, we should be honest with people, but we should put it into context and help people understand,” he said.

“There is a small proportion of people who have an allergic reaction to almost any medicine.” AP

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Gmail, YouTube down briefly as Google suffers brief outage

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E W YORK—G oogle users in the US, Europe, India and other parts of the world were briefly unable to access their Gmail accounts, watch YouTube videos or get to their online documents during an outage on Monday.

Tens of thousands of complaints popped up around 7 a.m. Eastern along the East Coast of the US. The vast majority of those people, about 90 percent, could not log in, according to the site Downdetector.

The inability to sign in prevented users accessing other platforms through Google, including mobile video games.

The disruption was an early jolt on the East Coast for parents who were waking children up for school Monday. Millions of students

are relying on Google for online instruction during the pandemic, including platforms like Google Docs.

The problem appeared to be cleared up just before 8 a.m.

“The problem with Gmail should be resolved for the vast majority of affected users,” said Google’s parent company, Alphabet, at 7:52 a.m.

“We will continue to work towards restoring service for the remaining affected users.”

Downdetector, which tracks website outages, reported the problem affected users across the world, but appeared especially widespread in the northeastern US, Britain and other parts of Europe. Japan, Malaysia and India also looked to be more affected. AP

Australia: China’s coal import ban would breach WTO rules

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rime M i n i s t e r S c o t t M o r r i s o n s a i d Tuesday that a Chinese ban on Australian coal impor ts would breach World Trade Organization rules, as his government urged Beijing to resume dialog to ease the worsening diplomatic dispute.

More than 50 vessels carr ying Australian coal have been stranded off China after por ts were verbally told in October not to offload such shipments. China’s National Development and Reform Commission on Saturday appeared to formalize those curbs after giving power plants approval to impor t coal without restrictions, except from Australia, under effor ts to tame price gains, the Global Times repor ted.

If that proved to be correct, such a ban would also breach the free -trade agreement that China and Australia signed in 2015, Morrison told repor ters. “It would be a bad outcome for the trading relationship,” he said, adding the conflation of political and trade issues could “create a lot of uncer tainty for many other trading par tners.”

Australian coal producers tumbled on Tuesday. Whitehaven Coal Ltd. closed 5.9 percent lower in Sydney trading and Yancoal Australia Ltd. fell 8.4 percent.

Ties between China and Australia have been fraught since 2018 when Canberra barred Huawei Technologies Co. from building its 5G

network on national security grounds, and worsened this year after Morrison’s government called for an international inquir y into the origins of the coronavirus. Beijing accuses Canberra of being a puppet of the US and of meddling in its internal affairs.

China has hit Australian barley and wine with crippling tariffs and told traders to stop buying commodities including copper, sugar, timber and lobster.

It’s a marked reversal in the once cordial relationship that saw Australia host a state visit by President Xi Jinping in 2014 and sign a comprehensive free -trade agreement a year later.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said a formal coal ban would “indicate discriminator y trade practices” and he implored Beijing to open up lines of communication to resolve the dispute.

The government is concerned that China’s actions don’t appear to be consistent with “the letter or the spirit” of that trade agreement, Birmingham said. Australia is ver y close to mounting a case against the barley tariffs at the WTO and is considering the avenues open to it for coal, he said.

“The risk profile of trading with China has grown significantly during the course of this year,” Birmingham said. Bloomberg News

US sanctions NATO ally Turkey over Russian missile defense

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ASHINGTON—The Trump administration on Monday imposed sanctions on its NATO ally Turkey over its purchase of a Russian air defense system, in a striking move against a longtime partner that sets the stage for further confrontation between the two nations as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office.

The extraordinary step against a treaty ally comes at a delicate time in relations between Washington and Ankara, which have been at odds for years over Turkey’s acquisition from Russia of the S-400 missile defense system, along with Turkish actions in Syria, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and in the eastern Mediterranean.

The sanctions, which were required under a 2017 US law aimed at pushing back on Russia if the administration deemed there was significant cause, add another element of uncertainty to the relationship as Trump winds down his term. The move is the first time that law, known as CAATSA, has been used to penalize a US ally.

Prior to Monday, the US had kicked Turkey out of its F-35 stealth fighter development and training program over the S-400 purchase, but had taken no further steps despite persistent warnings from American officials who have long complained about that the system is incompatible with NATO equipment and a potential threat to allied security.

“The United States made clear to Turkey at the highest levels and on numerous occasions that its purchase of the S-400 system would endanger the security of US military technology and personnel and provide substantial funds to Russia’s defense sector, as well as Russian access to the Turkish armed forces and defense industry,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

“Turkey nevertheless decided to move ahead with the procurement and testing of the S-400, despite the availability of alternative, NATO-interoperable systems to meet its defense requirements,” he said in a statement.

“I urge Turkey to resolve the S-400 problem immediately in coordination with the United States,”he said. “Turkey is a valued ally and an important regional security partner for the United States, and we seek to continue our decades-long history of productive defense-sector cooperation by removing the obstacle of Turkey’s S-400 possession as soon as possible.”

Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a statement

it “condemns and rejects” the US sanctions, saying Washington’s one-sided sanctions were beyond understanding.

“Turkey will take the necessary steps against this decision, which will inevitably affect our relations in a negative way, and reciprocate in a way and time it sees fit,” the statement said.

The statement repeated Turkey’s claim that the S-400s would not affect NATO systems.

The ministry called on the US to “turn back as soon as possible from this bad mistake,” adding that Ankara was ready for dialogue and diplomacy.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, said the sanctions were evidence of American “arrogance” and would hurt US standing internationally.

“It’s yet more evidence of the arrogant attitude [of the US] toward international law, and a manifestation of the illegitimate, unilateral and coercive measures that the US has practiced for many decades now all over the world,” he said during a visit to Bosnia. “Of course, I do not think this does any favors to the United States’ international reputation as a responsible participant in international negotiations, including in military-technical cooperation.”

The sanctions target Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries, the country’s military procurement agency, its chief Ismail Demir and three other senior officials. The penalties block any assets the four officials may have in US jurisdictions and bar their entry into the US. They also include a ban on most export licenses, loans and credits to the agency.

The administration had held off on imposing punitive sanctions outside of the fighter program for months, in part to give Turkish officials time to reconsider deploying it and, some suspect, due to President Donald Trump’s personal relationship with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Congress, though, was growing impatient with the delays and had demanded action.

Despite the US warnings, Turkey in past months had moved ahead with deployment and testing of the S-400 system, drawing criticism from lawmakers and others who have demanded the sanctions be imposed under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA, which mandates penalties for transactions deemed harmful to US interests. AP

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

A9

Biden wins Electoral College to cement victory over Trump

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oe Biden officially clinched the presidency after the Electoral College confirmed his victory on Monday, capping a tumultuous period sparked by Donald Trump’s refusal to acknowledge he lost with the help of Republicans willing to support his unsubstantiated claims.

Some Senate Republicans who had refused to recognize Biden’s overwhelming victory quickly started acknowledging that Trump lost and Biden will be inaugurated as the 46th president on January 20.

The 55 votes from California electors put Biden over the 270 needed to win. Electors in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia cast their ballots for president and vice president in time-honored constitutional ceremonies that took on new importance after Trump insisted without evidence that the election was “rigged.”

Congress will officially count the electoral votes on January 6. But many Republicans haven’t publicly acknowledged Biden’s certified victory and the court rulings rejecting challenges to the results, saying Trump had a right to let the process play out.

And now it has.

R e pu bl ic a n S e n ator Joh n Cornyn of Texas said it would be a “bad mistake” to object to electors in Congress, calling any such move “futile and unnecessary.”

“I believe that we’ll see the page turning on January 20th,” he said.

“We’ll have a peaceful transition.”

Asked whether Biden is the president-elect, Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia told reporters, “it certainly looks that way, and I think it’s time to turn the page and bring a new administration.”

Republ ican Senator Chuc k Grassley of Iowa said he doesn’t have to acknowledge that Biden has won, saying “the Constitution does that.”

Investigations into any election irregularities should continue, but “today marks a watershed moment where we must put aside politics and respect the constitutional process that determines the winner of our presidential election,” Republican Senator Mike Braun of Indiana said in a statement. ”We’ve met the constitutional threshold and we’ll deal with Vice President Biden as the presidentelect,” said Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri. Blunt added that as chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies he would work with Biden’s inaugural committee to plan for the swearingin ceremony on January 20.

Last week, Blunt, along with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the committee from acknowledging Biden as president-elect and moving ahead with inauguration preparations. They were able to block that vote 3-3, along party lines.

Texas case

Trump said in an interview on Fox News broadcast on Sunday that he’d continue with legal challenges, even after the US Supreme Court on Friday rejected the bid by Texas to nullify the election results in four pivotal states—a case the president had called “the big one.”

The lawsuit sought to invalidate votes in Georgia, Michigan, Penn-

sylvania and Wisconsin to install Trump for another term. Republican attorneys general in 18 states and 126 congressional Republicans—about two-thirds of the GOP caucus—had supported it.

Republicans said Trump electors who weren’t certified met in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to cast votes in case pending litigation overturned the results, even though the official electoral votes have the state’s seal. Any attempt to get Congress to consider a rival slate of electors is “not going to work as a matter of law,” said Edward Foley, a professor and director of an election-law program at Ohio State University who has studied disputed elections.

Biden speech

Biden addressed the nation after electors in Hawaii cast the final votes on Monday night, saying Trump was afforded every opportunity to contest the election results and that Americans must come together now that the process has concluded.

“The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago.

And we now know that nothing— not even a pandemic or an abuse of power—can extinguish that flame,” Biden said. “And now, it’s time to turn the page as we’ve done throughout our history. To unite. To heal.”

The president’s campaign and his allies filed dozens of lawsuits seeking to invalidate Biden’s victories in the battleground states, and almost all were rejected as being without merit.

Rick Bloomingdale, a Biden elector in Pennsylvania, said before the meeting in Harrisburg that he was confident his vote would be counted and that Trump’s efforts to overturn the election would fail.

“At noon on January 20th, Joe Biden’s going to be president of the United States,” said Bloomingdale, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO. “It’s mind-boggling to me that we have people that are actually trying conduct a coup and take the votes away from the voters.”

Most electors met in their state capitals with restricted access and social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic. Nevada conducted its meeting entirely by video conference, and Arizona didn’t publicly disclose the location of its gathering to keep it “low key.”

There were protests against Trump’s election outside the Electoral College meeting in some states in 2016, and there were reports of small demonstrations this year. Trump supporters gathered to rally in Washington on Saturday, at times clashing with counter-protesters and police.

Police escorted the Michigan electors from a parking garage to the State Capitol in Lansing, said elector Chris Cracchiolo, vice chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party.

Members of the Electoral College applaud after casting their vote at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, on December 14. Bloomberg photo

“At the time I volunteered to do this, I thought it was somewhat ceremonial,” Cracchiolo said before the meeting. “Since November 3, the magnitude and importance of this role seems to magnify every day.”

The Michigan legislature was closed due to safety concerns, and the legislature stripped Republican state Representative Gary Eisen of his committee posts Monday after the lawmaker said he was going to be part of a potentially violent protest seeking to overturn the state’s Electoral College vote.

“I know this isn’t the outcome some want. It isn’t what I want, either,” Republican Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield said in a statement supporting the Electoral College vote for Biden. “But we have a republic if we can keep it. And I intend to.”

When US voters mark ballots in a presidential race, they’re actually voting for a candidate’s slate of electors who cast that state’s electoral votes—one vote for each US representative and senator. The candidate who gets a majority of the 538 electoral votes, or 270, wins the presidency.

Biden won 306 electoral votes from the 25 states and the District of Columbia he carried, and electors, who are generally selected

by their political parties, are essentially committed to vote for the winner of the popular vote in their state. Trump captured 232 electoral votes from the 25 states he won.

There still could be some drama when Congress meets on Jan. 6 to tally the vote with Vice President Mike Pence presiding, if a member of the House and the Senate object to a state’s slate of electors. That would require each chamber to debate and vote on the objection.

Republican Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama has said he plans to make an objection, but so far no senator has emerged to join him. Seventy-five Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania also sent a December 4 letter to the state’s congressional delegation urging them to object.

Any objection that reached a vote is likely to fail with Democrats controlling the House and enough Republican senators acknowledging Biden’s victory, said Nathaniel Persily, a Stanford University law professor and election-law expert.

But Monday’s meeting of electors is the last step for anyone waiting for the process to play out, Persily said.

“That constitutionally would be end of the road,” he said.

Bloomberg News

A10 Wednesday, December 16, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

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editorial

Helping small farmers increase their income

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he annual report released recently by the Philippine Statistics Authority highlighted the difficulties confronting rice farmers in accessing credit even from state-run banks that are offering favorable loan terms. The PSA noted that from 2017 to 2019, only 38,640 planters obtained loans from government financial institutions in 2019 (See “Over 50% rice farmers tapped support schemes,” in the BusinessMirror, December 14, 2020). The number of planters who took out loans from GFIs last year is not even 5 percent of the estimated 2.1 million rice farmers in the Philippines.

Among the major concerns of farmers are the numerous requirements and cumbersome process that they need to go through to secure their production capital. The difficulty of obtaining loans even from GFIs is forcing planters to turn to loan sharks, which charge high interest rates. If the loans are not paid on time because typhoons destroyed their standing crops or for any other reason, the interest rates would balloon, making it more difficult for them to pay their creditors.

As many of the planters have a landholding of less than 2 hectares, borrowing money from these loan sharks presents a lot of challenges. But they are forced to borrow money from loan sharks because they can hardly find another way to be able to plant. All they want is to increase their yield to earn more. But this can only happen if they are able to use high-yielding seeds and if they have the necessary farm equipment that can help their land to produce more.

Based on data from the PSA, the average cost of producing unmilled rice last year was estimated at P45,302 per hectare, while gross receipts averaged P66,626 per hectare. Farmers need to spend on a number of items, including seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, hired labor, irrigation fee, and fuel. On average, a farmer tilling one hectare would have net earnings of P21,324 or about P40,000 per year if he is able to plant during the wet and dry season croppings.

Rice farming is an expensive proposition, particularly to those who have a small landholding. That’s why it is crucial for farmers to have easy access to affordable credit and to be given the necessary support. The nation is counting on them to continue producing food during the pandemic and even after the Philippines has been hit by successive typhoons in recent months. The burden they now carry is made heavier by the fact that the rice sector suffered the brunt of the series of typhoons that struck the country this year.

GFIs like the Land Bank of the Philippines have implemented reforms to make it easier for planters to tap loans, such as simplification of application form and trimming down basic documentary requirements, and standardized interest rates for most direct lending programs at 5 percent per annum. Government must find a way to help smallholders gain access to these types of loans and to fast track the delivery of support, such as free farm equipment, under the rice trade liberalization law to improve their productivity (See, “PhilMech: Quarantine rules slowing down farm equipment distribution,” in the BusinessMirror, December 14, 2020).

Let’s empower our farmers and help them improve their income.

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Correction of SSS member’s records Aurora C. Ignacio

All About Social Security

P

rior to one’s retirement in the private sector, it is very important to check all your records with your company, most especially with SSS.

Years ago, I remember a close friend who consulted me in one of our get-together with other colleagues from the banking industry. After working for almost 35 years, she discovered that her name was different from what was on her birth certificate. Not only that, she realized that her birth year was also different from the birth year that she had been using in her school, employment and travel records.

Back in the 1980s, I still recall that the process in applying and assigning SS numbers were done manually.

Before, employers had the authority to assign SS numbers too. I still remember my Personal Data Record (E-1) where my SS number was just handwritten, and this was done until the early 1990s when some of my nieces also applied with SSS and got

handwritten entries to their respective SS numbers.

Generally, SSS was not strict during those years regarding the submission of basic documents such as birth certificates. We have observed, too, that most members during those times have discrepancies in their declared names and birthdates, which contribute to delays in the processing of loans and benefit claims. We have to confirm on our end the legitimacy of the declared name and birth year of SSS members, especially if it concerns final benefit claims such as Retirement, Total Disability and Death.

Current members and retirees are indeed fortunate since this is the generation where majority of all SSS transactions are done online. They can now easily view their information via their My.SSS accounts, in the

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and any two ID cards both with signature and one with photo or Documents at least one with date of birth.

However, for change of membership type, there is no required documents for the change to Self-Employed or Voluntary. This will only apply if the change pertains to Non-Working Spouse, where they need to submit their Marriage Contract/Marriage Certificate and working spouse’s consent.

For basic updating of membership status from “Temporary to Permanent,” they need to submit their Birth Certificate and, in its absence, Certificate of Non-Availability of Birth Records from the City or Municipal Civil Registrar or Philippine Statistics Authority and Baptismal Certificate or Driver’s License, or Passport, or PRC Card or Seaman’s Book, and in the absence of these ID cards, any two ID cards both with signature and one with photo or Documents both with the correct name and at least one with date of birth.

In cases where change of Marital or Civil Status from Single to Married is required, they have to submit their Marriage Contract/Marriage Certificate; from Married to Legally Separated, they need to submit a Decree of Legal Separation; from Married to Widowed, submission of Death See “Ignacio,” A11

The Lolas: WW II victims of sexual slavery and violence are dying without seeing justice

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Publisher

convenience of their homes or offices without visiting any of our branch offices just for the purpose of checking if their records are accurate.

Particular records that they have to verify for updating, change or correction are usually the following: Name (First, Middle, Last), Date of Birth, Membership Type and Membership Status, Marital Status, Gender, Beneficiaries (Spouse, Children, others), Contact Information (Address, Telephone/Mobile Number, E-mail Address), and Bank Information. To make the changes, they need to fill out the Member Data Change Request Form (SS Form E-4), which can be secured from any SSS branch or can be downloaded from the SSS web site (www.sss.gov.ph).

The documentary requirements, which shall be submitted with the request form, vary according to the particular record to be updated or corrected, except for a copy of UMID or SSS ID Card or any two valid IDs for proper identification of account ownership.

For Change of Name and/or Correction of Date of Birth, members must submit their Birth Certificate or Passport, or in their absence, Certificate of Non-Availability of Birth Records from the City or Municipal Civil Registrar or Philippine Statistics Authority or National Archives

T

he recent deaths of three World War II women victims of sexual slavery and violence are manifestations that the survivors are dying without receiving a formal apology and legal compensation from Japan.

Supporters documented this year the deaths of three Lolas: 90-yearold Felicidad delos Reyes of Quezon City, on February 1, 2020; 88-yearold Maria Estadio Arroyo of Capiz, October 15, 2020; and Virginia Arrenque.

It has been 75 years since the war ended on August 15, 1945, and yet the Japanese government refuses to recognize its official accountability to the victims of sex slavery.

About 200,000 women from Korea, China, Burma, New Guinea, and the Philippines were held in captivity and many thousands more were raped as part of one of the largest operations of sexual violence in modern history.

It was in the late 1990s that the Lolas came out as part of Lila Filipina

and Malaya Lolas to tell the world about this inhuman practice of the Japanese during the war.

Twenty years ago, the Women’s Tribunal that sat in Tokyo, Japan from December 8 to 12, 2000 deliberated on the criminal liability of high-ranking Japanese military and political officials, as well as the Japanese state’s responsibility for military rape and sexual slavery.

As the tribunal greatly advanced the compilation and record of historical data and evidence to support accounts on human rights abuses, it also pushed back against the assumption that sexual violence is an inevitable product of war.

The commission or avoidance of sexual violence, the tribunal concluded, is dependent on whether

the armed organization choose to authorize its systematic commission in pursuit of military objectives, or effectively prohibit it.

According to the independent, nonprofit media organization NPR, “comfort women” is a linguistically warped categorization of the thousands of women and girls, many from poor communities, who were forced to serve as sex slaves.

The Japanese called them “comfort women”—a term derived from the Japanese word ianfu, combining the Chinese characters meaning “comfort or solace” (i-an) with woman (fu).

The enslavement camps where they were forced to have sexual intercourse with Japanese soldiers were called “comfort stations” and were often the same garrisons where they were being held.

However, lawyer Romel Bagares of CenterLaw, said in an interview by NPR that “the term hides the untold abuse the victims suffered under the Japanese Imperial Army and denies the victims the dignity they deserve.”

He says some advocates urge that the term be changed to “survivors of the wartime female slavery system.”

Bagares represented the Malaya Lolas of the so called Mapaniqui Siege when the Imperial Japanese Army on November 23, 1944 attacked Mapa-

niqui in Candaba, Pampanga, a suspected bailiwick of Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (HukBaLaHap).

The women, from 13 years old to early 20s, were ordered to walk from Mapaniqui to the Bahay na Pula in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, which became “comfort stations” where they became victims of military sexual violence and slavery.

Lawyer Virginia Lacsa Suarez told NPR that the Asian Women’s Fund and the Philippine Justice Department decided that the Malaya Lolas did not qualify as “comfort women” because they were not held or abused over an extended period.

She says those molested at the Red House may not be “comfort women” per se, “but they are victims of military sexual violence. And for that, they deserve to be legally compensated.”

NPR quoted 88-year-old Isabelita Vinuya lamenting that “rape is still rape whether it was done for days, for months or for years. The effect is the same. It destroyed our bodies, our sense of self. We lived in shame for years.”

As a result of the actions of their Japanese tormentors, the victims have spent their lives in misery, having endured physical injuries, pain and disability, and mental and See “Gorecho,” A11

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Words of wisdom from Ka Blas

Honor thy heroes Dr. Carl E. Balita

Entrepreneurs’ Footprints

Susan V. Ople

Scribbles

I

remember, as a little girl, seeking my father’s help with my homework. He was to me back then what Google has become for all of us. He knew the answers and gave them out in brief and simple sentences that made it easier for me to write down. I may have good teachers in school but the best of them all was at home, just a kalabit away. That the teacher/mentor that I idolized since childhood never had a college diploma remains one of life’s best miracles.

Yet, when I read back some of the columns and speeches that my father wrote, he kept coming back to the same theme: dependability and steadfastness. To him, his success in life can only be attributed to God’s grace. Ka Blas Ople, a former stevedore and newspaperman, served as Labor Minister, Assemblyman, Constitutional Commissioner, Senator, Senate President, and Secretary of Foreign Affairs before dying with his boots on in a plane bound for Bahrain from Tokyo, Japan.

Last Monday, we quietly mourned the loss that we felt 17 years ago, when the flight he took made an emergency landing in Taipei. By the time the ambulance reached the hospital, Ka Blas was gone. The man who was steadfast and reliable as a father and as a public servant was taken away while up in the clouds, nearest to heaven so he could no longer resist divinity’s call. Today, let me share with you some words of wisdom from Ka Blas, culled from his essays, speeches and writings.

Here is what he wrote for graduating students: “Most of you who graduate today come from families of modest means and a good many have supported yourselves through college. That is a feat of human endurance that compels admiration and respect. I know, because I also was a working student, first as a dockhand at the Manila North Harbor, later as a struggling newspaperman. Some of you have prepared for the law; others for careers in investigation and security; and still others for the world of commerce or business. But regardless of your career choice, you will find as you go along that the world will hold you to but one standard: that you are competent and that you are reliable.

The world pays a premium not for occasional flashes of brilliance but for sustained commitments to the performance of tasks.”

That kind of competence and reliability I have seen many times over while working for my dad. He was not one to indulge in petty gossip but would always look for the best outcomes. He wrote down whole sentences pieced together quietly in his head, and each word chosen was laid down like a tile that fits the floor of an intellectual mansion. His writings were flawless. It was the way he wrote that opened the doors to a lifelong career in public service. It was President Marcos who tapped him, as speechwriter and later on as Cabinet Secretary. Still, my father always

Gorecho. . .

continued from A10

emotional suffering.

The deaths of Felicidad, Maria and Virginia occurred three years after a 2-meter-high “Lola” statue of an unnamed woman wearing a traditional Filipino dress, blindfolded, with hands clutched to her chest, was installed on December 7, 2017 along Roxas Boulevard.

The statue was dismantled on April 27, 2018 under cover of darkness by the DPWH, allegedly for a drainage improvement project.

Issues of historical revisionism and the government’s submission to Japanese policy were raised by concerned groups led by the Flowers-for-Lolas as they condemned the

paid tribute to his public school for giving him a strong foundation for self-learning.

Again, in Ka Blas’s own words: “I still vividly remember the day I attended the Hagonoy Primary School for the first time. This required walking barefoot 3 kilometers under the hot sun from our remote barangay, and I took up temporary residence in the house of a relative in the población.”

“It must have been a wholly prosaic and ordinary event. But on reflection, what transpired then was a revolutionary moment in my life and in the lives of the poor. The shroud of ignorance and stagnation was torn apart to reveal new, exciting vistas of a future waiting to be conquered through the acquisition of knowledge.”

“The public school was also the great equalizer. I did not mind if the children of the rich went to expensive private schools with all the frills and prestige that costly goods bring. But the existence of a free public school guaranteed an equal opportunity and a fair start in life. On that basic education in the seven grades of elementary school, I have built through self-study the superstructure of experience and knowledge that has served me well as a writer and a political leader.”

Because of my father, I now know that education is for life. It doesn’t matter now where you get it—online or otherwise—the thirst to learn should always be there, regardless of one’s age. You stopped growing the day you think you know more than what is needed. Sloth is the enemy of education. A sedentary mind makes one’s day as bland and unexciting as the day before. My dad also wrote about the importance of setting a goal for one’s self. “Most of mankind get born and die without knowing what they really want.”

Love your parents while they are still here to guide you. They will always be your best teachers, never the gadgets that you own. You cannot download moments. Be physically and emotionally present in those moments. Because, when the people you love the most are gone, you will hang on to words that linger, yearning to hear the voice that said it, followed by the silence of quiet remembrance.

Susan V. Ople heads the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, a nonprofit organization that deals with labor and migration issues.

She also represents the OFW sector in the InterAgency Council Against Trafficking.

removal of the statue.

The statue was later declared missing in August 2019 due to the failure of its artist, Jonas Roces to deliver the statue back to the Tulay Foundation for the supposed reinstallation at the Baclaran Redemptorist Church.

As they slowly diminish in number, the Lolas did not get the justice they deserve, as their fight for unequivocal public apology, accurate historical inclusion, and just compensation continues up to this day.

Kule is the monicker of Philippine Collegian, the official student publication of UP Diliman.

Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0917-5025808 or 0908-8665786.

I

T was with great honor and privilege for the business sector to thank the frontliners, the health-care professionals, who risk their lives on a daily basis so others may live. In the words of Ambassador Benedicto Yujuico, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the health frontliners are the true heroes of this pandemic and we are and should forever be grateful. The Gawad Bayaning Kalusugan was initiated by this writer as a national tribute to individual health professionals and health-care teams from hospitals. It was presented by the PCCI, along with the Association of Allied Health Organizations of the Nation (AAHON) and Health Educationalists, Advocates and Leaders of the Philippines (HEAL Ph), and co-presented by almost all health organizations and supported by almost all business organizations.

Invited judges were prestigious business leaders and health sector leaders using a well-defined criteria and rubric scoring sheets, which included Ambassador Benedicto Yujuico; Dr. Alegria Limjoco of the PCCI and the Philippine Franchise Association; Mr. George Barcelon of the Asean Business Advisory Council; Dr. Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. of Philexport; Dr. Francis Chua of the Philippine Silkroad International Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Alberto Fenix of the PCCI Human Resource Development Foundation; Engineer Eunina Mangio; Atty. Jess Varela of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines; Ms. Rosemarie Ong and Atty. Paul Santos of the Philippine Retailers Association; Mr. Jeffrey Ng of the Federation of the Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry; Atty. Alex Cabrera of the PwC Philippines; and Mr. Mon Abrea of the Asian Consulting Group. These organizations are co-presentors to the awards. From the health sector, the judges include former Health Secretary Dr. Paulyn Jean Ubial; Dr. Jose Rene De Grano of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines; Dr. Mario Panaligan of the Philippine College of Physicians; Dr. Benito Atienza of the Philippine Medical Association; Dr. Linda Buhat of the Association of the Nursing Service Administrators of the Philippines; Dr. Florminda Tejano of the Philippine League of Government and Private Midwives; Dr. Ed Salud of the Philippine Hospital Association; nurse-priest Fr. Ronilo Ordenes, SVD, and nurseSister Agnetia Naval. These organziations are regarded as partners in the award.

The award generated P1.4 million in cash to be distributed to all the 24 winners who will receive P50,000 and

a trophy. The generous donations were coursed through the business organizations.

On top of the list of individual winners is DR. SATURNINO P. JAVIER of the Makati Medical Center for exemplary performance and committed delineation of functions as both Medical Director, Interim CoCEO, and Chief of the Cardiology Section who clearly demonstrated essential leadership qualities which include innovative persuasion, resourcefulness, and commendable attitudes that speak of respect for truth, decency, and integrity. Next is nurse MS. SCHEHERAZADE EDZA IBRAHIM, RN of the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center who developed training designs and conducted lectures and trainings on the prevention and control of Covid-19 to different schools, offices, communities, and groups. She played a big role in the launching and establishment of the CRMC Covid-19 Isolation Facility Extension.

Other winners include DR. AMELITA RAME GUZON of the Quezon City General Hospital Medical Center who, despite getting sick with the virus, remained on top handling three Hope facilities 24/7 to ensure the integrity of the city’s commitment throughout the pandemic. When she finally recovered, she embraced the role of being in the frontline to protect and save others, earning the unofficial yet endearing title of “COVIDIVA.” DR. LEONELL ALBERT LOPEZ QUITOS of the Adventist Medical Center is the only infectious disease specialist in Iligan City with a population of more than 340,000. He divides his time to six different hospitals to attend to the needs of Covid-19 positive patients until he recommended setting up a center facility,

Wednesday, December 16, 2020 A11

which led to a better management of the patients.

DR. JANICE C. CAOILI of the Makati Medical Center started the use of an Electronic Healthcare Worker Risk Exposure Assessment, which enabled faster data collection on exposed healthcare worker to a confirmed Covid-19 patient/coworker. This led to a more systematic, practical, appropriate guidelines to mitigate the risk of transmission in their hospital as she also advocates continuous research and learning, resulting to more effective strategies.

BRO. KEMPEE LASERNA LLORICO, RN of the San Juan De Dios Educational Foundation, Inc., left the seminary to empathetically serve the people both through prayers and nursing care. He is a person of faith paired with action.

DR. HELEN VALENZONA MADAMBA of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center has played a significant role in the community by serving as a maternal health advocate, continuously initiating blood donations even during the time of pandemic. She promotes alternative ways of communication with pregnant women, especially those with HIV. DR. RONTGENE MANTUA SOLANTE of the San Lazaro Hospital is in the forefront in media interviews as the source of information in diagnosis, prevention and management of Covid-19 and other issues that are important to the members of the sub task force unit clinical management under the Department of Health. His enthusiasm and passion towards his work serve as a source of inspiration and a strong motivator for everyone to work for the common cause.

DR. JULIUS ALMARIO LECCIONES of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center has envisioned their hospital’s contribution to national government’s efforts in fighting Covid-19 due to lack of Covid-19 Molecular Testing Laboratory in the country. He was able to establish one through the assistance of Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, Incorporated and embarked on a sample pooling research study with Philippine Society of Pathologist. DR. ALFONSO VICTORINO H. FAMARAN, JR. of the Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitarium is constantly seen in the hospital doing his rounds, personally overseeing Covid operations, which exhibits his resiliency amid challenges and animosities, his tireless dedication to the service, and his unyielding support for everything that’s good and noble, proving his devotion to the profession.

DR. AILEEN MANALANSAN MALLARI of the Tondo Medical Center has helped in delivering

quality health service to more than 2,000 Covid-19 positive, probable, and suspected cases. She updates information of admitted and nonadmitted patients, which shall then be reported to the Epidemiology Bureau and addresses their concerns any time of the day with the use of available social media platform. DR. PRIMO BAGASAO VALENZUELA of the Rizal Medical Center who personally consolidated the daily census of patients, available beds, available ventilators, and other necessary information and was responsible in submitting these to DOH, while leading their Infection Prevention and Control Committee to be empowered with his teachings and trainings.

On top of the 12 Gawad Bayaning Kalusugan Team Category winners is the National Kidney and Transplant Institute Covid-19 Response Team.

Also in the circle of winners is the Makati Medical Center Covid Task Force. Also in the list are the Mary Mediatrix Medical Center Covid Task Force; the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center Family and Community Medicine Department; the Feel Better ManilaMed Medical Center Manila; the San Lazaro Hospital Covid Pioneer Team; the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center Hospital EREID Incident Command System; the Siliman University Medical Center Covid-19 Knowledge-Based Medical Management Advisory Board; the Ospital ng Imus—NSD Delta Team; the Sta Ana Hospital Medical Covid Warriors; the Garcia Memorial Provincial Hospital Giving Meaning Purpose and Hope Team; and Mindanao Central Sanitarium and General Hospital Frontliners.

Dr. Saturnino Javier, in his acceptance speech, said the recognition puts meaning for something they thought was just a job and comes with an ordinary performance of a duty. As he shared the award with all frontliners, he is elated for the honor of doing such a herculean task during the time of pandemic. Finally, he offered the recognition to all those who offered their lives and health in responding to this pandemic. Dr. Rose Marie R. Liquete, who received the award of the NKTI, considers the award as a humbling tribute to those who are working tirelessly, unmindful of the Covid-19 scare.

What makes the Gawad Bayaning Kalusugan special is the footprint it leaves in the lives of those health professionals who are as afraid of the novel coronavirus as humanity, but are taking the road to lead the battle against the unseen so that others may live.

For feedback, please send e-mail to drcarlbalita@ yahoo.com.

Facebook might pose dangers, but it isn’t a monopoly

E

ven in a year when bashing tech companies has become a bipartisan avocation, last week’s antitrust assault on Facebook Inc. stands out. The social-media giant now faces dual lawsuits from the Federal Trade Commission and 46 state attorneys general seeking, among other things, to forcibly undo its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. Given this alliance of federal regulators and so many states, red and blue, you might think the case is open-andshut. And sure enough, Facebook being Facebook, the complaints are packed with internal e-mails boasting about dubious objectives and unseemly mo-

Ignacio. . .

continued from A10

Certificate of spouse or Court Order on the Declaration of Presumptive Death of spouse.

For those with Correction of Sex or Gender, they have to submit their Birth Certificate, or Passport, or Copy of their SSS Personal Record where the correct gender is indicated, or Court Order granting petition for correction of gender if with erroneous entry of gender in the birth certificate, whichever is applicable.

Lastly, for Updating of Beneficiary or Beneficiaries, they need to submit their

tivations. (“It is better to buy than compete,” Mark Zuckerberg writes at one point.) Look closer at the underlying conduct, though, and the suits are far weaker than they seem.

To be clear, the wisdom of allowing Facebook to buy Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 is up for debate. Although few people at the time thought either company was a direct threat to Facebook’s core business, their combined firepower in the hands of an already dominant platform was certainly enough to give pause. One can imagine—as these lawsuits do—a world where both services developed in more produc-

tive or desirable directions.

But the fact is that the FTC itself scrutinized and approved both mergers, and if all those attorneys general objected at the time, they kept it to themselves. The courts will decide if reversing course nearly a decade later and demanding a breakup correctly applies the law. But it looks like a hard case to make. Facebook, having gotten the government’s go-ahead, spent billions of dollars integrating both services—including systems for advertising, commerce, messaging, cybersecurity and more—into its ecosystem. It’s not clear how a breakup would even work at this point, let alone how it could

remedy the many harms alleged in these suits.

More to the point, the competitive landscape has changed utterly. Dozens of new entrants now fight with Facebook for attention and ad dollars. The FTC imagines that both Instagram (a photo-sharing app) and WhatsApp (a messaging service) might’ve matured into innovative and profitable socialmedia platforms in their own right. Yet it also insists that Facebook faces no serious competition from the likes of Snap and Slack, YouTube and LinkedIn, Reddit and Discord—any of which, by the FTC’s own logic, could surely do the same. Bloomberg Opinion

Marriage Contract/Marriage Certificate if the Spouse is to be added, and Birth Certificate or Baptismal Certificate in case a child is to be reported. For the Deletion of previously reported Spouse, they have to submit a Decree of Legal Separation, if legally separated; Death Certificate, if due to the death of a spouse; Certificate of Finality of Annulment or Annotated Marriage Contract/Certificate, if due to annulled or void marriage.

There is no required document, however, for the Updating of Contact Information as this can be done thru the SSS Mobile App and via the member’s My.SSS account in the SSS website.

As we are still facing the threats

of the Covid-19 pandemic, we advise our members to submit their Member Data Change Request Form together with their applicable required documents and IDs through our Drop Box System located in our branches nationwide. They must place the documents in a sealed envelope with their name, contact information and transaction details written outside. Notification will be done based on their given contact information and branch appointment schedule.

To our dear SSS members, I say, act now! Do verify your records; do not wait when it’s already time for you to file your applications. It is

important to have an updated and correct record as this assures you a faster and hassle-free processing of loan and benefit applications.

Going back to the case of my friend, she had learned her lesson since the old adage “daig ng maagap ang masipag” rightfully applies to her. She also told me that it should have been her motto years ago, and I totally agree.

Have a great day!

Aurora C. Ignacio is SSS president and chief executive officer.

We welcome your questions and insights on the topics that we discuss. E-mail mediaaffairs@sss. gov.ph for topics that you might want us to discuss.

A12 Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Slight rise in Oct remittances shows OFW grit

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By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

HE cumulative contraction of remittances narrowed further in October, as Filipino migrant workers were able to increase the money they sent back home during the month despite continuing economic disruptions and retrenchment due to the global health crisis, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Wednesday.

Cash remittances sent home by Filipino migrant workers grew 2.9 percent in October to $2.75 billion. The increase was traced to the growth in remittances from both land-based and sea-based workers.

Land-based Filipino migrant workers grew their remittances by 3.3 percent to $2.19 billion in October. Sea-based Filipino workers, who were severely affected at the height of movement and travel restriction early in the pandemic, were also able to grow their remittances by 1.2 percent to $561.2 million.

October’s level of remittances is a boost from the $2.6-billion remittance inflows in the previous month. It is also higher than

the $2.67 billion remittance inflows in the same month last year.

This narrowed the gap of the total remittances received by the Philippines in the same 10-month period last year to the cumulative remittances this year.

The Philippines received a total of $24.6 billion remittances in the first 10 months of the year, 0.9 percent lower than the $24.9 billion seen in the same 10-month period last year.

By country source, cash remittances from Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Kingdom (UK), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Germany, and Kuwait declined; while those from the United States (US), Singapore, Qatar, Oman, Hong Kong and Taiwan increased.

The US posted the highest share of the total remittances at 40.2 percent, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the UK, the UAE, Canada, Hong Kong, Qatar and Taiwan.

The combined remittances from these countries accounted for 78.7 percent of the total cash remittances.

Resilience proven

The remittances’ ability to grow further despite massive economic disruptions in the global world and retrenchments is a proof of their resilience, economists said.

“Overseas Filipinos [OF] continue to prove doubters wrong, finding a way to send home their hard earned remittances despite the challenges posed by the pandemic,” ING Bank economist Nicholas Mapa said.

“The fact that remittances continue to rise even after 300,000 OFs were repatriated and the global economy faces recession is truly impressive and a testament to the grit and heart of our modern day heroes,” he added.

Mapa said this is good news for the economy, as remittances largely fund domestic consumption in the country. However, this may also mean that Filipino migrant workers were “asked to bear the brunt of the local downturn.”

He added: “Funding Philippine domestic consumption needs of their families, the stark appreciation of the Peso may have forced OFs to move heaven and earth to send even more remittances in dollar terms. Thus once again, OFs are being called upon to make up for the shortcomings at home, if only to ensure a happy holiday for their families back home.”

Going towards the end of the year, Mapa forecasts a strong finish in terms of remittance flows to close out the year to fund their families’ holiday expenses. He, however, warned that renewed lockdowns in host countries, particularly those from the US and many parts of Europe, may mute this rise.

Original proponent status of Megawide-led group for Naia rehab revoked

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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@lorenzmarasigan

HE government has revoked the original proponent status (OPS) granted to Megawide Construction Corp. and partner GMR Infrastructure Ltd. for their P109billion proposal to redevelop the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

Without citing any reason, the board of the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) “resolved” to revoke the OPS from the Filipino-Indian partners based on two separate “meetings” on December 4 and December 15.

“Megawide-GMR will immediately file a motion for reconsideration for its proposal. At all stages, Megawide has complied with all requirements and interpretations of the government for its unsolicited proposal. There are no justifiable grounds to deny the Filipino people a transformed Naia,” Megawide Managing Director for Transport Louie B. Ferrer said.

He said the revocation of the OPS is a “devastating blow against progress,” especially at a time of deep economic turmoil.

“A critical step towards the Philippines’s snational economic recovery was delayed further by vested and corrupt interests who have spent millions in trying to bring down the only capable and qualified player,” Ferrer said.

Megawide and GMR first submitted a proposal to redevelop Naia in 2018, but it was left to gather dust due to an earlier proposal submitted by rival Naia Consortium, a group of seven Filipino conglomerates that also offered to rehabilitate the dilapidated airport.

Just five months ago, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) sought for the resubmission of the proposal by Megawide and GMR, after Naia Consortium pulled out of the race. Contract terms were also stricter than those of Naia Consortium’s.

Megawide then submitted a revised proposal, offering to “uplift and upskill the livelihood of thousands of airport employees to make them experts in their fields. We will break the chains of backwardness, corruption and inefficiency that have held back our main gateway’s progress and that of our nation.”

As the government reviewed the contract, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Investment Coordination Committee sought to clarify the group’s financial capacity to fund the multibillion-peso project. This resulted in several groups and individuals casting doubt on the unsolicited proposal, raising other issues such as the employment of current Naia staff.

Megawide answered this by submitting a proof of financial capability, highlighting its partnership with Indian infrastructure firm GMR, which was also its partner in developing the MactanCebu International Airport (MCIA).

Ferrer said his group will push for the reinstatement of the OPS to Megawide, as the rehabilitation of Naia would help in the economic recovery of the Philippines, which suffered from a technical recession due to the pandemic

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Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

B1

‘BPOs to shield PHL office market from exit of POGOs’

By VG Cabuag

L

@villygc

EECHIU Property Consultants Inc. said the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector can easily occupy the office spaces that will be vacated by Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), which are expected to leave the country in the next two to four years.

David Leechiu, the company's CEO, said most of the companies from the United States and Europe tend to expand their operations after times of crisis, which he believes bodes well for the country's BPO sector.

Pipeline demand for 2021 or total live requirements for office spaces, is estimated at 300,000 square meters.

According to its data, transac-

tions from POGOs plummeted to zero starting in the second quarter due to the additional taxes slapped on them by the Duterte administration.

“It’s a self-inflicted incident.

We played the game of bluff and they decided to pack up and leave,” Leechiu said in an online media briefing.

He said the remaining Chinese POGOs that have not left

the country cannot just leave everything and transfer to somewhere else.

“There is no somewhere else.

There are seven countries all over Asia that they are looking at, but those countries together do not have any office space, the amount of office that they need to house them [that we have]. So they just relocate in batches,” he said.

Some of the POGOs have a two- to four-year program to exit the country, if the government does not backtrack on the taxes and there won't be any meaningful transactions on the POGOs, he said.

By the fourth quarter, vacated spaces registered at 540,000 square meters with 51 percent or 277,000 square meters, attributable to POGOs and 33 percent, or 179,000 sqm., from other players struggling to recover from pandemic losses. Rent prices, meanwhile, are holding up owing to the presence of BPO firms and multinationals.

Leechiu forecasted that at least

56 percent of spaces that POGOs vacated would lure expanding BPO firms since the spaces were accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and are eligible for tax incentives.

Moreover, 82 percent of the spaces are in Metro Manila, a primary destination for BPO firms.

The Philippine office market registered demand of 381,000 square meters for the year, according to the broker’s data, just a fraction of last year’s 1.7 million square meters.

The IT-business process manufacturing segment accounted for 182,000 square meters of that total, making it one of the few markets in the world that has remained viable, he said.

About 69 percent of demand was in Metro Manila and the balance of 31 percent mostly in the cities of Iloilo and Cebu.

It estimated losses at P1.4 billion in office rent mostly in Makati, Quezon City, and the Ortigas-Mandaluyong area from recent POGO vacancies.

AboitizPower to sell bonds in Q1 2021

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

A

BOITIZ Power Corp. is set to issue in the first quarter of next year the first tranche of its P30-billion securities under the shelf registration program of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The amount will be issued in tranches, starting with P4 billion.

The company intends to list the first tranche with the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corporation (PDEx).

“The Board of Directors of the Company approved the issuance of the first tranche of the Retail Bonds under the shelf registration statement, consisting of up to P4 billion, with oversubscription op-

Lopez Holdings files for delisting from PSE

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OPEZ Holdings Corp., the listed holding firm of the Lopez group, on Tuesday filed for voluntary delisting of its 4.62 billion common shares from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

In its disclosure, the company said it will now delist its shares after First Holdings’ tender offer, which excludes the shares of the family, will result in the breach of the 10 percent minimum public ownership rule.

With the delisting, which may happen by early next year, the Lopez family's listed firms will be reduced to two—First Holdings and ABSCBN Corp.—from the previous four.

Lopez Holdings also approved the engagement of independent financial adviser KPMG/R.G. Manabat and Co., which provided a fairness opinion on First Holdings’ tender offer price of P3.85 per share. “It is their opinion that the fair value of the listed common shares of LPZ ranges from P2.34 to P3.92 each as of the cut-off date, September 30, 2020. As such the tender offer price of P3.85 per share is within the computed range of LPZ’s equity value per share,” the company said in its disclosure.

First Holdings has offered to buy a minimum of 908.45 million common shares of its parent company or about 20 percent of the total issued and outstanding common shares to a maximum of 2.06 billion common shares or 45.56 percent of the company. It will buy the said shares at P3.85 apiece.

Lopez Inc., the ultimate parent firm, has already said it will not tender its common shares. Lopez Inc. still owns more than half of the company. VG Cabuag

tion of up to P4 billion.

This first tranche is expected to be offered to the general public, subject to market conditions, during the first quarter of 2021,” it said.

AboitizPower said its Board of Directors approved this last December 14.

“Proceeds of the first tranche of the Retail Bonds will be used for refinancing of corporate debts and/or for other general corporate purposes,” it added.

Meanwhile, Aboitiz Power unit Davao Light and Power Company (Davao Light), GET Philippines, and QEV Technologies in Spain launched last week the BEST Bus project the first fully electric, free-ride shuttle service in Mindanao.

The project was launched in

partnership with the city government of Davao.

BEST stands for Business for Env ironmenta l ly Susta inable Transformation, and is an initiative advocating to “be green, be digital, and be kind” for the betterment of the community.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte expressed her gratitude to Davao Light and GET Philippines for supporting the city’s various initiatives over the years.

She stressed that the project is a welcome initiative as it is aligned with the city’s efforts to provide efficient and environmentally sustainable transportation options for the riding public.

“These buses marry modern convenience, functionality and environmental sustainability,

and will be a treat for Dabawenyos this Christmas season—for not only are they fully electric and zero-emission buses, but they are also equipped with internet connectivity, and ramps and wheelchair slots for persons with disabilities,” she said.

Aboitiz Group President and Chief Executive Officer Sabin M. Aboitiz said the company has a long history with Davao City, starting with the city’s 9-1-1 system that used Davao Light’s electric posts as one of the means to get the system running.

The Group also manages Cleanergy Park, an icon of biodiversity in the city, and operates Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc., which currently builds an alternative water source for the city’s future water needs.

NREB sets first renewables auction

T

HE country will hold its first renewable energy (RE) auction middle of next year, a move that will push for the compliance of power providers with the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) policy.

“The green energy auction committee has actually convened two weeks ago. It was the first meeting of the committee to set out the work plan for the first auction scheduled by June 2021,” said National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) Chairman Monalisa Dimalanta during an online forum held Tuesday.

There are no firm numbers yet as to the initial RE capacity that would be put up for auction. “The distribution utilities (DUs) are still verifying projections with impact of lockdown, but DOE [Department of Energy] hopes to finalize numbers by end of the year or January next year,” said the NREB official.

The green energy auction program intends to pool 2,000 MW of RE for auction, depending on the supply requirements of the DUs. Dimalanta said the Green Energy Auction Committee (GEAC) would recommend to the DOE the capacity for auction based on the RPS requirements for 5 to 10 years.

“We still maintain the 2,000MW

Nlex, Valenzuela govt agree on RFID plan

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

& Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

N

LEX Corp. and the local government of Valenzuela have agreed on certain operational traffic solutions to temper the congestion on the expressway and in a way address the company’s problem of having its local business permit temporarily suspended.

In a statement, Nlex Corp. said among the “concrete solutions” include the transfer of RFID sticker installation and account reloading transactions away from the toll gates and the possibility of opening cash lanes during the holidays.

The installation site at the Karuhatan toll plaza will be relocated to the Santolan overpass area inside the expressway.

Meanwhile, the installation site in Mindanao toll plaza will also be relocated about 500 meters inside the expressway near the Que Grande overpass area.

“For current RFID customers, Nlex committed to add new RFID toll lanes in both Karuhatan and Mindanao toll plazas. This will allow existing current RFID users to have better access to the RFID lanes and improve their travel time,” the statement read.

Motorists may also reload their RFID stickers after entry.

“It was agreed that these measures will minimize the bottlenecks at the Karuhatan and Mindanao toll gates and achieve a more efficient use of the limited road space specially during rush hours,” the statement read.

Nlex Corp. said it will accelerate its RFID sticker replacement program.

“Additional traffic solutions are the further enhancement of traffic management operations, improvement of customer assistance at the toll lanes, as well as accelerating the customer communication campaign on RFID reloading,” the statement read.

Nlex Corp. offered to implement “barrier up operations” during rush hour in all Valenzuela toll gates to address the traffic queuing.

“The agreed traffic solutions address most of the concerns being raised by the City Government, and we commit to work closely with the office of the Valenzuela City Mayor from hereon,” Nlex Corp. said.

To recall, Valenzuela Mayor Rex T. Gatchalian last week temporarily suspended the business permit of Nlex Corp. to operate within his jurisdiction due to the heavy traffic that was caused by the glitches in its digital toll collection system.

Earlier, Nlex Corp. said the glitches in the cashless toll collections system were “birthing pains” that were exacerbated by the long holiday, the lifting of the truck ban and number coding scheme, and seasonal build up.

All expressway operators were required to implement full cashless toll collections schemes on their tollways to curb the spread of Covid-19. The policy was implemented on December 1.

Senate resolution

CITING mounting complaints over glitches in the implementation of radio frequency identification (RFID) for cashless transactions in major tollways, Senators unanimously passed Senate Resolution 592 calling on the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to suspend its implementation, heeding pleas from incon-

BUSINESSMIRROR FILE PHOTO

as working number, but this is being validated because the RPS requirements are in actual electricity generated instead of capacity,” she added.

The RPS requires DUs to source a prescribed percentage of their supply from RE facilities. This can be done through the green energy auction.

At present, the RPS level is set at 1 percent until 2022. Dimalanta suggested that this should be increased to 2.52 percent moving forward starting from 2023, to help the country achieve its 35 percent target.

Last year, RE only accounted

for 20.8 percent of the country’s power generation mix, lower than the 33.9 percent RE share when the RE Act was implemented in 2008.

Of the RE share, 10.1 percent comes from geothermal, 7.6 percent from hydro, 1.2 percent from solar and one percent each for biomass and wind.

“As of last year, the share stood at 20 percent. It is almost the same for 2020 from 2019 figures, in spite of the lockdowns, Dimalanta said.

The NREB is the advisory board tasked with the effective implementation of RE projects in the country. Lenie Lectura

venienced motorists and commuters.

Resolution 592 lamented that implementation of the cashless transaction system on toll expressways, instead of facilitating entry and exit, “caused massive traffic jams affecting thousands of stranded motorists due to various complaints like failure of scanners to read RFID stickers; delays in the reloading system of Easytrip accounts, unauthorized transactions, and other glitches that prohibit quick access.”

In sponsoring the Resolution, Sen. Grace Poe, who chairs the franchisegranting Senate Committee on Public Services, found it “unfair to the public to impose a new system” without making sure it would not lead to inconvenience of motorists and the riding public.

“While it is recognized that implementation of the cashless transaction system on toll expressways is a step toward a more convenient commuting or travel experience for all and will also reduce contact and minimize the spread of Covid-19, it is not appropriate and is unfair to the public to implement a system wherein the implementers themselves are not ready and equipped to make the transaction seamless,” said Poe. She recalled that the DOTr issued Department Order (DO) 2020-12 requiring cashless or contactless transaction for all vehicles traveling on toll expressways starting November 4 but the deadline was later reset to December 1.

Poe added that the Land Transportation Office (LTO) issued Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 2020-2224 on October 29, which provided uniform rules and regulations for the enforcement of DO 2020-012 on cashless transactions.

The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), an attached agency of the DOTr, then released the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of DO 2020-012 outlining responsibilities of toll operators and/or concessionaires, enumerated the guidelines in the operation and maintenance of the electric toll collection (ETC) system in toll expressways. The Senator noted that the TRB provided for the imposition of penalties to erring motorists and toll operators and/or concessionaires.

The resolution also lamented that “this malfunctioning of the ETC system, particularly in the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), resulted in traffic congestion in nearby cities and municipalities affecting not just the livelihood and day-to-day activities of people, but also the economy of some cities and municipalities.”

The resolution likewise indicated that “the reply and actions of NLEX on the complaints raised were found lacking and, therefore, resulted in the suspension of its business permit in Valenzuela.”

“Taking into consideration the mounting complaints from motorists and LGUs alike, and the unsatisfactory response of toll corporations and regulatory agencies on the issue, it is recommended that the implementation of DOTr DO 2020-12 and its IRR, and LTO's MC 2020-2224 be suspended immediately until the issues in its implementation are resolved,” said Poe. Moreover, the resolution stressed that “the riding public and road users must also be given ample time to comply with the new requirements, through more accessible installation and reloading stations, transparency in fees and charges and their possible options, integrated ID for different toll highways, and enhanced awareness on the use of RFID technology.”

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

December 14, 2020

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

BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK PHILTRUST 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 VANTAGE

113.4 113.5 110.3 113.6 110.3 113.5 3,291,000 371,568,682 9,883,496 82 82.45 82.7 83.5 82 82 2,858,570 235,416,561.50 -75,350,566.50 25.75 25.85 25.75 25.85 25.65 25.85 171,200 4,409,185 -10,300 11.64 11.66 11.34 11.72 11.32 11.66 2,103,700 24,165,696 -3,273,524 50.95 51 51.5 51.7 50.75 51 10,306,500 527,315,529 -60,285,222 11.44 11.48 10 11.5 9.83 11.44 137,600 1,478,346 21 23.15 20.85 20.85 20.85 20.85 200 4,170 30.7 30.9 30.7 31.2 30.6 30.7 892,300 27,522,950 -21,017,125 53.25 53.85 53.8 53.8 53.2 53.2 420 22,584 97.05 103.9 104.6 104.6 95 95 1,460 139,104.50 19.3 19.36 19.2 19.38 19.18 19.34 72,500 1,396,660 -44,310 148 148.8 139 148.9 139 148.8 2,900,850 422,719,318 112,527,554 68.8 69 69 69 68 69 20,910 1,440,798.50 62,795 0.92 0.98 1 1 0.92 0.98 189,000 186,590 28.5 29 28.9 29 28.5 29 9,100 263,700 0.65 0.67 0.66 0.67 0.63 0.65 177,000 112,850 4.75 4.77 5 5.05 4.55 4.75 2,842,800 13,516,293 -47,900 6.9 7.49 7 7.05 7 7.05 800 5,610 1.3 1.32 1.3 1.31 1.3 1.3 100,000 130,100 0.345 0.355 0.345 0.345 0.345 0.345 290,000 100,050 800 820 800 800 800 800 350 280,000 280,000 0.77 0.78 0.65 0.78 0.65 0.77 4,007,000 2,900,110 -65,700 155 155.4 155.1 157 154.8 154.8 4,680 725,597 -671,114 2,000 2,030 2,044 2,044 2,044 2,044 5 10,220 1.04 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1,000 1,100 -

INDUSTRIAL

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

6.2 6.23 6.33 6.39 6.15 6.2 25,692,100 160,420,352 -4,986,191 1.4 1.41 1.4 1.42 1.4 1.41 1,557,000 2,190,580 27.2 27.25 27.1 27.5 27.1 27.2 1,221,600 33,313,165 -12,954,090 0.405 0.41 0.305 0.425 0.3 0.405 546,440,000 201,800,700 4,353,550 28.1 28.2 28.1 28.35 28.05 28.2 853,000 24,057,410 -9,225,690 77.9 77.95 79 79.1 77.7 77.9 308,600 24,174,570 -19,888,389.50 287 288 294.6 295 287 287 537,370 155,600,994 -67,460,736 16.44 16.5 16.3 16.52 16.24 16.5 1,109,200 18,251,696 3,960,274 4.03 4.04 4.12 4.12 4.01 4.04 5,404,000 21,976,910 -3,729,850 3.58 3.59 3.52 3.58 3.52 3.58 125,000 444,880 -24,920 12.78 13.14 12.8 13.3 12.7 13.14 167,400 2,175,256 -159,720 22.45 22.55 22.8 22.85 22.1 22.45 1,376,900 30,896,585 -829,495 11.06 11.1 11.08 11.1 11 11.06 962,800 10,634,254 33,060 14 14.16 14 14 14 14 7,800 109,200 106,400 8.4 8.5 8.32 8.5 8.25 8.5 1,672,300 13,908,424 1,094,511.00 3.76 3.79 3.85 3.87 3.7 3.79 2,151,000 8,098,020 19,280 15.66 15.68 15.1 15.72 15.1 15.66 24,600 377,924 17.66 17.7 17.66 18 17.66 17.7 2,397,800 42,663,218 -37,307,224 7.95 7.98 7.06 8.5 7.06 7.95 1,653,100 12,879,593 984,849 7.56 7.57 7.65 7.65 7.52 7.56 1,258,400 9,563,260 -892,998 10.02 10.06 10.06 10.1 10 10.06 5,836,100 58,503,140 802,772.00 71 71.2 69.6 71.6 69.6 71 266,310 18,891,975.50 -760,310 0.73 0.74 0.7 0.75 0.7 0.74 11,144,000 8,078,420 -55,500 1.66 1.68 1.67 1.7 1.65 1.68 22,438,000 37,414,450 -26,030 50.55 50.95 51 52 50.5 50.95 28,590 1,453,537.50 -272,316 207 207.4 206.8 208 206 207 603,610 125,048,608 -50,589,924 50 51.65 50.2 51 49 50 155,090 7,731,265 7,500 8.78 8.8 8.27 8.78 8.27 8.78 3,700 31,961 20,092 8.14 8.15 8.19 8.2 8.05 8.15 685,600 5,579,719 712,191 0.237 0.238 0.22 0.255 0.219 0.238 64,750,000 15,468,190 -99,550 8.45 8.5 8.5 8.59 8.45 8.45 66,100 561,597 1.4 1.41 1.35 1.44 1.33 1.41 17,656,000 24,586,180 991,610 4.64 4.7 4.7 4.79 4.7 4.7 134,000 629,890 -42,210 1.79 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.8 186,000 339,120 0.12 0.125 0.123 0.125 0.117 0.124 2,860,000 349,580 -8,680 155.7 157 150.3 157 150.2 157 1,369,110 212,393,995 124,969,309 1.04 1.05 1.04 1.06 1.03 1.04 4,349,000 4,534,260 -45,760 2.48 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 5,000 12,500 53.3 54.5 55 55 53 53.3 2,610 140,107.50 55 57.6 54.5 57.8 54.5 57.65 160 8,872.50 1.69 1.7 1.7 1.73 1.69 1.69 9,175,000 15,654,610 -953,010 5.1 5.14 5.06 5.14 5 5.13 140,000 712,658 14.82 15.02 14.92 15.02 14.82 15.02 134,100 2,005,750 7,232 7.71 7.75 7.85 7.85 7.6 7.75 864,800 6,630,824 -61,964 7.74 7.75 7.47 7.75 7.35 7.75 4,441,600 33,909,019 -1,405,563 9.24 9.25 9.4 9.48 9.25 9.25 9,382,600 87,685,718 -14,941,390 8.51 9.4 9.4 9.4 9.2 9.4 48,600 451,300 0.93 0.94 0.95 0.97 0.88 0.94 1,181,000 1,082,620 1.28 1.3 1.32 1.32 1.25 1.28 7,206,000 9,193,440 152,200 1.84 1.87 1.87 1.88 1.84 1.84 385,000 713,530 29,640 2.64 2.65 2.72 2.72 2.62 2.65 1,981,000 5,254,520 41,310 4.59 4.68 4.59 4.6 4.59 4.59 7,000 32,140 4.6 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7 2,000 9,400 5.32 5.35 5.4 5.45 5.35 5.35 154,800 835,818 -497,340 22.7 22.75 22.9 23 22.7 22.75 133,200 3,031,325 -2,405,435 2.6 2.62 2.66 2.69 2.6 2.62 6,498,000 17,080,750 -140,570 7.05 7.1 7.12 7.24 7.03 7.1 1,444,800 10,248,903 144,674 1.13 1.15 1.11 1.15 1.1 1.15 1,093,000 1,234,300 5.3 5.31 5.2 5.3 5.2 5.3 30,100 157,530 1.54 1.55 1.61 1.61 1.54 1.55 3,679,000 5,720,850 113,520 7.3 7.31 7.12 7.35 7.08 7.3 4,975,500 36,002,880 948,320

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.7 0.71 0.72 0.74 0.7 0.7 66,596,000 47,690,590 -311,800 ASIABEST GROUP 8.45 8.65 8.6 8.65 8.35 8.65 55,900 474,675 844 845 840 849 840 844 254,730 215,129,005 -81,915,775 AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY 47.4 47.5 46.95 47.6 46.85 47.4 1,017,500 48,159,845 19,400,040 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 10.64 10.68 10.48 10.68 10.4 10.64 4,606,200 48,878,284 17,807,722 3.16 3.17 3.13 3.17 3.13 3.17 5,175,000 16,290,200 248,840 AYALA LAND LOG ANSCOR 6.52 6.78 6.8 6.8 6.5 6.52 42,300 278,132 73,940 0.76 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.76 0.77 556,000 423,980 ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A 0.98 0.99 0.95 0.99 0.95 0.98 13,438,000 13,019,900 ATN HLDG B 0.94 0.99 0.93 0.99 0.93 0.99 442,000 432,790 -102,960 5.73 5.74 5.73 5.82 5.64 5.73 4,401,000 25,276,761 -12,797,856 COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG 6.12 6.15 6.11 6.2 6.1 6.12 6,743,000 41,443,513 7,404,616 FILINVEST DEV 9.97 10.1 9.6 10.1 9.6 10.1 126,800 1,258,424 -327,330 0.21 0.217 0.209 0.217 0.208 0.215 120,000 25,370 FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL 644 644.5 650 650 642.5 644 373,400 240,960,295 -51,055,775 4.36 4.48 4.46 4.63 4.31 4.48 89,000 399,890 HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT 70.3 70.65 69 70.7 69 70.65 1,345,630 94,760,820.50 -20,614,444.50 JOLLIVILLE HLDG 5 5.15 5.05 5.15 5 5 29,600 149,315 4.96 5.2 4.6 5.04 4.6 5.04 2,800 13,672 KEPPEL HLDG A LODESTAR 0.82 0.84 0.84 0.84 0.82 0.83 128,000 106,350 LOPEZ HLDG 3.72 3.73 3.74 3.74 3.72 3.73 3,902,000 14,545,680 -1,811,180 13.98 14 13.5 14.08 13.5 14 3,883,800 54,009,830 -14,270,402 LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG 0.52 0.53 0.53 0.53 0.52 0.53 299,000 157,450 4.4 4.43 4.42 4.45 4.38 4.4 27,331,000 120,592,080 -22,737,030 METRO PAC INV 3.58 3.6 3.78 3.8 3.6 3.6 772,000 2,838,180 79,200 PACIFICA HLDG PRIME MEDIA 0.88 0.91 0.91 0.91 0.87 0.9 201,000 178,820 1,760 2.95 3 2.95 3 152,000 455,750 -204,000 REPUBLIC GLASS 2.95 3 1.2 1.21 1.17 1.2 1.16 1.2 367,000 431,520 176,160.00 SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID 253.6 261.8 265 265 250 253.6 1,680 426,252 1,060 1,065 1,068 1,085 1,040 1,065 108,300 115,359,715 8,020 SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP 139.2 139.3 138 139.2 138 139.2 147,520 20,473,535 -630,886 SOC RESOURCES 0.8 0.82 0.8 0.84 0.75 0.82 1,264,000 995,510 -57,400 145.2 147.2 149.9 149.9 145.2 145.2 8,060 1,172,780 -964,818.00 TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS 0.233 0.238 0.23 0.24 0.23 0.238 730,000 170,370 0.193 0.194 0.196 0.214 0.193 0.193 28,710,000 5,778,060 695,63000 ZEUS HLDG

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.7 0.71 0.71 0.72 0.7 0.7 974,000 685,010 ARTHALAND CORP 0.7 0.71 0.7 0.73 0.69 0.71 2,503,000 1,785,550 41.3 41.5 41.05 42.1 40.6 41.5 9,649,800 400,561,615 -14,078,295 AYALA LAND ARANETA PROP 1.31 1.34 1.35 1.35 1.31 1.31 196,000 259,890 AREIT RT 29 29.1 29 29.2 28.95 29 966,500 28,110,505 2,393,595 1.71 1.74 1.65 1.74 1.65 1.74 1,581,000 2,652,700 -1,046,740 BELLE CORP A BROWN 0.89 0.9 0.89 0.9 0.87 0.89 3,470,000 3,074,950 -57,350 0.82 0.84 0.82 0.84 0.82 0.84 296,000 246,730 CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES 0.169 0.17 0.159 0.169 0.159 0.169 49,030,000 8,025,360 CEBU HLDG 6 6.18 6.19 6.19 6 6.18 22,200 133,237 CEB LANDMASTERS 5.02 5.05 5.04 5.05 5.01 5.05 1,584,300 7,959,774 51,796.00 CENTURY PROP 0.47 0.475 0.475 0.485 0.47 0.475 13,150,000 6,257,300 37,000 CYBER BAY 0.36 0.365 0.365 0.365 0.35 0.365 7,970,000 2,852,450 -36,000 15.22 15.24 15 15.4 15 15.24 3,349,200 51,112,826 -14,837,248 DOUBLEDRAGON DM WENCESLAO 7.7 7.74 7.74 7.8 7.52 7.7 654,600 5,017,912 512,362 0.335 0.34 0.35 0.355 0.335 0.34 10,460,000 3,565,800 17,250 EMPIRE EAST 0.095 0.096 0.098 0.098 0.092 0.095 7,530,000 716,920 EVER GOTESCO FILINVEST LAND 1.17 1.18 1.17 1.19 1.16 1.17 11,483,000 13,479,970 -6,560 0.98 0.99 0.98 1 0.97 0.98 492,000 482,230 GLOBAL ESTATE 8990 HLDG 8.84 8.87 8.69 8.84 8.69 8.84 59,900 525,346 PHIL INFRADEV 1.64 1.65 1.66 1.67 1.62 1.64 3,138,000 5,162,450 36,830 2.97 3.33 3.36 3.36 3.35 3.35 3,000 10,070 KEPPEL PROP CITY AND LAND 0.77 0.78 0.77 0.78 0.77 0.78 372,000 287,370 4.11 4.12 4.02 4.15 4.02 4.12 56,790,000 233,513,750 -82,134,340.00 MEGAWORLD 1.57 1.59 1.54 1.7 1.52 1.57 4,714,000 7,584,180 31,400 PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND 21.5 21.85 20.5 21.85 20.05 21.85 6,853,000 145,105,590 -31,337,500 0.31 0.315 0.3 0.32 0.295 0.315 2,940,000 911,650 -100 PHIL REALTY 1.67 1.68 1.75 1.75 1.67 1.68 955,000 1,608,790 ROCKWELL SHANG PROP 2.68 2.69 2.7 2.71 2.68 2.69 933,000 2,507,570 2.17 2.19 2.18 2.24 2.15 2.19 1,512,000 3,283,920 STA LUCIA LAND SM PRIME HLDG 38.05 38.4 39 39.5 38.05 38.05 17,303,800 667,147,000 -242,054,370 VISTAMALLS 4.67 4.69 4.67 4.7 4.65 4.69 88,000 412,220 1.78 1.8 1.81 1.87 1.72 1.8 9,235,000 16,570,180 9,450 SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND 5.28 5.29 5.12 5.29 5.12 5.29 6,969,500 36,562,395 8,787,392

SERVICES ABS CBN 12.1 12.16 12.1 12.2 12.02 12.1 402,400 4,872,712 GMA NETWORK 5.99 6 6.02 6.02 5.9 6 1,503,700 8,946,000 0.45 0.46 0.45 0.46 0.435 0.46 450,000 204,650 MANILA BULLETIN MLA BRDCASTING 11.6 12.18 11.62 12 11.6 12 11,500 134,458 GLOBE TELECOM 2,038 2,040 2,040 2,050 2,030 2,038 38,195 77,857,920 -56,627,890 1,349 1,350 1,350 1,359 1,343 1,350 125,305 169,356,580 9,157,660 PLDT APOLLO GLOBAL 0.072 0.073 0.074 0.078 0.072 0.073 486,470,000 36,208,880 -5,296,890 15.7 15.72 15.7 15.88 15.66 15.7 1,827,500 28,732,464 -1,477,444 CONVERGE 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.98 5.5 5.6 1,541,300 8,620,115 270,450 DFNN INC DITO CME HLDG 7.73 7.74 7.55 7.83 7.55 7.74 42,637,800 329,116,703 11,371,255 1.41 1.46 1.4 1.46 1.4 1.46 26,000 36,540 IMPERIAL ISLAND INFO 0.121 0.125 0.128 0.128 0.123 0.125 6,250,000 785,580 32,000 JACKSTONES 2.15 2.18 2.08 2.18 1.95 2.18 548,000 1,152,230 4.72 4.73 4.8 4.87 4.68 4.72 8,526,000 40,463,620 4,640 NOW CORP TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.37 0.375 0.31 0.375 0.31 0.37 108,210,000 37,207,750 -1,132,550 3.19 3.2 3.17 3.25 3.08 3.19 2,952,000 9,318,510 -61,200 PHILWEB 9 9.01 9.1 9.1 9 9.01 247,300 2,233,145 -601,634 2GO GROUP ASIAN TERMINALS 15.5 15.6 15.4 15.6 15.4 15.6 102,600 1,600,080 -781,560 5.45 5.46 5.46 5.56 5.44 5.45 3,078,500 16,891,639 1,364,429 CHELSEA CEBU AIR 50.45 50.5 50 51 49.6 50.5 876,100 44,054,515.50 -3,580,007 INTL CONTAINER 124.6 125 124.4 126.5 124 125 1,591,700 199,498,447 -72,089,735 16 16.2 16.46 16.46 15.82 16 7,400 118,768 LBC EXPRESS LORENZO SHIPPNG 1 1.02 1.03 1.03 0.96 1.03 59,000 58,350 7.97 7.98 7.92 8.15 7.92 7.98 5,754,600 46,243,007 -7,995,633 MACROASIA 2.15 2.17 2.17 2.21 2.13 2.15 1,132,000 2,448,060 METROALLIANCE A METROALLIANCE B 2.01 2.22 2.15 2.15 2.15 2.15 2,000 4,300 7.1 7.2 7.2 7.21 7.2 7.2 55,100 396,785 92,160 PAL HLDG 1.63 1.64 1.68 1.68 1.62 1.63 4,217,000 6,908,860 34,310 HARBOR STAR ACESITE HOTEL 1.38 1.48 1.48 1.48 1.33 1.48 33,000 48,270 0.043 0.044 0.043 0.045 0.041 0.044 249,200,000 10,730,200 77,500 BOULEVARD HLDG DISCOVERY WORLD 2.11 2.15 2.05 2.11 2.05 2.11 821,000 1,689,140 WATERFRONT 0.64 0.65 0.66 0.67 0.64 0.65 15,155,000 9,937,180 -23,100 574 639 650 650 558 558 390 220,380 FAR EASTERN U STI HLDG 0.445 0.45 0.46 0.465 0.44 0.45 17,510,000 7,928,700 544,000 5.16 5.18 4.92 5.18 4.84 5.17 1,044,000 5,294,020 25,900 BERJAYA 8.71 8.72 8.58 8.75 8.58 8.71 4,743,400 41,231,072 -28,078,114 BLOOMBERRY PACIFIC ONLINE 2.15 2.16 2.14 2.15 2.09 2.15 75,000 158,510 1.96 1.98 1.91 1.97 1.91 1.97 498,000 968,250 84,040 LEISURE AND RES MANILA JOCKEY 2.38 2.45 2.37 2.45 2.37 2.45 8,000 19,280 PH RESORTS GRP 3.22 3.23 3.17 3.25 3.11 3.23 21,599,000 69,031,090 -3,694,670 805,500 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.425 0.43 0.42 0.43 0.42 0.425 14,200,000 6,029,800 ALLHOME 8.75 8.8 8.7 8.9 8.7 8.75 3,298,300 28,895,666 3,458,754 1.7 1.72 1.64 1.72 1.64 1.72 11,047,000 18,696,510 -5,096,960 METRO RETAIL 41.95 42 42 42.4 41.9 41.95 3,131,800 131,593,980 -87,208,980 PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL 66.95 67.45 68 68.45 66.95 66.95 444,290 29,974,431.50 -10,484,455.50 119.9 120 115 122 115 119.9 21,130 2,515,843 654,207 PHIL SEVEN CORP SSI GROUP 1.72 1.73 1.7 1.75 1.69 1.73 15,004,000 25,910,560 -8,062,590 WILCON DEPOT 17.1 17.18 17.7 17.7 17.1 17.1 1,123,900 19,443,332 -9,489,922 0.45 0.455 0.42 0.455 0.42 0.45 16,040,000 7,102,750 -173,550 APC GROUP EASYCALL 8.18 8.24 8.24 8.26 8.1 8.18 191,500 1,572,447 82,200 449.8 450 450 450 439.6 450 650 291,606 GOLDEN BRIA PRMIERE HORIZON 1.04 1.05 1.05 1.11 1.02 1.05 326,180,000 346,802,870 984,320 SBS PHIL CORP 5.9 5.97 5.7 5.9 5.7 5.9 43,000 248,747

MINING & OIL ATOK 9.98 10 10.2 10.88 9.95 10 932,700 9,616,097 -27,940 1.74 1.75 1.79 1.8 1.72 1.75 13,507,000 23,723,310 35,010 APEX MINING ABRA MINING 0.0025 0.0026 0.0025 0.0028 0.0023 0.0025 41,675,000,000 106,694,700 -1,032,300 ATLAS MINING 6.69 6.7 6.61 6.73 6.61 6.7 193,700 1,295,915 73,770 3.04 3.13 3.14 3.14 3.04 3.13 139,000 426,470 BENGUET A BENGUET B 3.01 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 10,000 31,000 0.31 0.315 0.33 0.33 0.305 0.31 3,530,000 1,133,000 COAL ASIA HLDG CENTURY PEAK 2.56 2.57 2.5 2.56 2.42 2.56 995,000 2,496,420 515,630 DIZON MINES 8.3 8.4 8.51 8.51 8.32 8.4 20,700 173,721 -51,240 2.65 2.66 2.68 2.77 2.64 2.66 15,873,000 43,236,970 3,301,120 FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE 0.285 0.3 0.29 0.3 0.27 0.295 6,910,000 2,026,350 LEPANTO A 0.155 0.156 0.157 0.157 0.153 0.156 22,670,000 3,526,680 0.153 0.157 0.156 0.158 0.156 0.157 1,060,000 165,810 LEPANTO B MANILA MINING A 0.01 0.011 0.0098 0.011 0.0098 0.011 57,100,000 584,700 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 6,600,000 68,600 MANILA MINING B MARCVENTURES 1.46 1.48 1.31 1.49 1.31 1.48 12,490,000 17,764,370 -32,520 NIHAO 3.15 3.16 3.13 3.21 3.1 3.16 1,093,000 3,456,900 -25,700 5.26 5.27 5.19 5.33 5.17 5.26 13,940,600 73,246,701 7,130,268 NICKEL ASIA OMICO CORP 0.38 0.385 0.375 0.385 0.365 0.38 760,000 283,450 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.79 0.8 0.81 0.81 0.79 0.79 2,206,000 1,773,220 16,100 4.92 4.93 4.89 4.97 4.88 4.92 2,364,000 11,647,570 1,521,820 PX MINING SEMIRARA MINING 13.74 13.76 13.84 13.92 13.7 13.76 4,049,200 55,734,132 14,898,478 0.0063 0.0064 0.0063 0.0063 0.006 0.0063 85,000,000 524,600 -25,200 UNITED PARAGON 11.48 11.5 11.12 11.5 11.02 11.5 243,000 2,760,332 ACE ENEXOR ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.01 0.012 317,400,000 3,541,300 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 1,069,000,000 11,767,600 ORNTL PETROL B PHILODRILL 0.0097 0.0098 0.0095 0.0099 0.0095 0.0097 25,000,000 243,100 PXP ENERGY 13 13.08 13.16 13.16 12.74 13.08 1,433,500 18,499,266 -1,352,230

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A 100.1 101 100.1 100.1 100.1 100.1 1,260 126,126 AC PREF B1 513 515 515 515 515 515 450 231,750 501.5 509 501.5 509 501.5 509 1,010 506,590 AC PREF B2R CPG PREF A 102 102.2 102 102 102 102 8,800 897,600 DD PREF 101 102.5 100.4 100.7 100.4 100.7 30 3,018 110 113 113 113 113 113 30 3,390 FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P 506 515 506 508 506 506 600 304,580 -299,520 1,029 1,030 1,029 1,029 1,029 1,029 100 102,900 GTCAP PREF B MWIDE PREF 100.9 101.5 100.9 101.6 100.9 101.6 310 31,489 MWIDE PREF 2A 99.8 99.9 99.8 99.8 99.8 99.8 1,300 129,740 99.05 99.9 99.95 99.95 99 99.9 3,260 323,749 51,748 MWIDE PREF 2B PNX PREF 3B 103.1 104.6 104 104 104 104 220 22,880 PNX PREF 4 1,000 1,003 1,004 1,004 1,000 1,000 190 190,040 1,005 1,029 1,005 1,029 1,005 1,029 15 15,195 PCOR PREF 2B PCOR PREF 3A 1,069 1,071 1,070 1,070 1,060 1,060 5,000 5,329,580 1,095 1,115 1,110 1,110 1,110 1,110 290 321,900 PCOR PREF 3B SFI PREF 1.8 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 52,000 93,600 SMC PREF 2C 79 79.4 78.8 79 78.8 79 16,240 1,282,939 75.9 77.25 77 77 77 77 6,910 532,070 SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F 78.5 78.95 78.8 78.8 78.5 78.5 6,400 502,406 -502,406 SMC PREF 2G 76.3 76.7 76.7 76.7 76.7 76.7 370 28,379 75.6 76 75.3 75.6 75.3 75.6 3,050 230,120 SMC PREF 2J SMC PREF 2K 75.1 75.5 75.95 75.95 75.1 75.1 9,790 736,292 -290,136

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 12.04 12.48 12.02 12.02 12.02 12.02 2,200 26,444 GMA HLDG PDR 5.7 5.8 5.68 5.7 5.68 5.7 4,500 25,620 -10,244

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 1.08 1.09 1.02 1.09 1 1.08 1,008,000 1,065,620 40,800

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ALTUS PROP 15.12 15.14 15.16 15.36 15.04 15.12 253,000 3,852,668 85,552 ITALPINAS 3.01 3.02 3.06 3.06 2.95 3.01 3,099,000 9,332,230 -61,320 6.44 6.5 6.6 6.75 6.43 6.44 167,900 1,101,274 KEPWEALTH MERRYMART 5.98 5.99 6 6.09 5.96 5.99 14,717,800 88,641,665 -2,271,468

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 109.8 110 109.2 110 108.7 109.8 18,280 2,004,707 47,202

www.businessmirror.com.ph

San Miguel taps Boskalis for MIA land development

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

AN Miguel Corp. (SMC) will start the official construction phase of the P740-billion Manila International Airport (MIA) in the first quarter of 2021, awarding an P83.16-billion contract to Dutch firm Boskalis to jumpstart the land restoration and development works in the project site.

“Our selection of a global giant in dredging shows how ready, willing, and committed we are to do everything necessary to make sure this airport project is developed properly and sustainably. We will make sure it will serve and benefit Filipinos, our

host province Bulacan, and the rest of the Philippines, for many generations to come,” SMC President Ramon S. Ang said.

Boskalis is a global dredging contractor that is known for helping develop Singapore’s Tuas Terminal

Phase 2 port and its Tekong polder projects.

“Boskalis has committed to ensure that the area will be suitable for development. It will be designed with the highest technical and environmental standards, so it can withstand potential large earthquakes, local typhoon conditions, and even future sea level rise,” Ang said.

Boskalis CEO Peter Berdowski said his group will bring its “rich tradition in creating land all over the world to the highest technical and environmental standards.”

“We enthusiastically look forward to applying this know-how for the land development of the MIA Project. During the construction phase, we will contribute to the local economy and the new airport will bring further growth to the whole Manila region,” he said.

To be built on a 2,400-hectare property in Bulakan, Bulacan, just

north of Metro Manila, the $15-billion airport complex will have four runways, eight taxiways, and three passenger terminals. It also has provisions for future expansion to sport six runways and to accommodate 200 million passengers per year.

The conglomerate said earlier that it plans to “incorporate” road and rail projects into its airport project, as it intends to provide seamless travel to and from the future air hub.

Its airport development plan includes an 8-kilometer airport toll road that will connect the airport to the North Luzon Expressway and link it to the recently-completed 18-kilometer Skyway Stage 3 going to the South Luzon Expressway.

SMC said the airport will help raise tourism levels to 30 million annually, generate over a million direct and indirect jobs, and will contribute roughly P900 billion annually to the Philippine GDP by 2025.

Billease partners with e-commerce firms

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IGITAL installment payment platform BillEase has teamed up with several ecommerce firms to introduce “buy now, pay later” scheme for local online retailers.

Billease operator First Digital Finance Corp. (FDFC) said its platform inked an agreement with Shopify, Magento, Prestashop and WooCommerce to launch the said program.

“With this integration, we’re bringing our financial product closer to consumers by making it easier for merchants to add our point-of-sale financing option,” FDFC Chief Executive Officer Georg Steiger said.

The FDFC chief said the new scheme is aimed at converting more online buys given that installment purchase is a popular option among Filipino consumers.

“Spreading payment over monthly installment with extremely affordable rates makes their shopping experience lighter,” he said.

Steiger said Billease, being a digital native platform, allows ease in online transactions. It shows upfront

the exact amount to be paid by the customers each month with no hidden fees.

Meanwhile, FDFC assured the merchants that Billease is a secure payment method for their customers’ transactions. “For merchants, there is no risk in offering BillEase as a payment method to their customers because BillEase pays merchants in full and absorbs all credit and fraud risks,” FDFC said.

In addition, the financial technology firm said “BillEase has already proven to lift conversion rates as much as 25 percent and increase customers spending up to 5 times more than the traditional payment method.”

In June, Billease partnered with payment solution provider DragonPay to introduce the same payment scheme. Both parties said the program is allowing e-commerce platforms to ease financing at the point-of-sale.

Providing credit lines for online consumers without debit or credit card via proprietary algorithm,

EDC’s Baslay coffee program bags award

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OPEZ-LED geothermal leader Energy Development Corp.’s (EDC) Baslay coffee program in Negros Oriental successfully bagged another award, this time for being the CSR Guild’s best Corporate Social Responsibility Project for Enterprise Development this year.

Organized by the League of Corporate Foundation, the 2nd CSR Guild chose the Baslay coffee program for showcasing how it has been brewing a better life for members of the Baslay Farmers Association (BFA) in Dauin, Negros Oriental and its customers for over 30 years now.

Through EDC’s constant training and guidance, their founding members were transformed from being slash-and-burn farmers or kaingineros into forest stewards by learning about the value and income potential of taking care of the forests that also take care of them.

“This recognition means a lot to us because it came from our peers that also have their laudable CSR initiatives. We are grateful for recognizing our team’s decades of hard work as well as the BFA remarkable transformation and huge role in

the preservation of our forests in Dauin, Negros Oriental,” said Allan V. Barcena, head of EDC’s Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Relations team.

The BFA is the first farmers’ association in Negros Oriental to produce premium and quality organic coffee recognized by globally trained baristas from various parts of the Philippines. To enable more people to savor the taste of its delicious coffee, BFA opened its own coffee shop near the Baslay Hot Springs where both foreign and local tourists frequent in 2018.

In the same year, BFA was likewise accredited by the Department of Tourism Region 7 as the only agroeco-tourism site in the province of Negros Oriental.

“We owe most of our success and awards to EDC for patiently guiding and supporting BFA all these years,” said Ruel Perez, BFA’s community leader.

The BFA has already won several awards including the Grand Anvil award from the prestigious Public Relations Society of the Philippines and the Lopez Achievement Award for its exemplary program. Lenie Lectura

BillEase is incorporated into the merchant’s checkout with a single integration within the alternative payment system of DragonPay. Billease and e-commerce firm Lazada launched a financial relief program in June to support the online merchants during this pandemic. It is aimed at providing working

MUTUAL FUNDS

capital support to the affected micro, small, and medium enterprises via the fintech platform.

Apart from Billease, FDFC also operates Loan Ranger which offers online cash advance and Balikbayad which caters for the loans of overseas Filipino workers and seamen. Tyrone Jasper C. Piad December 15, 2020

NAV ONE YEAR THREE YEAR FIVE YEAR Y-T-D

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 231.1 -7.32% -7.32% -0.82% -8.24% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.3427 -3.88% -5.89% 3.03% -2.84% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 3.2037 -12.31% -11.01% -2.28% -12.9% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.8264 -7.16% -6.56% N.A. -7.97% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.7715 -8.25% N.A. N.A. -9.16% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.0434 -4.55% -5.4% -0.49% -5.35% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,4 0.7778 -8.09% -7.47% N.A. -8.88% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 100.87 -4.28% N.A. N.A. -2.28% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 47.7846 -5.99% -4.92% 1.13% -6.82% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 497.19 -5.9% -5.03% 0.24% -6.68% PHILEQUITY ALPHA ONE FUND, INC. -A,D,5 1.116 11.69% N.A. N.A. 8.34% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.1879 -6.97% -5.12% 0.65% -7.69% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 35.3154 -6.06% -4.66% 1.35% -6.81% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.928 -8.08% N.A. N.A. -8.85% PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 4.8871 -5.61% -4.49% 1.75% -6.44% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 817.36 -5.36% -4.39% 1.67% -6.26% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.7381 -12.96% -8.24% -2.38% -13.31% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 3.6928 -11.28% -6.57% -0.19% -12.27% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.9357 -5.63% -4.71% 1.52% -6.5% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.3757 -6.56% -4.06% 1.96% -7.6% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C 109.7291 -5.26% -4.13% 2.44% -6.18% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B $1.1885 19.87% 2.69% 6.57% 15.57% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.6318 21.41% 9.22% N.A. 18.36% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.6796 8.18% -3.14% -0.28% 7.47% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.3145 6.24% -1.75% 1.83% 6.12% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.6629 1.85% -1.09% 0.05% 1.19% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN F.O.C.C.U.S. DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A,1 0.2011 -11.95% N.A. N.A. -11.99% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9832 1.46% 0.2% 2.34% 1.1% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.8229 1.61% -0.46% 1.77% 0.89% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 17.0972 1.5% -0.56% 1.7% 0.81% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.112 0.15% -1.79% 1.35% -0.48% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.6133 -5.59% -3.06% 0.39% -6.48% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D 1.0321 2.42% N.A. N.A. 1.61% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D 0.9656 -2.2% N.A. N.A. -3.09% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D 0.9503 -3.44% N.A. N.A. -4.32% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.9013 -6.5% -3.66% -0.27% -7.54% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES 1.96% 2.12% COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03901 2.01% 2.58% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -B $1.1415 13.6% 3.09% 5.58% 12.8% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $4.423 15.1% 6.86% 7.53% 13.1% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A,3 $1.1889 6.44% 3.25% N.A. 5.33% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 370.41 3.76% 3.24% 2.79% 3.48% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A 1.8991 -0.01% 0.19% 0.03% -0.15% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A

3.2118 3.32% 4.53% 4.84% 3.01% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.2937 3.38% 2.88% 2.42% 3.16% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.4516 4.25% 3.45% 2.14% 3.92% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.6318 6.39% 4.61% 3.09% 5.92% PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A,6 1.3189 5.23% 4.45% 2.62% 4.95% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.985 6.06% 4.53% 2.92% 5.2% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 1.0382 8.34% 4.07% 2.49% 7.66% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.1972 4.54% 4.76% 3.47% 3.95% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.7495 3.47% 4.09% 2.88% 2.85% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $482.99 3.26% 2.72% 2.95% 3.12% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є219.02 -0.37% 0.75% 1.2% -0.35% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.2714 5.51% 3.88% 3.04% 5.32% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.0265 2.71% 1.96% 1.83% 2.71% -0.4% 0.39% 0.53% -0.28% PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -B $1.0905 PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.5259 5.11% 3.94% 3.69% 5.09% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0622901 3.27% 2.76% 2.37% 3.3% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $3.1961 0.52% 1.99% 2.44% 0.66% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 129.71 3.27% 3.35% 2.56% 3.08% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.0475 1.67% N.A. N.A. 2.07% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2956 2.61% 2.99% 2.62% 2.42% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.052 1.51% 1.74% N.A. 1.32% FEEDER FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD EQUITY INDEX FEEDER FUND, INC. -A,D,7 1.1025 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM GLOBAL MULTI-ASSET INCOME FUND INC. -B,D,2 $0.98 -1.01% N.A. N.A. -1.01%

A - NAVPS AS OF THE PREVIOUS BANKING DAY. B - NAVPS AS OF TWO BANKING DAYS AGO. C - LISTED IN THE PSE. D - IN NET ASSET VALUE PER UNIT (NAVPU).

1 - LAUNCH DATE IS SEPTEMBER 28, 2019. 2 - LAUNCH DATE IS NOVEMBER 15, 2019. 3 - ADJUSTED DUE TO STOCK DIVIDEND ISSUANCE LAST OCTOBER 9, 2019.

4 - RENAMING WAS APPROVED BY THE SEC LAST OCTOBER 12, 2018 (FORMERLY, ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC.). 5 - LAUNCH DATE IS DECEMBER 09, 2019.

6 - RE-CLASSIFIED INTO A BOND FUND STARTING FEBRUARY 21, 2020 (FORMERLY A MONEY MARKET FUND). 7 - LAUNCH DATE IS JULY 6, 2020.

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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

BTr’s last auction raises ₧30B from 7-year T-bills

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

T

he Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) fully awarded the reissued P30 billion on offer for 7-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) during its auction on Wednesday.

The security fetched an average rate of 2.791 percent, significantly lower from the last reissuance that fetched an average rate of 4.732 percent.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon told reporters that the yield pick up “saw interest shift to the belly of curve as government securities auction wrapped up for the year.” This is the BTr’s last auction for the year.

Overall, De Leon said higher domestic funding presented a big challenge in 2020, but supportive monetary policies notably from policy rate and reserve requirement ratio reductions by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas infused needed liquidity and checked unwanted steepening of yield curves.

Amid this, markets’ continued

bias towards safe haven instruments provided a strong bid to cover for government securities. De Leon also said inflation remained within the target band and prevented uphill climb for rates.

The auction attracted total tenders of P70.5 billion, more than 2.3 times oversubscribed from the P30 billion offer.

With a remaining term of 6 years and 4 months, the reissued T-bonds are set to mature on May 4, 2027.

The Treasury earlier announced that it has programmed to borrow P120 billion from the local debt market this month.

P20 billion worth of T-bills with a 91-day tenor was up for sale on December 1, while 182-day and 364-day tenors were up for sale on December 7 and December 14 respectively. The last P30-billion worth of 7-year T-bonds was sold on Wednesday.

“With the full award, the committee was able to raise P30 billion, bringing the total outstanding volume for the series to P94.94 billion” the BTr said.

LandBank opens hubs for loans in Mindanao

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o expand its reach and intensify support to the agriculture sector in Mindanao, the staterun Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) has recently opened two new lending centers in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur. LandBank President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo was quoted in a statement as saying that the establishment of lending centers in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur is a testament to the bank’s “continued commitment to support inclusive economic growth in Mindanao.”

She said the new lending centers will provide financial services and credit assistance to clients in the area, notably local government units, small-scale and mediumscale enterprises, agrarian reform beneficiaries and small farmers and fishermen for agriculture production, equipment acquisition and working capital.

“This would also help us to reach more of our priority sectors—the small farmers and fishers who need our services the most,” added Borromeo.

The Province of Sultan Kudarat predominantly has an agricultural economy, and is known for producing crops such as rice, corn, coconuts, coffee, bananas, mangoes, durian and African palm. It is also home to

Deposits insurer implements new 2-mos debt moratorium

T

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

In a recent statement, PDIC said that the application of a grace period covers payment for loans and acquired properties falling due on September 15 to December 31 this year for corporate and

closed bank accounts.

Borrowers and property buyers are given one-time 60-day extension on loan payments, the PDIC said. No additional interest, penalties and other charges will be

incurred during the 2-month debt moratorium.

The payments—for amortizations or down payments—made prior to the effectivity of debt moratorium will be considered as advanced payment. Succeeding due dates will be moved by two months.

“In addition, all undeposited postdated checks issued by borrowers and property buyers shall be processed according to the terms of the payment relief unless otherwise requested to be deposited on the respective due dates,” the 57-year-old government instrumentality explained.

The PDIC said it first implemented a debt moratorium for corporate and closed bank clients in March this year when the country was placed under enhanced community quarantine or severe lockdown.

The government has mandated grace periods on loan payments to provide relief to borrowers who are struggling to settle payment on time amid the ongoing economic and health crises.

As of end-October, the Philippine banking system has provided loans amounting to P10.61 trillion, which is 1.24 percent higher than P10.48 trillion last year for the same period.

Of this amount, P391.42 billion represents nonperforming loans (NPLs). This is nearly 70 percent more than last year’s P230.40 billion.

NPL ratio stood at 3.69 percent as of end-October, which is the highest in recent years.

Earlier, economists said they expect bad loans to go even higher after the debt moratorium lapses.

BIR collects nearly ₧583M from shuttered shops @caiordinario

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HE government was able to collect over half a billion in taxes from commercial establishments that were padlocked by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) this year.

The BIR said in a statement it collected P582.5 million in taxes from 196 commercial establishments shuttered by the government for failure to register or pay the correct taxes between January and Novem-

ber this year.

BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel SD. Guballa said the bureau collected an additional P34.5 million in taxes in the last quarter from 18 more commercial establishments it padlocked under the Oplan Kandado program.

“From the previous amount of P547.9 million collected under this program from 178 establishments that were closed down in the first nine months of 2020, the total amount has increased to P582.5 million as of November this year,” the BIR said in a statement.

Guballa said the operations conducted against the 196 padlocked establishments were pursuant to Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) 3-2009, otherwise known as the Oplan Kandado Program.

Guballa also said in a report to the DOF that over a hundred of complaints filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) are now under preliminary investigation.

BIR data showed these 103 complaints filed before the DOJ involved an estimated P4.96 billion in tax liabilities.

Last year, the BIR collected a total of P1.92 billion under its “Oplan Kandado” (padlock plan) as a result of the temporary closure of 743 establishments for various violations of the National Internal Revenue Code.

The BIR’s performance under the Oplan Kandado in 2019 was a 218.88-percent improvement over its 233 closures of establishments reported in 2018 and a 140.76-percent increase in collections amounting to P799.47 million during that year.

Govt to provide microfinance to boost housing

G FED SIGNAL This undated Bloomberg photo shows the US Federal Reserve building. Investors in the world’s biggest bond market have set their eyes on the Fed’s move, especially whether it alters the bond program or keeps the status quo.

Most economists see officials forgoing a shift now. But with the raging pandemic posing the risk of further lockdowns and Congress failing to agree on virus-relief aid, a minority is leaning toward a move this week. Bloomberg News

The danger of a nuclear-armed Iran

M

AKE no mistake about it, the next World War will be fought between drones (an air force without men), hand-to-hand combat between robots and terminators and, of course, the ballistic nuclear bombs.

The war can be over in hours or days.

Earth will be uninhabitable for years.

When it comes to the nuclear war, it is not the noisy North Koreans who are the real problem: it can be dangerous Iran that is run by pro-terrorist fanatics.

In 2010, the United Nations Security Council punished Iran with sanctions since instead of developing nuclear power for electricity and peaceful means, it was developing weapons of mass destruction. In 2015, some nations granted Iran a reprieve for good compliance.

But in 2018, the hot-tempered American president Donald Trump pulled out from a nuclear arms deal with Iran due to the latter’s alleged new nuclear war preparations. America placed so heavy a sanction and embargo on Iran that foreign investors moved out of Iran. The Iran currency rial dropped 50 percent; oil exports

@Tyronepiad

he Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) is enacting a new payment relief measure following the mandate of the grace period was in accordance with Republic Act 11494 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Nation Act.

By Cai U. Ordinario

a handful of producers of Irish potatoes. Likewise, the largest grainsprocessing complex in the country can be found in Tacurong City, the province’s commercial center.

Temporarily located in Koronadal City, the bank said its Sultan Kudarat lending center will service almost 17,000 small farmers and fishers in the province engaged in crop production, trading and fishing.

Meanwhile, Davao del Sur is one of the fastest growing provinces in Mindanao driven by the proliferation of agricultural businesses, according to LandBank. “With vast agricultural lands full of fertile soil and enriched by favorable climate, agriculture is the main source of livelihood in the province with farmers producing mainly coconut, rice, corn, bananas, cacao, coffee, fruits and vegetables.”

The bank added that its Davao del Sur lending center, located in Digos City, will provide various lending programs catered to more than 5,000 small farmers and fishers covering the provinces of Davao del Sur and Davao Occidental.

As of Novembe, the LandBank has a network of 53 lending centers in strategic areas nationwide.

This is complemented by the bank’s 414 branches and extension offices across all 81 provinces in the country. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

Wednesday, December 16, 2020 B3

Finex free enterprise Zoilo ‘Bingo’ Dejaresco III decimated by 70 percent and, overall, plunged the Iranian economy into a deep recession.

Trump was not over with his anger at Iran, which has also been tagged as a major supporter of terrorist groups such as the Hezbollah.

In January this year, America reportedly sent a manless drone to assassinate Iran’s top military commander, General Qasem Soleimani.

Just recently, Israel, America’s chief Middle East ally, reportedly pitched a machine gun aboard a parked truck east of Tehran—powered by remote control

by AI (artificial intelligence)—and pulverized Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizeded that riled Iranians no end.

The AI-directed machine gun was so accurate that it tore apart Mohsen without hitting his wife who was sitting beside him.

The “perfect assault” was reportedly carried out by the ultra-dangerous secret service intelligence agency of Israel, the Mossad. If one wants to know how ruthless and efficient the Mossad is, one can watch the spinetingling documentary on Mossad on Netflix titled “Mossad: The Theater of Life.”

It is said that if the Mossad discovers a traitor and is somehow unable to find him, they will execute and hang the next available next of the kin of the suspect—even a distant cousin. That’s cold-blooded.

So now, Iran’s main enemies are America, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Last month, Iran fired a ballistic missile hitting directly the giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Aramco, in the Red Sea city of Jedda. Last week, they executed journalist Ruhullah Zam. News analysis said that Iran is perilously planning to “wipe Israel off the map” of the world, possibly engineer a nuclear arms race in the Middle East

among threatened nations and be a potential aggressor to nearby European and American allies.

The only ray of light on the horizon is the possible ascension of Presidentelect Joe Biden to the White House as he promised to go back to the Iran Nuclear Arms Deal negotiating table that Trump had waylaid.

Democrat president Barrack Obama initiated the Iranian deal.

America hopes it is better to be inside Iran with prospects of inspecting nuclear facilities than be “outside looking in” at a belligerent enemy with an evil eye who can turn Irish anytime and not just “get angry but get even as well” with every imagined offense.

But for now, its deviousness, its tendency to aid terrorist activities and being armed with nuclear power, make Iran ever so dangerous to the stability and peace of the whole world.

Zoilo Dejaresco III, a former banker, is a financial consultant, media practitioner and book author. Dejaresco is a life-member and chairman of the broadcast media of Finex. His views here, however, are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Finex and the BusinessMirror.

Reach him via e-mail at dejarescobingo@yahoo.com.

overnment’s housing arm will focus on providing housing microfinance in 2021 to make housing more accessible for Filipinos, according to its top official.

Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Eduardo D. Del Rosario was quoted in a statement as saying that apart from microfinance, the agency will also strengthen cooperation with local government units to build more socialized housing programs across the country.

“The department must also undertake policy reforms to accelerate housing microfinance as the primary pro-poor housing finance strategy,” Del Rosario said.

Apart from these priorities, Del Rosario said the DHSUD’s overall thrust for 2021 is the comprehensive development of the housing and urban development sector.

This involves completing the formulation of the National Housing and Urban Development Sector Plan, which will operationalize and mainstream the priorities and strategies of the DHSUD toward a vibrant housing sector.

Del Rosario added that the DHSUD will also focus on improving the department’s systems and processes next year, noting that the DHSUD is keen on further empowering clients and stakeholders, as well as focusing on its core functions.

“As we continue to perform our day-to-day activities, let us not lose sight of our vision in building inclusive and sustainable communities and human settlements, and channel our time and efforts to bring it to fruition,” Del Rosario said.

The country’s housing needs could balloon to 15.076 million by 2022. This was revealed by a study conducted by the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) Center for Research and Communication-Habitat’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter.

In a presentation, UA&P President Dr. Winston Conrad B. Padojinog said this is composed of housing needs for socialized, economic, and low-cost types of housing at 5.118 million, 2.11 million, and 1.915 million, respectively.

But the largest share of these housing needs housing needs for the unserved market which is expected to reach 5.933 million by 2022. This is composed mainly of the ODC segment.

The ODC segment, Padojinog said, accounts for 55 percent or around 3.1 million households of the unserved segment based on 2018 data. Their number could increase to as much as 3.3 million by 2022.

Padojinog said most of the country’s housing backlogs can be found in the unserved as well as socialized and economic segments. The backlog for the unserved segment has reached P5.623 million between 2001 and 2018.

The socialized segment has a price range of around P480,000 per unit while the economic segment is between P480,000 to P1.7 million. The backlog between 2001 and 2018 for these two segments reached 4.808 million for socialized housing and 303,934 for economic housing. Cai U. Ordinario

B4

Wednesday, December 16, 2020 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

‘Time’ magazine names BTS its Entertainer of the Year

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): What you want to do and what you are supposed to do will cause an internal conflict. Stop stressing and start working. Take physical action to get your responsibilities out of the way early, and move on to more enjoyable tasks. Romance is favored. HH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Focus on success, and you will be happy with the results you get. Invest more time, effort and money in learning, honing your skills and making your dreams come true. Embrace change and look for new opportunities. HHHHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Talk matters through, and you will get good results. A partnership looks promising, but it will require honesty right from day one. Fess up to anything that has the potential to become a problem. Question any information offered that sounds embellished. HHH

d

barriers which fell many, many other acts,” he said.

Time also announced on Thursday the selection of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James as its Athlete of the Year.

“He is the greatest basketball player of his

generation, arguably of any generation. And he won a fourth title this year. That’s no small thing, but his true influence was what he did off of the court,” said Goldberger. “LeBron has had a remarkable influence across activism for athletes around the world.” n

AaBaKaDa by Tyrone James Luanzon explores the imminent possibilities brought by the influx of foreigners in the country. The comedic Sala, Salin-Laway by Daniella Verzosa brings the audience inside the Filipino household wherein the Miss Universe mania unites not just the family, but the whole barangay in one living room.

Sina Alexa, Xander at Ang Universe by Vahn Leinard Pascual reminds the spectators to enjoy the simple wonders of life through a play of pageantry among siblings; while Paano Maging Babae by Gian Arre seeks to answer the titular question when one woman decides to speak up against social injustices brought about by misogyny.

Included in the line-up are Balik-Bayan from the University

of Makati, Kyokok (Nilingaw) from the Western Mindanao State University, and Lipstick, and Paraisong Parisukat from the Philippine High School for Art. Rounding out the selections are Laruang Baril from the Far Eastern University and Garbo from the University of Southeastern Philippines.

The shorts exhibit Filipino culture and tradition in each home and likewise tackle the current social and political conditions in the country. Together with this year’s full-length films, the students’ shorts are available worldwide starting December 25, and may be viewed on the video-on-demand platform Upstream PH through www.upstream.ph/mmff/.

More information about screening guidelines, as well as the featured films can be found at facebook.com/mmffofficial.

for everyone to move on. The network could surely benefit from new projects starring fresh love teams instead of rehashed ones.

face and her decision to make. What’s new is her boyfriend, who is married—and whose marriage she allegedly broke. Now these are modern times but a family is still a family. She and the man are both to blame for wrecking that marriage. The starlet is lucky that there’s a pandemic because how would she react if she bumps into her boyfriend’s wife? How would the wife react? It’s likely that they’ll bump into each other because they move in the same circles and sometimes even work together.

HOPELESS ROMANTIC

NEW LOVE TEAM

THE two young talents of a network are finally being launched as an official love team soon after months of them considering it. The male talent was once the BF of one of the network’s prized talents but he allegedly cheated and so she broke up with him. The female talent, on the other hand, is the daughter of an actorpolitician and she is quite a looker. It’s no surprise they gravitated toward each other. The network seemed convinced that the male talent and his ex could still work together because their fanbase was still strong. But now, they’ve realized that it’s better

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Hallee Hirsh, 33; Benjamin Bratt, 57; Sam Robards, 59; Billy Gibbons, 71.

a

MMFF 2020 to showcase student short films THE annual Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2020 will feature short stories by promising student-filmmakers from all over the country.

Several entries were supposed part of the initial 2020 Summer MMFF Student Short Film Competition, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tilt, along with other activities, have been moved to be part of the annual MMFF Christmas tradition. This year’s edition will be held online through Filipino streaming service Upstream.

AaBaKaDa; Sala, Salin-Laway; Sina Alexa, Xander at Ang Universe; and Paano Maging Babae come from Digital Filmmaking (DFilm) sophomores from the De La SalleCollege of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts.

By Eugenia Last

z

Happy Birthday: Make health and well-being your priorities this year. Strive to be fit, eat nutritiously and eliminate stress. It’s time to let go of old habits and people who tempt you or lead you astray. Look to the future with hope, enthusiasm and the desire to be and do your very best. Added discipline will encourage greater stability and security. Your numbers are 7, 15, 22, 24, 31, 39, 43.

By Brooke Lefferts The Associated Press

EW YORK—BTS has had more than just a “Dynamite” year—they’ve become such a global phenomenon that Time magazine named the South Korean group its 2020 Entertainer of the Year.

The magazine announced the honor for the sevenmember K-pop boy band on Thursday, hours before a prime-time special that will culminate with the naming of Time’s Person of the Year: President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

The magazine cited BTS’s massive global presence amid the pandemic, including leveraging their massive fan base to support causes like Black Lives Matter. The group has become a staple of recent awards shows, performing their flashy No. 1 hit “Dynamite.” The song in November brought BTS its first Grammy nomination.

“There are times when I’m still taken aback by all the unimaginable things that are happening,” BTS member Suga told Time for an interview that accompanied the announcement. “But I ask myself, Who’s going to do this, if not us?”

Time Executive Editor Ben Goldberger in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday credited the relationship between the group and its fans for transcending Covid-19.

“The communal experience of watching a show, being at a concert, it just dissipated out of thin air and BTS managed to forge a really rich connection with their audience around the world in spite of these

Today’s Horoscope

AFTER his fling with a semi-retired singer, the actor has sort of finally revealed that he’s dating someone who isn’t a celebrity. The story is that the actor didn’t cheat on his beautiful ex-girlfriend with the singer. They were already on a cool-off period when he had that fling. He’s been telling people that he was too hasty in entering into a relationship with his ex because it appeared that they had nothing in common with each other except physical attraction.

The thing with this actor is that he isn’t really a cheater. He just falls in love easily and falls out of love just as easily. He’s a hopeless romantic who believes in love at first sight and that’s where all his troubles usually begin.

NEW FACE, NEW BF

THE starlet has a new face just in time for the new drama she is shooting and there’s nothing wrong with that. She looks happier with it, and it’s her

NO CHILD SUPPORT

THE actress’s ex husband is making a lot of noise on social media about wanting to see their child, hinting that his former wife is stopping him from doing so.

Does he know that fatherhood includes supporting your child financially? When the guy and the actress were still together, it was the latter who worked and put food on the table. She isn’t known for being nice but she even indulged her then husband in his luxurious hobbies. They separated because he cheated on her. Thus it’s no surprise that he isn’t her favorite person right now.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): A financial change will take you by surprise. Protect against anyone asking personal questions or wanting access to sensitive information. A partnership will take an exciting turn based on the way someone reacts to a change you make. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You will thrive in settings that require physical endurance and competition. Be honest with yourself regarding what you can do, and plan your strategy to fit your ability. Worry less about the changes others make and more about your goal. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Refuse to let personal problems drag you down. Getting ahead will depend on how much you are willing to put in to reach your goal. Strive for perfection, be articulate and embrace new possibilities and alternative options. HHHHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Listen to your heart, fulfill your dreams and let go of what is no longer working for you. Problems at home will leave you feeling torn between what you want and how to go about getting your way. HH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Just do it.

Stop laboring over what’s holding you back, put your ducks in a row and make a move.

You know what’s best for you and what you have to do to reach your objective. HHHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Be careful when dealing with joint ventures or shared expenses. Keeping things equal will help you avoid tension and get things done on time. Lay down a plan and a schedule that are within reason, and do your part. HHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Keep busy and keep the peace. Channel your energy into something concrete. What you accomplish will be directly linked to maintaining composure and not letting outside influences get to you. Be smart and goaloriented, and success will come your way. HHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Keep an open mind and listen to what others say, but don’t let anyone meddle in your affairs. Take a proactive approach to uphold your beliefs and help a cause that matters to you, and you will feel good about your accomplishments. HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Look at your objective and map out a realistic, affordable plan. Don’t let a last-minute change someone makes lead to uncertainty. Consider what’s best for you and head in that direction. HHHH Birthday Baby: You are friendly, proactive and helpful.

You are expressive and persistent.

‘what a card!’ by kevin christian and andrea carla michaels The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Slightly off 6 Baby shower, for one 11 Neighbor on The Simpsons 14 Rapper Kendrick 15 Jason of Aquaman 16 Bunyan’s tool: Var. 17 Major figure in the nightlife scene?

19 Prosecutors, for short 20 Lotion additive 21 Give gas to, as an engine 22 Swindle 24 People in a love triangle?

28 Like vampires 30 Name that rhymes with “foodie” 31 Madam Secretary star Tea 32 Flowerpot filler 34 San Antonio NBA player 38 A Bobbsey twin 39 Famous FDR program, or a theme hint 42 P, in a sorority name 43 Greek counterpart of Mars 45 Roams (about) 46 Black-and-white treats

8 One Direction alum Payne 4 50 1996-2001 Brandy Norwood sitcom 51 Baseball team’s best pitcher?

56 Deer in a Disney film 57 Vintage film channel 58 Assistance 61 Blood-typing letters 62 Couple who own a garden tool shop?

66 ___ Mahal 67 Volunteer’s response 68 Laugh-a-minute types 69 Manning who faced Tom Brady in two Super Bowls 70 Word before “Putty” or “String” 71 The “E” of accounting’s EY DOWN 1 Seltzer starter?

2 Postal sackful 3 “Still eating!”

4 Certain female grouse 5 Sellout sign, briefly 6 One who rules the roast?

7 Swedish automaker 8 Ostrich relative

9 San Francisco hill 10 Took a bite of 11 Acme’s opposite 12 On the dot 13 Office furniture 18 Armisen or Astaire 23 You can catch them at the beach 25 Drizzle or shower 26 Fast food fare 27 Aloha State dance 28 It’s close to the funny bone 29 A stone’s throw from, say 32 Hindu teacher 33 Roulette bet 35 Attached, like some fake nails 36 “We’re in trouble now” 37 Civil rights activist Parks 40 Old-fashioned oath 41 Bird on a Canadian coin 44 No neatnik 47 Conan O’Brien trait 49 “Hypothetically speaking...”

50 May honorees 51 Ease up 52 Coup group

53 Modern hieroglyph?

54 Ring-shaped island 55 Back to the Future surname 59 “We should do that!”

60 Attention-getting sound 63 Big conflict that began in 1914, briefly 64 ___ and vinegar 65 Lead-in to “historic” Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Image BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Wednesday, December 16, 2020

B5

Count to 10: Patience in the workplace WOMEN TAKE THE LEAD IN VACCINE DEVELOPMENT

BY TYLE� COWEN Bloomberg News THE early history of vaccines is a male-dominated field. The science, which is currently showing spectacular results, is now led by women. Therein lies a lesson about the allocation of talent.

Consider the history of the mRNA vaccine, which is the technological basis of both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, the two leading vaccine contenders for the US. To oversimplify, mRNA vaccines teach cells how to make a protein that triggers an immune system response, rather than injecting live or dead virus material.

If done properly, that makes the vaccine quicker to develop, safer to use, and easier to manufacture at scale. In addition to its forthcoming role in fighting Covid-19, the mRNA vaccine platform can probably be adapted to fight other viruses, and other mRNA products may have additional uses, such as helping to treat skin disorders.

The core work behind the mRNA approach comes from Katalin Karikó, a Hungarian-born émigré who came to the US to work on RNA-related issues. Her career had its fits and starts, including problems with raising research money and a bout with cancer, but she persisted. She ended up working with Drew Weissman, and they figured out how to inject RNA material into humans without causing excess inflammation, which previously had been the critical barrier to making progress.

Karikó ended up working with BioNTech, a German start-up founded by Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, a husband-and-wife team whose parents were Turkish guest workers in Germany.

Then there is the vaccine from Novavax, which is based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The Novavax results are not yet published, but early word is that they are very promising. This vaccine also is based on new ideas, using an unusual moth cell system to crank out proteins in a highly innovative manner.

Novavax’s team is led by Nita Patel, an immigrant from Gujarat, India. Her vaccine team is identified as “all-female.” Patel is from a very poor family; her father almost died of tuberculosis when she was four years old, and she often had to beg for bus fare.

The common theme here is one of outsiders, as women and immigrants have been prominent at crucial points. Phase One of Moderna’s trial, for example, was led by Lisa A. Jackson at the University of Washington. Moderna’s cofounder and chairman, Noubar Afeyan, is a two-time immigrant.

Born in Lebanon, his parents later migrated to Canada and then he moved to the US. The swift development of all these vaccines could end up being the biggest scientific advance in decades—and it has been driven by people who, in another era, never would have had a chance.

This is a positive development, a sobering truth— and a warning about the future. In business, academia and other fields of science, women do not have roles nearly as prominent as they do right now in vaccine development. Given what women have contributed to vaccines just this year, think what kind of impact they could have in other areas.

The argument is not that women and men will achieve the exact same outcomes. There may well be reasons that talented women are drawn more to vaccine development than to other areas. Still, the recent and unprecedented impact of women in this field means that there are other endeavors which society cares about that would greatly benefit from more involvement by women.

The story of vaccines in the 21st century shows two things. The first is that society could still do a much better job at allocating talent, and reap similar gains across a broader variety of areas. The second is that it is possible to remedy talent misallocations, if we are willing to take the necessary steps.

If you are looking for something hopeful amid the millions of tragic Covid experiences, that’s not a bad place to start.

I

WAS walking across the lobby toward the elevator of our office when I heard someone chastising one of the receptionists on duty. She was asking the receptionist why she does not have access to the meeting room on the 6th floor and she gratingly added, “Do you know who I am?” The receptionist scrambled to notify security to assist them, but the tension was not lost on anybody who was at the lobby at the time. She was, in fact, one of the executives of the company but based on her reputation, nobody wants to work with her—and for good reason.

There are leaders who think their position automatically accords them respect and influence.

True, they may have worked hard to attain their position and their accomplishment track record may be impeccable, but to maintain their team’s respect and extend their influence they need to work through people in attaining more than they can achieve as individuals. And how they deal with their team reflects how far they are willing to achieve their set goals.

One of the significant qualities a leader needs to have to maximize the potential of their team is patience. Patience is the ability to pause in the face of delays, aggravation, or incompetence without reacting in disrespect or anger. And patient leaders typify compassion, open-mindedness, and adaptability to difficult situations. People want to work with patient leaders because they know that patient leaders also have time and tolerance to teach them in a calm and engaging way. Patience also paves the way for trust to develop between leaders and their team members.

There are several ways for you to develop patience in the workplace. The most common of which is to pause. Pausing, or some would say counting 1 to 10, gives you time to recover and think, and allows you to think through what needs to be done. People tend to react to situations more than assessing the content of where people are coming from that they tend to lose sight of what needs to be done because they are more concerned with how it would reflect on them as a leader. Some overreact to the point that they forget other people are looking at them, like the executive who used her position to get her way. While we need to empathize and become sensitive to the needs of our team, there is value in being emotionally detached to situations so you can objectively evaluate such and recommend a reasonable action plan.

In assessing the logic behind people’s actions, it would also do you well to see it from the lens of others.

After identifying what needs to be done, you also need to understand why your teammate did not see it the way you do. As a leader you have an overview of what is happening in the entire organization and your team members do not necessarily share the same view. Your role as a leader is to make them understand why their actions and decisions will not benefit the organization, and consider what needs to be changed

One of the significant qualities a leader needs to have to maximize the potential of their team is patience. Patience is the ability to pause in the face of delays, aggravation, or incompetence without reacting in disrespect or anger. And patient leaders typify compassion, open-mindedness, and adaptability to difficult situations. so your team does not repeat the same mistakes.

It takes a great deal of patience going through those steps but it will save you time from members repeatedly making mistakes. By being patient, you teach not just a member but the whole team.

When in doubt, ask questions and listen. And when you do ask questions, be positive in the way you deliver it.

Sometimes, team members can also do things opposite of what we would expect them to act if we were in their position. In this case, ask a lot of questions—and this takes patience, especially when they say or do something diametrically opposite to what we tell them to do. We cannot change people per se but we can influence them to do what needs to be done and help them understand why we do the things we need to do. It takes a great deal of patience especially in dealing with team members who are set in their ways. But if you want to succeed, you will have to pull up your bootstraps and mentor them until they understand. You may be the smartest leader in the whole world but if you cannot influence someone, your knowledge will be useless.

A lot of the time, leaders lose patience because they do not foresee what could go wrong and they react more than get a grip on what needs to be done.

There are several ways you can prevent yourself from being impatient. One is creating back-up plans so when things go awry, you have other options. Look out for tension points and areas for potential conflict

or confusion before they snowball into an altercation.

Proactive solutions help you keep your cool, more than leaving plans up in the air.

As a leader, you also need to identify your trigger points so you know when you are losing patience, and catch yourself before it becomes an outburst.

Physical manifestations like tensed muscles, clenched teeth, shortened breath, irritability, and making rash decisions imply a trigger point. List those down and ask yourself why it bothers you. Knowing the reason will help you avoid them in the future, and help you develop a plan to overcome them when needed.

Just like a muscle, you can also help build your patience up by putting yourself in situations where your patience is tested. One way is in traffic. None has tested my patience more than being stuck in traffic or being cut off by reckless motorists. I have realized that by taking a deep breath or thinking that the driver probably has an emergency, helps me become patient. In office settings, talking to difficult people from your team or from another department will help you exercise patience and have a better grip on how you react.

I once saw a book titled Lord, Give Me Patience, and Give It to Me Right Now! written by James W. Moore.

While the title is funny, it speaks so much of how difficult it is to be patient. But as a leader, it is one of the indispensable traits which help you develop trust and extend your influence over your team and even in the organization. ■

Celebrate together this Christmas NEW, unexpected gifts give us good reason to celebrate together with renowned British brand The Body Shop. Count down to Christmas day with its Make It Real Advent Calendar.

It’s jam-packed with unexpected treats to uplift, pamper and rejuvenate.

Discover this year’s lineup of special edition festive fragrances: sweet and tangy Festive Berry, fresh and crisp Winter Jasmine and sweet and cozy Warm Vanilla. All are vegan, and all are seriously Christmas-sy.

Make someone feel real special with The Body Shop’s Bath and Body gifts that come in Big Gift Boxes, Little Gift Boxes filled with a mini collection of body care treats, and cute little gift pouches of nourishing treats. These come in irresistible scents: Moringa, Satsuma, Strawberry, British Rose, Shea, and Almond Milk and Honey.

Treat someone to The Body Shop’s collection of crowd-pleasing skin-care gifts. Give the gift of fresher, healthier-

looking skin this holiday season with the brand’s superhero Drops of Youth Fresher Skin Kit or Little Gift Box. There are also stocking stuffers that will delight everyone: Shake and Swish Ginger and Pure Bliss Banana haircare duos, and Strawberry and British Rose Lips and Hands Kits.

Given the prevailing pandemic

conditions, The Body Shop has made it easier for consumers to shop. They can visit the online store www.thebodyshop. com.ph, add to cart, and check out anytime of the day. The Body Shop’s cruelty-free and vegan products are also available in physical stores, Call & Deliver, Lazada, Shopee and ShopSM. It now accepts SM Advantage Card for

points earning and redemption, SM and Sodexo premium pass at all The Body Shop stores nationwide.

HYDRATE your skin and hair with the Nourishing Shea Ultimate Gift Bag featuring six haircare and body care favorites

WAVE goodbye to party makeup this Christmas with The Body Shop’s gentle vegan, make-up removal made for sensitive skin.

B6 Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Proudly Pinoy-made drink offers better health, weight management, and good immunity

2020 ING-FINEX award : As gamechanging as the CFO it was honoring

MR. ENRIQUE Victor Pampolina (Overall Chairman, CFO of the Year Award Committee; Partner, Risk Advisory, Navarro Amper & Co./Deloitte Philippines) and Atty.

Alvin Geli (Vice Chair of the Search Subcommittee), joined the awardee, Mr. James Go, and the Board of Judges onstage.

O

N November 18, the best of the best in the world of Finance converged at the Hyundai Hall of The Arete, Ateneo de Manila University, for the awarding ceremony of the ING-FINEX CFO of the Year.

Award's recipient Mylene Kasiban, Chief Financial Officer of Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. (RRHI), is the second female to win the award in its 14-year run, celebrating the creme dela creme of the Finance industry.

The award was given by a prestigious Board of Judges after stringent screening, along with inputs from the Finance industry. The judges included Emilio B. Aquino (Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission), Dr. Jesus P. Estanislao (Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Institute of Corporate Directors), Dr. Rosalind L. Wee (Vice Chair, W Group of Companies), Fr. Roberto C. Yap, SJ (President, Ateneo de Manila University), ING Philippines

Country Manager Hans Sicat, and FINEX President Jose Jerome Pascual III. “I think it was apparent that her various contributions made a relatively larger impact on the health and welfare of her firm. She was resolute in these initiatives,” said ING Philippines Country Manager Hans Sicat, who believed that Mylene demonstrated a very agile approach to the issues RRHI was facing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Jikyeong Kang, Chairman of the Board of Judges and President and Dean at the Asian Institute of Management, joined the event via video conference and announced Mylene as the winner of this year’s award.

Philippine Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo, the keynote speaker, delivered her message via video stream. She shared the different projects her office has been carrying out in order to help the country and the people.

“Keep engaging. Keep moving with

others. Every effort counts,” she said, highlighting the value of digital in the new normal. This was aligned with what CFO of the Year Mylene accomplished in RRHI when she shifted their system from manual to automated, arming the company with a sustainable process when the pandemic broke out.

The ING-FINEX CFO of the Year awardee Mylene gave her acceptance speech and dedicated her achievement to RRHI, Mr. John Gokongwei, Mr. James Go, Mr. Lance Gokongwei, and Robina Gokongwei. “It is a joy going to the office everyday,” she said, “Knowing that you can make a difference and your voice can be heard.”

She received her trophy — named Everlasting Light —a beautiful glass sculpture created by Ramon Orlina, a globally-acclaimed glass sculptor (known as the Father of Philippine Glass Sculpture) and a 2006 The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) awardee.

FastCat expects the arrival of its 15th and 16th brand new vessels in the last quarter of 2020

W

HAT better way to start and end your day, surely with a 12 in 1 non-dairy, non-acidic coffee!

South Hills Coffee for today’s busy and stressful life is loaded with a combination of nature’s wonders: carcinia cambogia for its weight loss and fat metabolism properties; acai berry for heart and skin health and immune system boost; green tea for memory and attention, and youthful glow; mangosteen which is rich in anti-oxidants (Xanthione) known as anti-inflammatory, anti-aging and anti-diabetes; stevia as natural sweetener recommended for diabetics (keeps blood sugar level in check), mushroom helps in cell regeneration, with Vitamin D for healthy bones and nervous system; omega 3 - a natural antidepressant, promotes brain, eye and heart health, anti-inflammatory, and helps those with rheumatoid arthritis and also reduces liver fat; meca root from Peru, for men’s erectile dysfunction and aids women with postmenstrual issues, improves blood pressure, boosts energy and endurance and fights free radicals.

The coffee drink with a “Wonderful taste down to the last drop!“ believes that attaining good health need not be expensive.

Manufactured and distributed by South Hills Trading, fb : South Hills Coffee, http:/ southhillscoffe.com/, it is exported abroad and has gained a wide following in Middle East especially at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since 2014.

Fil-Can Christmas Songfest now open for voting

T

HE first-ever “Fil-Can Christmas Songfest for All” was streamed simultaneously on Facebook Live on December 12 at 9:00 am in the Philippines and in the evening December 11 in Canada, respectively. Organized by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (CanCham), nine Fil-Can business and community associations from across Canada submitted songs to compete for a donation of Php 50, 000 in the Winner's name to a registered charity in the Philippines assisting indigent Covid-19 victims.

Participants included associations from the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan as well as from the Yukon Territory. The Winner will be the group that receives the most LIKES from the viewing public for its songs now posted on the CanCham’s Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ watch/?v=217634096561068. The site will be open for voting until Saturday December 19, 2020 at 9:00 am in the Philippines at which time the LIKES will be counted and

the Winner declared on the FB site.

The virtual event featured a message by the Ambassador of Canada to the Philippines, HE Mr Peter MacArthur, speaking in English, French, and Filipino. He welcomed the initiative as bringing Filipinos and Canadian closer together.

The President of CanCham, Julian Payne, said “This was a great example of private sector association in Canada and the Philippines joining together at Christmas to help others in the tradition of both countries. There are now nearly one million Filipinos in Canada with most of them in the provinces and territory from which the participating associations come. The performances was as varied as the areas of Canada where they live but with all showing the enthusiasm and joy Filipinos and Canadians celebrate Christmas in even the most challenging times. The success in 2020 exceeded our expectations.”

The 2020 Songfest was supported by private sector sponsor companies and individual members contributions with no charge for participation. Revenue will be allocated 50% for donations to registered Philippine charities and to the Philippine General Hospital for assistance to indigent Covid 19 victims and 50% for CanCham activities to support economic recovery.

Business Mirror is a media partner. For further information contact Ms. Abigail Tizon at CanCham at axtizon@cancham.com.ph

CSC releases semi-finalists of best government worker award

T

FCM18

A

RCHIPELAGO Philippine Ferries Corporation, the brand owner of FastCat, is simply unstoppable.

Before the year 2020 ends, the ferry company expects the arrival of two more brand-new vessels (FCM17 & FCM18). This brings their total number of vessels to sixteen (16) and is in line with their goal of completing the fleet of 30 vessels by 2021.

The construction of the vessel started in 2018 with the support of one of the country’s most trusted financial institution, Land Bank of the Philippines.

FastCat, aims to serve the needs of the traveling public and business entities nationwide through its passenger and rolling cargo services.

It now serves the following routes: Batangas-Calapan, Bulalacao-Caticlan (with weekly special trips via Caluya, a first Class Municipality of Antique), Iloilo-Bacolod (Banago/Bredcco), Dumaguete-Dapitan, Cebu-Tubigon, San Carlos-Toledo, Matnog-Dapdap, Matnog-San Isidro, and Liloan-Lipata.

FCM17 and FCM18 are set to serve the islands of Palawan, Mindoro and/or Zamboanga Basilan.

The features of the said vessels are improved versions of their sisterships, FCM15 and 16. The improvements are mostly focused on their ability to fulfill the brand promise of FerrySafe, FerryFast and FerryConvenient.

Additionally, FastCat, also continues its drive to help boost local

businesses and tourism, to uplift the lives of the Filipinos and contribute to the overall economic development of the country. It is the very essence why FastCat has not stopped its operations since the Covid-19 pandemic started in March 2020 by providing services to transport essential goods and stranded passengers nationwide.

The new vessels promises to have a dedicated accommodation area with an exclusive rest room, TV set and air conditioning are provided at the main deck for People with Disability (PWD), the elderly and pregnant women. It can hold up to 10 individuals. Those who are more physically capable can stay at the upper sections of the vessel with multiple accommodation options.

HE Civil Service Commission (CSC) announced the semi-finalists to the 2020 Search for Outstanding Government Workers and requested the public to provide feedback, whether positive or negative, on the contenders, not later than 9 January 2021.

Semi-finalists for the Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award are all from the group category. These are, Carrageenan Plant Growth Promoter Team of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute; Bayawan Aquaculture Team of the City Government of Bayawan, Negros Oriental; and NRPS Core Team of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The Presidential Lingkod Bayan is a recognition given to an individual or group for exceptional contributions that had nationwide impact.

Meanwhile, the Outstanding Public Officials and Employees or Dangal ng Bayan Award is a recognition given to an individual for exemplary ethical behavior. The semi-finalists are: Principal III Jeremy Atun Cruz of Pagasa National High School, Department of Education (DepEd), Legazpi City; Teacher I Jeffrey Galera Dimalig of Mate Elementary School, DepED in Tayabas, Quezon; Principal I Gregorio Apues Legal of Mary Perpetua Brioso National High School of DepEd in Masbate City; Administrative Aide I Dennis Llanes Suero of the School Division Office of DepEd Vigan City; Medical Specialist III Dr. Elizabeth Jaravata Batino of Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center; Daycare Worker Dina Entendez Diaz of the Local Government of Surigao City; Master Teacher I Edgar Tolentino Elago of Jagupit

National High School, DepEd Agusan del Norte; and Administrative Aide IV Benito Ronato Ong of the Commission on Audit.

The CSC Pagasa Award is given to an individual or group of individuals for outstanding contributions that directly benefit more than one department of the government and there are two individual and two group semi-finalists. The semi-finalists are Principal I Jesus Catigan Insilada of Caninguan National High School of DepEd in Lambunao, Iloilo; Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer IV Gerard Marta Lavadia of Tagbilaran City, Bohol; End Hunger Program Team of the Provincial Government of Davao de Oro; and the Medical Social Welfare Department of Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.

Feedback will be accepted by the Honor Awards Program Secretariat via SMS at 0908-8816565 or email to hapsecretariat@ csc.gov.ph; email@contactcenterngbayan. gov.ph or via the CSC’s Facebook page: fb.com/civilservicegovph.

BusinessMirror

Editor: Tet Andolong

Wednesday, December 16, 2020 B7

Prosperity Heights is geared for life in the new normal

A

T the beginning of 2020, no one knew that the world would have to take on a pandemic, where health and safety become first priority, where accessibility to most essential goods and services is crucial for survival, and where proper home living is both a privilege and a necessity.

Prosperity Heights, a development of NewBeg innings Inc., a member of B&P Property Group (www.bandppropertygroup.com), seems to tick all of those boxes, with unit features, amenities, and location that satisfy the demands of living in the midst of a global pandemic. Located in Tandang Sora and accessible via Commonwealth, QC Circle, Edsa and Katipunan, Prosperity Heights allows its residents to conveniently live in the middle of the city where access to food, medicine, hospitals, and transport is convenient. Homeowners can also reside in units designed for safe and proper ventilation and a balanced way of living, and leisure amenities that allow freedom of movement despite the mandate of social distancing.

Fit for the new normal inside and out, Prosperity Heights’ overall design seems to have anticipated the upcoming need for safe and healthy living spaces in the city.

The vision: Lifestyle upgraded for all According to Corazon Nenita Pangan, head of Finance of the B&P Property Group, their vision is simple. “Our vision for Prosperity Heights

is to help Filipinos to level up their lifestyle in the city. They say home is where the heart is, and we want residents to feel secure and at home, with a big space that welcomes them.”

“We want to make homeowners feel that they have upgraded their lifestyle through the unit spaces and properties. We want them to feel that they deserve the luxuries of their Prosperity Heights units because they worked hard for it,” Pangan said.

V

ISTA Residences, the condominium development arm of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., has joined the roster of real-estate companies listed on Lamudi on the back of a strong traffic of house hunters in this online portal.

Based on Lamudi’s “The Outlook on the Residential Market” report, property seekers remain searching for a condominium for sale or for rent in Quezon City that comprise 26 percent of the leads from January to June of this year, followed by Makati at 12 percent, Pasig at 10 percent, and Taguig at 9 percent.

Since all of these local government units have central business districts, they befit the requirements of potential clients still on the lookout for condominium properties closer to their workplace because public transportation continues to be on limited operations due to the pandemic.

With these findings, Vista Residences is positive that listing its ready for occupancy (RFO) and pre-selling units on Lamudi will help majority of the residential market find better options and deals.

Life in #TheBetterPlace

Prosperity Heights condominium in Quezon City is geared for life in the new normal

Advanced condo design for the new normal Prosperity Heights is indeed welcoming, with property features that are perfect fit for the new normal. The low-density nature of the property allows for ample social distancing, while bigger, Internet spaces for units make it possible for its residents to work, play, and rest all in one place. All units are outfitted with a balcony for proper ventilation. To top it all off, outdoor amenities within the property allow for socially distanced leisure from a short distance from each resident’s home.

“In the new normal, the health protocols that have been in place since March 2020 are set by the property management to make every-

Vista Residences lists condo projects in Lamudi

By Roderick L. Abad

stations, temperature checking, and disinfectant mats at entrances.

Moreover, because we are welcoming people to invest in Prosperity Heights, we make sure that the building is safe for property tripping,” Pangan said. Interested parties must follow guidelines for scheduling a visit: schedule ahead, limit viewing to two persons, wear a mask and face shield, submit to temperature checks and hand sanitization, and footwear sanitization via a footbath and mat by the lobby.

Its RFO projects in Manila include Vista Taft, Vista Heights, Vista GL Taft, 878 España, and Crown Tower University Belt. Projects for sale prior to completion are Orwell Heights, Plumeria Heights, Tennyson Heights, Bradbury Heights, and Sky Arts Manila.

On the other hand, its move-in ready projects in Quezon City include Wil Tower, Symphony Towers, Pine Crest, and Vista 309 Katipunan. Preselling projects there are Hawthorne Heights and Vista Pointe.

Per their partnership, Lamudi allows home seekers to get information about the developer’s projects online, such as price, location, unit dimension, and amenity inclusions. Moreover, the web site showcases a dedicated development page for all Vista Residences projects on the platform.

For safety of the customers, each property listing under its page connects them with their authorized sales team to avoid bogus transactions.

The property portal is confident that the developer’s offerings will pique the interest of site visitors, especially because many are looking to reside in a condominium in the new normal and beyond.

Prosperity Heights’ bigger than average Studio unit at 28 sq.m

one feel and be secured about their health. The new normal entails a lot of stay-at-home activities like cooking, exercising, working, and studying from home,” said Pangan. “We made the development to be low density with bigger units because we wanted to provide homeowners bigger living spaces compared to other developments, to accommodate this stay-athome kind of living. Its features and amenities turned out very apt for the new normal.”

Their real-estate philosophy According to Pangan, all developments under the B&P Property Group, including Prosperity Heights of New-

Kid’s playground and outdoor space in the roof deck of Prosperity Heights

Beginnings Inc., go back to the core of the “why,” “how,” and “what” of being in real estate. “Our why will always be to fulfill the dreams of Filipino families to live a better life,” she shared, “and we do this by creating projects that will provide the upscale experience at a fair price. In all developments we promote sustainability, smart use of space, and security, mainly because we are human-centric—our focus is to serve our customers, our employees, and our business partners.”

This is why the tagline “Advanced Kami Mag-Design” really applies to Prosperity Heights. Certainly, no one saw the pandemic coming, but the property’s design was in anticipa-

tion of a better life for the residents.

“Advanced talaga kami mag-isip: from planning to construction to maintenance, we already imagine our residents having the best life possible,” she reiterated.

Safety as part of protocol Under the new normal the developers under the B&P Property Group, have further adapted several safety protocols to keep present and future residents safe.

“Our property management personnel implement strict hygiene, sanitation, and security protocols such as wearing of PPEs, providing a logbook for contact tracing, having sanitation

Truly, properties developed by companies under the B&P Property Group like Prosperity Heights, have helped transform a simple home into #TheBetterPlace. “Our amenities are something to be proud of. We provide spaces for play, for work, for entertainment, and outdoor space in the roof deck for our homeowners to use and enjoy, especially in the new normal where staying in is recommended,” Pangan said. “It is truly a great place to live in as we navigate a new way of living.”

NewBeginnings Inc., as a member of the B&P Property Group, stays true to the developer group’s long-term vision of fulfilling the dreams of Filipinos to live better, safer, healthier lives, and achieve homes that they can deem #TheBetterPlace, through progressive properties that have innovative and disruptive features.

With the group’s projects and developments spreading fast throughout the country, there’s a better place to live for every Filipino.

Developments of the group include the WV Towers 1 & 2 in Mandurriao Garden Residences Iloilo under Westernland Property Development Inc., Palm Glades Residences in Capiz under Centrumland Development Corp., and Prosperity Heights and One Mariposa in Quezon City, both under NewBeginnings Inc. The B&P Property Group is composed of seven (7) companies: NewBeginnings Inc., Westernland Property Development Inc., Centrumland Development Corp., Kommuno Properties Inc., Best Panay Real Estate Inc., Eckstein Incorporated, and dreamGENcon Inc. Reni Salvador

Republic Cement supports circular economy, launches ecoloop

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By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

OUNG environmental activist Greta Thunberg said everybody has to contribute to save the environment for a sustainable future.

As far as the Philippine corporate sector is concerned , companies such as Republic Cement have responded to the call to save the environment by promoting a circular economy and introducing its latest product called ecoloop. According to the European Union, the consumption economic model “involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible.” In this way, the EU said the life cycle of products is extended. Moreover, the circular economy aims to limit waste and keep the materials of a used product within the economy wherever possible.

In line with promoting circular economy, Republic Cement will recycle 10 million plastic bags including sachets daily in its five manufacturing plants starting 2021 to help address the waste management crisis of the country. The plants are located in Norzagaray, Bulacan; Teresa, Rizal; Taysan, Batangas; Danao, Cebu and Iligan in Mindanao.

“It is quite ambitious but we want to rock the boat to send a message to the public,” Republic Cement CEO Nabil Francis said during the recent launch of the company’s ecoloop program.

He said recycling plastics is part of the coprocessing of waste materials.

Co-processing is the reuse or recovery of thermal and mineral properties of qualified waste materials while manufacturing cement in a single

Republic Cement will recycle 10 million plastic bags and sachets daily in 2021 to help in managing the waste problem of the country.

combined operation. Through co-processing and the use of waste, such as plastic or rice husk, as alternative fuels, Francis said Republic can manufacture cement with reduced dependence on fossil fuels, such as coal.

Further, co-processing continues to be a sustainable solution to the rise in the country’s waste generation, which remains a major challenge even with the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003) in place. The country has observed a steady increase in daily waste generated over the years, from over 37,000 tons in 2012 to 40,000 tons in 2016. In 2018, Metro Manila recorded an average of over 9,000 tons of waste per day.

Whereas 85 percent of the total solid wastes were collected, 15 percent ended up in waterways and bodies of water.

“Co-processing is a vital alternative that manufacturing industries can and should take

toward the long-term goals of waste management as well as ultimately building our nation’s resilience against climate-change challenges through sustainable practices,” said ecoloop Director Angela Edralin-Valencia.

With ecoloop, Valencia said residual wastes can effectively be diverted away from landfills and waterways, and the plastic pollution crisis can also be addressed by capturing pre- and postconsumer waste in direct partnership with manufacturers including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, as well as local government units (LGUs). At present, Valencia said ecoloop has partnerships with more than 30 public and private organizations across the country. “As long as these wastes are deemed acceptable for co-processing and acceptable under the guidelines issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through DAO 2010-6, co-processing should

be prioritized over other unsustainable disposal methods that are more harmful to the environment in the long run,” added Valencia.

While co-processing involves the application of heat to destroy waste, Valencia said it is quite different from the traditional waste management practice of incineration. She pointed out that ecoloop utilizes the cement kiln co-processing method, where emissions are contained and managed within the kiln and any ash produced fully integrated into the stable microstructure of clinker, a key ingredient of cement.

On the other hand, some forms of incineration are purely for waste disposal without any energy or material recovery aspects. “There is a higher chance of noxious gases being released into the atmosphere and the ash byproduct usually still ends up in landfills,” explained Valencia.

Further, co-processing promotes the conservation of non-renewable energy sources and raw materials. The recovered heat content from the qualified wastes partially replaces the heat from traditional fossil fuels such as coal and petcoke. Recovered minerals similar to the chemical composition of sand and clay also replace raw materials used in cement production.

“In the waste management hierarchy, methods such as prevention, minimization, and recovery of materials through recycling and reusing are still preferred over co-processing. However, when these options are no longer available, coprocessing remains preferred over unsustainable methods such as incineration, chemical and physical treatment of waste, and landfilling,” added Valencia.

B8 Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Sports BusinessMirror

WHITFIELD NO EASY OPPONENT

By Josef Ramos

A

MERICAN Andrew Whitfield is no easy opponent for debuting pro Eumir Felix Marcial.

“Whitfield will be no walk in the park for Eumir,” Marvin Somodio, Freddie Roach’s assistant trainer at the Wild Card Gym, told BusinessMirror.

Marcial, 25, makes his pro debut against the 29-year-old Whitfield in a four-rounder card under the Premier Boxing Champion promotions on Thursday at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, California.

Somodio said Whitfield, of Lewiston, Idaho, will be heading into the fight night toting some advantages and expressing bravado.

“He [Whitfield] has more [pro] experience than Marcial because he already fought four times and at the same this is his hometown,” said Somodio, who watched videos of two of the American’s three previous fights.

“He is not an awkward fighter and his style is basic so we have to fight basic, too. Whitfield is also not a brawler, but we just can’t rely on those clips,” Somodio said. “We are not going to relax. There might be a chance that he changes his style once they are inside the ring.”

Parks leads stats race in PHL Cup

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NT Tropang Giga’s Bobby Ray Parks emerged the statistical race winner of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup bubble in Clark.

Phoenix’s Calvin Abueva, TerraFirma’s CJ Perez and another Phoenix stalwart, Matthew

Wright, kept their places behind Parks while TNT’s RR Pogoy grabbed fifth spot after his solid showing as lead gun of the Tropa in a gritty but losing stand against Ginebra in the Finals.

But Parks, who sat three games in the Finals injured, topped them all with 38.2 statistical

‘NC’ seeks GMA help for vaccine

T

HE National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will seek the help from its new television broadcast partner GMA7 to get a vaccine once it becomes available for distribution in the country.

“We’ll ask help to GMA7 to get a vaccine,” said Letran’s Fr. Victor Calvo Jr. OP, NCAA management committee chairman, as he reiterated that basketball, volleyball, swimming and athletics are the only sports

DANIELA REGGIE CASTAñEDA DE LA PISA was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when she was four years old.

Dadai conquers cancer with hoop and clubs

But Somodio said Whitfield would be an “easy target” for Marcial. He also expressed the possibility of Marcial knocking Whitfield out.

BusinessMirror did its own research and saw Whitfield as a heavy-hitter after registering two knockout victories against fellow American Thomas Turner (second round technical knockout) in August 2019 in Montana and the other was four years ago in his debut against CJ Mount (first round TKO) in Idaho.

Whitfield (3-1 win-loss record with two KOs) is trained by Richard Jackson, who owns the Jackson’s Gym in Lewiston.

In a local Lewiston news web site, Whitfield said he is not bothered by the hype accompanying

Marcial’s debut and his attachment with eightdivision champion Manny Pacquiao.

“We’re excited to fight him. I think it will be a great test of our abilities. I want to see what those Olympic boys have to offer,” Whitfield told online news outfit outlet klewtv.com. “Maybe they are not as tough as they think.”

BusinessMirror manage to reach Whitfield but refused to be interviewed.

“No thanks,” he said in an online message.

The Marcial-Whitfield fight is one of the undercards of the main event between undefeated Lithuanian Eimantas Stanionis and Colombian Janer Gonzalez.

points (SP) average, followed by Abueva (37.1), Perez (35.7), Wright (35.65) and Pogoy (35.64).

Other big gainers in the title playoff were Ginebra’s Stanley Pringle (34.8) and Japeth Aguilar (32.9).

Pringle narrowly missed the Top Five while Aguilar rallied from way out to finish at eighth.

Scottie Thompson (with 32.8 at No. 9) is the third Ginebra player making the Top 25 who are now the

official contenders for the “Special Five” to be honored by the PBA in a special awards rites in January.

Also making the Top 10 are NorthPort’s Christian Standhardinger (34.6) and Phoenix’s Jason Perkins (32.7).

The top rookies were TerraFirma’s Roosevelt Adams (20.3), Meralco’s Aaron Black (17.3), Alaska’s Barkley Ebona (16.3), Magnolia’s Aris Dionisio (15.9) and Ginebra’s Arvin Tolentino (15.5).

planned for the coming season with the inclusion of online chess and esports on the Season 96 program.

But NCAA management committee member Peter Cayco of Arellano University said that even with the vaccine already available next year, the league could only return with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious

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

Diseases’ go signal.

“We are still going to wait for the IATF’s decision.

It’s not that simple that if there’s a vaccine, we can play already. It’s just one part of the panel. The ultimate decision is still on the IATF,” Cayco said.

“They haven’t promised anything but they will help us,” said Cayco, referring to the NCAA’s request with GMA 7.

Calvo also said the NCAA and GMA7 officials will sign a memorandum of agreement on their partnership on Thursday most likely in Letran’s Intramuros campus. Josef Ramos

D

By Annie Abad

ANIELA REGGIE CASTAñEDA DE LA PISA brought her winning act from Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe, regaling the crowd, her rivals and especially the judges with a flawless performance with the hoop and clubs of rhythmic gymnastics.

The Filipino fans endlessly cheered her when she gracefully clinched one gold and two bronze medals at the 30th SEA Games in December last year at the refurbished Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Almost exactly a year later on December 5, de la Pisa bagged two gold medals at the the Santa’s Cup in Budapest, Hungary.

De La Pisa has been conquering the rhythmic gymnastics world, but little does anyone know that she made one life-changing conquest as a young girl—she beat cancer.

“It was very hard for me and her dad,” her mom Darlene de la Pisa told the BusinessMirror.

“I asked myself then ‘why my daughter?’ But I chose to be strong for her during those times.”

De La Pisa was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when she was only four years old and spent more time on a

hospital bed rather that at home to get rid of the ailment.

“It was in February 2, 2008, when Dadai [de la Pisa’s nickname] underwent surgery to remove her right ovary. After three weeks, she had her chemotherapy for four cycles,” the elder de la Pisa said.

It was during those times of healing when de la Pisa was introduced to gymnastics by her mom.

Her dad Randy also felt the need for their second of three children to interact with girls her age and shut the bitter experience from the Big C. She was at grade school at the University of the Visayas when her mom, who practiced the sport as a teen, began honing the little girl to a future champion.

“Her doctor said that gymnastics helped her a lot. It’s been 12 years now when she had cancer and she’s free from it now,” Darlene De la Pisa said.

The Covid-19 pandemic didn’t stop de la Pisa from polishing her form and flew to Budapest in August along with national teammate Breanna Labadan to pursue training. Labadan also won one gold and a silver medal in the same Budapest event.

On Sunday, de la Pisa—a bemedaled gymnast in the Palarong Pambansa, Batang Pinoy and Philippine National Games, was back home with her family.

“I am very excited because we can get to be with her finally after several months of being away from her,” de la Pisa’s mom said.

“We are very proud of her and I just want her to keep her focus on what she is doing,” the elder de la Pisa said.

CONGRATULATIONS

Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) President Sheikh Fahad Al-Sabah congratulates Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino for his reelection as Philippine Olympic Committee president in a private meeting during the OCA General Assembly in Muscat, Oman, on Monday.

Tolentino offers in the meeting the POC’s bid to host the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

Korean Kim wins US Open debut, Saso in 13th spot

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OUSTON—The Bermuda grass of south Texas was unlike anything A Lim Kim had ever seen. The US Women’s Open, with its reputation as the toughest test, was a major she had never played.

What didn’t change in a frigid final round at Champions Golf Club was how to keep score. And when the 25-year-old from South Korea saw she was trailing and running out of holes, she started attacking flags.

Kim birdied her final three holes and tied the record for the largest comeback in a US Women’s Open, rallying from five shots behind with the a four-under 67 to win the biggest event in women’s golf.

“Still can’t really soak in that I’m the champion,” she said, minutes after being soaked in champagne on a day with temperatures in the 40s.

She won by one shot over Jin Young Ko, the top-ranked player in women’s golf, and Amy Olson, who played her heart out while coping

with the grief of her father-in-law’s unexpected death Saturday night in South Dakota.

The Philippines’s Yuka Saso, meanwhile, fared better with a 72 after a 77 in the third round and wound up tied for 13th spot with two others, enough for her to bank $96,800 (P4.6 million).

“I felt very weak and helpless the last couple days, and probably today on the golf course,” Olson said, fighting back tears after a 72. “I really believe the Lord just carried me through. It just makes you realize how much bigger life is than golf. But pleased with my finish overall and my performance.”

Kim finished at 3-under 281 and won $1 million. She added to South Korean dominance of this major, the ninth winner in the last 13 years.

She became the seventh player to rally from five shots behind in the final round, and the first since Annika Sorenstam at The Broadmoor in Kim 1995. AP

Yuka Saso richer by P4.6M in US Open Al Mendoza | alsol47@yahoo.com

THAT’S ALL YUKA SASO finished tied for 13th spot yesterday in the 75th US Women’s Open in Houston’s Champions Club in Texas.

Not bad.

Yuka was tied for 26th going to the fourth and final round.

She cut the eight-shot deficit to just five, her huge windup rarely seen from a teenager playing in the biggest stage of the game.

Her one-over-par 72 closeout is heroic enough as she played in brutal, soggy conditions in a round postponed for a day due to rain-caused flooding.

Only five broke par, actually, with just four firing below 70, that included winner A. Lim Kim, also a US Open rookie like Yuka but the South Korean is already a two-time winner on the Tour.

Kim’s 4-under-par 67 gave her a one-shot win worth $1 million, rallying from 5 shots

down at 9th in one of the largest 54-hole comebacks in US Open history.

“I love this golf course, love this environment,” said Kim, wearing a mask throughout the round, through an interpreter.

Aside from earning a two-year exemption in the LPGA Tour, Kim got a bonus when Club founder Jack Burke Jr., at 97 the oldest living Masters champion, gave her free Club membership.

But golf has always been replete with drama and trauma.

While Kim closed out her Cinderella fairytale with birdies on her last three holes, her foes playing behind her had issues with the golf gods.

Amy Olson was the most affected, becoming from winner to loser when she placed tied for second with third round leader Hinako Shibuno of Japan and world No. 1 J. Y. Ko.

Olson, who lost her father-in-law to a heart attack the day before, took a two-shot lead with 9 holes to go only to falter when she bogeyed the par 3 16th from the roughs.

“I felt very weak and helpless the last couple of days,” Olson said, teary-eyed.

But give credit to Yuka Saso, the soaring star with a golf future almost as secure as LeBron James’s spot in basketball’s Hall of Fame.

For her to leap from 26th to 13th could only mean one thing: She has the heart of a fighter, of a warrior not afraid to attack the limits in the name of victory.

Already a certified millionaire with two wins and Top 10 consistent finishes in the money-rich Japan Tour, Yuka, only 19, pocketed yet almost P4.6 million with her 69-71-77-72, 5-over-par total.

Never mind that she had a slip in Round 3, succumbing to three bogeys and a double bogey in her inward trip to miss the battle for golf’s most coveted crown.

Young that Yuka still is, she will surely learn from it. The stigma of it will only spur her to speed up her much-anticipated march to the top. Trust me.

THAT’S IT Bianca Pagdanganan, our other bet in the just-ended US Open, got cut but that does not mean she is through. Far from that.

At 22, Bianca will rebound from it soon, her world-renowned length from the tee to ensure that her focus to scale the heights is intact.