BusinessMirror January 08, 2021

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BSP EYES MORE PLAYERS FOR ITS DEBT AUCTIONS www.businessmirror.com.ph

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Friday, January 8, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 89

P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 18 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK

‘Emergency’ clause eyed to halt hikes in SSS, PhilHealth

By Bianca Cuaresma

HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is mulling over the possibility of expanding the existing set of eligible market participants that have access to its bills and bonds.

See “BSP,” A2

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

T

DRONE pilot hobbyist Michael Paulo Toribio Sarayba, a member of the team tapped to document the unveiling of the largest solar Rosary in the world, said he is humbled by the event as a Catholic as he and his team flew a drone in perfect weather to document the event, one of those lined up to commemorate 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The “Light of Faith” (solar) rosary project is being done in partnership with the Manila Cathedral, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, under the auspices of the National Quincentennial Committee, the intergovernmental body responsible for organizing the events around the quincentennial.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MICHAEL PAULO TORIBIO SARAYBA AND MARIO LOYOLA DAVILLA JR.

PHL IMPORTS RECORD-HIGH VOLUME OF MEAT IN 2020

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

8

95,000,000 kilograms. That’s the new recordhigh total volume of meat products imported by the Philippines last year.

Latest Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) data showed that 2020 imports rose by 6 percent to 894.698 million kilograms from 844.971 million kg recorded in 2019.

The 2020 figure eclipsed the previous recordhigh import volume of 848.647 million kg in 2018.

BAI data showed that total meat products purchased abroad last year were more than double the 400.954-million kg recorded at the start of the previous decade.

BAI data showed that chicken meat imports, which accounted for 45 percent of the total volume, expanded by 18.32 percent to 402.7 million kg from the 340.332 million kg recorded in 2019.

Bulk of the chicken meat imports or about 68 percent were mechanically deboned meat (MDM)

of chicken, a key raw material used by manufacturers to produce processed meat products.

Chicken MDM imports last year rose by 10 percent to 273.814 million kg from 219.061 million kg recorded in 2019, BAI data showed.

Growing appetite

THE Meat Importers and Traders Association (Mita) earlier told the BusinessMirror that the increase in chicken imports could be attributed to stronger consumer appetite for processed meat coupled by lower prices for chicken cuts and leg quarters.

The group added that meat processors imported more MDM of chicken as they were hedging against the reversion to higher tariff on these products this year.

Beef imports in 2020 expanded by 45.42 percent to nearly 200 million kg from 136.415 million See “Meat,” A2

HE Speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday filed two bills granting President Duterte the power to suspend the scheduled increases in the contribution rates of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and the Social Security System (SSS) “in times of national emergencies.”

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco filed House Bill 8316 and House Bill 8317 to amend Republic Act (RA) 11223 or the Universal Health Care Act and RA 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2018, which provide for gradual increases in monthly premium contributions in PhilHealth and SSS, respectively.

“These are extraordinary times and Congress must respond accordingly,” Velasco said According to Velasco, the two bills that are both aimed at alleviating the financial burden faced

by Filipino workers amid the Covid-19 crisis will be included in the House’s priority measures.

Under the two bills, the President may, in consultation with the Secretaries of the Department of Health and the Department of Finance as chairmen of PhilHealth and SSS, respectively, “suspend the implementation of the scheduled increases in premium rates in times of national emergencies when public interest so requires.”

In 2018, RA 11223 was enacted to ensure that all Filipinos are guaranteed equitable access to quality and affordable health-care goods and services, and protected against financial risk.

Velasco said the intent of the law is clear and cannot be overemphasized—Filipinos need and deserve a comprehensive set of health services that are cost-effective, of high quality, and responsive.

“While we recognize that the [PhilHealth] only aims to implement the provisions of RA 11223, imposing a higher premium rate to our kababayans under our current conditions will definitely enforce a new round of financial burden to its members,” Velasco said.

“Suspending the imposition of the new PhilHealth premium rates will provide a much-needed relief from the negative effects of the pandemic and will assure Filipinos that the government is sensitive to their sentiments,” he added.

According to Velasco, Filipinos have barely recovered from the losses and difficulties brought by Covid-19.

See “SSS,” A2

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.0600

n JAPAN 0.4664 n UK 65.4145 n HK 6.1989 n CHINA 7.4350 n SINGAPORE 36.4754 n AUSTRALIA 37.4916 n EU 59.2532 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.8119

Source: BSP (January 7, 2021)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Friday, January 8, 2021

BSP… Continued from A1

DIOKNO: “This is consistent with the objective of providing greater guidance to short-term market interest rates under the Interest Rate Corridor (IRC) framework to improve the transmission of the BSP’s monetary policy.”

In a press briefing on Thursday, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said they are currently conducting consultations to gather insights on the features of the BSP securities and how to enhance its marketfriendly features and put it on a par with other assets.

“This is consistent with the objective of providing greater guidance to short-term market interest rates under the Interest Rate Corridor (IRC) framework to improve the transmission of the BSP’s monetary policy,” the governor explained.

Meanwhile, Diokno said the tenor, volume and frequency of issuance of the BSP Securities will remain guided by the BSP’s assessment of market developments and liquidity conditions, as well as discussions with BSP counterparties.

The BSP started issuing its own securities in September last year as part of its initiative to shift to a more market-based monetary operation. This was made possible through the passage of the amended Central Bank Act in 2019, which restored the BSP’s authority to issue its own debt securities.

Aside from new eligible market participants for the BSP auctions, Diokno said the BSP just adopted the new Supervisory Assessment Framework (SAFr) in an effort to ensure the stability of the banking system.

The SAFr is a risk-based supervisory framework that aims to improve the assessment framework by further emphasizing business model analysis to identify drivers of risks; aligning supervisory strategies with the unique impact and risks of a bank; and applying prompt and calibrated enforcement actions. It also adheres to the principle of proportionality in supervision.

SAFr replaces rating systems earlier used by the BSP, including CAMELS (capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity to market risks), the primary rating system for banks and quasi-banks; and ROCA (risk management, operational controls, compliance and asset quality), the rating system for foreign bank branches.

Meat…

Continued from A1

kg in 2019, while buffalo meat imports rose by 10 percent on an annual basis to 34.606 million kg The increase in imports of chicken meat, beef and buffalo meat was more than enough to offset the 23.75-percent full-year decline of pork items purchased abroad.

The decline in pork imports was caused by the tighter global pork supply due to the African Swine Fever (ASF) damage in key pork-producing countries. Due to this, the share of pork items in the country’s annual meat imports declined to 28.61 percent from the usual 40-percent share.

BAI data showed that pork imports last year fell to a six-year low of 256.017 million kg from 335.786 million kg in 2019.

BAI data also showed that the United States was the country’s top supplier of meat products at 160.052 million kg followed by the Netherlands (157.779 million kg) and Brazil (131.717 million kg).

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Amid riots in Capitol, US democracy strong–Locsin

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By Recto L. Mercene

S countries and leaders around the world expressed serious concern over America’s seeming destruction of its democracy, with protesters storming the US Capitol, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. on Thursday expressed his faith in the inherent strength and stability of the American system of government.

“I hope the enemies of liberty among mock world powers don’t believe and won’t peddle the line that the US is done for; US democracy is strong to the bone and American power can cope with a civil disturbance and fight wars on three fronts if it wants to— and come out the winner,” Locsin tweeted in what many in the local media interpret is the country’s stand in the ongoing turmoil in Washington, D.C. Although the seat of the US government has been secured, four of the protesters have been fatally shot—including one woman—after President Donald Trump’s sup-

porters breached one of the most iconic American buildings, “engulfing the nation’s capital in chaos after Trump urged his supporters to fight against the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes that will confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s win,” CNN reported.

Former President George Bush came up on Facebook and said: “This is how elections are disputed in a banana republic, not our democratic republic. I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election and by the lack of respect shown today for our institutions, our traditions, and our law enforcement.”

Although he did not mention it, Bush’s reference to “some political leaders” was meant for fellow Republican Trump, who lost the election to Joe Biden.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson waded in with a tweet: “Disgraceful scenes in US Congress. The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.”

Officials in Venezuela issued a statement of concern over the stability of US democracy in the face of the US Capitol riots involving rowdy Trump supporters.

“Venezuela condemns the political polarization and the spiral of violence that only reflects the deep crisis that the political and social system of the United States is currently going through,” said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Twitter.

Trump, who seems to have captured almost half of Americans’ electorate with his unusual way of governance, has been suspended from Twitter and Facebook after tweeting to supporters who attacked the US Capitol.

In a social-media message to protesters he said, “I love you,” before telling them to go home. He also repeated false claims about election fraud.

Twitter said it required the removal of three tweets for “severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy.”

The company said the President’s account would remain locked for good if the tweets were not removed.

It went on to say that “Future violations of the Twitter Rules... will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.”

Meanwhile, Facebook banned Trump for 24 hours. YouTube also removed the video.

Facebook said: “We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.”

The violence delayed congressional debate over Democrat Joe Biden’s election win.

However, Congress resumed counting Electoral College votes Wednesday evening hours after the violent storming of the Capitol building.

Just after the unprecedented attack on the Capitol, the House and Senate both rejected the first GOP objection to finalizing President-elect Biden’s victory.

Eventually, US lawmakers affirmed the Electoral College votes upholding the election of Biden.

See related stories in World, page B3.

DEVOTEES URGED: AVOID GOING TO QUIAPO CHURCH T

HE Department of Health (DOH), together with the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against Covid-19 (HPAAC) and the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church), called on the public to refrain from physically visiting Quiapo Church to celebrate the annual tradition of the devotees amid concern any mass gathering could be a superspreader event.

Despite the Traslacion 2021—or at least the procession itself—being canceled, officials of Quiapo Church headed by Reverend Monsignor Hernando M. Coronel reported they still expect an influx of devotees for the image viewing of the Black Nazarene.

In view of this, Coronel said preparations have been made in coordina-

tion with Manila City Hall to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and ensure strict adherence of all devotees with minimum public health standards.

Coronel, however, noted that these preparations are contingency measures and emphasized that the best way to protect oneself is not to attend the events physically and instead find alternative ways to commemorate the annual feast.

“If we can try not to flock to Quiapo church, let’s do it. We can pray as a family inside our houses,” Coronel said.

Recognizing the possibility of the occasion becoming a superspreader event, Dr. Anna Ong-Lim of HPAAC emphasized the need for the public to err on the side of caution when deciding whether to attend or not, especially

considering the pandemic.

“This can be characterized as a superspreader event because we will have a mass gathering,” Ong-Lim said, adding, “there is also the threat of the new UK variant.”

The DOH also called on families to attend the online Masses planned hourly through the Quiapo Church’s Facebook page and reminded those planning to physically attend Mass celebrations or image viewing to strictly observe these measures:

1. Ensure there is proper ventilation in the place of gathering;

2. Always observe physical distancing of at least one meter when going to public or crowded places;

3. Wear your face masks and face

shields properly;

4. Keep your visit short (as much as possible, not exceeding 15 minutes);

5. Always wash or sanitize your hands, especially after touching hightouch surfaces;

6. Follow the health protocols implemented by the Church and of the local government authorities; and

7. Cancel your travel plans if you feel any symptoms of Covid-19.

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III also reiterated his call for the public to follow minimum public health standards to prevent Covid-19 transmission and to keep the country’s infection rate low.

The Covid-19 cases in the country surged to 482,083 on Thursday.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

FDA tracks unlicensed online cosmetics sale

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

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OLLOWING mounting complaints, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will investigate regulated products such as perfumes and cosmetics that are being sold online without the required FDA licenses and certification.

FDA Director General Eric Domingo said the agency has already received the complaint of Jake Silo, Secretary-General of the consumer group Action for Consumerism and Transparency in Nation Building (ACTION).

ACTION said that online shopping platforms have been allowing sellers to peddle medicine, perfumes and cosmetics without bothering to ask for FDA License to Operate (LTO), Certificate of Product Registration (CPR), or Certificate of Product Notification (CPN).

“The FDA reminds all concerned that it is illegal to sell registrable and notifiable drugs, food products, medical devices, cosmetics, toys, child-care items and household substances without proper authorization,” Domingo said in an interview.

Among the sellers being complained of by ACTION is a certain TGWW Everyday Lifestyle Studio which is selling the product Pouf!

Everyday Cologne despite the company not getting an LTO and its products remaining untested, as these still have no CPN. “The FDA knows about these things, but it has yet to issue public advisories to protect thousands of Filipinos who are being victimized by companies taking advantage of the pandemic to sell unlicensed, unregistered and untested products,” Silo wrote the FDA. News reports also allege that

TGWW is owned by celebrity Toni Gonzaga and business partner and vlogger Winnie Wong.

Domingo said those who sell cosmetic products without government license and registration could be criminally charged with violation of Republic Act 8711, or the FDA Act of 2009.

According to Section 12 of that law, violators could suffer the penalty of imprisonment ranging from one year but not more than 10 years or a fine of not less than P50,000 but not more than P500,000.

Senate caucus may tackle fresh Cha-cha bid Continued from A7

At the same time, he indicated the caucus would also firm up a decision on whether to hold public consultations similar to the ones conducted in the last Congress, but added, “it would depend on the discussions during the caucus. Let us hear out the sentiments of our fellow senators.”

The opposition senator recalled that earlier survey results affirmed a sizeable majority of Filipinos oppose changing the 1987 Constitution, even as he noted that “earlier, several House leaders met

and announced that the chamber is gearing to revive deliberations on Charter change and the House hearing could begin next week.”

Binay weighs in

MEANWHILE, former Vice President Jejomar C. Binay warned that, “The motives of sitting legislators tinkering with the Constitution a year before the scheduled election will always be suspect.”

What the country needs during this pandemic “is coherent, caring and competent government, not Charter Change. Any discussion on amending the Constitution, even

on the economic provisions, should be left to the next Congress,” Binay said in a statement.

“Historically, these efforts [to tinker with the Charter] are vigorously undertaken near the end of the terms of office of incumbents, which gives rise to suspicions that such amendments will benefit them,” he added.

“Millions are without jobs and hungry. The economy is down. People need solutions from government, not Cha-Cha,” Binay stressed.

Akbayan party-list chairman Loretta Rosales, for her part, also opposed the moves to trifle with

the Constitution.

“Amid our desperate scramble for access to vaccines against a pandemic that has killed many Filipinos and left thousands more ill, the proposal to prioritize the convening of Congress as a Constituent Assembly to pave the way for Charter change is downright murderous. Cha-Cha in the time of Covid-19 is a dance of death. It is a legislative virus that seeks to legitimize extension of selfrule by this government beyond Constitutional limits over the health and lives of the people. People need vaccination, not term-extensions.”

Butch Fernandez, Samuel P. Medenilla

SSS… Continued from A1

He said that as of October 2020, the unemployment rate in the country still stands at 8.7 percent, which is equivalent to 3.8 million Filipinos in the labor force.

In 2019, Republic Act 11223 or the Universal Health Care Act (UHC Act) was enacted to institute reforms in the health-care sector and help ensure access to quality and affordable health care. The UHC Act provides that every Filipino citizen shall be automatically included into the National Health Insurance Program, with membership types simplified into direct and indirect contributors. Section 10 of the law provides for annual increases in the premium rates of direct contributors until 2024. For 2021, the premium rate is scheduled to increase to 3.5 percent of the monthly basic salary, from the 2020 rate of 3 percent.

SSS contributions

IN HB 8317, Velasco said the temporary suspension of the hike in SSS contributions will help the workforce achieve a faster recovery from the impact of the pandemic.

The SSS leadership had repeatedly stressed that deferring the contribution hike could hurt the sustainability of the fund. However, Velasco said, despite the good intention of the scheduled increases in SSS contribution rates under RA 11199, Velasco said it must be suspended while the country faces a national public health emergency.

Given such negative impact of the pandemic, the “sovereign government must be given the prerogative to bend the rules of the social security law in favor of the greater good,” Velasco said.

He said that increasing the rate of contributions of SSS members will “strikingly undermine the recovery effort of everyone suffering from job losses, wage reduction, business closures, and healthrelated issues.”

Mark Lapid appointed to Tieza board; COO post in the works Continued from A7

“The problems are administrative; we’re not talking here of somebody stealing money, and that’s why, in fact, he was sanctioned. Certain movements have been restricted already,” Jimenez stressed.

Controlling a largesse AMONG the transactions questioned by COA in its annual reports of PTA/Tieza under Lapid’s helm were the construction of a tourism information center in Pasig, a performing arts facility in Parañaque, alleged ghost deliveries for a sanitation project on Boracay Island, and financial aid and sponsorships for golf tournaments, beauty contests, festivals, among others.

In May 2018, Lapid and other DOT officials also faced a complaint before the Ombudsman for the P300-million water supply and sewerage contract in Boracay.

Tieza is among the controversial government corporations due to the largesse it normally controls from the collection of travel taxes, of which half goes to the GOCC. At one point, Tieza had amassed some P14 billion, incurring the ire of Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III for the agency’s slow utilization of funds.

During the bicameral conference committee meetings on Bayanihan 2, legislators fought over the allocation of funds to the tourism sector, with a group of House members demanding that the stimulus funds be put under Tieza, for infrastructure projects, instead of working capital loans and other subsidies for affected tourism stakeholders.

The younger Lapid, running on a tourism platform, lost his senatorial bid in 2016. He also tried to run as mayor of Porac, Pampanga, in 2019, but lost to an independent candidate. He was governor of Pampanga from June 30, 2004, to 2007.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The Nation BusinessMirror

DOJ assumes jurisdiction over Dacera rape-slay case

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

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HE Department of Justice (DOJ) has assumed jurisdiction on the case of flight attendant Christine Dacera, who was found dead at a hotel bathtub of a hotel room in Makati City after celebrating the New Year with 11 male friends, Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento bared on Thursday.

Malcontento said DOJ’s assumption of jurisdiction is anchored on the resolution issued by the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday ordering the conduct of a preliminary investigation on the provisional complaint for rape with murder filed by the Philippine National Police (PNP) due to insufficiency of evidence it submitted during inquest proceedings of three of the 12 male individuals it accused of being involved in the alleged crime.

“Taking into account that we have issued an order for investigation, the venue of the case is now with the prosecutor and is no longer with the PNP. The order that was issued by our prosecutor would be [the] one [to be] followed and nothing else, at this point in time,” Malcontento said in an interview over CNN Philippines.

The DOJ official also contradicted the claim of PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas that the case is already considered solved with the filing of the complaint.

In fact, Malcontento said, the investigation is just starting and they have now scheduled the preliminary investigation at 10 a.m. of January 13.

He also assured all parties concerned that the conduct of the preliminary investigation would not delay the resolution of the case.

All parties would also be given the opportunity to present their respective evidence.

The Prosecutor General explained that a preliminary investigation is necessary because the evidence presented before the prosecutor was considered premature and insufficient for the DOJ to come up with a resolution based on the merit of the complaint.

“The pieces of evidence are not enough for us to arrive at a decision to file charges. We are not dismissing the case, we are just converting it into a regular preliminary investigation,” he stressed.

Even the filing of a “provisional” complaint, according to Malcontento, is not ordinary on the part of the DOJ. “But we leave it up to the PNP.

We study the evidence, these are not enough at this point in time. The procedure is to proceed to proper regular preliminary investigation so police can give evidence, and suspects can submit evidence as well,” he pointed out.

Malcontento said that based on the findings of the medico legal officer, no semen was found on the body.

Also, the reported laceration found on Dacera was not enough basis to prove that there was sexual assault or rape.

He also said that it was only Dacera’s cousin who testified that her body had bruises.

“So we must have an independent medical examination on that [to determine] what was the cause of the injuries. There must be a scientific, medical basis that should be submitted by the PNP to believe their allegations. As of now, there are no such medical findings, which is why our decision was to convert this to a regular preliminary investigation,” Malcontento noted.

Last Wednesday, the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office ordered the PNP to release respondents John Pascual Dela Serna, Rommel Galido and John Paul Halili pending a preliminary investigation.

Aside from the three, they would also include in the preliminary investigation the eight other respondents who remain at large, namely, Gregorio Angelo Rafael de Guzman, Clark Rapinan, Valentin Rosales, Mark Anthony Rosales, Rey Ingles, Louie De Lima, Jammyr Cunanan and a certain Ed Madrid.

On Tuesday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to send a forensic medical team to coordinate with the PNP in conducting the second autopsy on Dacera’s remains.

Assistant City Prosecutor Joan Bolina-Santillan had requested the PNP to submit the results of the DNA analysis, toxicology/chemical analysis and histopath examinations which are necessary for the preliminary investigation.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) subsidiary, PAL Express (PALex) airlifted on Thursday the remains of Dacera to her hometown in General Santos City.

PALex President Bonifacio Sam, together with company officials, sent off the Dacera family for their flight to General Santos from Manila on a flight that took off at 8:15 a.m. from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 2. With Recto Mercene

Ex-lawmaker Reynaldo Umali passes away at 63

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ORMER Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali died of cardiac arrest on Thursday, January 7, at the age of 63, his brother incumbent Oriental Mindoro Rep. Alfonso Umali confirmed.

In an interview, Rep. Alfonso Umali said that his brother was diagnosed with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) last December 2020.

Rep. Umali said the former lawmaker was also diagnosed with Stage 3 liver cancer, that further aggravated to Stage 4 in December.

“Yesterday [Wednesday], bacteria was detected in his liver. This morning [of Thursday], his blood [pressure] dropped then he went into cardiac arrest,” he said.

Umali served as chairman of the House Committee on Justice that conducted the impeachment proceedings against ousted Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Umali served as congressman of the second district of Oriental Mindoro for three terms. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Friday, January 8, 2021 A3

DOF chief leads selection panel on projects qualified for Bayanihan 2 ‘regulatory relief’

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

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INANCE Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III is set to lead the committee tasked to identify private sector projects that may qualify for the grant of “regulatory relief” under Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2).

Together with the Secretaries of Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as its members, the panel was created in compliance with the provision under the newly issued Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 11494, or the Bayanihan 2 law.

Dominguez, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, and Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu signed the IRR, which took effect after publication in a newspaper general circulation on January 7, 2021.

In a news statement issued on Thursday, the DOF said the committee was also tasked to identify the specific permits, licenses, certificates, clearances, consents, authorizations, or resolutions that shall be waived in accordance with the IRR of the Bayanihan 2 provision.

While the panel has the mandate to grant regulatory relief and promote investments, Dominguez said, “It will not be granting blanket relief as the committee will still carefully consider the overall contribution of the projects and their impact on the general health and welfare of the public.”

“The committee will work towards achieving the goal of the Bayanihan 2 to spur investments by speeding up the approval and implementation of private investments, stimulate economic activity and create jobs, so that our economy can recover from the effects of the

Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Build back better

FOR his part, Lopez said regulatory relief measures provided under the Bayanihan 2 will “fast-track high impact investments and help our country to build back better and lead to our post-pandemic recovery.”

The trade chief added it will also allow private projects to provide more employment opportunities for our fellow Filipinos that is critical at this time of the pandemic.

Cimatu, for his part, also assured the public that they will make sure that the proponents of private projects comply with all the other laws related to the project implementation despite permits, licenses and other similar authorizations being waived to meet the directives of the Bayanihan 2 law.

Under Bayanihan 2, private projects determined to be “nationally significant” and “with high economic returns” or “with high employment potential” may have certain permits, licenses or other requirements waived, to avoid delays in their implementation and immediately stimulate economic activity and create jobs during the state of national emergency declared by the President as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Exclusions

THESE regulatory relief measures exclude those relating to taxes, duties, border control and environmental laws and regulations, as stated in Bayanihan 2 and in Section 6 of the IRR. Under Section 4 (nnn) of Bayanihan 2, the committee “shall be valid during the state of national emergency as declared by the President and the economic rehabilitation period or until the last day of June 2022,

whichever is later.

Under its IRR, the DOF shall serve as the committee secretariat, where the private sector proponent of the project is required to submit the application for regulatory relief.

In identifying which covered projects shall be granted regulatory relief and the specific requirement or requirements that shall be waived, the committee is mandated under the IRR to evaluate them on a perrequirement basis and determine the economic and social impact of the project (economic returns, job generation potential, effect on the delivery of critical services) on both the national and local economies.

The committee shall also consider the impact of the lack of the requirement to be waived on the operations and quality of the output of the covered project, and the health and safety of the personnel working on the project, among other factors as stated under Section 5d of the IRR.

Projects of natl significance

TAKING into account the new normal, the IRR stated that covered projects under the following sectors may also be considered by the committee as projects of national significance: housing and resettlement in support of the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program (BP2P); water supply and sanitation to accelerate achievement of full coverage; watershed rehabilitation and protection; power generation, transmission and electrification to support the digital economy; and provision of other critical services that contribute to providing security and promoting peace.

Moreover, in determining the national significance of a project, the committee shall also consider “the significant sectors that would accelerate the recovery and bolster the resilience of the Philippine economy”

and may also take into account “the project’s direct and indirect contribution to economic growth and development, implementation readiness, and such other facets that would stimulate the local economy.”

“As such, the total project cost of the covered project is not necessarily the sole basis in determining national significance,” the IRR stated.

On top of this, Section 10 of the IRR also prohibit any court, except the Supreme Court, from issuing any temporary restraining order (TRO), preliminary injunction or preliminary mandatory injunction against the committee and the operation of the covered project granted regulatory relief.

A technical working group (TWG) composed of representatives from the DOF, DTI, DENR and other government agencies identified by the committee may be created to serve as its technical arm in evaluating applications.

The TWG is responsible for conducting the necessary interagency coordination and consultation in evaluating the applications for regulatory relief; and in submitting a comprehensive report to the committee with its recommendations supported by factual, technical and legal reasons.

The procedures and requirements in applying for regulatory relief and the limitations and coverage of such relief measures are outlined in the IRR. It also stated that “[t]he committee shall not be held liable if there will be a subsequent finding by the appropriate agency that the application should be disapproved.”

Further, any approval of regulatory relief by the Committee may be revoked at any time in case the project “is determined to have violated any condition given in the grant of such relief.”

Former DENR biodiversity chief Calderon named first Pinoy AFoCo executive director

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

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FORMER official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has become the first Filipino to assume the top post of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCo).

Ricardo Calderon, the DENR’s assistant secretary for Climate Change, Staff Bureaus and Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) on concurrent capacity, said he has accepted the offer to head the AFoCo as its executive director effective January this year.

He will be serve as executive director in the next two years, or until December 2022.

On October 12, 2020, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. endorsed the nomination of Calderon as AFoCo executive director. Locsin, in his endorsement, cited Calderon as the country’s “most eminently qualified candidate for the position given his 30 years of

FILE photo shows former Department of Environment and Natural Resources Assistant Secretary Ricardo Calderon addressing a DENR forum. PHOTO COURTESY OF DENR

experience in forestry and natural resource management.”

Founded on April 27, 2018,

AFoCo is an intergovernmental organization established to strengthen regional forest cooperation by

transforming proven technology and policies into concrete actions in the context of sustainable forest management to address the impact of climate change.

The Philippines is among the list of participating countries to the Dialogue for the Establishment of AFoCo. The other countries are Kingdom of Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Kingdom of Cambodia, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, People’s Democratic Republic of Lao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Republic of Singapore, Kingdom of Thailand, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

“I’ve reached the peak of my career and it is now time to move on,” Calderon told the BusinessMirror.

“I’ve already talked to Secretary [Roy A.] Cimatu to let him know of my decision and he understands and gave his blessing,” he added.

A forestry expert, Calderon served a total of 33 years in government service.

Solon presses tax-free import of Covid shots by private business owners for employees, families

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

A

HOUSE leader on Thursday urged the government to allow private businesses to procure Covid-19 vaccines for their employees and their families.

In his House Resolution 1453, Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez invoked the “right to health” of every Filipino as guaranteed by the Constitution.

Rodriguez also filed a separate House Bill 8301 that would exempt vaccines to be purchased by the private sector for their workers and de-

pendents from import duties, value added tax, excise tax, and other fees.

In calling on the government to allow private companies to bring in vaccines, the House leader said the P72.5 billion set aside in the 2021 national budget for Covid-19 jabs is not enough for all Filipinos.

According to Rodriguez, the allocation is estimated to cover only 30 percent to 50 percent of the country’s population, which is far from the 70 percent to 80 percent herd immunity level the Department of Health seeks to achieve.

“Many private companies have

expressed interest in acquiring and purchasing vaccines for their employees and their dependents to move towards higher productivity and income for their personnel,” Rodriguez added.

The lawmaker said at the onset of the pandemic, businesses have been a partner of the national government in addressing the social and economic fallout of the health crisis.

He added that if allowed, these companies would have to import vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and would have to abide by relevant rules and regulations.

“A proper vaccination program for the private sector will significantly aid the government in its pursuit to fight Covid-19 and its effects, and in regaining some semblance of normalcy with businesses bouncing back and ultimately placing the economy on its way to recovery,” he said.

Several business and industry leaders have earlier committed to purchase 2.6 million doses of vaccines from AstraZeneca, half of which will be for their workers and the other half will be donated to the government.

Scores of local government units, including Caloocan, Navotas,

Marikina and San Juan, have also negotiated with vaccine makers for their own supply.

Meanwhile, Manila, Makati, Pasig and Valenzuela, have allotted funds to make their own purchases of Covid-19 vaccines.

Vaccine survey

A SURVEY conducted by pollster Pulse Asia, however, showed that almost half of Philippine citizens are not inclined to get a Covid-19 vaccine mainly due to safety concerns.

Only nearly a third of 2,400 Filipino adults polled said they are will-

ing to be vaccinated, while 21 percent couldn’t say yet if they want to be inoculated. Of those who don’t want to get the vaccine, 84 percent said they are “not sure of its safety.”

The level of confidence on the Covid-19 shots poses a challenge to the Southeast Asian nation’s vaccine rollout, which underpins government’s economic recovery outlook.

The Philippines, which has the region’s second-worst outbreak, is targeting to inoculate more than half of its population this year, using 148 million doses from at least seven vaccine makers. With Bloomberg News

BusinessMirror

A4 Friday, January 8, 2021 Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT Regional Office No. IV-A 4th Flr. Andenson Bldg. II, Brgy. Parian, Calamba City Telefax No.: (049) 545-7362

37

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. WEI CHI / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

38

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JINHONG GUO / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

39

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. XINGFA HOU / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

40

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JINXI HUANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

January 08, 2021

NOTICE OF FILING OF APPLICATION FOR ALIEN EMPLOYMENT PERMIT (AEP)

Notice is hereby given that the following employers have filed with this Regional Office application/s for Alien Employment Permit/s.

Name and Address of Company/ Employer

Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Position/s

1

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JIANWEI DIAO / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

41

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. QIQING JIANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

2

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. HUAHUA LIAO / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

42

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. MING LI / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

3

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. YUNFENG QI / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

43

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. ZENGZONG LI / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

4

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. JINGXUE SUN / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

44

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. CHUWEN LIANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

Mr. DONGHAI MO / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

45

5

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. KUNSHENG LIANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

46

6

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. DUANHUA LIU / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

47

7

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. XIN PAN / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

48

8

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. HU SONG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

49

9

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. BIBAO WANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

50

10

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. LEI WU / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

51

11

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. LIJUN ZHANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

Mr. XIN LI / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

52

12

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. SHUAI ZHU / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

13

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. XIAOTIAN FANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

53

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. QIN CHEN / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

14

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. HAO WANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

54

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JINCHUAN SHEN / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

15

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. FATING SU / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

55

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. WEIDONG YAN / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

56

16

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. RUOCHEN GUAN / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

57

17

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. DEWEI WEI / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

58

18

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JINBIN ZHANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

59

19

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. JIA LIN / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

60

20

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. XIANHUA TU / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

61

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. YISHENG HUANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

21

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

62

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. KUN YAN / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

63

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. KAILUN WANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

64

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. WEIDONG YAO / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

65

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. XIONGWEI DENG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

66

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. JUNXI LIU / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

67

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. DEYUAN WU / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

68

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. HENGJUN XIE / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

69

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. XI LYU / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

70

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. XIAOFENG GUO / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

71

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. DONGSHENG YANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

72

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. AOQUAN LI / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

22

23

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

24

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

25

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

26

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

27

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

28

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

29

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

30

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

31

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. TINGYONG WANG / Chinese

Ms. YANQIU LIANG / Chinese Mr. WENYUAN LI / Chinese Mr. JUNJIE HUANG / Chinese Mr. BINGHUANG KOU / Chinese Mr. SIYANG LEI / Chinese

Mr. YIJUN ZENG / Chinese Mr. SHENGLONG SHI / Chinese Mr. CHENGHUI ZHANG / Chinese Mr. BING YANG / Chinese Mr. MINGXING JIN / Chinese Mr. XINGBING LIU / Chinese Mr. MINGHAI XIE / Chinese Mr. YU ZHANG / Chinese Mr. XUEBIN YANG / Chinese Ms. YONGHUA PANG / Chinese Mr. SHIGU LUO / Chinese Mr. CHUNXIANG LU / Chinese Mr. MENG LIU / Chinese Mr. LUODONG JIANG / Chinese Mr. YUQING FENG / Chinese Mr. HE LIANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

32

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. XIUXIAO QIN / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

33

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. LITING YU / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

34

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. QIANWEN ZHANG / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

35

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Mr. ZHUCHUAN LUO / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

36

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

Ms. XUEFEN CHEN / Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at the DOLE Regional Office within 30 days from the date of publication.

Please inform the DOLE Regional Office if you have an information of any criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

HENRY JOHN S. JALBUENA Regional Director

To avail of free job referral, placement, and employment guidance services, visit the nearest Public Employment Service Offices (PESO) or log on at http://www.philjobnet.gov.ph AEP20201007435

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS NO.

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS POSITION

21TH CONSTRUCTION DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION #28 Lot 12 Blk 94 R. Papa Ave. Cor. P. Garcia St. Phase 6, Afpovai Western Bicutan Taguig City 1.

ZHANG, YAN Chinese

ADMIN ASSISTANT

24/7 BUSINESS PROCESSING INC. 5th-6th-7th Flr. 81 Newport Bl Newport City Brgy. 183 Pasay City 2.

TAN MAN JIE AL SONGSAK Malaysian

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE (CHINESE ACCOUNTS)

8 STONE BUSINESS OUTSOURCING OPC 5-10/f Tower 1 Pitx Kennedy Road Tambo Parañaque City 3.

CHENG, XUESHENG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

4.

LI, SHENGHU Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

LIANG, FAN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

5.

6.

PO, JIWU Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

7.

SHANG, MINGSHI Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

SUN, LIBIN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

8.

NO.

39.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

40.

LI, HUITING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

41.

LI, ZUOLING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

42.

LIU, XIAOLEI Chinese

43.

LUO, FENG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

44.

PENG, ZEMIN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

45.

SIM CHAN FEI Malaysian

46.

XIAN, ENXIN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

47.

XIONG, XIAOXI Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

YANG, CHENG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

49.

10.

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

11.

CHEN, YUN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

12.

CHEN, SONGGU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

13.

DAI, QIANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

14.

DENG, YANFEN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

15.

DONG, WENHUA Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

16.

FU, JINFA Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

17.

JI, BINJIE Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

LIN, LIWEN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

19.

LINA Indonesian

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

20.

LUONG MINH PHUC Vietnamese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

TRAN DINH AN Vietnamese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

WANG, HU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

WANG, KUNFENG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

24.

XIN, MIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

25.

YONG CHEE HOU Malaysian

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

18.

21.

22.

23.

C’EST LA VIE EVENT MANAGEMENT INC. 230 Narra Street Marikina Heights Marikina City 26.

MANJINDER SINGH Indian

KEY ACCOUNTS SPECIALIST CONSULTANT

COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS PHILIPPINES, INC. 5th And 6th Floors, 8/10 Upper Mckinley Building Mckinley Hill Cyberpark Fort Bonifacio Taguig City 27.

JOSHI, KETAN SUNIL Indian

DGM - TRANSITIONS

COLLABERA TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LIMITED, INC. U-40 A-d 40/f Rufino Pacific Tower, 6784 Ayala Ave. San Lorenzo Makati City 28.

STEPANOV, ANTON Russian

RUSSIAN SERVICE DESK

CONCENTRIX DAKSH SERVICES PHILIPPINES CORPORATION Bldg. F Ayalaland Technohub Quezon City

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

HUANG, YIJIA Chinese

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

NO.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

50.

51.

YU, FUYUAN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

ZENG, DONGMEI Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

ZHANG, YUQUN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

GOLDENSKY INTERNATIONAL GROUP INC. Midas Hotel 2702 Roxas Blvd. Brgy. 076 Pasay City

130.

LU, SHENGGUO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

79.

MENG, JUNJUN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

131.

PAN, MINGFANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

80.

MING, KEYU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

132.

SUN, KAI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

81.

XIE, HUAZHONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

133.

WANG, GUOBA Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

82.

YANG, HONGJING Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

134.

WANG, KAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

83.

CHEN, PENG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

135.

WEI, PANHENG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

84.

FU, YANLING Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

136.

YANG, RONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

85.

HUANG, XIAOKE Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

137.

ZHANG, YUE Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

86.

LIANG, JIASHUAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

138.

ZHANG, MANLINGYU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

87.

LIN, FENGLONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

139.

ZHOU, HONGJIAO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

88.

LUO, ZHUAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

140.

LIM SWEE KIAT Malaysian

MALAYSIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE

89.

WANG, SHIHAO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

141.

WEN, HUI NA Taiwanese

TAIWANESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

90.

WEN, CHAO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

91.

WEN, ZONGYING Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

92.

WU, YINGQIANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

93.

YU, DONGXU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

94.

ZHU, YONGNING Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

95.

ZOU, JIANGTAO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

96.

DING, YINGQIANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

97.

HUANG, JIAZHOU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

NOCMAKATI, INC. 8,9,10,11,12,14,15,16,17,18 & 19 Floors Century Diamond Center Kalayaan Ave. Cor. Salamanca St. Poblacion Makati City 142.

GAO, YANSHUN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

143.

HUANG, YU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

144.

LI, WEIYI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

145.

LI, YI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

146.

QU, YONGZHI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

147.

WANG, JINTAO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

148.

XU, NAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

149.

YANG, JINYUN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

150.

YIN, XUEQIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

151.

ZHOU, YAOLING Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

53.

LIN, SHANGBO Chinese

CALL CENTER AGENT MANDARIN SPEAKING

99.

LI, BIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

54.

LIU, KAIBIN Chinese

CALL CENTER AGENT MANDARIN SPEAKING

100.

LI, FEI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

55.

SHI, YUSHOU Chinese

CALL CENTER AGENT MANDARIN SPEAKING

101.

LI, JUNJIE Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

56.

SHOU, SHUAI Chinese

CALL CENTER AGENT MANDARIN SPEAKING

102.

LIU, YUXUAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

57.

TANG, SHIYAN Chinese

CALL CENTER AGENT MANDARIN SPEAKING

103.

MIAO, PANPAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

58.

TENG, FUQI Chinese

CALL CENTER AGENT MANDARIN SPEAKING

104.

QIU, DONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

59.

ZHANG, MENGMENG Chinese

CALL CENTER AGENT MANDARIN SPEAKING

105.

RAO, XUEER Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

153.

60.

ZHOU, XUEYI Chinese

CALL CENTER AGENT MANDARIN SPEAKING

106.

TANG, JIE Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

TAISEI PHILIPPINE CONSTRUCTION, INC. Equitable Bank Tower 23/f P. De Roxas San Lorenzo Makati City

61.

ZHOU, SHAOYANG Chinese

CALL CENTER AGENT MANDARIN SPEAKING

107.

WANG, FEN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

154.

ZHU, LILI Chinese

CALL CENTER AGENT MANDARIN SPEAKING

108.

WANG, GUOYOU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

109.

WANG, YANXIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

XIONG, HU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

62.

ITECHNO SPECIALIST INC. U-608 Eastfield Ctr. Moa Comp. Macapagal Ave. Brgy. 076 Pasay City

POWERCHINA PHILIPPINES CORPORATION Unit 2101 21/f Bdo Equitable Tower 8751 Paseo De Roxas Bel-air Makati City 152.

LI, YONG Chinese

TECHNICIAN SUPERVISOR

SPI TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Pitc Bldg. Pascor Drive Sto. Nino Parañaque City KUMAR SUBRAMANIAM Indian

KURODA, YUYA Japanese

CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER AND TREASURER

PROJECT CONSULTANT

TELEPERFORMANCE GLOBAL SERVICES PHILIPPINES INC. Ground To Fifth Floor Five West Campus, Le Grand Ave. Mckinley West Taguig City 155.

ALEX CHERIAN Indian

SENIOR DIRECTOR, PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE AND REGIONAL OPERATIONS SECURITY

63.

CAO, WEI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT

110.

64.

CHANG, RUYI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT

111.

XU, YANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

65.

CHEN, GUOFU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT

112.

YANG, YINGJU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

66.

GONG, QIQIONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT

113.

YUAN, CHANGLIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

ZENG, YONGHUI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

VPC CORPORATE SOLUTIONS INCORPORATED 11/f 100 West, Sen Gil Puyat Ave. Cor. Washington St. Pio Del Pilar Makati City 157.

UNILEVER PHILIPPINES, INC. 7/f Bonifacio Stopover Corporate Center 31st St. Cor 2nd Ave. Bonifacio Global City Fort Bonifacio Taguig City 156.

PADDA, AMRITA Indian

HR VP

67.

HA, JINDI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT

114.

68.

LUO, QUANJIA Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT

115.

ZHANG, JIAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

69.

LYU, ZHIQI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT

116.

ZHANG, JIRUI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

70.

XU, WEIWEI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT

117.

ZHANG, YANJUN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

118.

ZHANG, XIAOLEI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

119.

ZHAO, HANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

120.

ZHENG, XIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

159.

PROJECT MANAGER

121.

ZOU, KANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

WANG, YICHAO Chinese

160.

SITE MANAGER

122.

MUTIARA LIM Indonesian

INDONESIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

YANG, ZHANPENG Chinese

123.

WITONO PRANATA Indonesian

INDONESIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

YFT DOCUMENT FACILITATION SERVICES Room No. C-06 23/f Tower 6789 6789 Ayala Ave. Bel-air Makati City

124.

GWI HUAN CHYE Malaysian

MALAYSIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

125.

LER LAI HOCK Malaysian

MALAYSIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

126.

KENT TAN ENG TEO Singaporean

SINGAPOREAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

127.

HUYNH MINH PHU Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

128.

PHONG CHI DAU Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

YUAN, CONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT

30.

YOO, DONG YOUNG South Korean

ADVISOR I, CUSTOMER SERVICE

72.

TERN ENG KET Malaysian

CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT

LIKHA-IT INC. U-102 Tower G/f Makati Cinema Square Don Chino Roces Ave. Pio Del Pilar Makati City

31.

CAI, YITING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

73.

32.

LAU YONG HWEE (LIU RONGHUI) Singaporean

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

33.

SHI, BAOJUN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

MEGA-WEB TECHNOLOGIES INC. 6,7,8,9,10,11/f Met Live Bldg. Edsa Cor. Macapagal Blvd. Brgy. 076 Pasay City

34.

WANG, JINLI Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

35.

WU, WENYA Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

36.

XU, QIANQIAN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

37.

POSITION

JIAN, DAQING Chinese

71.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

98.

ADVISOR I, CUSTOMER SERVICE

HE, DONG Chinese

NO.

CALL CENTER AGENT MANDARIN SPEAKING

YANG, JUNGIM South Korean

GLOBALLGA BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING 3rd & 6th Flr. Ortigas Technopoint 2 Ortigas Home Depot Complex #1 Doña Julia Vargas Ave. Ugong Pasig City

POSITION

CAI, BAIJIN Chinese

52.

29.

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

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

POSITION

HU, PINGAN Chinese

48.

ZWE NYI NYI AUNG Myanmari

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

38.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

9.

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

Friday, January 8, 2021

MAEDA, HIDEO Japanese

CORPORATE PLANNING DIRECTOR

LONG, TOMPOR Cambodian

CAMBODIAN CUSTOMER RELATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER

75.

PET, RANI Cambodian

CAMBODIAN CUSTOMER RELATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER

76.

SIEM, LAK Cambodian

CAMBODIAN CUSTOMER RELATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER

77.

CHAI MIN SEN Malaysian

MALAYSIAN SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

WONG WEI LUN Malaysian

MALAYSIAN SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

74.

78.

CHENG, I-WEN Chinese

BILINGUAL MARKETING SPECIALIST

VPC CORPORATE SOLUTIONS INCORPORATED 11/f 100 West, Sen Gil Puyat Ave. Cor. Washington St. Pio Del Pilar Makati City 158.

TANG VA PHUNG Vietnamese

VIETNAM-SPEAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICER

XIAN ELECTRIC ENGINEERING COMPANY LIMITED PHILIPPINES BRANCH 2101-2102 Raffle Don Francisco Ortigas Center San Antonio Pasig City

161.

KANG, YUAN Chinese

LANGUAGE TRANSLATOR *Date Generated: Jan 7, 2021

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE-NCR Regional Office located at DOLE-NCR Building, 967 Maligaya St., Malate Manila, within 30 days after this publication.

Please inform DOLE-NCR if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

NEW ORIENTAL CLUB88 CORPORATION 1331 Pearl Plaza Bldg. Quirino Ave. Tambo Parañaque City 129.

CHEN, FANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

A5

A4 Friday, January 8, 2021 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug A6

Economy BusinessMirror

DOLE chief: Safeguard on imported cars to restore jobs in PHL automotive industry

T

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

forts by focusing on manufacturing resurgence and upgrading of work force,” he added.

Under the said scheme, DTI said a P70,000 duty will be imposed for a passenger car and P110,000 for a light commercial vehicle.

The 200-day policy will take effect once the Bureau of Customs (BOC) releases the necessary issuance for its implementation.

DTI enforced the measure as carmakers started to reduce their domestic operations in favor of just

DAR Undersecretary for SSO Emily O. Padilla

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

R A CAR assembly plant in Laguna rolls out a fleet of newly assembled cars for delivery to vehicle dealers nationwide. FILE PHOTO BY NONIE REYES

importing vehicles and sell these on the local market.

This trend, Bello said led to the decline in employment in the car manufacturing industry from a high

of 109,000 in 2016 to 93,000 in 2019.

“This is despite the growth of the automotive market driven by high domestic consumption,” Bello noted.

Tolentino pitches for expanded ‘pharma zones’ for pandemic-stricken economy

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

A

DMINISTRATION Sen. Francis Tolentino stepped up the clamor for the Duterte administration to boost the growth of the local medical industry by prodding the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) to front-load efforts to set up pharmaceutical manufacturing zones, or pharma zones, in the country.

Citing projections the local pharmaceutical market’s growth is seen to reach over P241 billion in 2025 ensuing from the Universal Healthcare Law, the senator filed Senate Resolution 508, urging Peza and the BOI to fast-track the establishment of pharma zones to propel the growth of the medical industry.

“The local pharmaceutical market will grow to reach P241.9 billion in 2025 following the implementation of the Universal Healthcare Act,

based on a recent analysis made by the England-based GlobalData London,” Tolentino pointed out.

For instance, he reported that the local pharma industry currently infuses about P146 billion in economic output annually, adding that it “employs more than 60,000 Filipinos and supports close to 100 other industries in the country.”

Tolentino recalled that during the budget deliberations last November, Congress was informed about the proposal of a western pharmaceutical giant to establish a manufacturing plant for Covid-19 vaccines “to cater the needs of nations affected by the global pandemic.”

In a news statement, the senator suggested the Duterte administration can “take advantage of the current situation amid the pandemic since expanding the pharma zones can boost the country’s GDP by up to 4.5 percent, which was projected

by IMS Consulting in a study commissioned by the Pharmaceutical

Healthcare Association of the Philippines [PHAP].”

He noted that accelerating the establishment of pharma zones under the Peza will not only give Filipinos better access to cheaper medicines but would also “help stabilize the pandemic-stricken economy.”

“Expanding the so-called pharma zone has both short and long term goals since aside from providing the public with locally manufactured but less expensive vaccines just like in the case of Covid-19 disease, it can also bring forth more investments and jobs for the pandemic-stricken economy,” Tolentino added.

Citing findings by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), the senator stressed that despite limitations in the delivery of health services, the Philippines remains “one of the biggest pharmaceutical markets” in Southeast Asia, next only to Indonesia and Thailand.

He added that to date, over 55 vaccines against measles, pneu-

monia, diarrhea, and rubella have been made available in the local market by research-based pharmaceutical companies.

For instance, Tolentino named the First Bulacan Industrial City, established in 1991 and dubbed as the “Pharma City of the North” that currently houses several firms, such as Lloyd Laboratories, Lumar Pharmaceutical, Pascual Laboratories, Cosmetique Asia, Cargill Philippines, Northfields Laboratories, Transcend, and Medi-RX Laboratories.

Moreover, the senator listed the Phase II expansion of the Bulacan Industrial City that, he said, would house the proposed Pharma City II and was “just awaiting the go-signal from Malacañang.”

Tolentino reports that the local pharma industry currently infuses about P146 billion in economic output annually—employs more than 60,000 Filipinos and supports close to 100 other industries in the country.

QC, Caloocan eyed as next pilot sites for urban-farming program

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FTER successfully establishing a vegetable farm at a football field in Tondo, Manila, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is eyeing the establishment of a similar food production area in the heart of the “urban jungle” in Quezon City and Caloocan.

In a news statement, DAR Secretary John R. Castriciones said will launch on January 8, 2021, its second urban vegetable farming project dubbed “Buhay sa Gulay” at a 7-hectare land in Bagong Silangan, Quezon City.

The second launching of urban vegetable farming is a precedent to the success of Buhay sa Gulay project at St. John Bosco Parish in Tondo.

The project aims to promote the significance of farming in urban areas to help marginalized barangays fight poverty, hunger and contribute to the country’s food security.

Self-help livelihood project

THE DAR chief said the project is not a dole-out but a self-help start-up livelihood project where concerned government agencies and organizations will converge, share resources, and offer an opportunity to enable urban farmers to produce and eat fresh healthy vegetables and provide them with an additional source of income.

DEPARTMENT of Agrarian Reform Secretary John R. Castriciones lead the recent Pick, Harvest and Pay activity at a football field lot in St. John Bosco, Tondo, Manila. The idle patch of land was transformed into a productive vegetable field where urban farmers plant and harvest a variety of vegetables. DAR said the success of the Tondo urban farming project will be replicated in Quezon and Caloocan Cities.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DAR PUBLIC ASSISTANCE AND MEDIA RELATIONS SERVICE

The DAR and Department of Agriculture has recently linked arms with the local government unit of Quezon City, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Bread Society International, Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs) of DAR and residents of Barangay Bagong

DAR unit rolls out lending program for small farmers “The EPAHP lending program is in support of the government’s efforts to reduce the incidence of hunger and povery in the country.

HE government is now banking on its newly imposed safeguard duty for imported cars to restore the thousands of lost jobs in the local automotive industry.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said this was the anticipated outcome of the decision of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to slap additional tax for imported cars.

“As a labor-intensive industry, the potential for employment opportunities in the industry is significant,” Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said in a news statement issued on Thursday.

“This is a significant step as the government pursues its recovery ef-

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Silangan to develop the 7-hectare idle land into a vegetable production hub of Quezon City.

Food production targets

THE DAR estimated that an annual vegetable production per hectare would yeield 765 metric tons of vegetables broken into 29.7 metric

tons (MR) eggplants; 0.7 MT string beans; 350 MT Pechay; 280 MT Mustasa; 25 MT Squash; 80 Okra; and 20 MT Ampalaya.

“This project is a huge help for our Quezon City residents to provide them with an alternative source of income and source of affordable food supply,” Castriciones said.

For this project to become successful, the DAR chief explained that the urban residents would receive support from the government for their agricultural needs such as machinery, tools, and farm inputs.

The technical know-how would be provided by farmer-scientists and agrarian reform beneficiaries of the DAR-Calabarzon.

We launched the first “Buhay sa Gulay” last November 22 last year and in just over a month, we successfully harvested spinach, snow cabbage, kangkong, mustard among other vegetables on January 3, of this year,” Castriciones said.

He added that after the launching in Quezon City, the next location for this project would be in nearby Caloocan City.

“We are positive that other cities in Metro Manila would replicate this project because this is a strategic solution to address issues of food production and sufficiency, and livelihood needs of Filipinos in the urban communities,” the DAR secretary said.

ESOURCE-POOR farmers with no capital to speak off need not seek the help of loan sharks that charge high-interest rates for their financing needs.

Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary John R. Castriciones has ordered the agency’s Support Services Office (SSO) to roll out a lending program for farmers under the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP).

In partnership with the DAR, EPAHP introduced a lending program, as it intensifies its support for agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs) and community-based organizations.

Through the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank), EPAHP has provided a P2-billion budget for the program. It offers a loanable amount of up to 80 percent of the awarded contract price for goods that will be delivered by the ARBOs to a contracting government agency.

Each credit facility has a short-term loan line with a 5-percent interest rate per annum. The EPAHP lending program is available now up to December 21, 2022.

DAR Undersecretary for SSO Emily O. Padilla said, Castriciones has given the order to start rolling out the lending program nationwide.

“As we seek to reach more farmers

BM

nationwide, we are heavily focusing on making loans accessible. The program is aggressively strengthening its goals to provide more individual borrowers with direct access to credit especially in this time of the pandemic,” Padilla said.

Padilla said a memorandum has been cascaded to all DAR offices nationwide ordering all implementers to introduce the program and orient the ARBOs under the EPAHP program with the features and details of the lending program.

In October last year, the LandBank approved a P2-billion lending program that would be available to farmers who are under this marketing agreement.

“The EPAHP lending program is in support of the government’s efforts to reduce the incidence of hunger and poverty in the country. It aims to provide credit assistance to qualified community-based organizations in support of the government’s effort to address hunger, food and nutrition security, and poverty,” Padilla said.

The lending program of EPAHP will channel financing support to the sector through partner conduits such as farmers and fishers’ cooperatives, irrigators’ associations, and countryside financial institutions.

“The purpose of this loan is to finance purchase orders and/or contract receivables from government agencies for the provision of needed food items required in various government programs,” Padilla said.

BIR disputes CTA order to return seized illicit cigarettes, equipment

A

PRELIMINARY injunction granted by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) ordering the return of illicit cigarettes and manufacturing equipment of GB Global Exprez Inc. is being challenged by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The said items were seized in a July 29, 2020 raid by the BIRNational Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Composite Team at the factory of GB Global at the Angeles Industrial Park in Pampanga. The raid yielded 4,786 mastercases or 238,300 cigarette packs of nonBIR registered and non-compliant Two Moon and SOHO brands.

The illicit products bore no tax stamps to prove excise tax payment, in violation of Republic Act 10351 and BIR Revenue Regulations 7-2014 and 9-2015, the tax agency said. GB Global claimed the seized cigarettes were for exports but authorities noted that the packs did not bear the required destination country, the name and address of the manufacturer and the BIR assessment number of the manufacturer and exporter.

Because of such violations, the BIR also ordered the seizure of three cigarette-making lines and two cigarette-packing lines of GB GLOBAL. The CTA on October 27, 2020, however, granted GB’s request for an injunction and ordered the return of all those seized in the raid, including suspected fake cigarettes supposedly for export.

CTA jurisdiction

IN its motion for reconsideration, the BIR said the CTA’s jurisdiction is to issue suspension of collection of taxes and not to issue prohibition against BIR personnel in the exercise of the

agency’s police powers as stated in Section 11 of Republic Act 1125, or An Act Creating the Court of Tax Appeals.

The case, BIR stressed, does not stem from a disputed assessment nor was any collection effort made against GB Global for the matter to be brought to the CTA. BIR said the enforcement involves an administrative action and the exercise of the agency’s regulatory function; and that no tax assessment was involved in this case.

“This is an offshoot of BIR’s effort to curtail the proliferation of the illicit cigarette trade” in the country in response to the government’s all-out campaign to go after illicit traders, BIR said in its filing.

In enforcing their regulatory function, revenue officers have the authority to make arrests and seizures as provided by Section 15 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), the BIR said.

Prior to the CTA case, the law enforcers discovered that Two Moon cigarettes intended for exports were proliferating in Central Luzon.

On October 2, 2020, the Bureau of Customs raided an illegal printing facility of cigarette packs in Cabanatuan City and found print outs of illicit Two Moon packs. The BOC said non-documented Chinese nationals were operating the machines. The bureau also reported that several Filipino factory workers were allegedly prevented from going out of the facility. Purchase Orders showed that GB Global was ordering its Two Moon labels from this printing facility.

On February 5, 2020, GB-BEM Cigarette Company Inc., an affiliate company of GB Global located at the Pampanga Economic Zone was also raided.

Friday, January 8, 2021

WB: PHL’s halt to building coal-fired plants ‘inspiring’

T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE Philippine government’s decision to call for a moratorium on building coal-fired power plants should be emulated by other countries to help the East Asia and the Pacific region recover, according to the World Bank.

In a blog, World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Victoria Kwakwa described Manila’s decisions as “inspiring” and a step in the right direction.

Kwakwa said investing in clean energy as well as in green and blue natural assets will help economies in the East Asia and the Pacific region recover from the pandemic.

She said these investments can translate into new jobs that will lift millions from poverty.

“Investments in cleaner energy and green and blue natural assets will be key to tomorrow’s

employment and economic opportunities, as well as producing local health and global climate benefits,” Kwakwa said.

“In this context, the announcements by China, South Korea and Japan to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century, and the Philippines’s moratorium on new coalfired power plants, are inspiring and could encourage more countries to move in this direction,” she added.

Last year, the Department of Energy (DOE) said it will no longer endorse new coal power plant projects.

Based on a recent review on the country’s power mix, the agency said there is a need to declare a moratorium on endorsements for greenfield coal power plants.

Kwakwa said green investments will ensure that the economic recovery will be resilient and sustainable.

This will also help efforts to reverse the degradation of the environment in the past decade.

“Over the last decade, the region has met its energy needs through a scale-up in coal power generation, while the degradation of the natural environment—including critical forests, rivers, and oceans—has continued,” she said.

ADB’s move

Last year, Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that it will be revising its energy policy to help its Developing Member Countries (DMCs) reduce their dependence on coal.

ADB’s Energy Sector Group Chief Yongping Zhai said recent findings of the Independent Evaluation De-

partment (IED) of the bank’s energy investments are part of the reasons for the revision of ADB’s energy policy.

The IED said ADB needed to clarify its formal institutional position regarding the financing and use of coal energy resources, even if it has refrained from investing in coal-fired power plants since 2013.

Red Constantino, executive director of the international policy group Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), agreed that “phasing out coal will be a complex and enduring process,” but this may have been avoided.

Constantino said ADB should have listened to the counsel of civil society organizations to veer away from coal when the 2009 energy policy of ADB was being crafted.

He added that another problem is cropping up with fossil fuels. In November 2020, Reuters reported that ADB is one of the multilateral institutions that did not make the pledge to phase out fossil fuel investments.

A7

MARK LAPID APPOINTED TO TIEZA BOARD; C.O.O. POST IN THE WORKS

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

A

CTOR Mark T. Lapid is making a comeback to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza), five years after he resigned as its chief operating officer to make a senatorial run.

Lapid was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of Tieza by President Duterte, in a January 5, 2021 letter, a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror. Per the letter, Lapid will “serve the unexpired Term of Office that began on 01 July 2020 and will end on 30 June 2021, vice Pocholo Joselito D. Paragas.”

Lapid is expected to be elected by the Tieza board as its COO, which Paragas vacated in November 2020 for personal reasons. Its current officer-in-charge is lawyer Joy D. Bulauitan, who is also Assistant COO for Administration and Finance.

“It’s a political appointment,” said one government source, implying it was made as an accommodation to Lapid’s father, Senator Lito Lapid.

Another government source explained, “There is a procedure for installation of CEOs/COOs of GOCCs (government-owned and -controlled corporations). First, he has to be appointed as board member by OP (Office of the President), take his oath as such, then once he is board member, he will be elected as COO by the board member [upon the desire letter issued by the OP].”

The Tieza board has yet to schedule a meeting to elect Lapid as its COO, although his letter of appointment to the board has al-

ready been received by Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat and the board’s corporate secretary. “He has yet to take his oath [as Tieza board member],” before the President or Romulo Puyat.

COA flagged irregularities

The younger Lapid was appointed as acting general manager of the Philippine Tourism Authority, the forerunner of Tieza, then elected as Tieza COO on February 22, 2010, then reappointed in February 2014; and stayed at his post just before he made his senatorial run.

During his tenure as Tieza COO, the Commission of Audit (COA) flagged some questionable transactions funded by the agency as these projects were not related to tourism, leading to the issuance of three censures.

Despite these “misdeeds,” former Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim told ANC in an interview on August 2011 that President Benigno S. Aquino III failed to take action versus Lapid because “there are other considerations, bigger political considerations and to time it properly. I understand.

There’s much bigger fish to catch.”

Also, published reports then said the Aquino administration needed the elder Lapid’s vote in a bill postponing the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

In an interview with this paper shortly after taking over Lim’s post at the helm of the DOT in October 2011, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. clarified there were no issues of fund irregularities with regard to the COA’s report on Lapid.

Continued on A2

PHL rice imports to decline by 15.5% in 2021, says DA

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

T A vendor arranges pork meat at a stall in Commonwealth Market in Quezon City. Pork meat prices in Metro Manila have gone up to P380 to P400 per kilo, partly due to African swine fever. NONOY LACZA

Senate caucus may tackle fresh Cha-cha bid

A

DMI N IS T R AT ION a nd opposition senators are poised to convene a closeddoor caucus to firm up a decision on a pending proposal to tinker with the 1987 Constitution, seen to lift existing term limits, among others.

In a statement, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes and Laws, confirmed the upcoming caucus is being called to “firm up a consensus on how to move forward” on a Senate resolution to amend the 1987 Constitution.

“As was our approach in the previous Congress, it would be best if the matter be tackled and discussed first in an all-Senators Caucus wherein a consensus as to how to move forward hopefully can be reached,” he said.

Palace hands off

Malacañang on Thursday distanced itself from renewed efforts in Congress to initiate charter change, saying President Duterte is focused on addressing the Covid-19 pandemic instead.

In an online press briefing, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque reiterated lawmakers do not need the permission of the President to amend the Constitution.

“That is the sole constitutional prerogative of Congress and we respect that,” Roque said.

He issued the statement amid allegations that the latest move by some members of the House of Representative to revive charter change as a means to extend the term of Duterte.

“There is no truth to that rumor.

The President has made it clear that he has no intention to stay one min-

ute beyond the end of his term on June 30, 2020,” Roque said.

During the early years of his term, Duterte pushed for a charter change as a means to change the country’s unitary form of government to federal.

Roque, however, said the President is now preoccupied with issues related to the pandemic particularly in preparing the government’s expected Covid-19 vaccination drive by the first half of the year.

“The President has no other top priority now except this pandemic,” Roque said.

Timing suspect

Senator Pangilinan, however, aired concerns about the timing of the House resolution, noting that “all-government focus must be on controlling and managing the disease so that the country can get

back on its feet.”

He added among the issues likely to be tackled in the caucus would include “the timing of Charter amendments considering that the country is facing the worst economic and health crisis in recent memory.”

At the same time, Pangilinan aired apprehensions on whether this is the right time to discuss plans to tinker with the Charter. “Is this the right time to talk about this? In addition is the matter of Congress voting jointly or separately in proposing Charter amendments.”

Pangilinan indicated he would rather let the Senate leadership decide in closed-door caucus how to proceed on the matter. “I leave it to the Senate leadership to decide on the matter of an all-senators’ caucus,” he said.

Continued on A2

@jearcalas

HE Department of Agriculture (DA) said the country’s rice imports this year could decline by 15.5 percent to 1.69 million metric tons (MMT) due to projected record-high unmilled rice harvest of 20.48 million.

Agriculture Undersecretary Ariel T. Cayanan said they project full-year domestic unmilled rice production this year to reach 20.48 MMT, 5.35 percent higher than the estimated output of 19.44 MMT last year.

The higher production this year would bring the country’s rice selfsufficiency level to 95 percent from last year’s 90 percent.

This means that the country would only import about 5 percent of its total domestic rice requirement which is about 1.69 MMT, Cayanan said.

“For this year we might be importing 1.69 million metric tons which is lower than the nearly 2 million metric tons we imported last year,” he said in a virtual press briefing on Thursday.

“For this year we project to have a 90-day rice stock level at the end of second quarter, 60 days during the lean months, 90 days again by third quarter and 99 days worth of rice inventory by end of the year,” he added.

Cayanan said the record-high output this year could be achieved by continuous implementation of government interventions that include the rice competitiveness enhancement fund and rice resil-

iency project.

He explained that the increase in area production, better use of technologies like fertilizer and high-yielding seeds as well as reducing losses from typhoons would lead to the higher production.

The projected total unmilled rice output for the year is equivalent to 13.39 MMT of milled rice, based on BusinessMirror’s computations using the government’s benchmark figures.

The BusinessMirror first reported that full-year unmilled rice output last year was on track to reach a record-high level despite the series of typhoons that battered the farm sector.

Latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data, analyzed and computed by the BusinessMirror, indicated that the country would produce 19.44 MMT of palay by the end of 2020.

While the agency adjusted downward its estimated production in the October-to-December period to 7.54 MMT, the volume is still higher than the 7.49 MMT produced in 2019.

With the latest estimate, fullyear 2020 palay output could grow by 3.3 percent from 2019’s 18.814 MMT, historical PSA data showed.

PSA data also showed that probable total output last year may eclipse the record-high production of 19.276 MMT recorded in 2017.

On a milled equivalent basis, total rice output in 2020 could have reached 12.71 MMT, based on BusinessMirror’s computations using PSA’s benchmark figures.

A8

Friday, January 8, 2021 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

2021: Not a good start

I

S the glass half-full, half-empty, or is it only a matter of personal perspective? Only time will tell as then we can record whether or not the glass is draining or filling. But as things go, 2021 is getting off to a rocky start.

No one expected that at the stroke of midnight on January 1, everything would change for the better. That is not how life or the universe works. But like Spring following Winter—at least in the temperate climate zone—we were hoping to quickly see some green shoots sprouting. That is not happening yet.

The world is focused on the rollout of the Covid vaccine, and so far it is not a pretty picture with green trees and birds singing. The first question is about the actual effectiveness of the vaccines, and right now the experts are of little help. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is not exactly useful.

As of last December 28, this is what the CDC had to say. “Currently, two vaccines are authorized and recommended to prevent Covid-19: Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine. Large-scale [Phase 3] clinical trials are in progress or being planned for three Covid-19 vaccines in the United States: AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, Janssen’s Covid-19 vaccine, and Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine.”

No mention is made of the Chinese, Russian, French, or Indian vaccines under trial. The World Health Organization says “there are currently more than 50 Covid-19 vaccine candidates in trials.”

A big shout-out to the global experts that are tasked with protecting the health and safety of “little guys” like us. They make it easy to just “trust the government” along with trusting the government on other issues like war-and-peace, human rights and economic matters.

Then comes a report on the initial rollout of the immunization program in the US, also from the CDC. Based on results as of last December 22, with fewer than 1 million doses of the Covid vaccine given, the cdcgov’s vaccine injury reporting system received 307 reports of emergency room visits and 17 “life threatening” events. Per dose, that is roughly 50 times the rate of adverse events from the flu vaccine. In 2019-2020, about 175 million flu vaccine doses were given and then 1,220 ER visits and 73 “life threatening” events were reported. The data is on the CDC VAERS web site.

Israel is vaccinating so fast it is running out of vaccine. So far, the US vaccination rate is about 1 percent. Israel, with a much smaller population, has reached 12 percent. France is ranked last in Bloomberg’s worldwide Covid vaccine tracker with only 516 people vaccinated since the vaccination campaign started on December 27. The supply appears to have been mismanaged with preference for the vaccine developed by a local player, the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi, that will not be ready until the end of 2021.

Sanofi of Dengvaxia fame is not on the CDC list.

In the Philippines, the best that can be said about the government’s vaccine strategy is, “We’re working on it.” An independent survey has found that 25 percent of respondents in Metro Manila are willing to get an anti-coronavirus vaccine shot when the vaccine becomes available in the country.

For 2021 so far and at least on the vaccine issue, the glass looks to be half-empty. The Lunar New Year 2021 will fall on Friday, February 12th, when we get another “New Year” glass.

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Sonny M. Angara

Better Days

T

he heart of Philippine culture is the family, and children are often the most cherished and protected. Hence, when a child is born with a congenital health condition, or suddenly develops a serious disease, it is an extremely difficult situation for parents and relatives. It is even more tragic when the family does not have the resources for the necessary medical services.

This is why as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, we augmented the 2021 budget of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) by roughly P900 million more than what the Executive proposed (P1.042 billion) under the National Expenditure Program (NEP). With such funds, quality medical care will be provided to more children, particularly those from families who have financial issues to consider.

As one of the specialty hospitals under the Department of Health, the PCMC has an important role, which is to provide high-quality medical care specifically for children. The PCMC also offers training programs for medical and allied health-care providers, specializing in pediatrics and other related

areas of expertise. The augmented funding reflects the PCMC’s specialization, by prioritizing the acquisition of much-needed hospital equipment and the construction of a pediatric rehabilitation center, among others.

P639.8 million will go to the purchase of various hospital equipment that will allow the PCMC to accommodate more patients.

Meanwhile, the construction of the pediatric rehabilitation center, with P95 million set aside for it, will greatly expand the primary services of the PCMC. The facility’s improved services will be able to help more patients with various conditions, including neurological disorders, spinal cord injuries, and musculoskeletal conditions that can interfere with a child’s growth

Lives of Filipinos at stake

Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug

Senior Editors

Creative Director Chief Photographer

Additional funding for the Philippine Children’s Medical Center

Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

B

rothers and sisters, there’s a joke spreading in social media about how our government is addressing the Covid-19 pandemic. If other countries are in phase 1, phase 2, or phase 3 of producing their vaccines to fight the virus, the Philippines, on the other hand, stays with the face shield as a precaution.

In Singapore, their shipment of imported vaccines have arrived, and they are set to begin vaccinating those highly exposed to the virus such as frontline and health-care workers. They are also hoping to vaccinate every Singaporean by the end of this year. The vaccine will be administered for free. In Vietnam, they created their own vaccine, and they are aiming to release it by midyear. Their government prioritizes having their own vaccine to ensure that the entire population of almost

100 million gets vaccinated.

The United Kingdom has started vaccinating their citizens, followed by wealthy countries in America and Europe. Time is of the essence for the governments of different countries to save their people from the virus that affected around 78 million people and took the lives of 1.73 million in the whole world.

Which is why, in his Urbi et Orbi this past Christmas, Pope Francis called for the unity of nations to ensure that poor countries will also receive

As one of the specialty hospitals under the Department of Health, the PCMC has an important role, which is to provide high-quality medical care specifically for children. The PCMC also offers training programs for medical and allied health-care providers, specializing in pediatrics and other related areas of expertise. and development.

Furthermore, P40 million will go to providing one year of free chemotherapy for children afflicted with cancer. Current data has shown that as of 2019, at least 4,788 Filipino children are identified with cancer every year. The government recognizes this, and has been concentrating on effective treatments for childhood cancer, including providing free chemotherapy agents for acute lymphocytic leukemia for the past decade.

Spearheaded by Dr. Julius Lecciones, Executive Director of the PCMC, the institution’s free chemotherapy program has significantly improved the survival rate of their cancer patients, from 16 percent to 83 percent.

With the supplemental funds, the PCMC can save more children from childhood cancer.

Finally, P8.5 million has been earmarked for PCMC to do open heart surgery. The additional funding will

More worrisome is the discovery of a new strain of the coronavirus.

This was first discovered in the United Kingdom, and it is now reportedly spreading in other countries. According to President Duterte, cases of this new strain were found in Sabah, Malaysia, that’s why he urged government officials to be more vigilant in Jolo, and there have been numerous calls for a more extensive travel ban. vaccines and medicine.

More worrisome is the discovery of a new strain of the coronavirus.

This was first discovered in the United Kingdom, and it is now reportedly spreading in other countries. According to President Duterte, cases of this new strain were found in Sabah, Malaysia, that’s why he urged government officials to be more vigilant in Jolo, and there have been numerous calls for a more extensive travel ban.

But for Health Secretary Francisco

allow 50 patients to undergo life-saving medical procedures, estimated to be at P170,000 per person. Though children who need heart surgery are usually brought to hospitals like the Philippine Heart Center, the concern is that the waiting line puts them at serious risk, particularly if they have to be operated on immediately. The PCMC has the capability to perform heart surgery for children, and this can shorten the waiting time for all the patients. Combined with PCMC’s facilities and services, the additional funding can literally save more young lives.

It is only fitting that PCMC is provided significant funding, as it provides much-needed services for a key segment of our population. Even more importantly, it is also a concrete demonstration of our belief in a better future, where we actively protect and nurture the next generations of Filipinos.

In the end, adding more funds to a medical institution for children should not be about “how much can we give,” but rather, it should be a declaration of “we must heal as many of our children as we can.”

Sen. Sonny Angara has been in public service for 16 years—nine years as Representative of the Lone District of Aurora, and seven as Senator. He has authored and sponsored more than 200 laws. He is currently serving his second term in the Senate.

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

Duque III, the travel ban can be considered only if there will be evidence of a community transmission of the new coronavirus strain. The secretary seems to have forgotten the reinforced lockdown in the UK because of the spread of the new strain. While our leaders are still thinking of preventing foreigners from entering the country, the DOH secretary went to a local market to remind the citizens to maintain physical distancing, using a meter stick.

Meanwhile, we just found out this past week that there are soldiers and government officials who got shots from vaccines made in China. This occurred even if there aren’t any vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The people concerned in this issue that was raised denied accusations, but eventually, it was found out that members of the Presidential Security Guard and other high-ranking officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines were already vaccinated. Even more surprising, the government insists the use of a vaccine made in China See “Pascual,” A9

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

Realistic 2021

Killing words

BusinessMirror

Alvin Ang

W

The season also spilled over more hope. The Social Weather Station reports that 91 percent of Filipinos enter this New Year with hope. This is more optimistic than in 2004 when only 81 percent said so. This hope in the midst of the pandemic is possibly coming out of the observation that the worst is over in relation to the economy. The news of the various vaccines already in different stages of implementation in developed countries also brings up expectations that even if the country will receive the first batch of inoculation in the second or third quarter of the year, the availability of vaccines could soon end the pandemic. Add to these is the seemingly “better” data in terms of cases of infections. It can also be a case where people simply want out of 2020!

All these create a sense of optimism that 2021 will be the turnaround year for our economic life.

Estimates of economic growth also point to a growth of about 4 percent to 5 percent this year as against the projected contraction of about 10 percent in 2020. Others forecast growth to even reach 7 percent to 8 percent. To our mind, the numbers are not important, as long as there is growth. The deep contraction in 2020 necessitates that growth should begin in 2021 so as we do not slide too far from the 2019 levels. Nonetheless, it should be clear that a recovery is also dependent on external factors beyond our control.

There is the new and more contagious strain of the virus that is causing border closures and lockdowns in many parts of the world. Even if vaccines are already being rolled out in the US and much of Europe, the severity and increasing number of cases will again slowdown economic activities in the developed countries. Impositions of travel bans will also halt movement again across countries.

This will again cause a domino effect on trade, investment and global demand and possibly affecting our OFWs and their remittances.

What is fully dependent on us is the capacity of our government to strengthen our health systems, to focus on addressing the job losses and preventing firm closures and to ensure that vaccines will be made available and affordable the soonest possible time. This also includes the ability of the country to prevent a second or third wave, which has recently affected our neighbors Malaysia and Thailand and even South Ko-

Pascual. . .

continued from A8

regardless of its low efficacy rate and high price compared to other vaccines with better efficacy rates.

Following the steps taken by the government, we beg the question: Are our leaders truly prioritizing our welfare? Our lives are at stake, but why are we receiving such news just now? Why does it seem that we haven’t learned anything from disregarding travel bans? Why are we sticking to just the primary health restrictions instead of prioritizing the acquisition of effective and

What is fully dependent on us is the capacity of our government to strengthen our health systems, to focus on addressing the job losses and preventing firm closures and to ensure that vaccines will be made available and affordable the soonest possible time. rea—countries that have managed the virus well until this December.

Indeed, no amount of experiences and preparation can prevent the lockdown fatigue. We may add that the feeling that the cases are going down could also create unnecessary complacency that could lead to relaxed implementations of protocols.

This effectively requires governance consistency.

All told, there is a lot of dependence on the public sector to pick up the slack in the economy even for 2021. Approving the budget is one thing, implementing it is another. Government resources are not that large and therefore must be used efficiently and effectively.

Public construction continued to be slowed down by absorptive capacity constraints and this should be corrected immediately. Significant efforts must be to improve and digitize government services. A better digital infrastructure should be given utmost priority as this will expand opportunities in work, business, education and information. Whether the pandemic dissipates within the year or beyond, the world economy has already transformed into digital and the country cannot afford to delay integrating majority of the population within this. We need to do these things well for they will help any recovery sustainable and prepared for the future that is already here. Yes, we can be hopeful for 2021, but we should also be realistic that the availability of the vaccines alone will not instantly bring 2019 back. As B. Kausikan writes in Nikkei Asia—we will do well if things do not get worse. nnn

The writer of the column entitled PHL and its Asean neighbors is Dr. Fernando Aldaba, Dean of the School of Social Sciences, ADMU and Senior Fellow of ACERD. ACERD is also inviting you to our Economic Briefing entitled Prioritizing for Recovery on January 21 via zoom. For details please visit cce. ateneo.edu or acerd.ph affordable vaccines?

Brothers and sisters, it is a great reminder for us what is said in the book of Acts 20:28, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” Our leaders are here to govern us well, and prioritize—not compromise—our welfare and safety.

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

A9

Tito Genova Valiente

annotations

EAGLE WATCH

elcome 2021! New year, new hope! These are what we usually hear when the year opens. When I was in elementary school, I do not like New Year’s Day. To me it was a sign that Christmas is about to end. No more carols, no more holidays—in a few days we will be back to what is reality. In the old school year, after the Christmas break is the exams for the third grading period or the mid-terms in college. This is the fact that we are facing these coming days—facing the exams of life and going back to reality. The Christmas season has somehow eased fears and anxiety brought by the pandemic. Although subdued and quieter than usual, the season helped bring up a bit of economic confidence.

The data in the Google mobility report showed that the first week of December showed the closest return to the baseline mobility prior to the lockdowns. Indeed, Christmas have pulled the economy in the last weeks of 2020.

Friday, January 8, 2021

T

he virus has mutated: It has turned friends into monsters and has made us judges and executioners of both of the perpetrators and the victims.

There is no other explanation. We have not learned from the lockdown, from those months of being separated from each other. We needed to kill someone, or abuse someone—this to remind us that we are alive and that we have remained human eager to display the flaws and imperfections.

Or else we are not humans.

Remember what we were telling each other three months into the new year of last year? That we should be kind to one another. That we should be kind to the world. A hidden force, it seemed, was punishing us and all we needed then was to turn to each other, to recognize that we are helping each other, humans caring for other humans, is the only real solution to a world being wiped out by something unseen, incalculable, and incurable.

The light at the end of the tunnel is not always a necessarily good light.

That light can indicate the world is back to normal—that we can be cruel to each other again, that we can kill each other again.

And so, it came to pass that a young woman out to celebrate the new year is found dead the next day. There are no answers yet to the questions as to who are the criminals. Or, if there is a crime involved.

Three supposedly good friends of the woman have been arrested. They are the first to be identified because of their friendship with the deceased.

What is the mother thinking now?

It is said the daughter has called up the mother the previous night to tell her she was going out, with friends, to celebrate. “She is dead?” the mother asks.

Upon identification of the three

male friends, the top policeman declared the crime is solved. Not justice and not the courts but words that can either set people free, or forever keep them in jail or in darkness.

Online words are stringed together to complete the story about the rape and violence. It is not true there are no details about the crime.

We always have the sordid details.

We know more than what the police can ever achieve. We are fitted with the skill to weave tales that can tell people what happened. We tell the stories of the crime. We decide who the perpetrators are. We know already why one or two did it. We have motives: It is because of love turned awry. It is a case of drugs.

Nothing can stop us from kissing, killing and telling.

The templates are there to articulate the scene of the crime.

Somehow, among the templates can be sourced beliefs, which urge us to blame the dead. If the person was raped, then this template has patterns for doubting the morality of the raped. If the person was not raped, then she must have been touched, fondled, abused.

Long after the lifeless body of the victim has been found, the conversations in the social media are still killing the victim. A woman online proposes how the decision of the woman to be alone with male friends is all her fault, that she was then courting danger already.

It appears no one takes the side of a person who trusts another person.

The trusting person is demonized and trustworthiness is no more a virtue than a vice. In times like this, the theory of the red dress makes

a stunning comeback—wear a red dress and be raped. Or wear something beautiful and you die.

More than the prejudices and skewed personal psychologies, please take note that words, simple words have become flesh. The ideas are physicalized, made material, and therefore out to hurt people.

“Just words” as an expression has a new meaning. It is meaningless.

The polarity between an act and a word or idea is inconsequential.

The idea of killing can kill as the act of killing can.

We are killing the woman each second, each minute. For every share of the news about the gruesome murder—as we imagine and later write—we are abusing the young woman. There is, believe me, for every disclosure of new facts about the 11 people who are suspects behind the crime, a glee, of two hands clasped as if in deep prayer.

From the bathtub to the court is not a straight line. That trajectory moves in circle, ending where it all began—in a mind that is only shocked the first time a murder or rape is done; otherwise, that mind is eager, unconsciously perhaps, about more information of what transpired in those hours before the ailing old year has started bid-

The death of democracy in the US Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

A

ll the telltale signs were unmistakably there and democracy watchers should not have been surprised by the current turn of events in the US. President Donald J. Trump’s political machinations are unequaled, resulting in irregularities and scandals.

His indiscriminate and unceremonious firing of cabinet and other top government officials because of alleged disloyalty or failure to do his biddings reflect his devious leadership.

The improper use of the powers of his office and of government resources under his command manifest his obscene respect for his Office. He treats his cabinet members as his vassals, particularly the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, to justify and defend his questionable acts and to prosecute his political enemies. He has egregiously pardoned his friends and supporters since he lost the election and the big names, including his own family members and probably himself, will follow until his last day in office. He has been judged as the most unpresidential person to occupy the highest governmental position in the US. Trump was in fact impeached by the House of Representatives for abuse of power, but the Senate, which was dominated by his partymates, absolved him.

It is most unfortunate how a country so admired globally for establishing a model democratic state has degenerated into a basket case.

The abhorrent conduct of its top officials relative to the recently concluded US elections, has earned the scorn even of the citizens of third

world countries. It is laudable that the US Courts and some courageous officials have the spine to buckle under severe pressure. In international meetings, Trump is shunned and mocked by world leaders. The US no longer enjoys the respect and prestige accorded to it by people around the world.

At the start of the 2020 campaign, Trump claimed that any election, which he would lose, would be fraught with cheating and fraud, and therefore invalid and illegal. He even suggested that the election be postponed, questioning early voting and mailed-in ballots that are duly allowed under the US laws. During the entire campaign, he refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power in the event that he loses the election. Even now, less than two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, it is still unclear how he will vacate his office. He has not even indicated if he would attend Biden’s inauguration or whether he would take a joint ride with Biden from the White House to the Capitol on January 20 for the event. His overall conduct during

his entire four years as the President of the United States left much to be desired. Presidential watchers have likened him to current autocratic leaders who have ruled their countries with iron hands. Trump himself has not disguised his admiration for strongmen like Vladimir Putin of Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Xi Jinping of China. He has styled himself as a forceful and decisive leader whose authority is unchallenged and unchecked by the co-equal branches of government.

His adherence to democratic ideals and respect for the rule of law has long been suspected while he was still running for office for the first time. A suspicion that has lingered, and confirmed, when he assumed office. His indiscriminate firing of his officials, disregard for simple and basic rules, issuance of executive orders which were overruled by the courts, etc. are conduct unbecoming of a head of state. They only reinforced people’s concern that he would stifle democracy and disregard the people’s sovereign will.

Trump has done everything to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost decisively, whether by electoral counts or popular votes. Trump’s action is an utter repudiation of the time-honored tradition of peaceful transfer of power by the defeated incumbent president to his duly elected successor. His adamant refusal to vacate power is totally unimaginable and all the dubious acts he and his cabal have done to perpetuate Trump in office are the most execrable and odious political machinations we have seen since the US was founded more than 240 years ago. None of his predecessors had done any of the irregularities similar to what Trump has committed. He summoned Michigan’ state

ding goodbye.

Was she in pain? Was she still conscious while acts were being done on her? Did she really die of natural causes?

Strange how we demarcate causes of death—natural and unnatural.

Where are my friends? Where is my family? Did the young woman get to this part of her being?

No man is an island entire to itself, the meditation on death goes. When the bells rung that night, were some men’s conscience speaking to them, pushing them to confess? What is that word, “come clean?” To come clean is appropriate in the context of shadows haunting these men who, if we are to believe the news, have been outed in a party that was supposed to conceal them. In the meantime, autopsy reports are being passed around like clues to a surprise test.

Where did you get them?

As day passes by, more of us are ever ready to render judgment from the comfort of our living rooms or porches, surrounded by shelves of books that make us thinking animals, in the company of plants most dear to us—the only artefact worth mentioning when the histories of these Dark Ages are written about.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com

legislative leaders to alter their election results in his favor; he called several Attorney Generals of the swing states to reverse the election outcomes; he asked the Republican governors of Georgia and Arizona to help him win in their states; he filed several lawsuits to invalidate the election results giving mandates to his opponent and he has repeatedly made unfounded claims of massive cheating in the election without presenting an iota of evidence to prove his point. His recent telephone call, which lasted for almost an hour, with Georgia’s top election official, Brad Raffensperger, urging him to find 11,000, more or less, votes for him to overturn Biden’s win in Georgia smacks of the devious mind of the President to corrupt the electoral process.

Trump’s acts have seriously and irreparably undermined the Americans’ faith in democracy. As of this writing, it’s not yet known what has happened to the Congressional challenge to the States’ certification of the electoral votes. This constitutes Trump’s last-ditch effort to block the final declaration of Biden’s triumph during the last presidential election.

Trump’s legislative allies have vowed to turn this purely perfunctory function of the US Congress into a major showdown designed to further inflame Trump’s partisans into action. This last push to change the election results is unlikely to succeed but it is political survival for Trump’s die-hard loyalists. Regardless, the damage has been done and the US Founding Fathers must be turning in their graves, wondering what has happened to their nation “conceived in liberty” and whether their democratic “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”

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Friday, January 8, 2021

B1

‘Dito all set for month-long technical audit’

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

ito Telecommunity Corp. said on Thursday that it is ready for its month-long technical audit, a requirement that it agreed to when it won the third telco license in 2018.

“For the past months, amid the difficulties posed by the current global pandemic, Dito has

made great strides in the rollout to ensure that the results of the audit will be positive,” Dito Chief

Administrative Officer Adel Tamano said.

R.G. Manabat & Co., an affiliate of international audit firm KPMG, will test the connectivity and Internet speeds in various areas to ensure that Dito is compliant with its commitments.

Dito, in winning the third telco license, committed to cover at least 37 percent of the population and provide a minimum average speed of 27 Mbps during its maiden year.

E x pected to be completed

within 30 days, R.G. Manabat & Co. is expected to produce a final report towards the end of February. It will use a percentage of the 1,600 sites of Dito, which covers 8,800 barangays in the Philippines.

Tamano noted that the result of the audit does not affect the planned commercial roll-out starting March of this year.

“As I have said before, Dito Telecommunity is poised to finally offer its services to the Filipino people in March, world

class connectivity that they truly deserve, as we launch commercially,” he said.

Dito is investing P150 billion for its foray into the telecommunications industry. The amount is being used to build telco infrastructure, of which 1,900 towers have already been constructed, 12,000 kilometers of cable laid, and 1,500 base stations deployed.

For its maiden launch, it committed to cover 37 percent of the population with 27 Mbps of minimum average Internet speed.

T h i s y e a r, D it o h a s p ro grammed over P50 billion in capital expenditures to further expand its network and meet the commitments it made during the bidding for the third telco license.

The Dennis A. Uy-led company has committed to spend P257 billion in capital outlays within the first five years of its operations to deliver an average speed of 55 Mbps to 84 percent of the country’s population.

Dito is expected to launch its commercial services on March 8.

HSI obtains ₧645-M loan from DBP Axelum allots ₧350M for capex this year T C cording to the DBP statement.

DBP Senior Vice President for Southern and Western Mindanao Lending Group Ana Marie E. Veloso said the project “will help the local coconut farmers secure sustainable livelihood amid fluctuating prices of copra in the international market.”

Copra is the dried meat or kernel of the coconut, from which oil can be harvested.

HSI is expecting to rake in over $10 million in gross revenues from shipments of sugar and banana flour products, Veloso said.

“On another note, the products of Hijo are also considered as healthier alternatives to regular processed sugar thereby contributing immensely to the nation’s efforts to combat and

control non-communicable diseases such as diabetes,” she was quoted in the statement as saying.

In December the DBP announced it extended the P416-million credit line to JDVC Resources Corp., a large-scale off-shore mining company. The loan proceeds are allocated for the firm’s working capital requirements for its export production of iron ore.

The DBP reported that its ninemonth net income in 2020 fell by 26.69 percent to P3.24 billion from P4.42 billion year-on-year because of a higher buffer for credit losses.

Capitalization, meanwhile, rose by 9.49 percent to P64.01 billion in the same period from P58.56 billion year-on-year. Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

he Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) extended a P645-million loan to a Davao-based agricultural and food company.

In a statement on Thursday, the state-run bank said that Hijo Superfoods Inc. (HSI) will allocate the proceeds of the borrowings to construct and expand its banana flour and coconut sugar manufacturing facilities.

HSI is a unit of Hijo Resources Group, which has core businesses in property development, leisure and tourism and port operations as well.

DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel G. Herbosa said the credit assistance would boost the production of HSI’s export

products and provide livelihood to the local farmers and suppliers.

“DBP has always been supportive of the initiatives of our local industries that benefit not just the local community but promote the country as well through their world-class products,” Herbosa was quoted in her office’s statement as saying.

The statement said HSI is eyeing to increase its monthly production of coconut sugar from nine metric tons (MT) to 12 MT. The banana flour component, meanwhile, is set to have an initial capacity production of 5 MT per day. The bananas are sourced from the firm’s own farms and similarly classed harvests of other Cavendish banana-producing companies, ac-

Insular Life unveils new insurance product

DOE bullish on development of RE T

L

ife insurance firm Insular Life rolled out a new life insurance product that gives guaranteed cash payouts and coverage for 20 years.

Insular Life said Basic Assure 10 is payable for 10 years but it provides for insurance protection for 20 years.

On the sixth year of the policy, the death benefit would also increase to 200 percent of the sum insured until the policy matures.

Aside from this, Basic Assure 10 also gives cash payouts equivalent to 7.25 percent of the sum insured starting at the end of the 5th year and every 2 years thereafter until the end of the 19th policy year.

By the end of the 20th year and if nothing happens to the insured, he or she shall receive a lump sum amount equal to 100 percent of the sum insured.

According to Insular Life, Basic Assure 10 is a great option for those who are concerned about the fluctuations in the fund value of a variable unit-linked (VUL) insurance policy due to market volatility as an after effect of Covid-19 pandemic.

“We plan for the future usually because of two reasons: to prepare for the possibility of a financial loss due to unforeseen events such as sickness in the family, or loss of job; and to have funds for future needs such as education, retirement, or business venture,” said InLife Chief Marketing Officer Gae L. Martinez. “So, if an insurance plan will be able to provide regular and guaranteed cash payouts during certain periods, then it becomes easier to reach one’s financial goals.”

Regardless of market conditions, benefits under Basic Assure 10 are also guaranteed.

“When markets and investments generate exceptional returns, the ability to fulfill your goals is easy. But this becomes difficult during the times when the markets are volatile. Basic Assure 10 is InLife’s solution for those times because there are no risks as the plan’s benefits are guaranteed, no matter what happens to the market,” Martinez added. Bernadette D. Nicolas

he Department of Energy (DOE) is bullish on the 3rd Open and Competitive Selection Process (OCSP3), which will further accelerate the development of renewable energy (RE) in the country, after its launch and pre-submission conference yielded interest from 114 participants.

OSCP3 identifies 22 pre-determined areas that cover 5 geothermal and 17 hydropower resources with a total potential capacity of roughly 150 megawatts (MWs).

“We have obtained encouraging results from the series of online stakeholders’ consultation we undertook in July 2020 and that we are very optimistic in this OCSP3,” Energy Assistant Secretary Robert B. Uy said in a statement.

According to indicative timelines released by the department, the deadline for the submission of bid documents is on February

15. The contracts for the financial and technical assistance (FTA A) projects will be awarded on April 19, while the non-FTA As will be awarded on April 14.

Energy Undersecretary Emmanuel P. Juaneza said the DOE is committed to promote RE resources, noting the recent declaration of a moratorium on en-

dorsements for greenfield coal power projects is a manifestation of the DOE’s vision for energy future. “[Energy] Secretary [Alfonso G.] Cusi himself reiterated the commitment to promote our renewable energy, with the hope that in time, renewables will figure prominently in the country’s energy future,” Juaneza said.

The DOE said many opportunities await the RE investors considering that all policies to support the market for RE are now in place and implemented such as the Renewable Portfolio Standards, Green Energy Option Program, the Enhanced Net Metering and the RE Market establishment.

In 2019, the share of RE in the country’s generation mix stood at 20.8 percent from 23.38 percent in 2018. Coal continues to dominate the mix at 54.6 percent, followed by gas at 21.1 percent and oil at 3.5 percent. Lorenz S. Marasigan

oconut manufacturer Axelum Resources Corp. has earmarked P350 million in capital expenditures (capex) for 2021 to modernize its equipment, expand its capacity, and develop new products, as it seeks to “resume its growth trajectory this year.”

Henry J. Raperoga, the company’s president, said the amount will help drive capacity upgrades and improve its existing plants. A portion of the capital will also be used for research and development initiatives.

“We are entering 2021 with a renewed sense of courage and optimism anchored on our collective efforts and various learnings from last year, which strengthened our character and resolve,” he said in a statement attached to a disclosure.

Raperoga added that Axelum is looking at growing its market reach both locally and internationally through the appointment of distribution partners in key growth areas.

He added that the group “continues to look for strategic and value-accretive

targets for either an acquisition or joint-venture.”

The capital outlays program was lower by almost 50 percent from the 2020 capex target of the company.

Last year, Axelum allotted P600 million for its capital program.

“Last year, we capitalized on downtime at our manufacturing facilities driven by the Covid-19 pandemic to increase capacity in existing products and introduce new products, both of which will drive substantial growth in the future,” Raperoga said.

In 2020, Axelum commenced production of pressed coconut water, a proven high-demand product of its flagship product Vita Coco. Raperoga said partly driven by demand for pressed coconut water, Axelum expects to register double-digit volume growth in its coconut water segment.

Raperoga noted that Axelum is currently “running at full capacity…signaling strong global demand” for Axelum’s coconut products.” Lorenz S. Marasigan

AirAsia earns 7-star rating

Contributed Photo

‘RCL service to give boost to PHL industries’

I

nternational Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) said the Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) has started servicing the Regional Container Line’s (RCL) South Philippines 6 (RSP6) service that connects Visayas and Mindanao to Asia and the Middle East via Singapore.

Operated by two vessels and co ve r s t he Si n g ap ore - C ebu Cagayan-Singapore route, the ser vice provides “competitive connections” for the Philippine provinces and cities to other Southeast Asian, Indian, Middle Easter, South Asian, and East Asian markets.

Roberto Locsin, the general manager of the terminal, said the fixed-day weekly service will help drive growth to farmers, manufacturers, and other producers in the Philippines.

“Now more than ever, local

businesses need help to bounce back, and the new service line will undoubtedly give them the boost they need,” he said.

The service made its first port call on December 19.

“For the City of Cagayan de Oro and the rest of Misamis Oriental, the new service strengthens our position as a major agro-industrial exporter. The availability of a regular and predictable service to a major international hub also presents opportunities for entrepreneurs and industries to move up the value chain. This could only mean higher incomes, more jobs, and a more comfortable life for our people,” Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corp. (Phivdec) Industrial Estate Administrator Jose Gabriel la Viña said.

Eagle Express Group Chairman Angelito Colona noted that the

new service is a “bright opportunity” for the Philippines.

Headquartered in Thailand, RCL owns and operates 46 container vessels covering more than 66 destinations in Asia, India, India subcontinent, and the Middle East.

The company has been operating in the Philippines for 32 years.

MCT, which operates at the Ph ivdec Indust r i a l Est ate in Misamis Oriental, handles international and domestic cargo and offers container handling, yard management, reefer monitoring, and water bunkering among other port services, serving as a transshipment hub connecting Northern Mindanao to the Visayas and other parts of the country.

The terminal is projected to post a 7-percent growth for 2021, thanks to modernization initiatives that were started and completed in 2020. Lorenz S. Marasigan

By Recto L. Mercene

A

@rectomercene

ir A sia Phi lippines is among the top 20 Covidcompliant airlines for 2021, a company official said, citing data from international airline safety ranking organization AirlineRatings.

Ricky Isla, the company’s CEO, said AirAsia Philippines received a perfect 7-star rating for Covid-19 compliance and a safety rating of 6 out of 7 seven stars on the safety ranking organization’s study.

“Safety has always been the core of AirAsia’s business. Along with the company’s efforts to restore confidence in air travel, we make sure to continuously communicate essential information to our guests to improve customer experience and satisfaction,” Isla said.

AirlineRatings reviews airlines based on seven criteria including web site information on Covid-19 procedures, the wearing of face

masks, personal protection equipment for the crew, modified meal service, regular deep cleaning of aircraft and personal sanitizer kits.

The organization also commanded AirAsia’s safety protocols, calling them “above and beyond in the protection of passengers.”

AirAsia was one of the first to develop self check-in kiosks for contactless transactions, and was among the first airlines to encourage the use of Traze App and the strict implementation of contact tracing forms for all passengers.

AirAsia is a leading travel and financial platform company in Asia Pacific, providing air transport, travel and lifestyle services, as well as financial services. AirAsia started as a low-cost carrier with operations in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and India, and has carried more than 600 million guests to over 160 destinations in its network across Asia, Australia, the Middle East and the United States. With Lorenz S. Marasigan

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Friday, January 8, 2021

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

January 7, 2021

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

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

43.2 106.8 82.65 24.85 6.54 11.08 47.4 11.06 28.75 55 18 128.4 68 0.93 41.8 3.88 1.61 0.37 810.5 0.84 152.6 2,080 1.02

45 107 82.9 25.3 8.5 11.1 47.45 11.78 28.95 55.05 18.34 129.5 69 0.97 43.9 3.94 1.63 0.38 850 0.86 152.7 2,098 1.08

43 101 80.2 24.7 8.5 10.58 45 10.68 28.8 54.5 18.5 125.9 70 0.98 38.95 3.76 1.47 0.37 820 0.83 152.5 2,046 1.02

45 107 82.9 25.5 8.5 11.1 47.5 12.2 29.4 55.05 18.6 129.5 70.1 0.98 43.9 3.94 1.64 0.38 820 0.87 153 2,080 1.02

43 101 80.2 24.7 8.5 10.58 45 10.68 28.2 53.85 17.88 125 68 0.93 38.2 3.76 1.47 0.365 810 0.78 152.5 2,046 1.01

45 107 82.9 24.85 8.5 11.1 47.45 11.78 28.95 55.05 18 128.4 68 0.93 43.9 3.94 1.61 0.38 810 0.86 152.7 2,080 1.01

6,000 260,250 3,037,770 319,841,935 2,772,480 228,374,226.50 62,600 1,569,940 4,100 34,850 937,600 10,306,584 7,482,800 347,397,600 13,600 152,698 128,600 3,723,515 8,520 465,598 231,300 4,170,500 538,700 69,051,429 36,730 2,516,978.50 431,000 407,350 201,600 8,081,605 188,000 732,230 577,000 913,350 1,570,000 579,950 90 73,200 2,345,000 1,935,640 26,420 4,038,595 105 216,930 57,000 57,870

INDUSTRIAL

AC ENERGY ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER 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 B CEMEX HLDG DAVINCI CAPITAL EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CHEMPHIL CROWN ASIA EUROMED LMG CORP MABUHAY VINYL PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

8.94 1.3 26.5 28.5 76 296.2 16.96 3.78 3.53 11.5 21.5 9.98 13.54 7.6 3.21 13.7 17.9 7.44 7.43 10.08 66.15 0.66 1.62 51.1 192.6 38 8.01 7.19 0.247 8.1 1.24 4.7 1.66 0.122 154.6 0.91 2.4 55.55 1.47 5.85 14.08 7.49 7.24 8.2 9.52 1.02 1.11 128 1.8 2.29 4.38 4.38 5.42 22.45 2.84 8.66 1.33 1.47 7.4

8.95 1.32 26.65 28.85 76.2 297 17 3.79 3.59 11.88 21.55 10 14 7.7 3.22 14 17.98 7.64 7.44 10.1 67 0.68 1.63 51.2 192.9 39 8.36 7.2 0.248 8.12 1.25 4.75 1.72 0.125 154.9 0.92 2.42 57.8 1.48 5.91 14.16 7.5 7.3 8.25 9.8 1.03 1.12 139 1.82 2.37 4.69 4.69 5.48 22.5 2.85 8.68 1.34 1.49 7.41

9 1.27 26.45 28.35 75.9 298.6 16.88 3.74 3.52 11.8 21.5 10 14.02 7.76 3.26 14 18 7.68 7.2 10.14 66.95 0.66 1.61 51.8 194.3 39 8.39 7.35 0.24 7.75 1.23 4.77 1.66 0.122 155 0.92 2.42 58.2 1.39 5.8 14.08 7.21 7.26 8.5 9.9 0.94 1.08 128 1.77 2.3 4.41 4.45 5.37 23.4 2.62 8.82 1.2 1.44 6.54

9.45 1.32 27 28.95 76 298.6 17 3.79 3.52 11.9 21.9 10.1 14.02 7.76 3.26 14 18 7.68 7.45 10.14 67 0.68 1.64 51.8 194.3 39.6 8.39 7.44 0.248 8.29 1.26 4.77 1.66 0.124 155 0.93 2.42 58.2 1.47 5.96 14.16 7.5 7.31 8.7 9.9 1.03 1.12 128 1.8 2.4 4.41 4.45 5.49 23.4 2.85 9.2 1.35 1.5 7.43

8.4 1.25 26.45 28.3 75.5 294 16.4 3.7 3.52 11.18 21.4 9.96 14 7.37 3.13 13.12 17.88 7.38 7.2 9.85 65.5 0.66 1.6 50 192.6 37.05 8.38 7.12 0.228 7.75 1.21 4.7 1.64 0.121 150.6 0.89 2.42 55.5 1.37 5.8 13.88 7.21 7.1 8 9.8 0.93 1.05 127.8 1.77 2.2 4.38 4.45 5.37 22.45 2.61 8.6 1.2 1.36 6.54

8.95 1.3 26.65 28.85 76 297 17 3.78 3.52 11.88 21.55 9.98 14 7.7 3.22 13.98 17.9 7.64 7.43 10.1 67 0.66 1.63 51.2 192.6 39 8.38 7.2 0.247 8.1 1.24 4.7 1.65 0.121 154.9 0.92 2.42 57.95 1.47 5.91 14.16 7.5 7.3 8.2 9.8 1.02 1.11 128 1.8 2.29 4.38 4.45 5.48 22.5 2.85 8.68 1.33 1.49 7.41

67,281,800 1,040,000 693,000 181,800 34,430 156,330 2,588,100 2,052,000 4,000 142,000 407,200 198,700 20,500 812,000 1,231,000 9,300 1,255,400 97,200 741,000 740,900 55,230 829,000 16,104,000 22,440 802,590 14,100 2,300 278,600 7,880,000 548,200 4,519,000 4,274,000 44,000 700,000 896,850 4,274,000 5,000 580 11,510,000 324,200 372,800 123,800 6,094,500 5,829,100 6,000 707,000 3,382,000 50 73,000 546,000 173,000 8,000 142,700 26,300 39,714,000 1,923,500 5,702,000 1,768,000 18,159,000

12,930 122,753,035 -3,696,068.50 123,750 -1,698,878 -106,337,230 -748,515 239,730 -32,071,891 -513,471.50 322,000 32,200 -638,270 1,529,000 145,250 -

608,522,883 1,333,250 18,482,060 5,214,240 2,607,237.50 46,281,444 43,765,688 7,683,500 14,080 1,672,200 8,766,770 1,989,134 287,034 6,239,105 3,937,120 125,052 22,486,988 733,360 5,463,204 7,395,776 3,673,892.50 551,560 25,929,300 1,146,345.50 155,164,156 539,420 19,279 2,029,664 1,873,780 4,414,580 5,610,450 20,087,940 72,510 85,770 138,395,905 3,928,610 12,100 32,471.50 16,397,880 1,913,627 5,267,712 914,537 44,309,015 49,061,216 58,900 692,340 3,684,880 6,396 130,380 1,256,930 760,710 35,600 778,451 591,925 108,013,410 16,947,736 7,437,270 2,580,190 129,370,395

-34,921,507 72,170 1,114,740 1,457,455 -671,422.50 9,417,894 693,862.00 1,844,700 3,088,440 85,633 -592,076 743 1,428,876 -613,378 -1,261,850.50 23,830 25,000 -83,911,181 -37,778 -144,800 -493,381 140,310 -23,100 -29,943,338 134,660 90,840 24,545 -4,715,276 -25,456 -31,186,925 -1,777,293 49,000 -30,900 109,150 41,400 -64,530 15,750 -4,672,590 -641,649 -77,370 -295,570 -1,690,240

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.7 0.71 0.69 0.71 0.68 0.71 30,602,000 21,343,850 ASIABEST GROUP 9 9.18 8.92 9.43 8.52 9 93,500 824,256 AYALA CORP 820 828 795 829.5 784.5 828 194,410 157,565,610 46.7 47.6 47.3 47.7 46.9 47.6 959,400 45,584,970 ABOITIZ EQUITY 9.91 9.92 9.7 10.02 9.7 9.92 6,120,600 60,607,401 ALLIANCE GLOBAL AYALA LAND LOG 3.27 3.31 3.23 3.35 3.13 3.27 4,522,000 14,735,040 ANSCOR 6.58 6.6 6.6 6.6 6.55 6.58 15,800 103,850 0.82 0.83 0.81 0.82 0.8 0.82 395,000 322,160 ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A 0.87 0.88 0.86 0.88 0.84 0.87 3,070,000 2,635,730 ATN HLDG B 0.85 0.89 0.89 0.89 0.89 0.89 1,000 890 COSCO CAPITAL 5.49 5.5 5.35 5.49 5.35 5.49 310,600 1,696,365 5.48 5.5 5.36 5.55 5.31 5.5 6,904,200 37,722,164 DMCI HLDG 8.86 9 8.81 9.26 8.81 9 10,500 95,630 FILINVEST DEV FJ PRINCE A 3.05 3.31 3.47 3.47 3.44 3.44 3,000 10,380 FORUM PACIFIC 0.215 0.229 0.205 0.205 0.205 0.205 80,000 16,400 540 544 531 548 516.5 540 661,130 352,928,255 GT CAPITAL 3.93 4 4 4 4 4 4,000 16,000 HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT 70.9 71 70.55 72.3 70.55 71 1,343,180 95,579,032 JOLLIVILLE HLDG 5.21 5.36 5.79 5.79 5.16 5.2 14,300 79,011 0.83 0.84 0.82 0.87 0.81 0.83 2,651,000 2,240,120 LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG 3.72 3.74 3.72 3.73 3.72 3.72 5,656,000 21,060,980 LT GROUP 12.98 13 12.98 13.04 12.96 13 1,809,100 23,514,280 MABUHAY HLDG 0.52 0.53 0.52 0.53 0.52 0.53 7,000 3,660 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 5,000 9,500 MJC INVESTMENTS METRO PAC INV 4.21 4.22 4.21 4.23 4.16 4.22 14,007,000 58,842,080 PACIFICA HLDG 3.15 3.29 3.1 3.3 3.1 3.12 79,000 247,860 PRIME MEDIA 0.82 0.86 0.82 0.87 0.82 0.82 120,000 101,760 REPUBLIC GLASS 2.61 3 3 3 3 3 16,000 48,000 1.16 1.18 1.18 1.18 1.18 1.18 32,000 37,760 SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID 245 247.8 260 260 240 247.8 970 240,226 SM INVESTMENTS 1,034 1,038 1,040 1,054 1,031 1,034 92,950 96,388,775 SAN MIGUEL CORP 129.1 129.2 127.1 129.5 127.1 129.2 113,820 14,670,777 0.74 0.75 0.73 0.75 0.73 0.75 85,000 63,670 SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER 136 137.6 130.1 138.4 130.1 137.8 1,390 189,743 WELLEX INDUS 0.229 0.233 0.229 0.231 0.229 0.231 180,000 41,340 ZEUS HLDG 0.201 0.209 0.18 0.214 0.18 0.209 56,880,000 11,244,710

0 26,700.00 -35,668,565 28,848,855 -7,246,889 -458,540 71,510 -56,846 -19,931,219 -136,378,845 -8,000 -25,058,814.50 -12,324,060 -8,835,782 -246,610 -2,560 -30,659,535 -815,087 -50,978 40,800

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP ANCHOR LAND AYALA LAND ARANETA PROP AREIT RT BELLE CORP A BROWN CROWN EQUITIES CEBU HLDG CEB LANDMASTERS CENTURY PROP CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON DM WENCESLAO EMPIRE EAST EVER GOTESCO FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE 8990 HLDG PHIL INFRADEV KEPPEL PROP CITY AND LAND MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND PHIL REALTY ROCKWELL SHANG PROP STA LUCIA LAND SM PRIME HLDG VISTAMALLS SUNTRUST HOME PTFC REDEV CORP VISTA LAND

0.63 7.5 40.6 1.16 29.2 1.7 0.93 0.141 5.6 5.02 0.445 0.345 14.8 6.8 0.305 0.082 1.11 0.9 7.75 1.45 3.18 0.74 4.1 0.6 0.39 1.56 22.1 0.3 1.61 2.69 1.94 39.05 4.08 1.81 40.3 4.45

0.64 8 40.7 1.2 29.25 1.72 0.94 0.142 5.87 5.04 0.45 0.35 14.82 6.96 0.315 0.084 1.12 0.91 7.81 1.46 3.28 0.75 4.12 0.61 0.415 1.58 22.2 0.31 1.62 2.7 2 39.1 4.15 1.83 47.5 4.48

0.64 8 41 1.13 29 1.68 0.88 0.139 5.5 5 0.43 0.34 14.6 6.72 0.31 0.082 1.1 0.9 7.98 1.32 3.2 0.75 4 0.6 0.39 1.63 21 0.3 1.58 2.7 1.98 39.35 4 1.77 45 4.45

0.64 8 41 1.25 29.3 1.72 0.94 0.148 5.54 5.05 0.45 0.35 14.96 6.96 0.315 0.085 1.12 0.91 7.98 1.46 3.28 0.75 4.14 0.61 0.39 1.63 22.7 0.31 1.61 2.7 2.02 39.4 4.15 1.83 45 4.52

0.62 8 40.05 1.13 28.95 1.68 0.87 0.138 5.42 5 0.425 0.335 14.6 6.68 0.31 0.081 1.08 0.89 7.75 1.3 3.11 0.75 3.97 0.59 0.39 1.58 20.95 0.3 1.56 2.65 1.92 38.5 4 1.71 45 4.37

0.63 8 40.7 1.2 29.25 1.7 0.94 0.141 5.54 5.04 0.445 0.35 14.82 6.96 0.315 0.084 1.12 0.91 7.8 1.46 3.18 0.75 4.1 0.6 0.39 1.58 22.2 0.31 1.61 2.69 2 39.1 4.15 1.83 45 4.45

460,000 1,000 4,213,600 57,000 1,319,700 337,000 5,633,000 4,240,000 35,800 169,200 5,550,000 3,130,000 1,410,800 671,300 250,000 1,220,000 14,642,000 688,000 52,900 6,008,000 31,000 107,000 18,831,000 100,767,000 60,000 405,000 4,741,000 370,000 227,000 7,000 272,000 6,987,400 73,000 4,041,000 200 20,505,000

289,300 8,000 171,385,500 67,350 38,516,420 572,220 5,121,240 594,580 197,558 850,699 2,437,150 1,072,100 20,858,156 4,506,216 77,950 101,840 16,201,000 616,610 414,681 8,494,440 98,220 80,250 76,704,130 60,337,400 23,400 649,000 102,654,530 111,500 360,320 18,760 530,250 273,070,025 299,450 7,244,430 9,000 91,323,960

8,820 -66,144,775 -26,743,670 -33,950 55,200 150,048 -25,150 8,300 -3,976,220 -3,671,890 2,615,170 19,503 1,231,250 -9,540 -9,492,680 961,750 -5,003,940 8,000 -2,700 20,110,690 -14,830 9,000 22,861,200

SERVICES ABS CBN 14.3 14.38 14 14.6 14 14.38 1,255,700 17,877,800 GMA NETWORK 5.99 6 5.89 6.02 5.89 6 664,200 3,965,126 MANILA BULLETIN 0.425 0.44 0.425 0.43 0.425 0.43 390,000 166,050 12 12.3 11.3 12 10.8 12 4,900 55,968 MLA BRDCASTING GLOBE TELECOM 2,000 2,016 2,010 2,056 2,000 2,000 41,020 82,662,660 PLDT 1,350 1,366 1,370 1,388 1,350 1,350 93,665 128,052,775 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.192 0.193 0.183 0.193 0.177 0.192 1,858,530,000 346,688,830 15.38 15.4 14.96 15.4 14.88 15.38 2,694,100 40,861,026 CONVERGE 5.01 5.13 5.2 5.2 5 5.01 100,300 504,050 DFNN INC DITO CME HLDG 12.68 12.7 11.76 12.94 10.92 12.7 108,826,700 1,313,614,244 IMPERIAL 1.61 1.71 1.63 1.77 1.6 1.6 112,000 191,620 0.136 0.14 0.125 0.143 0.12 0.136 39,070,000 5,314,580 ISLAND INFO 4.13 4.14 3.92 4.19 3.91 4.13 11,352,000 46,588,410 NOW CORP TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.34 0.345 0.345 0.345 0.335 0.345 11,630,000 3,950,850 PHILWEB 2.91 2.95 2.88 2.95 2.88 2.91 715,000 2,083,560 8.8 8.81 8.5 8.86 8.5 8.8 271,600 2,379,613 2GO GROUP 14.98 15 15.16 15.16 15 15 39,100 588,368 ASIAN TERMINALS CHELSEA 5.18 5.19 5 5.28 4.91 5.19 3,442,500 17,628,327 CEBU AIR 49 49.1 46.85 49.2 46.85 49 968,400 46,777,325 124.7 125.8 123 125.8 122.1 125.8 985,360 122,412,384 INTL CONTAINER 15.42 15.98 15.5 15.5 15.42 15.42 6,300 97,178 LBC EXPRESS LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.96 1.02 0.96 1.02 0.96 1.02 13,000 12,760 MACROASIA 6.9 6.92 6.48 7.04 6.48 6.9 9,670,100 65,838,327 1.94 1.95 1.91 1.98 1.91 1.94 467,000 901,790 METROALLIANCE A PAL HLDG 6.6 6.64 6.55 6.9 6.5 6.64 40,100 265,131 HARBOR STAR 1.61 1.62 1.56 1.65 1.56 1.62 2,439,000 3,929,130 ACESITE HOTEL 1.5 1.59 1.6 1.6 1.55 1.59 91,000 145,090 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.041 0.042 0.042 0.042 0.04 0.042 60,200,000 2,455,800 0.57 0.58 0.56 0.58 0.56 0.58 10,353,000 5,896,440 WATERFRONT 8.11 8.49 8.5 8.5 8.48 8.49 2,000 16,982 IPEOPLE STI HLDG 0.435 0.44 0.42 0.445 0.42 0.435 2,110,000 910,150 BERJAYA 5.79 5.8 5.85 5.85 5.4 5.79 65,300 371,782 7.98 7.99 8.02 8.08 7.94 7.99 2,409,800 19,259,554 BLOOMBERRY 2.02 2.08 2.02 2.02 2.02 2.02 6,000 12,120 PACIFIC ONLINE LEISURE AND RES 1.89 1.9 1.84 1.9 1.84 1.9 565,000 1,046,620 MANILA JOCKEY 2.27 2.43 2.26 2.44 2.26 2.44 4,000 9,220 3.51 3.52 3.45 3.63 3.45 3.51 93,232,000 330,533,640 PH RESORTS GRP 0.47 0.475 0.46 0.475 0.46 0.47 8,220,000 3,852,450 PREMIUM LEISURE PHIL RACING 6.7 6.79 6.71 6.8 6.7 6.79 101,300 679,077 ALLHOME 9.02 9.05 8.7 9.09 8.7 9.05 1,347,200 12,092,044 1.45 1.46 1.47 1.47 1.42 1.45 4,056,000 5,850,670 METRO RETAIL 38.9 39.3 39.45 40 38.9 38.9 3,492,000 137,424,340 PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL 62.7 62.75 63 64 62.7 62.75 1,445,900 90,921,266 PHIL SEVEN CORP 116.2 120.9 120.9 120.9 119 120.5 530 63,702 1.54 1.55 1.45 1.57 1.44 1.54 10,300,000 15,756,460 SSI GROUP 17.8 17.9 18 18 17.7 17.9 1,499,600 26,832,780 WILCON DEPOT APC GROUP 0.405 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.4 0.4 3,480,000 1,396,200 EASYCALL 6.75 6.8 6.82 6.94 6.52 6.8 69,100 469,142 433 450 430.2 450 430.2 450 1,450 639,462 GOLDEN BRIA IPM HLDG 6.02 6.55 6.3 6.58 6.02 6.56 7,400 46,359 PRMIERE HORIZON 1.41 1.42 1.35 1.44 1.31 1.41 119,246,000 164,593,460 SBS PHIL CORP 5.22 5.55 5.2 5.23 5.2 5.23 100,100 523,320

-14,047,600 20,005,510 2,283,400 3,895,156 -225,028 60,349,696 -56,650.00 -189,800 435,200 -89,305 -364,600 445,718 15,927,070 5,580,699 1,274,092 -66,930 66,000 15,120 5,800 2,328,723 248,500 2,821,560 -173,850 13,580 6,824,557.00 -2,620,590 -74,382,095 -66,633,368 -871,190 -1,622 4,593,930 -

MINING & OIL ATOK 7.62 7.8 7.75 7.88 7.5 7.8 473,700 3,586,749 18,720 APEX MINING 1.77 1.79 1.79 1.8 1.74 1.77 6,330,000 11,235,080 -50,650 0.0036 0.0037 0.0034 0.0038 0.0034 0.0037 41,636,000,000 148,237,700 -1,049,700 ABRA MINING 6.91 6.95 6.94 6.99 6.9 6.9 372,600 2,587,330 473,519 ATLAS MINING BENGUET A 3.34 3.37 3.2 3.38 3.2 3.37 482,000 1,601,650 BENGUET B 3.2 3.3 3.2 3.3 3.2 3.3 89,000 292,450 0.28 0.285 0.285 0.295 0.285 0.285 1,410,000 406,850 COAL ASIA HLDG CENTURY PEAK 2.85 2.94 2.84 2.94 2.84 2.94 165,000 475,440 142,560 DIZON MINES 8.48 8.49 8.29 8.51 8.12 8.48 208,900 1,751,533 77,710 FERRONICKEL 3.11 3.12 3.07 3.16 3.06 3.11 14,809,000 46,135,030 -7,699,730 0.34 0.35 0.29 0.385 0.28 0.35 38,370,000 13,098,150 -517,700 GEOGRACE 0.172 0.173 0.165 0.177 0.165 0.172 45,420,000 7,800,460 LEPANTO A LEPANTO B 0.175 0.18 0.174 0.18 0.172 0.18 580,000 102,010 36,000 MANILA MINING A 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.012 0.01 0.01 1,127,100,000 11,898,500 0.011 0.012 0.01 0.012 0.01 0.011 99,400,000 1,094,400 MANILA MINING B MARCVENTURES 1.84 1.85 1.82 1.86 1.75 1.84 5,148,000 9,402,460 -87,380 NIHAO 3.39 3.4 3.43 3.48 3.35 3.39 1,539,000 5,281,850 -273,640 NICKEL ASIA 5.97 5.98 5.71 5.98 5.71 5.98 16,120,200 95,261,933 11,841,548 0.38 0.39 0.375 0.4 0.375 0.38 370,000 140,550 OMICO CORP ORNTL PENINSULA 1.16 1.19 0.87 1.24 0.86 1.16 127,733,000 142,967,940 -60,380 PX MINING 5.46 5.5 5.35 5.55 5.3 5.5 3,407,500 18,558,947 5,870,055 SEMIRARA MINING 13.48 13.5 12.88 13.52 12.88 13.5 1,528,700 20,386,256 4,697,960 0.006 0.0063 0.0057 0.0063 0.0057 0.0063 22,000,000 135,600 UNITED PARAGON ACE ENEXOR 13.5 13.88 13.5 14.3 12.5 13.88 904,600 12,343,680 -396,900 ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 66,300,000 783,700 ORNTL PETROL B 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 3,100,000 37,200 PHILODRILL 0.011 0.012 0.01 0.012 0.01 0.012 196,500,000 2,041,200 20,000 11.4 11.58 11.12 11.88 11.12 11.4 718,700 8,285,426 -1,790,632.00 PXP ENERGY

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A 100.1 102 100.1 100.1 100.1 100.1 11,020 1,103,102 AC PREF B2R 502 510 514 514 510 510 100 51,040 CPG PREF A 102 103 102 103 102 102 115,000 11,730,700 101 102.6 101 103 101 102.6 540 54,616 DD PREF FGEN PREF G 108.1 112 108 108 108 108 5,500 594,000 -54,000 MWIDE PREF 2B 100 101.4 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.5 100 10,150 PNX PREF 3B 103 104.5 103.6 105 103 105 2,250 232,990 1,007 1,008 1,010 1,010 1,007 1,007 45,605 45,987,110 PNX PREF 4 PCOR PREF 2B 1,006 1,024 1,024 1,024 1,024 1,024 10 10,240 PCOR PREF 3A 1,070 1,073 1,070 1,073 1,070 1,073 1,120 1,198,430 PCOR PREF 3B 1,080 1,109 1,081 1,081 1,080 1,080 100 108,020 1.46 1.76 1.59 1.79 1.42 1.79 8,000 12,950 SFI PREF SMC PREF 2C 78.05 78.85 78.75 78.85 78 78.05 3,480 273,743.50 SMC PREF 2G 75.35 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 4,000 302,000 SMC PREF 2H 75.85 77.8 76 76 76 76 145,600 11,065,600 75.5 76 76.1 76.1 76 76 6,040 459,594 SMC PREF 2J SMC PREF 2K 76 76.25 76 76.25 76 76 223,770 17,031,420 -38,000

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 13.5 13.9 14 14 13.9 13.9 102,500 1,433,980 827,304 GMA HLDG PDR 5.85 5.95 5.98 6 5.8 5.97 729,500 4,357,157 -2,257,581

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 1.02 1.04 1.06 1.06 0.99 1.04 358,000 363,920

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ALTUS PROP 12.38 12.4 12.06 12.56 11.74 12.4 172,900 2,137,404 -179,448 ITALPINAS 3.2 3.25 3.17 3.28 3.1 3.2 3,726,000 11,874,120 32,260 KEPWEALTH 6.4 6.45 6.35 6.45 6.2 6.45 43,300 274,395 2.67 2.7 2.66 2.67 2.66 2.67 174,000 463,540 MAKATI FINANCE MERRYMART 7.42 7.43 7.22 7.64 7.05 7.42 29,548,700 218,422,914 2,836

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 107.5 107.6 106.6 107.9 106.6 107.5 15,210 1,630,788 103,282

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Sy-led BDO braces for surge in bad loans amid pandemic

T

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

@TyronePiad

he current capital levels of BDO Unibank Inc. can withstand bad loans it expects to increase this year as the effects of an economic recession continues to reverberate, a person familiar with the bank’s operations told the BusinessMirror.

The bank has earmarked provisions for the potential surge of nonperforming loans (NPLs)—borrowings left unpaid after the due date—this year.

“We have already booked upfront provisions to cover for pandemicinduced delinquencies, while our internal capital generation is more

than sufficient to fund near-term asset growth,” the person told the BusinessMirror.

“This should keep our capital position comfortably above regulatory requirements.”

Shares in BDO climbed by 7.11 percent, or P7.10, to close at P107 amid the 1.02-percent uptick for

the benchmark index on Thursday.

According to latest data, the bank’s gross NPL ratio stood at 1.97 percent as of end-September last year, with the loan portfolio reaching P2.2 trillion on the back of its corporate and consumer segments.

Total provisions for potential credit losses in January to September last year amounted to P23.8 billion. NPL coverage ratio was at 138 percent in the same period.

BDO has capital adequacy ratio and common equity tier 1 ratio of 14.3 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively, according to the latest report. These figures are above the regulatory minimum requirements.

Capitalization in January to September 2020 reached P378.6 billion, which is nearly 5 percent higher than P362.35 billion in 2019 for the same period.

BDO saw its net income during the period drop by 48 percent to P16.6

billion as it shored up provisions for potential credit loss.

The person familiar with the bank’s finances declined to provide the numbers related to the financial intermediary’s 2020 and 2021 income forecast.

Like other banks, BDO is expected to beef up its digital platforms as mobility, though eased, remains restricted in some areas and subsectors.

The person familiar with the bank’s operations said the bank is addressing capacity issues in its online platforms having received numerous complaints last year. Some customers reported experiencing difficulty accessing their accounts or accomplishing transactions online.

The person said the bank aims to streamline bank operations through re-engineering of business processes, including “robotic process automation.”

Meralco unit buys stake in PFBSI

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

T

he power generation arm of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said on Thursday it spent P158.95 million to acquire a 20-percent shareholding in PowerSource First Bulacan Solar Inc. (PFBSI), a company that is currently constructing a 50-megawatt (MW) solar facility.

Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), through MGreen, acquired the 20-percent share of Sunseap Philippines Solar Holdings Pte Ltd. in PFBSI. With the transaction, MGreen now holds a controlling 60-percent stake in PFBSI. Powersource Energy Holdings Corp. continues to hold 36 percent of the company’s shares and Sunseap with 4 percent.

“The acquisition is in line with MGen’s goal to diversify and increase investment in the renewable energy sector,” a Meralco disclosure read.

PFBSI started developing a 50MW solar farm on a 72-hectare land in December 2019. The P4.25-billion project is expected to start commercial operations sometime in the first quarter this year. Under a power supply agreement PFBSI will sell energy to Meralco.

“The acquisition increases the attributable and net sellable capacity of MGreen, which is in-line with MGen’s goal of building a portfolio of 1,000MW renewable energy projects in the next 5 to 7 years,” the Meralco disclosure read.

MGreen targets around 1,000MW of renewable energy projects over the

‘Bulacan airport, ecozone to benefit entire country’

T

he co-chairman of the House Economic Cluster on Thursday said the enactment of Republic Act (RA) 11506 which grants San Miguel Aerocity Inc. the franchise to construct domestic and international airports in Bulacan is expected to bring economic development in the area.

In a statement, AAMBIS-OWA Rep. Sharon Garin lauded the enactment of RA 11506 as she recognizes the role of the aviation industry as a primary driver of socio-economic growth. The law mandates the grantee to secure the appropriate permits and licenses for the construction, development, establishment, operation and maintenance of its airport properties or facilities from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

Garin, principal author of the law, said the New Manila International Airport (NMIA) to be established is expected to decongest Ninoy International Airport (Naia) and elevate both the passenger experience while maximizing the country’s revenue potential.

“Our country relies heavily on tourism and we want to support the industry by providing better facilities that will be ready to accommodate the expected influx of foreign tourists once this pandemic is over,” she said.

Citing the 2019 report of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Garin added the substantial contribution of the air transport

industry to the Philippines, including airlines and its supply chain, contributing roughly P131 billion to the country’s GDP. On top of this, around 1.2 million jobs are supported by the air transport sector.

Meanwhile, Garin added another proposed measure, House Bill (HB) 7575 or Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Act, is set to complement the newly-enacted law. HB 7575 creates the Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Authority or BACSEZFA, which shall manage and operate the Bulacan Ecozone.

The measure said the BACSEZFA shall have an authorized capital stock of P2 billion no par shares at a minimum issue of P10 each, the majority shares of which shall be subscribed and paid for by the national government and the LGUs embracing the BACSEZFA. Garin said the Bulacan Ecozone shall be equipped with transportation, telecommunications, and other facilities needed to attract legitimate and productive investments, generate linkage industries and employment opportunities for the people of Bulakan and its neighboring towns and cities.

With the proposed measure hurdling third and final reading last September 15 2020, Garin said she remains optimistic that HB 7575 will also be enacted into law before the start of the third regular session. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

next five to seven years. The focus is on the development of a portfolio of utility scale solar, wind and hydro-

mutual funds

power projects to supply Luzon grid and electricity consumers with competitive tariff.

January 7, 2021

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 227.01 -10.07% -8.74% -1.34% 0.09% ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 224.18 -10.75% -9.12% -1.53% -1.16% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.3069 -4.58% -6.52% 2.81% -0.16% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.0982 -14.24% -12.8% -2.85% -0.96% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.7881 -11.4% -8.22% n.a.

-1.6% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.7414 -12.24% n.a. n.a.

-0.01% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.8943 -7.86% -6.86% -1.13% -0.77% -5.17% -1.33% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 0.749 -12.02% -9.43% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 100.15 -4.08% n.a. n.a.

-0.57% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 46.2409 -9.6% -6.97% 0.15% -1.06% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 482.44 -9.22% -6.94% -0.65% -1.16% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5 1.0903 7.11% n.a. n.a.

0.81% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.1555 -9.91% -6.72% 0.03% -0.59% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 34.2975 -9.22% -6.37% 0.67% -0.87% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.902 -11.42% n.a. n.a.

-0.86% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 4.7293 -6.53% 0.9% -1.07% -9.24% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. - a 791.3 -9.03% -6.42% 0.82% -1.05% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.7117 -15.03% -10.25% -3.34% -0.96% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.5809 -14.43% -8.4% -0.91% -1.09% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.9058 -9.27% -6.72% 0.69% -1.07% United Fund, Inc. -a 3.2827 -9.81% -5.8% 1.25% -1.01% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 106.1692 -9.02% -6.18% 1.56% -1.05% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b $1.2704 23.26% 3.67% 8.06% 7.14% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.6794 21.63% 9.5% n.a.

0.61% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.6654 7.02% -4.15% -0.54% -0.03% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.2632 4.61% -3.04% 1.44% -0.71% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.6112 -0.54% -2.13% -0.35% -0.47% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.1974 -13.8% n.a. n.a.

-0.45% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.9595 -0.03% -0.88% 2.04% -0.23% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.7576 -0.68% -1.82% 1.25% -0.68% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 16.8082 -0.69% -1.85% 1.18% -0.62% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 2.0786 -2.15% -2.87% 0.97% -0.68% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.5485 -7.81% -4.25% -0.01% -0.42% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 1.0194 0.54% n.a. n.a.

-0.21% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.9389 -5.57% n.a. n.a.

-0.9% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.9224 -6.92% n.a. n.a.

-0.95% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.8775 -9.58% -5.15% -0.85% -1.1% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03924 2.45% 2.79% 2.09% 0.26% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b $1.1842 14.04% 3.26% 6.46% 3.64% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $4.5241 15.46% 7.13% 8.11% 0.5% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.2046 8.49% 4.01% n.a.

0.42% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 371.1 3.69% 3.25% 2.82% 0.02% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.9009 -0.12% -0.03% 0.09% 0.04% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.2149 3.1% 4.46% 4.8% 0.04% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2969 3.23% 2.98% 2.38% 0.02% 0.01% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.453 4.06% 3.36% 2.13% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.6341 6.08% 4.54% 3.05% 0.05% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a,6 1.3212 5.24% 4.5% 2.72% 0.02% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.9979 5.59% 4.48% 2.94% -0.06% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0419 8.25% 4.08% 2.63% 0.04% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.206 4.39% 4.88% 3.48% 0.18% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.7535 3.41% 4.18% 2.85% -0.03% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $484.15 3.29% 2.77% 2.9% 0.08% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є219.46 -0.17% 0.87% 1.24% 0.14% 6.36% 4.26% 3.26% 0.39% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2854 First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0266 2.7% 2.09% 1.83% 0% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.0951 -0.26% 0.65% 0.89% 0.2% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.5366 5.31% 4.03% 3.64% 0.1% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.062342 3.23% 2.91% 2.36% -0.11% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.2263 0.93% 2.26% 2.49% 0.12% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 129.86 3.14% 3.35% 2.59% 0.05% 0.02% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0482 1.64% n.a. n.a.

Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.297 2.51% 2.98% 2.61% 0.04% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0526 1.45% 1.76% n.a.

0.02% Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a,d,7 1.1296 n.a. n.a. n.a.

1.4% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,2 $0.99 n.a. n.a. n.a.

1.02%

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 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

TheWorld

World leaders react with alarm at scenes of U.S. Capitol in chaos

W

orld leaders voiced alarm over a proTrump mob’s breach of the US Capitol, with the UK and Australia calling for a peaceful transfer of power and allies in Europe calling the protesters’ actions an attack on democracy.

“Disgraceful scenes in US Congress,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted after President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the building.

Although well known for his admiration of the outgoing president, the British leader said “it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.”

Another leader who has previously voiced support of Trump, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, called the scenes “very distressing” and said he was looking forward to a peaceful transfer of power.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a radio interview that his government was “concerned.” “We’re following the situation minute by minute as it unfolds,” he said. Japan, one of the US’s most powerful allies in Asia, was watching “with concern” the situation at the US Capitol, chief government spokesman Katsunobu Kato told reporters.

Their comments came after President-elect Joe Biden used a Wednesday speech to urge Americans to “think what the rest of the world is looking at” when they viewed the chaotic scenes from Washington.

While some European lawmakers issued statements backing US institutions and its democracy to overcome the turmoil, others were more condemning of the president and his supporters.

“The enemies of democracy will rejoice at

these unbelievable images out of Washington,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

“Inflammatory words reap violent deeds.” Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said “shame on those who have incited this attack on democracy.”

Carl Bildt, co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said his “sincere hope is that the evil man who bears the responsibility ultimately will suffer the consequences.”

Other leaders on friendly terms with Trump played down their comments.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro told supporters outside the presidential palace in Brasilia that he stood by Trump. Bolsonaro has been a staunch backer of Trump, ditching Brazil’s multilateral approach to foreign policy to fully align his country to the US. “You know I am connected to Trump, you know my response,” he said, adding that there “have been many reports of fraud” in the US election.

Bolsonaro also said he believed the 2018 Brazilian election—which he won in a runoff—was riddled with fraud. “There was fraud during mine. I should have won in the first round,” he said.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, who considers himself a political ally of Trump, refrained from any criticism of the US leader, saying in a tweet the events in Washington were an “internal affair” and that power depended on the will of the voters.

Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in Washington reminded its nationals living in the US to step up their safety precautions. China’s government in Beijing didn’t immediately issue a direct response to the mob violence, but initial news reports on state media emphasized the chaos emanating from Washington. Bloomberg News

Pence defies Trump, says he can’t reject electoral votes

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Vice President Mike Pence officiate as a joint session of the House and Senate convenes to confirm the Electoral College votes cast in November’s election, at the Capitol in Washington on January 6. Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via AP

W

ASHINGTON—Infuriating President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged Wednesday he does not have the power to throw out the electoral votes that will make Democrat Joe Biden the next president, dashing Trump’s baseless hopes that Pence somehow could find a way to keep them in office.

Pence, under intense pressure from Trump and his allies to overturn the election results, issued a lengthy statement laying out his conclusion that a vice president cannot claim “unilateral authority” to reject states’ electoral votes.

“It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not,” Pence wrote in a letter to members of Congress before he gaveled in the joint session of Congress.

In a remarkable moment underscoring the dramatic split between Trump and his once most loyal lieutenant, Pence released the statement just after he arrived at the Capitol to tally the electoral votes and even as the president was telling thousands of supporters gathered near the White House that Pence could overturn those results.

“If Mike Pence does the right thing we win the election,”Trump told supporters, who later marched through Washington and stormed the Capitol.

Trump tweeted his disapproval of Pence after returning to the White House.

“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,” he wrote. “USA demands the truth!”

After losing court case after court case, and with no further options at hand, Trump and his allies had spent days in a futile bid to convince Pence—and his legion of supporters—that the vice president had the power to reject electors from battleground states that voted for Biden.

He doesn’t. The Constitution makes clear that the vice president’s role in the joint session is largely ceremonial, much like a master of ceremonies.

While Pence allies had made clear that he intended to defy Trump, the vice president’s public statement was nonetheless a significant departure for Pence, who has spent the last four years defending the president and carefully avoiding his ire.

Enraging Trump risks compromising Pence’s carefully plotted political future. Pence is eyeing

a run for the White House in 2024 and had banked on his years of loyalty to Trump to help him stand out in what is expected to be a crowded field. Even out of office, Trump is expected to remain the de facto leader of the Republican Party and a political kingmaker for years to come.

Trump spent much of Wednesday consumed with anger over Pence’s action, even as violent protesters swarmed the US Capitol, forcing lawmakers into hiding and grinding the proceedings to a halt. Even as the violence unfolded, most of Trump’s attention was devoted to Pence, according to a White House official who spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

Pence was ushered out of the Senate chamber to a secure location as protesters breached the building. And it was the vice president, not Trump, who spoke with the acting defense secretary to discuss mobilizing the D.C. National Guard on Wednesday afternoon.

Pence made clear in his three-page letter that he would follow the Constitution, not the commander in chief, no matter the political repercussions. He acknowledged a vice president has no unilateral power under the Constitution and the congressional rules that govern the Electoral College tally. The rules make clear it is up to members of the House and Senate to voice objections and assess their merits.

And so, as Trump’s rally continued in the bitter cold, Pence opened the proceedings and began to open the certificates of the electoral votes from each state and present them to the appointed “tellers” from the House and Senate in alphabetical order.

The process was soon put on emergency hold as protesters broke into the Capitol, overwhelmed police and forced the evacuation of the vice president and members of Congress.

“The violence and destruction taking place at the US Capitol Must Stop and it Must Stop Now,” Pence later tweeted. “Anyone involved must respect Law Enforcement officers and immediately leave the building.”

When the count ultimately ends, Pence will then have the task of announcing the contests’ winners and formalizing his own defeat.

Despite claims by Trump and his allies, there was not widespread fraud in the election. This has been confirmed by a range of election officials and

by William Barr, who stepped down as attorney general last month. Neither Trump nor any of the lawmakers promising to object to the count have presented credible evidence that would change the outcome. AP

BusinessMirror

Friday, January 8, 2021

B3

Violent pro-Trump mob storms US Capitol in bid to overturn election

W

ASHINGTON—A violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday and forced lawmakers into hiding, in a stunning attempt to overturn America’s presidential election, undercut the nation’s democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House.

The nation’s elected representatives scrambled to crouch under desks and don gas marks, while police futilely tried to barricade the building, one of the most jarring scenes ever to unfold in a seat of American political power. A woman was shot and killed inside the Capitol, and Washington’s mayor instituted an evening curfew in an attempt to contain the violence.

The rioters were egged on by Trump, who has spent weeks falsely attacking the integrity of the election and had urged his supporters to descend on Washington to protest Congress’ formal approval of Biden’s victory. Some Republican lawmakers were in the midst of raising objections to the results on his behalf when the proceedings were abruptly halted by the mob.

Together, the protests and the GOP election objections amounted to an almost unthinkable challenge to American democracy and exposed the depths of the divisions that have coursed through the country during Trump’s four years in office. Though the efforts to block Biden from being sworn in on January 20 were sure to fail, the support Trump has received for his efforts to overturn the election results have badly strained the nation’s democratic guardrails.

Congress reconvened in the evening, lawmakers decrying the protests that defaced the Capitol and vowing to finish confirming the Electoral College vote for Biden’s election, even if it took all night. Shortly before 11 p.m., senators soundly defeated, by a 93-6 vote, the first objection, to election results from Arizona that had been raised by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.

Vice President Mike Pence, reopening the Senate, directly addressed the demonstrators: “You did not win.”

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the “failed insurrection” underscored lawmakers’ duty to confirm the vote. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would show the world

“what America is made of ” by finishing the count.

The president gave his supporters a boost into action Wednesday morning at a rally outside the White House, where he urged them to march to the Capitol. He spent much of the afternoon in his private dining room off the Oval Office watching scenes of the violence on television. At the urging of his staff, he reluctantly issued a pair of tweets and a taped video telling his supporters it was time to “go home in peace”—yet he still said he backed their cause.

Hours later, Twitter for the first time locked Trump’s account, demanded that he remove tweets excusing violence and threatened “permanent suspension.”

A somber President-elect Biden, two weeks away from being inaugurated, said American democracy was “under unprecedented assault, “ a sentiment echoed by many in Congress, including some Republicans. Former President George W. Bush said he watched the events in “disbelief and dismay.”

The domed Capitol building has for centuries been the scene of protests and occasional violence. But Wednesday’s events were particularly astounding both because they unfolded at least initially with the implicit blessing of the president and because of the underlying goal of overturning the results of a free and fair presidential election.

Tensions were already running high when lawmakers gathered early Wednesday afternoon for the constitutionally mandated counting of the Electoral College results, in which Biden defeated Trump, 306 -232.

Despite pleas from Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, more than 150 GOP lawmakers planned to support objections to some of the results, though lacking evidence of fraud or wrongdoing in the election.

Trump spent the lead-up to the proceedings publicly hectoring Pence, who had a largely ceremonial role, to aid the effort to throw out the results.

People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the US Capitol on Wednesday, January 6 in Washington. AP/Andrew Harnik He tweeted: “Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!”

But Pence, in a statement shortly before presiding, defied Trump, saying he could not claim “unilateral authority” to reject the electoral votes that make Biden president.

In the aftermath, several Republicans announced they would drop their objections to the election, including Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., who lost her bid for reelection Tuesday.

Earlier, protesters had fought past police and breached the building, shouting and waving Trump and American flags as they marched through the halls. Lawmakers were told to duck under their seats for cover and put on gas masks after tear gas was used in the Capitol Rotunda. Some House lawmakers tweeted they were sheltering in place in their offices.

Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., told reporters he was in the House chamber when rioters began storming it.

Security officers “made us all get down, you could see that they were fending off some sort of assault.” He said they had a piece of furniture up against the door. “And they had guns pulled,” Peters said.

“And they just told us to take our pins off,” he added, referring to lapel pins members wear so Capitol Police can quickly identify them. Then the lawmakers were evacuated.

Staff members grabbed the boxes of Electoral College votes as the evacuation took place. Otherwise, said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the ballots likely would have been destroyed by the protesters.

The woman who was killed was part of a crowd that was breaking down the doors to a barricaded room where armed officers stood on the other side, police said. She was struck in the chest and sent to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Officials believe she was struck by law enforcement but were investigating.

Trump supporters posting on Internet forums popular with far-right

EU commission greenlights Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine

A

MSTERDAM—The European Union’s executive commission gave the green light on Wednesday to Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine, providing the 27-nation bloc with a second vaccine to use in the desperate battle to tame the virus rampaging across the continent.

The European Commission granted conditional marketing authorization for the vaccine. The decision came against a backdrop of high infection rates in many EU countries and strong criticism of the slow pace of vaccinations across the region of some 450 million people.

“We are providing more Covid-19 vaccines for Europeans.

With the Moderna vaccine, the second one now authorized in the EU, we will have a further 160 million doses. And more vaccines will come,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.

The EMA recommended the conditional authorization following a meeting earlier Wednesday.

“This vaccine provides us with another tool to overcome the current emergency,” said EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke. “It is a testament to the efforts and commitment of all involved that we have this second positive vaccine recommendation just short of a year since the pandemic was declared by WHO.” The EMA last month granted the same conditional approval to a coronavirus vaccine made by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. Both vaccines require giving people two shots.

The EU has ordered 80 million doses of the Moderna vaccine with an option for a further 80 million. The bloc also has committed to buying 300 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides said that the vaccine authorization “will ensure that 460 million doses will be rolled out with increasing speed in the EU, and more will come. Member States have to ensure that the pace of vaccinations follows suit.”

German Health Minister Jens Spahn—who has in the past been critical of the slow pace of the EMA—said shortly before the announcement of the EMA authorization that he expected the Moderna vaccine to begin rolling out to EU nations next week.

Germany would get 2 million doses in the first quarter and 50 million in all of 2021, Spahn told reporters in Berlin.

“The problem is the shortage of production capacity with global demand,” he said.

Spahn said that if further vaccines beyond the BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna shots are approved in the EU, “we’ll be able to offer everyone in Germany a vaccine by the summer.”

He insisted that the strategy of bulk-buying for the entire bloc had been the right one as it had given manufacturers certainty to go ahead with production and ensured fair distribution among all the 27 EU countries.

Early results of large, still unfinished studies show both the Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines appear safe and strongly protective, although Moderna’s is easier to handle since it doesn’t need to be stored at ultra-frozen temperatures.

The EU agency gave the green light to use the Moderna vaccine on people age 18 year and above. It said side effects “were usually mild or moderate and got better within a few days after vaccination.”

The most common side effects are “pain and swelling at the injection site, tiredness, chills, fever, swollen or tender lymph nodes under the arm, headache, muscle and joint pain, nausea and vomiting,” the EMA said.

Cook stressed that EU authorities “will closely monitor data on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine to ensure ongoing protection of the EU public. Our work will always be guided by the scientific evidence and our commitment to safeguard the health of EU citizens.”

The United States, Canada and Israel have already authorized use of the Moderna vaccine. The US gave it the green light for emergency use in people over 18 years on December 18, followed

by Canada five days later with an interim authorization also for people over 18. Israel authorized the vaccine on Monday.

Moderna said Monday that it is increasing its estimate for global vaccine production in 2021 from 500 to 600 million doses.

The company said it is “continuing to invest and add staff to build up to potentially 1 billion doses for 2021.” AP

fringe elements celebrated the chaos.

Messages posted on one turned from profane frustration over the content of Trump’s speech to glee when supporters stormed the building. At least one leading figure was livestreaming video from inside the Capitol during the siege.

The mob’s storming of Congress prompted outrage, mostly from Democrats but from Republicans as well, as lawmakers accused Trump of fomenting the violence with his relentless falsehoods about election fraud.

“Count me out,” said Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “Enough is enough.”

Several suggested that Trump be prosecuted for a crime, which seemed unlikely two weeks from when his term expires.

“I think Donald Trump probably should be brought up on treason for something like this,” Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., told reporters. “This is how a coup is started. And this is how democracy dies.”

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., who’s at times clashed with Trump, issued a statement saying, “Lies have consequences. This violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the President’s addiction to constantly stoking division.”

Despite Trump’s repeated claims of voter fraud, election officials and his own former attorney general have said there were no problems on a scale that would change the outcome. All the states have certified their results as fair and accurate, by Republican and Democratic officials alike.

The Pentagon said about 1,100 District of Columbia National Guard members were being mobilized to help support law enforcement at the Capitol.

More than a dozen people were arrested.

As darkness fell, law enforcement officers worked their way toward the protesters, using percussion grenades to clear the area around the Capitol. Big clouds of tear gas were visible. Police in full riot gear moved down the steps, clashing with demonstrators. AP

Twitter, Facebook lock Trump’s account amid Capitol violence

I

n an unprecedented step, Facebook and Twitter suspended President Donald Trump from posting to their platforms on Wednesday following the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters.

Twitter locked Trump out of his account for 12 hours and said that future violations by Trump could result in a permanent suspension. The company required the removal of three of Trump’s tweets, including a short video in which he urged those supporters to “go home” while also repeating falsehoods about the integrity of the presidential election. Trump’s account deleted those posts, Twitter said; had they remained, Twitter had threatened to extend his suspension.

Facebook and Instagram, which Facebook owns, followed up in the evening, announcing that Trump wouldn’t be able to post for 24 hours following two violations of its policies. The White House did not immediately offer a response to the actions.

While some cheered the platforms’ actions, experts noted that the companies’ actions follow years of hemming and hawing on Trump and his supporters spreading dangerous misinformation and encouraging violence that have contributed to Wednesday’s violence.

Jennifer Grygiel, a Syracuse University communications professor and an expert on social media, said Wednesday’s events in Washington, D.C. are a direct result of Trump’s use of social-media to spread propaganda and disinformation, and that the platforms should bear some responsibility for their inaction.

“This is what happens,” said Grygiel. “We didn’t just see a breach at the Capitol. Social media platforms have been breached by the president repeatedly. This is disinformation. This was a coup attempt in the United States.”

Grygiel said the platform’s decision to remove the video—and Twitter’s suspension—are too little, too late.

“They’re creeping along towards firmer action,” Grygiel said, calling Trump “Exhibit A” for the need for greater regulation of social media. “Social media is complicit in this because he has repeatedly used social media to incite violence. It’s a culmination of years of propaganda and abuse of media by the president of the United States.”

Trump posted that video more than two hours after protesters entered the Capitol, interrupting lawmakers meeting in an extraordinary joint session to confirm the Electoral College results and President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. AP

B4

Friday, January 8, 2021 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

Relationships BusinessMirror

That was one weird Christmas

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

z

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Cynthia Erivo, 34; Gaby Hoffmann, 39; Sarah Polley, 42; Shirley Bassey, 84.

Happy Birthday: Opportunities are heading your way. Concentrate on professional gains, investment opportunities and finding new ways to use your skills.

Take physical action to ensure that you get things done according to your specification. A personal relationship will undergo a positive change that will make your life more manageable. Make physical improvements, and you’ll create an opportunity to start something new. Your numbers are 8, 12, 18, 26, 30, 37, 44.

C

HRISTMAS 2020 was probably the weirdest in all our years on this good earth. Take a bow, Covid-19.

I, for one, stayed away from Big Sis and her family in the south because she and her husband are seniors. We belong to different bubbles, mine particularly being Quezon City, the main Covid-19 hotspot in the country due to the sheer size of the city and its dense population. So I didn’t want to unwittingly bring in the Covid cooties to their home.

Similarly, they have househelp coming in and out of their house from god knows where, and my eldest niece goes to her office regularly, so I wouldn’t know if they, in turn, had picked up any elements of the virus from their sojourns outside. With my asthma having flared up again this chilly and rainy season, I didn’t want to take any chances with my health. (As you know, I’ve rarely strayed away from my apartment, unless I have an urgent errand or have to go on quick food-buying trips to the wet market.)

I prepared the typical media noche fare in my own tiny dining area, just for myself. All I needed was to tick off the boxes for the traditional family menu, even if we weren’t going to be together for Christmas—thick hot chocolate stirred swiftly in the batirol, queso de bola-topped ensaimada (still slightly shocked that Mary Grace’s buns have become more pricey than Cunanans!), chicken galantina (stuffed chicken steamed or poached and served cold, not to be confused with a chicken relleno, which is roasted), and a baked cheesy lasagna gifted by a friend.

A few days before Christmas Eve, I had already sent over my presents for the family in the south through my youngest niece. I didn’t want to be remiss in my auntie or ninang duties, as I try to follow in my own Ninang Sally’s footsteps, who never ever failed to send a me Christmas present even when I had already graduated from college and had started working.

Ninang Sally only stopped sending me gifts when I started giving her holiday presents, which probably made her realize that her godmotherly duties to me had finally come to an end as I tried to make my own way in the big bad world.

So on Christmas Eve, the family got together to eat media noche, albeit online, through the wonders of technology. Aside from me, a niece who works in Abu Dhabi, the daughter of my late brother, had joined us

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Keep your life simple. Refuse to let outside influences interfere with your plans. Look at the possibilities, and consider what you have time to pursue and what will bring you the highest return. HHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): When uncertainty sets in, take a step back. There is no point in taking a risk that can influence your income, reputation or status. Channel your energy into personal growth, physical fitness and selfimprovement. Romance is on the rise. HHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Research, ask questions, check facts and be reluctant to act in haste. Time is on your side, and making the right decision will save time and money. A partnership will interest you, but don’t get involved in a joint financial venture. HHH

also for the online reunion.

All I can say is that it was strange, getting together like that. We started on Webex (because Zoom has a time limit for meetings) and I couldn’t get the sound to come out on my bluetooth speaker even if the blasted thing was already connected to my iPad. The volume from my iPad and on my mobile phone, to which I had switched over, was just too soft and weak.

Big Sis and family were blurry as the video often lagged, and apparently I said “Can you hear me?” or “Can you see me?” so many times that I ended up even annoying myself. So we then switched to Facebook Messenger, which was more stable but still not good enough to give us clear video and sound. By the time we got that to work, everyone was too busy eating.

There was no excited chattering among us, as one would normally expect for people who had not seen each other for the longest time.

The online conversation was mostly between me and my niece abroad, who had to sometimes disappear from view, being on the constant lookout for her boss who might find out she was on a video chat. Oddly enough, even if she was on the other side of the world, our audiovisual connection to her was much clearer compared to the connection between my home and those who lived in the south.

Of course, if Mama and Papa were alive today, they would probably be rolling their eyes at these tech connection problems. After all, to them Christmas

2020 would not have been all that stressful, having spent bleaker and rougher holidays during World War II and the Japanese Occupation, when they didn’t know if they would face the bayonet the next day for the slightest misstep, like forgetting to bow to the Japanese soldiers along the road.

So putting that into perspective, I guess that, yes, it wasn’t as bad as we really thought it would be.

And there is so much more to look forward to now in 2021, notwithstanding disappointments and dreary politicking all over the country. The Covid vaccine will finally become available, albeit much delayed in our shores due to some effed-up bureaucratic mess.

But we will get our hands on it somehow, and that will temper the pandemic. The economy will further reopen while we finally get our lives back on track.

It won’t probably be back to pre-pandemic normal as we would like it to be, but enough to regain our sanity, get back to the real work that has been amiss, and reunite with families and friends. What I’ve missed most of all, beyond the four-hour lunches with friends, breathing in the polluted-free air in a beach somewhere, and just being able to leave the house at a drop of a hat, are the hugs and kisses, as well as the incessant kulitan among family and friends. Unsocially distanced human contact and affection is a great goal for all of us for 2021.

Cheers to the New Year, folks. Wishing you all love, peace, and good health. n

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A change someone makes will take you by surprise. Be hesitant to participate if you have any doubts. Time is on your side, and in the end, taking a conservative approach will end up being to your advantage. HH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Make selfimprovement a priority. Set up a workout space or find a spot to make videos doing something that can help you launch a side business.

Use your imagination and intelligence to get ahead.

Romance is on the rise. HHHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Refuse to let anyone push you around. Stand up for your rights, offer facts and proceed with your plans.

An opportunity to make an adjustment at home that will encourage peace over discord is encouraged. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You’ll be anxious to make a move. Consider the pros and cons. If you move too quickly, you will overlook an important detail that can be costly. Let your intuition guide you and your energy and fortitude help you achieve your goal. HHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): An unusual set of circumstances regarding a friend or relative will put you in a position of power.

Do what’s right; handle matters reasonably. Your outstanding performance will merit rewards. HHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Consider what will make you happy, and head in that direction.

You are the master of your destiny. The decisions you make will determine how well you do. Put your energy where it counts, and you’ll discover what you can accomplish all by yourself. HHHH

Donation to frontliners TO complement the philanthropic missions of civic, non-governmental organizations, private and government sectors, Germanlanguage. ph Llc (www.germanlanguage.ph), the online German language school based in the Yerevan City, Armenia, in cooperation with Landbase Human Resources Co., has donated face masks, face shields, eco bags and food packs and other paraphernalia to the frontliners of the Region I Medical Center in Dagupan City, Pangasinan, in a project, dubbed “Charity Donation to Frontliners: We Heal as One— School Built with Nurses, for Nurses,”

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Explore new possibilities. Don’t shy away from building a strong union with someone who can contribute to your plans. A change that comes about will turn out better than anticipated. Don’t make an unnecessary fuss. Romance is encouraged. HHHHH

on November 30. This is the second mission conducted by the German language school. Its first mission was launched on September 15 in Rizal Province: Rizal Provincial Hospital (Morong Annex), Queen Mary Help of Christians Hospital, Saint Therese Medical Center, Adramedix Diagnostic and Medical Center, and Tanay General Hospital.

In photo are the German school’s volunteers Jonathan Oca, Cynthia Oca, Christian Caberto, Alvin Solis and Norman Datu turning over the donation to frontliners of the hospital in Dagupan City, Pangasinan.

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Pick a direction, consider what you do well and enjoy, and turn it into a profitable venture.

Take the initiative; refuse to let obstacles stand in your way. Be inventive and you will discover alternative means to get where you want to go. HH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Use your connections to help you put your plan in motion. Your ability to articulate what you want to do and offer a sound deal that attracts attention will lead to your success. HHHHH Birthday Baby: You are active, ambitious and persistent.

You are appealing and protective.

‘critical thinking’ by kyra wilson The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Highway roller?

4 Cozy inn, informally 9 Feature of a fire station 13 Plumbing problem 15 1960s activist Hoffman 16 18-Down, to Gabriel Garcia Marquez 17 Series of remarks like “Your message is loaded with typos!”?

19 Golden Rule word 20 Cause of kids’ eye rolls, perhaps 21 “This is heavenly!”

23 Jakarta’s Indonesian island 24 Victimizes, with “on” 25 Part of an act 27 Series of remarks like “Mary never liked you much anyway!”?

31 Ripped 32 Present topper 33 Mother of the Shakers (rhymes with “Stanley”) 34 Students’ cards, briefly 35 Bit of gel 36 Suffix for “percent” 37 Belg. neighbor

8 An insect may smell with one 3 40 IM chortle 41 Secretive “Hey!” 42 Series of remarks like “Your donut tastes awful!”?

44 Word after “wild” or “educated” 45 Skin exfoliant 46 Fender blemish 47 “Bet you can’t beat me!”

50 “Do my eyes deceive me?”

53 Inactive 54 Series of remarks like “Your sonnet is 11 on the boring meter!”?

56 12 p.m.

57 “Quick!”

58 Captain’s place 59 Crafts’ partner 60 Restroom division 61 Handyperson’s initials DOWN 1 Sent a dupe to 2 ___ mater 3 Away game attire 4 Braided cake 5 Up to the task

6 Org. for Steph Curry 7 Take weapons from 8 Golf mantra from “Caddyshack” 9 Sarah of Ratched 10 Upscale hotel chain 11 Boatloads 12 Cupid, to the Greeks 14 1997 film about a woman who trains to be a Navy SEAL 18 Passionate feeling 22 Rose who played Gloria Steinem 24 Cat’s foot 25 Leave no tip for 26 Tech start-up employee 27 Toss with a high arc 28 “Done moving in?”

29 Children’s Dr.?

30 What some prefer to phone calls 32 Charts with rectangles 35 Dame Judi 36 Particle like Na+ 39 Pays attention 40 Chemist’s workplace 41 Say “No TV for a week” to, perhaps 43 Extinguish

44 Millennials, briefly 46 Hannah of Splash 47 Comedian Fey 48 Febreze target 49 Scheme 50 Lower-left PC key 51 Denpasar’s Indonesian island 52 Award for Schitt’s Creek 55 Softball pitcher’s stat Solution to Tuesday’s puzzle:

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Show BusinessMirror

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Friday, January 8, 2021

B5

ABS-CBN hoping for franchise renewal in 2021 R

IGHT now, while I’m still burping up gaseous reminders of all the food I gobbled up and all the scotch whiskey I swigged during the holidays, I decided that 2021 will be a better year for me than the sh*tstorm that was 2020. It’s got to be.

I tried thinking up of New Year’s resolutions to match with the better-year mantra I got going. So I thought of all the people I follow on social media whose lives seem to be perfect and how I would want to emulate them this year. Like Tootsy EchauzAngara. She always looks fabulous while managing to devote time to her adorable family and her flourishing career. Plus, her house always looks spotless, her clothes always on point, and all the food she posts seem so lavish yet she doesn’t gain a single pound.

And so after five seconds of scrolling and stalking her account, I realized it will take me at least three lifetimes to achieve the glamour of her toenail. That’s when I decided to forego my resolutions and look elsewhere on how to make 2021 a rockin’ one.

So I decided to scroll through social media some more and that’s when I found out how 2021 will be a rockin’ one for me, all thanks to Senate President Tito Sotto and beloved Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto. You see, they both expressed support for the renewal of the franchise of ABS-CBN. Sen. Sotto filed a bill on January 4 stating “ABSCBN is still the top choice of viewers in the Philippines

as its viewers nationwide prefer to catch relevant news and inspiring TV series on ABS-CBN as the network registered an average audience share of 45 percent or 14 points higher than GMA’s 31 percent.

ABS-CBN’s wide reach to Filipinos, alongside the undeniable advantages of broadcast media relative to mass communication, definitely calls for the

immediate renewal of the network’s franchise.”

Meanwhile, Ate Vi is going to file a bill soon citing that once the franchise is renewed, she hopes it will create more jobs and help promote competition among TV networks. She also noted that the far reach of ABS-CBN in regions during calamities is of big help and further wishes that congress will act immediately

on Sotto’s bill.

I am fervently hoping that ABS-CBN will have its franchise renewed as the Kapamilya Network is set to release a number of projects including a much-awaited Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla comeback (an epic series about love in different time periods) and the big screen reunion of Bea Alonzo and John Lloyd Cruz.

Also in the pipeline are Darna: The TV Series starring Jane de Leon, and Huwag Ka Mangamba, an inspirational series starring The Gold Squad Francine Diaz, Andrea Brillantes, Kyle Echerri and Seth Fedelin. Other offerings of the Kapamilya Network are Init sa Magdamag starring Yam Concepcion, JM de Guzman and Gerald Anderson; La Vida Lena with Erich Gonzales and JC de Vera; and Almost Paradise, an American produced TV series shot entirely in the Philippines.

Variety show Your Face Sounds Familiar will also return for another season hosted by Luis Manzano.

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN will still produce movies, and among the films to watch out for are those headlined by KathNiel, Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, and Vice Ganda. And then of course, there’s the big-screen reunion of John Lloyd and Bea, titled No Goodbyes, to be directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina.

Other films slated for 2021 are Princess DayaReese starring Maymay Entrata and Edward Barber; Hello Stranger The Movie starring Tony Labrusca and JC Alcantara; Love or Money starring Angelica Panganiban and Coco Martin; Soul Sistahs starring Karla Estrada, Melai Cantiveros and Jolina Magdangal; Keys to the Hearts starring Zaijian Jaranilla and Sharon Cuneta; and Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan starring Joshua Garcia.

Meanwhile, on iWantTFC, new series and movies will also be streamed, such as Count Your Lucky Stars with Jerry Yan, Tenement 66 starring Francine Diaz, Hoy...I Love You with Joross Gamboa and Roxanne Guinoo, the Thai BL series A Tale of a Thousand Stars, and Unloving U starring Loisa Andalio and Ronnie Alonte. n

Trebek urges support for Covid-19 victims in one of last shows

GMA sparks hope in new year with new programs, offerings MEDIA giant GMA offers a beacon of hope this 2021 with a stellar roster of exciting new programs and offerings, kick-starting the lineup for its afternoon block with the return of Magkaagaw featuring recap and fresh episodes to ring in the new year.

The top-rating soap is the high-rating soap top-billed

by Sunshine Dizon, Klea Pineda, Jeric Gonzales, and Sheryl Cruz. Next up is the heart-tugging Babawiin Ko ang Lahat topbilled by John Estrada and Carmina Villaroel and, in her first starring role, Pauline Mendoza. The well-loved tandem of Rita Daniela and Ken Chan return to the small screen with Ang Dalawang Ikaw, joined by newcomer Ana Vicente.

Also set to launch in the afternoon block is the TV adaptation of the 1988 award-winning film Nagbabagang Luha starring Glaiza de Castro, Rayver Cruz, introducing Claire Castro, with Mike Tan. Viewers should also watch out for the riveting legal drama Artikulo 247; the multilayered rivalry of three sisters in Las Hermanas; the weekly drama series Love Connections; and the story of the little person who one day discovers that she is an heiress despite growing up from a poor family in Little Princess.

In the prime-time block, the rivalry between friendsturned-mortal-enemies continues in the recap and fresh episodes of Anak ni Waray vs. Anak ni Biday, top-billed by Barbie Forteza and Kate Valdez, together with Migo Adecer and seasoned actresses Snooky Serna and Dina Bonnevie.

Viewers can also look forward to the romantic comedy series First Yaya, headlined by Gabby Concepcion with Pancho Magno, Maxine Medina, Pilar Pilapil, Cassy Legaspi, JD Domagoso, and Sanya Lopez in the title role. It follows the story of the Vice President of the Philippines (Gabby) who will later assume the presidency and his blossoming romance with Yaya Melody, the nanny of his children.

Another breakthrough cultural drama series from GMA this 2021 is Legal Wives, where the award-winning Dennis Trillo takes on the challenging role of Ishmael, a Maranaw Muslim royalty who has three wives portrayed by talented actresses Alice Dixson, Andrea Torres, and Bianca Umali.

Portraying an equally important role is internationally acclaimed actress Cherie Gil. Lovi Poe and Benjamin Alves are reunited on prime time

via the romantic comedy series Owe My Love. Produced by GMA Public Affairs, the series tells the story of a financially illiterate woman and a miserly but successful doctor and financial advisor whose lives intertwine when the former gets indebted to the latter.

GMA Public Affairs is also set to bring its biggest actionadventure series to date with Lolong. Bannered by Ruru Madrid, the series is inspired by the world’s largest crocodile in captivity of the same name. Joining Ruru in the series are Arra San Agustin and Shaira Diaz.

Sure to keep viewers glued to the screen every weeknight is the sweeping romance drama I Left My Heart in Sorsogon, starring Heart Evangelista-Escudero. It tells the story of a young woman whose status as a fashion socialite is shaken after returning to her hometown, rediscovering her roots, and rekindling her love for family, community, and an ex-flame.

The public will also be delighted with the return of the exceptional and one-of-a-kind drama anthology I Can See You featuring the biggest and brightest GMA stars. This ground-breaking program pivots on its common visual storytelling mnemonic device which is the use of a camera as a witness to the tales of love and mystery from everyday people. Other upcoming soaps to look forward to on GMA prime time are To Have & To Hold, where a man searches for answers about his wife’s secret affair but soon realizes he’s falling for the spouse of his wife’s lover; and World Between Us, in which a principled man gets wronged by the people he considers as family.

On weekends, adventure awaits viewers in the actionpacked family drama Agimat ng Agila featuring Sen. Bong Revilla Jr. together with Sanya Lopez, Roi Vinzon, Benjie Paras, Allen Dizon, Seth dela Cruz, and Elizabeth Oropesa.

GMA’s all-original singing competition is also set to return with The Clash Season 4; while the quest to find the Bida Kid is back on Centerstage, hosted by no less than Alden Richards with Betong Sumaya as cohost.

Everyday people will take on the challenge of a lifetime in Catch Me Out Philippines, an exciting show based on the UK original where the greatest pretender wins. It is hosted

by Jose Manalo with Kakai Bautista and Derrick Monasterio.

Viewers are also in for a treat with new program offerings from GMA News TV. Travel back in time and have a taste of the past via the fantasy-romance series The Lost Recipe. The first locally produced daily prime-time show on GMA News TV, it features the fresh pairing of Mikee Quintos and Kelvin Miranda.

Together, the fast-rising actors are set to make hearts flutter as they entice viewers to try the new taste of Pinoy drama.

Weekend nights are bound to get more amusing via Flex, where Gen Z stars Mavy Legaspi, Lexi Gonzales, JD Domagoso and Althea Ablan take the spotlight to celebrate their authentic selves through comedy, music and a variety of wholesome get-together activities.

Fall in love with the charming story of Heartful Café, which follows the life of a café owner and online romance novelist named Heart and her journey towards finding her own match. It stars Julie Anne San Jose alongside David Licauco and Andre Paras.

The much-awaited onscreen team-up of real-life couple Gabbi Garcia and Khalil Ramos is all set in the romance-mystery mini-series Love You Stranger. It is about a film designer whose love for her sick mother drives her to look into the existence of a shadow figure from folklore. Her life serendipitously changes when she gets to work on a film about the said folklore with a charming young director. Their filmmaking journey leads them to discover truths about the shadow creature and each other.

Asianovela fans should also stay tuned for an exciting lineup of well-loved Asian dramas including the heartstirring Koreanovela Fates and Furies, The Romantic Doctor 2, Backstreet Rookie, Doctor John, Penthouse, and Bad Genius The Series; plus critically acclaimed local films and blockbuster international films.

Finally, the country’s leading network returns to sports broadcasting as GMA signs a landmark deal with the National Collegiate Athletic Associatio, the Philippines’s first athletic league, for NCAA Season 96 to 101 (2020-2026). NCAA fans can soon catch the games on GMA News TV, GMA Pinoy TV, and via online streaming on GMANetwork.com. The Men’s Basketball Finals is also set to air on GMA. More information can be found at www.gmanetwork.com.

NEW YORK—In a message taped for what turned out to be his final week as Jeopardy! host, Alex Trebek urged the game show’s viewers to honor the season of giving by helping victims of the coronavirus epidemic.

Trebek’s plea aired in the opening moments of the show that aired on Monday.

“We’re trying to build a gentler, kinder society and if we all pitch in just a little bit, we’re going to get there,” he said.

Trebek died on November 8 at age 80 of pancreatic cancer but had pre-taped several weeks of shows that have continued to air. Monday’s show began the final week of programs that he left behind.

His last week of shows were originally scheduled to air on Christmas week; two categories of clues on Monday were “December 21” and “Christmas on Broadway.” But to give Trebek’s final week wider exposure, Jeopardy! put them off until this week.

The show’s executive producer, Mike Richards, told NBC’s Today show on Monday that Trebek was “an absolute warrior” in his last taping sessions.

“He was in enormous pain,” Richards said. “He was, you know, 10 days away from passing away. And you will not sense that in any of these episodes.”

A successor hasn’t been named. Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings will be the first of a planned series of guest hosts on episodes that begin appearing next week.

Asked whether Trebek had given any suggestions about a successor, Richards told NBC that “he mentioned a couple of names but he wanted to stay out of that...No one is going to replace him, and he knew that.” AP

Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla

B6 Friday, January 8, 2021

MDH’s WESHOUT program offers free surgery for women with ovarian and uterine tumors

No admission test, DLSU opens application for new academic year

D

E La Salle University will not administer the DLSU College Admission Test (DCAT) for freshman applicants of Academic Year 2021-2022 due to the current situation in the country.

Admission to the University and the

chosen degree program will be based on an applicant’s high school academic records and other criteria, such as recommendations, class rank, and all pertinent information indicated on the application form.

DLSU also opened 13 new degree

programs for incoming students in their Br. Andrew Gonzalez College of Education, College of Science, College of Liberal Arts, and Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business.

STEM students can consider applying to Animal Biology, Biology major in Medical Biology, Biology major in Systematics and Ecology, BS in Biology major in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology or BS in Chemistry major in Food Science.

While, HUMMS students may explore the programs in Philippine Studies major in Filipino Internet Studies, Sports Studies, Literature major in Creative Writing, Literature major in Literary and Cultural Studies, AB in Sociology, AB in English Language Studies or Bachelor in Human Services.

ABM students interested in a business degree may apply in the new program BS in Business Management with specialization in Business Analytics exclusively offered at DLSU Laguna Campus.

Interested applicants may apply through DLSU’s online application facility available on its website or at www.dlsu.edu.ph/apply. Deadline of application is on February 15, 2021.

Six must-have smart devices for your condo this new year

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MART home technology is becoming more and more popular and advanced every year that even condo unit owners are wanting to make their lives easier by automating and integrating smart devices into their condo units.

It is said that smart home devices can easily increase your condo unit’s IQ and can help you save a lot of time, stress, and money. Whether it’s an energy-saving and cutting-edge light bulb that lets you control the lighting in your condo with just a smartphone, an AI-powered thermostat that manages the temperature or a smart security system that steps up the security in your condo unit, investing in condo-friendly smart devices will give you the convenience that you deserve this new year!

Vista Residences, the condominium arm of the country’s largest homebuilder, Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. and AllHome, a onestop shop for all home needs have recently collaborated with Cherry Mobile’s IoT product line Cherry Home to make it easier for its residents to automate their condo units through the use of smart devices available in AllHome.

Here are six condo-friendly smart home products from Cherry Home to help you keep up with the trend of transforming your Vista Residences condo unit into a smart home, perfect for modern-day condo living.

Cherry Home Smart Security Sensor

THE safety and security of your condo unit should be your number one priority. Investing in a plug and play security device is a great way to keep an eye on your condo unit whenever and wherever you are. Why not start stepping up the security in your own place by using Cherry Home Smart Security Sensor?

Cherry Home Smart Security Sensor is a smart device that enables you to get security notification and logs every time the sensor detects that your condo unit door or window is opened.

This compact smart device is Wi-Fi controlled and can also be used for dresser, cabinets, and more.

Cherry Home IR Transceiver

DO you love the idea of having a smart companion in your condo unit? Cherry Home IR Transceiver is all you need!

It is a Wi-Fi-based IR blaster that can remotely control any IR-based home appliance like the TV, air conditioner,

M

ANILA Doctors Hospital (MDH) continues its Women Empowerment through Surgical Help on Ovarian and Uterine Tumors (WESHOUT) program this 2021. WESHOUT is MDH’s annual surgical program funded by the GT Foundation. The program aims to give free surgeries to remove ovarian and uterine tumors from women, free of charge.

Joyce Yu is new Lark Business Mentee

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N an effort to provide support for Filipino entrepreneurs, Lark launched its New Normal Business Council and Mentorship Program with a webinar series called Lark Your Way to Success. The program aims to equip business owners with knowledge and know-how vital to success in the new work landscape. The webinar series, which took place throughout November and early December, featured talks by industry experts and key opinion leaders on how to adapt to the new ways of work, evolve for the future, and innovate with technology.

As the webinars have officially concluded, Lark announces the CEOs and businesses who have been selected as mentees for the New Normal Business Council and Mentorship Program. They are Joyce Yu, CEO of True Blends Tea & Coffee; and Mark Joseph David, CEO of Pal Maritime Corporation. Both mentees will be granted private coaching sessions with Lark's resource speakers, training sessions with the Lark team, as well as an additional 100GB Lark cloud storage for one year, and PHP300,000 worth of PR support.

Introducing business mentee Joyce Yu

and other appliances.

It’s easy to install and you can control it anywhere with a single tap with just the use of Wi-Fi or data. Feeling lazy in your condo? You can also use this smart device to command your devices by using Amazon Echo, Google Home, among others.

Cherry Home Smart Multi-Color Bulb

IT does not only automate your light but also smartly change the type of lighting you want depending on your mood.

If you need an affordable yet cool mood-lighting for your condo in Manila, Cherry Home offers Smart Multi-Color Bulb that consists of RGB and different colors as well as a timer that allows you to set the brightness, color, and even schedule for when you want these settings to be applied on this 9-watt LED bulb.

Adjustments on the settings can simply be done using the Cherry Home App via Wi-Fi or data. Cherry Home Multi-Color Bulb works well with Google Home and Amazon Echo, making them ideal low-cost alternatives to other smart bulbs available in the market.

Cherry Home GX3 Smart Swivel Camera

MONITOR your Vista Residences condo unit whenever and wherever is through the use of smart cameras. Cherry Home GX3 Smart Swivel Camera is a plug and play device that can be installed with the use of the Cherry Home App. It allows remote viewing with a controllable camera view and full HD result video. Moreover, it also enables you to enjoy talking to your loved ones

with its 2-way audio feature with just the use of your smartphone camera.

Cherry Home 3-USB & 4-USB Smart Extension Cord.

You can now set your devices to act on their own based on your preferred schedule and action with the use of Cherry Home Smart Extension Cord.

Just place it in your preferred area in the condo, set it up and control it with just one tap with the use of Wi-Fi or data. It has the ability to turn on and off separate sockets depending on the schedule you have set. It also has a timer and is compatible with Google Home and Alexa.

FROM its humble beginnings as a cozy cafe cart in the Ateneo de Manila High School cafeteria, Joyce Yu has grown True Blends Tea and Coffee into a multi-branch coffee shop, with stores in key cities across the country.

True Blends is now a top of mind destination for those in search of honest-to-goodness tea and coffee concoctions, and tasty snacks.

A registered Medical Technologist, Joy shared that she relied on her favorite Mocha Frap to keep her awake while reviewing for her board exams. When she decided to put up a business instead of pursuing medicine, it was

JOYCE Yu this experience that inspired her to put up a coffee shop of her own. Using their wedding angpao as capital, she and her husband started True Blends in 2009 with just coffee on the menu.

When the pandemic hit, Joyce saw the need to adapt, and find opportunities amidst this crisis. One thing she did to help build resiliency among her team, whom she credits as essential factors in her 11 years of business success, was to allow them to open up their own satellite branches of True Blends in their communities.

Moving forward into a new work normal, Joyce is excited to use Lark as an all-in-one solution for her business. A feature that she appreciates is the cloud storage, which can conveniently hold all their franchise-related documents in one place. By onboarding all of True Blends' franchisees into the app, their virtual collaboration can improve as well.

To fellow business leaders, Joyce shared this message. "This may be a very difficult time for all of us, but it is a time to pivot, find more opportunities, not just to earn but also to help each other as a nation."

To learn more about Lark, visit www. larksuite.com.

Dumaguete, Mayor Remollo bag top sports tourism awards

Cherry Home Smart Video Doorbell

HAVE a decent view of your entryway instead of the typical analog fish-eye peep-hole. Cherry Home Smart Video Doorbell is equipped with a tiny camera that can capture real-time videos with night vision through its 1080p HD camera.

This smart video doorbell has motion sensor and can be operated with the use of battery, 5v Micro USB or electricity.

Moreover, it has a two-way audio system that allows you to communicate with the person at your door without the need to go out and meet them. A more secure and safer way to stay in your condo any time of the day.

Vista Residences has ready for occupancy and pre-selling units in Manila and Quezon City that you can invest in.

To know more about Vista Residences condominium projects, visit www. vistaresidences.com.ph. To know more about Cherry Home and other home essentials, check out www.allhome.com.ph.

This is a collaboration between MDH’s Corporate Social Responsibility Office, its Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Anesthesiology and Internal Medicine.

In 2020, 33 patients benefitted from the program. For more information, please send an SMS to the MDH Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at 09455108217.

DUMAGUETE City Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo

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HE City of Dumaguete and its mayor, Felipe Antonio Remollo bagged top honors in the recent 4th Philippine Sports Tourism Awards (PSTA) held at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga.

The city was named government event organizer of the year 2019, its second in a row, while Remollo was hailed top sports tourism personality in the public sector.

Known as “The City of Gentle People”, it has played host to the Dumaguete Triathlon, Children’s Games, the Dumaguete Dragon Boat Challenge and the Beach Volleyball Republic On Tour.

Dumaguete has also hosted the Little League Philippines Series, National Frisbee ultimate Championship, Philippine National Games, Batang

Pinoy, Philippine Super Liga Spike on Tour, 1st Southeast Asian Beach Handball, the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association, and the Visayas Regional Selection Camp of Jr. NBA Philippines.

The Philippine University Games has also made the city their preferred venue because of its strategic location, splendid sports facilities, affordable cost of living, conducive environment, and warm hometown crowd.

“We have been positioning the city as a sports hub in the central Philippines by organizing and hosting national events, and this award will top off all the tourism awards we have received. I always believe that sports is a great equalizer and unifier of people across economic, religious or political classes,” says Remollo at the PSTA awarding ceremonies.

The local chief executive shared the sports tourism personality award (private sector) with Metro Pacific Investments Corp. chairman and sports patron Manuel V. Pangilinan.

He disclosed that Dumaguete will host this year the 20th Asean University Games, the biggest student sporting event within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was postponed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 4th PSTA also awarded 14 other private and public organizations and personalities who have greatly contributed to the sports tourism sector in 2019. The awardees were selected by a panel of judges from various sectors, including the Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippine Sports Commission, and the Philippine Olympic Committee.

Sports BusinessMirror

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

T

HE country’s Tokyo Olympics hopefuls will finally plunge into actual training with at least 59 athletes, coaches, medical personnel and staff entering the Inspire Sports Academy bubble in Calamba starting January 15.

First to enter the bubble are hopefuls in boxing including Tokyo qualifier Irish Magno and world champion Nesthy Petecio, followed by taekwondo and karate athletes two days later. Of the total participants, 31 are athletes and 15 are coaches.

Like all bubble, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is making sure that the Laguna facility will be a fortress against the Covid-19 which for most of 2020 shuttered not only the sporting world but went down in history as a global pandemic that paved the way to what is now called the new normal.

The PSC conducted a virtual orientation program for everyone who will enter the bubble, which will enforce stringent health and safety protocols as it remains operational for at least two months.

“I am confident that we can all adjust to the strict protocols because safety is paramount to the PSC,” said PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez, who was joined in the orientation

GREEN AND GO FOR PSC BUBBLE

by Chef de Mission Mariano “Nonong” Araneta.

The PSC’s Medical Scientific Athletes Services (MSAS) Unit crafted the protocols that are specific to combat or full-contact FERNANDEZ sports.

“Athletes will undergo a series of RT-PCR testing—prior to entry, upon entry and during the bubble training,” MSAS Unit Head Dr. Randy Molo said.

The bubble participants were told to restrict

their movement 14 days before entry and interactions seven days before entry.

“From today, everyone must reconsider all the places and people they will be interacting with,” Molo said.

The bubble participants will be billeted in isolated rooms and the results of their tests during the bubble will be announced by the PSC’s Covid-19 Enforcement Team headed by MSAS’ Dr. Janis de Vera.

“Athletes and coaches will be billeted in single and double occupancy rooms, with pick-and-go scheme in food distribution all throughout the bubble,” de Vera said.

Philippine Sports Institute National Training

Director Marc Velasco said that staff from the MSAS Medical Unit, Rehabilitation Unit, Strength and Conditioning Unit, Sport Massage Unit, Sports Physiology, Sports Nutrition and Sports Psychology Unit will also be in the bubble.

Inspire Sports Academy Head of Sales JM Pilares joined the orientation and briefed the participants on house rules, available amenities and other useful information inside the venue.

The country has four athletes who have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics set for July 23 to August 8. They are world champion gymnast Carlos Yulo, boxers Magno and Eumir Felix Marcial and pole vaulter EJ Obiena.

Marcial to fight in March, resumes Olympic training

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OKYO Olympics-bound Eumir Felix Marcial returns to training this week from a brief holiday break to prepare for his second professional fight in March.

International matchmaker Sean Gibbons told BusinessMirror on Thursday that Marcial will be focusing on speed, power and ring smart—skills that the 25-year-old boxer needs to polish for the Tokyo Games in July.

Gibbons also guaranteed Marcial, International Boxing Federation super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas, Jonas Sultan and trainer manager Joven Jimenez would get an anti-covid-19 vaccine once it becomes available to everyone in the United States.

“1,000 percent when it is available, we all will get a shot [Covid-19 vaccine]. So far, it is only available for seniors and frontliners,” said Gibbons, who is renting a house in Los Angeles for Jimenez, Marcial, Ancajas and Sultan.

Marcial beat American Andrew Whitfield via unanimous decision in his professional debut last December 16 in Los Angeles. It was his first fight since the Olympic qualifiers in Amman, Jordan, in March last year.

The boxer from Zamboanga City also clarified that he will complete his preparations for Tokyo at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym and will no longer join the other Filipino boxers who will be training

VisMin Super Cup eyes April 9 start

T

HE Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup unfolds in April with the mission to find new basketball talents from the south.

In accordance with its mission, the country’s first professional league in the regions picked Dondon Hontiveros, Cebuano hoops legend and one of the country’s best shooters ever, as its official ambassador.

Hontiveros, a former standout of the University of Cebu Webmasters and the Cebu Gems, a 13-time Philippine Basketball Association All-Star and many times national team member, is now a councilor of Cebu City’s 2nd district.

“We will bring back the days where basketball in the southern side [VisMin] of the country was awesome,” Hontiveros said.

“When people came in droves to watch the games and homegrown players were given a fair opportunity to play for their cities and provinces.”

League officials, led by COO Rocky Chan, and representatives of interested teams held their first virtual conference and are targeting an April 9 inaugural conference to be held in a bubble set-up.

According to secretary-general Chelito

at the Inspire Sports Institute in Calamba starting next week.

“He has the best training here during this Covid-19 situation—physically and mentally,” Gibbons said.

Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) President Ricky Vargas supported Marcial’s decision to remain in the US. “I am happy with whatever decision he makes as long as it will benefit his Olympic preparations,” Vargas said. “Anything that will benefit Marcial and his Olympic preparation, we will support.”

The Olympics are set July 23 to August 8.

Josef Ramos

“Marvin” Caro, confirmed to take part are teams from Cebu City, Mandaue City (KCS), Talisay (MJAS) and Lapu-Lapu City in the Visayas side and teams from Zamboanga City, Pagadian City (Explorers), Sindangan, and Roxas-Zamboanga del Norte (Vanguards) in the Mindanao side.

Cebu City will host the Visayas leg while Zamboanga will stage the Mindanao leg. To lessen the teams’ expenses, elimination round games will be confined to their respective regions.

To ensure grassroots development, each team must have at least six homegrown players. In the second conference, each team will have a foreign reinforcement.

THE Boston Celtics kneel during the playing of the National Anthem before their game against the Miami Heat on Wednesday in Miami. AP

NBA teams protest Blake decision

M

IAMI—With words and actions, several National Basketball Association (NBA) teams showed dismay Wednesday hours after a violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump was able to storm the US Capitol and in response to a decision by a Wisconsin prosecutor not to charge a police officer who shot a Black man last year.

In Miami, the Heat and Boston Celtics released a joint statement saying they were playing “with a heavy heart” in a game where most players and coaches knelt for the national anthem. In Milwaukee, the Bucks and Detroit Pistons both took turnovers on their first possessions—intentionally, with all 10 players on the court kneeling. And in Phoenix, the Suns and Toronto Raptors stood in a circle and linked arms for the American and Canadian anthems.

Earlier in the day at the Capitol, a mob delayed Congress from certifying the results of November’s election and paving the way for President-elect Joe Biden to be sworn in later this month.

“It’s an embarrassing and shameful day in our country,” New Orleans Coach Stan Van Gundy said.

In San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors donned “Black Lives Matter”

shirts and knelt for the anthem, as did their opponent, the Los Angeles Clippers.

Wednesday’s events came one day after the decision to not to bring charges against the officer who shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year was announced. Blake’s shooting was one of the many issues players focused on last season in the NBA restart bubble, where the issues of racial injustice and police brutality were a constant focus.

The joint Heat-Celtics statement said, in part: “2021 is a new year, but some things have not changed. We play tonight’s game with a heavy heart after yesterday’s decision in Kenosha, and knowing that protesters in our nation’s capital are treated differently by political leaders depending on what side of certain issues they are on.”

The Celtics discussed the Blake decision earlier in the day, before the events from the Capitol unfolded. The Celtics then met again as a team after arriving at the arena in Miami, discussed options, and Coach Brad Stevens even called his wife to say that he didn’t think his team would take the floor.

Boston ultimately chose to play, beating

Miami 107-105.

“They’ve operated in a win-at-allcosts attitude,” Stevens said of Trump’s administration. “I don’t know, our sports world is a lot less important, obviously. But I’ve always thought if you operated with a win-at-all-costs attitude, it’s going to be a pretty unfulfilling ending. And in this situation, a disgraceful ending. So, I’m looking forward to two weeks from now, as I know a lot of other people are, too.”

Biden will be inaugurated two weeks from Wednesday, on January 20.

The NBA had a rule for decades that players and coaches must stand for the national anthem.

That rule was relaxed last year when the season resumed at the bubble inside Walt Disney World.

The Bucks won the opening tap of their game, and instead of running a play two-time reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo simply held the ball as all players knelt. That resulted in a turnover, as did the ensuing Detroit possession when Blake Griffin held the ball and players took a knee again. The Bucks said after the game they held the ball for 7 seconds to reflect the seven times Blake was shot. AP

EUMIR FELIX MARCIAL will be back in the gym after relaxing for a while during the holidays.

Friday, January 8, 2021 B7

Load management Vincent Juico | @VJuico Instagram vpjp_j, vince.juico@gmail.com

SPORTS WITHOUT BORDERS WHAT is load management? According to sportingnews.com, “Load management is an offshoot of modern sports science research that can help predict when players are most vulnerable to injury and in need of protection.

Teams have realized they can dramatically cut injury risk by planning rest days during road back-to-backs—and those who are deep enough can sometimes win regular season games without their stars.

Unlike in other sports, where no single player is expected to pull more physical weight than his or her teammates, isolationbased basketball offenses take a disproportionate toll on top scorers. That’s part of the reason certain players are given regular time off throughout the season when healthy while others are asked to play every contest.”

I remember San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich starting managing the load of his then stars, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker after they clinched a playoff spot.

It’s to keep his players fresh for the homestretch of the season which is

the postseason that is the National Basketball Association playoffs.

Load management is debatable wherein you have the supporters of the method saying the players get rest and treatment for their injuries and ailments and to decompress a bit, getting their mind and body right before the second season starts.

Critics and opponents of load management say that it deprives fans who paid with their hard earned money to see the star players play.

The league won’t allow the resting of players on nationally televised games which I understand because the games are seen all over the world watched by millions of basketball fans.

In the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, load management was unheard of, you had your league stars playing hurt whether the team qualified for the postseason or not.

You’d hear no excuses from Jordan, Bird and Magic. They played 82-plus games, including the playoffs if they qualified.

These days you’d have players like Lebron James being rested when facing perceivably weaker teams.

Load management is a good strategy as long as the league allows it and teams don’t do it on nationally televised games.

Load management gives the team’s players ample time to heal if not totally heal then close to full strength at least as the playoffs approach.

It may also lengthen the player’s career.

At the end of the day, coaches will implement any strategy that works for their teams and at the same time, adds years to their best player’s or players’ careers. As long as these strategies are with the league’s boundaries.

Motoring BusinessMirror

Henry Ford Awards Best Motoring Section 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 2011 Hall of Fame

Editor: Tet Andolong

B8 Friday, January 8, 2021

JAC Motors brings in the T8 pickup

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Story by Randy S. Peregrino

RIESENBURG Auto Corp.

(TAC), the official distributor of JAC Passenger and Light Commercial Vehicles in the Philippines, finally brought in its entry to the hotly contested midsize pickup segment—the T8 4x2 MT. During an online event, the new pickup truck was presented in two variants (Luxury and Ultimate) and perfectly fitted the Filipinos’ needs amid the pandemic.

The JAC T8 is designed to have the specs that high-end trucks have but with a base model variant’s affordable price. TAC wants its consumers to have and experience business and pleasure and safety, all bundled into one. Something not found in the market with a price so affordable.

“Pickups are generally known as workhorses. Popular to be used for hauling, commercial and business purposes, always lack s dr iver and passenger comfort, style, and luxury. And when the consumers start thinking of acquiring a vehicle, they find themselves torn between either choosing the budgeted version and the top-of-the-line

variant. Hav ing the consumers’ needs and want in mind, TAC marries functionalities and luxury, offering the JAC T8 at a price point that will make you Forget Normal,” said TAC Marketing Director Brian “Fortress on the Road” with its combined aggressive, elegant, and modern touches inside and out. Upfront is a massive grille partnered with projector xenon HID headlights, LED daylight running lights, and fog lamps. The rear, meantime, has futuristic dual “C LED” taillamps and rear fog lamps for added visibility and safety. Overall dimension is 5,325mm long, 1,880 mm wide and 1,830 mm tall. Ground clearance is elevated at 220 mm

The tough-looking T8 4x2 MT pickup. JAC Motors Philippines

and is at par or even better than the competition.

Its front suspension has an independent double-wishbone with spiral springs, while the rear is leaf sprung. As for the brakes, the Ultimate variant has front and rear rotor brakes—something the competition doesn’t have at a lower price point. The Luxury variant, meantime, is fitted with rear drum brakes. The T8 is rolling on 18-inch alloy rims wrapped in 265/60 tires.

The consumer also need not spend extra to make the truck looks good as the T8 comes in standard with usual upgrades such as bed liners, fender flares, side step-boards, and tow hitch receiver.

Interior-wise, the T8 comes with luxurious brown leather seats, same leather accents on

Intuitive, modern, and packed with advanced features. JAC Motors Philippines

Virus also killed our appetite to buy that dream car to the end of the year when excess inventory dries up, and prices normalize.

“It is a great time to pick up premium vehicles while the distributors are reducing their stock.”

Vince S. Socco

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NOUGH of talk about 2020’s poor showing, sales-wise. We don’t need a Wharton alumnus to tell us that the Covid-19 was the culprit.

Even a Grade 4 pupil knows that from the heart.

But one last time.

If we sold nearly 500,000 units in 2019, we’d be lucky if we disposed even half of that number in 2020.

The virus didn’t just dampen the urge to buy cars, it killed, almost literally, our appetite to acquire that dream car of ours.

If Rommel Gutierrez, the Campi president, could only have his way, he’d stop counting the units sold last year, puny as they were. He wouldn’t admit it, but the obvious stares him eerily in the face: a mangled canvas of unsold vehicles, almost decaying at the parking lot.

Hurtfully, indeed, 2020 had put our plans, predictions and prognoses in shambles. Nobody ever saw the pandemic coming. So ugly was the motoring landscape in its aftermath that even the most rabid of car buffs avoid looking at it like the bubonic plague.

The following are the pandemic-inspired views

of two of the best, most respected, captains of the industry.

Steven Tan

President and CEO, Mazda Philippines “EVEN with the approval of Covid vaccine, it will likely take more than a year to vaccinate the entire population, so therefore 2021 will remain, for the most part, a familiar king of rolling quarantine.

“Demand for personal mobility will continue to be strong, held back by flat or very low economic recovery and access to credit financing.

“The decongestion effect to Metro Manila traffic, as a result of the opening of Skyway 3, will provide motivation to middle and upper income households with coming-of-age young drivers to acquire new cars—that could provide some growth to an auto market that is expected to be flat or with little growth.

“Metro Manila is the largest auto marketplace in the country, accounting for at least 70 percent of the total new vehicle purchase. Average new car prices will still remain depressed in 2021, good news to consumers, but will start to creep up from middle

Chairman, GT Capital Auto Dealership Holdings “What’s in store for the new year? That’s the eternal question at the end—or start—of every year. It might make for an interesting tale to revisit one’s own previous projections to discern how much the person got right. Or not. That will have to wait for another time.

“Here go my three wishes.

“1. Like everybody else, I wish that the pandemic fades out and the corona virus becomes something that future generations can only see at the Museum of Natural History or some such archive. I don’t think anyone needs to expound on the matter. With the increasing roll-out of vaccines around the world—under emergency use authorization—the tide of hope rises.

Whether it gets to Philippine shores sooner or later is not important; as long as it gets here the soonest it can.

“2. I also wish that we all have something to show for all our pains and sorrows in the last 10 months. It would be so sad if we emerge from quarantine pretty much where we left off when it all started, like time stood still. Surely, there are lessons to be learned and kept. To me, the biggest learning, if it can be called that, is the importance of personal hygiene and the primacy of collectivism.

It’s amazing that it took a pandemic to make us realize how the seemingly most trivial of things like washing hands, distancing, disinfecting or wearing masks could—literally—be a matter of

life and death. What’s more, we learned that we have to do it all together; an individual’s effort becomes meaningless and irrelevant if everybody else does not do the same. Other more apparent lessons-to-go are: (1) work-from-home works; (2) digital and online-living is real; (3) personal mobility is essential in crises and even more so in the aftermath; and (4) necessity is, truly, the mother of invention—Zoom! Let’s make those lessons count towards building not just a new normal but a genuinely better one.

“3. My third wish is that we get to drive and go places again—freely. No more PCR swab tests, Police clearances, Baranggay Passes. I have truly missed the liberty of just being able to get on a car, bus, jeep, motorcycle, bicycle or scooter as and when you feel like you want to. I sincerely subscribe to the notion that man is basically created—engineered even—to roam. This is the ultimate expression of the indomitable spirit of human beings—to conquer new frontiers, ride into the horizon, discover places and have fun along the way. There is something particularly satisfying about being able to get behind the wheel or in the front seat or the third row of your ride and know that you’re on your way to somewhere. With all the new highways and tollways being completed and opened, I know there are journeys that beckon, destinations to visit or revisit, memories to be made.

“This whole pandemic episode is a sorry, sorry chapter in humankind. It underscores the fact that we can never really, truly be prepared. We just have to keep rolling.”

PEE STOP After Steven and Vince come their colleagues. Oh, there’s a plethora of them. Till next week then...Happy New Year!

Construction of Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge to open 1st half of 2021

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UBLIC Works and Highways Secretary Mark A. Villar inspected on January 6, the ongoing Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge Replacement Project being implemented to ease traffic between Estrella Street in Makati City and Barangka Drive in Mandaluyong City.

“We have implemented a catch up plan on this project due to

the two month work suspension caused by the Covid-19 lockdown.

We are confident that construction is on track for 2021 opening,” said Secretary Villar during the inspection.

According to Secretary Villar, the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge Project is part of the Metro Manila Logistics Improvement Program

to ease traffic along Edsa.

T he 506 meter Estrel laPanta leon Br idge connecting Est rel l a, Ma k at i C it y to Barangka Drive is part of the Edsa Decongestion Program and is financed by a grant from the People’s Republic of China.

“When completed, the EstrellaPantaleon Bridge will have four

lanes from the previous two lanes and will soon accommodate an average or 50,000 vehicles per day.

It will also have bicycle lanes,” Villar added.

The construction of a new Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge is being implemented by the DPWH U PMO — R o ad s M a n a ge me nt Cluster 1.

the door panels and dashboard.

Highlighted in the center panel is the 8-inch touchscreen display with multimedia and connectivity functions. The steering wheel has embedded controls, including cruise control operation, among others. The JAC T8 is built strong for the journey, engineered to go beyond, and everyone’s partner for the long haul. JAC Motors Global has over 55 years of history building heavy-duty commercial trucks and has been very successful; they are among the best in the world.

Motivation comes from a 2.0-liter turbocharged diesel engine dishing out 136 hp and 320 N-m of maximum torque. It is mated to a six-speed manual transmission. As for safety and convenience features, the T8 got all these high technology safety features. These are hill-start assist control, hydraulic brake assist, traction control system, vehicle dynamics control, electronic stability control, and dual front air bags.

Moreover, a tire pressure monitoring system, a 360-degree view camera, headlamp auto lighting, headlamp leveling, auto-folding side mirrors, the remote-controlled opening of all windows, and front/rear parking sensors are also available.

JAC T8 will be available in two 4x2 MT variants. The Luxury 4x2 (base model) is priced at P928,000.

As for the top-of-the-line Ultimate 4x2, it retails at P998,000. Consumers may be able to see complete specs sheets and brochures via where they can also buy JAC vehicles online.

PBOAP appeals for uniform travel requirement for commuters

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G R O U P o f p ro v i n c i a l b u s o p e r a to r s suggested to DILG Secretary Eduardo Año to issue a directive to local government units recommending a uniform set of travel requirements to allow more Filipinos to travel outside the National Capital Region (NCR). More travels mean more opportunities of reopening the domestic economy severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines Executive Director Alex Yague also belies reports that provincial bus operations are already “normalizing.” Only a fraction of bus operators with legitimate special permits issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) are plying our highways due to unique protocols of each LGU. This “LGU independence” has led to several routes without any bus operations. One example is the route going to the Ilocos region where the LaoagPagudpud route remains without bus operations.

Without legitimate buses around, colorum vans and buses take over. Yague said the current situation is making it difficult for both commuters and bus operators to travel outside Metro Manila.

“Now for routes with bus operations to select provinces, several complaints reached us from our commuters blaming us for their inability to travel especially last Christmas. They blame us because we did not inform them of the respective travel documents, unique to each LGU that they must have when travelling outside Metro Manila. And these required travel documentation is not standard throughout the whole country,” Yague said.

“Actually, it is not our problem. There is lack of

uniformity in travel requirements being imposed right now by local government units. Some LGUs require swab tests while other only require travel passes. Others require online application from the destination LGU, while others do not. Since our buses usually traverse several provinces that is within a contiguous area, some of our commuters who do not have the travel requirement for one province, are asked not to proceed. There must be a national policy for this right now,” added Yague.

A directive coming from the DILG would definitely suffice, Yague said. Government must be clear what to require travelers to possess before they embark on a trip back to their home provinces.

An estimated two million Filipino commuters failed to secure a trip back to their home provinces last month. For instance, the Baguio route has 229 public utility buses (PUB) franchises. Under the general community quarantine (GCQ) period, the LTFRB has issued and released 44 special permits, with only eight that are really operating.

This represents basically a pittance of less than 3 percent. LGU officials are “controlling number of arrivals into Baguio.”

If the Baguio City route is pitiful, much more is the Laoag and Pagudpud route. This has 187 bus franchises but the actual special permits granted by LTFRB are less than 10 percent, at only 18. To date, there are no bus operations in this region in spite of the issuance of the special permits by LTFRB. Provincial buses that service the route of Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte cross numerous towns, which impose their respective cross border requirements.

No one is servicing this route because of the inconvenience and hassles involved.