BusinessMirror July 21, 2020

ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS

2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS

BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR (2017, 2018)

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS

PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

DATA CHAMPION

LOCKDOWN CUTS 5-MO INFRA SPEND BY 12.2% www.businessmirror.com.ph

n

Tuesday, July 21, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 285

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

ONE YEAR AFTER, BIZ WISHLIST OF 27 ITEMS FOR SONA UNCHANGED

By Elijah Felice Rosales

I

S this a sign of no progress? Business groups on Monday submitted to President Duterte the same legislative wishlist of 27 measures they relayed to him last year for his State of the Nation Address (Sona).

In a statement, the groups said they wrote to the President and leaders of Congress to affirm their support for the passage of 27 economic and investment reforms. However, the measures they are hoping to get legislated were the same ones they asked for in 2019.

They said there is no better time to enact the reforms now that the country is trying to recover from the economic damages of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Eight of the reforms were included in the President’s fourth Sona, while 19 are included on the legislative agenda of the Philippine Development Plan’s Midterm Update. When the first regular session of Congress adjourned, however, only nine of the 28 [recommendations have] reached at least second-reading approval in either House or Senate,” the groups lamented.

The passage of the 27 measures will promote inclusive growth, generate jobs, reduce poverty, improve national competitiveness, support economic recovery and boost GDP performance in 2021 and thereafter, the groups pitched.

Of the 28 reforms they appealed to be enacted last year, only the imposition of excise taxes on alcoholic beverages was fulfilled. The remaining 27 bills, most of which would liberalize certain industries, never made it to bicameral discussion, more so Duterte’s desk.

A COLORFUL skate park at Vitas Tondo, Manila, will soon be open for free for residents of the capital city. Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso says he wants to help develop skateboarding champions in the country. ROY DOMINGO

S

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

TATE infrastructure spending as of end-May declined by 12.2 percent year-on-year or P32.8 billion, partly because of the temporary suspension of construction activities due to the Covid-19 lockdowns.

In its latest report on the government’s disbursement performance, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said infrastructure spending for the first five months of the year dropped to P235.2 billion from P267.9 billion in the same period last year.

Apart from the lockdown, the DBM also attributed the decline to the base effect of high infrastructure expenditures in the fivemonth period last year, brought

about by the payment of prior years’ accounts payables.

Despite the dip in infrastructure spending, overall government expenditures for the period surged by 26.6 percent to P1.665 trillion from P1.315 trillion a year ago, due to higher maintenance spending and subsidy to government corporations mainly for Covid-19 measures and allotment and capital transfers to local government units (LGUs).

Continued on A2

3 key bills

AMONG these measures were the amendments to the 84-yearold Public Services Act, Foreign Investments Act of 1991 and Retail Trade Liberalization Act of 2000.

The groups are also asking lawmakers to conclude deliberations on the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE) bill. The CREATE bill will bring down corporate income tax to 25 percent, from 30 percent at present, and rationalize fiscal incentives granted to investors in exchange.

However, they clarified they are only in favor of reducing the corporate tax rate and maintained their opposition to the lifting of Continued on A2

Foreign tourists eager to come to the PHL but…

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo Special to the BusinessMirror

K

EY tourism destinations in the Philippines continued to reap worldwide recognition for their white beaches and stunning vistas.

In its latest Readers’ Choice Awards, Condé Nast Traveler listed Siargao (ranked 4th of 20 island destinations) and Palawan (8th) among the “Best Islands for Scenery.”

Of Siargao, Condé Nast Traveler writer Joseph Hernandez says, “Often described as the surfing capital of the Philippines, it’s no surprise that Siargao has gorgeous beaches.

A grouping of islands within the vaster archipelago, Siargao is an inviting natural playground for nature lovers who are looking to do more than hang ten.”

He added, “Island hopping is popular, bopping around such spots as Dako, Guyam and Naked Islands. Each offer their own thrills: Lush vegetation, total seclusion, and picturesque tidal pools. If you head into the island’s interior, you’ll come upon waterfalls and the Tayangban cave pools, watering holes accessible by a cave passage and hidden by an emerald green forest.”

Meanwhile, Hernandez writes,

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 49.4930

“Palawan’s rich biodiversity and impressive views will blow your mind. Sure, miles of stunning beach can compete head-to-head with Thailand’s equally impressive coastline, but vibrant interior rainforests serve as the perfect backdrop for adventurous campers.

Don’t worry—towns like El Nido and Coron are still within reach— but do head deeper into the jungle for the Tabon Caves, a fascinating cave complex and museum where scientists have found the remains of the archipelago’s earliest human inhabitants.”

Commenting on the CNT recognition, Tourism Congress of the

Philippines president Jose C. Clemente III told the BusinessMirror, “As the community quarantine marches into its fourth month, clients, both domestic and foreign tourists, are now antsy and want to resume normal routines like traveling. In listening to our partners overseas, the demand for the Philippines continues to be strong and interest remains high. We just really need to get our numbers under control. That’s what international markets are looking for, destinations that have a good grasp on how to deal with the pandemic.” In 2019, foreign visitor arrivals in the See “Tourists,” A2

GUYAM Island, Siargao, Surigao del Norte TATIANA KORNYLYEVA | DREAMSTIME.COM

n JAPAN 0.4623 n UK 62.1880 n HK 6.3832 n CHINA 7.0790 n SINGAPORE 35.5937 n AUSTRALIA 34.5907 n EU 56.5210 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.1974

Source: BSP (July 20, 2020)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, July 21, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Aspac businesses prefer phased reopening amid Covid-19–poll

B

By Elijah Felice Rosales

USINESS owners in Asia and the Pacific will implement a phased return to work instead of a full reopening to maintain social distancing in the workplace, according to a survey by a consulting firm.

In a poll by New York-based Mercer, two-thirds of firms in the Asia-Pacific region said they will stagger the return to work of their employees to allow social distancing in the workplace. In doing so, they plan to split the reentry of workers based on specific criteria.

The survey also showed nearly

42 percent of employers in the region will divide their workers in small groups to limit their physical interaction.

Roughly a third said they will permit their employees to decide for themselves whether to report to the workplace or do their duties remotely. The Mercer survey also reported

one in every five firms in Asia-Pacific will rely its reopening on local infection rates and risks.

However, only 13 percent confirmed they will require antibody screening to test the immunity of their workers against Covid-19.

In terms of measures to keep the workplace safe, at least 85 percent vowed they will put up, if not increase, hand sanitation stations.

Majority of business owners will also limit the number of in-person meetings, as well as the frequency of client visits, in the workplace.

Further, more than two-thirds said they will require the wearing of face masks at all times, while nearly 63 percent disclosed they will moderate the number of employees reporting daily.

As for screening and assessments, about 70 percent of firms in Asia and the Pacific will make mandatory temperature checks every day. Many of them will also require

their workers to do a self-assessment and verification and answer onsite questionnaire on symptoms.

On additional compensation, two in every five employers committed to implement flexible work arrangements to accommodate the needs of their employees.

The poll reported over a quarter is ready to extend mental health support to workers in distress, while at least 10 percent is willing to provide commuting assistance. Only a handful, however, are open to expanding the healthcare package of their employees and subsidizing a portion of their basic needs during the coronavirus pandemic.

Renee McGowan, CEO for Asia at Mercer, said return to the workplace in the region will require firms to be transparent, flexible and proactive to be able to respond to the cycles of lockdowns that depend on local Covid-19 infection rates.

McGowan argued that health and safety should be the priority in the reopening of the economy, and employers must therefore implement precautionary measures for the new normal. The future of work, she added, will be shaped by how firms will navigate through changes and challenges posed by the pandemic.

Mercer on Monday released a white paper, titled “Return to New Normal,” outlining the ways in which business operations can reopen without compromising health and safety.

The survey on the return to workplace gathered the insights of 150 firms from all over Asia and the Pacific. Twenty-two firms from the Philippines participated in the poll.

Mercer, a New York-based consulting firm specializing in human resources, operates in at least 130 economies and employs more than 25,000 workers in 44 countries.

Gas prices cut, but kerosene costlier

O

IL firms on Monday announced a reduction in gasoline prices.

They said in separate advisories that a P0.10 per liter increase in gasoline products will take effect Tuesday morning.

On the same day, kerosene will go up by P0.15 per liter.

Diesel prices, meanwhile, remain unchanged.

The price adjustment of Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corporation, Cleanfuel, Seaoil and Petro Gazz takes effect at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

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

Last week, they raised gasoline prices by P0.65 per liter, diesel

by P0.30 per liter and kerosene by P0.40 per liter.

The price hike already includes the additional 10-percent tax on crude and petroleum products.

Lenie Lectura

NBI probing deaths of high-profile inmates

J

USTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday directed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to verify the claim of Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Director General Gerald Bantag that nine high-profile inmates, including Jaybee Sebastian, died due to Covid-19.

Guevarra made the statement after summoning Bantag to his office to shed light on reports about the death of several high-profile inmates and the cremation of Sebastian, a co-accused in one of the illegal drug trade cases filed against opposition Senator Leila de Lima before the Regional Trial Court of Muntinlupa City.

The Justice department also finally confirmed reports that Sebastian, who succumbed due to Covid-19, had already been cremated; however, no other details were provided to mediamen. Prison officials earlier invoked the data privacy law when asked to confirm if one of those cremated early Sunday morning in Dasmariñas, Cavite, was Sebastian. However, Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon, a former secretary of justice, rejected this argument.

“As to Jaybee Sebastian, yes, BuCor has confirmed that he was cremated,” DOJ spokesman and undersecretary Markk Perete said.

As to the others, Perete said the DOJ is still awaiting the submission of their death certificates to confirm their death and the cause thereof.

During their meeting, Guevarra gave assurances that the BuCor is following a protocol that requires the agency to cremate within 12 hours the cadaver of an inmate who died of Covid-10 to prevent further spread of infection.

Guevarra said Sebastian’s remains were reportedly cremated in compliance with the said protocol.

“In any case, to dispel any doubt regarding the death of PDL [person deprived of liberty] Sebastian and the eight others, DG Bantag welcomed an independent investigation on the matter. Secretary Guevarra is set to issue later today a Department Order directing the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct such investigation,” the DOJ said in a statement.

Guevarra and Bantag met Monday afternoon on the Covid-19 situation at the BuCor as well as the reported deaths of nine PDLs who were convicted of offenses involving illegal drugs, including Sebastian. In all, 19 inmates had reportedly succumbed to the virus.

Sebastian had accused de Lima of conspiring with him and other drug convicts, during her term as justice secretary, to allow the drug trade inside the NBP in order to raise funds for her 2016 senatorial bid.

Sebastian, who is convicted of kidnapping-for-ransom and carjacking in 2009, is de Lima’s co-accused in one of the criminal cases filed against the senator before the Muntinlupa RTC in connection with the illegal drug activities inside NBP.

The BuCor earlier refused to confirm Sebastian’s death, saying it is prohibited from disclosing such information under the Data Privacy Act.

Bantag confirmed during its meeting with the DOJ secretary that there were already 21 PDLs who died due to the virus since March.

He, however, insisted that the health situation within the BuCor is under control.

At present, Bantag said there are only five PDLs in isolation at Site Harry, the biggest quarantine and isolation facility within the BuCor, with a bed capacity of around 300.

Site Harry is being run by an augmented number of doctors and medical professionals.

Visitation privileges remain suspended, though the electronic “dalaw program” remains in place to allow inmates to communicate with their loved ones online.

Lacson weighs in

MEANWHILE, Sen. Panfilo Lacson agreed with the BuCor that the Data Privacy Act may actually be applicable in the case of Sebastian.

He explained that dying of a contagion as dreaded as the coronavirus could subject the victim’s immediate family to undue discrimination, not to mention the stigma that they may suffer from the public.

Lacson said he does not see any basis for the Senate to conduct a probe on the deaths of high-profile inmates.

“Unless there is very compelling reason to suspect any foul play—and as of now, there is none—personally, I’d rather focus on more pressing matters than be distracted by the death/s of drug convict/s who had shown no remorse at all by continuing their drug operations even in the confines of the high-security facility of the New Bilibid Prison, right under the noses of prison officials, corrupting those who have no moral fortitude to resist even drug money,” he said.

Joel R. San Juan

OWWA: HOTEL BOOKINGS FOR OFW Tourists…

ABOVEBOARD, CAN WITHSTAND AUDIT Continued from A1

By Samuel P. Medenilla

T

HE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) on Monday said it is now conducting an audit of its accommodations booking for repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) amid a report of some irregularities in the process.

In a phone interview, OWWA administrator Hans J. Cacdac told the BusinessMirror the results of the “internal accounting” will be consolidated and submitted to Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III within the month.

The report will also contain details on OWWA’s expenses for the billeting of OFWs to their designated accommodations.

Last month, OWWA reported it already spent P1.1 billion for the transportation, food and accommodation of the 59,000 Coviddisplaced OFWs it assisted since March.

The number of OFWs aided

by OWWA has since then risen to 95,702 as of July 20, 2020, as the Departments of Foreign Affairs and of Labor and Employment continued the repatriation of migrant workers who lost their jobs as the pandemic shuttered industries and sectors around the globe.

Cacdac said OWWA also “strengthened” its hotel booking committee to ensure the transparency and accountability in hotel bookings.

OWWA made the assurance after the BusinessMirror re-

ported on Monday that there were alleged “brokers,” with links to certain OWWA officials, who are making OFW bookings in “favored” hotels for a fee, as well as supposed padding practices of hotel receipts.

Rate negotiation

AS far as he knows, Cacdac said all of their hotel bookings are above board and are done in coordination with the Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) and the Department of Tourism (DOT).

In fact, he said there were some cases where they sought the intervention of DOT to “negotiate” for better rates with some hotels, which they felt might have overcharged them.

As examples, OWWA cited three hotels where it sought DOT’s help for lower rates: in one hotel, a reduction of the daily room rate from P3,500 to P3,000; in a second hotel, from P3,800 to P3,000; and a third hotel, from P3,800 to P3,000.

“Currently, we have no specific information regarding any anomalies committed by any OWWA employee. I have letters from the PHOA and the Philippine Hotel Sales Marketing Association, with no indication of any such complaints,” Cacdac said.

“Nevertheless, we are open and willing to subject ourselves to an internal audit by our parent agency, the DOLE [Department of Labor and Employment],” he added.

Existing process

OWWA’S stringent criteria for

Lockdown cuts 5-mo infra spend by 12.2% Continued from A1

For May alone, infrastructure spending plummeted by 36.7 percent to P38.9 billion from P61.5 billion in the same month last year “resulting from the stoppage of construction activities due to the extended implementation of the ECQ [enhanced community quarantine] for most part of Luzon and key areas in the Visayas regions.”

Month-on-month, infrastructure spending for May was also down by 3 percent from P40.1 billion posted in April this year.

Meanwhile, total state spending for May rose by 12.4 percent to P353.6 billion from P314.7 billion in the same month in 2019 ow-

ing to the increased spending on subsidy to government corporations, including the Social Security System for the P51-billion Small Business Wage Subsidy Program, maintenance expenditures, personnel services, and allotment and capital transfers to LGUs due to their higher shares of internal revenue collections and annual block grant of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, among others.

However, overall state spending for May fell by 23.4 percent from P461.7 billion in April.

With the easing of community quarantine measures in several areas, the DBM said infrastructure activities are ongoing, with both the Department of Public Works

and Highways and the Department of Transportation vowing to fasttrack construction works despite the onset of the rainy season.

More releases

IT also expects more releases in the coming months as agencies are seen to submit special budget requests in line with their implementation of programs and projects for the second half of the year.

For June alone, it said some P45.4 billion was released based on the list of Special Allotment Release Orders. This amount included big-ticket items, such as releases for the conversion of national government advances into subsidy for the National Food Authority (P30.7 billion), Emergency Repa-

triation Program of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (P5 billion), releases for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) under the Philippine Rice Research Institute (P3 billion), and Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program (P2.4 billion).

According to the DBM, the remaining balance from the P4.1trillion obligation program for the year is P364 billion or 8.9 percent of the program.

“Maintenance expenditures, specifically health- and social-related, remain to be the key drivers of spending growth for the succeeding months as the government continues to address the Covid-19 emergency,” it said.

including a hotel on its roster includes single room occupancy; three full board meals; free internet facility; and must provide free phone calls within Metro Manila.

Cacdac noted the selection was done using their roster of hotels as well as the feedback from the OFWs for whom they were able to provide accommodations.

Among others, the establishments must also provide at least 100 room accommodations; the charge per room must not exceed P3,000 inclusive of value-added tax per day.

“Initially we were going for the budget hotels, but we also decided to expand with a limited budget,” Cacdac said.

“We try our best to distribute the hotels. But of course, when we talk of hotels that provide comfort, there are already some which are known for it, so it should not be a surprise if we billeted some OFWs in certain hotels to provide greater comfort for them during the quarantine period,” he added.

OWWA was hounded by complaints from some OFWs in previous months regarding the poor sanitation in some of the hotels where they were booked. In other better-appointed hotels, meanwhile, the OFWs said they had no complaints with the facilities, but rued the long time it took for the Bureau of Quarantine to process their Covid-19 tests, a vital clearance before being reunited with their families in the provinces.

Philippines reached 8.26 million.

Last month, CNT also cited the Hidden Beach in El Nido, Palawan, as one of the 30 Best Beaches in the World.

The Philippines is slowly reopening to foreign nationals, but largely for those holding immigrant visas. According to the Department of Justice, about 75,000 foreigners are holders of such visas. Earlier, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Managing Emerging Infectious Diseases had also allowed foreigners working in the diplomatic community and international organizations to enter the Philippines.

The Department of Tourism, however, is hoping to resuscitate the tourism industry by helping reopen local destinations to domestic travelers. Only recently, the municipal government of El Nido, Palawan, approved a dry run on the entry of tourists, which the DOT and El Nido Resorts will be cohosting. But those joining the dry run will first have to pass RT-PCR tests for Covid-19, before allowing to travel.

(See, “Key destinations in Palawan lose over P3 billion in tourism receipts,” in the BusinessMirror, July 4, 2020.)

Only last week, another popular travel publication, Travel + Leisure, recognized Palawan with a “World’s Best Island” award, the fourth for the province known as the Philippines’ Last Frontier.

Boracay was also ranked 14th on T+L’s World Best Islands list, and fifth in Asia this year.

One year after, biz wishlist of 27 items for Sona unchanged Continued from A1

incentives, especially the 5-percent tax on gross income earned in lieu of all local and national taxes. They had said earlier that retention of such incentives had become even more crucial once the Covid-19 pandemic struck, gouging out almost all sectors with crippling lockdowns.

The groups are also hoping for the passage of changes to the Apprenticeship Program, BuildOperate-and-Transfer Law, Bank Secrecy Law and constitutional restrictions on foreign equity. Likewise, they are pushing for the legislation of the Freedom of Information Act, TRAIN 3 and 4, Open Access in Data Transmission Act, and Water

Department Act, among others.

As with every year, the business community expects the President in his Sona to call on his legislative allies to prioritize discussions on the proposed reforms.

The statement was signed by the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines. It was also signed by Alyansa Agrikultura; Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry; Foundation for Economic Freedom; Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines; Makati Business Club; Management Association of the Philippines; and the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The Nation BusinessMirror

SC affirms termination of BURI’s service provider contract for MRT 3

By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

T

HE Supreme Court has affirmed the ruling issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City denying the plea of Korean-Filipino firm Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI) to issue a status quo order enjoining the government from terminating its P3.8-billion three-year maintenance contract for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3.

In a 14-page decision penned by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting, the SC’s Second Division held that the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City properly dismissed the petition filed by BURI. The SC agreed that the trial court is barred from issuing a temporary restraining order (TRO) and preliminary injunctions (PI) against national government projects under Republic Act 8975, or the law which prohibits lower courts from issuing TROs, PIs etc., but did not give weight to the argument of BURI that the RTC has authority to issue a TRO or other interim measures of protections in cases involving disputes that are proper for arbitration under RA 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act. BURI argued that under RA 9184, its implementing rules and regulations and the MRT 3 contract, all disputes arising from the contract shall be settled through arbitration proceedings governed by RA 9285 or the Alternative Dispute Resolution

Act of 2004.

It insisted that under Section 28 of RA 9285, the grant of an interim measure of protection by the proper court before the constitution of an arbitral tribunal is allowed.

In junking BURI’s petition, the SC adopted its previous ruling where it described that RA 9285 as a general law applicable to all matters and controversies to be resolved through alternative dispute resolution methods.

While RA 9285 allows trial courts to grant interim, or provisional relief, including preliminary injunction, to parties in arbitration case prior to the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, the SC said it must give way to a special law governing national government projects, such as RA 8975.

“With respect to other matters raised, we note that most of the parties’ factual allegations and counter-allegations already touch upon the merits of the main controversy, i.e., the propriety of respondent’s termination of the MRT 3 contract,” the SC noted.

“We deem it best to refrain from ruling on this issue and the matters surrounding it since they should be threshed out and litigated in the appropriate arbitration proceedings between parties,” it added.

It can be recalled that the Department of Transportation terminated its contract with BURI in 2017 due to numerous service interruptions which it blamed on the Korean-Filipino maintenance provider.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, July 21, 2020 A3

Recto reminds Duterte admin: Time to replenish depleted OFW aid fund

N

By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

OTING that more than 92,000 “distressed” overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been repatriated, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto reminded Malacañang on Monday that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) fund for this purpose has been depleted to less than one-third requiring urgent augmentation.

“As number of distressed OFWs mounts, [it’s] time to augment [the] DFA assistance fund,” Recto said, noting that the surge in Filipinos losing their jobs abroad has reduced the P1-billion fund to P300 million.

Recto, in a news statement, voiced OFW concerns that “the lifeline to our kababayan will be gone soon at the rate it is being utilized.”

The Senate President Pro Tempore pointed out that the cost of repatriating an OFW from the Middle East is P35,000, on plane fare alone.

“So that plane carrying 350 passengers is chartered for P12 million to

P13 million,” he said.

Recto reported that “our hardworking ambassador to Saudi Arabia has said that repatriating our 80,000 distressed kababayans there will cost around P3.2 billion.”

While he acknowledged that “the price may be steep, it is like a drop in the barrel of Saudi oil, if compared to the [OFWs] sacrifices for the country and contribution to the economy.”

At the same time, Recto reminded that “lest we forget them, we should remember that ours is an economy lubricated by the katas ng Saudi, the pawis of sea-

farers, and the tears of homesick Filipinas who have to leave their children behind.”

To drive home his point, Recto computed that the P35,000 cost of a plane ticket to bring home a distressed OFW is much less than the college tuition cost of a student in a state university. “’Yang P35,000 na presyo ng ticket, mas malaki pa diyan ang annual fee college cost ng isang estudyante sa state university,” he said.

Recto added: “Many radiologic technologists and dietician-nutritionists, PRC [Professional Regulation Commission] test passers like nurses, have also been marooned in SG-11.Mga stranded individuals din sila, denied of a ticket to a pay hike. Buti pa ang rookie na patrolman, P30,000 kaagad ang base pay.”

Recto reaffirmed the OFWs are “our foreign working legions, our soldiers of the economy. It is our moral duty to bring them home to their families,” reminding that “makaraan ang mahabang taong sakripisyo, gusto na nilang umuwi sa mga bahay na kanilang pinundar, sa mga bayang tinulungan nilang lumago, sa mga anak na kanilang pinaaral.”

Recto computed that even if President Duterte, invoking his “budgetary realignment powers,” will release an additional P2 billion to the Assistance to Nationals (ATN) fund of the DFA, “that amount will be equivalent to what

OFWs remitted in a mere 10 hours last year.”

Recto recalled that “Filipinos abroad sent home P1.7 trillion in 2019, or P4.6 billion per day. Pinoys in Saudi and United Arab Emirates remitted P190 billion, bigger than the annual gross sales of Jollibee in 2018.”

At the same time, Recto commended the understaffed and underfunded DFA and Department of Labor and Employment for repatriating almost 90,000 OFWs to date, noting that “they could have sent home more, if not for the flight restrictions imposed by the government task force on Covid-19.”

He also pointed out that in the Philippines, “A city of 1 million residents will be served by at least 5,000 government workers. In Saudi, they have 190 consular officers serving 1 million Filipinos in a country 7 times bigger in land area than the Philippines.”

Recto noted that “the chokepoint really is in the homeland they have sacrificed so much for and long to return to, where the number of arrivals is being controlled.”

He, however, assured that “the process is improving, the transit time is getting faster. We have to give credit where it is due, kasama na dito ang mga hotel workers na talaga namang nagsakripisyo sa pagtanggap ng mga OFWs.”

Go pushes for stronger mandatory face mask policy DOH restarts polio vaccination drive in Mindanao, other parts of the country S EN. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go is pushing for a stricter implementation of policy on the mandatory wearing of face masks in public to control the spread of the virus.

In a recent interview, Go cited an expert recommendation that wearing the right kind of masks significantly decreases risk of spreading the virus.

“I am urging the government to enforce a stronger mask-wearing policy in the country. Let us make this a discipline among all Filipinos as we continue our fight to stop the spread of Covid-19,” Go said.

“According to experts, wearing the right kind of mask decreases the risk of spreading the virus by 85 percent. With social distancing and the use of face shields, the risk

may be reduced by more than 90 percent. This is why, in the absence of a vaccine, wearing a mask remains a must,” he added.

Go also urged the government to provide masks for those who cannot acquire, or afford them.

He added that he will talk to the Executive department to discuss how government can provide face masks to poor Filipinos.

“I am urging the government to use its resources to provide face masks, especially to the poor. Importante po ang mga mahihirap na ’di makabili ng mask, ito ang gawan nila ng paraan,” he mentioned.

“Ito po ang aking isusulong ngayon.

Mananawagan po ako at kakausapin ko ang Executive department. Papakiusapan ko si Pangulong Duterte na magawan ng paraan na mabigyan

ng mask ang mahihirap nating kapatid...sana unahin nila ang mahihirap, katulad ng 4Ps beneficiaries na talagang kasya lang ang pera sa pagkain, ‘di kayang bumili ng mask,” he added.

Go also said he hopes that the provision of face masks to the poor be considered as one of the specific measures the government may implement under the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One or the Bayanihan 2 Act which will be tackled in the Senate again once Congress session resumes.

Earlier, Go appealed to exportoriented local manufacturers of medical supplies and equipment to retain most of their outputs for use in the Philippines. This is to address the scarcity of certain medical supplies and equipment given worldwide shortage amid the pandemic.

AirAsia PHL highlights ‘longest flight’ in OFW repatriation ops

By Recto Mercene @rectomercene

A

IRASIA Philippines (Z2) reported that it has marked its “longest flight” over the weekend, repatriating 125 Filipino sea-based OFWs from a port city in western India to Manila, a distance covering 5,196 kilometers.

The 14-hour flight from Gujarat to Manila was coordinated by five local manning agencies whose workers were stranded in Bhavnagar, a seaport region of Gujarat state in Western India, for weeks.

The chartered flight departed Manila at 7:05 a.m. on July 18 for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Gujarat, then flew back with the sea-based workers on July 19 at 9 a.m.

The return flight Z2 115 arrived in Manila on the same day at 9:28 p.m. (local time).

Given the length of the flight, the aircraft had a scheduled technical stop to refuel at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport

in Bengal, India.

AirAsia Philippines Chief Executive Officer Ricky Isla said, “We are pleased to have not only mounted the longest flight ever for AirAsia Philippines but, at the same time, helped repatriate Filipinos overseas. We know how much they have longed to come home and we are honored to be part of their safe return to the Philippines.”

The special recovery flight was facilitated by the DFA and Regent Travel Corp.

Prior to this flight, AirAsia Philippines’s longest round-trip flight was between Manila and Yangon on June 12, lasting eight hours.

It was a special recovery flight carrying 152 Myanmar nationals back to their homeland after they were trapped in Manila during the lockdown. The average duration of Z2 commercial international oneway flights is three hours.

A irAsia Philippines said it has mounted nearly 400 special recovery and cargo flights since March 16, 2020, f lying

over 25,000 passengers and over 600,000 kilograms of cargo to nearly 30 domestic and international destinations.

These special recovery flights are in response to requests from various organizations, including local and international government agencies.

More special recovery flights are being arranged as required, Isla said.

AirAsia assured that the safety and well-being of guests is the airlines’ top pr ior it y, adding that it is compliant with advice and regulations from the local governments, civil aviation authorities, global and local health agencies, including the World Health Organization.

Follow AirAsia on Twitter (@AirAsia) and Facebook (facebook.com/ AirAsia) for the latest updates, or contact our customer support team at support.airasia.com. Guests are also encouraged to check their flight status at airasia.com/flightstatus for live updates.

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

A

FTER it was briefly put on hold due to the pandemic, the Department of Health (DOH) on Monday announced that they will resume its “Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio” campaign to combat the poliovirus outbreak in the Philippines.

“Continuous implementation of polio response amid the present health crisis we are facing is important as this will prevent not only the debilitating effects of the disease but also interrupt the transmission during a pandemic,” said Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III. With the support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Fund (Unicef), the next phase of the campaign in the whole of Mindanao will start on July 20 and would last until August 2, 2020 for children under five years old.

C hi ld ren under 10 yea rs old in selected areas in Mindanao will also receive polio drops.

Meanwhile, new polio immunization campaignsforchildrenunderfiveyears old will begin in a phased approach in Region3(CentralLuzon)onJuly20and in the provinces of Laguna, Cavite and Rizal in Region 4A in August.

DOH and the Centers for Health Development, together with WHO and Unicef, have been preparing for the immunization campaign, addressing the special challenges posed

by Covid-19 pandemic through online orientations and planning with field teams.

“Polio is a vaccine-preventable disease and we cannot let our gains over the years go to waste by deprioritizing our polio response. It is imperative for parents and caregivers to have their children vaccinated, while strictly adhering to infection prevention and control protocols, as we cannot afford to overwhelm our health system with another outbreak,” Duque emphasized.

Duque also called on the support of local government units and stakeholders, saying that a whole-

of-government and whole-of-nation approach is critical in preventing the polio outbreak.

“We are calling for the support of the local government units, and all relevant stakeholders as we endeavor to continue the Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio. This way, we become part of the solution in helping each other stay healthy and save lives,” he said.

For his part, Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO representative in the Philippines said that the people should remember that “the polio outbreak is not over, so it is critical that we continue this life-saving work of immunizing our children against this debilitating disease, while responding to Covid-19.”

“But we must also remember to ensure that our dedicated frontline health workers and our communities are fully protected from Covid-19 during the polio campaign.

“To the health workers as well as the parents, caregivers and the children participating in the campaign: Be vigilant in practicing the preventive measures such as frequent hand hygiene, physical distancing and wearing of masks during planning, implementing and evaluating the polio response,” the WHO chief added.

The polio outbreak in the Philippines was announced last September 19, 2019, with the first known confirmed case from a three-year-old girl in Lanao del Sur. Since then, 15 more children have been confirmed with polio with ages ranging from below one-year-old to nine years old. The cases were identified in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Region 12 (Soccsksargen), Region 3, and Region 4A. Polio is a highly infectious disease that mainly affects young children, who have not completed their vaccination schedules.

The disease is transmitted from person-to-person primarily through the fecal-to-oral route resulting from poor sanitation and hygiene practices, and less frequently through contaminated food, or water.

Once in the intestine, the poliovi-

rus multiplies and it can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis or even death.

The Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio campaign started in July 2019 after the detection of polioviruses from waterways in the National Capital Region. During the first quarter of 2020, immunization rounds also continued in Mindanao and the NCR, reaching 4.5 million children, more than 95 percent of the target children for vaccination.

It is important to reach at least 95 percent coverage for each round of the polio immunization campaign to ensure enough immunity in the community to stop the spread of polio in the Philippines.

Me a nwh i le, O y u n s a i k h a n Dendevnorov, Unicef Philippines representative said that unlike Covid-19, there is already an available vaccine against polio that it is safe, effective and free at health centers.

“The Covid-19 pandemic reminds us of the importance of vaccines to prevent diseases. Like wearing masks and physical distancing, each effort we make to vaccinate one child has the potential to protect all children from polio,” Dendevnorov said.

For the polio response, Unicef helped the government procure supplies such as vaccines, freezers, ice packs, and vaccine carriers; develop and disseminated communication materials; enjoined civil society, religious leaders and other influencers to spread messages about polio prevention; trained health workers and other frontline workers on interpersonal communication and social mobilization; conducted planning and assessments, and gave assistance for proper vaccine disposal.

WHO, on the other hand, continues to provide technical advice in intensifying polio surveillance, planning for and monitoring of immunization campaigns, infection prevention and control measures, and risk communication. WHO has also deployed international and national polio experts who provide on-the-ground technical support to the regions and local implementers.

A4 Tuesday, July 21, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Critics are ‘classifying’ terror acts, says Sotto continued from a8

“Very clear, we made it a point that shall not, shall not. That is clear: when you use ‘shall’ in the law, it means it is imperative. [The prohibited acts] shall not include advocacy, protest, dissent, stoppage of work, industrial or mass action or other similar exercises of civil and political rights. That is clear.”

For instance, he said, “if you are having a protest or a rally and there is a riot and some people get hurt, the people to blame will be charged in the Revised Penal Code, not in the Anti-Terrorism Law. That is very specific, they should read it.”

The Senate President asserted the pertinent provisions of the law is/are “very clear.”

“It is very clear, very specific. In order to be considered an act of terrorism, the intent and purpose taken must be established... without the underlying purpose, any act without the underlying purpose of terrorism, the violations will be under the Revised Penal Code or other special laws, not as acts of terrorism. That is very clear,” Sotto stressed.

Asked who decides the “intent and purpose” to be covered by the Anti-Terror Law, the Senate President replied: “The answer

is the situation. They are blaming, they are saying it is going to be the Anti-Terrorism Council that will say that. No. The facts, what happens, or what happened, will determine, and there will be the courts to determine, not the Anti-Terrorism Council [ATC].

The Anti-Terrorism Council has no power to do that. Again, that is another mistake by those who are against the Anti-Terrorism Council which has been there since 2003. The Anti-Terrorism Council [was] already there since the Human Security Act which was a dead letter law.”

At the same time, Sotto assured the public that participating in a protest that turns violent and results in injury is not covered by the Anti-Terror Law. “There are specific laws, special laws already in the Revised Penal Code that covers all that. It will not fall under terrorism. I think that is the point that most of them are saying, will everything be classified as terrorism? They’re the ones who classified it, not the law. The ones who are saying they are against the law are the ones who are saying they can be classified under the anti-terrorism law. It’s not; they are not going to be classified as far as the law is concerned.” Butch Fernandez

House panel sets Cha-cha meeting on LGU ‘clamor’ continued from a8

SC ruling part of laws already

ON Sunday, however, Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said there is no need for Charter change if only to “institutionalize” the Mandanas ruling because Supreme Court decisions already form part of the law of the land. Drilon, a former Justice secretary, cautioned lawmakers against heeding the supposed “clamor” from LGUs, as some quarters may just be interested in lifting term limits.

Meanwhile, in relation to the lifting or relaxation of restrictions on foreign investment and even ownership of businesses, Rodriguez said there are already resolutions filed in the committee.

“Specially this time, when we need more foreign investments and to invite more foreign businesses relocating from China, in order to provide much needed jobs for our people, this amendment is worth considering,” Rodriguez said.

He said he would get the sense of his members and leaders of the House on discussing Charter change amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In February, the committee reconsidered the resolution of both houses seeking to propose amendments to the 1987 Constitution to include the proposals of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), including the Mandanas ruling which will increase the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

The Cha-cha seeks to amend Articles VI (Legislative Department), X (Local Government), XII (National Patrimony), XIV (Education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture and Sports) and XVI (General Provisions) of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines.

It seeks to amend the provisions of the Constitution, particularly Section 2, Section 3, Section 4, Section 7, Section 10, Section 11, of Article XII or the National Patrimony and Economy by inserting unless otherwise provided by law. These amendments seeks to relax the restrictive foreign ownership to attract more foreign investments.

‘Dual route’–Cayetano

SPEAKER Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday assured the public that the House will not railroad Charter change as it will take a “dual route” in amending the 33-year-old Constitution.

Cayetano said lawmakers are also now deliberating measures to also partially address issues that Cha-cha can resolve, like providing more autonomy for local government through federalism.

“The Committee on Local Government as well as the Committee on Appropriation, the Committee on Ways and Means, and Deputy Speaker [Luis Raymund] Villafuerte are working on the amendments on the Local Government Code,” he said at a press briefing at the sidelines of the signing of a memorandum with the Department of Agriculture and Taguig City.

“This means that if federalism [through Chacha] will not be done, economic federalism and more autonomy for LGUs can be given priority. So we can approach it in parallel,” he added.

Last year, Cayetano said federalism will be implemented through equal budget allocation among provinces, cities and municipalties, particularly those lagging behind the general level of development.

Proper timing

CAYETANO, meanwhile, said proper timing should be considered in changing the Constitution.

“There is no doubt that Charter change is needed.

The only question for all of us is timing,” Cayetano said.

While lawmakers can tackle the proposed amendments, the Speaker said it is hard to conduct a plebiscite to approve these changes amid the health crisis due to Covid-19 pandemic.

“Congress is still very interested there but we’re also practical. I think people should discuss it but they should not worry that it will be rammed down their throat,” he said.

“We only want constitutional change if the people want it and want it very badly,” Cayetano added.

Insidious agenda

MEANWHILE, Bayan Muna Chairman Neri Colmenares and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate on Monday condemned the renewed efforts to push for Charter change.

They said this Cha-cha has a new component—deleting constitutional provisions that will protect the Philippines from China’s expansionism in the West Philippine Sea, as well as providing China red carpet entry into the Philippines.

“The pronouncement of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Federalism and Constitutional Reform and the Department of the Interior and Local Government [DILG], as well as the League of Municipalities of the Philippines [LMP] to again push for amending the Constitution for economic reforms by allowing entry of foreign business makes this current Cha-cha the most dangerous because it will open up the country further to countries like China,” Colmenares said.

He said the proposal deletes many provisions in the 1987 Constitution.

“It deletes the requirement under Section 2 Article XII of the 1987 Constitution that the ‘exploration, development and utilization of natural resources’ can only be undertaken by the State through joint ventures with Filipino citizens or corporations at least 60 percent of whose capital is owned by Filipinos,” he added.

“This Cha-cha also deleted the provision under Section 2 that requires the President to notify Congress of every contract entered into in accordance with this provision,” said Colmenares.

Colmenares said this opens up the country to verbal agreements with China allowing China’s fishing in the West Philippine Sea. “Worse, this Cha-cha will also delete the requirement under Section 7 Art. XIII of the 1987 Constitution that requires the government to protect Philippine marine resources and subsistence fishermen from foreign intrusion. China’s lobby in this Cha-cha undertaking must be very strong,” he said.

Meanwhile, Zarate said that the Inter -Agency Task Force’s promise of electoral reforms is also a sham. In fact, he said, “several administration allies admitted that indeed term extension is part of the main agenda of Cha-cha.”

“This Cha-cha is not for the benefit of the Filipino people but for the self-serving benefit of politicians,” said Zarate.

Weak LGUs, low IRA force public to shoulder bulk of health costs continued from a8

Out of pocket

TO illustrate the current financial dilemma of households with Covid-19 patients. Maricar R. Piedad of Ibon Foundation Inc. cited the bill of a recovered patient that reached P1.312 million for a 15-day confinement for Covid-19.

Piedad said bulk of the medical bill came from charges for laboratory tests, doctors’ professional fees, intubation, and the ventilator and respirator used throughout the patient’s admission.

She said the patient was lucky that all the funds were covered by PhilHealth at that time. Since April 15, PhilHealth no longer covered the entire amount of the bill of Covid-19 patients.

According to PhilHealth Circular 2020-0009, Piedad said patients with mild pneumonia can get a maximum coverage of P43,997, while moderate and severe pneumonia patients can have a maximum amount coverage of P143,267 and P333,519, respectively. Critical patients, on the other hand, can access benefits of up to P786,384.

“If the patient with the P1.312-million medical bill for example had been confined after April 15, PhilHealth would have just paid the P333,519 maximum coverage for severe pneumonia patients. The remaining P978,481 or almost 75 percent of the patient’s total medical bill would have to be paid out-of-pocket,” Piedad said.

This is a major concern, especially now that millions are jobless or have experienced a significant reduction in their income. She added that given the situation, many Filipinos no longer consult doctors despite experiencing Covid-19 symptoms, in order to save money.

Piedad said the government should speed up efforts to broaden and build up testing and hospital capacity. She said it is high time that government make health care accessible and affordable for every Filipino.

She said the government can start by making Covid-19 testing and treatment free for all. Piedad said the pandemic will continue as long as infected Filipinos are not isolated and treated.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DOLE reports decline in job loss in first 2 weeks of July

T

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported a downturn in the increase of permanent labor displacement for the second week in a row this month, indicating a slight improvement in the country’s work force.

While an additional 6,041 workers still lost their jobs from July 12 to July 19, 2020, this has been lower compared to the increases since the month started.

From June 28 to July 5, DOLE reported a whopping 12,561 workers were displaced, which is 11 percent higher compared to the figures in the previous week.

During the second week of July, the rate of increase started to slowed down to 7 percent, which is equivalent to 9,507 displaced workers.

Labor Assistant Secretary Domi-

nique Tutay said they are hopeful the slowdown will continue in the coming weeks as the government eases quarantine restrictions to allow more businesses to operate under the second phase of its National Action Plan to response to the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

“This is a welcome development as the economy continues to open gradually. We just need to reinforce some barriers of our workers, especially when it comes to transport services as most workers still find it a challenge in terms of units and cost of transport,”

Tutay told the BusinessMirror in a Viber message.

As of July 20, DOLE’s Jobs Displacement Report showed there were already a total of 127,962 workers who were displaced by 5,672 establishments nationwide.

Of the said figures, 116,087 were retrenched by their 5,100 employers as cost-cutting measure.

The remaining 11,875 workers lost their jobs after their 572 companies permanently closed down.

The National Capital Region still registered the most number of displaced workers at 52,814 and followed by Calabarzon (31,254) and Central Luzon (15,524).

The industries most affected by the displacements are the administrative and support services activities (32,092); other services activities (19,408); and manufacturing (17,787).

Other service activities includes the activities of membership organizations, the repair of computers and personal and household goods, and a variety of personal service activities not covered elsewhere in the classifications of DOLE.

Cross-border private data flows. What happened last Thursday? Impact of decision is immediate and global

T

By Henry J. Schumacher

HOUSANDS of companies will face restrictions on storing information about European Union (EU) residents on US servers, after the bloc’s top court ruled that such transfers exposed Europeans to American government surveillance without “actionable rights” to challenge it.

The surprise ruling last Thursday by the European Court of Justice, which invalidates a widely used EU-US data-transfer agreement known as Privacy Shield, is a victory for privacy activists who have long held the US’s surveillance practices should make it ineligible to store European data.

The decision, which pits European data-privacy concerns against US national-security priorities, will create legal headaches and potentially disrupt operations of thousands of multinational companies (MNC) like Amazon, Facebook, Google, Mastercard, to name a few only. Depending on how it is applied, the ruling could force some of them to decide between a costly shift toward data centers into Europe, or cutting off business with region.

Blocking data transfers could upend billions of dollars of trade from cross-border data activities, including cloud services, human resources, marketing and advertising information about Europeans on US soil, tech advocates say.

Affected industries are calling on policy-makers on both sides of the Atlantic to develop a “sustainable solution, in line with EU law, to ensure the continuation of data flows which underpins the trans-Atlantic economy.”

Eduardo Ustaran, partner and global co-head of the Privacy and Cybersecurity practice at Hogan Lovells, put it best: “The impact of this decision is immediate and global. It goes significantly further than the invalidation of the Privacy

Shield as it requires companies to bear in mind other countries’ powers over data access when engaging in global data flows.

This is a big job.”

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he was disappointed with the ruling and was in touch with his European counterparts in the hope of limiting the “negative consequences to the $7.1-trillion Trans-Atlantic economic relationship.

Margarete Vestager, the top official in charge of digital policy and competition at the European Commission—the EU’s executive arm—said the bloc would look to replace the Privacy Shield.

“We will work hard to make sure that data can be transferred, she said. “We are a data-driven economy.”

The EU and the US implemented the Privacy Shield agreement nearly four years ago, after a prior framework, called Safe Harbor, was scrapped in 2015 over surveillance concerns.

More than 5,000 companies have signed up to the newer framework, of which more than 70 percent are small- and medium-sized businesses.

Under Thursday’s ruling, privacy regulator could block data transfers using the special contracts to other countries as well, lawyers say.

Thursday’s decision did not mention the UK’s exit from the EU. However, the ruling could complicate British efforts to ensure that companies can continue to store Europeans’ personal information after it ends a transition period from the EU. The judgment invalidates the EU-US Privacy Shield.

For now, the Court upheld the use of Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), but it added new considerations for organizations and authorities using SCCs as the transfer mechanism of choice.

EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said in a news conference last Friday that he wants “a formal approval to modernize the Standard Contractual Clauses as soon as possible.”

As to the future of the Privacy Shield, Reynders mentioned he expects the conversations with the US to start on immediately. Once the analysis of the Court of Justice of the European Union verdict is completed, the EU will work to develop “a strengthened and durable transfer mechanism.”

The European Data Protection Board intends to continue playing a constructive part in securing a transatlantic transfer of personal data that benefits European Economic Area citizens and organizations, and stands ready to provide the European Commission with assistance and guidance to help it build, together with the US, a new framework that fully complies with EU data protection law.

The ruling invalidates Privacy Shield as a method for crossborder data transfers and can have a wide-ranging impact on privacy professionals. Many companies rely in some part on Privacy Shield to conduct global business, operate in the cloud, and work with vendors.

Given that this just happened last Thursday, further guidance and statements are expected. We will keep you informed.

Please bear in mind that business-process outsourcing and MNCs in the Philippines are affected by this also, and we have to expect that privacy rules in other jurisdictions will be affected and be changed, such as the Apec Cross Boarder Privacy Rules.

If you have feedback, contact me at Schumacher@eitsc.com

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Half of virus patients admitted in Baja California hospitals die

H

alf the Covid-19 patients who go to the hospital in Mexico’s border state of Baja California die, an alarming rate that experts attribute to people waiting too long to seek admission because they fear the poor conditions of hospitals.

“They see hospitals as places where they’ll get sicker, not better,” said Jonathan Prieto, who was part of a Doctors Without Borders’ response team in Baja.

Government data show that out of the 4,760 patients that have been hospitalized with the virus in the state, 2,337 have died, a 49 percent death rate, the highest in Mexico. The state of Guerrero isn’t far behind at 47 percent. Countrywide, the average is 36 percent.

Most countries don’t have comparable data. In April, at the height of the pandemic in New York City, two of its hospitals found that 8.8 percent of those admitted with the virus died, according to a study published in The Lancet.

In the best of times, public hospitals in Mexico lack basic equipment, medication and personnel, and that has caused many to stay away as long as possible. Prieto said he was pleasantly surprised that basic supplies have been generally available in both Baja California and Guerrero.

The data also show that Baja California, which is home to Tijuana, San Diego’s sister city, has the country’s second-highest mortality rate per 100,000 people.

Mexico had 344,244 cases and 39,184 deaths as of Sunday. It has the fourth-deadliest outbreak behind the US, Brazil and the U.K. Given the country’s low testing rates, it’s likely the real number of total infections is substantially higher.

Myths, fears

T he gover nment, l i ke ma ny around the world, has offered mixed messages to those feeling ill. In the pandemic’s early days, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said people should stay home and only go to hospitals in an emergency. Later on, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez Gatell called on anyone showing symptoms to seek care.

“Most patients who are admitted already have respiratory insufficiency,” said Yanet Cortes, a nurse at Hospital Juarez in Mexico City. And if patients require a ventilator, it’s not always guaranteed that the person operating it will know how to use it because many hospital workers are new hires, Prieto said.

In Guerrero State, Prieto estimates some hospitals lost as much as 40 percent of their staff in the early days. Some left because they were in risk groups, others got sick and haven’t come back, Prieto said. The same thing happened in Baja California and, although the government put in place aggressive hiring programs to offset the losses, many of the newly hired are recent graduates with little experience.

Baja California’s health ministry didn’t reply to e-mails and messages requesting comment.

Across the country, most patients who die in hospitals never even reach intensive care units, government data show. On a national level, 88 percent of inpatients who die do so in general beds and only 12 percent in ICUs. “It’s better not to transfer a patient into the ICU when there’s no hope for them,” Cortes said.

Bloomberg News

FDA approves Quest Covid-19 test for ‘pooled’ sample use

W

ASHINGTON—The Food and Drug Administration has given emergency approval to a new approach to coronavirus testing that combines test samples in batches instead of running them one by one, speeding up the process.

The FDA said on Saturday that it reissued an emergency use authorization to Quest Diagnostics to use its Covid-19 test with pooled samples. It is the first test authorized to be used in this way.

With pooling, instead of running each person’s test individually, laboratories would combine par ts of samples from several people and test them together. A negative result would clear everyone in the batch. A positive result would require each sample to be individually retested. Pooling works best with lab-run tests, which take hours—not the much quicker individual tests used in clinics or doctor’s offices.

The potential benefits of sample pooling include stretching laboratory supplies further, reducing costs and expanding testing to millions more Americans who may unknowingly be

spreading the virus. Health officials think infected people who aren’t showing symptoms are largely responsible for the rising number of cases in more than half the country. The approach might enable mass testing at schools or businesses, though it’s unclear when that could happen.

“It’s a really good tool. It can be used in any of a number of circumstances, including at the community level or even in schools,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, told a Senate hearing last month.

Pooling is not always the best option. It won’t save time or resources when used in a Covid-19 hot spot such as a nursing home outbreak. That’s because the logistical and financial benefits of pooling only add up when a small number of pools test positive.

Experts generally recommend the technique when fewer than 10 percent of people are expected to test positive. For example, pooling would not be cost-effective in Arizona, where a surge has pushed positive test results to well over 10 percent. But the approach could make sense in areas with a lower rate of positive results. AP

Japan starts subsidizing companies to cut reliance on Chinese factories

J

apan’s government will start subsidizing some companies to invest in factories in Japan and Southeast Asia as part of efforts to reduce reliance on manufacturing in China.

Fifty-seven companies including privately held facemask-maker Iris Ohyama Inc. or Sharp Corp. will receive a total of 57.4 billion yen ($536 million) in subsidies from the government to invest in production in Japan, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday.

Another 30 firms will receive money for investments in Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and other Southeast Asian nations, according to a separate announcement, which didn’t provide details on the amount of money.

While the METI statement doesn’t explicitly state the money is to move production out of China, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in March that Japan needed to bring production back

home or diversify output to Asean nations and elsewhere to cut reliance on any one country such as China.

The government will pay a total of 70 billion yen in this round, the Nikkei newspaper reported. The payments come from 243.5 billion yen that the government earmarked in April to reduce reliance on Chinese supply chains, with the money aimed at helping companies shift factories back home or to other nations.

As US-China relations deteriorate and the trade war worsens, there’s been increasing discussions in the US and elsewhere about how to “decouple” economies and firms from China.

Japan’s decision is similar to a Taiwanese policy in 2019, which was aimed at bringing investment back home from China. So far, no other country has enacted a concrete policy to encourage the shift. Bloomberg News

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

A5

Governments eye tougher steps to fight coronavirus

S

igns of governments reassessing their coronavirus response were scattered around the world on Sunday, with the mayor of Los Angeles saying the city was reopened too quickly, Ohio’s governor warning his state is “going the wrong way,” Hong Kong issuing tougher new rules on wearing face masks and Spain closing overcrowded beaches.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Los Angeles was “on the brink” of new widespread stay-athome orders as Los Angeles County continued to see the state’s largest increase in confirmed coronavirus cases. California reported on Saturday its fourth-highest daily total of newly confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 9,000.

Appearing on CNN Sunday, Garcetti was asked about a Los A ngeles Times editor ia l that criticized the rapid reopening of California, which was followed by a spike in new Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations.

“I do agree those things happened too quickly,” Garcetti said, adding that the decisions were made at the state and county levels, not by city officials. But he also said people in general had become less vigilant about taking precautions to avoid transmission.

“It’s not just what’s open and closed,” he said. “It’s also about what we do individually.”

Infections have been soaring in US states including California,

Florida, Texas and Arizona, with many blaming a haphazard, partisan approach to lifting lockdowns as well as the resistance of some Americans to wearing masks.

In Florida, where health officials reported nearly 12,500 new infections and nearly 90 additional deaths on Sunday, US Sen. Marco Rubio called for consistent, nonpartisan messaging.

“We’ve seen a lot of these things turned into sort of a partisan fight or a political statement,” he told South Florida television station, CBS4, on Sunday.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, like Rubio a Republican, said he would not rule out a statewide mandate on wearing masks, as infections in his state grew. He has already issued such orders in 19 counties accounting for nearly 60 percent of the state’s population.

“We’re going the wrong way.

We’re at a crucial time,” DeWine said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Globa l ly, t he World Hea lt h Organization said that 259,848 new infect ions were repor ted

on Sat u rd ay, its h ighest one d ay t a l ly yet. Ind i a, wh ic h has now conf ir med more t ha n 1 m i l l ion infect ions, on Su nd ay repor ted a 24 -hou r record of 38,902 new cases.

Pope Francis said “the pandemic is showing no sign of stopping” and urged compassion for those whose suffering during the outbreak has been worsened by conflicts.

In Europe, where infections are far below their peak but local outbreaks are causing concern, leaders of the 27-nation European Union haggled for a third day in Brussels over a proposed 1.85 trillion-euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and coronavirus recover y fund.

German Chancellor A ngela Merkel said there is “a lot of good will, but there are also a lot of positions” in the talks, which have laid bare divisions about how the countries hit hardest by the pandemic, such as Italy and Spain, should be helped. She said the talks, which were initially scheduled to end on Saturday, could still end without a deal.

Confirmed global virus deaths have risen to more than 603,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The United States tops the list with over 140,000, followed by more than 78,000 in Brazil. Europe as a continent has seen about 200,000 deaths.

The number of confirmed infections worldwide has passed 14.3 million, with 3.7 million in the United States and more than 2 million in Brazil. Experts believe the pandemic’s true toll around the world is much higher because of testing shortages and data collection issues.

Even where the situation has

been largely brought under control, new outbreaks are prompting the return of restrictions.

Following a recent surge in c a ses, Hong K ong m ade t he wearing of masks mandatory in all public places and told nonessential civil servants to work from home. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the situation in the Asian financial hub is “really critical” and that she sees “no sign” that it’s under control.

Police in Barcelona have limited access to some of the city’s beloved beaches because sunbathers were ignoring social distancing regulations amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections.

Slaughterhouses also have featured in outbreaks in the US, Germany and elsewhere. Authorities in northwestern Germany’s Vechta county said 66 workers at a chicken slaughterhouse tested positive, though most appeared to have been infected in their free time.

An earlier outbreak at a slaughterhouse in western Germany infected over 1,400 and prompted a partial lockdown.

Cases in the Australian state of Victoria rose again on Sunday, prompting a move to make masks mandatory in metropolitan Melbourne and the nearby district of Mitchell for people who leave their homes for exercise or to purchase essential goods.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said those who fail to wear a mask will be fined 200 Australian dollars ($140). “ There’s no vaccine to this wildly infectious virus and it’s a simple thing, but it’s about changing habits, it’s about becoming a simple part of your routine,” Andrews said. AP

U.A.E.’s Amal spacecraft rockets toward Mars in Arab world 1st

T

OKYO—A United Arab Emirates spacecraft rocketed into blue skies from a Japanese launch center on Monday at the start of a seven-month journey to Mars on the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.

The liftoff of the Mars orbiter named Amal, or Hope, starts a rush to fly to Earth’s neighbor that is scheduled to be followed in the next few days by China and the United States.

At the space center in Dubai, people watching were transfixed by the liftoff, then cheered and clapped, with one woman offering a celebratory cry common for weddings.

Amal blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center aboard a Mitsubishi Heav y Industries’ H-IIA rocket on time at 6:58 am (2158 GMT Sunday) after being delayed five days by bad weather.

Mitsubishi later said the probe successfully separated from the rocket and was now on its solo journey to Mars.

The probe was sending signals that would be analyzed later but everything appeared good for now, Omran Sharaf, the UAE Mars mission director told journalists in Dubai about an hour and a half after liftoff.

Amal is set to reach Mars in February 2021, the year the UAE celebrates 50 years since the country’s formation. In September that year, Amal will start transmitting Martian atmospheric data, which will be made available to the international scientific community, Sharaf said.

“The UAE is now a member of the club and we will learn more and we will engage more and we’ll continue developing our space exploration program,” UAE Space Agency chief Mohammed Al Ahbabi told a joint online news conference from Tanegashima.

At Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, Emirati men in their traditional white kandora robes and women in their black abayas watched the liftoff. As its stages separated, a cheer went out from men seated on the floor.

They began clapping, one using his face mask,

In this photo released by MHI, an H-IIA rocket with United Arab Emirates’ Mars orbiter Hope lifts off from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima, southern Japan on July 20. A United Arab Emirates spacecraft rocketed away Monday on a seven-month journey to Mars, kicking off the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. MHI via AP

worn due to the coronavirus pandemic, to wipe away a tear.

“It was great to see everything going according to schedule today. It looks like things are all on track. It’s a huge step in terms of space exploration to have a nation like the UAE taking that giant leap to send a spacecraft to Mars,” astronomer Fred Watson said. “Being on route to a planet like Mars is an exceptional achievement.”

A newcomer in space development, the UAE has successfully put three Earth observation satellites into orbit. Two were developed by South Korea and launched by Russia, and a third—its own—was launched by Japan.

A successful mission to Mars would be a major step for the oil-dependent economy seeking a future in space, coming less than a year after the launch of the first UAE astronaut, Hazzaa Ali Almansoori. He spent over a week at

the International Space Station last fall.

The UAE has set a goal to build a human colony on Mars by 2117.

“It sends a very strong message to the Arab youth that if the UAE is able to reach Mars in less than 50 years, they could do much more,” Sharaf told The Associated Press on Sunday as his colleagues prepared for the launch.

Th e E m i rat i s a l s o a c k n o w l e d g e d i t represented a step forward for the Arab world, the home of mathematicians and scientists for centuries before the wars and chaos that have gripped wide swathes of it in recent times.

“So the region has been going through tough times in the past decades, if not centuries,” Sharaf said. “Now we have the case of the UAE, a country that’s moving forward with its plans, looking at the future and the future of the region also.”

For its first Mars mission, the UAE chose

partners instead of doing it all on its own.

“Developing a spacecraft is not easy even if there is ample funding,” said Junya Terazono, an astronomer at Aizu University.

Emirati scientists worked with researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder, University of California, Berkeley, and Arizona State University. The spacecraft was assembled at Boulder and transported to Japan as the two countries looked to expand their ties with the rich and politically stable Middle Eastern nation.

The Amal spacecraft, along with its launch, cost $200 million, according to Sharaf. Operation costs at Mars have yet to be divulged.

Amal, about the size of a small car, carries three instruments to study the upper atmosphere and monitor climate change while circling the red planet for at least two years. It is set to follow up on NASA’s Maven orbiter sent to Mars in 2014 to study how the planet went from a warm, wet world that may have harbored microbial life during its first billion years, to the cold, barren place of today. Hope also plans to send back images of weather changes.

Japan has long collaborated with the US and other partners in defense and space technology, and the resource-poor country has traditionally kept friendly ties with Middle Eastern countries.

Japan’s launch services are known for accuracy and an on-time record, but the providers are working to cut costs to be more internationally competitive.

Two other Mars missions are planned in coming days. China aims to explore the Martian surface with an orbiter and rover and to search for water and ice with a launch expected around Thursday. The US plans to send a rover named Perseverance to search for signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples for return to Earth. Liftoff is targeted for July 30.

Japan has its own Mars mission planned in 2024. It plans to send spacecraft to the Martian moon Phobos to collect samples to bring back to Earth in 2029. AP

A6 Tuesday, July 21, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Let’s take care of our nurses

A

fter years of waiting, nurses working in government hospitals finally get their promised pay hike after the Department of Budget and Management issued a circular that implements Section 32 of Republic Act 9173, or the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002, which mandates a minimum monthly base pay of P32,053 to P34,801.

In an interview on The Chiefs on One News on Friday, Filipino Nurses United (FNU) Secretary-General Jocelyn Andamo disclosed to the program’s hosts (Ed Lingao, Luchi Cruz-Valdes and Roby Alampay) the problems faced by government nurses, especially during this pandemic.

Andamo said the government should address the shortage of life-saving personal protective equipment (PPEs) for nurses. We have a high number of infections among our health-care workers and nurses are the most affected, she said.

Andamo noted that 40 of San Lazaro Hospital’s personnel tested positive for the virus, with another 20 infections reported thereafter, for a total of 60 in July alone.

Hospitals at times overlook the safety of their health-care workers as they ration PPEs. Andamo said nurses should have one PPE for every infected patient, but they need to use the same set of PPEs for multiple patients because of limited allocation. As a result, she said many nurses forego restroom and meal breaks just to preserve the same set of PPEs. The FNU also called for enough rest periods for nurses and other healthcare workers to prevent fatigue and burnout. Different hospitals have different rules but generally nurses are not getting enough rest, Andamo said, noting the 14-day home-quarantine rule set by the Department of Health (DOH) after working 14 consecutive days.

She also lamented that contractual nurses are not getting hazard pay even if they work the same number of hours, make the same sacrifices and are exposed to Covid-19 just the same as regular nurses.

Nurses should be given downtime not just to help reduce risks of exposure but to prevent physical and emotional fatigue. Unfortunately, most nurses get no downtime at all because there are not enough nurses in hospitals, Andamo said.

This is why FNU has appealed to the DOH to push through with its mass hiring of nurses—not just nursing “volunteers” but nurses with regular items in hospitals, who will be fairly compensated and provided benefits.

There is no reason to have nursing shortages in a country like ours, which has been deploying nurses to all corners of the world for decades. Andamo said there are about 200,000 unemployed nurses in the country, and only about 90,000 nurses are employed locally, with about 60,000 of them working in government hospitals.

She called the government’s temporary ban on the deployment of nurses abroad “irrational and unjust.” The country has enough nurses, Andamo said.

The problem is not the supply of nurses but the working conditions in the country.

We agree. The government should not prevent nurses from seeking better opportunities in other countries. It should work instead to improve their pay and benefits and work conditions here so they would see no need to work elsewhere. Current conditions, Andamo said, are far from ideal and the pandemic has only made them harsher.

Andamo said many nurses have to spend for their own Covid-19 swab testing, even if this should be free, mandatory and routine for all health-care workers who are constantly exposed to infected patients.

She said many nurses who got infected were left to fend for themselves, adding that 20 nurses infected in San Lazaro cannot even get medical care in the hospital but are staying in a tent outside.

She also said many nurses who got infected were not given the P100,000 cash aid promised by the Bayanihan Act because the rules say only those with severe infection would be compensated, hence those with moderate and mild infections got no support.

Giving nurses a little raise in their basic salaries isn’t enough to improve their plight. There are other issues and concerns that the government must address to create a positive work environment for them. If nurses are not adequately protected, if they are constantly under pressure and in danger of suffering from burnout and getting infected—all these can lead to poor hospital services and patient care, which will adversely affect the country’s health-care services.

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business ✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua

Encouraging economic data supports reopening Manny B. Villar

THE Entrepreneur

T

here are definite signs that the economy is coming back to life. Encouraging economic data proves that we can reopen the economy while containing the pandemic at the same time through targeted lockdowns.

President Duterte decided to downgrade the restrictions in Cebu City to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from ECQ and retained the general community quarantine (GCQ) status of Metro Manila starting July 16, on the recommendation of Secretary Carlito Galvez, the chief implementor of the government’s national policy on Covid-19.

A few sections of Metro Manila are still experiencing strict quarantines because of the spike in Covid-19 cases. Some barangay authorities may be remiss in their duties to enforce health protocols.

This is a matter of enforcement, and I believe authorities, especially the police, can correct this by improving their monitoring efforts and imposing strict quarantine and social

distancing rules.

It is encouraging to know that some members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases are supportive of the move to reopen the economy. The economy must be reopened gradually to generate jobs.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, a member of the task force, is moving in that direction. He announced that beauty salons, barbershops and restaurants can accommodate more customers starting July 16. Salons and barbershops in areas under GCQ are allowed to increase their capacity to 50 percent from 30 percent, while those in areas under MGCQ can increase their capacity to 75 percent from 50 percent. These establishments can also offer more services, such as full hair treatments, aside

The Beijing way

Founder Publisher Editor in Chief Associate Editor News Editor

T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug

Senior Editors

Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos Lyn B. Resurreccion, Dennis D. Estopace Angel R. Calso

Online Editor

Ruben M. Cruz Jr.

Creative Director Chief Photographer Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President VP-Finance VP Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) Benjamin V. Ramos Adebelo D. Gasmin Marvin Nisperos Estigoy Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Rolando M. Manangan

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines.

Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725. Fax line: 813-7025.

(Advertising Sales) 893-2019; 817-1351, 817-2807.

(Circulation) 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. E-mail: news@businessmirror.com.ph.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Printed by brown madonna Press, Inc.–Sun Valley Drive KM-15, South Superhighway, Parañaque, Metro Manila MEMBER OF

John Mangun

Lourdes M. Fernandez

OUTSIDE THE BOX

T

WENTY-TWENTY will go down as a significant “Year of the Protest,” among other milestones. Perhaps lost in the headline grabbing political protests and riots are the demonstrations about governments’ response to the pandemic that are going global.

The traditional press/media is caught between a rock and a hard place on the subject. When the press favors a government/administration, the response was “adequate even if not perfect.” If the government and the press are at odds, then that government—even with a similar response to the pandemic—failed miserably.

Belgium has the highest Covid-19 deaths per 1 million population of any country, with the exception of San Marino with a minuscule population of 34,000. I have said repeatedly that comparisons between countries are silly as there are too many factors—age distribution, population density, etc.—to make evaluations valid.

Nonetheless, the number of

deaths in Belgium is a fact. However, the European press has spent countless pages and headlines explaining why “Belgium: Successful Crisis Management.” The press/media applauded the Belgium Health Minister when she wrote about the reason why the death count was so high—“Careful counting, not mismanagement, explains the country’s death toll.”

Belgium is a dutiful and obedient member of the European Union and is home to the EU’s headquarters.

When the Belgium government has any sort of dispute with another member nation, its response is usually that the other country is not acting in “the spirit of the European Union.”

While other EU nations—France,

from the basic haircuts.

Meanwhile, restaurants in areas under GCQ will be allowed to increase their dine-in capacity to 50 percent starting July 21 from just 30 percent, while those in towns and cities under modified GCQ can raise their capacity to 75 percent from 50 percent.

I also fully support Secretary Lopez’s appeal to local government units to move the start of curfew hours from 10 pm to 12 midnight to enable these establishments to operate longer, earn more revenues and consequently employ more workers.

Despite the easing of the restrictions on businesses, these establishments are expected to strictly comply with safety measures, such as social distancing, temperature checks on customers, wearing of protective gear such as face masks and regular washing of hands. Most 400 establishments surveyed by the Department of Trade and Industry so far were found compliant with these measures.

We are glad to note that because of the reopening of business establishments at greater capacity, the economy is starting to show signs of recovery from what appeared to be a deep slump at the height of the lockdown in April and May. Investors remain hopeful about the economic prospects, as data from the Board of Investments showed

investment approvals jumped 112 percent in the first half of 2020 to P645.3 billion from P304.4 billion in the same period last year. Secretary Lopez, who also serves as BOI chairman, said the robust growth amid the pandemic points to the country’s resilience as we begin to relax the restrictions after a prolonged lockdown.

Other data indicates the economy is bouncing back. The change in quarantine rules boosted the manufacturing output toward stability at the end of the first half. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles also noted “evidence of increasing economic activity” in the country, such as the Bureau of Customs’ collections of P42.54 billion in June, which surpassed the target for the month by 4.4 percent.

We also welcome the decision of Tokyo-based debt watcher Japan Credit Rating Agency Ltd. to provide the Philippines a credit score of “A” with a “stable” outlook in June.

Debt watcher Moody’s Investors Service last week likewise affirmed the Philippines’s investment grade rating of “Baa2” with a stable outlook. It noted that the government’s fiscal position in recent years provided a buffer against a rise in public indebtedness due to shocks, such as the Covid-19 outbreak.

See “Villar,” A7

Germany, Italy and Poland—have seen protests against local quarantines and lockdowns, Belgium has not.

Protests have erupted from Russia to India to Australia and the Philippines. Seven African countries have also had street demonstrations against the lockdowns.

But some have been coupled with other objections against their respective governments, as in Iraq with regard to violence against women and in the Philippines in opposition to the Anti-Terrorism Law. Notably in China one publically reported “protest” was a female “ringleader” who tried to rally about 100 supporters. The protest was about shopkeepers that were overpricing goods in Yingcheng in eastern Hubei province. She was arrested for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” That is the Beijing way.

The Chinese government is different than the rest of the world, and you have to give it credit for problem-solving even if the methods are “unusual.”

China’s official second quarter growth rate was 3.2 percent, almost a miracle. Well, maybe it was a miracle.

Economic growth was supposedly up but the combined revenues of

China’s largest industrial conglomerates shrank 7.8 percent. Chinese government fiscal revenues fell 10.8 percent.

Maybe the GDP growth was fueled by vehicle production. In fact, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the country produced 2.33 million autos, an increase of 22.5 percent year on year and saw the highest production and sales in history. Of course, “Auto sales growth also was helped by supportive local government, said CAAM official Chen Shihua.”

Apparently, there’s a large number of “supportive local government” officials driving around in new cars.

Problem solved.

China has been hit by an “unprecedented” surge in bank runs, which forced regulators to “vouch for the soundness of lenders as the police halted the run.” The next day the government took over four insurers, two trust firms, and three securities companies that managed a combined one trillion yuan ($143 billion) in assets. Another problem solved, the Beijing way.

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

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Mandatory related party disclosure

The conscience of the nation, not of the US Congress Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

Atty. Irwin C. Nidea Jr.

Tax law for business

T

he Bureau of Internal Revenue is finding a way to capture related party transactions by imposing mandatory tax filing of a BIR Form where taxpayers are required to disclose all RPTs. Revenue Regulation (RR) 19-2020 acknowledged that “transactions between related parties have become complex and have been subject to abuse by taxpayers with intent to evade taxes by concluding transactions between them at unreasonable prices.”

By mandating the filing of BIR Form 709 every year, as an attachment to the Annual Income Tax Returns, taxpayers are now left with no choice but to comply.

What information must taxpayers disclose?

According to the RR, the required disclosures must be made separately for each of the following categories: (i) the parent company; (ii) entities with joint control or significant influence over the entity; (iii) subsidiaries; (iv) associates; (v) joint ventures in which the entity is a joint venturer; (vi) key management personnel of the entity or its parent; and (vii) other related parties.

The RR also provides that for each of the category mentioned above, the following information shall be provided: (i) the amount of the transactions; (ii) the amount of outstanding balances, including commitments, and their terms and conditions, including whether they are secured, and the nature of the consideration to be provided in settlement, and details of any guarantees given or received; (iii) provisions for doubtful debts related to the amount of outstanding balances; (iv) the expense recognized during the period in respect of bad or doubtful debts due from related parties.

This information will be used by the BIR to assess the total value of related party transactions and the nature of the transactions. The loan and debt disclosures, for example, will be used to test if the company imposed interest rate at arm’s length.

It is also required that the nature of transactions is described in detail.

The “business overview of the ultimate parent company” include the profile of the multinational group of which the taxpayer belongs, along with the name, address, legal status and country of tax residence of each of the related parties with whom intra-group transactions have been entered into by the taxpayer, and ownership linkages among them.

On the other hand, the “functional profile” shall include a broad description of the business of the taxpayer and the industry in which it operates, and of the business of the related parties with whom the taxpayer has transacted.

The following documents must also be attached: a) certified true copy of the relevant contracts or proof of transaction; b) withholding tax returns and the corresponding proof of payment of taxes withheld and remitted to the BIR; c) proof of payment of foreign taxes or ruling duly issued by the foreign tax authority where the other party is a resident; and d) certified true copy of Advance Pricing

Villar. . .

Continued from A6

Meanwhile, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported that the gross international reserves rose for a sixth straight month to hit an alltime-high $93.3 billion in end June this year. This means the country’s ability to manage foreign exchange risks is stronger than ever. The figure is expected to rise further in the coming months, supporting the value of the peso, already one of the best performing currencies in the region today.

Last but not the least, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed the manufacturing sector is showing signs of recovery based on the results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries. Despite the decline in the volume of production during the month, the sector saw an increase in the capac-

Agreement, if any; and e) any transfer pricing documentation.

The BIR wants to know the relationship between parent and sister companies, the extent of their contribution to each other’s businesses in terms of capital, management and control.

Why is the BIR mandating the filing of BIR Form 1709? It is understandable that the first document that is examined by the BIR to identify correct tax payment is the annual income tax return and financial statements.

But these are not enough to identify transfer pricing compliance. By making disclosure mandatory through a BIR Form, taxpayers are now at risk of a criminal penalty if what are stated in the said tax return are false. The BIR is hoping that for fear of criminal prosecution, taxpayers will now think twice of not complying with the correct transfer price in its related party transactions.

When is BIR Form 1709 due for filing? The RR states that the Regulations shall take effect after 15 days following its publication in a newspaper of general circulation. So, if it was published on July 8, 2020, it will be effective on July 23, 2020. Thus, all Annual Income Tax Returns that will be filed starting July 23, 2020 must already attach BIR Form 1709.

What if a taxpayer fails to file BIR Form 1709? The RR states that any violation of the provisions of this issuance shall be subject to penalties provided under the Tax Code. It means failure to file a return which is at least equivalent to one year imprisonment.

The BIR is trying to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of transfer pricing compliance by using BIR Form 1709 as a tool. Taxpayers must take this seriously. This would require all conglomerates to tighten their controls on transfer pricing between their affiliates. Failure to do so would mean a domino of tax assessment falling one after the other.

The author is a senior partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices, a member-firm of WTS Global.

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

ity utilization of some of the largest sub-groups, like food and beverage manufacturing, in May compared to April.

Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua of the National Economic and Development Authority said these improving economic indicators became possible because the first 100 days since March 16, 2020 under the enhanced community quarantine gave the country enough time to improve its health system capacity and save thousands of lives from the virus.

We have to coexist with the virus for the meantime, although we are encouraged by reports that several vaccines are progressing through clinical trials. The government should always calibrate its policies from time to time in dealing with the pandemic based on the current data at hand, without sacrificing the economy.

For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail.

com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020 A7

P

ractically, the news coverage of CNN last weekend was entirely devoted to an 80-year-old US congressman from Georgia named John Lewis who died from pancreatic cancer. Who was John Lewis? He was one of the 10 children of Alabama sharecroppers who once dreamed of becoming a minister after listening on the radio to a young preacher named Martin Luther King Jr. To train himself up, he delivered sermons to the chickens in their coops. He preached to them everyday, marrying the roosters and hens and even solemnizing the dead poultry.

He joined the civil rights movement when Rosa Parks, a department store clerk, was arrested by the police when she refused to vacate her bus seat in favor of a white passenger.

While a student at the Fisk University, he took part in non-violent resistance and joined the drive to integrate lunch counters in schools and waiting rooms in bus stations.

He was the youngest and last survivor of the “big six” leaders of the civil rights movement led by King Jr., which organized the 1963 March in Washington.

He was awarded the highest civilian decoration, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 by President Barack Obama. He had taken part in countless rallies, sit-downs and protest marches and beaten, tear gassed and truncheoned with his skull fractured but his spirit never gave up. By his own account, he was arrested more than 40 times for his militancy but his yearning

for freedom never waned. On May 9, 1961, as a freedom rider, Lewis almost died when he was beaten blackand-blue by a white man. Years later, while he was already a congressman, a man named Elwin Wilson went to Lewis office in Washington and admitted his crime. He apologized and sought Lewis’ forgiveness. Lewis embraced Wilson saying that the spirit of the civil rights movement “was love and redemption, never malice or hate.” No wonder, Lewis is considered as “the conscience of the nation.”

All his trials and sufferings were just part of life’s routine. But what remained most vivid in Lewis’ memory was the March 7, 1965 protest march in Selma, Alabama with fellow freedom fighters numbering 600 who were petitioning for voting rights. But why in Selma?

Selma, as late as the 1960s, had not allowed the blacks to vote. No colored man could register since the

white registrars required black applicants’ literacy test and payment of poll taxes to qualify as a voter.

They were asked silly questions like “How many bubbles are there in a bar of soap?” The local authorities were abusive and intolerant of the blacks. Selma was the seat of the most atrocious Ku Klux Klan, which had caused untold atrocities to the black population. Selma was virtually the capital of racism in America where the grip of Jim Crow was the tightest. No wonder the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) selected Selma as the test case in its efforts to gain voting rights for its black members. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Selma and announced to the congregation that Selma was the battleground for voting rights. Lewis and another young colleague from SCLC, Hosea Williams, organized the long march from Selma to Montgomery to present their petition to Governor George Wallace, demanding the right to vote. The march started from Brown Chapel but before they could cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were confronted at the other end by a multitude of battle-ready, blue helmeted state troopers. The troop commander, Major John Cloud, ordered the protester to go back but instead of retreating, Lewis asked his marchers to kneel and pray. In less than a minute after they were ordered to disperse, the troops led by a cavalry attacked the protesters. As narrated in his memoir, “Walking With The Wind,” Lewis narrated that Cloud ordered his men: “Get ’em. Get the niggers.

And then they were upon us. The first of the troopers came over me,

Undermining the CDC puts lives at risk

By Michael R. Bloomberg | Bloomberg Opinion

I

N the midst of a devastating pandemic, President Donald J. Trump is destroying the CDC’s ability to discharge its most vital responsibility: to maintain active surveillance of diseases by gathering, analyzing and reporting data. Even by this president’s low standards, this is unconscionable.

With Covid-19 surging out of control and health-care workers in many states struggling to keep up with the patient load, the president has authorized the Department of Health and Human Services to demand that hospitals change the way they report data to the federal government. Stop sending statistics on patient numbers, bed availability, ventilators and other key data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency said, and instead direct the information to HHS headquarters in Washington. Oh, and make this change within two days.

Don’t mistake this new policy for a bureaucratic adjustment of no great significance, or just one more effort by the Trump administration to annoy its critics. It’s much worse than that. This change is so reckless— make no mistake: people will die as

a result—it borders on criminality.

It isn’t the first time that President Trump’s administration has sidelined the CDC, a public health institution that has been a model for the world. Administration officials have often questioned the agency’s guidance, including on mask-wearing and school reopening, and have gone so far as to accuse it of “undermining the president” in advising pregnant women of the risks of Covid-19. Robert Redfield, the current CDC director, has not conducted the kind of regular press briefings that, in a normal administration, give the public accurate information on disease outbreaks. On Friday, it blocked CDC officials from appearing at a House committee hearing on school reopenings.

But this latest change is the most destructive so far. The CDC’s long-es-

tablished National Healthcare Safety Network, the biggest and most-used infection-tracking system in the US, is trusted for the accuracy and completeness of its data. Until recently, it gathered the Covid-19 hospital statistics, analyzed them and reported back to the states twice a week. Now, the HHS has turned the job over to a Pittsburgh company, TeleTracking Technologies, which is to be paid more than $10 million, with no guarantee that the information will be made public.

HHS officials have informally indicated they will share the data, at least with hospitals. But publichealth experts, state officials and hospital administrators are right to worry that it won’t be fully accessible.

This administration has shown it’s more than willing to withhold and manipulate information, including on how coronavirus stimulus money has been spent. Trump has even called for slowing down coronavirus testing as a way of lowering the US case count—an obscenely blatant attempt to bury data that can save lives.

The ridiculous rationale HHS officials have given for the abrupt change is that they need to stream-

a large, husky man. Without a word, he swung his club against the left side of my head. I did not feel any pain... I raised my arm as I curled up.

And then the same trooper hit me again…. And then a cloud of smoke rose all around us. Tear gas...I began choking, coughing. I felt as if I was taking my last breath…. This is it. People are going to die here. I’m going to die here.”

The whole incident was covered

by TV and media and that evening ABC interrupted its regular programming and showed its film coverage of the assault of the marchers at Edmund Pettus Bridge. It was watched by around 48 million Americans, and lasted for at least 15 minutes.

The sight of hundreds of peaceful black demonstrators being brutalized, clubbed and gassed unnerved and shook the moral foundation of America. It galvanized the resolve of the civil rights movement to pursue its demand for equality and justice.

Six months later, the US Congress enacted “The 1965 Voting Rights.”

President Lyndon B. Johnson said that even if the country could be the richest country on earth and “conquer the stars, if it proved unequal to the issue (of civil rights), then we will have failed as a people and as a nation.” And no man can claim credit for the monumental passage of the voting rights for the black other than Lewis.

America is still struggling to achieve a society that can live with its conscience. Great strides have been made over the years and it has even elected a black man to the White House. Thanks to John Lewis who had contributed a giant step when he crossed that bridge in Selma.

line data-gathering, and they need the data to come in faster to better help them allocate resources for hospitals, including any new drugs and treatments yet to be developed. If this were true, the answer would be to improve data collection within the CDC, not to change the system in a way that lets data be controlled and manipulated. There’s no rationale beyond politics, and the administration’s attempts to explain itself only add insult to injury. Redfield says that “no one is taking data or access away from the CDC.” Really?

Hospitals have been specifically instructed to stop sending information to the agency.

Congressional Democrats have rightly demanded this outrageous maneuver be reversed. This pandemic is very far from under control — in fact, it has only been getting worse in many parts of the country. Allowing the administration to get away with this would be unforgivable.

Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City and a Global Ambassador for the World Health Organization, is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

Tech’s June jump may lead to December disappointment

By Tim Culpan Bloomberg Opinion

I

wrote about a set of data in late May that portended a rebound in the tech sector. Now, I think some pain may ensue.

Specifically, I drew on Taiwan monthly sales, which listed companies are required to report. This information is unique because it’s one of the few sets of data globally that gives visibility into the sector before quarterly numbers are released. The figures pointed to a revenue bounce, which occurred last month.

These same data for June showed that semiconductor makers posted an aggregate 27 percent rise in sales from the previous year, while the category of electronics products distribution climbed an aggregate 10.7 percent. Companies in electric machinery, electrical and cable, optoelectronics, and computer and

peripherals all posted their best month this year.

But the data also suggest we’ve experienced more of a June Jump than a sustained recovery. Further, it appears limited to only a slice of the hardware sector — chips and PC products.

A category of Taiwan corporate sales data called other electronics—which includes Foxconn’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.—is still down 3.4% for the year. Furthermore, that grouping has recorded only two positive months out of six—April and May. June data were as bad as March, when Covid-19 really sent the global economy into a tailspin.

There are a number of caveats to the corporate sales data and the analysis that results from it, namely that they cover only Taiwan and are specifically related to hardware. Still, the outsize depth and breadth of Taiwanese companies in the global sup-

ply chain allows us to track trends.

According to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the largest contract chip manufacturer, demand for its products is being driven by 5G networks and smartphones, plus high-performance computing, such as artificial intelligence and graphics chips.

Digging into the computer and peripherals category, we can see more clearly what’s going on.

This subset is dominated by Quanta Computer Inc. and Compal Electronics Inc.—the world’s two largest laptop makers. Yet bigger contributions to growth come from lesser names like Gigabyte Technology Co. and Micro-Star International Co., which make motherboards—those green platters of plastic to which components are soldered.

High-end gaming laptops and corporate servers are major uses of the motherboards produced by these

companies—which gel with the demand for graphics and AI chips being churned out by TSMC. These niches are enjoying a resurgence thanks to the stay-at-home trend driven by the pandemic.

We can see that outside of these specific product categories, the bigger drivers of demand, such as smartphones, still look weak. Upticks in March and June indicate a post-lockdown resumption of supply, and a burst in orders as the world settles in for sustained impact from Covid-19.

The broader rollout of new telecom networks, which happens every eight to 10 years, helps offset this global weakness but doesn’t remove it. That means that it’s a dangerous bet to believe in wholesale resumption of demand, because macro-economic headwinds are likely to catch up with this short-term shot in the arm that tech has experienced.

A8 Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Data-driven tack key to rebound–auditor

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

M

@Tyronepiad

ONITORING data on the impact of the government’s lockdown measures on the vulnerable sectors during the Covid-19 pandemic is essential in coming up with a recovery plan, an audit firm said.

Isla Lipana & Co. said that establishing a fact-based approach is necessary in crisis management, adding that data should also be available, complete, accurate and valid.

“Economic data on the impact of lockdowns on vulnerable sectors and the population are significant inputs to economic recovery and stimulus measures,” the audit firm said.

It cited the micro, small and medium enterprises industry as one of the vulnerable sectors to watch out. The said sector comprises 63 percent of the total employment and 99.5 percent of total enterprises in the Philippines.

Citing 2019 PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Crisis Survey, Isla Lipana said that the majority or 87 percent of the respondents agreed that facts should be established accurately.

Otherwise, misinformation can throw a monkey wrench at the crisis recovery plan, it explained.

“In a world of split-second virality, incorrect, insufficient, or misleading information [or even correct information spread at the wrong time or in the wrong way] can increase your exposure and amplify the crisis,” the survey said.

The audit firm said that the banking industry has also been monitoring key economic data to protect itself, its clients and the businesses during the pandemic.

Among these are early signs of credit

defaults, key exposures and concentration, Isla Lipana said, noting that banks have maintained robust capitalization and reserves against the adverse financial impact of the current crisis.

According to the latest preliminary data of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), gross nonperforming loans amounted to P262.68 billion as of end-May, which is 20 percent more than P218.89 billion notched in the same period last year. Loan loss reserves, meanwhile, stood at P253.40 billion for the same period.

The Central Bank expects the bad loans to reach P556.6 billion this year amid the economic downturn.

“We are on a daily lookout for Covid-19 statistics on new cases and recoveries, their location/concentration and potential for contagion that should signal health-care response and government policy directives, especially our moves through varying degrees of community quarantine,” Isla Lipana added.

Data trends

ISLA Lipana also identified the top data and digital trends across different sectors this year.

Financial services firms are updating data and customer policies in accordance with global data, artificial intelligence and privacy regulations.

The government, public service and health-care sectors are keen on adopting digital platforms and refreshing data.

Energy, utilities and resources industry are focusing on pricing and operational optimization.

The retail and manufacturing industry is “reducing procurement leakage and stockouts via increased supply chain visibility,” the audit firm said. In education, a shift to virtual, digital and e-learning is in place.

House panel sets Cha-cha meeting on LGU ‘clamor’ T

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@joveemarie

HE House Committee on Constitutional Amendments will convene to discuss two constitutional amendment proposals of the league of town mayors—the institutionalization of the so-called Mandanas ruling and the relaxation of restrictions on foreign investment. This, amid a warning by the Senate minority leader that Charter change is not needed to “institutionalize” the Mandanas ruling or relax foreign investments curbs, and that these two avowed goals may just be a cover for lifting term limits.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, committee chairman, said he will call for a virtual meeting after Congress opens its second regular session on July 27.

The second regular session

will start in the morning of July 27. The afternoon is devoted to President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (Sona), which he will deliver before a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Last Friday, the Department of the Interior and Local Government announced that the League of Municipalities, which groups town mayors, is pushing for two Cha-cha proposals.

These are the institutionalization of the so-called Mandanas ruling of the Supreme Court on

Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA) of local government units and the lifting of restrictions on foreign investment in businesses currently limited to Filipinos.

“I will call a virtual meeting of our committee possibly within the first two weeks of our session to tackle the proposals of our 1,489 town mayors and other pending measures,” said Rodriguez.

He said the Mandanas ruling expands the basis for the computation of IRA to include collections not only of the Bureau of Internal Revenue but also the customs duties collected by the Bureau of Customs, a part of taxes collected in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, taxes from the exploitation of national wealth, excise tax on tobacco products, other taxes provided in the National Internal Revenue Code and franchise taxes.

It is called the Mandanas ruling because the case questioning the basis for the IRA was filed by then Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas.

“The IRA allotments for the LGUs will be significantly increased which are needed by the LGUs to address the Covid-19 pandemic and other local development programs and strengthen local autonomy in our country,” Rodriguez added.

Continued on A4

A MAN is administered the rapid antibody test on Monday outside Ospital ng Sampaloc in Manila, a walk-in facility that complements other testing centers set up around the capital city, as authorities race to curb the transmission rate for Covid-19. At the weekend, City Hall opened drive-thru testing centers at the Bonifacio Monument area and Quirino Grandstand in a bid to ramp up testing. NONIE REYES

Critics are ‘classifying’ terror acts, says Sotto

S

ENATE President Vicente Sotto III on Monday allayed lingering concerns over the imposition of the newly enacted anti-terror law which took effect last Saturday.

“I know for a fact that there is nothing unconstitutional in the law,” the Senate leader said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

Sotto assured the public that “in fact, during the drafting of the law and the amendments and during the period of interpellations, the committee consulted constitutionalists and we consulted experts not only on terrorism but other laws that might be misconstrued.”

The Senate President said the apprehensions over the new law stem mostly from “misinformation.”

“I think the main cause of this dissent is because of misinformation. There are a number of issues that I have seen on social media that are not in the law,” Sotto told CNN-PHL, pointing out that “most of what they [critics] are saying is not in the law.”

Affirming the inclusion of adequate provisions against potential abuse, Sotto surmised that “probably those who started the ball rolling against the anti-terrorism law are just against the...either against the government, or they are afraid it might be abused, but there are proper safeguards.”

He continued: “As a matter of fact, the law is flooded with safeguards. That’s why I am very confident that the Supreme Court will not strike it down.”

Asked for comment on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) pastoral letter raising concerns over what bishops saw as a “pattern of intimidation detrimental to freedom of expression’’ in the shutdown of ABS-CBN, Sotto said he had difficulty connecting the anti-terror law to the case of ABS-CBN. “I do not know why they are associating the ABS-CBN problem with the anti-terrorism law, if that has anything to do with it at all. Now, the point being raised that I read was that it is against freedom of expression, or freedom of assembly. It means that they have not read the law,” he said.

Sotto added: “They have not specifically centered on Section 4 of the law because if you do, you will see that that is the catch-all safeguard for all these type of freedoms that they are mentioning.

Continued on A4

Weak LGUs, low IRA force public to shoulder bulk of health costs

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

I

MPROVING the taxing power of local government units (LGUs) and revising the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) formula will help local governments support the country’s devolved health system, according to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

In a statement, PIDS Supervising Research Specialist Janet Cuenca said the provinces currently have “weak taxing power” and low IRA funds making it difficult for them to maintain and operate hospitals.

Relatedly, private think tank IBON pointed out that apart from LGUs, households also do not have

enough funds to pay for their medical and health needs, especially in the time of the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19).

Cuenca said the health spending of LGUs from IRA are too low to be able to support the operation of hospitals, pay the salaries of health workers and buy hospital beds and other medical supplies.

“Given their limited funds, LGUs tend to spend less on maintaining hospitals and rely more on the national government’s financial assistance such as the Health Facilities Enhancement Program [HFEP] of the Department of the Health,” Cuenca said.

PI D S e x p l a i n e d t h at t h e HFEP is intended to support the upgrade of barangay health

stations, rural health units, government hospitals and health facilities in provinces. The program also finances the training of health professionals.

The DOH also subsidizes vertical programs such as the Expanded Program in Immunization, the control of infectious or communicable diseases, and the deployment of human resources for health in the LGUs. All of these are allowed under Section 17(f) of the Local Government Code.

“Increasing [the] share of DOH spending at the provincial level certainly diminishes the health expenditure decentralization ratio, and in practical terms, it weakens health devolution,” Cuenca, however, said.

Continued on A4

Companies BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

B1

‘Containing Covid-19 key to market recovery’

B

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

roker Philstocks Financial Inc. said the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) could reach between 6,500 points and 7,050 points by the end of 2020, but corporate earnings will be depressed for the rest of the year.

Philstocks also said the key to market recovery is reducing the number of Covid-19 cases.

In a media briefing, Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, the company’s senior research analyst, said

corporate earnings may fall 20 percent by year-end and some may only grow by as much as 2 percent.

“Our bias is that overall corporate earnings will remain contracted for the rest of the year. Still, if we see the contraction easing in the succeeding quarters--narrowing the negative gap with last year's figures—we may see the market move upwards,” he said.

“Other possible catalysts that could allow the market to reach our ranged projection include the waning of increase in Covid-19 cases, bringing the virus outbreak under control and further developments on vaccine/treatment candidates.”

The broker also projected a

5.8-percent contraction in GDP for 2020, with the second quarter figure recording the steepest decline at 14 percent. It sees full-year inflation rate at 2.7 percent and a pesodollar exchange rate of P49.06.

“For the rest of the year we expect the economy to remain in contraction territory. Nonetheless, if we see an easing of the year-onyear contraction in the third and fourth quarter of 2020, we may see the market move towards our projection,” Tantiangco said.

As for its sectoral outlook, the broker said property is one of the vulnerable sectors in the PSE along with those in the hotel and tourism, food and beverage, transpor-

SMC readies perpetual securities issuance

C

onglome r ate S a n Miguel Corp. (SMC) has asked its underwriters to start a series of investors’ calls in Asia and in Europe for the launch of its own dollar-denominated senior perpetual securities.

In its disclosure at the Philippine Stock Exchange, the conglomerate has mandated BofA Securities Inc. and Standard Chartered Bank, acting as its joint global coordinators, and DBS Bank Ltd. to commence its series of investors' call starting on July 20 for the said fundraising activity.

The said sale will be part of the company's $3-billion medium term note securities program registered with the Singapore Exchange.

“Consistent with earlier disclosures, no public offering of the securities will be made in the Philippines, the United States or in any jurisdiction where such offering is restricted or prohibited, or to US persons,” the company said.

San Miguel earlier said net proceeds from the issuance will be used to finance its investments and various projects, refinance existing obligations and for other general

corporate purposes.

The conglomerate in February has filed for shelf registration of its bonds worth P60 billion with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In its filing, the conglomerate said it intends to initially offer some P20 billion worth of one-year, fixedrate commercial papers, some P15 billion will be the primary offer and the rest will be its oversubscription option.

The said debt papers will be listed at the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp.

BDO Capital and Investment

Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp. were chosen as the deal's arrangers, underwriters and bookrunners for the series A papers.

The paper will have a maturity of 365 days from the date of issue, and will be issued in minimum denominations of P50,000 and multiples of P10,000 thereafter.

“The entire proceeds of the offer will be used to partially fund the redemption of Series I preferred shares of SMC to be redeemed at a redemption price of P75 per share,” it said. VG Cabuag

Globe ties CIDG files raps against J&T Express up with Google for T Education

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

G

lobe Telecom Inc. has partnered with Google for Education to capture the growing demand for e-learning service bundles amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We have seen how technology has powered many industries amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

We believe we can do the same for the education sector through blended or fully online learning,” Globe Head for Education Mark Abalos said.

The Department of Education (DepEd) has decided to pursue different modes of continued education during the pandemic. One of them is e-learning.

Google for Education is an ecosystem of products, programs, and training grounded on the platform’s innovative tools and resources.

T h rou g h t he pa r t nersh ip, Globe will provide a “comprehensive onboarding process, tailor-made teacher training, and strong after-sales support for partner schools and institutions nationwide.”

Abalos explained that with the partnership, academic institutions can improve the overall education experience for students and help them learn amid the new normal.

“Together with Google for Education, we aim to boost the digital learning efforts of the Philippines’s educational system through more accessible, user-friendly, and interactive solutions for parents, teachers, and students,” Abalos said.

he Philippine National Police (PNP) said it has discovered several violations committed by local courier company J&T Express following an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

“Other than those that went viral on video which was also the basis for the investigation, there were other things that were also uncovered, including violations of the labor law. The PNP [is now] in coordination with the DOLE [Department of Labor and Employment],” PNP chief General Archie Gamboa said during

a virtual news briefing on Monday.

President Duterte has earlier ordered the PNP to investigate J&T and warned that he would shut down the company after a video that went viral showed its employees throwing parcels into a truck.

Gamboa said he received a report from the CIDG last week which investigated the company, and the report enumerated the violations of the firm. This prompted the CIDG to file charges against the company.

“We have also actively coordinated with the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] regarding these numerous complaints against the J&T Express, and true enough, we were able to successfully file separate cases in violation of RA [Re-

public Act] 11332 and that of 7394 or the Consumer Protection Act of the Philippines,” he said.

The PNP chief disclosed that one of the hubs of the company is also in the process of being closed after investigators found out that it was operating without necessary papers from the local government where it was located.

“Here at the J&T Express hub located in Barangay Muntinlupa, they were operating without the necessary mayor’s permit. Because of that violation there is a closure order and actual pictures have been taken to implement such a closure order," Gamboa said.

He said other offices and hubs of the company are also being checked.

Renault’s electric Zoe defies virus

S

ales of Renault SA’s all-electric Zoe car jumped 38 percent in the first half, a rare bright spot amid the grim fallout of the coronavirus pandemic Most of the deliveries were made in Europe, where the Zoe became the best-selling electric car thanks in part to generous government incentives, the French automaker said Monday in a statement.

Renault’s overall sales in the period fell by more than a third, to about 1.26 million vehicles, because of lockdown measures in countries from Italy to Russia. That’s still better than cross-town rival PSA Group, whose sales dropped 46 percent to 1.03 million vehicles.

“We are starting the second half of the year with a very high level of orders, a satisfactory level of inventory, a rising price positioning across the entire range,” said Denis le Vot, the company’s head of sales and marketing.

Renault was a big beneficiary of subsidies that France—its biggest market—implemented last month to get consumers to switch to cleaner cars. In Europe, customers ordered about 11,000 Zoes in June alone, bolstering Renault’s bid to meet more stringent emissions

tation and mining.

Piper Chaucer E. Tan, the broker’s client engagement officer and research associate, said they expect a slight drop in rental rates for condo spaces, but residential prices actually have not yet been pulled down due to the “surprisingly” strong demand in the Visayas and Mindanao.

“Landlords should expect low demand for staff housing amid the POGO [Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators] exodus and should target traditional and offshore and outsourcing clients to augment the gap for the decrease in demand due to Covid-19 pandemic,” Tan said.

For the office sector, he said the threat of work-from-home could

disrupt office demand, as majority of the companies are seeking for a permanent work-from-home set-up.

“We expect the office market to be resilient as clients prefer deferment of payment rather than termination of contract as seen in the mall tenants. This should indicate that clients will continue to pay rents. The driver for growth should come from non-POGO segments,” he said.

Expected vacancy of offices in key cities of the country is seen at 5.5 percent and 8 percent for 2020 and 2021, respectively. He said the POGO sector may disrupt the office market if they decide to leave the Philippines.

Flyers bound for Davao required to submit swab test results–Cebu Pacific

From www.cebupacificaircorporate.com.

By Recto Mercene @rectomercene

C

ebu Pacific reminded passengers flying to Davao City that they will be required to submit a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction) test taken within 48 hours before departure starting July 20.

The airline said this is in compliance with the regulations set by Davao local authorities.

Cebu Pacific said the Coronavirus Antibody (Rapid) Test is not acceptable, while guests without the RT-PCR test “will not be allowed to board the flight.”

The airline said passengers are “strongly urged” to check with the concerned local government units first prior to departure as they may have specific requirements and regu-

lations. They may be also be asked to provide their complete address prior to travel date.

Providing inaccurate information or incomplete requirements may result in denied boarding of the flight, Cebu Pacific warned.

The airline encourages guests to check the email addresses and contact numbers they provided upon booking for updates on their flights.

“Passengers who booked through travel agencies or any other third party are strongly urged to check with them for information regarding their flights before their travel dates.”

Before going to the airport, Cebu Pacific told guests to check for realtime flight status on its website.

“Do not go to the airport unless you have verified and confirmed your flight schedule.”

Apple grooms first China iPhone maker

A

From www.renault.co.uk

rules this year.

Renault, like its peers, has been hit hard by Covid-19, which shuttered showrooms and factories around the world. The company has announced a sweeping cost-savings plan, and the French government’s aid is aimed at saving jobs in the industry.

Renault’s sales dropped by a fifth in Russia, its second-biggest market, by 29 percent in India and by 47 percent in Brazil, according to the statement. A bright spot was South Korea, where sales climbed 51 percent as buyers snapped up the company’s newly introduced XM3 SUV. President Emmanuel Macron has implemented a raft of measures aimed at reviving France’s strug-

gling car industry and drawing manufacturing back to local factories. The plan includes purchasing incentives for electric vehicles, cash-for-clunkers aid to encourage consumers to trade in older cars and subsidies for struggling autoparts makers.

Renault’s new Chief Executive Officer Luca de Meo took the reins this month after the company announced a plan to eliminate about 14,600 jobs and lower production capacity by almost a fifth.

The cuts include trimming 4,600 positions in France, or about 10 percent of the carmaker’s total in the country. The plan has sparked an outcry from labor unions and criticism from the state, its most powerful shareholder. Bloomberg News

pple Inc. will soon invite a mainland Chinese company into the exclusive club of global iPhone assemblers, marking the biggest change to a decade-old production model just as Washington-Beijing tensions escalate.

Luxshare Precision Industry Co. struck a deal to acquire Wistron Corp.’s iPhone unit and become the first mainland company to assemble Apple’s marquee device. It’s another win for a company that went from making cables and antennas to AirPods, sending its shares higher by as much as 7 percent Monday while Wistron fell up to 10 percent.

The introduction of a homegrown Chinese star helps Apple scores points with Beijing, at a time Washington officials have accused it of kow-towing to the Chinese government. It also shakes up Apple’s supply chain by threatening to wrest business away from longstanding partners Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and Pegatron Corp.

Pegatron fell almost 4 percent while Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn, closed 1.4 percent lower.

“Apple is introducing Luxshare into the iPhone assembly business to further reduce its costs, while this reflects that Taiwanese companies are starting to rid of Apple businesses that are low-margin,” said Tsai Ming-fang, an industrial economist at Taipei-based Tamkang University. “This shift may further push Taiwanese companies to decamp from China as margins

continue to slip as contract manufacturing becomes more standardized.”

Apple, which exerts enormous influence over major changes among its primary suppliers, has sought a mainland Chinese partner in part to broaden its production sources during a bruising United States-China trade war.

From Foxconn to Pegatron and Quanta Corp., the mainly Taiwanese contract manufacturers to the world’s biggest electronics brands are exploring ways to shift production away from China—averting rising tariffs—and move up the value chain. Assembling iPhones requires hundreds of thousands of workers, often culled from a volatile and constantly shifting pool of migrant labor, eating into margins.

Wistron may have been struggling to compete. Its Kunshan plant—which makes mostly iPhones—managed a net profit margin of just 0.2 percent in 2019, Nomura analysts noted in a July 17 note. The Taiwanese company accounted for only roughly 5 percent of total iPhone assembly orders, they said. Luxshare, in contrast, is among the largest of a crop of fast-rising Chinese electronics houses increasingly winning orders from established firms like Hon Hai. It’s become the world’s biggest maker of AirPods—one of the fastest-selling consumer accessories in the market—helping it record one of Asia’s best stock performances in 2019. Bloomberg News

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

July 20, 2020

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 PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG FILIPINO FUND MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE VANTAGE

46 92.65 71 20.05 6.62 7.28 36.3 20.2 47.15 16.96 99.4 52.8 20.4 2.42 7.1 0.28 665 0.59 159.9 1750 1.06

46.6 93 71.05 20.1 8.44 7.32 36.5 20.3 47.2 17.1 100 52.95 21.2 2.5 8.88 0.29 745 0.61 160 1790 1.12

46.7 93.5 70.45 20.2 6.5 7.38 36.7 19.98 47.5 17 100.4 53.25 20.45 2.5 7 0.28 662 0.61 163 1750 1.06

46.7 93.9 71.05 20.2 8.44 7.41 37.25 20.3 47.5 17.1 100.4 53.45 21.45 2.5 8.88 0.285 665 0.61 163 1790 1.06

46.6 91 70.2 20 6.5 7.24 36.05 19.96 47.2 16.96 99.25 53 20.4 2.42 7 0.28 662 0.59 159.9 1750 1.06

46.6 93 71 20.1 8.44 7.32 36.5 20.3 47.2 17.1 100 53 21.2 2.42 8.88 0.285 665 0.6 159.9 1790 1.06

2700 1878270 846890 118100 200 534300 2348300 333400 1200 5200 283270 5560 64300 6000 3200 150000 70 132000 2470 40 31000

125840 172601554 59960638.5 2373200 1494 3890191 85500030 6765827 56760 88296 28204837.5 296018 1350650 14840 22588 42650 46430 78360 395336 71180 32860

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

2.21 1.16 26.8 0.152 23.9 60 260.2 13.3 3.1 3.2 11.2 18.1 8.02 8.19 2.26 11.1 14.5 4.81 9.01 63.25 0.58 1.21 31.7 133.5 6.8 5.09 0.131 6.19 1.24 4.03 0.103 123.1 0.83 54.5 58 0.93 3.55 9.85 5.05 5.55 7.5 8.8 0.68 0.8 1.96 1.92 3.83 1.57 5.1 0.98 4.3 1.24 6.28

2.23 1.18 26.9 0.159 24 61 263.4 13.4 3.11 3.3 11.4 18.28 8.06 8.2 2.3 11.12 14.74 4.83 9.08 65 0.59 1.22 32 133.6 7 5.1 0.133 6.2 1.26 4.34 0.108 125.8 0.84 57 63.8 0.94 4.25 9.9 5.08 5.56 7.58 9 0.7 0.81 1.97 1.94 3.91 1.59 5.39 1 4.68 1.25 6.3

2.2 1.23 27 0.163 24.2 60 262 13.16 3.1 3.29 11.38 18.18 8 7.95 2.32 11.12 14.84 4.88 8.95 64 0.61 1.22 32 135 6.75 5.1 0.133 6.05 1.27 4.05 0.108 120.5 0.83 57 64.35 0.95 4.1 9.8 5.03 5.59 8 8.36 0.68 0.79 1.95 2.03 3.91 1.56 5.06 0.98 4.3 1.25 6.55

2.24 1.23 27 0.163 24.35 61.5 265.8 13.4 3.12 3.3 11.4 18.48 8.07 8.3 2.32 11.12 14.84 4.89 9.12 65.95 0.61 1.22 32 135.5 7.18 5.15 0.133 6.21 1.3 4.05 0.108 125.8 0.84 57 64.35 0.96 4.25 9.97 5.14 5.68 8.1 9 0.7 0.81 1.97 2.05 3.93 1.59 5.1 1 4.78 1.3 6.55

2.17 1.1 26 0.163 23.9 59 260.2 13.1 3.1 3.17 11.38 18.1 8 7.7 2.26 11.1 14.5 4.81 8.71 63.05 0.58 1.19 32 133.2 6.2 5.02 0.133 6.01 1.21 4.03 0.108 120.5 0.81 57 64.35 0.92 4.1 9.8 5.03 5.5 7.43 8.36 0.68 0.78 1.95 1.92 3.91 1.53 5.05 0.98 4.22 1.25 6.1

2.22 1.16 26.9 0.163 24 60.5 260.2 13.3 3.1 3.3 11.4 18.1 8.06 8.19 2.28 11.12 14.5 4.81 9.08 65 0.59 1.22 32 133.5 7.12 5.09 0.133 6.2 1.24 4.03 0.108 125.8 0.83 57 64.35 0.94 4.25 9.85 5.05 5.56 7.5 9 0.7 0.8 1.96 1.94 3.91 1.59 5.05 1 4.68 1.25 6.3

3744000 206000 630900 10000 4340600 977970 243240 1073000 703000 11000 16500 138700 18600 2098500 521000 2300 2116500 409000 559300 266000 98000 1991000 3900 360850 27700 256400 130000 1038200 2203000 5000 100000 612920 3563000 240 10 1455000 2000 72700 238000 2732000 25253800 9800 113000 87000 22000 548000 5000 2686000 105500 135000 25000 555000 3756000

8279390 236220 16756915 1630 104743650 59127573.5 63469766 14204862 2183480 35840 187784 2535020 149594 16922682 1188450 25556 30864706 1980670 4,992,798( 16991183 57420 2392800 124800 48389181 181335 1295395 17290 6386354 2708910 20210 10800 75850704 2944650 13680 643.5 1367350 8350 721471 1205570 15274351 194585667 82056 78180 69060 43190 1082370 19590 4206070 534075 132650 108300 696160 23401240

HOLDING & FRIMS

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

0.47 7.89 741 49.55 5.99 1.65 0.47 0.65 0.65 5.17 3.77 8.17 2.91 0.176 450 3.32 66.65 3.6 0.57 2.45 7.87 3.4 2.92 0.76 0.99 922 98.7 0.64 123 0.138

0.48 8.35 750 49.75 6 1.66 0.495 0.66 0.67 5.2 3.78 8.99 3.46 0.209 452 3.39 67.1 5.12 0.58 2.46 7.9 3.41 3 0.79 1.01 940 99.45 0.69 124 0.14

0.47 8.37 745 49.75 6.07 1.67 0.48 0.67 0.67 5.2 3.9 9 2.82 0.177 450 3.4 67.5 5.12 0.58 2.43 8.1 3.25 2.89 0.75 1 940 99.5 0.64 123.5 0.137

0.48 8.37 750 49.8 6.07 1.69 0.48 0.68 0.67 5.21 3.9 9 2.82 0.177 455 3.4 67.5 5.12 0.59 2.46 8.1 3.43 3.01 0.8 1.01 940 100 0.69 124 0.14

0.465 7.91 730.5 49 5.97 1.64 0.47 0.62 0.62 5.16 3.76 9 2.82 0.177 444 3.4 65.4 5.12 0.55 2.43 7.86 3.23 2.89 0.75 1 910.5 98.7 0.64 123 0.136

0.48 8.35 750 49.55 6 1.65 0.47 0.66 0.67 5.2 3.77 9 2.82 0.177 452 3.4 67.1 5.12 0.58 2.46 7.9 3.41 3 0.79 1.01 940 98.7 0.69 124 0.14

2080000 28900 129180 438800 5051700 185000 9000 15282000 539000 262800 9732000 1400 1000 40000 52540 3000 1421600 1000 673000 2086000 1178600 13109000 32000 184000 10000 113270 165030 66000 1860 950000

116500 -73586043 450708.5 -278535 -650 74437 -41380725 8943718.5 62430 -109990 1230 -3997655 28807055 52951057 17202574 -5000334 -18620 -252018.0001 -24000 -235956 -615350 -20111348 -262400 1,260,470.9997) -5358914.5 -204040 41600 -19690288 -109975 -9785 1280877 -112050 -3240 12922518 -90410 -760124 -227021 -20808440 60740 -422277.9999 34300 -29165

980850 240966 95767355 21738170 30298061 305550 4255 9825120 347140 1363497 37013280 12600 2820 7080 23725852 10200 95251396 5120 381940 5086010 9338112 44292200 93850 141310 10020 105980065 16364539 42290 229830 130690

-94600 5503305 1134145 -18256898 40880 -170229 -12012030 -2700 8939196 11051938 3349940 184830 14254360 -28727110 4338816.5 -

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.54 0.56 0.54 0.56 0.54 0.56 260000 142420 ANCHOR LAND 8.18 8.69 8.18 8.18 8.18 8.18 100 818 32.8 32.95 31.8 33.4 31.7 32.95 7251300 238622720 AYALA LAND ARANETA PROP 1.01 1.04 0.99 1.02 0.99 1.02 14000 14190 1.37 1.44 1.37 1.39 1.37 1.37 144000 198330 BELLE CORP 0.7 0.71 0.71 0.72 0.7 0.7 1002000 705100 A BROWN CITYLAND DEVT 0.75 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 11000 8470 0.121 0.122 0.122 0.125 0.115 0.122 8930000 1057570 CROWN EQUITIES CEB LANDMASTERS 4.96 4.98 4.99 4.99 4.96 4.98 1407000 7008560 CENTURY PROP 0.36 0.37 0.365 0.365 0.365 0.365 2320000 846800 0.26 0.27 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.26 150000 39000 CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON 16.48 16.58 16.8 16.8 16.3 16.58 329300 5,423,090( 6.2 6.25 6.09 6.2 6.09 6.2 13200 80680 DM WENCESLAO EMPIRE EAST 0.265 0.27 0.28 0.28 0.265 0.265 5280000 1420050 EVER GOTESCO 0.093 0.101 0.093 0.093 0.093 0.093 80000 7440 0.96 0.97 0.97 0.98 0.96 0.97 5114000 4951440 FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE 0.8 0.81 0.83 0.83 0.8 0.8 259000 207230 8990 HLDG 8.9 9 9 9.43 8.9 8.9 53900 487313 0.85 0.86 0.79 0.86 0.79 0.86 2433000 2039300 PHIL INFRADEV MEGAWORLD 3.12 3.14 3.19 3.19 3.12 3.12 8950000 28131830 0.184 0.185 0.188 0.193 0.181 0.184 30550000 5694130 MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES 0.29 0.31 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.29 10000 2900 PRIMEX CORP 1.36 1.4 1.35 1.4 1.34 1.4 38000 51250 16.64 16.68 16.3 16.8 15.9 16.68 2460400 40680062 ROBINSONS LAND PHIL REALTY 0.233 0.237 0.233 0.233 0.233 0.233 50000 11650 ROCKWELL 1.52 1.58 1.55 1.58 1.55 1.58 25000 38780 2.66 2.71 2.7 2.71 2.68 2.68 298000 803180 SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG 31.5 31.7 31.2 31.9 30.8 31.7 4583900 144992060 3.91 4.08 3.97 4.75 3.85 3.91 1898000 8345680 VISTAMALLS SUNTRUST HOME 1.19 1.2 1.2 1.21 1.17 1.2 394000 471070 VISTA LAND 3.59 3.6 3.56 3.72 3.56 3.59 502000 1816510

75482750 -8230 7700 133270 -3057450 1,794,564.0003) -1758910 -86641 -5249400 3301248 8100 16895170 -5540 -481980

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

5.75 0.385 12.06 2112 1349 0.05 2.99 1.3 0.07 1.54 2.08 0.18 1.95 9.05 15.24 3.58 38.7 97 12.2 5.63 1.79 6.2 0.8 0.027 1.59 11.12 0.375 6.31 600 7.82 0.315 2.15 7.22 1.88 1.29 2.4 2.26 0.31 7.07 1.5 49.2 60.6 126 1.11 15.9 0.33 6.54 285 0.206 4.51

5.77 0.395 12.88 2114 1350 0.051 3 1.4 0.074 1.59 2.09 0.182 2.03 9.14 16.74 3.6 38.75 97.4 13.18 5.64 1.81 6.3 0.81 0.028 1.82 12.92 0.39 6.48 698.5 8.78 0.325 2.21 7.35 2 1.31 2.71 2.3 0.315 7.1 1.51 49.45 61.9 127 1.13 15.94 0.34 6.6 307.8 0.209 4.95

5.6 0.385 12.04 2080 1341 0.051 3 1.29 0.071 1.54 2.06 0.19 1.98 9.19 16.78 3.7 38.65 97 12.14 5.25 1.86 6.48 0.8 0.028 1.57 12.96 0.4 6.48 588 7.81 0.305 2.24 7.4 1.98 1.3 2.4 2.29 0.31 6.8 1.55 48.45 62.25 125 1.13 15.96 0.34 6.88 305 0.212 4.95

5.9 0.395 12.94 2126 1367 0.052 3.03 1.4 0.074 1.54 2.08 0.19 1.98 9.19 16.78 3.8 39.1 97 13.18 5.7 1.86 6.5 0.81 0.031 1.7 12.96 0.4 6.48 600 7.81 0.33 2.24 7.4 2 1.31 2.4 2.32 0.315 7.1 1.55 49.45 62.25 126 1.13 15.98 0.35 6.88 308 0.212 4.95

5.53 0.385 12 2080 1338 0.05 2.9 1.29 0.07 1.52 2.05 0.178 1.9 9.04 16.78 3.58 38.5 96.3 12.12 5.05 1.76 6.15 0.8 0.027 1.57 12.96 0.37 6.48 588 7.81 0.305 2.15 7.19 1.87 1.29 2.4 2.29 0.305 6.6 1.5 48.45 58.85 125 1.11 15.9 0.32 6.53 280.2 0.202 4.8

5.75 0.385 12.88 2114 1350 0.051 3 1.4 0.074 1.54 2.08 0.18 1.98 9.05 16.78 3.58 38.7 97 13.18 5.63 1.81 6.3 0.81 0.028 1.7 12.96 0.39 6.48 600 7.81 0.325 2.21 7.35 2 1.29 2.4 2.3 0.315 7.1 1.5 49.45 60.6 126 1.13 15.94 0.34 6.54 308 0.206 4.8

4313200 870000 9900 41515 74620 4180000 14740000 72000 290000 46000 1430000 13220000 289000 47500 400 666000 108400 618350 900 11542700 690000 24900 182000 315000000 6000 100 1490000 300 30 1000 31220000 91000 1722900 51000 106000 68000 9000 2620000 909500 224000 2087500 1185400 22640 1931000 1114500 5200000 69600 280 4400000 2000

24891474 336850 122522 87565410 100727365 211920 43978530 93710 20550 70530 2958690 2394550 561930 431459 6712 2463960 4195885 59964646 11028 62955966 1238430 158650 146040 9137600 10070 1296 566350 1944 17775 7810 10029550 200650 12499864 98900 136950 163200 20710 812600 6310803 338860 102611370 72561744 2852455 2166310 17774572 1751800 459956 84438 906970 9750

6129990 -16428180 6000 12809.9999 -70720 39600 19500 47060 -11100 -1821775 -18489640.5 -1565259 -16302 -42000 -2038450 11000 -5631803 1960 -1548647 93500 44842560 -36216032.5 115750 379020 -7490902 193640 -

MINING & OIL ATOK 7.98 8.19 8.19 8.19 7.98 8.19 8700 69499 1.21 1.22 1.21 1.22 1.18 1.21 3488000 4187160 -2055800 APEX MINING ABRA MINING 0.0007 0.0008 0.0008 0.0008 0.0007 0.0008 510000000 360900 2.51 2.54 2.54 2.58 2.54 2.54 440000 1121260 -754320 ATLAS MINING 1.55 1.58 1.47 1.59 1.46 1.55 108000 165970 BENGUET A BENGUET B 1.51 1.7 1.5 1.7 1.5 1.7 49000 73820 70500 0.181 0.19 0.185 0.189 0.185 0.189 120000 22600 COAL ASIA HLDG CENTURY PEAK 2.61 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 100000 270000 DIZON MINES 6.6 6.9 6.88 6.99 6.54 6.89 10700 72853 1.01 1.02 0.97 1.02 0.97 1.01 3666000 3662880 -723270 FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE 0.221 0.222 0.22 0.228 0.219 0.221 200000 44710 0.108 0.109 0.105 0.11 0.105 0.109 1620000 174760 LEPANTO A LEPANTO B 0.107 0.109 0.104 0.109 0.104 0.109 120000 12580 MANILA MINING A 0.0077 0.0079 0.0078 0.0078 0.0078 0.0078 15000000 117000 0.0076 0.0083 0.0076 0.0076 0.0076 0.0076 2000000 15200 MANILA MINING B MARCVENTURES 0.64 0.65 0.63 0.65 0.63 0.65 291000 185610 NIHAO 1.19 1.2 1.25 1.25 1.14 1.19 323000 380220 2.12 2.13 2.04 2.14 2.04 2.13 10275000 21,635,700( 1,203,379.9997) NICKEL ASIA OMICO CORP 0.38 0.41 0.385 0.44 0.375 0.41 1520000 617900 0.52 0.54 0.54 0.55 0.54 0.54 177000 96890 ORNTL PENINSULA PX MINING 2.7 2.73 2.74 2.74 2.7 2.7 342000 929070 -271450 SEMIRARA MINING 10.3 10.4 11.14 11.3 10.1 10.3 8425800 88779614 -615270 0.0037 0.0039 0.0037 0.0037 0.0037 0.0037 31000000 114700 UNITED PARAGON ACE ENEXOR 5.8 6 6 6 5.8 6 15100 88085 11600 ORNTL PETROL A 0.0085 0.0088 0.009 0.009 0.0086 0.0086 12000000 104800 0.0089 0.0099 0.0099 0.01 0.0095 0.0099 1006000000 9892900 -852500 ORNTL PETROL B PXP ENERGY 5.95 5.96 6.12 6.12 5.89 5.95 873800 5198098 -1061112

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A 100.2 101 100.2 100.2 100 100.2 1810 181112 AC PREF B2R 512 518 510 512 510 512 2580 1320000 101.2 101.5 101.2 101.2 101.2 101.2 3100 313720 313720 DD PREF FGEN PREF G 106 107.9 105.1 107 105.1 106 27400 2907710 2332000 1000 1010 1000 1000 1000 1000 1480 1480000 GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B 1010 1019 1010 1010 1010 1010 10 10100 MWIDE PREF 101 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.5 210 21315 100.3 101.4 101.3 101.4 101.3 101.4 990 100336 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B 104.6 106.8 106.8 106.8 106.8 106.8 240 25632 PCOR PREF 3A 1054 1055 1053 1054 1053 1054 3805 4008665 1073 1079 1078 1079 1078 1079 1750 1887855 PCOR PREF 3B SMC PREF 2C 78.4 78.8 78.1 78.8 78.1 78.8 22700 1781022 75.3 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.3 75.3 6140 462402 SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E 75.15 77.2 76 76 75.15 75.15 33000 2489386.5 SMC PREF 2G 75.85 76.9 77 77 76.9 76.9 2990 230131 77 78 76.8 77 76.8 77 4210 323970 SMC PREF 2H

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS GMA HLDG PDR 5.4 5.45 5.48 5.5 5.3 5.45 88500 484565 -48730

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 0.65 0.69 - - - - - -

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ALTUS PROP 14.8 14.98 17.24 17.24 14.8 14.8 2469000 39018456 -6004018 ITALPINAS 1.8 1.83 1.78 1.83 1.77 1.83 1028000 1854310 5.55 5.6 5.4 5.6 5.2 5.55 44400 245482 KEPWEALTH MERRYMART 2.49 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.49 20985000 52383540 622400 0.57 0.59 0.6 0.6 0.57 0.59 2215000 1293770 XURPAS

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 92.8 93.1 92.75 93.2 92 93.05 11790 1093586.5 165055

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Ayala unit adds India solar power plant to RE portfolio

A

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

C Energy, the power generation arm of conglomerate Ayala Corp., is expanding its renewable energy (RE) portfolio with a 140-megawatt peak (MWp) solar power facility worth $68 million in India.

UPC-AC Energy Solar, the joint venture between AC Energy, through AC Renewables International Pte. Ltd., and UPC Renewables, through UPC Solar Asia Pacific Ltd., will put up Sitara Solar in Rajasthan to supply energy to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

The power facility is expected to start power generation in the first quarter of 2021. UPC-AC Energy Solar won the 25-year power supply agreement for the project via a competitive bid at INR 2.48 per kWh. “India is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing markets for renewable energy,” said Eric Francia, AC Energy president and CEO. “We look forward to participating in this

market as we continue to expand around the region, and work towards our goal of reaching 5000 MW of renewables by 2025.”

This is AC Energy’s first major investment in India.

India has emerged as a country with one of the largest clean energy expansion programs, with support from the government and investors driving the growth. It has set itself an ambitious target of 175 gigawatt (GW) renewables capacity by 2022 broken down as follows: 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from hydro power.

Pranab Kumar Sarmah, chief executive officer of UPC-AC Energy So-

lar and co-founder of UPC Solar Asia Pacific, said the project is expected to reduce 2.4 million tons of CO2 in its life-cycle.

“This is our humble contribution to help India reach its renewable energy goal. The commencement of Sitara Solar’s construction is a head start for the joint venture to achieve its more than 1 GW target of operating solar project portfolio across Asia in a few years,” Sarmah said.

AC Energy and UPC have worked together in other power projects here and abroad.

Recently, they expanded their partnership with the development of two wind projects, Lac Hoa and Hoa Dong, in the Soc Trang province of southern Vietnam. The project, with an aggregate capacity of 60 MW, features the tallest towers in Vietnam.

The partnership between AC Energy and UPC Renewables started in 2013 with North Luzon Renewables, an 81 MW wind farm project in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. In January 2017, the two groups invested in PT UPC Sidrap Bayu Energi, developer of a 75 MW wind farm in South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

“As we join forces once again with UPC, which shares our commitment

towards sustainability, we will continue to push for the deployment of new technologies and best practices to harness India’s growth potential for clean energy, while contributing to their renewable energy goals,” said Patrice Clausse, chief operating officer of AC Energy International.

AC Energy has committed to scale up its renewable energy expansion in the region and has identified the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia, India and Myanmar as key target markets.

Marking its first major investment in India, AC Energy’s total renewables capacity will reach over 1,200 MW. It aspires to exceed five gigawatts (GW) of renewables capacity and generate at least 50 percent energy output from renewables by 2025.

In 2019, AC Energy’s power portfolio registered an attributable capacity of over 1.8 GW in operation and under construction, spanning projects in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

The company increased its attributable energy output in 2019 by 25 percent to 3,500 Gigawatt hours, of which 50 percent came from renewable energy sources.

Palace names new ERC commissioners M

alacañang on Monday announced the appointment of two new Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) commissioners.

In a letter to ERC Chairman Agnes VST Devanadera, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said President Duterte has appointed Floresinda G. Baldo-Digal and Marko Romeo Lizada Fuentes.

Digal, who will replace Josefina Patricia Magpale-Asirit, will serve a term of seven years or until July 10, 2027. She is currently the agency’s spokesman and has served as director of the Regulatory Operations Service (ROS) of the agency.

Digal rose from the ranks. She started as a stenographer of the agency and later on became a lawyer.

Devanadera said Digal’s appointment brings with her a deep knowledge of the responsibilities of a regulator, having 26 years of experience starting as stenographer and working thru to become a lawyer. She holds a Certificate in Business Economics from the University of Asia and the Pacific.

Prior to her appointment, Digal was designated as the Spokesperson of the Commission and its Executive Director.

“Her appointment will inspire the employees of ERC to work with renewed dedication and commitment as she is one of us,” said Devanadera.

Meanwhile, Fuentes is a Certified Public Ac-

countant (CPA). He is currently a member of the Board of Accountancy of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). His term will also end on July 10, 2027.

Fuentes replaced retired ERC Commissioner Paul Christian Cervantes, who served the remaining term of office of former ERC commissioner Geronimo Sta. Ana from January 2019 to July 2020.

“The appointment of Commissioner Marko Romeo L. Fuentes, a CPA, will bring into the Commission the perspective of the private sector in the technical aspect of the work.

ERC will be further strengthened to meet the extra challenges posed by the pandemic with the appointment of the two new Commissioners. We thank the President for the swift action in filling up the vacancies with the best choices,” she added.

The ERC is an independent regulatory body performing the combined quasi-judicial, quasilegislative and administrative functions in the electric industry.

The agency is facing tremendous challenges in the restructured electric industry. In addition to its traditional rate and service regulation functions, ERC shall focus on two primary responsibilities: to ensure consumer education and protection, and to promote the competitive operations in the electricity market. Lenie Lectura

Glaxo to invest up to $1B in CureVac deal

G

laxoSmithKline Plc agreed to work with Germany’s CureVac on as many as five novel mRNA vaccines that will target infectious diseases as Covid-19 prompts companies and governments to focus on future pandemic threats.

The British pharmaceutical giant will spend as much as 840 million pounds ($1 billion), including a 130 million-pound equity investment in CureVac, to find and develop mRNA vaccines and monoclonal antibodies, the company said on Monday.

Messenger RNA is a technology that spurs the body to create specific proteins with its own cells, allowing the immune system to combat disease.

While CureVac is a player in the race for a coronavirus vaccine, the German company’s existing Covid-19 mRNA and rabies vaccines research programs are not included in the partnership. The German government bought a stake worth 300 million euros ($344 million) in the biotech company in June, after speculation the United States was looking to buy the business or its technology.

Glaxo has a long history in vaccines, which accounted for more than 7 billion pounds in sales last year. The company is also among a number of developers pursuing potential Covid-19 jabs,

working with France’s Sanofi in a bid to have a successful vaccine candidate available in 2021.

The duo have been discussing a 500 million-pound deal to supply the United Kingdom government with the shot.

The company is keen to speed up the development of new shots, a journey that can take 15 years. Glaxo sees an opportunity to do it in half as much time partly by harnessing new technologies that enhance the immune system’s response to vaccines, Emmanuel Hanon, its research and development head, said in an interview last year.

Additional payments include 104 million pounds upfront and up to 606 million pounds tied to milestones. CureVac also could receive royalties on product sales. The investment in CureVac represents a stake of about 10 percent in the company.

CureVac Chief Financial Officer Pierre Kemula said in an interview last month that the company was considering an initial public offering. Other companies trying to develop coronavirus vaccines, including Moderna Inc. and BioNTech SE, are already public. Bloomberg News

mutual funds

July 20, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 199.85 -27.01% -10.27% -5.77% -20.64% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.0326 -38.56% -13.85% -6.02% -25.28% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.6893 -36.55% -14.95% -8.09% -26.89% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.685 -30.8% n.a. n.a. -23.72% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.6639 -26.75% n.a. n.a. -21.83% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.284 -24.36% -8.89% -5.41% -19.6% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 0.676 -25.91% -11.38% n.a.

-20.81% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 80.06 -35.05% n.a. n.a. -22.44% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 40.1746 -26.17% -8.71% -4.71% -21.66% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 429.98 -24.03% -8.06% -4.91% -19.3% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5 0.8689 n.a. n.a. n.a. -15.65% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.0141 -26.38% -8.57% -4.58% -21.2% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 29.8553 -26.07% -8.06% -4.27% -21.22% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7915 -27.29% n.a. n.a. -22.26% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 4.092 -25.91% -8.19% -4.06% -21.66% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 685.22 -25.7% -8.16% -4.25% -21.42% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.6183 -35.56% -12.22% -8.3% -27.38% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.1567 -29.99% -9.7% -5.5% -25% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7859 -25.82% -8.33% -4.23% -21.47% United Fund, Inc. -a 2.8572 -26% -7.25% -3.8% -21.79% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 91.9746 -25.5% -7.68% -3.43% -21.36% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$1.0156 2.19% -0.1% 0.65% -1.24% 8.07% 6.56% n.a.

3.63% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.4287 Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.556 -13.24% -4.52% -3.69% -0.44% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.0614 -13.17% -4.74% -1.98% -5.49% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.4186 -11.27% -3.24% -3.19% -8.09% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.1857 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-18.73% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.8434 -6.76% -1.32% -0.46% -6.03% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.5 -8.97% -2.47% -1.59% -7.63% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 15.5781 -9.92% -2.77% -1.79% -8.15% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 1.9246 -12.58% -3.82% -1.64% -9.31% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.2825 -17.76% -4.93% -2.98% -15.04% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.9483 -9.24% n.a. n.a.

-6.64% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.849 -19.05% n.a. n.a. -14.79% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.8238 -21.21% n.a. n.a.

-17.06% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.8092 -21.16% -5.91% -4.22% -16.99% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03873 3.31% 2.65% 1.79% 1.39% $1.0073 0.66% 0.48% 0.95% -0.46% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.967 4.5% 4.6% 3.87% 1.44% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.1323 2.05% 2.41% n.a.

0.32% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 367.15 4.46% 3.18% 2.62% 2.57% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.9445 2.23% 0.98% -0.03% 2.23% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1957 4.61% 5.08% 5.08% 2.5% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.3046 4.97% 3.03% 2.41% 3.65% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4541 5.79% 3.46% 2.01% 4.03% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.6503 10.46% 4.39% 2.77% 6.34% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a,6 1.302 6.75% 4.2% 2.31% 3.6% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.9637 7.56% 4.39% 2.48% 4.63% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0388 10.44% 3.79% 2% 7.73% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1798 6.77% 4.84% 2.98% 3.39% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a

1.7458 5.61% 4.19% 2.47% 2.63% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $475.3 3.37% 2.48% 2.76% 1.48% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є215.8 -1.16% 0.7% 1.02% -1.82% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2281 3.58% 2.95% 2.64% 1.73% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0261 1.95% 1.58% 1.36% 1.16% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.0747 -1.13% -0.07% 0.4% -1.73% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.4601 4.57% 3.33% 3.21% 2.35% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0607062 2.26% 1.96% 1.86% 0.67% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.2033 3.77% 2.02% 2.56% 0.88% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 128.45 3.73% 3.25% 2.46% 2.08% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0426 2.59% n.a. n.a.

1.59% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2848 3.01% 3.03% 2.59% 1.57% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0459 1.62% n.a. n.a.

0.73% Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a,d,7 1.0022 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,2 $0.94 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-5.05%

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

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

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

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

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

pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Cash still flowing into government securities

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

M

oney continues to flow into government coffers rather than into consumption as the Bureau of the Treasury raked in P20 billion after fully awarding Treasury Bills (T-bills) in Monday’s auction. The auction was met with robust investor demand even with the ongoing sale of Retail Treasury Bonds (RTBs) and rates remain low.

Across all tenors, rates—even at the secondary market—were also lower than previous auctions.

The auction was oversubscribed as government securities attracted bids amounting to P72.4 billion, more than the 3.6-times the P20billion offering.

Broken down, the Treasury fully awarded P5 billion each in 91-day T-bills and 182-day T-bills and P10 billion for 364-day T-bills.

Given the strong demand for the 364-day debt papers, National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said the Treasury also opened the tap facility for an additional P5 billion-offering last Monday.

Despite the sale of 5-year RTBs “going well,” De Leon also said this is not affecting the demand for T-bills.

“These are short term placements not affecting RTB with 5-year tenor,” she said in a message to reporters, adding that she also sees rates stabilizing at low levels.”

The 91-day T-bills capped at a lower rate of 1.454 percent, dropping

by 13.3 basis points from P1.587 percent previously. Bids for the tenor reached P23.414 billion, way above the P5-billion offering.

Meanwhile, the 182-day T-bills fetched 1.625 percent, sliding by 6.2 basis points from the previous auction’s 1.687 percent. The security attracted tenders of as much as P18.852 billion, more than thrice the P5 billion offering.

Lastly, the average rate for 364day T-bills settled at 1.770 percent, down by 1.2 basis points from 1.782 percent in the previous auction.

Total bids for the tenor amounted to P30.201 billion, thrice the P10billion offering.

For this month, the Treasury programmed to borrow P205 billion from the local debt market.

For the 5-year RTBs, the Treasury has also started the three-week public offer period last week which is scheduled to last until August 7.

However, the Treasury may opt to cut the public offer period earlier than scheduled.

The issuance of new RTBs due 2025 also comes with an exchange offer for RTB 10-01, RTB 10-02, FXTN 05-73, and/or FXTN 07-57.

RTBs are generally considered low risk for investors as these allow them to earn on a fixed interest based on prevailing market rates. Investors are paid quarterly during the term of the bond.

For minimum denominations of P5,000, the general investing public is given the chance to take advantage of the issuance during the offer period.

Are Retail Treasury Bonds for everyone?

T

he damage done by the Covid-19 pandemic to the economy continues to unfold.

Lives have been lost. Many have gotten sick. Many have suffered. Many have been displaced. The good growth momentum of the Philippines over the past years has been put to a halt as a result of the pandemic.

It is during these trying times that government is supposed to be at the forefront of supporting businesses and citizens. However, in economics, there is really no such thing as a free lunch.

We live in a world of trade-offs.

Every support program will entail cost and will require funding. One option the government can explore will be to raise taxes like the income tax or the VAT (value-added tax). The government can likewise introduce new taxes.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also has the option of printing more money to fund programs.

Government assets and companies can be sold for additional funds. The government can borrow money domestically and internationally. One alternative the government can explore is issuing Retail Treasury Bonds. Treasury Bonds are government securities that are issued through the Bureau of Treasury. These are mainly issued to help finance various government programs. The usual Treasury bonds may not be for everybody since the required minimum investment may be too prohibitive.

However, Retail Treasury Bonds are distinct since they aim to democratize access to bonds as investment alternatives by making the required minimum investment amount affordable. Typically, the amount will be around P5,000.

There are two ways for the public to invest in Retail Treasury Bonds. Filipinos who decide to invest have the option of going to the different accredited banks and financial institutions, and, filling up the necessary forms with pertinent information. Online transactions through the Bureau of Treasury are also possible.

Retail Treasury Bonds have many benefits for investors. The relatively low minimum investment required can potentially allow many Filipinos to participate. Retail Treasury Bonds offer convenience in investing since there are physical and online avenues where investors can transact.

Since Retail Treasury Bonds are issued by the government, this would

Genesis Kelly S. Lontoc

personal finance mean that the level of risk of investing in these securities will be low since the government has various available ways and means to fulfill its bond-related obligations.

The return of a Retail Treasury Bond is fixed and is usually obtained on a quarterly basis. This provides cash flow stability for investors which other investment alternatives like the stock market investments may not be able to provide.

The return of Retail Treasury Bonds would usually be higher than the interest income from both regular savings accounts and time deposit accounts. For conservative or risk-averse investors, it may prove to be a better alternative. Retail Treasury Bonds are negotiable and transferable.

However, even with the various benefits, nothing is perfect and certain things have to be considered. Since the risk of the Retail Treasury Bond is lower, the return offered may be lower as compared to what can be possibly generated by stock market investments and real estate investments.

In investing, one has to also ensure that other important aspects like the emergency fund and ample insurance are addressed so investing in Retail Treasury Bonds should be done in the context of comprehensive financial planning.

Twenty-twenty marks the advent of the New Normal. In this light, new ways of managing money and helping the economy are relevant. Given its benefits and things for consideration, the affordable Retail Treasury Bond can be a good instrument for the general public to diversify the investment portfolio.

At the same time, the Retail Treasury Bond can potentially allow Filipinos to have an active part in helping the economy recover. It is therefore imperative for the government to use the funds prudently and transparently.

Gemmy Lontoc is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal financial planning, attend the 84th RFP program this August 2020. To inquire, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text <name><e-mail> <RFP> at 0917-9689774.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020 B3

Salceda eyes tax incentives for local health innovators

F

ollowing the approval for commercial release of Philippinemade Covid-19 test kits, the chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means said the lower chamber will ensure that tax incentives for local health innovations will be included in the proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (Create) law.

House Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda issued the statement as he lauded the approval of the locally-made Covid-19 test kits.

Salceda said he will be talking with the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to ensure that local health innovations are part of the strategic investment priorities plan (SIPP) under the Create bill.

Produced with the support of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the testing

kit GenAmplify version 2, manufactured by Manila HealthTek, has been approved for commercial use. The announcement was made last Sunday.

“So far, the country has been on the economic defensive,” Salceda said. “With these innovations, we can now take steps to support new industries, new businesses and new sources of scientific and technological development.”

Ensure

The House leader said the move will ensure that health innovations receive preferential tax incentives.

BDO: No plans of closing any branch in pandemic

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @Tyronepiad

S

y-led BDO Unibank Inc. announced it is not closing any of its branches despite the adverse effects of lockdown measures against the coronavirus pandemic.

In an interview with the BusinessMirror, an executive of the listed bank said that it was not shutting down any branch to help boost financial inclusion in the country.

“The Bank has no plans to close branches, as we see a need to increase our productive capacity under current market conditions,” said the BDO executive who requested not to be named pending as the replies to the BusinessMirror have not been discussed with top officials.

“The Bank intends to complement the expansion in its physical network with digital capabilities, to accelerate the pace of financial inclusion,” the executive added.

Citing data from the Bangko Sentral ng Piipinas, the executive said that the country’s level of financial inclusion was relatively low given that only 29 percent of the adult population is banked. The Central Bank noted that

having an account in banks, e-money issuers and microfinance institutions is a basic indicator of financial inclusion.

BDO, earlier this month, announced it issued $600-million fixed rate senior notes under its medium-term note program. The transaction was oversubscribed by nearly five times, with orders reaching $2.9 billion.

This after raising P36 billion from a fixed-rate bonds offering in the same month.

The listed bank saw its first quarter earnings drop by 10.20 percent to P8.8 billion from P9.8 billion in the same period last year due to trading and foreign exchange losses. BDO’s total capital base rose to P372.2 billion in the first quarter, booking capital adequacy ratio of P13.8 percent and common equity tier 1 of 12.7 percent.

“The Bank has also embarked on initiatives to enhance operational efficiency, enrich the customer experience and reduce cost in the long-term,” the executive added.

Shares in BDO slid by 0.53 percent, or 50 centavos, to close at P93 each amid the 1.02-percent growth for the benchmark index on Monday.

Salceda added he also plans to explore the possibility of allowing the President, during pandemics, to provide the super-incentives under Create, to health and emergency production.

“We could perhaps do this under some sort of emergency production powers,” he said.

Salceda said he also plans to push for assistance for small businesses to be able to pursue patenting of health technologies.

“If we are going to compete with the world, we need to protect what we discover,” the lawmaker added.

Salceda also reiterated his proposal for a more aggressive “production boost,” to motivate consumer demand and production.

He reiterated his early recommendation last March that the country ramp-up food preservation, production of health supplies and other essentials as part of coordinated efforts to boost economic output.

“When people are not confident enough to buy or sell, it is the government’s duty to be the matchmaker of supply and demand,” Salceda said.

Salceda, the House’s resident economist, is the principal author of the Create bill.

Encourage

Salceda, meanwhile, said that

the government should encourage the procurement of locally-made test kits.

“As much as possible, there should be no bureaucratic red tape in acquiring in mass these test kits,” he added. “LGUs [local government units] should also be encouraged to procure these kits for their local testing initiatives.”

Salceda said that the country’s Covid-19 related innovations should be “zealously pursued as potential exports to countries with similar challenges as ours.”

“Many countries in our region fit the kind of development constraints that the Philippines has. There is a lot of potential in the innovations that have been coming out of the Philippines lately.”

Salceda pointed to the test kits as an example.

He added that the Philippine abaca, apparently, is also the most optimal material for Covid-19 masks.

Salceda cited research by credible experts that suggest virgin coconut oil having “some potential in curing mild Covid-19 cases.”

“Nobody wanted this pandemic to happen. But now that it is upon us, let us use Filipino ingenuity to come out of this crisis as a stronger, more resilient economy,” Salceda said.

Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

Govt on track to recover lost revenue from oil smuggling

T

he government has so far marked over P10 billion liters in its bid to recover lost revenue from oil smuggling in the country.

The Department of Finance said that 75 percent of the 10.06 billion liters of marked fuel was in Luzon, 20 percent in Mindanao and five percent in Visayas from September 2019 until July 18 this year.

Petron topped the list of petroleum companies that participated in the fuel marking program as it cornered the bulk of marked fuel at 23.94 percent or 2.41 billion liters.

It was followed by Shell with 20.61 percent or 2.074 billion liters then Unioil with 10.44 percent or 1.051 billion liters, Seaoil with 8.77 percent or 882.28 million liters and Chevron with 8.68 percent or 873.58 million liters.

The DOF said 20 petroleum companies have participated in the fuel marking program during the period.

The government earlier said it aims to collect P20 billion this year following the full implementation of the fuel marking program. This

is equivalent to half of the estimated P40 billion in revenues that are lost to oil smuggling in the country.

Under Republic Act 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law, petroleum products that are refined, manufactured or imported to the Philippines such as, but not limited to, unleaded premium gasoline, kerosene and diesel shall be marked by an official marking agent after payment of taxes and duties.

Fuel marking makes use of a unique chemical marker capable of being embedded at a molecular level in petroleum products—gasoline, diesel and kerosene—thereby enabling authorities to test, identify and distinguish petroleum products with paid excise taxes.

Spearheaded by the DOF, BOC, Bureau of Internal Revenue, the fuel marking program was officially launched in August 2019 with the intention of putting a halt to illegal importation, manufacturing and other fraudulent activities relating to the use and sale of petroleum products in the country. Bernadette D. Nicolas

Global banks pause Hong Kong back-to-office plans as cases jump

G

lobal banks including Citigroup Inc. and UBS Group AG are suspending their return-to-office plans in Hong Kong after the city reported a daily record of more than 100 new coronavirus cases. Citigroup, which had already asked as many as 70 percent of staff to work from home last week, is now asking most people to do so starting Monday, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are also requesting workers stay away from the office, while UBS estimates about 60 percent will work from home, triple the level of two weeks ago.

“We work to data not dates and the safety of our staff and clients is our top priority,” James Griffiths, Citigroup’s Hong Kong-based spokesman, said.

Hong Kong’s third wave is its worst ever, with about 500 infections con-

firmed in just two weeks. The aggressive resurgence in the city comes after a period that saw residents return to normal life, and the high share of cases of unknown origins in the new outbreak suggests that hidden chains of transmission have been festering for some time. The government is scrambling to put in place tightened measures after a period of easing. Masks are now mandatory in indoor public spaces and on public transport, while restaurant restrictions and gym and bar closures have been extended for another week until the end of July.

“The situation is really severe and there is no sign that it is under control,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam said. “To combat the pandemic, I hereby urge citizens to be patient in order to contain this.”

The pull back underscores the challenges for global banks as they try to resume operations in parts of Asia

where the rate of new cases had been slowing. Bankers in financial hubs including Shanghai and Singapore have been slowly returning to their offices, in contrast to London and New York where most staff remain at home.

Goldman Sachs had been using a split-team approach with as many as 50 percent of Asia staff working from the office, Chief Executive Officer David Solomon said last week. The U.K. figure is at 15 percent, while in New York only a small number have returned, he said.

The New York-based bank is now asking all Hong Kong employees to work from home except for officecritical staff, compared with about 50 percent as recently as last week and none last month, according to a bank spokesman. Barclays Plc, which had as many as 60 percent of staff in their Hong Kong offices before the latest surge, has seen that number drop

below 50 percent since Wednesday, a spokeswoman said. Citigroup had about half its staff at home before the bump last week.

HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc, which are also big employers in Hong Kong, urged their staff to work from home last week given the spike in locally-transmitted virus cases.

One HSBC employee tested positive for the virus over the weekend after returning to Hong Kong from overseas, according to an internal memo which was confirmed by a bank spokeswoman. The individual was last in an HSBC office in February and had no face-to-face contact with other staff or business associates in the last 14 days, the memo said.

The two London-based banks in the city are also reducing operating hours at their branches, while CMB Wing Lung Bank Ltd. said services of eight branches will be temporarily suspended from Tuesday. Bloomberg News

B4

Show BusinessMirror

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Continue to believe in magic

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

z

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Juno Temple, 31; Justin Bartha, 42; Josh Hartnett, 42; Jon Lovitz, 63.

JEFFREY TAM and Jonathan Ivan Rivera

Happy Birthday: It’s up to you to bring about the changes you want to happen this year. Plan your actions, and execute your intentions with precision.

There is no room for anger if you intend to reach your goals. Stay focused on positive action, and you will get the results you want. Handle your finances with care.

Impulsive spending will be your downfall. Your numbers are 2, 10, 21, 23, 36, 38, 46.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): If you overreact, you’ll have to pay the price. Think before you say or do something that will hold you back.

Use your energy to work on personal improvement, not trying to change others. Do what will make you happy.

HH

M

AGIC happens when you believe in yourself. If we can start doing that, no matter how difficult the challenges may seem, we can make anything happen.

Magicians are part of our entertainment universe.

They, like many of the actors, singers, hosts, musicians and live performance artists we know, have been most adversely affected by the current pandemic that has paralyzed this industry that we all love.

Jeffrey Tam started his romance with magic at 12 years old. “I was fascinated with it early on. Perhaps I was a stubborn child who wanted to find out the mystery of magic, that’s why I was drawn to it. Every time my dad came home from abroad, he’d always bring me magic kits because he knew that was the pasalubong I wanted,” he recalled.

In the mid-1980s, Tam had the chance to watch a David Copperfield show in Las Vegas and he even met the world-famous magician backstage. “I first saw a Copperfield show in Manila and I became an instant fan. So when I met him up close and spoke to him in the United States, it was a dream come true. I became emotional when I told him that he inspired me to become a magician.”

Tam, who is also an actor for more than two decades now, has been a professional magician for 15 years. He was starting to make a name for himself in the international market when the pandemic struck.

“Suddenly all of my booked live shows were canceled.

The foreign trips were put to a halt. I was feeling down but not for long because I had to find ways to continue being a magician.”

He continued, “So I thought of setting up a studio inside my home, hoping that I can do virtual or online shows. I’m glad that inquiries have started to come in but it’s quite a challenge, and it’s really a major adjustment.”

Like many of his art forms and skills, Tam, who has wrapped up acting work for the Richard

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Implement a change that will allow you greater freedom to follow your dreams. Anger is a waste of time and will hold you back. Your success, however, will encourage you to reach for the stars. HHHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Listen and learn, but before you use any of the information you’ve gathered, check your fact sheet to ensure you know what you are trying to say. Trust is built on reputation; exaggerating and offering false information will hold you back. HHH

Somes action film Alpha Kid 1 before the quarantine lockdown, believes that learning never ends. “I will continue to master the craft, update myself with new tricks. Magic is like acting, the learning never stops if you want to truly succeed.”

Like Tam, Jonathan Ivan Rivera discovered his fondness for magic at an early age. When he was seven, Rivera was already able to make a girl float and he did his first professional show for the Cartoon Network when he was just 11. “I learned it from my dad who was the magician of his time.” Rivera mastered the art of balancing his school life with magic. He graduated valedictorian in high school and finished with honors in college.

He admitted missing hosting magic shows at this time. Before Covid-19, Rivera had a lot of shows booked especially for top hotel clients. For his most memorable show, he singled out his special act for Cebu Pacific’s Pasko ni Juan sa Tacloban after a huge typhoon devastated the province of Leyte many years ago. “A member of the audience came up to me and said: ‘Nakalimutan namin lahat ng lungkot habang pinanonood kayo.’ And that made me realize that my

being a magician serves a greater purpose.”

Rivera, who is also a part-time actor, never imagined he’d be taking a pause as a magician. “It’s my bread and butter. My magic has always been very interactive with an audience and to put a screen in between that is just not the same. My top clients are from social gatherings and special events which are all not allowed at this time so it’s really difficult.” He volunteered that he makes ends meet by starting a vegan food delivery business.

As an actor, he has done a digital series and a short film, and theater was his entry platform. Last year, we saw him in a for-adults-only play, titled Laro, and Rivera was a natural. He hopes to act in his debut film project soon. “I plan to continue being a magician, an actor and a businessman. I believe that we can do and accomplish many things if we want to, even during extraordinary times like what is happening now, if we only believe in ourselves, if we only believe in the magic that each of us has inside us.”

Magic exists even in the most difficult of times.

Like children, we only have to look for it. But those who do not believe in magic will never find it. n

Award-winning GMA public affairs shows move to prime time PRIME-TIME viewing beginning July 20 sees GMA Public Affairs’ internationally awarded documentary programs add more prestige to GMA News TV with the “Power Block.” Airing weeknights at 9:15 p.m., “Power Block” brings together the highly acclaimed programs, Front Row, Alisto, Tunay na Buhay, Reporter’s Notebook and I-Witness, which used to air on GMA’s “Late Night” strip.

Kicking-off the lineup is documentary program Front Row. Airing every Monday, Front Row features stories told from a firstperson point of view, a departure from the usual host-driven documentaries usually seen on television.

On Tuesdays, GMA News and Public Affairs anchor Arnold Clavio leads the public service show Alisto. It features stories from actual videos of people faced with lifethreatening situations, as well as the latest modus operandi and stories on crime and safety. Promoting safety, the show aims to remind viewers to be always alert.

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Plan your actions carefully, and you will make money instead of losing or wasting what you’ve worked so hard to save. Take your time, put a plan in place, and find the best and cheapest way to get what you want. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Play to win, but play smart and with finesse. Let your agility, mental capacity and desire to get ahead push you in a direction that encourages you to strive for perfection.

Personal gain is prevalent. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Keep your emotions out of any encounter you have with people who don’t share your opinion.

Take the high road, and use intelligence, facts and understanding. How you present who you are and what you stand for matter. Recognize those harboring ulterior motives. HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Check out what’s going on around you. If you are insular, you will become part of the problem. Be kind, helpful and grateful for what you have. Walk away from negativity and toward constructive actions that result in a better life. HHHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Less emotion and more thought will lead to a better environment. Speak up and do your part.

Don’t leave the hard work to others when you have so much to offer. Opportunity evolves from positive change, dedication and transparency. HH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Update documents, investments and your standard of living. Revise as you reflect on your life.

Declutter, pay it forward and ease stress. Life is about choices and doing your part to ensure a better environment for you, as well as others exists. HHHHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Change begins within. Find out what the people you live with and love want. Incorporate everyone’s needs into the adjustments you make to your surroundings, attitude and relationships. Being fair is the solution. HHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Fix up your surroundings, and make physical changes that make you feel good about the way you look. Make unique plans with someone you love. A positive lifestyle change will provide you with a healthy mind, body and future. HHH

Meanwhile, airing on Wednesday is Tunay na Buhay hosted by award-winning broadcast journalist Pia Arcangel. The show celebrates the triumphs of the human spirit through the inspiring stories of people from all walks of life.

Taking the Thursday slot is investigative program Reporter’s Notebook, hosted by veteran journalists Maki Pulido and Jun

Veneracion. Over the years, the show has brought significant issues to the attention of the public, with many stories given more attention by the authorities after being tackled on the show.

Rounding off the lineup is the country’s longest-running documentary program I-Witness. Every Friday, the show’s hosts—led by Howie Severino, Sandra

Aguinaldo, Atom Araullo and Kara David— share life-changing stories through the documentary format. Each documentary features Filipino values, culture, current events, and the human condition.

Catch these award-winning news and public affairs programs weeknights starting July 20, after New Normal: The Survival Guide on GMA News TV.

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Create what will make you happy. Envision what you want, and lay down the foundation for a better life.

Consider what you can salvage from your past and what’s best to discard. It’s up to you to make things happen. HHH Birthday Baby: You are caring, sensitive and opinionated.

You are opportunistic and helpful.

‘return to play’ by paul coulter The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Cuts off 5 Ever 10 Fiber source in some cereals 14 Actor Baldwin 15 Pang 16 Word after “Space” or “alien” 17 Andean land 18 Jam ingredients?

19 No more than 20 Sport with birdies 23 As yet 26 Late architect I.M. 27 Ecuadorean’s “Enough!”

31 DuVernay who directed 13th 32 Astronaut Grissom 34 Winter hrs. in Waltham 36 ___ B. Wells 37 “Can you repeat that?”

39 Customer 41 Classic PC application whose name is also a warship 45 Gobbles up 47 Get rid of, as a mustache 48 Organize 51 Political coalition

2 Checked out before robbing 5 53 A kite may get stuck in one 54 Dracula, at times 55 Activity with dotted tiles, as some spell it 57 Comfort ___ 58 Very small amount 60 Palestinian group 62 Remark after overcoming a setback, and a hint to two letters of each starred answer 68 Place to buy pastrami 69 Many of its license plates say “Famous potatoes” 70 Has another birthday 71 Perfect plot 72 Still sleeping 73 Basic medical advice DOWN 1 Drink from a dish 2 “Bravo, bullfighter!”

3 The “p” in mpg 4 Deep-sea diver’s gear 5 Just slightly 6 Loud bass sounds 7 Nickname that sounds like the letters

before and after “S” 8 Canadian coin featuring a bird, slangily 9 “___ we forget” 10 Mars who sang “Please Me” with Cardi B 11 Music genre...or hit 12 Take steps 13 The Matrix hero 21 Noble gas in the atmosphere 22 Available, as a brew 23 Drain of energy 24 Egg cells 25 Locally sourced food movement 28 Self reflection?

29 Bustle 30 ___ Andreas Fault 33 World Heritage Site org.

35 Big name in bathing suits 38 45 or 78 40 One may be multiple-choice 42 Bogus 43 “Now, where ___?”

44 20-20, e.g.?

45 A drop in the ocean?

46 Extremely concerned

9 Calls something else 4 50 Least relaxed 55 Last month, briefly 56 Pronoun for Wonder Woman 59 Brother of Abel 61 Biology lab gel 63 Next of ___ 64 Altar vow 65 Turner who led a historic revolt 66 Thanksgiving, e.g.: Abbr.

67 Bounce Solution to Friday’s puzzle:

Art

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

VISITORS wearing PPE stand apart as they view Irises, 1914-1917, by Claude Monet, at the National Portrait Gallery, London, as it prepares to reopen following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions across England. PHOTOS: AP

TWO STUDENT MENTORS AMONG 2020 GAWAD CCP PARA SA SINING RECIPIENTS

TWO trailblazers in their respective honorable fields, not popularly known to be teachers of any kind and yet have unselfishly shared their homegrown talents and formula of accomplishing their once-impossible achievements to inspire students, have recently been bestowed the Cultural Center of the Philippines 2020 Gawad CCP Para sa Sining.

It is the highest award given by the institution to prolific individuals and groups with consistent remarkable works that have enriched their respective art forms.

For Design, the CCP recognized the multi-awarded creative genius of Kenneth Cobonpue, who has guided the young artists of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde during his terms as educator, Senior Industry Fellow, and Chairman of the Industrial Design Program.

His signature pieces in natural local fibers and materials, such as rattan, buri, bamboo and abaca, have brought Philippine modern design to a new level in the global scene.

Also in the list is theater and visual guru Felix “Nonon” Padilla for his 50 years of influence in the field of Theater.

He has extended his passion and commitment to his craft while he served as the Senior Industry Fellow of Benilde Theater Arts, where he directed productions, such as Palasyo ni Valentine (Palace of Valentine), Ang Mga Misteryo ng Liwanag (The Luminous Mysteries), Makbet (Macbeth) and Ang Dakilang Teatro ng Daigdig (The Greatest Theater of the World), among others. Padilla, founder of the Tanghalang Pilipino in 1987, was the artistic director of Philippine Educational Theater Association in the 1970s.

Gawad CCP Para sa Sining announces the luminaries to receive awards every three years. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremonies will be held in 2021.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

STAFF wear face visors as they implement a one way system at the National Portrait Gallery, London. The British government has announced more than £1.5 billion (almost $2 billion) to help the country’s renowned arts and cultural institutions recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

UK’s lockdown-hit arts venues to get $2-B rescue package

L

BY JILL LAWLESS The Associated Press

ONDON—The British government has announced more than £1.5 billion (almost $2 billion) to help the country’s renowned arts and cultural institutions recover from the coronavirus pandemic, after some theaters and music venues warned that without support they might never open again.

The £1.57 billion ($1.96 billion) package for museums, galleries, theaters, movie theaters, heritage sites and music venues includes almost £900 million in grants and more than £200 million in loans.

Details of how the money will be distributed haven’t been released, but leaders of arts organizations breathed a sigh of relief at the announcement.

“When we heard last night, we slept for the first time since March,” Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of London’s Young Vic theater, said on Monday. “It is a real vindication that we have been listened to and that the government understand that we were dying on our knees and also that we are an important part of our country’s recovery.”

Tamara Roja, artistic director of the English National Ballet, said “this package gives our sector a fighting chance of survival.”

Monday’s announcement comes after intense lobbying of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s

Conservative government by arts leaders, who say British culture is a 100-billion-pound a year industry, essential to the economy and to the nation’s global image. Some UK arts institutions are beginning to open their doors after more than three months of lockdown, starting with the National Gallery in London, which reopens Wednesday. But social distancing rules and an almost total absence of tourists mean they face a big financial hit.

Theaters and concert venues haven’t been told when they can admit audiences, and several major venues, including Nuffield Southampton Theatres in southern England, have already announced they will close permanently or lay off hundreds of staff.

The rescue package is intended to help venues survive until April. But theaters warn they may go bust if they can’t get paying audiences through the doors until then. Some question why people are allowed to sit in tightly packed rows on planes but not in theaters.

Composer and impresario Andrew Lloyd-Webber tweeted: “Great to see the Government support the arts, but what we really need is for the UK’s theatres to open safely as soon as practically possible.”

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the support package would help safeguard Britain’s status as a “creative industries superpower.” But he said theaters wouldn’t be able to return to normal until the need for social distancing was over—and it’s too soon to say when that will be.

“I want to ensure it can happen,” he told the BBC. “I just want to be a bit realistic about the challenges of getting us back to that point any time soon.”

Across Europe, museums and art galleries have been the first cultural venues to reopen, although with much-reduced capacity. The Louvre in Paris opened its doors recently for the first time in four months, with face masks and advance reservations required.

In London, the National Gallery has introduced timed tickets, one-way routes, visor-wearing staff and hand-sanitizer stations in order to open its doors after 111 days—the gallery’s first shutdown since World War II. Even in wartime the building remained open for concerts and events, though the collection of works by artists including Caravaggio, Monet, Van Gogh and Turner was sent out of London to keep it safe.

“The gallery was open and it was there for the London public as the bombs rained down on the city,” gallery director Gabriele Finaldi said. “So we felt a responsibility that, as in the past the National Gallery had been there for the public, we wanted to be there when the opportunity arose to reopen.

“It will be very interesting to see how the public responds. We’re keen that they start coming, but I think the most important thing is that they feel safe, in the first instance. I think then confidence will build up, and then hopefully tourism will return to the city.”

But, he added, “it’s going to be very tough.” ■

‘Period’ and ‘StockPile’ at Kaida Contemporary

THEATER director Felix “Nonon” Padilla

KAIDA Contemporary presents Period, a solo exhibition by Demosthenes Campos, and StockPile, a show by Mikko Baladjay and Babylyn Geroche Fajilagutan.

Campos’s latest solo exhibition pertains to this particular time that the artist finds himself in while creating, trying to make a living and surviving.

Harkening to the past while giving homage to the phases of life and the myriad ways that mark the ebb and flow of cycles, Campos draws strength and inspiration from the genius of artists of earlier generations as he persists in creating his mixed media assemblages in the time of Covid-19.

In their two-person exhibition, Baladjay and Fajilagutan draw on the word “stockpile”

in its most literal sense—an accumulated stack of papers of various kinds, textures and origin, gathered at random or on a whim, while in transit, or as it sits solitary and forgotten in the corner of a room. The result of years of collection, these pieces tell their own stories, often hidden and silent, but on which a strong imprint still remains to be visible. From these found papers, Baladjay and Fajilagutan create a collection of works that seek to explore a more process-centric interpretation of their art.

Period and StockPile will be available for viewing by appointment or online until July 27.

Kaida Contemporary is at 45 Scout Madriñan Street, South Triangle, Quezon City.

More information is available through kaida529@yahoo.com.ph.

France’s Rodin Museum sells bronzes to weather virus crisis

BY ARNO PEDRAM The Associated Press PARIS—Unlike other museums thumped by the coronavirus pandemic, Paris’ Rodin Museum might have an ace up its sleeve to help see it through the crisis: It can sell limited-edition versions of the French sculptor’s masterpieces.

The self-financed museum dedicated to the works of Auguste Rodin is facing a mountain of challenges.

Tourists were scarce as it reopened recently after four months of virus-enforced closure, and a return to the good old days is a long way off. Signs seeking donations now line its walls.

But a measure of relief may come from a centuryold system set up by Rodin himself allowing the museum to sell up to 12 replicas of select sculptures every year. The bronzes are cast in special workshops in a process overseen by the museum and bought by art galleries, private collectors or other museums.

Rodin’s priceless originals are mainly carved out of marble. The sales have helped his artworks reach a worldwide audience, but up to now, they’ve produced uneven results. Given an expected lockdown-related budget shortfall of €3 million ($3.4 million) this year, the museum wants to turn the bronze sales into a bigger and more regular source of revenue.

So it is expanding its catalog and reaching out to new markets. It’s already sold out of this year’s copies of The Thinker and The Burghers of Calais, among the sculptor’s most famous works.

Museum director Catherine Chevillot said it has completed €1.4 million in sales of bronze replicas of Rodin statues so far this year.

In an interview with The Associated Press, she said the museum’s goal is to secure a yearly minimum of €3 million in statue sales, a quarter of the museum’s budget.

Prices for the statues vary from €50,000 to millions of euros, meaning a few big sales or many

smaller ones are needed to make the target.

“Our challenge is not to sell more but more regularly,” Chevillot said. Because “some years we sell 6 to 9 million euros in statues and others nothing.”

The museum has sold a total of 5,000 such works over the last 100 years. Many have gone to buyers in Europe and the US, but sales in those traditional markets have diminished in recent years. So the museum is now turning to Asia, Latin America, and Gulf countries for new clients.

In addition, Chevillot said the museum has now quadrupled the number of works it is allowed to produce, from 30 to 120. It is also pursuing new partnerships, including one with the Gagosian Gallery in the US. Rodin donated all of his works to the French state, allowing for the creation of the museum that is set amid a tranquil garden filled with Rodin originals in the shadow of Paris’ gold-domed Invalides monument.

The museum used to draw about 2,500 people per day during the summer months—led by Americans.

This year, with Europe’s borders closed to the US and most other countries because of the still-spreading virus, it’s preparing to see a drop in visitors by as much as 80 percent.

The museum also expects a drop in special event income this summer because weddings and large corporate gatherings remain off-limits because of virus risks.

That means that even with eventual new bronze sales, the museum’s future is cloudy after a rough few years for tourist sites across Paris.

“It’s the third year that things are difficult: the first was the yellow vest protests, the second year strikes and this year the [virus] crisis,” Chevillot said. “Each year we’re digging into our reserves, so I wouldn’t like there to be a fourth and fifth year.”

■ Jeffrey Schaeffer in Paris contributed.

B5

B6 Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Filipino Rotaractors raise funds for COVID-19 test kits

Cash Aids and S​ mart Farming s​ olutions help Filipino farmers survive the C​ OVID-19 Crisis

S Turnover of COVID-19 test kits donation of Pilipinas Rotaract MDIO represented by Chair Louie De Real and Chair Elect Manuel Joseph Franco (sixth and seventh from the left) to UP National Institutes of Health represented by Dr. Karen Sotalbo (fifth from the left)

I

GNITED by the eagerness to extend humanitarian aid during this COVID-19 pandemic, the Pilipinas Rotaract Convention 2021 Organizing Committee, mainly composed of Rotaractors from Rotary International District 3770, in partnership with the Pilipinas Rotaract Multi-District Information Organization, conducted a fundraising campaign entitled Project #SAMPU Sama-Sama sa Mas Pinatibay na Ugnayan Laban sa COVID-19 from April 14-27, 2020.

The campaign aimed to raise an amount of Php 160,700 to purchase 100 GenAmplify™ COVID-19 rRT-PCR Detection Kits in support of the mass testing program. GenAmplify™ COVID-19 rRT-PCR Detection Kit is the low-cost test

kit invented locally by a team of scientists from the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health, the Philippine Genome Center, and the Manila HealthTek, Inc. With humble hopes of purchasing only 100 COVID-19 Testing Kits, the donation drive surpassed its target in just four days after the launch of the campaign. This was through the ripple effects of donations coming not just from Filipino Rotaractors but also from Rotarians and even family and friends outside of Rotary. At the end of the campaign last April 27, the team was able to raise Php 259,484 which funded the production of 161 COVID-19 test kits turned over to the University of the Philippines – National Institutes of Health

last July 6, 2020. The donations came from 73 Rotaract Clubs, 4 Rotary Clubs and other donor groups and individuals across the country.

Pilipinas MDIO is a Rotary international-recognized organization which aims at strengthening the Rotaract movement in the country. It is run by the District Rotaract Representatives and chaired by an elected Past DRR from a member district. Its programs and services are administered by a team of volunteer past club and district Rotaract leaders across the country. One of the core purposes of the MDIO is to promote multi-district service projects such as this fundraising campaign for COVID-19 test kits.

Manila Marriott Associates on shifting responsibilities in time of Pandemic

TAY home, save lives. For weeks, this has been the battle cry all over the world to prevent the spread of the lethal Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

However, some sectors have difficulty in abiding by the order as it would cause adverse effects on crucial operations in the business.

The agricultural sector, for instance, took a hit with this pandemic.

According to the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) chair, Rosendo So​, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned of a possible food emergency because countries have closed their borders in response to the COVID-19 crisis​. To keep the economy afloat, the Philippine government has mounted several solutions like provision cash aids to farmers and devising ​ smart farming ​solutions.

Exempt Food Producers During Lockdown In Memorandum Circular No. 7 and 9 of 2020 issued by the D ​ epartment of Agriculture (DA), all farming and fishing activities

must continue. According to the circular, unhampered movement of all supplies used for agriculture, including food packaging and manufacturing materials must be sustained.

Several initiatives were also mounted to support food supply. One of such is Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat (ALPAS) Kontra COVID-19 which is also known as the “Plant, Plant, Plant Program.” As explained by Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar, this​ program aims to increase farm productivity and ensure food sufficiency during the COVID-19 crisis by providing farmers with working capital to continue operations where they can borrow non-collateralized loans at zero interest and are payable in 5 or 10 years.

Another initiative is Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita, a ​smart farming solution that connects producers like farmers and consumers.

Secretary Dar assures farmers that through this program, farmers get the best prices for their goods and provides consumers with readily available and affordable fresh produce amid the pandemic​.

CSC seeks to help unemployed Filipinos through online job fair

T

HE Civil Service Commission (CSC) has urged government agencies with vacancies to participate in an online job fair to help Filipinos rendered jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CSC will be conducting the 2020 Government Online Career Fair on 14 to 18 September 2020 in partnership with JobStreet.com. Interested agencies nationwide may register until 14 August 2020. The complete registration procedure may be accessed at http://www.csc.gov.ph/ slider/1972-2020gocf.html More information on how jobseekers can apply for a job through the GOCF will be made available closer to the date of the event.

Jointly organized by the CSC and JobStreet.com, the GOCF seeks to promote easy access to employment opportunities in the public sector by bringing jobseekers and hiring government agencies together in a

“virtual job fair”.

The 2020 GOCF is part of the activities lined up for the 120th Philippine Civil Service Anniversary (PCSA), an annual celebration to commemorate the establishment of the civil service in the country.

The CSC appealed to government agencies, saying that if more agencies will join the job fair, more vacancies can be offered to prospective applicants. So far, 10 agencies have already registered for the event.

The CSC is still currently in the process of gathering applications from government agencies interested to participate in the GOCF; thus, the number of vacancies to be offered is still unknown.

Contrary to circulating news reports, the reported figure at 600,000 refers to job order and contract of service workers currently employed by the government and not the number of vacancies.

'Rain or shine, foodpanda got you covered'

Marriott Hotel Manila: From front of the house as Greatroom’s team leader, Renzo is now working at the back of the house preparing meals for stay-in guests.

M

ARRIOTT has always believed in putting people first. At the time when most businesses are forced to freeze due to the pandemic and saving their workforce seems impossible, Manila Marriott finds light in keeping their skilled and most valued associates through role reassignment.

Even since, Marriott has been keen in training their employees from instilling corporate culture to developing their skills — and true enough, getting their associates well-equipped greatly helped in maintaining their talented workforce as they shuffle around various departments.

Eireen, a spa and fitness manager has always spent her day to day managing Quan Spa and the health club; welcoming guests and ensuring that their experience is relaxing and meets the hotel’s standards when it comes to relaxation. Currently, she’s has taken the role as loss prevention officer ensuring the safety and security of

her fellow associates.

From being Manila Life Café’s team leader who’s in charge of operations from coordination with the kitchen team to attending to customers’ need, Donna maximizes her expertise as Marriott Café Bakery’s team leader at the same time familiarizing herself with the products of the restaurant outlet she’s currently handling.

Rommel, a purchasing officer who’s used to sourcing and negotiating with potential vendors and suppliers, inspecting goods, and updating records is now maintaining cleanliness from the kitchen to other areas around the hotel as a stewarding officer.

Renzo, Greatroom’s team leader and part of the front of the house who was used to welcoming guests at the hotel lobby lounge is now reassigned to the back of the house as part of the in-room dining team preparing meals for stay-in guests.

From supervising various catered events and ensuring the entire set-up

and service is organized as banquet team leader, RJ is now part of the housekeeping department ensuring all rooms are cared of and thoroughly inspected according to standards.

Eireen, Donna, Rommel, Renzo, and RJ are only a few of the numerous hotel associates who displayed flexibility in the workplace. From manager to loss prevention officer, purchasing officer to stewarding officer, transitioning as a team leader of one restaurant or department to another, and banquet service to housekeeping, Manila Marriott’s multi-skilled associates are stepping up and openly embracing a different responsibility to the ever changing needs of the company.

To know more about Manila Marriott, visit the hotel’s website www.manilamarriott. com, and social media accounts in FB, IG, and Twitter @ManilaMarriott. Be updated and join their Viber Community at Make it Marriott.

T

HE unpredictable weather is insane, one day it’s sunny and the next day there’s a rainstorm. Weather the storm (pun intended) and allow the country’s on-demand delivery service foodpanda to become your daily partner in delivering your favorite food and daily essentials. Whether you’re missing your favorite comfort food or you need something from the grocery store quickly, there’s no need to head out because foodpanda got you covered.

From drizzle to downpour, hot or humid weather, errands outside the comforts of your home could become a hassle. Instead of worrying about a grocery run, stressing about the weather or dreading the long lines, simply log on and check out foodpanda shops.

Your pantry or fridge refill needs is just a click away. From bread, meats, seasonings, spices, to anything canned, the app presents a great way of shopping for your daily essentials: accessible and easy.

Hungry? Stay inside the comfort of your

home and let foodpanda deliver your favorite food in less than 30 minutes. From your favorite sinigang, to sisig and even some classic pork barbeque, foodpanda got your back.

Irresistible deals from 50% off to free delivery await this July!

Who says it’s only for those who juggle the demands of work and household chores? Trust that when all you want is to curl up on the couch, wrap yourself in a blanket, or spend the evening binge-watching the latest tv series, all you’ll ever need is to reach for your phone and open the app. Spicy Korean noodles? Freshly roasted chicken? Maybe pasta and pizza? foodpanda got you covered.

Enjoy up to 50% off and free delivery for selected restaurants and shops this July Skip the unnecessary stress to get all the things you need, want or fancy. Download the foodpanda app now and get your favorite food and your everyday essentials delivered straight to your doorstep.

Sports BusinessMirror

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

Eumir in PSA Forum

O

LYMPIC-bound and newly turned pro Eumir Felix Marcial and Manny Pacquiao (MP) Promotions President Sean Gibbons will be the special guests in another webcast edition of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday.

Marcial, the 24-year-old pride of Zamboanga and a silver medalist in last year’s International Boxing Association World Championships, is expected to talk about his preparation for the Tokyo Olympics and his new journey as a professional boxer after recently signing up with the MP Promotions of boxing legend and Sen. Manny Pacquiao.

Gibbons will join the 10 a.m. session straight from the US to talk about the promotion’s plans for Marcial The weekly forum is powered by Smart and presented by San Miguel Corp., Go For Gold, Amelie Hotel, Braska Restaurant and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

The public sports program will be shown live via the PSA Facebook page fb.com/ PhilippineSportswritersAssociation and shared on Radyo Pilipinas 2 facebook page.

Messi wins record seventh scoring title in Spanish league

V

ITORIA, Spain—Lionel Messi won a record seventh top scoring title in the Spanish league on Sunday after netting twice in Barcelona’s 5-0 rout of Alavés in the final round.

Messi ended with 25 goals, four more than Karim Benzema, who did not score in Real Madrid’s 2-2 draw at Leganés.

Messi is the first player to finish as the league’s top scorer in seven different seasons.

He reached the milestone despite missing games because of an injury early in the season.

The Argentine’s 25 goals came in 33 matches.

Messi was tied with Telmo Zarra with six scoring titles. He has also now equaled Hugo Sanchez’s feat of four straight top-scorer trophies.

“Individual achievements are always secondary,” Messi said. “I wished it could have come along with the league title.”

This is also the third successive season that Messi finished with the most assists—21—in the league.

Ansu Fati, Luis Suárez and Nelson Semedo also scored Sunday for Barcelona, which had already secured second place behind Madrid.

Fati opened the scoring in the 24th minute, Messi added to the lead 10 minutes later and Suárez closed the first-half scoring in the 44th.

Semedo got on the board in the 57th and Messi in the 75th to help Barcelona rebound from a 2-1 home loss to Osasuna.

“Today things were different,” Messi said. “The team showed better attitude and commitment. It was an important step forward for us ahead of what’s left in the season.”

Barcelona now turns its focus to its Aug. 8 home game against Napoli in the round of 16 of the Champions League. The first leg, played before the break, ended 1-1.

Barcelona coach Quique Setién finished under pressure after the team relinquished a two-point lead over Madrid when the league resumed following the pandemic break. It was four points back before Madrid’s match at Leganés.

Barcelona defender Clément Lenglet had to be substituted early in the second half because of an apparent muscle injury.

Alavés, sitting in 15th, had already done enough to stay up. AP

LIONEL MESSI is the first player to finish as the league’s top scorer in seven different seasons. AP

T

HE Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) Executive Committee on Monday deferred acting on proposed major amendments in the POC charter after several of its members claimed they didn’t have enough time to scrutinize the organization’s Commission on Constitutional Amendments.

POC President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino heeded the call by eight members of the 12-member committee, who said they received a copy of the proposed amendments only last Saturday.

Foremost in the proposed amendments is the setting of an age limit of 70 for sensitive POC positions, as well as the prohibition of members to become president, vice president or secretary-general of more than one national sports association.

The Executive Committee agreed to again convene online to deliberate on the proposals at 9 a.m. on Friday.

Gymnastics President Cynthia Carrion, a Tolentino ally, proposed to reschedule the discussion on the planned amendments after fellow board member Atty. Clint Aranas of archery said he needed time to study the proposed amendments.

Carrion doesn’t agree with the 70-yearold age cap being pushed by Tolentino’s camp. She is 72.

Aranas also said he was surprised why he wasn’t included in the discussions of the Commission on Constitutional Amendments

Tuesday, July 21, 2020 B7

P.O.C. DEFERS ACTION

ON CRUCIAL ISSUES headed by boxing president.

“I was clearly made to understand in a previous board meeting that I was a member of this committee, only to learn I was no longer there when the minutes came out. This is why Cynthia [Carrion] understood where I was coming from,” Aranas said. “My name was apparently deleted in the minutes of that board meeting.”

Besides Ricky Vargas, the committee is also composed of POC Secretary-General Atty.

Edwin Gastanes, baseball’s Chito Loyzaga, cycling Secretary-General Atty. Billy Sumagui and obstacle course racing head and POC legal counsel Atty. Al Agra, who presented the proposed changes to the board.

POC Chairman Steve Hontiveros, First Vice President Joey Romasanta, treasurer Julian Camacho, auditor Jonne Go and board member Robert Mananquil of billiards and snooker joined the online meeting.

Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

representative to the Philippines, was also present. It was her first public appearance since being elected a member of the IOC Executive Board last Friday during the 136th session of the IOC Congress, the first to be held online by the world Olympic body’s assembly.

It marked the first time in quite a while that all members of the Executive Board were present.

CojuangcoCojuangco-Jaworski, who won the country’s lone gold medal in the 2002 Busan Asian Games, signed a 16page resolution submitted by Hontiveros, Romasanta, Go, Camacho, Aranas, Mananquil and POC Second Vice President Col. Jeff Tamayo, containing their response to the proposed amendments.

Tolentino’s camp invoked a new IOC policy on an age cap of 70 in proposing the amendment, but BusinessMirror learned that Cojuangco-Jaworski is opposed to the recommendation saying it only applies to the IOC and not to the POC.

Romasanta also aired his opposition to the age cap rule.

“Being an IOC member and being [with] an NOC [National Olympic Committee] that is affiliated with the IOC are two different and distinct things,” Romasanta, who is 75, said.

“This distinction has to be made.”

Tolentino, meanwhile also was presented a report on the the Southeast Asian Games Federation Council meeting held last July 9, saying he lobbied for the inclusion of arnis, eSports, obstacle course race, skateboarding and triathlon/duathlon in the program of the Vietnam 31st Southeast Asian Games which are set late next year.

The cycling chief and Tagaytay City representative also commended the success of the POC’s Olympic Day celebration and the “Free Bike” program for athletes.

The POC also confirmed on Monday polo as an associate member and pole and aeriel as a recognized member of the body.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Tuason Racing shapes ‘new norm’ in PHL motorsports

TUASON Racing eyes to lead the way in providing a professional league for players to enhance their skills on the track and on online platforms.

T

UASON Racing blended into the “new norm” in Philippine motorsports by going digital amid the quarantine protocols wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

And Tuason Racing has been online since Metro Manila went to enhanced community quarantine last March.

“We knew we wanted to be in the digital space as early as 2019. So we pushed forward all our digital events such as the young driver program online with a skew to help our frontliners,”

JP Tuason, founder and CEO of Tuason Racing.

“What was very interesting was this pivot to online racing was done while in lockdown without even one physical meeting with our team,” Tuason, added.

Sports, including motor racing, remain restricted under the quarantine with athletes and enthusiasts shifting to virtual racing and eSports to keep their excitement as they wait for the reopening of the racetracks and their sport leagues.

Sim or virtual racing may not be new in the eSports industry, but it has shaped the way gamers and enthusiasts see the game in the new normal.

The Philippines’s pioneering professional racing school, Tuason Racing School (TRS), took this opportunity to launch motorsports in the virtual world.

“There has been a continuous surge for online games during the lockdown. More and more people are doing games since there are limited live activities to do. In the US all gaming stocks are on a high showing that this is really the future,” Tuason said.

Since Sim racing is still at its infancy stage in the Philippines, according to Tuason, and the racing school will lead the way in providing a professional league for players to enhance their skills on the track and on online platforms.

Besides the recent Race for Frontliners, Tuason Racing launched new programs on its social-media platforms.

“We have decided that the whole 2020 will be work-fromhome. We have moved to the digital arena by creating online race series,” Tuason said.

“Toyota launched its eSports program, the GR Supra GT Cup which we are helping organize and in August we are launching another online league on a PC platform along with a complimentary spectators program where they can make their own teams and win prizes,” he said.

“Aside from this we are creating weekly content for race enthusiasts called Riding shotgun conversations with TRS,” he added.

Tuason Racing will also pioneer its new normal racing events later in 2020 featuring contactless racing on- and off-track.

Tuason said he remains positive that the automotive industry will soon recover and learn new things that they could apply in the future.

“It will recover as mentioned. Companies are evolving. It won’t be called car companies but mobility companies,” he said. “There will be some casualties but life goes on and those that will survive will thrive but probably not the same way we have seen in the past.”

It’s not quite baseball like you’re used to seeing

A

SEVENTH-INNING stretch without fans at Yankee Stadium was far from the oddest happening on the second day of summer exhibitions in the majors.

The first inning ended at Dodger Stadium without Los Angeles making a single out Sunday night, a game went to the 10th inning in Philadelphia even with the Orioles leading the Phillies 4-1, and the Yankees hit in the bottom of the ninth with a 6-0 lead over the Mets.

It’s not

S

UE BIRD has seen a lot in her storied playing career in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), overseas and the Olympics. While nothing the 39-year-old Seattle Storm guard experienced has prepared her for life in the WNBA bubble, she is making the best of the situation.

The WNBA put all 12 of its teams at a single site—the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida—in hopes of playing the full 22-game season amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“The bubble is part summer camp, mixed in with the Olympic village, playing overseas and an AAU tournament with a little bit of college life thrown in,” Bird said in a phone interview.

Two weeks into the experiment, players and coaches have been adjusting to their temporary homes.

“It’s like overseas, but a little bit easier as far as access to things as you can order in

quite baseball like you’re used to seeing. Then again, we’d never seen baseball amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The most peculiar situation occurred during the first exhibition between Arizona and the Dodgers, with the game having an intrasquad feel.

Diamondbacks starter Taylor Widener got off to rough opening when he walked the first two batters and then gave up a single to Justin Turner that loaded the bases. Cody Bellinger followed with a grand slam to make it 4-0.

Corey Seager then walked and was heading to first base when he learned the inning was over. Widener had thrown 25 pitches in the first, but he stayed in the game and allowed six runs in four innings overall.

That wasn’t the only oddity among the four exhibitions played during the day.

In Philadelphia, the Orioles appeared to have wrapped up a victory over the Phillies when the teams headed out for the 10th to give Trevor Kelley a chance to throw an inning as he tunes up for the regular season.

Kelley ended up giving up a homer to Ryan Mountcastle before the game ended after 9 ½ innings.

In New York, the Yankees had put together a win over the Mets behind two homers from Aaron Judge, and one each from Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez and Luke Voit.

But the Mets still went out to the field for the meaningless bottom of the ninth inning.

Seth Lugo pitched a second inning and retired the Yankees in order.

Earlier in the game, the teams took the traditional break in the seventh inning for fans to stretch to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” even though none were there. They also played “God Bless America” over the loudspeaker.

The Mets took three buses for the short ride from Queens in order to socially distance.

Things were mostly normal in Chicago, where the White Sox beat the Cubs 7-3 at Wrigley Field.

The defending World Series champion Washington Nationals, meanwhile, were happy to have starting center Victor Robles back in camp.

Robles had his first official workout with the team on Sunday after being quarantined for two weeks because he came into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. AP

WNBA players adjusting to life in Florida bubble and it’s less isolating since you have so many of your friends around,” Bird’s teammate Breanna Stewart said. “In the end, getting here and seeing how everything has come to fruition, I know it’s going to work, as long as everyone’s smart and continues to be safe. We’re trusting everyone that’s here is going to be safe.”

Stewart is living in a villa with some of her Storm teammates while Bird is staying at the hotel on site. Players were given the option of where they wanted to live.

The street where the villas are located—a few minutes from the hotel—has the feel of a sorority row.

Each team was given two golf carts and they are usually parked in front of the villas where the players or operations staff are staying. Atlanta glossed up its carts with the team’s new logo on the front.

“You say hello to people and could bump into someone a few times a day from another squad,” New York guard Sabrina Ionescu said. “It feels like

the Nike Nationals AAU Tournament. You could be eating next to a team or hanging out at the pool with players that you’re going to be playing against later that day.”

While a few players voiced their concerns the first few days about the quality of food and accommodations, the league quickly addressed those issues.

With their quarantines concluded, players and staff now have a robust array of food options offered daily at the hotel. Or players can get groceries delivered and cook for themselves in the villas. The hotel is also where the league does its daily virus testing.

“Food has been great. Service has been great. People have had issues with their housing. but there is no protocol for this, and the league took care of it,” Phoenix Mercury veteran Diana Taurasi said. “This is the first time anyone has done this. The WNBA has gone far and beyond what I thought would happen.” AP

SPORTS WITHOUT BORDERS Vincent Juico | @VJuico Instagram vpjp_j vince.juico@gmail.com

PSL good news REPORTS over the weekend say two teams will join the Philippine Super Liga (PSL) when the league returns in October.

But the reports didn’t identify the new teams with PSL Chairman Dr. Philip Juico also refusing to divulge their identities. If the reports are true, then that brings the number of teams in the PSL to 10.

Who are these two teams? Where are they from? Which industry?

“One already has an existing team while the second is tied with a major conglomerate,” Dr. Juico hints.

“We will revive discussions because now is a good time to do it amid the [Covid-19] outbreak,” adds the former chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC). “We are really leaning towards the addition of these organizations.”

Juico furthers, “They see it as a great boost not only for the league, but for the game in general. It will make the league more competitive while providing livelihood to volleyball players.”

The addition of the two new teams will increase parity in the PSL. They will bring added value to the league and also to the PSL as an organization.

I also learned that the PSC’s return could be sooner than expected, according to league president, Dr. Ian Laurel. He stressed that they have crafted their health and safety protocols and submitted the papers to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Laurel, a medical doctor by profession, said they have created a medical oversight committee headed by Dr. Raul Alcantara to make sure that the practices of the teams would be done in a safe and healthy manner.

Alcantara, the league’s resident doctor, used to work for the Philippine Center for Sports Medicine. But his most valuable experience was a stint with the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine during the height of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2003.

Laurel said that with a familiar face in Alcantara, the players, coaches, team staff and even fans would definitely follow the basic health and safety protocols that would pave the way for their return to practice in the coming days and, probably, resumption of the season in October.

So, there you have it, folks, PSL will be back in October with the All-Filipino tournament. With the addition of two teams, expect the already competitive play at the PSL to be even more competitive.

“We are trying our best to talk to authorities about resuming the league, but, of course, the practices should resume before we start,” Dr. Laurel says.

“We are busy forming a medical oversight committee that would be incharge of making sure that all safety and health protocols would be strictly followed.

We are also talking to the IATF, the PSC, the GAB [Games and Amusement Board] and the DOH [Department of Health] about the possibility of restarting our training and, eventually, our games.”

The PSL’s thought process and decisionmaking on the resumption of its season has always been and will always be guided by medicine, science and the decision of government regulators and rules.

EACH team is given two golf carts that are usually parked in front of the villas where the players or operations staff are staying. AP

Sports

NICKLAUS, WIFE Covid-19 SURVIVORS

JON RAHM goes up-and-down on the final four greens, which makes the victory feel even sweeter. AP

BusinessMirror

B8

| Tuesday, July 21, 2020 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

D

UBLIN, Ohio— Jack Nicklaus revealed Sunday during the CBS telecast of the Memorial that he and his wife tested positive for the coronavirus at the onset of the pandemic.

Nicklaus and his wife, Barbara, turned 80 a month apart at the start of the year.

He said his wife had no Covid-19 symptoms, while Nicklaus had a sore throat and a cough. Nicklaus said they were home in North Palm Beach, Florida, from March 13 “until we were done with it” on about April 20.

“It didn’t last very long, and we were very, very fortunate, very lucky,” Nicklaus said. “Barbara and I are both of the age, both of us 80 years old, that is an at-risk age. Our hearts go out to the people who did lose their lives and their families.

We were just a couple of the lucky ones.”

The Memorial has no spectators, and Nicklaus sightings have been rare this week because of protocols in the Professonal Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour’s return to golf amid the pandemic.

Nicklaus shared the news when the Memorial was coming out of a weather delay in the final round. The few times he has been seen, he was wearing a mask and keeping his distance.

Tiger Woods, a five-time winner of the Memorial, said he had known for some time Nicklaus had tested positive.

“The fact that they got through it and they’re safe and here and healthy, it’s all good news for all of us who are a part of golf and who looked up to Jack and [have] been around Barbara all these years,” Woods said.

Nicklaus had a remote press conference on Tuesday and said he would shake the hand of whoever wins the Memorial, a tradition at the tournament he created.

“If they don’t want to shake my hand, that’s fine, I’ll give them a fist bump or an elbow bump, but I’m not going to give them Covid-19, so that’s...I wouldn’t put anybody in that position,” he said Tuesday.

He said again on CBS that he’ll shake hands if the winner wants to, but he would be fine if the winner doesn’t. After a brief moment of indecision with Jon Rahm, it was a fist bump.

“I’ve been dreaming of that handshake many times,” Rahm said. “Well, it was a fist bump because of the situation, but still, how many people can say they got a congratulatory fist bump from Jack Nicklaus?”

Nicklaus said by having the antibodies, “theoretically we can’t get it and can’t give it. That’s a nice position to be in.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a June 30 update, said it does not know if people who recover from Covid-19 can get infected again. It also said even with a positive test for antibodies, “you still should take preventive measures to protect yourself and others.” AP

SPANIARD RAHM WORLD NO. 1!

By Doug Ferguson

D

The Associated Press

UBLIN, Ohio—The drama was more than Jon Rahm wanted.

The result was what he always imagined.

Rahm became the No. 1 player in the world Sunday with a victory in the Memorial in which he watched an eightshot lead at the turn shrink to three shots with three holes to play, and then hit what he called the greatest shot of his life that turned into a bogey because of a penalty.

All that mattered was that fist-bump— not a handshake—with Jack Nicklaus, and taking his place along his idol Seve Ballesteros as the only Spaniards to reach No. 1 in the world.

With a two-shot penalty for his ball moving the length of a dimple on his chip-in behind the 16th green, Rahm closed with three-over 75 for a three-shot victory over Ryan Palmer.

Rahm got up-and-down on the final four greens, which made it feel even sweeter.

“One of the best performances of my life,” Rahm said. “Yesterday was probably one of the best rounds of my life, and finished today with some clutch up-anddowns. As a Spaniard, I’m kind of glad it happened that way.”

The fiery emotion is his hallmark. He showed it with a tee shot that sailed left into a creek on the 11th hole, Rahm slamming his club into the ground in a pique of anger. And it was evident with that ferocious fist-pump when his flop shot from deep rough behind the 16th green rolled into the cup.

Birdie or bogey, it was a winner, a shot that would have made Ballesteros proud.

“I still can’t believe it, I’m not going to lie,” he told Nicklaus off the 18th green.

With the penalty—Rahm had no idea it was an issue after his round, but accepted the penalty when he saw a video that zoomed in close on the ball—he finished at nine-under 279 for his 10th career victory, fourth on the Professional Golfers’

Association (PGA) Tour.

Muirfield Village played its toughest in 42 years, with only five players under par, the fewest for the final round since this tournament began in 1976. Rahm’s 75 was the highest finish by a winner since Roger Maltbie shot 76 the inaugural year.

The rough wasn’t cut all week. The greens were allowed to go to the edge because they are being replaced. Crews already had stripped the entire fifth green as the leaders were on the back nine.

Rahm looked to be playing a different course. He played bogey-free on the front nine with birdies on the two par 5s. That put him eight shots clear on his way to No. 1.

And then he made bogey on the 10th.

Not a problem.

He yanked his tee shot into a creek on the par-five 11th, and that was a bigger problem based on how hard he slammed the club into the ground in a pique of anger. He made double bogey. Palmer made birdie on the 12th, and then Rahm made another bogey from the bunker on the 14th.

Just like that, the lead was three shots.

Only a week ago at Muirfield Village for the Workday Charity Open, Justin Thomas had a three-shot lead with three holes to play and wound up losing in a playoff to Collin Morikawa.

Rahm was worried his tee shot might find the back bunker, though the rough was not a great option with how fast the greens were running. Rahm was thinking anything inside 10 feet would be good. This was perfect, the ball landing on the fringe and sliding down the slope into the cup.

As for the penalty?

“It doesn’t change the outcome of the tournament,” he said. “It just puts a little bit of an asterisk in it in the sense of I wish I could just keep that birdie because it was one of the greatest shots of my life, right?”

The chip was similar—but from a different angle—to Tiger Woods chipping in from behind the 16th green when he

won the Memorial for the fifth time in 2012.

Woods, in his first competition since February 16 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, shot 76 and tied for 40th.

“Tough, tough conditions to start out my first week back, Thursday and Sunday,” Woods said. “But it was good to get the feel and the flow of competing again.”

Matthew Fitzpatrick had a 68 for the low score of the final day to finish third.

The consolation prize went to Palmer (74) and Mackenzie Hughes (72), who earned spots in the US Open at Winged Foot in September as the leading two players from the top 10 who were not already eligible.

Henrik Norlander could have taken the final spot with a par on the 18th, but he missed the fairway well to the right, couldn’t reach the green and made bogey. Norlander and Hughes tied at 3-under 285, but the spot went to Hughes because he had the better world ranking.

That ranking now starts with Rahm, who only four years ago was at the Memorial to receive the Jack Nicklaus Award as the nation’s best college player.

Now he’s the best in the world, a ranking that McIlroy had since February 9.

“He deserves it,” McIlroy said after his tie for 32nd. “He’s been playing great for a long time. Even the display this week, it’s pretty impressive.”

Hamilton wins 8th Hungarian GP to equal Schumi’s record...

B

UDAPEST, Hungary—Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix for the eighth time to equal Michael Schumacher’s single-venue record and take the championship lead on Sunday.

Hamilton’s latest victory from pole position was as comfortable as the nearly 9-second margin over second-place Max Verstappen suggested. The British driver’s 86th GP win moved him just five behind the German great Schumacher’s F1 record of 91.

“It would have been so far-fetched to believe that could possibly come true. I remember watching Michael on TV win all his races,” Hamilton said. “Now I’m getting closer to the

amount of wins he has, it just reminds me of the dominance and excellence he showed for so long. I can understand the position he was in and I can understand the pressures he had. It’s pretty remarkable.”

Schumacher won the French GP eight times when it was held at Magny-Cours. Hamilton first won here in 2007 and his first success with Mercedes also came at the Hungaroring track in 2013, the year after replacing Schumacher on the Silver Arrows team.

Verstappen drove superbly to hold off Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, who finished less than one second behind him in third to relinquish the championship lead after three races.

LEWIS HAMILTON takes the knee at the the Hungarian Grand Prix. AP

Hamilton took a record-extending 90th career pole on Saturday to match Schumacher’s record for seven poles on the 4.4-kilometer (2.7mile) track nestled among rolling hills outside of Budapest.

He made a clean start but Bottas made a poor one from second and was overtaken

by Lance Stroll starting third; the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc; and Verstappen from seventh.

Red Bull only just managed to get

Verstappen’s car on the grid. About 20 minutes earlier, he damaged the front wing when going over a kerb and sliding into the barriers on a warmup lap.

Team principal Christian Horner looked on anxiously as mechanics replaced it and repaired the suspension, working frantically to get his car ready with the clock ticking down.

“The mechanics did an amazing job. I don’t know how they did it but they were incredible...

Just on time,” a jubilant Verstappen said. “To be able to split the two Mercedes cars was great for us. I thought I was not going to race so to be second was like a victory today.”

In a demoralizing sign of the times for Ferrari, both cars were lapped by Hamilton.

Stroll placed fourth ahead of Red Bull’s Alexander Albon, with Vettel sixth and Leclerc out of the points in 11th.

Hamilton and most drivers again took the knee against racism before the start.

Shortly after the start, drivers changed onto the slick tires for damp conditions, causing a flurry of activity.

But Hamilton had already streaked eight seconds ahead of Verstappen by lap 6 of 70.

It took Bottas 11 more laps to pass the Ferraris and Haas drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen to move into fourth behind Stroll.

Haas surprisingly found itself up the leaderboard because the team astutely changed tires before the others. Pierre Gasly’s race ended at this point, when his AlphaTauri limped into the pits.

Halfway through, Hamilton was 20 seconds clear of Verstappen. Bottas moved ahead of Stroll’s Racing Point and within six seconds of Verstappen, after all moved onto quicker medium tires. AP

JACK NICKLAUS (right) and his wife, Barbara, watch the final round of the Memorial on Sunday in Dublin, Ohio. AP

...then calls on F1, drivers in fight against racism

B

UDAPEST, Hungary—Lewis Hamilton demanded more support from Formula One’s governing body and urged other drivers to make more of an effort in the fight against racism, after some drivers took a knee and others again did not in disorganized scenes before Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

As in the previous two races this season, all drivers were supposed to gather before the national anthem to stand while wearing “End Racism” t-shirts. Hamilton and others, such as his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, took a knee while others appeared to be hurriedly arriving late and not even in position.

It meant that before the drivers were all gathered together as one, the anthem had started and Hamilton and those kneeling had to quickly stand up out of respect for the host country.

“There definitely is not enough support for it.

From a driver’s point of view, well many people seem to be of the opinion they’ve done [taken a knee] once and [are] not going to do it again.

I don’t know their reasons for that opinion,” Hamilton said after winning the race. “All I could say is we’re not doing nearly enough. I think ultimately it’s still individuals thinking it’s not important.”

Hamilton is a six-time world champion and the only black driver in F1.

“I don’t think it’s being taken serious,” the British driver said. “I think there are perhaps people who have not grown up around [the issue

of racism] and don’t understand it.”

But ultimately Hamilton says it’s down to F1’s governing body, the FIA, and F1 to show more assertive leadership in the way soccer leagues in England and Germany have done—as well as the England and West Indies cricket teams— with all players united in taking a knee against racism before games.

“It’s not good enough, in terms of what you see in other sports. It’s almost like it’s gone off the agenda,” Hamilton said. “It’s lacking leadership and ultimately there needs to be leadership from the top. Currently there is none of that.”

Hamilton pledged to personally contact FIA President Jean Todt this week to seek an improvement in the way the anti-racism message is being coordinated at the very top.

Todt was present at Sunday’s race.

“I will get in touch with Formula One this week, I will speak to Jean because no one else is going to do it,” Hamilton said. “I think we need a leader. Where is Jean in that scenario?”

Hamilton, who has previously called out other teams for not doing enough to send a strong message out against racism, does not think it should be only left to him to keep pushing others.

“It shouldn’t be for me to have to call the teams [and] say ‘Hey, what are you doing? What’s your plan?’” Hamilton said. “That should be announced or discussed from the top down, that should be coming from the higher powers that control [the sport] and pull the strings.” AP