BusinessMirror June 22, 2020

OFW traffic: Few flying out, many returning

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

& Recto Mercene

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SO-CALLED modernized Hybrid Jeepneys are lined up at Jose W. Diokno Boulevard beside the Senate Building in Pasay City, a day before they are fielded to the streets in a cautious reopening, even while the traditional jeepneys remain barred from plying their routes. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) issues special permits to allow a limited number of PUVs to operate in areas under general community quarantine. ROY DOMINGO

@rectomercene

VERALL deployment of newly hired overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) was cut by more than half this year because of the Covid-19 crisis.

Initial deployment data of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) showed the number of new hires deployed from January to May was only 70,990.

This was about 60 percent lower compared to the 174,348 figures in 2019.

“This is only for new hires. This does not include rehires and seafarers, which are the main groups composing the bulk of our deployment,” POEA administrator Bernard P. Olalia told BusinessMirror in an SMS.

The drastic drop in deployment comes amid a steady stream of repatriations of OFWs from all over the world, as host countries and businesses either shuttered or scaled down operations amid the pandemic, causing temporary or permanent job losses for foreign workers.

As of Saturday (June 20), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it has repatriated close to 50,000 overseas Filipinos since February this year, the start of the bring-back-home overseas Filipinos (OF) program impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Of this number, the DFA said 58.2 percent (28,816 OFs) are sea-based and 41.8 percent (20,704 OFs) are land-based.

Some 25,000 of these repatriated workers have been sent home to their respective provinces after being cooped up in government-designated quaran-

tine areas, such as hotels and other establishments.

Deployment restrictions

IN March, President Duterte placed the entire country under a state of national emergency and Luzon under enhanced community quarantine. This stranded both would-be OFWs who had gone to the NCR for processing of their deployment papers, and those flying back to jobs but forced to stay put because of lockdowns both in the Philippines and their host countries’ airports.

This, coupled with the travel restrictions implemented by other Covid-affected countries, significantly dented overall deployment figures especially in the last two months.

Only around 100 newly hired OFWs were deployed in April and May. Continued on A4

NG APRIL BORROWINGS RISE 7-FOLD TO P262.7B

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n Monday, June 22, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 256

P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 16 pages |

PINOYS’ LOCAL TRIPS SPENDING SPELLS 22% OF HOUSEHOLD BILLS

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

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DINING inside restaurants is now allowed in certain malls, including this one in Taguig City, with strict enforcement of safety protocols for customers and the restaurant.

Here, a restaurant worker with face shield, mask and gloves serves customers on Father's Day. Only 30 percent of its total seating capacity was allowed. NONIE REYES

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

ROSS borrowings of the national government in April grew nearly sevenfold to P262.747 billion as the state borrowed more from both domestic and foreign sources to finance the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This was up by 592.84 percent from only P37.923 billion in the same month last year, latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

Gross domestic borrowings for the month grew almost fivefold to P172.1 billion from just P34.493 billion a year ago.

Broken down, the state borrowed P84.070 billion from the local debt market through issuing fixed rate treasury bonds and P88.030 billion via Treasury bills.

On the other hand, gross foreign borrowings in April increased 26fold to P90.647 billion from P3.430 billion in April last year.

Program loans worth P90.068 billion comprised 99.36 percent of the gross external borrowings for the month. Meanwhile, project loans amounted to P579 million.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told reporters that the program loans include two from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) See “NG,” A2

‘Better Covid-19 response hinges on good stats’

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

M

ORE focused assistance to those who truly need it, and faster economic recovery can be facilitated if countries invest more in building up their statistics infrastructure and systems.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap) pointed

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n

this out as it exhorted countries to increase their statistics investment, especially in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement, Unescap said many countries in the region continue to struggle in “getting the basics such as population and economic statistics right.”

Unescap said investments on official statistics will help empower users and support post-pandemic socioeconomic recovery in the Asia-

Pacific region.

“Asia and the Pacific is poised to build back better after Covid-19 [coronavirus 2019] with stronger, more empowered national statistical offices supporting inclusive societies. They are innovating and embracing digital transfor mations,” UN Undesecretar y- Genera l and Executive Secretar y of Unescap Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana said.

Unescap said participants who attended the Asia-Pacific Statistics Week also highlighted the need for greater data integration to support sustainable development issues.

The forum focused on progress made towards the Asia-Pacific Collective Vision and Framework for Action for advancing official statistics for the 2030 Agenda under five action areas.

HE tourism sector’s contribution to the economy, as expressed in the gross domestic product (GDP), expanded to 12.7 percent in 2019, from 12.3 percent in 2018, latest government data show.

The tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) amounted to P2.48 trillion in 2019, up from P2.24 trillion in 2018, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The TDGVA refers to that part of gross value added generated by tourism industries and other industries of the economy that directly serve visitors in response to internal tourism consumption, the sum of spending by foreign and domestic tourists.

In terms of employment, the tourism sector employed 5.7 million individuals, up 6.5 percent from 2018.

This accounted for a 13.5-percent share in total employment in the country, from 13 percent in 2018.

In a Viber message to the BusinessMirror, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat underscored the remarkable rise in contribution of the tourism sector to the economy as a reason her agency continues to press for increased financial assistance to its stakeholders.

“As we safely and gradually reopen the country to tourism, we hope to strongly regain its share in growing the economy. But our stakeholders cannot do the job alone, without the stimulus funds that can save their jobs. We hope our lawmakers can listen to the pleas of our 5.7 million tourism workers who need their help.”

The tourism sector is one of worst hit by Covid-19, with tourism arrivals falling by 62.21 percent to 1.3 million from January to May this year.

Inbound tourism receipts similarly plunged by 60.6 percent to P81.05 billion.

The House of Representatives on June 4 approved House Bill No. 6815, or the Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy of the Philippines (ARISE Philippines), under which the tourism sector will be allocated P58 billion in financial aid in the form of working capital

loans extended through government banks.

The PSA data reflects revisions made in the Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts with the adjustment in base year to 2018 as the base year, instead of 2000.

Romulo Puyat has been working with local government units with zero or very few Covid-19 cases to help them open up to domestic tourists first, then to international tourists from countries with zero infections as well.

Citing the latest PSA data, she pointed out that while inbound tourism expenditure, or the amount spent by foreign tourists in the country, grew by 23.2 percent to P548.76 billion in 2019, domestic tourism expenditure rose by 10.4 percent to P3.14 trillion in 2019. Stressed the DOT chief,“P3.14 trillion spent by domestic tourists is nothing to sniff at!”

22% of household spending

ACCORDING to the PSA, the Filipinos’ spending on domestic trips and vacations now account for 22 percent of their household’s total expenditure, compared to 21.5 percent in 2018, and just 9.2 percent in 2010.

Prior to the lockdown on March 16, the Department of Tourism, along with tourism stakeholders, had been working on a domestic tourism campaign to cushion the impact of Covid-19 on the economy. “We were implementing a program just before [the community quarantine], wherein we managed to get very good rates from our provincial and regional suppliers [of airfare, hotels and tours]. That was really meant for the domestic market. So we feel that this is now a good time to revisit and to do that again once the restrictions are lifted,” said Tourism Congress of the Philippines President Jose C. Clemente III in a recent webinar.

A recent domestic sentiment survey by Chroma Hospitality and the Filinvest Hospitality Group showed Filipinos were comfortable to travel within six to 12 months, with Millennials and those from Generation X leading the pack. Among their top leisure destination choices were Boracay, Palawan, Cebu. (See, “Millennials, Gen-X’ers ready to travel soon,” in the BusinessMirror, June 15, 2020.)

See “Covid 19,” A2

US 50.0380 n JAPAN 0.4681 n UK 62.1972 n HK 6.4562 n CHINA 7.0593 n SINGAPORE 35.8953 n AUSTRALIA 34.2660 n EU 56.0826 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.3406

Source: BSP (19 June 2020)

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, June 22, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

WEF global poll: Filipinos spent most time on social media in ’19

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

ILIPINOS spent the most time on social-media networks in 2019, according to the latest Global Web Index (GWI) released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The data showed Filipinos spent as much as four hours and one minute on average on social-media networks daily. The global Internet users, however, only spent half the time on social-media sites at two hours and 23 minutes.

More affluent countries such as the Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States spend less than two hours on social media daily.

“Emerging markets continue to spend the most time on social networks during a typical day. This could be driven by these markets generally having younger populations, with the 16 to 24-year-old segment driving growth globally.

The Philippines spent the most time connected to social networks,

devoting just over four hours a day to the digital sphere,” WEF said.

This despite a relatively low Internet penetration rate in the country. Internet penetration in the country is estimated at 64 percent in 2019.

Nigeria, which was second to the Philippines in terms of time spent on social media, had the lowest Internet penetration rate at 36 percent.

However, the Philippines still had higher Internet penetration rates than its Asean-5 peers such as Indonesia at 39 percent, Vietnam at 55 percent, and Thailand at 58 percent.

Only Singapore and Malaysia had higher Inter net penetration rates than the Philippines

at 85 percent and 83 percent, respectively.

“Where a market has a medium to low Internet penetration, its online population can be very different to its total population; broadly speaking, the lower the country’s overall Internet penetration rate, the more likely it is that its Internet users will be young, urban, affluent and educated. This is the case throughout much of LatAm [Latin America], MEA [Middle East and Africa] and Asia Pacific,” WEF said.

In Asia and the Pacific, where the Philippine belongs, the average number of social-media accounts of Internet users was the highest anywhere in the world at 9.5 accounts.

This is above the global average of almost 8 accounts. The GWI data showed this was a 29.03-percent increase from 6.2 accounts posted in 2015.

The increase in the number of social-media accounts is driven

by Baby Boomers who, between 2015 and 2019, saw a 76.6-percent increase in their social-media accounts from only 3 accounts in 2015 to 5.3 accounts in 2019.

Data showed this was followed

by Gen Z which saw their accounts

increase 59.32 percent to 9.4 accounts in 2019 from 5.9 in 2015.

Social-media accounts owned

by Millennials also increased by 57.14 percent to 9.9 accounts in 2019 from 6.3 accounts in 2015 and Gen X at 55.1 percent to 7.6 accounts from 4.9 accounts.

“There are many factors that are influencing these findings, including the growth in Internet usage among older consumers who have arrived late to the social-media party, and the stagnation of user growth on certain key platforms,” the report stated.

“However, the most important trend to understand regarding this peak in multi-networking is the rise of younger, mobile-only Internet users who focus their social engagement on a select group of platforms,” it added.

WEF said in around half of the markets that Global Web Index surveyed, social-media use had shrunk or plateaued in the first quarter of 2019 when compared with 2018 figures.

This was particularly evident in some of the more developed markets which may be driven by aging populations in these countries.

During a typical day Japanese peo-

ple spend less than an hour staying connected digitally.

Germany posts only slightly higher numbers, with users going on social media for just over an hour every day, while the UK and the US both spent closer to two hours per day engaging with social media.

All figures in this report are drawn from Global Web Index’s online research among Internet users aged 16 to 64. The study only interviewed respondents aged 1664 and are representative of the online populations of each market, not its total population.

Each year, GWI interviews over 688,000 Internet users aged 16-64 across 46 markets. In 2019, the GWI results are based on its second quarter and third quarter waves of research across 46 countries, with a global sample of 284,929 respondents.

The most number of respondents were in the United States at 49,850 respondents followed by China at 30,535 respondents. In the Philippines, around 3,245 were interviewed for the survey.

Respondents complete an online questionnaire that asks them a wide range of questions about their lives, lifestyles and digital behaviors.

Govt told to sue regulators GORDON PITCHES SUBIC AIRPORT OPENING who impede connectivity TO RECEIVE OFW FLIGHTS IN PANDEMIC

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ENATOR Grace Poe, airing public frustrations, prodded the Duterte administration to file charges against government regulators delaying telco connectivity, an indispensable ingredient for keeping life and work normal in the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Remiss government officials must be brought to account for any further delay in setting up crucial infrastructure across the country to digitally connect the citizenry amid the pandemic,” the senator suggested on Sunday.

Poe pointed out that the Ease of Doing Business Act, as well as Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Circular 8, mandated concerned government units “to process and approve permits and clearances for the construction of infrastructures including cell sites within a maximum period of seven working days.”

“To deny our people their basic right to connectivity at this crucial period is sheer neglect and dereliction of duty,” said Poe in a statement over the weekend.

Wearing her hat as chairman of the Senate committee on public services, Poe said she expected bureaucratic challenges slowing the construction of cell sites to be promptly addressed.

Bureaucratic red tape must be effectively reduced by concerned authorities, she

Covid 19…

added, stressing that securing “a multitude of permits” such as right of way, structural, zoning, location clearance, electrical, sanitation, mechanical and occupancy compliance, approvals from the Department of Health, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples “usually take a year.”

She asserted that “connectivity is a must— from health care to education and busines— in dealing with this unprecedented crisis.”

Poe added that cell towers serve to elevate antennas and other communications equipment that transmit and receive signals from mobile devices, simultaneously enabling users to maintain their connection.“Our teachers and students should not have to climb mountains or go to the side of highways or cliffsides just to get a signal,” Poe lamented, in reference to recent reports of teachers who camped out on hillsides just to attend a training webinar or be able to enrol their students online.

She recalled that DICT earlier cited the lack of infrastructure in the country, noting that only about 20,000 towers have been built compared with Vietnam’s 70,000. “It is a huge disservice to our people if we cannot even keep them connected amid the pandemic,” said Poe. Butch Fernandez

Continued from A1

It discussed empowering national statistical systems to meet urgent and evolving statistical needs by strengthening statistical skills, modernizing statistical business processes, legal and institutional structures, and engaging users.

“Official statistics prov ide governments, businesses and civil society with the indispensable information they need to make good decisions. And they give people and their representatives the tools to have informed debates, to make choices and to hold decision-makers to account,” said John Pullinger, president of the International Association for Official Statistics.

Earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) came under fire when the Department of Labor and

Employment (DOLE) said the initial displacement figure this year was only at 68,587.

In the April round of its Labor Force Survey (LFS), the PSA said 7.3 million workers were unemployed nationwide.

However, Bello said the figure of PSA is not based on “actual figures” like their displacement report since the LFS data was only based on a survey.

To this, National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said the PSA’s data was above board given the legal basis surrounding the work of the PSA, which includes conducting nationwide surveys.

Based on Section 25 of R A 10625 or the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013, PSA’s respondents “are required to give truthful and complete answers to statistical inquiries or surveys of the PSA and other statistical offices of the PSS [Philippine Statistical System].”

Rule 29 of the implementing

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ITH more than 30 0,0 0 0 overseas Filipino workers expected to arrive in the next three to four months, Sen. Richard J. Gordon reiterated his call for the Department of Transportation to open up the Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA) and divert OFW flights there to facilitate their testing so they can immediately return to their respective provinces.

Gordon pointed out that Subic and Clark are very suitable for accommodating arriving OFWs because, aside from the airport, it also has a seaport and a quarantine facility, as well as numerous hotels that can be used to accommodate OFWs. The chairman and CEO of the Philippine Red Cross also noted that testing incoming OFWs for Covid-19 would not pose a problem with the newly opened PRC molecular laboratory in Subic and Clark which has the combined capacity for running up to

rules and regulations (IRR) of RA 10625 orders respondents in surveys to provide “truthful and complete answers” to PSA and other statistical offices of the PSS. It also provides that the PSA should not divulge “the name, address and telephone numbers; the business and products that they are engaged in; and the specific ranges of number of employees.”

Under Rule 30 of the IRR, indiv idua ls who v iolate Ru le 29 face one-year imprisonment and a fine of P100,000. Companies that violate the IRR will be fined anywhere from P100,000 to P500,000.

Any person caught divulging confidential information from the PSA will be fined P5,000 to P10,000 and face jail time of three to 12 months. Further, failure to complete with survey clearance provision will also be fined P50,000 to P100,000, depending on the gravity of noncompliance.

4,000 tests a day.

“More than 300,000 OFWs may be coming. Now we have an airport here and a seaport.

So, then others may be brought here where the Coast Guard can test them; and there is a quarantine facility here set up by [SBMA chief] Amy [Eisma] at many hotels here. But if they are tested, they should not have to stay for long. In two, three days they should be able to get their results and go home.”

Gordon said he spoke to Transportation Secretary Art Tugade “and I reminded him, ‘you promised me a long time ago you would open the airport at Subic so that some of the returning OFWs can land there, and they can be tested immediately.’”

Gordon said the ships carrying Filipino seafarers that are also expected to arrive can dock at the Subic seaport, where it would be easier for trained Coast Guard members to go up the vessels and swab the seafarers.

He said they used to do these

NG…

Continued from A1

and two from the World Bank.

The Manila-based ADB extended a P50.781-billion loan to the Philippines for the country’s Covid-19 Active Response and Ex pend it ure Suppor t (Cares) program and P3.949 billion in emergency assistance for the reconstruction and development of Marawi.

For its part, Washington-based World Bank also extended P25.231 billion for the country’s Cares program and P10.107 billion for the social welfare development and reform project.

With the nearly sevenfold increase in April, gross borrowings by the national government for the first four months of the year soared by nearly 40 percent to P919.465 billion from P661.521 billion in 2019.

tests at Manila Bay, where it’s hard to maneuver. In contrast, he added, the waters at Subic “are calm and it’s easier for the Coast Guard to board the big cruise ships and swab the seafarers.”

Using the SBIA—the former hub for the Asian operations of American multinational delivery services FedEx Corp.—to divert OFW flights as the country battles with the pandemic, could jumpstart the resumption of its operations for international flights and reactivate its tourism industry, Gordon added.

“Once we have tested everybody here we can advertise to the whole world, ‘we have already tested all the employees here, we have tested everyone here, so now you are welcome to come down here.’ And jobs can be generated right away,” he said.

Gordon allocated P500 million for the rehabilitation of the SBIA in the 2019 budget and called for its reopening for international flights to boost tourism in the area. Butch Fernandez

Combined gross borrowings from both domestic and foreign sources from January to April this year showed a 38.99-percent increase from last year.

The bulk or 74.19 percent of the gross borrowings as of end-April was sourced from local sources and the balance of 25.81 percent from foreign ones.

Gross domestic borrowings for the four-month period rose by 29.9 percent to P682.132 billion from P525.108 billion a year ago while gross foreign borrowings jumped by 73.98 percent toP237.333 billion from last year’s P136.413 billion.

T he g o v e r n m e nt b o r r o w s to meet its spending requirements and to finance its budget deficit.

The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) expects a wider budget deficit this year at 8.4 percent of GDP or equivalent to

Labor…

Continued from A8

Among unpaid family workers, majority are engaged in agricultural activities, 88 percent for men and 80 percent for women. Around 75 percent of men and 69 percent are women are crop farm laborers.

Tabuga noted that 9 out of 10 of the males who are unpaid family workers are single and young, with average age at 23 years old. Only 27 percent of women are single and were older, with an average age of 25 years old.

In terms of the government workers, more women hold permanent positions but most are being paid on commission basis. Over 20 percent of men and women are also working in other jobs.

“So even among government workers, the issue seems to be the nature of the employment as well as inadequate earnings as suggested by their profiles,” Tabuga said.

Insurance gaps WITH these data, Tabuga said some of the key issues for expanding insurance coverage includes the lack of income security due to the unstable and casual nature of their employment.

This discourages them from enrolling and sustaining their membership.

Many of the unpaid family workers are in agriculture, may be less productive and therefore also have less income.

Tabuga sees this as proof that improving agricultural productivity and off-farm opportunities in rural areas can help boost both women’s and men’s ability to access social insurance.

She also saw a lack of enforcement or implementation of the law in providing access to social insurance for workers in private establishments and private households.

Ditto a lack of awareness and low level of perception on the benefits of social insurance. Tabuga said administrative hurdles in enrollment and payment or collection of contributions may account for this.

Meanwhile, she said, the early dropout of older boys from school to seek jobs or become unpaid workers in farms is an economic issue needing appropriate solutions.

“The high rate of economic inactiveness is largely a gender issue which emanates from traditional roles of women in the home, Tabuga said.

The high rate of women who are neither in school nor at work, “and early marriages and teenage pregnancies are also areas for concern,” according to her.

Apart from recommendations to maximize efforts to boost incomes and enforce labor laws, Tabuga said both national and local governments must conduct a wide advocacy campaign for promoting awareness and need for social insurance.

She encouraged government to partner with various organizations and platforms, including online venues in motivating people to be more proactive with social insurance.

Tabuga also said insurance providers, SSS and PhilHealth, must also take a more active role in the information and education campaign. Ordinary citizens must understand the importance of social insurance.

P1.613 trillion.

In 2019, the country’s budget deficit was at 660.2 billion or 3.4 percent of GDP. The country’s budget deficit is also projected to be at 6.6 percent of GDP or 1.429 trillion for 2021 and 5 percent of GDP or P1.181 trillion for 2022.

The country’s debt-to-GDP ratio is also seen to increase to 49.8 percent this year from 39.6 percent last year.

For 2021 and 2022, the DBCC sees an even higher debt-to-GDP ratio of 51.5 percent and 52.3 percent, respectively.

Despite the projected increase in the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio, economic managers had said this is still far lower than the most recent peak of 71.6 percent in 2004.

A budget deficit occurs when expenditures exceed revenues, while debt-to-GDP ratio is used to gauge a country’s ability to pay off its debt.

ICT

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

A BusinessMirror Special Feature

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, June 22, 2020

A3

THE NEW NORMAL IS DIGITAL DICT spearheads National ICT Month celebration

A

By Stephanie Joy Ching

PIXABAY

CCORDING to an article from Bain & Company, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced economies to shift from physical to digital much faster than anticipated. Due to the virus being rapidly spread through human contact, human interactions were greatly discouraged as necessary lockdowns took effect in many countries including the Philippines.

Under strict quarantine protocols, majority of the population was forced to rely on digital platforms to survive. From online banking to contactless payment for deliveries, digital transactions are part of the “new normal” amidst the ongoing crisis.

Thankfully, the world had already begun

to transition to digital platforms long before the coronavirus began to spread. As devastating as the pandemic is, one cannot deny that it has rapidly brought the world much closer to the digital future. With more and more schools and businesses shifting to a digital platform, the role of Information and communications technology

(ICT) has become more and more apparent in the lives of many Filipinos.

But while more and more people have integrated technology in their lives—thanks in large part to increasingly smarter smartphones—there are still a good number who are unable to fully harness its power.

In order to help people to better adapt to the “new normal”, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will be holding a set of online activities that will discuss the different facets of this technology throughout the month of June. With June being declared as National ICT Month by Republic Act

10844, the DICT will be facilitating a series of webinars tailored to various sectors, particularly the education sector.

With the theme of “Maximizing ICT for the New Normal,” these activities aim to foster discussions on digital government, cities and provinces, digital medicine and social

assistance, digital education and workforce, cybersecurity, and emergency communications. In addition to that, they will also be offering training for these specialized areas as part of their objectives to promote the more widespread use of ICT.

Through these series of webinars, it is the hope of the DICT that the transition to digital will be much smoother as people become more and more digitally literate. They also encourage people to take an active part in the emerging ICT age as more and more key public services shift to digital.

“In these trying times, we turn to ICT to provide a semblance of continuity in our society and in our lives, as we gradually transition to the ‘new normal.’ In this year’s National ICT Month, we recognize the vital role of ICT in nation-building and ICT’s pivotal role in implementing the ‘new normal’ in our country, particularly in our government, business, commerce, education, and health sectors.” said DICT Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II. “In line with the directives of President Rodrigo Duterte, through the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), we need to capitalize on available ICT resources and adapt to new ways of learning and working while keeping ourselves and our families safe,” Honasan further noted.

DICT’s webinars are announced through their official Facebook page at the Department of Information and Communications Technology - DICT. Registration and various details are all available on their page.

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

A4 Monday, June 22, 2020 • Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PSA: Farm-gate price of rice at 14-month high

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

T

HE average farm-gate price of unhusked rice in the third week of May hit its highest quotation in 14 months and remained above P19 per kilogram for the second consecutive week, latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed.

Latest PSA data indicated that the nationwide average farm-gate

price of dry palay during the period rose 5.3 percent to P19.15 per kg, from the P18.19 per kg recorded in the same period of last year.

According to PSA data, this is the second consecutive week that the average farm-gate price of palay breached the P19-per-kg mark, after it rose to P19.06 per kg last week.

Historical PSA data analyzed by the BUSINESSMIRROR showed that this is the highest average quotation for dry palay in more than 14 months,

since the P19.03 per kg recorded in the second week of March 2019.

During the reference period of May 13 to 19, the highest average farm-gate price of dry palay was recorded in Central Visayas region at P21.57 per kg, while the lowest average quotation was in Mimaropa region at P17.13 per kg, preliminary PSA data showed.

Higher prices

PSA data also showed that both the

wholesale and retail prices of wellmilled and regular-milled rice varieties posted a modest turnaround this week, reflecting gains at the farm gate.

“At the wholesale trade the average price of well-milled rice increased to P39.43 per kg or by 0.5 percent during the week, from its previous week’s level of P39.25 per kg,” the PSA said in its weekly price monitoring report.

“At the retail trade, the average price of well-milled rice rose to

P42.5 per kg or by 0.3 percent from this week compared with its level of P42.38 per kg in the previous week.”

However, PSA data showed that on an annual basis, the wholesale price of well-milled rice was slightly lower from P39.5 per kg while the retail quotation was 1.3 percent cheaper than the P43.07 per kg recorded a year ago.

For regular-milled rice variety, its average wholesale price inched up to P35.83 per kg from previous

week’s P35.73 per kg and it was also higher than its last year’s quotation of P35.77 per kg, PSA said.

“The average retail price of regular-milled rice rose to P38.25 per kg or by 0.2 percent this week, from its level of P38.17 per kg in the previous week.”

“Meanwhile, it recorded a negative annual rate of 1.3 percent as it posted a price level of P38.75 per kg during the same week of the previous year.”

Lockdown slowed spread of fatal hog disease–BAI T

HE Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) said the imposition of the months-long lockdown has also helped prevent the spread of African swine fever (ASF) in the country, as cases declined to 20 per million pigs.

In a recent virtual press briefing, BAI Director Ronnie D. Domingo said the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ ) implemented by the government to contain the spread of Covid-19 had prevented more ASF outbreaks.

“ASF spreads because of the movement of sick pigs. But because of ECQ our cases declined. Before ECQ we are recording 60 cases per million pigs but after ECQ we are down to just 20 cases per million pigs,” Domingo said.

Domingo said the country has so far experienced two waves of ASF

outbreaks: the first was from September to October, following the confirmation of the dreaded disease and the second happened in January to February.

The second wave was caused by the Christmas break, when Filipinos could have brought back to their provinces ASF-infected meat products.

The dreaded ASF has spread to eight regions in the country, affecting hog farms in 224 cities in 25 provinces. According to Domingo, Central Luzon was the hardest hit among the affected regions.

Central Luzon is the top hogproducing region in the country followed by Calabarzon. The two regions account for a combined volume of 813,293 metric tons (MT), which is 35 percent of the country’s nearly 2.3 million MT (MMT) out-

put last year.

The spread of the fatal hog disease, which is not harmful to humans, has resulted in the culling of about 298,844 pigs, as a measure to contain its spread, Domingo added.

The BAI chief said only about 15 percent to 20 percent of the culled pigs are infected with ASF. The total death count of pigs due to ASF eradication measures translates to around 3 percent of the country’s total pig population pegged at 12 million heads.

The devastation caused by the ASF on the country’s hog industry has been the culprit behind the spike in the retail prices of pork which reached as high as P280 per kilogram.

Latest Department of Agriculture (DA) price monitoring report showed that pork (kasim) prices in Metro Manila wet markets as of June 18 aver-

aged P250 per kg while pork (liempo) was sold at P270 per kg.

Pork kasim prices a month ago were only at P200 per kg. Three months ago, pork kasim was at P190 per kg, according to DA data.

The DA earlier said it is spending P400 million for its hog restocking program in two key-producing regions to boost local pork supply as the industry copes with the impact of ASF. The DA announced that it has mobilized P400 million for its hog restocking program in Central Luzon and Calabarzon, with each region receiving P200 million.

The DA will distribute free piglets to hog raisers, with members of community cooperatives being the priority beneficiaries, in non-ASF areas in the two regions.

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

BLOOMBERG NEWS

Villar, BFAR establish urban aquaponics facility in Las Piñas

S

EN. Cynthia Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, together with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), has set up an aquaponics facility to benefit a community in Las Piñas, where the senator has also put up a vegetable garden.

Urban aquaponics is part of BFAR’s Fisheries Resiliency Projects to address food-related challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Aquaponics or hydroponics is a way of growing vegetables without soil and at the same time growing fish in the

same setup as well.

“It is really time for city dwellers to grow their own food even in an urban setting with limited space. Food self-sufficiency is very important especially during disasters or emergencies such as the ongoing pandemic,” said Villar, who has been advocating urban farming to beat food poverty.

The urban aquaponics and vegetable garden are located at the Christ The King Subdivision, which is under the Community Mortgage Program (CMP). It is a mortgage financing program of the Social Housing Finance Corp. (SHFC) which assists legally or-

ganized associations of low-income groups, underprivileged or homeless citizens to purchase and develop a tract of land under the concept of community ownership.

The primary objective of the program is to assist residents of blighted or depressed areas to own the lots they occupy and establish stainable and resilient communities in coordination with the local government units (LGUs).

“I am glad to have been given an opportunity to help the association and the barangay residents as well.”

OFW traffic: Few flying out, many returning. . . continued from a1 In April, only 47 new hires were deployed by POEA. This was 99.85 percent lower than the 30,592 in the same period last year.

Deployment of new hires in May also decreased to 56 from 38,660 in the same month in 2019.

Stumbling block

RECRUITMENT consultant Emmanuel Geslani does not expect deployment figures to recover soon, as most governments remain cautious in accepting travelers from Covid-19hit places like the Philippines.

He cited the case of Taiwan, which opted to “put on hold” hiring OFWs because of the high incidence of Covid-19 in the country, which exceeded 30,000 on Sunday.

“Taiwan has prioritized the entry of Vietnam for the factory jobs intended for Filipinos since that country has very few Covid-19 cases and zero deaths,” Geslani explained in a statement.

The situation is worsened, he said, by POEA’s policies to require employers to pay OFWs, while they undergo mandatory quarantine in their destination countries.

“This is now the stumbling block for the deployment of OFWs to Hong Kong and Taiwan—that the quarantine period for them should be paid according to the POEA; which, to many agencies, is unfair and unjust

to the employers,” Geslani said.

With other top destinations for OFWs like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia still being closed for migrant workers as they try to contain their Covid-19 cases, Geslani said the slump in the deployment of new hires will persist this year.

Latest batch

THE latest repatriates to arrive, meanwhile, are OFs in Canada, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates,” said DFA Undersecretary Brigido “Dodo” Dulay. He reported to Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. that there are two Philippine Airlines flights to Doha, Qatar, on June 24 and 25, to bring home more OFs. Earlier, a netizen named Caren in Qatar sought Locsin’s help by Twitter for stranded OFWs, saying that for months now, they have been under a “no work, no pay” scheme.

Locsin attributed the success of their repatriation program to the “indispensable help of General [chief implementer Carlito] Galvez and [Department of Transportation Secretary Art] Tugade.”

Locsinsaid:“Thankyou,gentlemen.

I know I’m a nag but I can’t help myself.

Finditinyourhearttoforgive.And,Art, no, I am not a mother superior even if I badger you about letting nuns in.” ������������������������������������� Still, the DFA could not avoid criticism from a netizen, Malak Imperial:

“This is a welcome act of DFA; however, it is a fact that some OFWs especially those in remote places who... wanted to avail of repatriation [were] unable to do it. Therefore, in addition to the social-media usage the consulate and embassy staff must exert more effort to reach out these OFW’s.”

“We already did,” said another OFW. “We called the embassy and Philippine Overseas Labor Office [POLO] and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration [OWWA].” They were told to “apply for repatriation and wait.... We applied for repatriation [and were told 5,000] have applied.

Please pity us...”

Locsin had repeatedly explained that while DFA posts worldwide have never stopped reaching out to OFWs and processing their repatriation, many issues had proven stumbling blocks. The lockdowns in foreign airports, and the off-and-on go-ahead given by Philippine authorities for inbound flights have tied the hands of DFA and DOLE repatriation teams.

“We are asking help for the repatriation. All flights are cancelled due to issues. We are sincerely begging,” said another netizen.

Meanwhile, Dulay asked OFWs who sign up for repatriation to make sure they show up on appointed flight days, after an unspecified number of people who signed up for a special flight from Macau did not show up.

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Wreckage of global economy now looks even worse to I.M.F.

T

wo months after its dire predictions of the steepest recession in almost a century, the International Monetary Fund will release new global economic forecasts this week that will probably look even worse.

Officials at the Washington-based Fund have warned that a revised outlook due on Wednesday may feature a more pessimistic view than in April. Back then, they said the “Great Lockdown” caused by the coronavirus would force a global contraction of 3 percent this year.

A gloomier forecast might reflect their assessment of the severity of damage caused by the widespread shutdown in activity. The UK economy, for example, instantly shrank by a fifth in April alone.

Any glimmer of hope the IMF can impart may channel optimism that the worst of the outbreak has passed in some countries, allowing them to ease restrictions. That would chime with purchasing manager indexes from Japan to Europe to the US, due on Tuesday, all of which are expected to show further improvement in sentiment and activity from historic lows.

“Rapidfire forecast updates reflect the shifting trajectory for the virus. Some countries—including China and Germany—have successfully bent the curve.

Others have not. Add up that messy reality and—despite green shoots of recovery in May and June—the outlook continues to deteriorate,” said Bloomberg chief economist Tom Orlik.

However, most countries still face a long path back to normality from a downturn that is remarkably synchronized. IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath, who is compiling the forecasts, noted last week that both advanced and emerging market economies will endure a recession this year—the first time both have suffered in tandem since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The World BusinessMirror

B

EIJING—Authorities in China appeared to be winning their battle against an outbreak of coronavirus in Beijing on Saturday, but in parts of the Americas the pandemic raged unabated.

Covid-19 is a patchwork of successes and setbacks at this point in the pandemic, quantified by the trajectory of the coronavirus in different countries.

In China, where the virus was first identified and where authorities hoped it had been vanquished, Beijing recorded a further drop in cases amid tightened containment measures. Officials reported 22 new cases in Beijing along with five others elsewhere in China. There were no new deaths and 308 people remained hospitalized for treatment.

Sout h Korea, wh ic h has won global praise for its handling of the coronavirus, recorded 67 new cases, the largest 24-hour increase in about three weeks. Most of them come from the densely populated Seoul area, where about half of the country's 51 million people reside. Many cases have been linked to exposure in nightlife outlets.

Brazil’s Health Ministry said the total number of cases had risen by more than 50,000 from the previous day. President Jair Bolsonaro still downplays the risks of the virus after nearly 50,000 fatalities in three months, saying the impact of social isolation on Brazil’s economy could be more deadly.

South Africa continues

Europe, Middle East and Africa

United States

Top US diplomat calls UN human rights body ‘a haven for dictators’

In the US, investors will be watching several reports, including May new-home sales, durable goods orders and personal spending, to help them fine-tune their second-quarter GDP estimates.

The government will also issue its third estimate of first quarter GDP on Thursday, along with the closely watched jobless claims report. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve officials including James Bullard and Charles Evans, are due to discuss the economy.

Asia

New Zealand’s central bank has a policy announcement on Wednesday after data showed the economy is in its first recession since 2010. Thailand’s central bank meets later that day, with economists not expecting additional moves, according to early survey responses.

In the Philippines, a rate reduction is seen as possible on Thursday. South Korean trade data for the first 20 days of June will be scrutinized on Monday for a pulse check on global commerce.

Latin America

Latin America’s big economies are in the spotlight this week. On Tuesday in Brazil, the minutes of last week’s central bank meeting—policy-makers cut the key rate to a record-low 2.25 percent—may clear up questions on forward guidance raised by the post-decision statement.

Later in the day, Argentina’s first-quarter gross domestic product report will capture the early phase of what’s expected to be one the region’s deepest recessions of 2020.

On Thursday, the Brazilian central bank’s comprehensive quarterly inflation report updates forecasts for a wide range of scenarios, providing critical insight about the considerations informing monetary policy.

Meanwhile, Mexico’s central bank, which lags behind regional peers in responding to the pandemic’s demand shock, will stick to gradual easing with a half-point cut to take the key rate to a still-restrictive 5 percent.

Bloomberg News

A5

Pandemic becomes a patchwork of small successes and setbacks

Brazil surpassed 1 million confirmed infections, second only to the United States.

Europe, in contrast, continued to emerge warily from lockdown, with hardhit Britain considering easing social distancing rules to make it easier for restaurants, pubs and schools to reopen. In Italy, once the pandemic’s European epicenter, Pope Francis told medics that their heroic efforts during the outbreak would help the country forge a future of hope and solidarity.

The head of the World Hea lt h Organization warned on Friday that the pandemic is “accelerating” and that more than 150,000 cases were reported the day before—the highest singleday number so far.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva that nearly half of the newly reported cases were from the Americas, with significant numbers from South Asia and the Middle East.

The new coronavirus has infected more than 8.5 million people worldwide and killed more than 454,000, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The actual number is thought to be much higher because many cases are asymptomatic or go untested.

The global battle against

June was the most open month in most of Europe after the lockdown, and a slew of activity indicators will give investors and policy-makers a glimpse of how the economies are coping.

A key figure would be the purchasing managers’ index for the services industry, which was hit the hardest by the restrictions. Confidence data will be watched closely in Sweden amid an ongoing debate over its relatively lax approach to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The European Central Bank will also publish the accounts of its June meeting, which saw policy-makers decide to expand the pandemic bond-buying program beyond market expectations. Look out for any meaningful dissenting voices among richer nations wary of extending unjustifiable support to the Eurozone’s most vulnerable economies.

Elsewhere, Hungarian and Czech policy-makers are expected to hold interest rates, while Turkey’s central bank is forecast to reduce its benchmark interest rate by another 25 basis points to 8 percent on Thursday, after a cumulative 1,575 basis points in cuts over the previous nine meetings.

South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will table an adjustment budget on Wednesday to redirect 130 billion rand ($7.5 billion) to a stimulus package, while, in Kenya, the central bank may ease after holding rates steady a month ago.

Monday, June 22, 2020

F

RANKFURT, Germany—US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the decision by the United Nation’s top human rights body to commission a report on policing and race amid international protests spurred by George Floyd’s death “marks a new low” and confirmed the Trump administration's decision to withdraw from the Human Rights Council in 2018.

The council agreed on Friday in Geneva to commission a UN report on systemic racism and discrimination against Black people while stopping short of ordering a more intensive investigation singling out the United States. Floyd, a handcuffed Black man, died last month after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.

In response, Pompeo on Saturday described the Human Rights Council as “a haven for dictators and the democracies that indulge them” and said the council should focus its attention elsewhere.

“If the Council were serious about protecting human rights, there are plenty of legitimate needs for its attention, such as the systemic racial disparities in places like Cuba, China, and Iran,” Pompeo said in a

statement on Saturday.

Floyd’s relatives, families of other victims of US police violence and hundreds of advocacy groups urged the Human Rights Council to take up the issue.

A human rights group based in the US, Human Rights First, countered Pompeo’s statement regarding Iran, saying that the council appointed an independent expert to monitor human rights in that country.

The Iran monitor’s January 28 report expressed concern about deaths of protesters in detention, executions of under-age defendants, forced confessions and discrimination against minorities and women.

The consensus resolution approved on Friday followed days of grappling over language after African nations backed away from their initial push for a commission of inquiry, the council’s most intrusive form of scrutiny, that would focus more on the US. Instead, the resolution mentions historic racism in the US but only calls for a more generic report to be written by the UN human rights chief's office and outside experts.

The aim is “to contribute to accountability and redress for victims” in the US and beyond, the resolution states. AP

A girl wearing a face mask walks with a bottle of drinking water and a food packet that she received from a food distribution site in Mumbai, India on Saturday, June 20, 2020. India is the fourth hardesthit country by the Covid-19 pandemic in the world after the US, Russia and Brazil. AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool

to loosen lockdown measures under economic pressure, despite reporting nearly 4,000 more Covid-19 cases on Saturday. Casinos, beauty salons and sit-down restaurant service are among the latest permitted activities as the country eases one of the world’s strictest lockdowns. South Africa has about 30 percent of the virus cases on the African continent, or more than 87,000.

South Africa and Ethiopia both said they are recommending the limited use of the commonly available steroid dexamethasone for all Covid-19 patients on ventilators or supplementary oxygen. In a British trial, the drug was shown to signifi-

cantly improve survival chances for the most seriously ill.

South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said “this breakthrough is excellent news for us and we are especially fortunate that it came as we are preparing for our upcoming surge” in cases.

Britain lowered its coronavirus threat level one notch, becoming the latest country to claim it’s getting a national outbreak under control.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government said it would announce next week whether it will ease social distancing rules that say people should remain 2 meters (6½ feet) apart. Business groups are lobbying for the distance to be cut to 1 meter (3 feet) to make it easier to restart the UK’s economy.

While many stores in Britain have reopened, pubs, hotels and restaurants won't be allowed to resume serving customers until July 4 at the soonest. Proposals to allow them to reopen safely include pubs having people order pints using phone apps rather than going to the bar.

The UK has Europe’s highest and the world’s third-highest official death toll from the pandemic, with more than 42,500 virus-related fatalities reported as of Saturday.

Italy, which for a time this spring had the most coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, continued receiving confirmation that the worst had receded.

Pope Francis welcomed doctors and nurses from the Lombardy region, Italy’s financial and industrial capital and the center of its outbreak, to the Vatican on Saturday to thank them for their work and sacrifice.

Francis said Lombardy’s medics “gave witness to God’s proximity to those who suffer" and became literal “angels,” helping the sick recover or accompanying them to their deaths when family members were prevented from visiting.

The northern region counted half of Italy’s 34,500 Covid-19 deaths.

Meanwhile, Germany reported the country's highest daily increase in virus cases in a month after managing to contain its outbreak better than comparable large European nations.

Many areas of Europe are dealing with new localized outbreaks, with some of the largest centered around meat-processing plants.

German officials said Saturday that the number of workers infected at a slaughterhouse in the northwest of the country had risen to 1,029 but there was no evidence of “significant” spread beyond the workforce into the community.

French authorities were keeping a close eye on signs of an accelerating spread of the coronavirus in Normandy, a region that's until now been spared the worst of the outbreak that has hit Paris and the east of France particularly hard. AP

A6

Monday, June 22, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Returning to ‘needs’ instead of ‘wants’

I

gnoring the Covid-19 pandemic for a moment, this year is continuing to be one of entropy, moving from order to chaos. There is really no other way to describe things.

A return to the good old days—like way back in 2019—would be to return to a life that is more boring. Motivational speakers and their minions tend to say things like “life without challenges is a boring life” and “challenges are what make life interesting.”

Video game/science fiction writer R. A. Salvatore said, “Sane is boring.” Artist Andy Warhol once wrote: “I like boring things.” What we are witnessing is not boring and, in many places around the world, is not sane either.

The issue of racism in the United States and in parts of Europe is a valid concern. Protests against memorials paying tribute to military figures that fought against the freedom of slaves in the US Civil War might make sense. Defacing a monument recognizing the first all-volunteer black regiment of the Union Army during the Civil War is inexcusable.

Actor Robert Downey Jr. playing a “black-face” character in the 2008 film Tropic Thunder is apparently now racist. African-American actors Shawn Wayans and brother Marlon Wayans playing “white-faced” rich socialites in the film White Chicks is a “handful of shameless giggles.”

Too much of the discussion about critical issues even here in the Philippines is like watching a child at Jollibee throwing a tantrum because the restaurant is out of ice cream. When information is distorted or told as a half-truth, it treats the listener as a fool and actually delays any reasonable problem solving. Let’s hope that is not the purpose.

Paul Rosenberg is an author that some on the political spectrum would consider a bit of a “nut-job.” He wrote the first protocols for law in cyberspace and has warned in his books about government over-reach and control in the tradition of Ayn Rand.

However, he makes a strong point when he recently wrote, “To put it succinctly, America, since about 1920, shifted from a ‘needs’ culture to a ‘wants’ culture. And, since the US was the world’s primary generator of images, the rest of the world tended to follow.”

The average African—Northern and Sub-Saharan—is too poor under governments that are too corrupt and constantly fighting religious warlords to have progressed along this line. While there are many “Crazy Rich Asians,” the average person does not measure their self-worth by the number of credit cards in their wallet. Maybe we should thank the teachings of Buddha and Confucius.

But in the West it has been a crazy time for the immediate gratification of “wants.” The 2008 debt crisis rested on banks and governments encouraging and feeding this: “I want a house...no, two houses and I want them NOW.” Rosenberg writes of the current pandemic environment, “Now, with “need” returning, that particular flavor of crazy may end. This is still uncertain, mind you, but the longer the pain continues, the more likely it becomes.” He follows with these thoughts. “Parents are learning that they like being a bigger part of their children’s lives. Faith in public institutions has broken. Mindless consumerism has, perhaps, broken.”

Everyone has probably been going through a period of reflection.

That is good. But acting on the self-examination is needed. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote in 1969: “You can’t always get what you want/But if you try sometime you find/You get what you need.” We need to try harder.

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RISING SUN

T

he latest craze sweeping social media in recent days is FaceApp. Some netizens seem to have renewed their interest in seeing how their faces, and those of their loved ones’, would look as the opposite sex (or older, made up, etc.). Some of the more cautious ones are calling it out and expressing warning against granting access to all the photos on one’s phone. Some are likewise concerned about the app developer being based in Russia. This, however, does not deviate very much from worries about IG’s (Instagram) association with the US and TikTok’s with China.

That this is happening right in the midst of a pandemic is, of course, another cause for concern as surveillance capitalism has already been a problem even before Covid-19. Now that health security and terrorism concerns have pretty much given license to governments and organizations to collect data from people, it is indeed easier for any agency to

gather huge amounts of data from the population. And while these agencies may not willingly sell or share the information with misguided entities, it would always be open and available to hackers with the worst intentions.

As far as FaceApp is concerned, the company through its founder Yaroslav Goncharov asserted that they “don’t sell or share any user data

Watch your back

Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug

Senior Editors

Creative Director Chief Photographer

FaceApp and the age of no-barrier surveillance

Thomas M. Orbos

STREET TALK

J

ust over the weekend, the government gave indications that they would be considering allowing motorcycle back riding sometime within the next two weeks pending agreements on how to do this properly under the present pandemic situation.

This would end months of heated debate between the need to impose preventive measures on the spread of the virus and the reality on the need for mobility of the greater majority.

Motorcycles represent 70 percent of all registered motor vehicles in the country, totaling close to 18 million. The Land Transportation Office estimates another 12 million unregistered units, bringing the total to around 30 million or about a third of our population. It does not need a deep dive to realize these are the utility vehicles of choice of the greater majority, and that any action affecting them would have national socioeconomic as well as political

implications.

In the weeks that followed the ban, several local officials spoke in behalf of their constituents for the national government to reconsider. Focus of the request for reconsideration was, at least, to allow family members, especially couples, to be exempted from the ban. The national government remained steadfast on the ban and understandably so, as allowing such a policy on back riding even

Tech experts say that by using FaceApp, we are making the same privacy trade-offs and considerations that we make when using any other app. If you’re willing to take some risks, then go ahead and do it, so they say. It is very important to know what you’re getting into before downloading or using any app or software. Check your own privacy and sharing settings, and always think before you click on that “Allow” button.

with any third parties.” According to an article on forbes.com, user data gathered via FaceApp is not transferred to Russia and that “most of the photo processing [is done] in the cloud.” Only those photos that are uploaded by users are transferred for editing and then deleted from the servers within two days from date of upload; other images from the phone are untouched.

Tech experts say that by using

The growing demand of the population for more transport options driven by the need for more mobility to pursue economic survivability, especially after the lockdown has been relaxed, has pushed government to rethink its policy banning back riding. among family members goes contrary to the need for social distancing, leading to a possible increase in infections. Given the number of motorcycle riders, it would be next to impossible to check each and every ride-sharing individual.

However, the growing demand of the population for more transport options driven by the need for more mobility to pursue economic survivability, especially after the lockdown has been relaxed, has pushed government to rethink its policy banning back riding. Incidents of apprehended ride-sharing family members plus multitudes of passengers without any means of transportation, added to the

FaceApp, we are making the same privacy trade-offs and considerations that we make when using any other app. If you’re willing to take some risks, then go ahead and do it, so they say. It is very important to know what you’re getting into before downloading or using any app or software. Check your own privacy and sharing settings, and always think before you click on that “Allow” button.

Going beyond the issue on FaceApp, people these days have indeed become more open to sharing their information to be able to pass through security or a health check, for example. For all the good that it offers society, surveillance technology is one aspect that has quickly and almost effortlessly entered our lives because of the pandemic.

Steve LeVine, a Medium editor, writes in Marker, “The barriers are gone.” And Saurabh Bajaj, CEO of Swiftlane, a Silicon Valley touchless start-up that uses facial recognition, says: “After this, it’s going to stay like this forever. We will just move on into this new world.”

pressure to allow ride sharing. But such a consideration will need to come along with safety guidelines beyond the mandatory wearing of face masks. This will need to cover general ridership, and that should be without consideration of familial relations. It will be definitely difficult to monitor that such guidelines are followed, but given the economic realities on the ground, the government is hard pressed to move in this direction.

And once this line is crossed, it will not take long for the advocates of the motorcycle ride sharing companies to push for their resumption. Again, economic realities on the ground would provide the reason, with an increasing number of people dependent on these ride sharing companies both as a mode of daily transport as well as a source of livelihood especially in these times of downturn. Even the present legislative obstacle will have to be addressed by the lawmakers immediately given its present relevance. Ride sharing companies would have to give a better safety See “Orbos,” A7

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

A message to a father

Subtle castration

BusinessMirror

Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

Razzel Ann Vergara

THE PATRIOT

DEBIT CREDIT

O

N this day dedicated to all fathers in the world, I wanted to share how blessed you are. You have a father who is willing to do everything for you; just to give the life he always wanted you to have. He may have experienced the worst in this world, still he always wanted you to experience convenience.

You may not have the richest father but know that you have the best. No one can question the love of a father to his children.

I’m the daughter of a father who tried all kinds of jobs. Of course, I haven’t seen all but I got information from friends and relatives. When I was a little kid, I have seen him work as a construction worker, a farmer, a rice mill operator, etc. There are times when he would prepare and sell made-to-order puto cakes.

During my 15 years in school, he was not given an opportunity to drape a medal around my neck. Every year of recognition, and in my graduations in elementary, secondary and college, he didn’t have time to attend due to his work assignment. Most of the time, he is out of the country, especially when he started working as a seaman. I was about nine years old at that time.

Yes, he worked as an ordinary seaman. He cooked food for all crewmembers of the ship, and sometimes for the passengers. That was his source of income to support his five children who, like me, are all studying. The salary is not that good enough to send us to school, but he did everything he could for us to get a decent education. My mother helped a lot in budgeting what was available.

His being absent in the important stages of my life, however, did not make me a rebellious daughter.

Sometimes we fight, because I failed to understand why he was being so strict and “hard-headed.” There are times that I felt like he did not trust me, even though I knew that he just wanted to protect me. I felt that I needed to express what I felt and what I thought was right. Or, maybe, I am also hard-headed, because all I

Orbos. . .

continued from A6

assurance measures given that they have control over their riders.

Mandatory temperature monitoring for the driver and the passenger, mandatory disinfection, as well as mandatory need to provide your own safety helmets is now in their guidelines, once allowed to operate.

In addition, the use of a passenger separator, made of safe material separating the driver and the passenger, like the ones being used in other Asian countries, is being seriously considered.

The current pandemic has indeed challenged the safety priorities of the government to combat the virus and the need to address the economic realities of the population. This is very

Years after, we are now grownups and have our own jobs, but my father still works to help other people. He continues to share with others the modest means he has, although he is not wealthy, as some people presume a seaman should be. We may have misunderstandings before, but now I completely understand his ways and actions. I realized that somehow, his methods are right.

What I am now, I owe it to him.

You are the best, father! wanted was to be on my own and for him to trust me in everything I do.

Now I realize, life is not so simple.

There should be a clear understanding between a daughter and a father.

An understanding of what the father’s rules are and what the daughter’s wishes are. Yes. The father has rules but the daughter has wishes on how to live with these rules.

Years after, we are now grownups and have our own jobs, but my father still works to help other people. He continues to share with others the modest means he has, although he is not wealthy, as some people presume a seaman should be. We may have misunderstandings before, but now I completely understand his ways and actions. I realized that somehow, his methods are right. What I am now, I owe it to him. You are the best, father!

Razzel Ann Vergara is a graduate of BSA at Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Lopez, Quezon and a Certified Public Accountant. She is currently working as internal auditor at the Provincial Government of Camarines Norte.

apparent in the issue of motorcycle back riding. Prioritizing safety and addressing economic considerations will always come to a head. Calculated as it will be, it will also be a leap of faith into the unknown. The only assurance then would be the continuing interaction, even debate between government and the population, precisely the ingredients that led to this reconsideration of allowing motorcycle back riding despite the dangers it might pose; that would preserve the long term and eventual survivability of the state even despite this pandemic.

Thomas “Tim” Orbos was formerly with the DOTr and the MMDA. He is an alumnus of the McCourt School of Public Policy of Georgetown University and the MIT Sloan School of Management.

He can be reached via e-mail at thomas_orbos@ sloan.mit.edu

W

ith his thunderous bark, one of my dogs seem quite aggressive than most. In the middle of the night, as soon as he senses “cat movement,” even from a distance, he has the audacity to bark loud enough as if to remind intruders to stay away from my house. Heaviest among my four canine companions, Bonggo is very gentle to his human masters. Unfortunately, he runs after stray cats with murderous intent! So, I had him neutered upon my veterinarian’s advice. He has undergone an extensive 40-day dog obedience training as well. With less testosterone levels, my dog Bonggo has been less aggressive, although he still dislikes his feline neighbors.

Aggression must be distinguished with audacity. Forceful, belligerent, and offensive behavior, for instance in any exercise of the freedom of expression, is an aggression that needs to be controlled if not punished.

Aggressive conduct, in some street protests in American cities, for example, needs to be tempered or, in the words of US President Donald J. Trump, “dominated.” On the other hand, bold, daring, and calculated behavior, even when speaking against one’s own organization, can be seen as an act of audacity that needs to be fostered and even encouraged. Audacious conduct, as demonstrated by US military generals, active and retired, when they spoke against some actuations of their own Commanderin-Chief, can be commendable especially when spoken in truth and in love for country.

In the Philippine setting, Dr. Tony Leachon, in his capacity as Special

Adviser to the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19, exhibited audacity as opposed to aggression.

Dr. Tony simply posted on social media a respectful yet opinionated note: “I think DOH has lost focus in everything. Risk communication, priorities, data management, and execution of all plans.” Taken aback, officials in the current administration asked Dr. Tony to resign. In the Bible, Ephesians 4:29 tells us, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” I think Tony audaciously shared the truth about the inefficiencies in DOH, perhaps in exasperation. I think he meant to genuinely help in the overall effort and not to hurt comembers of the NTF. Not too many people within government can criticize their own. After all, the output of any team effort must be done

By Julian Lee

R

emember negative oil prices and the fear that every storage tank on the planet would get filled to the brim? That seems a long time ago, with West Texas Intermediate crude now hitting $40 a barrel and the buildup of stockpiles poised to go into reverse. The warning sent by that trip below zero was heeded. Oil production was slashed and the crisis averted.

But if you were hoping for a quick, V-shaped recovery in oil demand, look away now.

The International Energy Agency published its latest oil market outlook last week, pushing its quarterly

forecast out to the end of 2021 for the first time. It doesn’t think demand will have fully recovered by then. In the final quarter of next year it predicts global oil demand will still be running about 2 million barrels a day below pre-pandemic levels, and more than 4 percent below where it might reasonably have been expected to be in the absence of the crisis.

That may not seem like a lot, given the depths from which we’re emerging, but it will have big implications for oil markets and the oil industry.

A look at the nearer-term outlook helps explain why recovery will take time. While expectations for demand destruction this quarter are starting to look a little less forbidding than they did a month ago as lockdowns

in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration.

It takes audacity, not aggression, to speak the truth against the norm.

Most of us avoid telling the truth because it makes other people cringe in their seats. We end up two-faced— one can be reserved and fearful, while the other can be candid and daring.

In the same manner, some people have difficulty integrating their faith in the workplace. Several people go and hear mass on Sunday but go to work on Monday, meaning, they do not openly practice their faith in the workplace. Openly sharing faithbased principles with others, in any workplace, remains unpopular.

Believers, who are familiar with the Bible, know that affirming the truths about our Almighty God can be generally seen as unwelcome, especially in the government bureaucracy. Take note, however, that the constitutional prohibition pertains to the separation of Church and State, not God and State. After all, the fundamental law of the land has recognized the duty of all Filipinos to implore the aid of Almighty God in our Preamble. I believe that the reason why many of our public servants, myself included when I was with the Bureau of Immigration, struggle to share our faith with others is because speaking biblical truths seems taboo in government. Reverend James Boice once wrote, “If you want to be laughed at, scorned, hated, even persecuted, testify to the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ. Say that Jesus is the only Savior.” We need godly audacity to speak the truth, even at the expense of ridicule. As I have been correlating Biblical doctrines with newsworthy events and real-life people in my four years of writing

A7

this column, I am aware that some readers feel uncomfortable. I used to be apprehensive in sharing Bible verses, which others consider as the “perfect medicinal compound for the soul.” Much as I want to talk about the military, law, and some politics, I choose to integrate my faith with present day events.

Whenever we speak, let’s not be intimidated by the world we live in.

Some might feel subtly castrated by human norms or by government policies, both of which were crafted to legitimately minimize aggression. Seemingly innocuous comments by Tony Leachon cost him his government post, but he showed how aligning to one’s True North should be emulated. Society might make us uncomfortable to be true to ourselves and share our faith with our colleagues at work.

But by calling on our godly audacity within, we can always freely speak the truth and in love. nnn

Erratum: In my Smart Mob article, published last month, I mistakenly quoted Jen Pua. All the quotes I attributed to Jen Pua were actually from a Christian writer, Joni Earekson Tada. My apologies to both Ms. Tada and Ms. Pua. A former infantry and intelligence officer in the Army, Siegfred Mison showcased his servant leadership philosophy in organizations such as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Malcolm Law Offices, Infogix Inc., University of the East, Bureau of Immigration, and Philippine Airlines. He is a graduate of West Point in New York, Ateneo Law School, and University of Southern California. A corporate lawyer by profession, he is an inspirational teacher and a Spirit-filled writer with a mission.

For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.

How fintech paves the way for small businesses to thrive under the new normal

By Ney Villasenor

T

he coronavirus pandemic spared no one. Aside from its impact on public health, Covid-19 forced us into a threemonth lockdown, which sent the country’s economy into a free fall.

These days, only businesses deemed essential can operate at full capacity.

While every type of business was affected by quarantine, small businesses had to exert more effort to survive.

Since these enterprises have limited work force and tech capital, they have taken the brunt of the impact of the lockdown.

In the Philippines, it is estimated that there are about 998,342 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which constitute about 99-percent of the total businesses in the country as of 2018. As the hundreds of millions of Filipinos are adapting to a new normal of limited mobility and physical distancing, these businesses are also forced to adjust to the demands of entrepreneurship in the time of Covid-19.

No less than Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said that financial technology should play a vital role in the new economy amid the age of coronavirus.

By 2023, the BSP aims to have 50 percent of all retail transactions conducted through digital means.

Thus, since the lockdown began on March 15 this year, more and more small businesses have popped up online. With many people losing their means of income because of the requirement to stay at home, they have resorted to micro and small entrepreneurship to make ends meet. Today, the Philippines has a thriving scene for online, small businesses.

Indeed, for the economy, digital is the new normal. For small businesses who are adapting to the new ways of the economy in the middle of a pandemic, financial technology is an ally.

Not only is it a way of adjusting to the new normal, it can also be deemed as an upgrade for the traditional way of doing business as well.

Mobile wallets like GCash can help small businesses in the country. As more and more small entrepreneurs move to Facebook and other online

Buyer beware: Oil stockpiles are enormous Bloomberg Opinion

Monday, June 22, 2020

are eased, that was clearly the easy part. The last 10 percent or so of lost demand is looking more difficult to recover.

Yes, the IEA revised its secondquarter global oil demand estimate up by what, in normal times, would be a huge 2.1 million barrels a day, but it still sees a year-on-year decline of close to 18 million barrels, or 18 percent. That’s the biggest drop in oil demand on record by a wide margin, dwarfing the 3.4 percent drop during the worst quarter of the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

And more telling, the recovery slows dramatically from the third quarter onward.

The return in demand so far, combined with output cuts by

both Opec+ and producers outside the group—including those in the US—has probably brought global oil supply and demand back into balance, and stockpiles will start to be drawn down in the second half of the year. But the amount of stored oil that needs to be burnt through before there is room for producers to pump more is huge. Enough of the black stuff has gone into storage tanks, caverns and ships over the past six months to drive every heavy truck in the US around the world five times—if it could all be turned into diesel fuel.

By the end of this month, global stockpiles are expected to be about 2.7 billion barrels above where they were at the end of 2013. That’s

platforms to market their products and services, e-wallets can bring merchants and consumers closer together.

Not only is this alternative more convenient, but it also helps the government in beating Covid-19 because digital transactions help people to stay at home in order to flatten the curve.

Going digital also helps small merchants gain customer confidence because this promotes public health through contactless transactions.

Studies have found that bacteria and viruses can survive for days on the surface of a paper bill, thus increasing chances of transmission.

Fintech also makes accounting more efficient because it is easier to track digital transactions. History of cash transfers, inflow, and disbursements are easily available on their mobile phones. This also works in favor of customers who keep track of their expenses, as they do not have to worry about losing their receipts because fintech already does this for them.

Besides, money is not the only thing that small merchants can take into account. Fintech can also help small merchants develop a more effective strategy in making profit by providing rich customer insight. Their transaction logs will indicate consumer pat-

terns so they can know which product sells most, how much more they can earn, and even the demographics of their target customers.

Long gone are the days when only the big businesses have access to heavy and enormous machines with these services. With the help of fintech, even small merchants can enjoy these benefits for less money, or better yet, for no money at all.

With fintech, even “nonessential” businesses can be at par with essential services when it comes to making profit even during lockdown. As of 2020, GCash has partnered with over 75,000 merchants nationwide, linking small businesses and customers together as they adjust to the new normal. Social sellers are also using their e-wallets to thrive.

Undoubtedly, fintech plays a big role in keeping the economy afloat as the country searches for more ways on how to revive its plunging economy in the midst of a pandemic. By providing an efficient and affordable way for small merchants to conduct business, it is only a matter of time before we can say that the Philippine economy is thriving in the new normal.

nearly four times the excess seen after the first shale boom in early 2017, when oil prices collapsed toward $25 a barrel. That’s an important point of comparison because it was then that Saudi Arabia and others decided that Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries wouldn’t, or couldn’t, manage the oil market on their own—and the wider Opec+ group was created, bringing more countries, including Russia, to the table.

Their cooperation has been far from smooth, but worryingly for the producer group, their somewhat belated actions during the pandemic have been so successful that WTI crude is back at a level that’s going to encourage American shale oil

producers to start pumping again.

While that may not yet be high enough to get them drilling new wells, it is enough to get them to reactivate some of those they shut during the depth of the pandemic and even to start fracking some of those they had already drilled but not completed.

Little wonder, then, that Saudi Arabia pressured those Opec+ members that failed to meet their output reduction targets in May to compensate with deeper cuts in the months ahead. It renewed that pressure when the group’s monitoring committee met last week and is going to have to keep policing that deal for many more months to drain those tanks full of oil.

Ney Villasenor, Vice President, Corporate Affairs Group, Globe Fintech Innovations Inc.

A8 Monday, June 22, 2020

Sharon seeks DOJ help on rape threat A

CTR ESS and telev ision host Sharon Cuneta has sought the assistance of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in pursuing legal action against a man who threatened to rape her and Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan’s daughter on his socialmedia post.

“Ms. Sharon Cuneta has brought this matter to my attention and has expressed her strong desire to file a criminal complaint against the person who posted the offending message in social media.

I adv ised her that the identity of the person and his location should first be clearly established,” Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said.

Gue v a r ra s a id Cu net a , through her own efforts, was able to identify the man as well as his whereabouts.

“It appears that Sharon, through her own efforts, has identified the person concerned, including his location and the name and address of his employer,” he said.

Guevarra said the DOJ will verify the identity and location of the suspect once Cuneta files the criminal complaint.

Guevarra and Cuneta have been friends since 1992, when the former was still in private litigation.

Cuneta fumed after a certain “Sonny A lcos,” whose real name according to some reports is “Sonny Co,” posted on social media the message that Frankie should be thankful because if he were younger he would go after the girl and rape her.

Then, the man added, she can “thank ” her father the senator because “I cannot be jailed,” an apparent reference to Pangilinan’s authorship of a law setting at 12 years the age of criminal prosecution of erring minors.

The actress said that such post shows that there are still devils in this world.

In her own social-media account, Cuneta warned the subject person: “You cross the line. God Help me and the law.

God help you when I find you.”

Unconfirmed reports said the man is based in the United Kingdom (UK) and has daughters of his own.

Frankie has recently been vocal in expressing her opinion against rape and initiated the “HijaAko” movement.

Joel R. San Juan

INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE (ITCZ) AFFECTING VISAYAS AND MINDANAO as of 4:00 am - June 21, 2020

Over half of labor force not covered by social security M

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

ORE than half of the labor force, particularly those between 15 to 59 years old, are not social security members, according to a study released by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

In a recent presentation, PIDS Research Fellow Aubrey D. Tabuga said 26.246 million aged 15 to 59 years old are not members of either the Social Security System (SSS) or Government Service Insurance System and PhilHealth.

Tabuga said this represented 56 percent of total labor force using 2017 data, and majority of these Filipinos are women.

“In a much broader sense, all efforts for achieving income security, enhancing agricultural productivity and off-farm in-

come opportunities in the rural areas, and facilitating innovative work schemes that are inclusive of women are all consistent with initiatives for improving access to social insurance,” Tabuga said in her recommendations.

Based on the data, more than half or 52 percent of nonmembers of SSS/GSIS and PhilHealth are women. This meant around 13.095 million are women.

This includes 6.678 million women who are not in the labor force, usually due to domestic responsibilities; 6.417 million who are employed and 478,000 who are unemployed.

The data showed that men account for 48 percent or a total of 12.673 million of nonmembers of SSS/GSIS and PhilHealth. This is composed of 10.621 million employed; 1.174 million not in the labor force; and 878,000 who were unemployed.

“In total, there were at least 26 million persons aged 15 to 59 who are nonmembers. And this represents 56 percent of the population of interest. Note that this figure does not include those economi-

cally active persons who were currently in school. So we did not include those,” Tabuga explained.

The study also found that among the 15 to 59 year olds who were employed and nonmembers of SSS/ GSIS and PhilHealth, there were relatively more males who belong to bottom 30 percent or poorest households.

Data showed 42 percent of these workers were male while 36 percent were female. Majority of men who are in this category were either working without pay in familyowned enterprises at 54 percent or self-employed at 49 percent.

However, Tabuga said 31 percent of male and 31 percent of female workers who are employed in government are both nonmembers of SSS/GSIS and PhilHealth as well as belong to the bottom 30 percent of households.

Men paid higher

MEANWHILE, the data showed, the average daily basic pay of men is higher than women among workers in private establishments. The average daily basic pay for men is P264 while for women, it is 27 percent lower at P192.

Among the self-employed, more men were working in the agriculture sector while for women, more are working in small retail businesses and personal services such as those working in spas.

“Self-employed women wanted more work, wanted more hours of work than other categories of female workers which suggest that they want to augment their earnings,” Tabuga said.

See “Labor,” A2

Navy ship brings home 500 LSIs to South

By Rene Acosta

F

@reneacostaBM

RESH from its five-month deployment in the Middle East, the Philippine Navy’s landing dock BRP Davao Del Sur (LD602) sailed for the Visayas on Sunday to transport 498 locally stranded individuals (LSIs).

Prior to boarding the vessel, the stranded individuals underwent strict medical screening and Covid-19 rapid testing on June 21 in Pasay City in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines Health Service Command (AFPHSC), with help from the Navy health personnel.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said the humanitarian mission was the “biggest number of LSIs transported in a single voyage by a Navy vessel so far.”

He said the Navy will continue to help the government in alleviating “the sufferings of our countrymen during these trying times.”

LD602 also carried much needed personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies intended for the frontliners in the region.

The Navy said that the close to 500 LSIs will be ferried to the ports in Cebu and Iloilo where they will disembark for their home cities and provinces.

Six military vehicles were utilized in transporting the LSIs from Villamor Golf Club in Pasay City to the South Harbor in Manila, where they boarded the Davao del Sur after undergoing health protocols.

LD602 commanding officer Capt. Homer Gonzalez assured the public that the ship is missionready to travel and that the passengers will be safe as long as it follows the do’s and dont’s of the vessel.

“It will be a 30-hour journey for our LSIs. We will ensure that it will be a safe and convenient travel for them,” he said.

Month’s delay in class reopening means ₧96B-₧134B economic toll

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

E

@joveemarie

ACH month of delay in reopening of classes could cost the economy between P96 billion and P134 billion in lost income and economic activity, said an economistlawmaker.

In a 122-page report to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, House Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda of Albay described the socioeconomic costs of not resuming classes as “immense and intergenerational.”

“We estimate the economic costs of delaying school by one month to be 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent of GDP this year, and 0.3 percent to 0.4 percent of GDP for the entire productive life of this generation of students. This is an immediate-year cost of P96 to P134 billion.

This is a cost that is bigger than even most individual programs in the economic stimulus proposals in Congress,” he said.

“Depriving students of the ability to learn is an intergenerational curse, considering that every year of education increases incomes by around 10 percent,” Salceda said.

He said the psychosocial costs are also significant.

“The societal implications of education are far too massive for education to be considered as an afterthought in pandemic management.

Keeping schools closed, for instance, has immense social costs. Single mothers rely on open day-care centers to take care of their children when they go to work; in many communities, being in school keeps children out of criminal influences. For many children, being in school protects them from abusive

households,” he added.

As of June 20, the Department of Education said 13.2 million students from private and public schools have already enrolled for school year 2020-2021, which will be opened on August 24.

According to Salceda, education is as essential a component of normal socioeconomic life as transport, trade and employment. With this, Salceda is pushing for “safe, equitable, and agile” reopening of classes, which he described as “urgent for economic recovery” “The answer to the question of whether physical classes should resume is not a clear-cut, one-size-fits-all yes or no. The risks are varied per sector, per area, and even per student. That is why a continuum of options for learning must be present to account for the differences in risk.

We nonetheless believe that school should resume as soon as the country is ready,”he said.

“We will not have found a new normal that is viable until we have found a way to keep education both safe and effective. The risks can and should be managed, but the social and economic costs will compound if we completely ignore the problem,” Salceda added.

He said a school has to be safe, equitable, flexible while public education should remain cost-free.

“I emphasize that there should be a variety of learning modes. You can’t force online classes among those with no Internet. You cannot force physical classes if the schools cannot guarantee minimum health standards. Local flexibility is a must,” he said, in a mix of English and Filipino.

Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones has repeatedly explained that the DepEd pitched “blended learning” precisely to allow for flexibility in learning systems

depending on unique conditions in certain areas.

Salceda emphasized the need for varied learning modes and decision tools for school and district administrators.

Salceda also warned against a one-sizefits-all approach to the reopening of classes.

“What appears clear to us is that risks among those who go to school, whether as students or as personnel, are not uniform. The costs of not reopening school are also not uniform. Therefore, a one-size-fits-all approach to the reopening of classes is doomed to result in outcomes that will fail for all,” Salceda’s report stated.

It recommended a“risk-stratified approach,” allowing students who live with high-risk persons to learn from home, and allowing for flexibility in decision-making among schools, districts, and divisions, depending on their risk classification.

“The point is, reopening classes has its risk.

So, let’s manage the risks. But we need to make decisions. Not doing anything has even greater economic costs. In the long run, it could be an intergenerational curse.” Salceda said.

“It must be admitted, however, the physically reopening school also carries immense risks in the age of Covid-19. Nonetheless, we also observed that, while school reopening carries risks, measures can be taken to mitigate the impacts of a possible outbreak in schools.”

He cited the primacy of physical distancing, deliberate reduction of contacts, avoiding mixing groups, increasing ventilation, enhanced hygiene and cleaning, reduction of access of high-touch surfaces, identification and isolation of symptomatics, personal protective equipment such as masks and considerations of vulnerable and high-risk students.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, June 22, 2020

B1

Govt crafts plan to resume oil, gas exploration in WPS

By Lenie Lectura

T

@llectura

he Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) are closely working together to proceed with exploration activities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) without compromising the country’s sovereignty.

“While we are protecting our territories, the DOE is trying to work together with the DFA on how we can continue exploration in the area,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi told the Regional Peace and Order Coun-

cil (RPOC) of Region 4-B Mimaropa (Mindoro-Marinduque-RomblonPalawan) in a recent meeting.

Cusi is the designated Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) for Region 4-B

while Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez is the chairman of the council.

The energy chief assured the body that exploration and development of resources within the area will not compromise the country’s sovereignty. “We are doing this without compromising our sovereignty. That’s one thing we can assure you as we progress in our exploration on how to develop and utilize the resources there at the West Philippine Sea. We need it to attain energy security.”

He commended the Western Command (WESCOM) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), headed by Lt. General Erickson Gloria, for keeping watch over the Philippine territories in the area.

“We thank our uniformed people, the WESCOM, for keeping watch in

that area and for protecting our territories,” said Cusi.

There was a meeting between the Philippine and Chinese officials in December last year, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between President Duterte and the Chinese president in November 2018.

Cusi earlier said the Philippines has a memorandum of understanding “with China on how to go on a possible joint exploration so that we can exploit and make use of whatever resources [are] available in the area for the use of our the country. We are still working on that, still working on how we can proceed with the joint exploration.”

He added that a more in-depth discussion between the two countries would likely happen soon.

Golden Bria posts higher income in 2019

By VG Cabuag @villygc

G

olden Bria Holdings Inc., Villar Group’s deathcare and mass market housing company, reported a record net income of P2.6 billion last year, some 66 percent higher than the previous year's P1.56 billion.

The growth was primarily attributed to a 49-percent increase in total revenues to P8.6 billion, from P5.8 billion in 2018.

Real-estate sales, which account for almost all of the total revenues, increased by half, due to strong sales in housing units and memorial lots.

“Since the listing in 2016, the

company has relied on its aggressive expansion of projects as well as its sales networks to continuously deliver record sales year-on-year,” said Manuel B. Villar Jr., chairman of Golden Bria.

“The company is also looking at widening the Golden Bria footprint across the country."

Golden Bria’s mass market housing subsidiary, Bria Homes is already expanding its portfolio in a transition from being a provider of low-cost housing to becoming the Filipino’s “Home of Choice,” a monicker it wants to achieve by adding new horizontal and vertical residential concepts in higher market segments, thereby

completing the spectrum of its products.

Bria is poised to open new project locations, most of which are innercity pocket developments within the country’s booming metro areas, the company said.

Golden Haven, the company said, is targeting to open three new projects.

Golden Bria’s assets have grown by 50 percent to P27 billion last year. The increase has been largely attributed to the business expansion; alongside significant increase in the company’s inventories rising by P1.3 billion, and contracts receivable from sales going up by P4.5 billion.

Covid-19 testing facility opens in Subic Bay Freeport

S

ubic Bay Freeport—The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) formally opened a molecular laboratory here on Friday to boost its mass-testing program in the Central Luzon area under a joint project with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

The laboratory has the capacity to do 2,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests daily, said Senator Richard Gordon, who is PRC chairman.

“The Subic lab is already open. We need to have the employees of SBMA tested first, then those of the locators, and then the public in Olongapo Zambales and Bataan,” Gordon said after inspecting the laboratory. He was joined by SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President and CEO Vince Dizon, the deputy chief implementer of the government’s Covid-19 response.

“Our aim is to get our people tested so that we can immediately isolate those who are affected and prevent the non-carriers from acquiring the virus. We really have to ramp up testing to ensure victory over Covid,” he added.

PRC’s Subic laboratory located at the former naval magazine area here will work in tandem with the SBMA’s swabbing center, strategically located at the Freeport main gate.

SBMA chief Eisma said the SBMA will assign up to 15 swabbers in the facility to accommodate samples from nearby communities and provinces. “Zambales is already sending swab samples for testing at the PRC labs in Manila. Now, Subic offers a nearer alternative that would also hasten the process make the results available earlier,” she said.

Eisma explained she has already enjoined neighboring local govern-

Sen. Richard Gordon and SBMA Chairman Wilma T. Eisma inspect the PRC molecular laboratory at the Subic Bay Freeport on Friday. The PRC lab has the capacity to perform 2,000 tests daily. HENRY EMPEÑO

ment units in Zambales and Bataan to have their residents tested in conjunction with the PRC-SBMA masstesting project.

The Red Cross testing facility in the Freeport is equipped with an automated RNA extraction machine that can run 90 samples per hour, and two PCR machines that can each process 1,000 samples a day for a daily turnout of 2,000 tests.

Application for testing will be screened and processed through the Red Cross hotline 1158, and will cost P3,500 per test. Gordon said the minimal cost will defray the costs of equipment, manpower and supplies, and other overhead needed for the mass testing program.

Gordon said the PRC laboratory in Subic, combined with a similar laboratory that PRC had set up with the BCDA at the Clark Freeport Zone,

will help step up the government’s mass testing program.

“We can do a total of 4,000 tests per day in the two new facilities, which will enable us to run an overall total of 16,000 tests a day,” Gordon said.

He said that as more laboratories are being prepared, the Red Cross will be able to increase its overall capacity to 32,000 tests a day by next week.

Aside from the testing laboratory and the swabbing center, the Subic Bay Freeport is also home to two Covid-19 care and isolation facilities that the SBMA has set up at the Subic Gym and the former Leciel Hotel.

Eisma said these projects were put up with the help of donations from investor companies in the Subic Freeport and other private groups and individuals from all over the country. Henry Empeño

It has been listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange since June 2016, and has been the first in its industry to achieve such milestone.

Kaspersky to public: Be wary of FaceApp

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

C

YBERSECURITYcompany Kaspersky assured that the FaceApp mobile application “does not contain any malicious elements,” but at the same time urged users to be attentive to the information they share with the app.

FaceApp allows users to manipulate their photos, including the now-popular gender swap feature, and rounds of photos have become viral again, about a year after the app’s free launch.

“Sharing photos and videos using apps that add filters either by swapping genders and looking older are now back in vogue.

Again, we say there's no harm in using these apps. But we urge social media users to pay strict attention to how much of their private information will be used and shared by such apps to avoid any risk,” said Yeo Siang Tiong, general manager for Southeast

Asia at Kaspersky.

Kaspersky Senior Security Analyst Fabio Assolini added that since the app mainly requires users to upload their photos to edit them, there is a potential risk of the photos being used for password authentication.

“We have to treat these new forms of authentication as passwords, as any widely available facial recognition system can end up being used for both good and bad,” he said.

Assolini added that companies such as FaceApp may “sell these images to entities that use artificial intelligence to make facial recognition modifications.”

“In addition, it must be taken into account that this data is stored on third-party servers, and that it can also be stolen by cyber criminals and used to impersonate identities," he said.

Thus, users, he said, should be aware of the security features of the app, and use official app stores to download it.

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, June 22, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

June 19, 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 EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG IREMIT MEDCO HLDG NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE

47 99.95 72.6 20.35 8.19 38.6 9.18 17.6 21.05 48 17.1 102.3 49 17 2.5 0.95 0.275 0.57 156.7 1701

47.1 100 72.65 20.4 8.2 38.7 9.3 18.48 21.1 48.25 17.98 103.3 53 17.1 2.58 1 0.285 0.59 166 1760

47.4 100 73.85 20.5 7.83 38.25 9.32 18.48 21.5 49.45 18 103 54.8 16.9 2.59 0.99 0.28 0.59 166.5 1700

47.4 101.5 73.85 20.8 8.42 39 9.32 18.48 21.5 49.45 18.1 104 54.8 17.1 2.59 1 0.28 0.59 170 1700

45.65 99.9 72 20.25 7.83 38.25 9.32 18.48 21.05 48 17.06 102.3 49 16.9 2.49 0.99 0.27 0.57 156.7 1700

47 100 72.6 20.4 8.2 38.6 9.32 18.48 21.1 48.25 17.1 102.3 49 17 2.54 1 0.27 0.59 156.7 1700

13100 5880430 5261060 474200 10155600 3826200 200 100 258000 900 117000 894890 287780 12800 18000 15000 530000 126000 114530 10

615530 503290 588658832.5 -150458766.5 381656576.5 -52783213.5 9731815 -2442540 83,410,719( 19,230,661.0001) 147671110 -39438220 1864 1848 5462135 -3088885 43420 2053632 -1721142 92041424 -51416390 15252133 -12890833 217460 45740 14910 146500 73120 18940684 -18515858 17000 -

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 2.26 2.27 2.25 2.3 2.25 2.27 1977000 4486710 ALSONS CONS 1.36 1.37 1.04 1.46 1.04 1.37 21516000 28759190 ABOITIZ POWER 27.75 27.8 28 28.3 27.45 27.8 1864900 52014315 BASIC ENERGY 0.154 0.158 0.159 0.159 0.152 0.159 140000 21760 FIRST GEN 20.5 20.9 21.25 21.25 20.5 20.5 3230600 66350890 FIRST PHIL HLDG 57.8 58.65 59 59 57.8 57.8 284130 16569432.5 MERALCO 265 268.2 276 284.6 265 265 968650 261219020 MANILA WATER 12.24 12.42 12.36 12.7 12.24 12.24 3925000 48956424 PETRON 3.02 3.09 3.17 3.18 3.02 3.02 4027000 12343130 PETROENERGY 2.75 2.93 2.9 2.93 2.75 2.93 44000 122870 PHX PETROLEUM 11 11.2 11 11.2 11 11.2 189200 2116262 PILIPINAS SHELL 18.4 18.46 18.3 18.6 18.22 18.4 824000 15141570 SPC POWER 8 8.08 8.09 8.11 7.96 8.08 153300 1224366 AGRINURTURE 7.1 7.2 7.11 7.23 7.09 7.2 63200 451417 2.75 2.77 2.6 2.77 2.58 2.75 1564000 4211040 AXELUM CNTRL AZUCARERA 12.24 12.52 12.5 12.6 12.5 12.6 2100 26260 CENTURY FOOD 14.9 14.92 14.92 14.98 14.9 14.92 3126600 46672290 DEL MONTE 4.3 4.5 4.3 4.49 4.3 4.42 9000 39830 DNL INDUS 4.9 4.93 5.07 5.08 4.88 4.9 4546500 22550988 EMPERADOR 8.09 8.1 8.1 8.1 7.89 8.09 93062800 752675892 SMC FOODANDBEV 66.95 67 67.85 68 67 67 237420 15,928,765( ALLIANCE SELECT 0.58 0.59 0.59 0.6 0.57 0.58 1109000 643130 FRUITAS HLDG 1.29 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.27 1.3 4639000 5960030 GINEBRA 31.35 31.4 34.6 34.6 31.4 31.4 221700 7,038,690( 150 150.1 149 151.7 146 150 1624970 243659932 JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR 28.2 43 40 40 40 40 400 16000 MACAY HLDG 6.4 6.5 6.79 6.79 6.4 6.5 11200 71819 MAXS GROUP 5.9 5.91 5.92 6 5.87 5.9 721300 4255329 MG HLDG 0.133 0.14 0.156 0.156 0.14 0.14 790000 116900 SHAKEYS PIZZA 6.19 6.2 6.39 6.39 6.19 6.2 3515400 21805880 ROXAS AND CO 1.73 1.78 1.78 1.84 1.72 1.78 1113000 1987700 RFM CORP 4.4 4.5 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.4 19000 83600 1.61 1.67 1.61 1.61 1.61 1.61 3000 4830 ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS 0.106 0.108 0.11 0.11 0.106 0.106 1290000 137510 UNIV ROBINA 129.5 129.8 129 132.8 127 129.5 2645780 342924545 0.89 0.9 0.94 1 0.9 0.9 224497000 203774720 VITARICH CONCRETE A 51.15 59.8 59.8 59.8 59.8 59.8 10 598 CONCRETE B 56.9 63.4 56.25 56.9 56.2 56.9 1460 82804 CEMEX HLDG 1.12 1.13 1.13 1.14 1.11 1.13 7107000 8013730 DAVINCI CAPITAL 4.49 4.5 4.49 4.5 4.49 4.5 4000 17980 EAGLE CEMENT 9.98 10 10.42 10.48 9.98 9.98 361800 3656308 EEI CORP 5.08 5.09 5.1 5.17 5 5.08 1180100 5969109 HOLCIM 6.84 6.85 7 7.04 6.8 6.84 7910200 54200235 MEGAWIDE 7.11 7.13 7 7.2 6.8 7.13 3084600 21774691 PHINMA 8.4 9 8.98 9 8.98 9 1000 8994 TKC METALS 0.74 0.75 0.72 0.75 0.71 0.75 162000 116110 0.77 0.78 0.76 0.8 0.74 0.78 439000 340020 VULCAN INDL CROWN ASIA 1.85 1.96 1.98 1.98 1.96 1.96 3000 5920 2.28 2.29 2.21 2.28 2.16 2.28 891000 1974500 EUROMED MABUHAY VINYL 3.62 3.67 3.66 3.67 3.66 3.67 8000 29290 4.11 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 2000 8400 PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION 20.6 20.95 21 21 20.9 20.95 14700 308165 GREENERGY 1.71 1.72 1.65 1.72 1.64 1.72 11990000 20289110 5.79 5.8 5.77 6 5.67 5.79 471200 2740765 INTEGRATED MICR IONICS 1.11 1.13 1.11 1.14 1.1 1.11 521000 580080 4.13 5.99 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 1000 4200 PANASONIC SFA SEMICON 1.41 1.42 1.39 1.42 1.36 1.42 1937000 2702250 8.85 8.86 9.45 9.5 8.6 8.86 19245800 173909446 CIRTEK HLDG

438670 1023060 -17040050 -12077705 -11753478.5 -131934104 -19849908 -5963320 -577074 -7110102 14460 -16260 -3211492 4490 -12492550 -752099852 8,984,495.0001) 180800 6,813,094.9997) 44509517 -1078912 -15320 15641443 66880 -118230 -148423789 -1467630 -3022600 -1617538 -654095 -2024906 -3970643 17540 -272595 -322070 459603 -37272.9997

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.5 0.51 0.495 0.5 0.485 0.5 3710000 1833600 9.27 9.3 9.69 9.69 9.2 9.26 20300 188924 ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP 805.5 808.5 775 808.5 771.5 808.5 1241900 998969720 ABOITIZ EQUITY 49 50 46.1 50.1 46.05 50 2925900 143123420 6.98 7 7.06 7.1 6.97 6.98 25169400 176503483 ALLIANCE GLOBAL AYALA LAND LOG 1.73 1.75 1.74 1.75 1.7 1.75 435000 750740 ANSCOR 6.2 6.22 6.22 6.22 6.2 6.2 116600 722950 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.5 0.51 0.51 0.51 0.495 0.51 689000 344655 0.56 0.57 0.56 0.57 0.54 0.57 1374000 758740 ATN HLDG A COSCO CAPITAL 5.35 5.36 5.42 5.42 5.36 5.36 2172200 11663884 4.23 4.24 4.28 4.29 4.23 4.24 18497000 78735000 DMCI HLDG 8.11 8.12 8.5 8.99 8.06 8.12 18114000 146953010 FILINVEST DEV FJ PRINCE A 3.17 3.59 3.79 3.79 3.79 3.79 1000 3790 GT CAPITAL 474 475.4 479.6 484 470 474 375440 178677712 63.2 63.25 64 65 62 63.25 3903820 247636268 JG SUMMIT JOLLIVILLE HLDG 4.96 5.25 4.86 5.48 4.86 5.25 37200 186357 5.02 5.49 5.5 5.5 5 5 20000 105000 KEPPEL HLDG A LODESTAR 0.61 0.62 0.65 0.68 0.6 0.61 2075000 1281090 2.64 2.65 2.63 2.64 2.61 2.64 519000 1361100 LOPEZ HLDG 8.76 8.77 9 9.14 8.77 8.77 1545300 13655590 LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG 0.47 0.52 0.46 0.52 0.46 0.52 8000 4100 3.78 3.79 3.57 3.83 3.56 3.79 156148000 590028940 METRO PAC INV PACIFICA HLDG 2.89 3.2 2.89 2.89 2.89 2.89 10000 28900 0.8 0.82 0.77 0.83 0.77 0.82 23000 17820 PRIME MEDIA REPUBLIC GLASS 2.51 2.75 2.15 2.7 2.15 2.7 368000 804210 SOLID GROUP 0.97 0.98 0.94 0.99 0.94 0.95 19000 18060 SYNERGY GRID 156 157 157 159 157 157 1070 168370 SM INVESTMENTS 942.5 949 934 964.5 930 949 677230 642568455 SAN MIGUEL CORP 101.2 101.3 104 104.5 101.3 101.3 447820 45727240 0.62 0.65 0.62 0.62 0.62 0.62 12000 7440 SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER 124.5 137.9 134 134 124.5 124.5 24610 3158046 WELLEX INDUS 0.185 0.195 0.19 0.19 0.19 0.19 120000 22800 ZEUS HLDG 0.143 0.149 0.142 0.149 0.142 0.149 140000 20080

-652700 31238 287440735 28464075 -31173013 620620 221500 2777246 -50659530 -725064 -29298826 -24904034.5 -1980 -886430 -214872 21249830 -143333285 -30887891 -3044720 -

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.55 0.56 0.57 0.57 0.55 0.56 1342000 745620 AYALA LAND 36.25 36.3 36.4 36.75 35.75 36.3 20401800 738905230 ARANETA PROP 1.02 1.06 1.02 1.06 1.01 1.06 36000 36790 1.42 1.43 1.4 1.42 1.4 1.42 411000 578580 BELLE CORP A BROWN 0.63 0.65 0.64 0.69 0.62 0.63 9051000 5964540 0.75 0.76 0.76 0.76 0.76 0.76 19000 14440 CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES 0.123 0.127 0.12 0.127 0.12 0.123 520000 64980 4.01 4.05 3.93 4.05 3.84 4.05 2295000 9164610 CEB LANDMASTERS CENTURY PROP 0.385 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.38 0.385 5660000 2180200 CYBER BAY 0.275 0.285 0.27 0.27 0.265 0.27 1370000 366800 DOUBLEDRAGON 17.5 17.68 17.2 18.3 17.2 17.5 872500 15454268 DM WENCESLAO 6.39 6.41 6.38 6.5 6.38 6.39 18500 118788 EMPIRE EAST 0.27 0.28 0.275 0.275 0.265 0.27 2480000 664400 EVER GOTESCO 0.102 0.109 0.116 0.116 0.101 0.109 2430000 260720 FILINVEST LAND 1 1.01 1.01 1.03 1 1 30544000 30741300 GLOBAL ESTATE 0.86 0.9 0.85 0.91 0.85 0.9 664000 588680 8990 HLDG 9.9 10.1 10.1 10.1 10.1 10.1 5100 51510 PHIL INFRADEV 0.87 0.88 0.86 0.88 0.85 0.88 699000 602620 MEGAWORLD 3.27 3.28 3.3 3.34 3.26 3.27 28090000 92240350 MRC ALLIED 0.159 0.16 0.152 0.164 0.146 0.159 54940000 8536220 PHIL ESTATES 0.3 0.315 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 60000 18000 PRIMEX CORP 1.42 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.45 9000 13050 18.22 18.24 17.9 18.64 17.64 18.24 3713400 67813134 ROBINSONS LAND PHIL REALTY 0.234 0.244 0.247 0.247 0.247 0.247 10000 2470 ROCKWELL 1.54 1.6 1.54 1.58 1.54 1.58 18000 28200 SHANG PROP 2.71 2.72 2.69 2.73 2.69 2.72 10000 27220 STA LUCIA LAND 1.82 1.89 1.82 1.89 1.82 1.89 22000 40870 31.45 31.8 31.9 32.95 31.4 31.45 29903900 952275675 SM PRIME HLDG VISTAMALLS 3.78 3.89 3.7 3.9 3.68 3.89 92000 349580 SUNTRUST HOME 1.29 1.3 1.25 1.34 1.22 1.3 5951000 7656790 VISTA LAND 3.9 3.92 4 4 3.9 3.9 4273000 16735840

1120 -36815450 226520 -51570 -5839690 23100 2372166 -80871 -376550 5300 -21037060 -17170 25500 -27771650 129610 -35850764 -1540 24530 53100500 -3929930

SERVICES ABS CBN 15.12 15.14 15.34 15.34 15.14 15.14 859500 13074324 GMA NETWORK 4.93 4.95 4.8 5 4.8 4.93 1520100 7487701 MANILA BULLETIN 0.365 0.385 0.365 0.385 0.365 0.385 30000 11150 MLA BRDCASTING 13.22 14.3 13.08 14.48 13.08 14.3 4100 57680 2154 2156 2200 2200 2126 2154 360295 777322410 GLOBE TELECOM PLDT 1230 1231 1241 1260 1231 1231 985415 1216799840 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.052 0.053 0.054 0.054 0.052 0.052 11240000 586060 DFNN INC 2.91 3.05 3 3 3 3 6000 18000 DITO CME HLDG 3.24 3.25 3.09 3.25 3.02 3.24 43967000 139535470 IMPERIAL 1.23 1.41 1.22 1.22 1.22 1.22 2000 2440 ISLAND INFO 0.075 0.079 0.075 0.08 0.075 0.079 500000 37590 NOW CORP 2.09 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.04 2.1 8887000 18548950 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.185 0.188 0.19 0.19 0.181 0.185 2650000 485250 PHILWEB 2.32 2.33 2.32 2.34 2.26 2.32 757000 1740400 2GO GROUP 10.02 10.24 10.38 10.5 9.9 10.24 247000 2495736 CHELSEA 3.97 3.98 3.92 4 3.81 3.98 1108000 4366930 CEBU AIR 41.9 42.95 42.7 43 41 41.9 1360300 56700500 INTL CONTAINER 98 98.5 100 102 98 98 3469380 342540236.5 LBC EXPRESS 13.5 13.92 13.5 13.94 13.5 13.5 4200 57696 0.77 0.8 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 30000 23100 LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA 6.34 6.35 6.25 6.49 6.1 6.35 4376200 27494266 METROALLIANCE A 2.44 2.45 2.41 2.49 2.37 2.44 972000 2358000 METROALLIANCE B 2.26 2.36 2.25 2.37 2.2 2.36 44000 99090 PAL HLDG 6.7 6.75 6.89 6.89 6.75 6.75 12600 85910 HARBOR STAR 0.84 0.87 0.86 0.87 0.85 0.87 250000 215000 ACESITE HOTEL 1.15 1.2 1.16 1.16 1.15 1.15 29000 33450 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.025 0.026 0.026 0.026 0.026 0.026 10100000 262600 DISCOVERY WORLD 1.62 1.77 1.64 1.64 1.64 1.64 2000 3280 GRAND PLAZA 12.22 13.76 12.02 12.5 12.02 12.5 3200 38744 WATERFRONT 0.385 0.395 0.39 0.395 0.385 0.385 320000 123500 CENTRO ESCOLAR 6.3 6.36 6.3 6.3 6.3 6.3 300 1890 FAR EASTERN U 753 800 840 840 800 800 170 136485 STI HLDG 0.305 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.3 0.31 7600000 2313750 BERJAYA 2.11 2.16 2.08 2.18 2.08 2.16 191000 403150 BLOOMBERRY 7.29 7.66 7.47 7.66 7.25 7.66 6374500 47550450 PACIFIC ONLINE 1.99 2.03 2.02 2.05 1.9 2.05 138000 271490 LEISURE AND RES 1.57 1.58 1.63 1.63 1.56 1.58 249000 393260 PH RESORTS GRP 2.5 2.52 2.8 2.87 2.32 2.5 511000 1281420 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.335 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.33 0.335 8020000 2688750 ALLHOME 7.06 7.1 7.02 7.3 7 7.06 1874100 13241647 METRO RETAIL 1.66 1.67 1.68 1.69 1.61 1.67 6005000 9863910 PUREGOLD 45.15 45.4 46.25 46.25 45.4 45.4 1266200 57758110 ROBINSONS RTL 65.5 65.65 67 67 65.65 65.65 432680 28493518.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 127.1 128.5 129 129 127.9 128.5 37610 4849692 SSI GROUP 1.18 1.19 1.19 1.21 1.18 1.18 1818000 2172780 WILCON DEPOT 15.3 15.42 15.88 15.88 15.2 15.3 1939500 29798232 APC GROUP 0.325 0.34 0.32 0.345 0.32 0.34 470000 158200 EASYCALL 7.35 7.49 7.68 7.68 7.3 7.49 24400 181034 GOLDEN BRIA 290 300 280 300 280 300 380 111074 IPM HLDG 4 5.6 5.5 5.8 5.5 5.5 8100 44820 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.211 0.215 0.203 0.217 0.2 0.215 4480000 938030 SBS PHIL CORP 5.01 5.1 5.02 5.02 5.01 5.02 10600 53189

-294276000 -102077570 9000 -1791130 184400 38430 264160 29752 83530 -6786125 -152860904.5 -760962 1890 -1361150 2931417 12800 60300 -1193889 2084600 -5602050 -23878916.5 -47723 -784010 -21494406 -

MINING & OIL

ATOK 9.9 10 10 10.16 10 10.16 3000 30288 APEX MINING 1.02 1.04 1.01 1.06 1.01 1.04 3709000 3844510 98500 ABRA MINING 0.0009 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.0009 0.001 39000000 37700 -900 ATLAS MINING 1.9 1.95 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 47000 89300 BENGUET A 1.16 1.2 1.16 1.16 1.16 1.16 22000 25520 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.191 0.195 0.184 0.195 0.184 0.191 670000 123970 CENTURY PEAK 2.66 2.7 2.67 2.7 2.66 2.7 409000 1091670 135000 DIZON MINES 7.69 7.79 7.66 7.8 7.65 7.7 26000 200057 -1538 FERRONICKEL 0.9 0.91 0.87 0.91 0.87 0.9 1185000 1063290 62440 GEOGRACE 0.225 0.226 0.225 0.229 0.222 0.226 700000 156700 LEPANTO A 0.079 0.081 0.078 0.081 0.078 0.081 6660000 526760 MANILA MINING B 0.0067 0.0084 0.007 0.007 0.007 0.007 3000000 21000 MARCVENTURES 0.58 0.59 0.58 0.58 0.57 0.58 70000 40590 1.26 1.28 1.2 1.31 1.2 1.27 467000 595330 NIHAO NICKEL ASIA 1.81 1.83 1.9 1.97 1.81 1.81 28184000 52947990 -6675120 OMICO CORP 0.38 0.385 0.38 0.4 0.38 0.385 880000 335650 -285000 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.49 0.51 0.51 0.51 0.485 0.51 163000 79805 PX MINING 2.31 2.39 2.43 2.48 2.3 2.39 5280000 12856240 -64490 SEMIRARA MINING 12.88 12.96 13.04 13.04 12.88 12.88 3044700 39,330,160( 20,046,479.9996) UNITED PARAGON 0.0038 0.0039 0.0038 0.0039 0.0038 0.0038 11000000 42400 ACE ENEXOR 6.36 6.49 6.54 6.54 6.35 6.49 167700 1072954 ORNTL PETROL A 0.0082 0.0083 0.0082 0.0083 0.0082 0.0082 59000000 489300 ORNTL PETROL B 0.0085 0.0095 0.0095 0.0095 0.0085 0.0085 12000000 108000 PHILODRILL 0.0076 0.0077 0.0076 0.0076 0.0076 0.0076 9000000 68400 PXP ENERGY 4.88 4.92 4.86 4.98 4.8 4.89 1374000 6702440 -493830

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A 97.5 98 99 99 97.5 98 20320 1990265 98500 AC PREF B2R 502.5 504 502.5 504 502.5 504 2650 1332550 DD PREF 101.1 101.5 101.5 101.5 101 101.5 240 24310 FGEN PREF G 108 110 108 108 108 108 2000 216000 GTCAP PREF B 1011 1015 1011 1011 1011 1011 1505 1521555 MWIDE PREF 99.8 100.3 100.3 100.3 100.3 100.3 150 15045 15045 PNX PREF 3A 99.5 100 100 100 100 100 10 1000 PNX PREF 4 1000 1019 1001 1001 1000 1000 100 100010 PCOR PREF 3A 1040 1050 1040 1050 1040 1050 1950 2047000 PCOR PREF 3B 1055 1060 1060 1060 1060 1060 100 106000 SMC PREF 2C 76.9 77 77 77 76.85 77 53640 4130253 SMC PREF 2E 76 77.15 75.95 76 75.95 76 4200 319190 SMC PREF 2F 78 78.2 78 78 78 78 37150 2897700 SMC PREF 2G 75.4 76 75.5 76 75.5 76 7000 529500 SMC PREF 2H 75.5 76 76 76 76 76 11000 836000 SMC PREF 2I 78 78.5 78 78 78 78 6740 525720

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 14.12 14.4 14.5 14.5 14.4 14.4 20600 298690 GMA HLDG PDR 4.65 4.7 4.82 4.82 4.6 4.7 132000 631640

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 0.72 0.74 0.71 0.75 0.71 0.72 42000 30230 1470

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 1.83 1.84 1.82 1.87 1.81 1.84 3450000 6347750 110170 KEPWEALTH 6.27 6.39 6.3 6.5 6.22 6.39 36100 225039 MAKATI FINANCE 1.88 2.46 - - - - - - MERRYMART 2.95 2.96 2.55 3.1 2.42 2.95 283349000 808957800 -3895960 XURPAS 0.58 0.59 0.59 0.6 0.57 0.59 1932000 1121290

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 95.75 97 95.95 97 95.5 95.75 9110 874606 86395

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Angkas urges govt to allow resumption of pillion riding

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

A

ngkas has asked the government for it to return to the ride-sharing business, but the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) maintained that under the current laws, it is still barred from doing so.

Friday saw Angkas showcasing its new health safety feature that will lessen the risk of Covid-19 transmission, as it seeks to resume its operations, amid the “strong clamor” for pillion riding.

Angkas has developed some form of protective shield that will be donned by drivers to somehow reduce the contact between the rider and the passenger. “We hope that back riding will be allowed with the assurance that we are doing this safely,” Angkas Chief Transport Advocate George Royeca said. “We came up with this proposal not to pressure the government to allow us to operate, but to give them options of measures that are focused on safety.”

However, during Sunday’s briefing with reporters, LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III said Angkas is still not legally allowed to operate.

“As you may recall, the Department of Transportation created a technical working group to conduct a pilot study that allowed three groups

to operate to get data for Congress.

It doesn’t mean that they are legally allowed,” he said.

He added that the results of the study, which lapsed on March 23, were “submitted to Congress as early as April.” Delgra noted that the Interagency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) will be the one to decide on Angkas’ plea. “ These proposals would be brought before the IATF for their consideration. But for us at LTFRB, motorcycles are still not legally allowed to operate."

‘Study proposals’

Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go urged the IATF for the Management of Emerging Diseases, to thoroughly study the proposed guidelines and determine the necessary health and safety protocols needed to be in place in permitting motorcycle back-riders. He also appealed to commuters to comply with health safety guidelines to be implemented.

Go lauded the decision of the IATF to allow back riding in principle provided that the proper guidelines are put in place. He further stressed that the proposal will improve mobility of the public and also provide livelihood, especially to drivers of motorcycle riding apps.

He, however, emphasized that a thorough scientific study considering both health and transportation safety

STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK Last week

Share prices fell last week as investors were less optimistic on the turn out of events and decided to cash in on the gains they made on the previous trading sessions.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 161.17 points to close at 6,315.07 points.

The main index made a steep fall at the start of the week, despite the initial public offering of MerryMart Consumer Corp., and was not able to recover from there despite gains in the succeeding sessions.

“The PSEi gained momentum and recovered most of last Monday’s losses. It traded sideways till the end of the week on above average trading volumes as selling pressure subsided. A spike in foreign outflows also contributed to the market’s weakness,” Christopher Mangun, research head at AAA Securities Inc., said.

Foreign investors continued their selling spree and were net sellers at P5.08 billion.

This could be attributed to the recent FTSE rebalancing which some foreign fund portfolio managers track. Average daily trading for the week was at P8.23 billion, higher than the usual average volume of P6 billion.

All other subindices ended in the red, led by the All Shares index that fell 114.61 points to 3,684.55 points, the Financials index declined 40.73 to 1,250.56, the Industrial index plunged 429.73 to 7,699.83, the Holding Firms index was down 12.09 to 6,599.77, the Property index decreased 141.85 to 3,139.13, the Services index shed 47.89 to 1,395.11 and the Mining and Oil index dropped 229.37 to 4,983.16.

Losers edged gainers 168 to 60 and 21 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers were Merrymart, Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc., IPM Holdings Inc., Nihao Mineral Resources International Inc. and DITO CME Holdings Corp.

Top losers were First Abacus Financial Holdings Corp., Cebu Air Inc., Makati Finance Corp., Ginebra San Miguel Inc. and Double Dragon Properties Corp. and PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc.

This week

Share prices may rise this week as signals emerge that investors are ready to stay in the market.

“We think that given the rebalancing coming off from FTSE and value turnover from last week averaging at P9.2 billion, year-to-date average of P6.5 billion which signals a conviction for market investors to stay in the market amid the uncertainty and the second wave of Covid-19,” Piper Chaucer E. Tan of Philstocks Financials Inc. said.

For the week, the policy-making Monetary Board will meet to decide on interest rates.

“I think that investors have already priced in this decision,” Tan said.

For his part, Mangun said many are expecting a repeat of what happened back in the middle of April when the market recovered rapidly and then moved sideways with a slight negative bias as investors monitor the economy’s recovery and track how fast the index can return to pre-pandemic levels.

“We believe the PSEi will move sideways with support at 5,950 and resistance at 6,800 for the next few weeks,” he said.

Stock picks

Broker Regina Capital Development Corp. recommended to buy the stocks of DITO at its support price of between P2.90 and P3 per share.

“The stock is in the process of a strong pullback, in what appears to be its second breakout since the long consolidation range below P2.57. But this time, DITO lacked the steam to break past P3.37. All indicators are already in overbought regions, so the pullback is expected,” the broker said.

“It appears DITO still holds some upward momentum and is merely establishing another interim support to gain enough momentum for another attempt at the new resistance.” Shares of the country's third telco closed last week at P3.24 apiece.

The broker also recommended to trade the range on the stock of Metro Pacific Investments Inc. as despite some strong finish last week, the session reinforced that MPIC is now trading sideways, limited within the consolidation range of P3.37 to P3.60.

“Even with a three-day straight climb, indicators have already reached their upside limit and need to pullbacks soon. Luckily, the P3.37-level support is strong enough to break the fall of MPIC near-term. The residual momentum of MPIC will force it to make another attempt at the strong resistance at P3.60, and it might be able to pierce into momentarily,” it said.

“However, indicators have been residing on overbought levels for quite some time now and will soon correct—living the stock back into its range."

MPIC shares closed Friday at P3.79 apiece. VG Cabuag

aspects must be conducted in order to provide riders and commuters the necessary guidelines if this mode of transportation is deemed scientifically advisable.

“Dapat pag-aralan muna kung ‘yung mga proposals tulad ng paggamit ng plastic dividers sa gitna ng nagmamaneho at ng pasahero ay sapat upang hindi makahawa ng sakit. Ikonsidera rin dapat kung ang mga proposed safety measures na ito ay hindi makakasama sa kaligtasan ng pagmomotorsiklo at sa kalsada,” he stressed. As early as June 4 when more stringent quarantine protocols were gradually lifted, the Senator suggested to the government to study further the possibility of allowing back riding in motorcycles, given the limited public transportation options, especially in big cities, such as Metro Manila. He cautioned, however, that, above all, health safety should be a primary consideration.

According to IATF officials, they are amenable in principle to allow back riding amid persistent public complaints that the ban on back riding placed greater inconvenience on commuters as public utility vehicles operate at a reduced capacity in areas under general community quarantine. The general community quarantine status of Metro Manila was extended until June 30.

IATF Resolution No. 47 released June 19 stated that a Technical Working Group is directed to convene and

mutual funds

determine the safest and most effective manner to reduce the rate of disease transmission in back riding in motorcycles.

“For this purpose, this mode of transportation is hereinafter allowed in principle upon the approval of the requirements to be set by the TWG,” the resolution stated.

The IATF’s Technical Working Group tasked to develop the protocols is composed of the Department of Health, Department of Transportation, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Trade and Industry - Bureau of Philippine Standards and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

Go noted that the shortage on public transportation made it harder for Filipinos to return to work. He encouraged Filipinos to cooperate with the authorities and wait for the protocols to ensure the disease does not spread further.

As of June 1, buses, trains, taxis, ride-hailing services, shuttle services and bicycles, among others, are permitted to operate under the first phase of the DOTr’s transport plan which runs from June 1 to 21. Tricycles are also allowed, subject to the approval of the local government unit.

In the presser, Roque stated that passenger jeepneys may be allowed also in the second phase, running from June 22 to 30, but only if the DOTr determines that current supply of PUVs could not meet public demand.

June 19, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 207.07 -21.67% -8.95% -5.14% -17.79% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.032 -36.18% -13.3% -6.3% -25.33% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.8166 -31.34% -13.27% -7.47% -23.42% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.7189 -23.61% n.a. n.a. -19.86% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.6889 -21.04% n.a. n.a. -18.89% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.4509 -18.55% -6.76% -4.72% -16.47% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 0.7049 -19.72% -9.5% n.a.

-17.42% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 79.95 -33.84% n.a. n.a. -22.63% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 41.8328 -19.96% -7.14% -3.98% -18.43% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 444.19 -18.4% -6.62% -4.44% -16.63% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5 0.9057 n.a. n.a. n.a. -12.08% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.0495 -20.78% -6.99% -3.93% -18.45% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 30.9493 -20.47% -6.43% -3.61% -18.33% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.8239 -21.38% n.a. n.a. -19.07% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 4.2634 -19.59% -6.6% -3.25% -18.38% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 713.22 -19.43% -6.58% -3.46% -18.22% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.6513 -29.57% -10.37% -7.48% -23.5% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.2878 -24.17% -7.99% -4.75% -21.89% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.8192 -19.47% -6.71% -3.38% -18.15% United Fund, Inc. -a 2.9972 -19.79% -5.32% -2.79% -17.96% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 95.7633 -19.2% -6.08% -2.62% -18.12% ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$0.9537 -0.16% -0.82% -1.83% -7.26% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.3729 7.59% 6.02% n.a.

-0.42% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.565 -9.77% -4.27% -3.67% 0.14% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.0965 -9.63% -3.95% -1.76% -3.88% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.4573 -7.29% -2.09% -2.98% -6.62% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.1903 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-16.72% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.8585 -4.05% -0.86% -0.46% -5.33% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.5179 -5.81% -2.07% -1.62% -7.16% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 15.6994 -6.63% -2.27% -1.77% -7.44% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 1.956 -8.95% -3.11% -1.31% -7.99% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.3509 -13.55% -3.96% -2.62% -13.27% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.9525 -6.13% n.a. n.a.

-6.22% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.8685 -14.02% n.a. n.a. -12.84% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.8489 -15.7% n.a. n.a. -14.53% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.8241 -17.07% -5.05% -3.94% -15.46% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03833 3.54% 2.24% 1.58% 0.26% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b $0.9786 1.85% 0.29% -0.21% -5.71% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.8556 4.17% 4.22% 3.33% -1.41% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.1096 1.62% 2.04% n.a.

-1.7% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 364.91 4.34% 3.03% 2.51% 1.99% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.9383 2.51% 0.87% -0.04% 1.91% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1842 4.52% 5.13% 5.07% 2.18% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.279 4.69% 2.64% 2.22% 2.43% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4306 5.61% 3.13% 1.81% 3.03% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.5428 9.55% 3.56% 2.27% 3.89% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a,6 1.2874 6.25% 3.85% 2.1% 2.44% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.9074 6.6% 3.87% 2.05% 3.15% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0223 9.01% 3.19% 1.59% 6.01% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1572 7.17% 4.62% 2.86% 2.64% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a

1.7332 5.86% 3.95% 2.37% 1.89% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $473.06 3.44% 2.41% 2.67% 1.03% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є215.37 -0.67% 0.6% 0.97% -1.98% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2127 2.83% 2.66% 2.42% 0.46% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0259 1.57% 1.32% 1.2% 0.39% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.0672 -1.34% -0.39% 0.11% -2.56% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.4336 4.66% 2.93% 2.97% 1.24% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0604583 2.96% 1.89% 1.79% 0.24% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.1664 3.51% 1.77% 2.33% -0.28% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 127.99 3.79% 3.17% 2.4% 1.76% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0403 2.59% n.a. n.a.

1.36% 3.19% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2823 3.03% 2.57% 1.4% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0444 1.65% n.a. n.a.

0.69% Feeder Fund Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,2 $0.93 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-6.06%

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).

"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

Over 40 fintech firms launch open payments network

A

merican firm Ripple Labs Inc. announced it and more than 40 other companies recently launched an open payments network to provide more access for money remittances while boosting digital adoption.

The San Francisco, Californiabased Ripple Labs said in a statement these companies joined forces to form the Open Payments Coalition and to develop PayID. The latter is a universal payment ID the OPC said aims to simplify the process of sending and receiving money across the world. With the newly-formed network, the PayID can reach 100 million consumers across the globe, Ripple Labs said. It added this addresses the pain point arising from closed payment networks. The financial technology firm noted that PayID allows individuals to transfer money via “easy-to-read address versus one that’s awkward and unintuitive— such as a bank account, routing or credit card number.”

“The next payments network should be open, like the web, where any company can participate just by building your service on the network,” Ripple Labs Senior Vice President for Xpring Ethan Beard said. “Building the open payments network that simplifies payments processes will accelerate the growth and adoption of digital payments for everyone around the globe.”

Coins.ph Head of International

Growth Lisa Kienzle, meanwhile, expressed support on the launch of PayId as this was in line with its goal to make financial transactions more accessible.

“PayID is a significant step in driving interoperability in the financial ecosystem and simplifying the process of sending and receiving money through multiple online platforms worldwide,” Kienzle added.

In an earlier interview with the BusinessMirror, Ripple Labs Southeast Asia Head Kelvin Lee said that the Philippines is ready to embrace the digital platforms for banking services, noting that the lockdown has hastened the shift to online payments and transactions.

Citing a study, he said that the volume of electronic payment transactions in the Philippines rose from 1 percent in 2013 to 10 percent in 2018.

In addition, the Ripple Labs official said that increase in online money transfers coursed through InstaPay is a signal that digital platforms are being adopted amid the “new normal.”

Philippine Payments Management Inc. recently reported that Instapay saw its transactions in April rise by 32.18 percent to 8.86 million from 6.71 million the previous month amid mobility restriction due to the pandemic. In value, transactions reached P53 billion, averaging at P6,128 per transfer.

Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

BusinessMirror

EXCLUSIVE

Analysts weigh in on shares of banks named by Wirecard

A

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

On Friday, it was reported that Wirecard AG’s auditor, Ernst & Young, declined to approve the company’s 2019 accounts after discovering that $2.1-billion worth of funds were missing. This prompted Markus Braun to immediately step down as the company’s CEO. Tracing the assets led to the allegation that BDO Unibank Inc. and the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) were holding the missing amount.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan and Philstocks Financial Analyst Piper Chaucer E. Tan agreed that the shares of both listed banks will not be affected after addressing the issue swiftly.

“The earlier news will have

less of an effect on shareholder confidence,” Limlingan told the BusinessMirror.

BDO and BPI denied their involvement in the Wirecard mess right away, emphasizing that documents supporting the claims were falsified.

Both also said that Wirecard wasn’t even their client.

“The document claiming the existence of a Wirecard account with BDO is a falsified document and carries forged signatures of bank officers,” according to a statement acquired by this newspaper. The bank added that it has already reported the case to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

BPI, meanwhile, said that it was conducting a probe on the allegations.

demand or technology, or simply to make them easier and more certain to deliver.

Look back: What did we predict?

IN 2019, we predicted that “we may be rapidly approaching the effective limits of project size and complexity unless new approaches to project delivery are developed.”

To be clear, this is not just an evolution of the age-old practice of packaging up projects into more manageable tenders. This is about taking an entirely new philosophical approach to infrastructure delivery that more closely mirrors the mantra of tech firms; move fast, make customers happy, and continuously update the technology to deliver ongoing value.

Positive incrementalism needs to be brought to the fore.

Over the coming year, we expect to see infrastructure planners, promoters and owners putting more focus into creating a roadmap of smaller projects that provide greater long-term flexibility while delivering quick wins for citizens and consumers.

The excerpt was taken from KPMG article, “Ten key regulatory challenges of 2020.” © 2020 R.G. Manabat & Co., a Philippine partnership and a member-firm of the KPMG network of independent member-firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative, a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. Printed in the Philippines.

For more information on KPMG in the Philippines, you may visit www.kpmg.com.ph.

T

he Department of Finance’s (DOF) proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (Create) will most likely not benefit 34.7 million people that are employed in micro enterprises and unregistered nonlarge firms and non-enterprise workers, according to Ibon Foundation Inc. The non-profit think tank’s Executive Director Sonny Africa said on Thursday that the tax reform package that mainly seeks to bring down the corporate income tax rate and rationalize incentives may only benefit 6.4 million workers under large firms and small medium enterprises.

In Tagalog, Africa said they see Create actually cover only a small segment of the population, which he pegged at 6.4 million. “’Yung actually mako-cover ng Create ay maliit na bahagi lamang ng populasyon: in terms of employment, 6.4 million employed lamang ang actually maaabot ng Create.”

Important point

HE said this is an important point that’s glossed over in the presentation of the government’s economic recovery program, which particularly excludes the 35 million that won’t benefit from Create.

“Mahalaga rin ’tong punto kasi kung pinapalabas na sobrang sentro na bahagi ng economic recovery program ng gobyerno ang Create—’yung mismong disenyo niya—at most ang maabot lamang ay 6.4 million na employed sa Pilipinas, leaving 35 million employed na hindi rin actually matutulun-

GSIS to grant financial aid to 11 ‘Ligtas Covid’ centers

G

overnment Service Insurance System (GSIS) President and General Manager Rolando Ledesma Macasaet recently announced that the state pension fund will provide financial assistance amounting to P700,000 each to 11 government Local Isolation and General Treatment Areas for Covid-19 cases (Ligtas Covid) centers.

The centers were identified based on Executive Order 112 dated April 30, 2020, which imposed Enhanced Community Quarantine in high-risk geographic areas.

These areas are: the National Capital Region; Region III or Central Luzon (except Aurora); Region IV-A or Calabarzon; Pangasinan; Benguet; Iloilo; Cebu; Bacolod City; Davao City; Albay; and Zamboanga City.

A Ligtas Covid center is a community

isolation unit located within a barangay, municipality, city, or province that serves as a temporary shelter to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases who will require quarantine or isolation.

The pension fund chief explained that the initiative is in compliance with Republic Act 11469 and Proclamation 922, which order public institutions to mobilize resources and provide full assistance to programs that seek to eliminate the Covid-19 virus.

“This corporate social responsibility initiative aims to enable local government units to prevent further transmission and manage cases of Covid-19 at the family and community levels,” Macasaet said in a statement.

The financial assistance will help cover the purchase of identified requirements

Investors are now on the lookout if Wirecard can present the said paper trail showing the funds being channeled to the alleged banks, Limlingan added.

If the stocks of BDO and BPI were to dip this week, Tan said that this can present an opportunity as well.

“I think this will be a very good opportunity for these two listed bank companies to accumulate shares and, as this controversy unfolded on Friday, as you can see the trades for BDO and BPI have been on a steady pace [and] not having a volatility unto the price,” he explained.

RCBC Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort, meanwhile, said that the news could potentially bring the shares of the industry leaders down.

But Ricafort is only expecting a minimal impact on investor sentiment after the Central Bank clarified that none of the missing funds entered the local financial system.

“Hopefully, any decline at the open would only be an immediate, knee-jerk reaction,” he said, adding that “sentiment would also depend on the facts” moving forward.

Should the banks’ shares decline, Ricafort said he was hoping that the entire local bourse would not be dragged because “other stocks would decouple and others not affected based on fundamentals and valuations.”

BDO and BPI are part of the 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index.

For his part, Diversified Securities Inc. Equity Trader Aniceto K. Pangan said that the banks would be negatively affected if the documents claiming their involvement were to be proven authentic otherwise.

Strong and robust

ON Friday, shares in BDO ended flat at P100 apiece while BPI saw its stocks slide by 1.83 percent to close at P72.60 each amid the 0.53-percent dip for the benchmark index. BDO and BPI have market capitalization of P438.31 billion and P333.74 billion, respectively, according to the latest PSE data. BDO is leading the banking sector in terms of assets and capital base, which amount to P3.29 trillion and P372.22 billion, respectively, as of end-March. In the same period, BPI’s total assets reached P2.19 trillion while its capital account stood at P276.13 billion.

In the first quarter, BDO reported that its net earnings declined by 10.20 percent to P8.8 billion while BPI saw its profits dip by 5 percent to P6.39 billion amid the pandemic.

“The Philippine banking system remains relatively strong and robust in terms of financial position and performance, as among the most profitable industries in the country in recent years,” Ricafort added.

Ibon: DOF tax proposal won’t create benefits

Small becomes beautiful

W

On the lookout

@Tyronepiad

nalysts have mixed sentiments over how the shares of two of the country’s biggest banks—one owned by the Sy family, the other the Zobel de Ayala’s—will fare this week after being involved in an accounting debacle with a German payments company.

Perspectives ere megaprojects just a fad? For a few years it seemed that big projects were the best solution to many of society’s big problems. That logic is being reconsidered.

The delays, cost-overruns and disruption associated with the massive size and scale of megaprojects is frustrating citizens and governments.

Sure, the initial announcement of a megaproject was probably met with much fanfare and excitement. But now people are getting tired of waiting.

Citizens want their problems solved faster and— more often than not—at a small-scale, local level.

Megaproject owners and developers are also losing their appetite for out-sized projects. The reality is that the risk/reward ratios rarely line up. There are too few developers able to take on the risk of these types of projects. There are too few professionals with the experience needed to make them successful.

There are too few construction companies with the balance sheets required to develop the new design and construction approaches required to deliver them.

In response, we have started to see megaproject plans get unpacked.

Rather than going for ‘all-or-nothing’ on Day 1, infrastructure owners and planners are starting to think about how they might deliver a series of smaller, more flexible and future-enabled projects that add incremental value to citizens’ lives.

Governments are also considering the merits of splitting their projects into smaller programs to allow for more nimble responses to changes in

Monday, June 22, 2020 B3

of the Ligtas Covid centers based on the guidelines set under Proclamation 922, as well as the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Department of Health (DOH) Joint Resolution 2020-0001.

These include supplies and resources such as patient care equipment, individual hygiene kits, handwashing facilities, oxygen support, and maintenance and supportive medication.

Each Ligtas Covid Center will provide basic room and board; case management; monitoring and prompt referral at the first sign of clinical deterioration; and discharge instructions for continued home care and follow-up.

“The centers will be selected by lead agencies DOH and DILG,” Macasaet said in the statement.

gan ni Create,” Africa said on Thursday in his group’s online forum.

While he said there may be some micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that may benefit from Create, he surmises that 75 percent of the benefits would most likely go to nearly 2,000 large enterprises.

Dubbed by the finance department as the “one of the largest economic stimulus measures in the country’s history,” Create seeks an outright 5-percentage point cut in the corporate income tax (CIT) to 25 percent rate this year from the current 30 percent. This would be followed by a yearly 1-percentage point reduction from 2023 until the CIT reaches 20 percent in 2027.

The passage of the measure would mean at least P667 billion in revenue loss for the government between 2020 and 2027.

Negligible impact

This revenue, Africa said, is equivalent to buying 222 million Polymerase Chain Reaction test kits or 34,000 contact tracers or funding for the hospitalization of 4.7 million moderate cases or funding for hospitalization of 848,000 critical cases.

Aside from the cut in the CIT rate, Africa also said the impact of the enhanced net operating loss carryover for losses incurred in 2020, which is proposed to be extended from the current three years to five years for non-large taxpayers, is “negligible” as this would only result to a revenue loss of P2 billion in 2024 and

P1.9 billion in 2025.

The total sum of P4 billion for MSMEs in these two years is small change, Africa said.

“So kung sinasabing benepisyo ito sa micro, small and medium enterprises, sa totoo lang, ’yang suma niya na P4 billion for those two years, actually barya lang siya.”

Africa added that the Create proposal is only being stitched with attractive attire but its impact on MSMEs is negligible. [“Binibihisan lamang ang Create [proposal] na kunwari para sa MSMEs pero pag nakita mo ’yung impact niya napakanegligible talaga.”]

Lambino’s belief

Earlier, Finance Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Tony Lambino told the BusinessMirror that MSMEs are the main beneficiaries of the Create proposal through the reduction of CIT rate, considered the highest among membercountries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Under the current setup, the finance official earlier argued that smaller businesses pay the higher corporate income tax rate at 30 percent while many of the largest companies are effectively paying 6 percent to 13 percent because of special tax treatment.

Although the DOF-backed measure failed to hurdle the Senate before the sine die adjournment on June 5, senators committed to pass it upon resumption of the session in July. Bernadette D. Nicolas

EastWest CEO targets double-digit returns

E

ast West Banking Corp. (EastWest) is targeting double-digit returns despite government measures against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has sapped the strength of the country’s economy.

“We’re targeting double-digit returns even with the provisions we plan to book,” a statement by the Gotianun-led EastWest quoted Antonio C. Moncupa Jr. as saying. “Booking more loan provisions is our way of assuring our depositors and stock investors that EastWest’s balance sheet is strong enough and could earn good profits that it can face this pandemic squarely – sustaining the Bank’s position as among the most profitable listed universal banks in the industry.”

Moncupa believes the financial intermediary “will still be among the most profitable banks in 2020” in spite of the impact of anti-Covid measures.

He attributes the bank’s stability and resilience to the “fruits of the seeds it has planted in the last few

years,” including improving economies of scale as its branches have started to mature, better trading gains, lower interest rates, and better deposit structure with the increase in current and savings account deposits.

With current earnings projection for 2020 of the subsidiary of conglomerate Filinvest Development Corp. at P5 billion to P6 billion, Moncupa remains optimistic about the rest of the year, the statement said.

EastWest ended last week strong with stock prices closing at P8.20 per share, an 11.56-percent increase from June 15.

“This performance follows the highlights from the bank’s Annual Stockholders’ Meeting held last June 11 via video conferencing, in which EastWest reported a P6.2-billion net income in 2019, and a P2.7-billion net income in the first four months of the year, a statement from the bank said.

“This follows after its first quarter 2020 report where it ended as the most profitable listed bank,” it added.

B4

Show BusinessMirror

Monday, June 22, 2020

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A good heart that’s as lovely as her name

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

z

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Carson Daly, 47; Cyndi Lauper, 67; Meryl Streep, 71; Todd Rundgren, 72.

Happy Birthday: Try something new. Research the possibilities. Consider signing up for an online course that will help put your talents and skills to good use.

Turn the time you spend at home into magical moments with loved ones. How you treat and respond to others will reveal what you can expect in return. Couple giving and taking with love and gratitude. Your lucky numbers are 5, 19, 22, 28, 30, 37, 44.

LOVELY RIVERO

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): Work hard, play hard and live life your way. Refuse to let emotional issues grow out of proportion or cause setbacks. Address issues head-on, put the past behind you and prepare to make the most of your day.

HH

I

F you do not know her well, you wouldn’t think that she is already in her 50s. Her well-preserved youthful looks certainly does not give her age away, but actress-businesswoman Lovely Rivero has never been the type who’d hide her real age. In fact, she is mighty proud of it and she lives her life as she pleases, choosing activities that will enrich her mind and spirit, and finding true happiness in simple joys.

The past three months have been tough, baffling and strenuous for every one around the globe. Most of our jobs, businesses, even relationships were put on pause by this unknown enemy that the most knowledgeable and best-equipped experts are still trying to defeat. Rivero’s main sources of income have been compromised and the industry that she belongs to is one of the hardest hit.

Rivero runs a booking and events company that supplies bands and musical artists to both foreign and local entertainment companies, bars and clubs. She also works as a freelance actor. So when the shutdown of all these businesses happened because of the pandemic, everyone in her fold got displaced.

She immediately called a few of her fellow managers and agents so they could join forces and reach out to those who needed help and assistance right away. “A basic need of anyone displaced by the sudden lockdown is food. So I thought to start with our Food Care Packages, using our own resources.

The package includes rice, canned goods, fresh vegetables and noodles—good for around three days for a regular-sized family. We were initially helping quietly, until some friends found out about it and voluntarily started sending goods, products, vitamins, all kinds of stuff for us to add to our packages,” she shared.

Rivero added, “When the group grew bigger, and more donors came in, we decided to post what we do and where these go to in the name of transparency and gratitude. We realize that people can be inspired from what other people do. And we got calls to reach out to those who needed our packages most, and we

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You know the drill. Hop to it, and stay on course. Set high standards and goals. Reach for the stars, and refuse to let anything come between you and what you are trying to achieve. HHHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Everything will fall into place if you take your time, pay attention to detail and proceed with tunnel vision. Don’t let outsiders interfere when what’s essential is obtaining your goal and finishing on time. Commit yourself. HHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Look at your options, and consider the best way to use your skills to excel. Financial opportunities look promising and will encourage you to make personal changes. When it comes to important decisions, don’t let your emotions drive you. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Stand up and be counted. Don’t make changes for the wrong reason or because someone is pressuring you to do so. Proceed with consistency, a steady pace and the intent to do your own thing. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A demonstrative approach will help you bring about positive change. Contact people you have worked alongside and trust for advice that will help you reach your goal. The information you gather will be valuable to you as you move forward. HHHH

also got requests from other individuals and groups who wanted to collaborate and help, too!”

From the initial beneficiaries of musicians, artists and those who work in the entertainment business, Rivero and company were able to reach out to all kinds of people of all ages, reaching as far as provinces nationwide. There are days when she’d personally go to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for the meals that she will cook. A big donor in Rivero’s mission is Fly Ace Corp., owned by the ever-generous Cochanco family.

Rivero’s children Nadine and Nathan, now both in their early 30s, are proud of their mom and help her out, too. Her former partner Nacy, a businessmanrestaurateur, also supports Rivero’s activities.

“I am blessed to have my family and friends who

support me completely. Many constantly remind me to take extra care when I go out and perform my tasks, but they know I am most fulfilled when I make people happy, so they just let me. I guess it’s true that real happiness is felt when one has made a difference in the life of another, and real joy lies in knowing that you were there for somebody when that person needed you the most,” she said, adding, “and when that someone you’ve helped pays it forward someday, that’s already a bonus!”

This ripple effect of kindness and generosity continues up to this day, and Lovely Rivero remains one of the few tireless souls who go out there in the open, preparing and distributing her Food Care Packages, reminding us that no beauty shines brighter than that of a good heart. n

weather both the shutdown and what’s likely to be a slow recovery.

“This downturn is going to be more protracted than a quarter or two,” Zeitlin says.

Meanwhile, online luxury retailer Farfetch has seen sales skyrocket— by 90 percent last quarter. Further changes may be on the way for the industry, says Chief Executive Jose Neves. “We’ll see headwinds and tailwinds and side winds.”

The decimation of global tourism during the pandemic will hit luxury

labels hard, Neves says.

Visitors from China, for example, were a reliable source of sales in hubs like New York, London and Paris.

Neves says fashion is rooted in the wider culture, and will survive. His brick-and-mortar rivals may need a bit of reinventing—but “this was true before Covid.” n MARKETING: ‘DISCOVERY MAGIC.’ Searching for a way to sum up consumption patterns in the pandemic, Jake Cohen invokes the “hierarchy of needs” theory of psychologist Abraham Maslow. “As soon as people were sent home, the

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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You’ll pick up information quickly, but before you apply what you hear, verify the facts offered. An opportunity is within reach; if you give an idea, you have a unique spin. Do things differently, and it will set you on the road to success. HHHHH

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Physical work will be satisfying as well as productive. A chance to make extra cash will open up if you offer something that others want. Building something unique can be fun and lucrative if you use your imagination. HHH

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Fashion redesigned itself in lockdown Continued from B5

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Don’t labor over what you cannot change. Strive to improve your life. Build a daily routine that includes taking better care of yourself. Staying healthy should be a priority. If you want to look amazing, healthy eating and fitness matter. HH

first thing they did is buy three weeks of food,” he says. “That’s the bottom rung.” Later on, “people are going to spend on things to reintroduce themselves into society”—like clothes.

Cohen is head of product marketing at Klaviyo, a Boston-based e-commerce marketing company. He says there’s been a surge of interest in recent months, with the clothing business accounting for about 30 percent of his clients.

Traditionally, “the golden discovery magic was being in the department store,” he says. “If you’re a brand that got picked up by Bloomingdale’s or

Barneys or wherever, people walk through going for Chanel, but they see you, and all of a sudden you’re a thing.

People aren’t in stores now, so how do they go find that new brand?”

Fashion is coming up with answers online, from customer quizzes to influencers on social media. Instagram is full of ads for face masks that match up with shirts or skirts. A swimsuit brand has its own blog and travel guide: “no one’s traveling right now,” but they’re hoping to, so they might click the link. “Good storytelling, good branding and good content is going to attract people.” n

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): People who offer mental stimulation and sensitivity toward something you care about will attract you.

Working in conjunction with like-minded people will help you bring about change. Implement a domestic shift that will add to your comfort and relieve stress. HHH

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Look in the mirror, scour your surroundings and, start the task of decluttering and clearing a path to personal and domestic freedom. The physical change brought about through hard work and dedication will improve your life. Commit yourself. HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Research before you start something new. Knowing what you are up against and how best to put your ideas into play will make it easier to implement change.

A personal victory will be yours depending on the way you handle matters. Speak up. HHHHH Birthday Baby: You are thoughtful, affectionate and opportunistic.

You are imaginative and perceptive.

‘corporate division’ by pam klawitter The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 “Missouri borders on eight states,” e.g.

5 The Bachelor handout 9 Buddies 13 Ernie’s red friend 14 Some parental siblings 16 “I’ve got this!”

17 Eye movement?

19 Wrinkly tangelo 20 Chimney swooper?

21 McBride of Hawaii Five-0 22 Wu-Tang ___ (rap group) 23 Car shopper’s surprise 27 Lead-in to “historic” 30 Academic URL ending 31 Pig’s place 32 Many a singing show performance 34 Niihau neckwear 36 Space flare-ups 41 Paused a game 45 Past or future 46 Branford Marsalis’ instrument, informally 47 In ___ straits 48 Down Under runner

1 Bitter brew, briefly 5 53 Drops on the ground?

54 Car’s anti-theft device 60 Early bird’s reward 61 Bothersome racket 62 Items on a to-do list 66 Jordanian or Syrian 67 Share-increasing action, or a hint to the word that bookends the starred answers 70 10, for the decimal system 71 City east of Phoenix 72 Part of 51-Across 73 Place to store a rake, perhaps 74 List keeper in college?

75 Each DOWN 1 Own (up) 2 Wasatch ski resort 3 “Are you kidding me?!”

4 Civil wrongs 5 Mouse relative 6 First word of the Lord’s Prayer 7 Celery or potato chips 8 Writes in stone, say 9 Joey’s home

0 ___-Saxon 1 11 Light purple 12 Unpleasant fuss 15 Blouse partner 18 Friend, in Australia 24 Just hanging around 25 Prompted 26 Match up 27 Discreet “Hey, you!”

28 One way to learn 29 Musk who’s dating Grimes 33 Special ___ (some missions) 35 TGIF segment 37 Word before “times” or “news” 38 Empty space 39 Woodland measure 40 Alter, as findings 42 Look narrowly 43 Noisy precipitation 44 Big convention 49 In the ___ of 50 As one 52 “Hamilton” divisions 54 Q-tips, for instance 55 Holy Hebrew scroll 56 Delete

7 Insert, as a video 5 58 Garden adornment 59 K, on a sorority sweatshirt 63 Hockey shot sound 64 Drug bust unit 65 Part of the plan?

68 1040 pro 69 Barbie’s boyfriend Solution to Friday’s puzzle:

Style

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, June 22, 2020

Fashion redesigned itself in lockdown

AIRism Jersey Short Sleeve Polo Shirt

By Katia Dmitrieva & Kim Bhasin Bloomberg News

AIRism Pique Short Sleeve Polo Shirt

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ASHION executives have spent the lockdown figuring out how to sell their products online.

They’re learning lessons that may shape the retail trade even as America’s shopping malls reopen. That’s just one of the abrupt changes forced on an industry highly attuned to shifting trends. Here’s another: If customers are more likely to be buying clothes from home, they’re more likely to wear them there too. In the absence of dress-up events, there’s a surge in demand for comfort.

From food to furniture, businesses are mapping out what they expect to be the new patterns of demand—and repositioning their companies accordingly. Fashion has faced some of the worst upheaval of all.

In the pandemic’s early stages, Americans all but stopped buying clothes. Sales plunged almost 90 percent, four times the drop in overall commerce.

The demand shock threatened to bankrupt bigname retailers, and import-reliant companies had to grapple with supply disruptions, too.

Here’s how four corners of the stricken industry are making it work. n WHOLESALER: ‘WEEK BY WEEK.’ Richer Poorer, which sells “elevated basics” like tailored T-shirts and sweatpants, had just rebranded itself in January when the shocks started to arrive. The coronavirus knocked out two factories in China. Retail customers began to

cancel orders. And then its headquarter city of San Juan Capistrano in California imposed a work-fromhome regime.

“That was our first round of ‘Oh, this is actually going to have big impacts for us,’” says co-founder Iva Pawling. “Not just for this season immediately, but through spring 2021.”

In a normal March and April, most of what Pawling does—from designs and fittings to factory orders—would be geared to the season starting 12 months later. This year, “it’s just been trying to survive week by week.”

The company had planned a gradual pivot toward selling direct to consumers online. Instead it happened in a rush. Last year, wholesale accounted for 70 percent of revenue. This year, 90 percent has come from e-commerce. Sales held up because pandemicera demand was a good match for Pawling’s offerings.

“I have friends that run brands that don’t sell the most comfortable clothing on earth, and they’re not experiencing the same thing.”

She quickly sold-out of some items, and had to figure out how to speed up shipments from suppliers in Peru or Indonesia. She’s in talks with a US factory that could deliver quicker—though it’ll also cost more. And with trade shows canceled, she’s working on creative ways to showcase her collections online instead. Between March and July, “the entire business operations will completely have changed.” n DESIGNER: ‘THAT’S FOREVER.’ Cynthia Rowley’s cheery, playful aesthetic has been a staple of New

York fashion for decades. Her boutiques closed during the pandemic, and department-store client Neiman Marcus Group filed for bankruptcy. But for a few years now, Rowley has been moving away from such venues anyway, toward her own e-commerce operation.

That’s gathered pace in the pandemic—and so has the shift toward informal attire. There’ll be fewer dresses for weddings or evening events. “It has to be things that are appropriate to the new normal,” she says. “That’s forever. People will have a more relaxed approach to what they wear.”

Rowley says that will naturally lower prices. Also, “when you start talking about more accessible and more casual fabrics, that’s when really good design has to come into play.” One thing that won’t change is “that feeling that you get when you look at something that makes you really excited to put on,” she says.

“That’s never going away.” n RETAIL: ‘SECULAR SHIFT.’ Clothing stores all over the world are reopening, but Tapestry Inc.—which operates more than 1,500 of them—foresees a “secular shift” toward online shopping, according to Chief Executive Officer Jide Zeitlin. He’ll likely pare back the company’s network of Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman outlets, with a higher threshold for renewing leases as they expire.

Tapestry’s stores canceled $500 million of orders for handbags, jackets and dresses, saving cash to

Continued on B4

Pique Lined Short Sleeve Polo Shirt

Classic, practical pieces for the modern man IN line with its LifeWear philosophy of creating clothing for everyone and every occasion, Japanese global retailer Uniqlo introduces new items for the brand’s Polo Shirts Collection. From classic to functional, the lineup features different iterations of the iconic collared shirt, with new fabrics, updated silhouettes, and integrated clothing technology.

Designed to accommodate the modern man’s day-today activities, the pieces in the collection can be styled in a variety of ways for a refined, preppy feel.

A staple of any complete modern wardrobe, the polo shirt offers endless options for everyday and smart-casual styling. This season’s Uniqlo Polo Shirt Collection comes with several clever enhancements.

Dry-Ex tops, made with recycled PET bottles, boast of powerful moisture-wicking performance, while AIRism technology allows for a cool, comfortable feeling even in the heat. In soft, breathable fabrics, the pieces in the collection were made for movers and shakers, those off to a big meeting, an important interview or even a quick errand.

Designed with zero compromises on style and on function, the Uniqlo Polo Shirt Collection is now available in all Uniqlo stores nationwide (bit. ly/3fLz9CW).

AS part of Bata’s 1 million pairs of shoes global donation, Bata Zimbabwe offered 250 pairs to the administrative authorities of the Midlands Province together with 500 face masks.

Bata Malaysia presented the donated shoes to YB Dato Sri Dr. Adham Baba, Health minister of Malaysia.

Bata donates 1 million pairs of shoes to frontliners and their families A GLOBAL leading shoe company, Bata has committed to donating 1 million pairs of shoes to health-care workers, volunteers and their families, the frontliners fighting Covid-19 with courage and dedication every day.

The donation will impact a number of countries where the brand operates in Europe, Latin America, Africa, AsiaPacific and India. Bata Philippines will be donating 1,800 pairs of shoes to

frontliners through SM Foundation.

“During these unprecedented times, Bata is committed to doing everything possible to ensure the health and safety of our employees and consumers, to continue to serve our consumers to the best of our ability, and to take meaningful action to help communities in need and those on the frontlines,” said Alexis Nasard, Bata CEO. “Now more than ever,

we are committed to upholding our values and to improving the lives of our consumers, employees, suppliers, customers and communities.”

Since the onset of the outbreak, Bata through its “Bata Heroes” initiative has been working with its long-standing foundations, charitable partners, government officials and other organizations to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic,

in countries as diverse as India, Czech Republic, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Colombia, Italy, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Chile, Peru, Thailand and Malaysia. Bata produced and donated face masks, face shields and personal protective equipment for health-care workers, as well as donated food, hygienic products, or funds through the Bata Children’s Program and the Bata Shoe Foundation.

How Korean stars influence our beauty choices of a magazine and someone said the red color she wore on her lips was MAC Chili. It was actually MAC Diva combined with a Shu Uemura lipstick. Guess what? Both lipstick shades were reportedly sold out in Korea and China. MAC Chili is still very popular in both countries. When MAC Cosmetics released a new line of lipsticks, called Powder Kiss, the first shade to be sold-out was Devoted to Chili, which was a tribute to the original Chili lipstick.

Before Kylie Cosmetics came to be, Kylie Jenner WHEN I posted some Benefit Cosmetics products on my Instagram stories recently, one of my colleagues commented, “This reminds me of Kim Da-mi.”

Kim Da-mi is a Korean actress who played Yiseo in the hit drama series Itaewon Class. In one of the scenes in the series, Kim Da-mi is seen applying a tint on her lips. The tint is Love Tint from Benefit Cosmetics.

Naturally, people became obsessed. Kim Da-mi’s character is effortlessly stylish from her dip-dyed hair to her bad ass boots.

This isn’t the first time that the public has been obsessed with the hair, makeup and/or clothes of a celebrity.

Idol and actress Suzy once appeared on the cover

became the reason why MAC Lip Liners Soar and Whirl were sold-out everywhere. In an interview, Jenner said she never had lip fillers and that she would just overline her lips with any of these two liners. The lip liners were so popular that MAC eventually came out with lipstick versions.

Jenner’s sister Kim Kardashian also made MAC Angel lipstick a best seller. Not everyone can pull off the pale lipstick but Kardashian looks gorgeous whenever she’d pair it with a smokey eye.

Now back to Korean dramas. One lesson I’ve learned from watching them is that if you wear full bangs, the best way to fluff them up is to wear hair rollers.

Also, the proper way to apply cushion makeup is to almost slap your face with the product-laden puff that comes with your compact.

Korean drama actresses’ characters rarely apply lipstick or lipstick like we do. Instead of gliding the tube or wand over their lips, they dab and then spread it with their pinky fingers.

From watching the shows, I’ve seen that many Korean makeup artists like using another Benefit Cosmetics classic, Benetint, on the lips followed by a lip gloss for a juicy popsicle look. Among the Korean stars who use Benetint are boy group members S.Coups of Seventeen and Bae Jin-young of CIX. Other lip tints that are favorites of Korean drama and K-pop fans (because they see it on their favorites) are Peripera Ink The Airy Velvet, YSL Glossy Stain, Clio Mad Velvet Tint, Romand See-Through Matte Tint and the very popular 3CE Velvet Lip Tint.

The products that many of us are using right now are heavily influenced by Korean celebrities. Korean beauty has indeed crossed geographical boundaries and gone around the world. From sheet masks to lip tints, we’re being happily influenced.

B5

B6 Monday, June 22, 2020

Metrobank supports Jollibee Group Foundation’s foodaid program

Through a PhP 2 million donation of Metrobank and GT Capital Holdings to Jollibee Group Foundation’s FoodAID program, 10,000 families from the cities of Manila, Taguig, Quezon, Caloocan, Pasig and Valenzuela were given food packs.

Photo shows some families from Valenzuela City receiving the aid.

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ETROBANK and GT Capital Holdings, Inc., through the Metrobank Foundation, Inc. (MBFI) and GT Foundation, Inc. (GTFI), donated PhP 2 million to Jollibee Group

Foundation for its FoodAID program to benefit underprivileged families affected by the ongoing health crisis. A total of 10,000 families from the cities of Manila, Taguig, Quezon, Caloocan, Pasig

and Valenzuela were given food packs consisting of ready-to-cook marinated chicken. As the social responsibility arm of Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), Jollibee Group Foundation implements the FoodAID program which systematizes and consolidates the relief and rehabilitation efforts of the group, with the goal to enable communities to respond and recover when a disaster strikes.

The donation is part of the PhP 200 million pledge by Metrobank and GT Capital Holdings Group to fund and support efforts to combat the pandemic and help those in need. The amount was allocated for the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPEs) to benefit healthcare and security frontliners; support for the production of testing kits through the UP National Institutes of Health; ‘Project Ugnayan’ led by the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation; distribution of meals and food packs to underprivileged families; set-up of a molecular laboratory for the testing of cases through the Philippine Red Cross; and project ARK (Anti-body Rapid test Kits) of GoNegosyo (Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship Foundation).

U.S. provides technical training on Covid-19 testing in the Philippine

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HE United States, through the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), led a two-week molecular biology training to strengthen the COVID-19 testing capabilities of Philippine medical technologists.

From June 1 to June 12, the U.S. Department of Defense’s PhilippinesAFRIMS Virology Research Unit (PAVRU) trained four medical laboratory technologists at the Victoriano Luna Medical Center, the biggest Philippine military medical facility, on biosafety, biosecurity, respiratory sample processing and storage, and COVID-19 testing techniques.

PAVRU and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have maintained a strong partnership since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic outbreak, during which they worked to support disease testing in the Philippines.

With the onset of the COVD-19 pandemic, PAVRU is once again working directly with

and supporting AFP personnel in the fight against the disease.

During the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, PAVRU provided Victoriano Luna Medical Center with testing and laboratory supply support, including reagents, laboratory consumables, access to equipment, and guidance for molecular testing. In addition, PAVRU offered technical guidance as the Medical Center designed, renovated and equipped a dedicated COVID-19 testing laboratory that includes biosafety cabinets, centrifuges, and biomedical freezers. With PAVRU support, Victoriano Luna Medical Center and its personnel have completed nearly 3,000 COVID-19 tests on behalf of the AFP. AFRIMS is an overseas laboratory of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, headquartered in the United States in Silver Spring, Maryland. Since 1893, WRAIR has worked to reduce the impact of some of the world’s most debilitating diseases.

Sun Life and hybrid solutions provide safety for checkpoint frontliners

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UN Life Financial-Philippines Foundation Inc., (Sun Life Foundation), the philanthropy arm of Sun Life Philippines, in cooperation with Hybrid Social Solutions, Inc. (HSSi) successfully fulfilled its solarization program in Quarantine Control Points (QCP) for the benefit of the frontline teams in various locations.

The program relieved teams manning checkpoints through the deployment of various solar-powered equipment, such as solar radio/lights, solar light/chargers, and solar fans. These benefitted a total of 1,522 frontline staff manning 90 QCPs in 25 municipalities across seven provinces including Rizal, Laguna, Quezon, Palawan, Albay, Iloilo, and Antique.

Volunteers who manned the Dulumbayan Checkpoint 4 and San Rafael Checkpoint commended the program, saying the solar equipment provided allowed them to conveniently perform their tasks such as inspecting vehicles and preparing reports, gave them access to timely news and updates, protected them from insect-borne diseases, and gave them visibility as well as overall safety.

Moreover, it also allowed them to keep in touch with loved ones as they were able to keep their mobile phones charged.

Sun Life CEO & Country Head Benedict Sison, who also chairs the Sun Life Foundation, stated, “It is our honor to provide the needs of frontline teams striving to keep communities safe. We earnestly hope that our humble contribution becomes instrumental in helping our country win the fight against COVID-19.” Sun Life Foundation President, Alex Narciso added, “Sun Life remains committed to be the Filipino people's partner especially during the most trying times like

this pandemic. This effort to alleviate our frontliners’ situation is our way of showing that we are one with the nation in winning against COVID-19.”

Meanwhile, HSSi CEO Jim Ayala said, “Thousands of barangay health workers and other frontliners in rural villages nationwide man QCPs with no electricity. With the help of Sun Life Foundation, HSSi was able to equip over 1,500 frontliners stationed at these checkpoints with solar equipment.”

With the modification of quarantine measures in various locations, the solar equipment are now being retrieved from the checkpoints for possible redeployment in other areas where it may be useful, thus allowing the program to impact other communities in need.

The solarization program is one of Sun Life Foundation’s many initiatives aimed at providing assistance amid the pandemic. It has donated personal protective equipment, masks, and others supplies to various hospitals nationwide, provided Life Armor insurance coverage for health workers, and participated in the Project Ugnayan consortium which aims to feed 1.5 million vulnerable families.

“Sun Life Foundation will continue exploring ways to help in the country’s fight against COVID-19,” Sison said. “There is still so much to do, but we are confident that if we continue working together, our nation can overcome this challenge and brighter days will be in the horizon.”

On the alleged unpaid claims to private hospitals raised in a resolution in Congress

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A PAVRU trainer demonstrates proper specimen processing techniques to medical laboratory technologists at the Victoriano Luna Medical Center.

Villars donate office buildings, agri facilities for associations of senior citizens & war veterans’families

HE resolution submitted in the lower chamber contains issues that have been adequately responded to previously. PhilHealth reiterates its earlier statement denying the claim of PHAPI that 300 or so hospitals are facing closure due to delayed payments.

The Corporation (based on payment dates of claims per year) has paid a total of Php 114.6 billion to its accredited hospitals in 2018, and Php 97.4 billion in 2019. This year, PhilHealth has so far disbursed more than Php 43 billion, of which Php 24.5 billion or 56.8 percent were paid to private hospitals.

On another note, PhilHealth has paid the University of Sto. Tomas Hospital around Php 400 million in 2019 up until May 2020, and recently advanced Php 85 million as part of the Corporation’s CoViD-19 response. In its letter dated May 5, 2020, the USTH said that it is reconciling their claims records with PhilHealth’s.

The economic losses brought about by the pandemic have taken its toll in the overall business climate in the country, which also affect hospitals that reel from the sharp decrease in patient admissions due

to Covid scare. However, this should not be attributed solely to alleged unpaid claims to a point of exhuming an old issue that is now being seriously addressed by the Agency.

PhilHealth continues to find ways to ensure that claims are fasttracked and paid within the prescribed period of 60 days as mandated by law. Aside from introducing the eClaims system, it is now utilizing its cloud platform to immediately inform hospitals of claims that failed the first level of data validation tests. Currently, it is also designating accounts reconciliation officers to support hospitals in claims records reconciliation, the solution agreed upon with the PHAPi in a meeting with Sen. Lawrence Go in 2019.

PhilHealth continues to call upon hospitals to reconcile their claims records with their regional offices to keep themselves updated of the status of their claims.

Chinese firm sends financial aid for Barangay Addition Hills families hit by fire incidents

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HE Talon 2 Senior Citizens of Las Piñas and the Apo, Sons and Daughters of World War II Veterans Association Incorporated of Las Piñas are thankful to Senator Cynthia Villar and Las Piñas Congresswoman Camille Villar for providing them with their new office headquarters complete with a vegetable garden, vermicomposting and waste management facilities. The new office buildings are located in Barangay Talon 2 in Las Piñas “Our elders come from a generation which value simple and sustainable living. They are the first proponents of growing food in our own homes or backyards. Besides providing headquarters for their associations, we also want them to be productive.

What better way to do that than through farming,” said Villar.

As the current chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, the senator has been advocating urban farming and other

agricultural activities that can be done in people’s backyards to make them more food self-sufficient.

The two associations will share all the urban farming facilities together with barangay residents.

She also encourages people to do their share proper waste management, thus she also put up vermicomposting and waste management facilities in the area where the buildings are located. The fertilizers produced from empty & vermicomposting of kitchen and garden wastes can be used in the vegetable gardens also.

“I have always been finding ways to help the elderly. As a legislator, I have pursued bills that will benefit them. We owe senior citizens a huge debt, so helping them during the twilight years of their lives is the least we can do,” said Villar.

As congresswoman from 2001 to 2010, the senator counts as her one of biggest achievements, having authored the two versions of the Senior

Citizens Act (2003 and 2010). And during her first term as a senator, among the bills she filed and passed was the legislation that granted pensioners of the Social Security System (SSS) PhP2,000 pesos across-the-board increase in their monthly pension.

The first instalment of PhP1,000 was distributed in 2017 and the second instalment was supposed to be given in 2019 but was deferred to this year.

Moreover, together with her husband, Former Senate President Manny Villar, they have been the chief fundraisers for the Filipino War Veterans Foundation for over two decades already or since 1999 “I believe that all of us should ensure that senior citizens can lead dignified, healthy, safe and secure lives during their advanced age. For it is true that any human being, society or nation is judged on the basis of how it treats those who are powerless, helpless, weak, and who have no means to pay back,” Villar cited.

AMILIES of Barangay Addition Hills in Mandaluyong City who were affected by two fire incidents on the first week of June this year receive financial aid from a Chinese firm through former City Mayor Benhur Abalos.

Abalos, along with representatives from ZX-Pro Technologies Corporation, today went to the Addition Hills Integrated School and the Pleasant Hills Elementary School where the distribution of financial aid to 1,382 families was held. Each family received P1,000 bringing the total financial aid to P1,382,000.00.

The receiving families are residents of Block 37, 38, and Block 30 UBAC Compound who were affected by the separate fire incidents that occurred in June 1 and 6.

According to Abalos, ZX-Pro Technologies is among the first companies operating in Mandaluyong City that helped the City Goverment by their huge donation of personal protective equipment (PPEs) for our medical frontliners. "When the COVID-19 pandemic started, the PPE supply of our hospitals was only good for one week," he explained. "It was ZX-Pro that donated millions of PPEs to the

City. Without it, the service of our medical frontliners would have been crippled."

Abalos added that the company will continue to give various donations to the City Government. During the distribution of the financial aid, the company expressed interest in continuing partnership with Mandaluyong City in terms of healthcare and medical sponsorships for children residents in the future.

On behalf of the City, Abalos wholeheartedly thanked ZX-Pro Technologies for their continued support especially since the fire incident became an additional burden to residents amidst the threat of COVID-19 pandemic.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Marketing New etiquette for virtual business meetings BusinessMirror

Monday, June 22, 2020 B7

PR Matters

By Joy Lumawig-Buensalido

I

T came without warning. No red flags to indicate that a deadly virus was going to stall business and commerce and threaten the economy. In just three months, Covid-19 caused unprecedented disruptions in our corporate lives, drastically changing the way we do business. With a majority of companies suspending work due to quarantine measures, office personnel quickly adapted to “telecommuting” mode, a concept that is now more commonly known as working from home.

Almost instantly, too, workers had to do everything online and entrepreneurs went on a mad scramble to offer online services in order to survive the crisis and keep in touch with their customers.

With WFH being our best option for staying productive, there has been a surge in the use of messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and Viber, especially when homebound communities started exchanging massive texts and messages to share all kinds of information or updates about the virus, about the latest news, and government decrees that would affect everyone.

While quarantine has compelled nearly everyone in the work force to embrace technology, what has certainly stood out is the use of virtual or online meetings. After all, there is the sheer necessity to continue conversations or engagements with customers, colleagues and clients.

It’s a virtual world out there. Business or staff meetings are now held via Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts and, to date, arguably the most sophisticated of them— Zoom. Friends reconnect, relatives or family members reach out with love and concern, and people with whom we do business are just a few clicks away.

While it may seem that there are no hard and fast rules for conducting meetings with colleagues and clients online, I believe that for purposes of productivity and professionalism, there are some simple and basic rules to follow.

Aside from my own personal observations, I also did research on virtual meeting etiquette as suggested by Michelle Green Chessler, a Colorado-based marketing executive and veteran team leader who has been holding virtual conferences since 2007.

in appropriate, if not en1Dress tirely professional, attire.

This rule may be difficult to keep especially in the Philippines where the weather is often and humid. Over here, people tend to show up at virtual meetings looking very relaxed, wearing shorts and skimpy tops, sleeveless undershirts for men, and generally comfortable clothes.

Men don’t have to don business suits with ties and the ladies need not wear blazers but we should make an effort to look presentable

respect for your time.

6Beings.mindful of your surround-

and decent enough to be perceived as businesslike and serious about our agenda.

You’ve heard the joke about news anchors being “well-dressed” above the waist but shabby below. Then there’s this story about a guy standing up in the middle of a meeting to get a drink in the kitchen. He forgot to turn off his video and exposed his bare butt as he walked away.

So, gentlemen, go ahead and wear shorts if only your upper body will be seen but make sure your top or shirt is clean and decent. And do take a shower and brush your hair.

It would be nice if the ladies wore some makeup because it makes a lot of difference on the video.

Before joining a virtual meeting, you must also be “camera-friendly.”

In one of my meetings, while I was waiting to be accepted by the host on Zoom, I was jolted out of my seat when I saw that I had forgotten to remove the rollers from my hair!

Good thing only one or two people were there so I had to quickly run to take them off. That could have been a dreadfully embarrassing moment but I had already dressed up and that was what the powerful camera caught.

the video capabil2Maximize ity.

Because you’re working from separate locations, use video conferencing instead of the old conference dial-ins. Thank God that modern technology now allows more “personalized” video meetings and makes it easier for participants to engage. We can choose from either Skype, Google Hangouts, or Zoom. Viber has likewise recently announced that it can now accommodate up to 20 people on a video call.

However, when challenged by a weak or spotty Internet connection, we have the option to participate via audio only. Still, video conferencing is the way to go in our “new normal.”

And the sooner we accept this and practice it, the more globally ready we will be.

is important to see each 3yoursItother’s faces so make sure is visible.

Eye contact would also be a plus. Virtual meetings can sometimes feel “impersonal”

so video conferences, which allow people to see each other’s facial expressions or body language, can be more engaging. Sometimes seeing your earnestness and sincerity can even spur a client to give his approval to your proposal. Therefore, we should ask the participants, especially the one presenting, to sit close to their webcam (or phone, as the case may be) to try and recreate the intimacy of an actual personal conversation.

When it’s your turn to speak, try to look at the camera or at the people you are addressing. Remember this is all about “connecting” so show your eyes and your face whenever possible.

Do a dry run among yourselves 4conference before setting up a major with new clients or international contacts. Preparing

ahead and knowing what could possibly go wrong or how to adjust certain difficulties that may arise will help a lot before going into the actual meeting with clients or with global counterparts.

One way is to hold a staff meeting on the platform you intend to use.

Make it an internal meeting and see how the session runs in terms of time, technical challenges if any, and other factors that may affect future meetings.

After the dry run, everyone can discuss what went well and what didn’t, and how the experience can be used productively as if you were meeting in person.

5

Have a clear and realistic agenda and don’t be tardy.

As in face-to-face meetings, you must have a clear agenda that defines the purpose of the meeting.

Schedule the start and the end so that participants can plan the rest of their day. Never assume that people are always free just because they work from home.

Don’t change schedules at the last minute and expect them to be available. Appointments should be arranged and agreed upon the day before. Come to the meeting early and prepared. It can be quite disappointing when people you expect to meet on time come 10 or 15 minutes late. That shows no

We have already stated the importance of your face being seen clearly if you want to appear professional and serious. Ensure ample lighting by facing a window or get sufficient natural lighting where you are. Choose a background that is professional and appropriate for work. This means not displaying unmade beds, open closets or cluttered shelves in ther background. A simple plain background is advisable, unless you would like to try virtual backgrounds offered by some apps such as the iconic San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge or the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

For those with little children and pets, it may be cute to see these kids walking behind you or sometimes just snuggling on your lap so she can peer at who you’re talking to.

But this should come few and far between lest your workmates or clients get distracted and take longer to finish the meeting.

Pick a quiet room in your house with no television or stereos playing in the background, no electric fans whirring noisily, and no dogs barking or other distracting sounds. If you’re in a coffee shop or a co-working space (when it is finally allowed), try to pick a quiet corner with no other guests engaged in chatter.

to mute your mi7ingRemember crophone when you’re joinlate, not talking, and when

someone else is speaking. It is very annoying to hear sound reverberating from different microphones. Save everyone from ear-splitting noise by joining the meeting while on mute. Muting your mic when you’re not speaking also allows the other participants to chime in and share their thoughts without disruption.

When it’s your turn to talk, remember to “unmute” so the other participants can hear you.

not eat while you’re meet8thinkDoing.that Some people seem to eating is all right

during virtual meetings. This is a major a-no-no. It’s fine to sip coffee or drink some water but munching on your sandwich or eating potato chips is not good optics. You can do this only when the meeting goes into a 10-minute break for coffee, snacks, or bathroom runs. Times like this, it’s better to turn off your video.

An exception is when a Zoom meeting wraps up and segues into a “party” and you’re all asked to raise a toast to celebrate something. But again, this is more the exception than the rule. seated during the meeting 9Stay and avoid multitasking.

According to a study by Intercall, “65 per-

cent of people do unrelated work during a meeting, 60 percent read or send e-mails, and 43 percent admit to checking social media.”

Doing these makes you appear rude and ill-mannered. Ideally, you must give full attention to what is being discussed in a meeting. Another act of discourtesy is standing and moving around while someone is speaking. If you have an urgent reason to leave the meeting, you must press the stop video button.

Otherwise, stay in your seat while the meeting is going on.

clearly, concisely and 10Speak slowly.

Try not to interrupt the speaker too. Even if technology has vastly improved in other countries, the Philppines may still be lagging behind because of weak connection and erratic Wi-fi in certain areas. Therefore, you must strive to speak very clearly, concisely, and slowly so you will be better understood. Those who have decent mics usually don’t need to yell or talk at the top of their voice. If your audio is good, then your normal speaking volume should be fine. As much as possible, stick to your natural pace of speaking. For those listening to the speaker, try not to interrupt unless necessary.

Please note that when we’re meeting with our fellow Filipinos, no problem should arise because we speak the same language and have become accustomed to our ways of speaking. However, when a meeting includes other nationalities, that’s when the cultural differences get in the way.

Michelle Green Chessler cites her personal experience: “When I led international teams, we had some members with heavy accents who were not native English speakers.

After frequently asking people to repeat themselves, we learned to really slow down and enunciate to make sure everyone could follow the conversation.”

Video calls may have taken the place of personal, face-to-face meetings but whether people meet remotely or actually get together, professional behavior and basic good manners are expected of you.

These, plus a good measure of kindness and consideration ensure the success of such meetings.

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior communications professionals around the world. Joy Lumawig-Buensalido is the president and CEO of Buensalido & Associates Public Relations.

PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.

Sports BusinessMirror

B8 Monday, June 22, 2020

RAJKO TOROMAN says agile players who could play multiple roles are the answers to the Gilas program’s woes.

Toroman: Gilas needs to develop athletic players

R

AJKO TOROMAN, cool and calculating as ever, wrote a prescription for the Philippine men’s basketball team—go for athletic players.

“Basketball is going more [toward] the athletic possibilities of the players, shooting possibilities. That’s how it’s going now,” Toroman told a coaches’ podcast over the weekend.

Toroman was the pioneering coach of the Gilas Pilipinas program, having recruited the best and the brightest from the collegiate ranks during his term at the national team. He trained the team for at least three years and although the expected results weren’t met, the Serbian’s achievement were considered modest in terms of the products borne out of the squad.

Toroman, who is now plying his trade with the Indonesia national men’s team, told the same podcast that size, and not only height, now matters in basketball.

“Size will be very important, but not just size,” Toroman said.

Toroman was more composed with his answers, unlike his predecessor at Gilas, American-New Zealand Tab Baldwin, who was bolder and found himself in the receiving end of Filipino coaches ire following his critical comments on local basketball, including the Philippine Basketball Association.

Toroman said the national team consider the European brand as one of the models to learn from.

“You cannot copy all these tactical things they do in Europe, but you can see what you can use with your players,” he said.

The Serbian, who molded and coached Iran to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, also pitied the Philippines for having gone tall despite the change in style in world basketball. “[The Philippines] is very unlucky. Because when they got the big guys, the basketball went small,” Toroman said. “You have [June Mar] Fajardo, Kai Sotto...but the teams in Europe are not using the big guys. They are going with small ball.”

Toroman’s Gilas finished fourth in the 2011 Fiba Asia championship to narrowly miss a ticket to London 2012.

That squad—bannered by Jvee Casio, Chris Tiu, Marc Barroca, Fil-foreign players Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter and his only legitimate big man Japeth Aguilar and reinforced by American Marcus Douthit—lacked ceiling when the trend leaned on tall players,.

Toroman said that the current has plenty of options for ceiling, naming among others from Fajardo, Sotto, Greg Slaughter and JP Erram.

But rather than capitalizing on height, he said Gilas should scout or train agile players who could play multiple roles. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Chinese hoops back in action after five-month shutdown

B

EIJING—The Chinese basketball league has restarted after an almost five-month shutdown for the coronavirus pandemic, with fewer foreign players and no fans in the stands.

The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) was suspended on Janaury 24 after the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, a week before it was scheduled to return following a spring break at the end of the regular season. The semifinals stage started Saturday, with 20 teams divided into two divisions and limited venues to reduce travel. All stadiums are closed to fans.

Zhejiang Lions beat the Nanjing Monkey , 112-95, in the first game back, Hu Jinqiu leading the Lions with 26 points and 17 rebounds. The Suzhou Dragons had a 105-98 win over Shenzhen Aviators in the second game. Jeremy Lin and the Beijing Ducks played a late game against

WEBB SIMPSON finds himself tied with three others after the third round. AP

H

By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press

ILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina—The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour’s return to competition has brought together the strongest fields of the year on courses that have not been overly punishing, and the result is the same.

It’s another free-for-all at the RBC Heritage.

Webb Simpson practically had to apologize for a threeunder 68, in which he managed just one birdie on the back nine. He was part of a four-way tie for the lead, and that was good enough for him. He also knows good probably won’t cut it Sunday at Harbour Town,.

“It’s not like I’ve got a three- or four-shot lead and could shoot a couple under,” he said. “It’s going to take a good one.”

Tyrrell Hatton had one of six rounds at 63, giving the 28-year-old from England a share of the lead as he goes for his second straight victory, albeit three months apart because of the shutdown from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Abraham Ancer, so solid with his irons, had a 65 and joined the lead along with Ryan Palmer, who had a 66.

They were at 15-under 198, a number that didn’t even start to explain the low scoring.

Even with Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele sputtering to 75s, the field was 223-under par, the lowest for any round since the RBC Heritage began in 1969. There were 35 players at 10 under or better, compared with only one player (Dustin Johnson) a year ago. The previous mark was seven players at double digits under par through 54 holes.

Most telling were the opportunities on Sunday.

There were 21 players separated by just three shots going into the final round. A week ago at Colonial, there were 14 players separated by three shots.

“I think the fields have been extremely strong,” Ancer said. “Everybody out here was just eager to come out and play. Thre greens are a little bit soft, especially this week,

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

WILD FINISH LOOMS

and the ball isn’t really rolling out as much as you’re used to on the greens and on the fairways. That’s yielding a little bit more birdies, for sure.”

Carlos Ortiz, who started this tournament with two double bogeys after playing only five holes, suddenly has a chance to grab his first PGA Tour victory after two eagles in a round of 63. He was one shot behind, along with Colonial winner Daniel Berger and Joel Dahmen, both with 63s.

And there was more testing than usual.

Players and caddies on the charter flight to Connecticut for next week’s event had to take a saliva test Saturday for the coronavirus before they can get on the plane. Eleven others had testing Friday night because they were deemed to have been in close contact with Nick Watney, whose positive test on Friday was the first in golf’s return.

Among them was Sergio Garcia, who flew with Watney from Austin, Texas. The initial test was negative. Garcia was nervous as he waited for the result, though not so nervous he couldn’t put down a 65 to join the chase. He was two shots behind, along with Ian Poulter and Joaquin Niemann.

Bryson DeChambeau, starting the day one shot behind, hit his approach into the par-5 second in the trees and it never came down. He has added 40 pounds of mass, still not enough to uproot the tree and shake it loose. That led to a bogey, and more damaging was no birdies on the back nine for a 70.

Even so, he remained three shots behind in a group that included Johnson, who birdied three of his last four holes to go from around the middle of the pack to 12-under 201, three shots behind and very much in the picture. That’s all it took Saturday, and it likely won’t be any different in the final round.

Brooks Koepka quietly posted a 68 and was in the group three shots behind.

Chalk it up to June, a new date for the RBC Heritage because of the pandemic. The tournament usually is the week after the Masters in April, when the temperature is slightly cooler, the greens are firmer and the rye grass hasn’t been taken over by Bermuda. It’s soft. And these are the best players

in the world, all of them eager to get going again.

“Because we’re not at a major championship-style golf course last week or this week, where you’re going to have separation because of bad scores, I think that’s probably why,” Simpson said when asked to explain the bunched score.

Perhaps that explains why Justin Thomas called it “the worst 66 I’ve ever shot in my life.”

Hatton has won back-to-back before in his career, under entirely different circumstances. In 2017, he won in Scotland and Italy in consecutive weeks. Now he goes after two in a row three months apart, having won at Bay Hill in March before the pandemic shut down sports.

It apparently wasn’t long enough for anyone to accumulate much rush.

“I think we’ve all had enough notice to try and get ready to play tournaments again,” said Hatton, who rented a house in Orlando, Florida, during the stay-at-home mandate. “So it’s not massively surprising to see guys playing, as well as they are, and hopefully the guys at home are enjoying it, watching on TV.”

BABY GIRL FOR WIE M

ichelle Wie West now has a little one of her own.

The former US Women’s Open champion announced on Instagram that she and her husband, Golden State Warriors executive Jonnie West, are parents of a daughter born Friday.

“Kenna baby, I have waited my entire life to meet you,” Wie, the former US Women’s Open champion, wrote on Instagram. They named her Makenna Kamalei Yoona West.

The 30-year-old Wie was born and raised in Honolulu.

Kamalei is a Hawaiian for “beloved child.”

Wie and West, the son of National Basketball Association great Jerry West, were married in August.

They announced her pregnancy in January.

Wie shot the lowest score ever by a woman competing on the Professional Golfers Association Tour with a 68 at Sony Open when she was 14. She won five times on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour, the biggest at Pinehurst No. 2 in the 2014 US Women’s Open. AP

MICHELLE WIE: Kenna baby, I have waited my entire life to meet you.

NBA schedules draft, free-agent talks in October

T

HE National Basketball Association (NBA) has firmed up the schedule for what will be a hectic time for teams this fall, deciding on October 16 as the date for this year’s draft and saying clubs can begin talking to free agents two days later.

The annual moratorium will begin at 12:01 a.m. EDT on October 19 and continue through noon on October 23, the league told teams on Saturday in a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

As was the case last season, teams and free agents can begin negotiating six hours before the moratorium on October 18.

It could be a wildly busy few days in October for the NBA. If the schedule for the restarted season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex at the Disney campus near Orlando, Florida, goes as planned, Game Seven of the NBA Finals could be held on October 13, followed by the draft three days later and then

free agency almost immediately following.

By setting the draft date, the NBA also firmed up August 17 as the early entry deadline and October 6 as the early entry withdrawal dates. It’s unclear if that will change the schedule the NCAA laid out earlier this month, when it said college players would have “until 10 days after the NBA draft combine or August 3, whichever comes first” to withdraw from the postponed draft and retain their eligibility.

The league also clarified the procedure for teams should any need arise to replace a player who either was excused from participating in the restart, would be protected from playing for health reasons or chose to not play.

Starting July 1 and going through the end of the seeding games, expected to be August 14, substitute players can be signed to take the place of someone who falls into those categories. If a player tests positive for coronavirus after the seeding games end, teams would still

be allowed to replace them—but only with someone who has three years or less of NBA service.

And if a player—excluding two-way players—refuses to participate in games at Disney, he would lose about 1.1 percent of his salary for every game missed. That would be capped after 14 games, or roughly 15.1 percent of the player’s contract. Players who are excused or protected from participating would not be subject to lost salary.

Teams will also be able to sign players to rest-of-season contracts, when eligible, starting Tuesday and continuing through June 30.

Tuesday is also the day that the NBA enters Phase 2 of its health and safety protocols related to the resumption of the season. Among them: mandatory high-sensitivity coronavirus and antibody testing, with the virus test to be repeated every other day and the antibody test repeated only in the event of a positive virus test. AP

Liaoning Flying Leopards.

League chairman and former National Basketball Association star Yao Ming praised the work of the clubs and health authorities for helping get the CBA season restarted.

“Everything you have experienced this season will surely write a strong stroke in the history of the CBA league, and the history will also bear in mind the hardship, dedication and contribution of each of us,” Yao wrote in an open letter to players and fans posted on the CBA’s web site.

“As the first national large-scale sports event to be restarted in China, the CBA rematch has a strategic significance for comprehensively promoting the resumption of production and restoring life, and its social impact has exceeded the basketball itself.”

China contained the spread of Covid-19 after being the initial epicenter of the outbreak, but Beijing reported a rise

in cases last week and 205 people have been diagnosed with the virus in the capital since then.

Beijing recorded a drop amid tightened containment measures on Saturday, though, reporting 22 new cases along with five others elsewhere in China. There are no new deaths and 308 people remain hospitalized for treatment.

The slight rise in China last week came as the World Health Organization warned that the pandemic is “accelerating” in parts of the world.

Yao warned players and clubs to be careful.

“The epidemic is not over yet, we have to arrange for everyone to live, train and compete under relatively closed conditions,” he said. “Neither the empty court nor the tournament system is a rhythm we are familiar with, but the long-lost game is in front of us.” AP

YAO MING warns players and clubs to be careful. AP

Rick Olivares bleachersbrew@gmail.com

Bleachers’ Brew

Thoughts on PHL Football I have been doing several webcasts one of which is Usapang Football where we talk individually to players from the historic 2010 Suzuki Cup—and yes, this is a countdown of sorts to the 10th anniversary.

In the midst of interviewing players Chieffy Caligdong, Aly Borromeo and Rob Gier, as well as former Head Coach Simon McMenemy (James Younghusband is slated for Monday evening on the day this column is published), I began posting a lot of pictures and video on my Facebook.

Opening the old files tucked away in my hard drive also brought a rush of memories. It wasn’t just the Azkals that I was a part of from 2006 to 2014, but there was the local Suzuki Under-23 Cup, the several Clear Dream Matches that I helped conceptualized, there was doing work for the United Football League as media officer and as a television analyst and there was a sting as media officer for the Loyola Meralco Sparks.

In between, I was able to fulfill a long time promise to Caligdong where I got him along with James and Phil Younghusband as Gatorade Brand Ambassadors. I also got to do a live Facebook chat with a global star like Landon Donovan.

Prior to the Azkals’ explosion of 2010, I was covering University Athletic Association of the Philippines football for both BusinessMirror and Solar Sports’ Sports Desk of which I was a part of for a time.

Football was just so alive and kicking. And being smack in the middle of everything has got to be one of the best experiences of my life. Just as there were highs, there were lows, but it’s all part of it.

In my column last week, I pointed out to two things—the silence of the Vietnamese after the 2-nil win and huge crowds suddenly turning up even for practices of the Azkals.

Prior to the semifinals matches against Indonesia, the team had several practices in the practice facility next to the Bung Karno Stadium. There were huge crowds of Indonesians who came over to watch the practices.

While they cheered for their own team, they were more than curious about this Filipino squad that had put the Southeast Asian region on notice with its results against Singapore, Vietnam and Myanmar.

I took loads of video of the start of this emerging Azkals phenomenon. I spoke to some Indonesian fans and you would have thought we were back in Manila. The team even needed police escort just to get out of that practice facility.

At the nearby Sultan hotel, opportunistic Indonesians— not to mention expatriate Filipino fans—waited at the hotel lobby for a photo op or selfie. And there were numerous television crews and not just from Indonesia and the Philippines, there were crews from Thailand and Singapore.

When the Azkals played their first two matches of the group stages of the Suzuki Cup, there were less than a dozen non-team supporters of the Philippines in the stands. When we traveled up north to play Myanmar in Nam Dinh, the audience the team had outside the Philippine Ambassador were 12 Britons, some who worked in Hanoi while there were a couple who flew in from England to support Simon McMenemy and his merry band of power-beaters.

In Jakarta, there were more fans and I’d put that number to about 50. But their cheers and show of patriotism were drowned out when they were physical threatened by local fans.

The Philippines lost its two semifinals matches each by a score of 1-nil. I thought at that point, the team had run out of gas. Rob Gier did quite accurately say that there were so many things going on off the pitch that also contributed to that. The team obviously lacked the depth, experience and star power of Indonesia. But losses aside, the team came away with renewed respect.

The Azkals have gone on to win even bigger games and climb even higher. However, the game has slowed down in the last six years—for a variety of reasons that will take another lengthy column to discuss—as volleyball not only pulled abreast but climbed even higher. When word came out that should there be any collegiate sports played in the next school year, it will feature only basketball and volleyball, I felt bad that football isn’t among them.

If memory serves me right, there was that instance where local sports officials refused to allow a football team to be sent to a regional competition because it was deemed they were not going to win a medal.

When I think about the Asian Games of 2018 when a basketball team was not nearly fielded, the reasoning for the advocates of sending a team was this was the national sport and win or lose, we had to compete. While the Philippines did not win a medal, it did finish much better than anyone expected.

And thinking back to football, why not the same? You will never know. People think that just because of the overnight success of the game, we are ready to bring home a massive trophy.

Nobody said it would be easy. We just keep plugging away.

As for college sports next season, things can certainly change more so if a vaccine is concocted.

I always said that the team from 2010 to the end of the last decade will continue to define and push Philippine football forward. However, it is the kids who watched these games who will be the next generation of stars who will be ready to lift the game unto the next level.

We owe it to them and to the Philippine teams of pre2010 and after to try.