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WHO’S AT FAULT FOR THE LUZON GRID’S LACK OF ELECTRICITY RESERVES, EXTENDED PLANT OUTAGE?

The power ‘blame game’

THE Pagbilao Power Station, a 1,155MW coal-fired power plant in Pagbilao, Quezon. ANTONIO OQUIAS | DREAMSTIME.COM

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By Lenie Lectura

HE Department of Energy (DOE) has flagged power generation companies for their prolonged power plant outages, and the system grid operator for not securing enough firmcontracted ancillary reserves (AS).

In fact, the agency said it would refer this matter to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) for enforcement assistance and case build-up.

“We have laid out the policies already. If these policies were not issued, it could have been more chaotic. We are simply asking them to comply,” said DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella in an interview.

Rules of the game

THERE is an existing directive from the DOE that power producers are not allowed to conduct maintenance shutdown during summer months and realign instead the planned outage schedule toward the second half of the

year. This is meant to maintain sufficient supply in the grid during summer months when demand is at its peak.

Likewise, the ERC has issued stringent rules on planned electricity outages to promote accountability among power plant operators and the transmission grid operator. The rules limit the allowed number of days that power plants should undergo shutdown, both planned and unplanned.

Older coal plants, for instance, are only allowed to have 27.9 days of planned outages and 16.8 days of unplanned outages, while circulating fluidized bed (CFB) coal plants have 15.4 days of planned and 16.9 days of unplanned shutdown.

Also, a power plant that runs on gas should not be out of service for more than 29.2 days, includ-

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.3900

ing 6.5 days of planned outage and 22.7 days of unplanned outage.

Based on data provided by the Joint Congressional Energy Commission (JCEC), a total of 12 power firms did not comply with the ERC’s Reliability Index. Their power plants—mostly thermal and gas—exceeded the maximum allowable planned and unplanned outage days that are spelled out in the ERC rules.

That scale of outages shaved at least 1,900MW of capacity from the grid.

Nothing new–Aboitiz Power Corp.

WHEN sought for comment, Aboitiz Power Corp. said the issue on alleged economic sabotage is not new. Still, it maintained that none of its plants were shut down on purpose.

“Our baseload plants are contracted almost at capacity and if they are on outage, we have to continue supplying our customers by buying from the spot market or through replacement power contracts, if they are available.

Most probably, when a baseload plant goes down, prices in the spot market spike, thus the cost of power that we supply our customers bought from WESM [Wholesale Electricity Spot Market] will be usually higher than our selling

prices,” the firm said.

“Thus, it makes no sense to intentionally put a plant in outage to game WESM since we have to buy at high prices to fulfill our contracted commitments. We only make money when our plants are operating,” Emmanuel Rubio, Aboitiz Power president, said in a text message.

One of its power plants has been on prolonged shutdown since February. It could be back online

by August.

Senate Energy Committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian had asked the ERC at the recent JCEC hearing why it has not sanctioned a single power firm.

He warned ERC chairman Agnes VST Devanadera to make sure that all guidelines, rules and policies must be enforced “or else, accountability fails.”

The ERC chief assured him that a final report would be out soon. “The final report is not ready yet. We just started in January 2021 and just four months to it.

But we have some data. About 15 or 16 gencos [generating companies] already, but we have to get the analysis. When we are done with this, the most logical thing to do is to implement and impose penalties when needed,” Devanadera told the committee.

The senator also called on the ERC to “flex its muscles” being the power industry’s regulator. Gatchalian was referring to the DOE policy on ancillary services, or AS, which requires the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to procure AS through firm contracts.

Crucial AS

THE AS are necessary to support the transmission capacity, maintaining reliable operation of the transmission system and electricity supply in the grid.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi pointed out that ancillary services Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4443 n UK 67.4702 n HK 6.2333 n CHINA 7.4768 n SINGAPORE 36.4905 n AUSTRALIA 37.5894 n EU 58.6777 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.9047

Source: BSP (April 30, 2021)

NewsSaturday BusinessMirror

A2 Saturday, May 1, 2021

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Covid shots come in bulk, and the world needs single servings T

By Emma Court | Bloomberg News

HE rapid development of Covid-19 vaccines is one of medicine’s greatest achievements, but distribution hasn’t been easy. Vials full of doses often must be kept in extreme cold, and once opened have to be used quickly, sometimes prompting health workers to run out into the street looking for someone to take the leftovers.

Now vaccination campaigns in the US and some other countries are moving from mass demand to more targeted efforts to reach the hesitant—and doctors want easier ways to deliver shots.

The ideal in many instances would be a pre-filled syringe, simple to store with no excess to worry about. But drug makers haven’t made that a priority yet, and other measures to deliver vaccines to smaller, farther-flung populations are coming along slowly, presenting a challenge in the next phase of the immunization effort.

Doctors’ offices and clinics “need to reach people in their persuadable moment,” Kentucky Public Health Commissioner Steven Stack said April 21 at a briefing hosted by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

“And it’s difficult to do that when these products are shipped in 10dose vials, or even sometimes fivedose vials.”

Campaign needs

LARGE shipments of vials filled to the brim suit the needs of a campaign aimed at eventually vaccinating most of the world’s population. More than 1 billion shots have been administered globally, according to Bloomberg’s vaccination tracker, and more than a fifth of them in the US alone. Large lots remain a priority globally, even as the US campaign enters a new, more targeted stage.

Long the container of choice for immunizations, multi-dose vials consist of just a glass vessel and rubber stopper. While they require less testing and are cheaper to use than pre-filled syringes, the vaccine within them expires six to 12 hours after the first use.

Almost a third of Americans are fully immunized, but getting

to a level at which vaccines will keep the virus largely at bay will increasingly require reaching residents who have misgivings about the shots. Those are most likely to be given at locations like primarycare doctor’s offices and clinics, where fewer doses might be needed each day, experts said.

“In the accelerated effort to make vaccines available to the world as quickly as possible, the easiest and fastest option was to go to multi-dose vials,” said Bernie Clark, vice president of biologics marketing and strategy for Catalent Pharma Solutions. “There will be different needs in the future, versus when we were in the middle of the pandemic last year.”

Pre-filled syringes could become more common in the next year or two, said Christopher Cassidy, vice president of pharmaceutical systems at Schott North America, a maker of both vials and syringes. The need will become especially great if booster shots are required to battle new variants of the coronavirus, he said.

Yet the devices aren’t a major focus for vaccine manufacturers that have been racing to get shots developed, cleared and distributed.

Pfizer Inc., whose Covid vaccine developed with partner BioNTech SE was the first authorized in the US, isn’t currently developing a prefilled version, a spokesman said.

Coming up with slightly more convenient packaging hasn’t been the first priority for Moderna Inc. either, according to a spokesperson.

Schott and Catalent, which also makes pre-filled syringes, say they’re in discussions with companies now around Covid vaccines, but that the shift will take time.

Becton Dickinson and Co., one of the top makers of syringes, has said it’s investing about $1.2 billion

AN operator holds an assembled pre-filled syringe at AstraZeneca Plc’s new Biologics factory in Sodertalje, Sweden, on Thursday, April 11, 2019. BLOOMBERG

over four years on manufacturing capabilities and technology for prefillable syringes and other drug delivery systems that could also be of use for pandemic response.

Government contract

LAST year, the US government granted privately held ApiJect Systems Corp. a $138-million contract to produce pre-filled syringes for Covid-19 shots. At the time, ApiJect, which doesn’t have a history of making the devices, said it would make 100 million by the end of last year and half a billion by the close of 2021. A $590-million government loan to support the work was approved, which the Stamford, Connecticut-based company says hasn’t been finalized or funded.

ApiJect hasn’t produced any pre-filled syringes for commercial use, NBC reported last week. The company has manufactured some devices, now being tested by drug makers, that will require regula-

tory review before they’re sold, according to Steven Hofman, a spokesman.

ApiJect can produce 45 million doses a month through a partnership with a contract development manufacturer in South Carolina, he said. Making 100 million syringes in 2020 was dependent on vaccine availability and regulatory clearance, he said.

“When we got the contracts there was some degree of uncertainty as to whether there would be enough glass vials and syringes” for the vaccine rollout, concerns that have since eased, Hofman said.

Vaccine priorities

OTHER modifications—making shots that can be more easily stored at warmer temperatures and developing booster shots—should be higher priorities than pre-filled syringes, said Nicole Lurie, a strategic adviser to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innova-

tions, which funds Covid vaccine development. When she served as a Health and Human Services official during the pandemic of H1N1 swine flu, Lurie said, pre-filled syringe production came at the expense of time and volume.

“Nobody’s ever going to be completely happy with everything,” she said. “So prioritizing is really, really important.”

Other steps are being taken to make dosing more convenient.

Pfizer, which ships its vaccines in packages of 1,170 doses, will scale down to 450-dose containers by June. That will allow the shot to be distributed more widely and to smaller settings, said Stack, the Kentucky commissioner.

Pfizer, whose vaccine must be kept in an ultra-cold freezer, is also developing new formulations, including a ready-to-use, six-dose vial that could be available by the end of the year. A freeze-dried powder version, stored as a single dose

in a vial, is aimed at early 2022.

Moderna also said earlier Thursday that it’s developing a version of its vaccine that could be stored for three months at refrigerator temperatures, which could facilitate distribution to doctors’ offices and other smaller settings. Currently, the vaccine can be stored one month in a refrigerator and up to seven months in a standard freezer.

Such changes will make it easier for rural clinics and urgent-care centers, which typically have refrigerators but may not have deep freezers, to store shots, said Cody Powers, a principal at consulting firm ZS who advises manufacturers of Covid vaccines.

Requests for pre-filled syringes are “probably good news. It means we’re far enough in the vaccine process where the modality starts to matter,” he said. “In much of the world, that’s a luxury.”

where additional power is needed.

“The contract capacity that we’re looking at is 220 MW for the first six months and will ramp up to 260 MW for the next six months.

This is aligned with Meralco’s forecast that showed upcoming scheduled outages of both power plants and the SPEX-Malampaya pipeline, which may be aggravated by forced outages of power plants and gas supply restrictions, as observed recently,” said Valles.

Cusi insisted that the country needs reliable power supply and reserves. One way to possibly achieve this is to allow the government to take part in power generation.

“There is a question which I have been raising before. Should the government start being involved in generation for the reserve? Will the government build the plant, operate it as a reserve and privatize it as we go along?

I think that the government should go back to the generation so that we can

have that continuity,” he said.

However, the committee noted that Cusi’s proposal runs counter to the intent of Epira, which promotes competition, encourages market development, ensures consumer choice, among others.

Despite the differences of opinion, the power industry agreed that the country could not afford to experience brownouts during the pandemic, especially when Covid-19 vaccines need to be stored in specific cold conditions to maintain efficiency.

“These days, we cannot afford to experience any power interruption as most workers, even government employees, are on a work-fromhome scheme, some on distance learning and online business transactions,” Gatchalian said. “We cannot have brownouts because the vaccines are set to arrive by May or June. The rollout of the vaccines must not be hampered.”

The power ‘blame game’ Continued from A1

are crucial since these are power reserves that could be tapped whenever supply is thin. Based on DOE data, a total of 2,604 megawatts (MW) are identified as required AS, but only 727 MW are deemed confirmed ancillary reserves to date.

“The policy is there. Why don’t they follow the policy? We’ve had exchange of letters in the past,” said Cusi, referring to NGCP. Attorney Ronald Dylan Concepcion, who represented NGCP during the hearing, admitted that the grid operator could not contract firm AS reserves because supply is lacking.

“Reserves could only be procured if there is sufficient supply of power. If there is no supply provided by generation companies, then there is no reserve to be procured,” Concepcion explained.

Besides, the NGCP lawyer

pointed out, AS is not a remedy for the lack of supply. “AS is an excess of generation plants. From my personal knowledge, there is no available capacity right now to be contracted for AS. We’d like to submit a report on that,” he said.

Gatchalian acknowledged the importance of the said DOE policy, saying this is “a very important feature” of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (Epira).

“The policy here is to fully contract ancillary services, but it is not happening,” the senator noted, adding that a separate hearing on AS will be scheduled.

No summer interruption

AMID the lack of power reserves, the DOE assured the public that the Luzon grid would still not plunge into darkness during summer months.

As an ironic offshoot of the pandemic, the electricity demand

in the Luzon grid is nowhere near the projected numbers of 11,841 MW. The Luzon grid is expected to register a peak demand of 11,841 MW sometime mid-May. But DOE Director Mario Marasigan said actual demand is “not close enough” to those numbers due to sustained community quarantine.

“We are not immediately seeing potential alert for the rest of the country primarily due to the parameters that we have not considered directly with our 2021 projections—La Niña and the current quarantine situation. Rather, we’re actually focusing on supply,” said Marasigan.

DOE Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola said that for as long as there would be no substantial outages, there won’t be any brownouts in the coming months.

“The worst-case scenario would be ‘yellow alerts’ or thinning of reserves on weeks 15 to

18 (within second week of April to first week of May); and then weeks 21 to 25 or second week of May to mid-month of June. What we expect moving forward, April, May and June; we would not be able to hit 11,841 MW because demand would be substantially lower.”

As a precaution, the country’s largest power distributor seeks to procure 220 MW to 260 MW to augment supply during the summer months.

Timely government intervention?

MANILA Electric Company (Meralco) first vice president and head of regulatory management Jose Ronald Valles said they have asked the DOE and the ERC to exempt Meralco from conducting a Competitive Selection Process (CSP) for the procurement of the additional power requirement.

Instead, Meralco will seek approval for “emergency procurement” given the situation in Luzon

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www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

PHL secures $18.4-B foreign loans, grants to beef up pandemic response

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas & Samuel P. Medenilla

he government has secured from foreign lenders some $18.4 billion worth of loans and grants for its Covid-19 response, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

“As of April 28, 2021, were able to borrow $18.4 billion from external or from foreign sources.

So basically this is $16.26 billion of which, is for budget support, while $2.14 million is for project financing,” Finance Undersecretary Mark Dennis Joven said in an interview with PTV on Friday.

In a text message, Joven told the B usiness M irror that about $3 billion of the total came from selling euro-denominated bonds ($2.53 billion) and samurai bonds ($500 million).

The other $15.4 billion came from foreign loans and grants.

Joven said they opted to look for additional

funding to counter the economic slowdown caused by business disruptions amid the pandemic.

H e n o te d t h e co m m u n i t y q u a ra nt i n e classifications last year led to the closure of many establishments, both permanent and temporarily, leading to lower tax take for the government.

During the same period, government expenses to help those affected by the pandemic shot up.

“That is why we need [the loans and grants] for fill up the short run gap [in our fund needs],” Joven said.

He noted such increase in foreign borrowing is not unique to the Philippines as other countries, particularly in the Asean region, are engaging in the said practice.

DOF said that $1.2 billion of the loans and grants will be used for the procurement of vaccines.

Currently, Joven said $100 million of the said amount was already used to pay for vaccines, which were already delivered.

GLOBAL CHAMBER URGES BIZ COMMUNITY TO HELP LIFT TRADE BARRIERS TO VACCINES

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By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

HE International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) urged the Philippine business community to “pressure” the government to eliminate trade barriers that may hamper the delivery of Covid-19 doses.

ICC Secretary-General John W.H. Denton said on Friday during the “Vaccine Summit: Equitable Distribution and Safety” event that vaccine rollout is a must for the global economy to regain its lost output amid the pandemic.

With this, he highlighted that all must go well in order to inoculate everyone.

“I also call on you [Filipino business community] to put pressure wherever you can on government to remove these export restrictions that get in the way of getting the services and supplies that we need to the Philippines,” Denton said, referring to the Covid-19 vaccines.

The ICC official said that governments across the world can reduce legal barriers, lift export restrictions and even eliminate tariffs on pharmaceutical and medical goods. These, in addition to streamlining the customs procedures to ease trade facilitation, he explained.

D enton shared that manufac turers are “struggling” to secure inputs for the production of Covid-19 vaccine, including raw materials, active ingredients, enzymes and glass bottles. “[Trade] barriers have complicated distribution unnecessarily, broken down relations, trust between nations, and prevented poor countries from vaccinating even to a minor degree. I think you are seeing that in the Philippines,” he said.

“We can do so much more to strengthen the global vaccine supply chain, including establishing a global clearing house, which is the ICC has been calling for,” Denton said, noting the proposed

establishment aims to address bottlenecks in the vaccine supply chain.

Denton, in addition, said the global clearing house can provide matchmaking services for businesses, especially because there are at least 200 generic medicine manufacturers that can produce essential drugs.

He stressed that setting up a Covid-19 vaccine facility should not be seen as a mere donation but an investment as this can address the economic recovery.

“I do call on the Filipino business community to stand up and put pressure wherever you can on governments, on local level and globally, to achieve, fully fund the CoVax facility,” he added.

Equitable distribution

Meanwhile, ICC vowed that it would champion the “equitable distribution” of Covid-19 vaccines, noting that vaccine nationalism should be avoided to allow a worldwide recovery.

He said vaccine nationalism occurs when “rich countries jumping the queue, hoarding supplies and raging to vaccinate their own populations ahead of others.”

Denton said it was not only “mean-spirited and poorly directed” but it can do more harm to the economy. It can actually cost the global economy almost $9 trillion this year alone, he said.

“If we are to grow the economy, enable global trade and advance the calls of peace and unity for our citizens, we must react and must resolve this pandemic as quickly and fairly as possible,” he added.

Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Benedicto V. Yujuico agreed that a massive vaccine rollout is key to economic recovery.

He noted this can help in boosting consumer confidence anew, which can lead to more consumption.

Japanese firm to set up wiring harness facility in Batangas

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apanese firm Leading Co. Ltd. will be putting up a wiring harness facility in Batangas to produce $12 million worth of export products annually for the US market, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Thursday.

Commercial Counselor Dita Angara-Mathay, the lead officer of the DTI office in Japan, said in a statement that Leading is eyeing to finish the construction of its 1.7-hectare factory in Lima Land, Batangas by third quarter of the year.

“We welcome the expansion of Leading in the Philippines as it will not only generate foreign currency for the country, but also create thousands of jobs for Filipinos,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said.

“More importantly, the company’s willingness to invest in the Philippines signals on the ground their confidence in the country’s strong fundamentals and as a top investment location in the world,” he added.

Leading has four business groups, including trading, electricity, assembly and wiring harness manufacturing. Using diversified computerization technology, the wiring harness group has an end-to-end operation from design to production.

Employing just-in-time delivery, the company follows a streamlined process for production scheduling, component procurement, assembly, continuity checks and visual inspection.

Angara-Mathay said the depar tment is

planning to hold more consultations with wiring harness firms to encourage more to invest in the Philippines. She stressed that the said products are important for the production of high-tech products.

“Wiring harness applications have been expanding beyond the automotive sector to cover the telecommunications and medical industries.

Our Philippine engineers can certainly contribute to investor plans to upgrade products and processes,” she said.

Leading was among the Japanese companies that recently met with the DTI chief this month.

At the time, DTI disclosed that additional P10.5 billion worth of investments were secured from some of the firms.

Lopez encouraged the Japanese firms to expand their operations in the country given that wiring harness is a major export product.

Last year, the Philippines exported a total of $1.886 billion worth of wiring harness—$857 million or 45.44 percent of which were shipped to Japan, making it the biggest foreign market for said product. This is followed by the US, South Korea, Canada and Thailand.

DTI noted that the Philippines is the fourth largest exporter of wiring harnesses in the world, with Lopez stressing that demand for greater fuel efficiency and electric vehicles will bode well for the manufacturers. Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

PHL logs additional 8,748 Covid-19 cases on Friday

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

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he Department of Health (DOH) on Friday logged 8,748 additional Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 1,037,460.

A total of 4,143 recoveries and 89 deaths were recorded through the “Oplan Recovery,” the time-based and symptom-based recovery strategies.

Of the total number of cases, 7.1 percent (73,908) are active, 91.2 percent (946,318) have recovered, and 1.66 percent (17,234) have died.

Moreover, 46 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

All laboratories were operational on April 28, 2021, while five others were not able to submit their data to the Covid-19 Document Repository System.

Saturday, May 1, 2021

A3

April inflation likely at between 4.2% and 5%, BSP’s Diokno says

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By Bianca Cuaresma

HE country’s inflation rate in April is still likely above the government’s annual target range for the year, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said.

In a message to reporters on Friday, Diokno said the country’s inflation likely settled between 4.2 percent and 5 percent in April this year based on the Central Bank’s forecasting models.

“Lower prices of domestic petroleum products and key food items, such as fruits and vegetables due to improved supply conditions are the main sources of downside pressures during the month,” Diokno said.

“However, these could be partly offset by upward adjustment in Meralco electricity rates, coupled with higher prices of pork, fish, and rice,” he added.

In March, inflation eased to 4.5 percent from the 4.7-percent inflation rate in February.

In a separate commentary, Security Bank chief economist Robert Dan Roces said their estimated inflation rate for April is at 4.7 percent.

“We factored in a slight uptick in food prices with meat costs up; pork price caps have expired while the executive order [EO 128] reduced tariffs on pork imports only recently kicking in. Fish remain steady, while vegetables and fruits continue their

deceleration,” Roces said.

“The transport basket inflation may have accelerated due to private fuel costs while transport fares remain elevated due to the one-off development of banning more than 1 passenger for tricycles. The Manila Electric Company [Meralco] also implemented a slight rate hike as generation charges went up,” it added.

In their March monetary policy meeting, the BSP said the Philippines annual average inflation will likely shoot above the government’s 2- to 4-percent target range to hit 4.2 percent.

“Moving forward, the BSP will continue to monitor evolving economic

and financial conditions to ensure that the monetary policy stance remains consistent with the BSP’s price stability mandate,” Diokno said.

Roces said they expect the BSP to keep rates steady for the next meeting as it views inflation this year to be transitory and also to bolster the economic recovery.

“BSP w i l l only consider monetar y polic y actions shou ld secondround ef fects such wage ef fects and inf lation expectations become unreasonable,” Roces said.

The BSP is expected to hold its next monetary policy meeting on May 13.

This will be the BSP’s third monetary policy meeting for the year.

MAV debates fuel ‘hesitancy’ among pork importers–Mita

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

T

he o n g o i n g d e b a te o n t h e D u te r te administration’s pork tariff reduction and proposed minimum access volume (MAV) is casting uncertainty over importers’ purchase intentions abroad, an industry group said.

The Meat Importers and Traders Association (Mita) said the recent discussion between senators and government officials on whether the pork tariff reduction must be rescinded along with the proposed MAV plus is “resulting in hesitancy on the part of importers.”

“The implication of this uncertainty is causing hesitancy on the part of importers, especially that there are several factors working this time,” Mita President Jesus C. Cham told the B usiness M irror.

The Senate Committee on the Whole hearing last Tuesday saw senators pushing for a compromise with the economic managers, led by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, on the twin pork proposals of the Executive branch.

Dominguez, for his par t, disclosed that their “minds are not closed” on alternative solutions to rising pork prices and worsening domestic shortage.

President D uter te earlier appealed to lawmakers to give Executive Order (EO) 128, which lowered pork tariffs, at least two months before

they push for its withdrawal.

EO 128 cut pork tariffs to 5 percent for in-quota imports and to 15 percent for out-quota imports for the first three months of the measure, or until July 8. Afterwards, both tariff rates would increase by 5 percent for the next 9 months before it reverts to its 30 percent (in-quota) and 40 (out-quota) percent levels.

Cham said if a compromise will be made between the lawmakers and economic managers, then it should only affect the rates for the last nine months of EO 128.

“Do not touch the [rates for the first three months] anymore. Keep them at those rates. If they are going to come up with a compromise, then it should affect the rates for the last 9 months,” he said.

“So preferably we do not cut the tariff rates for the first three months so we have some certainty,” he added.

Furthermore, Cham said the concerns over the implementation of the MAV plus is also adding uncertainty on how importers’ place new orders on top of the problems brought about by the persisting global trade imbalance.

President Duterte recommended to Congress to increase the pork MAV by 350,000 metric tons last March 26.

“The shor tage of containers has already

delayed our arrivals. Our pending orders are not arriving as scheduled, so this also affects the trade flows and the cash flows of the importers, thus, affecting his decision to make new orders,” he said.

“And then you have the uncertainty over the MAV plus, to place new orders. It is up to each individual how they are going to hedge now,” he added.

The question on when Duterte’s MAV plus proposal would be effective also took the spotlight in the recent Senate Committee of the Whole hearing, with senators and government officials having different views on the matter.

For one, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar believes that the MAV Plus will take effect once an EO is issued by Duterte regarding the matter, since the 15-day deadline for Congress to act on the proposal has lapsed already.

“I go for that view that once it lapsed for 15 days then the Executive department can issue an EO implementing the MAV plus,” Dar said.

But Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon had a different view about the matter.

Since the MAV Plus recommendation was submitted by President Duterte to Congress on March 26, the day that both chambers adjourned their session for a scheduled recess until May 16, the lawmakers did not have the opportunity to act on the proposal, Drilon said.

He pointed out that the existing law governing the MAV Plus assumes that Congress has the capacity to act on a recommendation made by the President.

“What is the use of giving Congress 15 days to review the recommendation if after 15 days, even [if ] Congress is not in session, that proposal is approved? You are making a mockery of this rule,” he said.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III supported Drilon’s position on the legal issues surrounding the recent MAV Plus proposal, pointing out that the executive branch could face possible legal implications if they push through with the increase of MAV through an EO. “There is a big difference between ‘did not’ act and ‘cannot’ act. The law states that [the proposal is approved] if Congress after receiving it [proposal] did not act on it. But that’s not the case here. The proposal was sent to us while we cannot act on it,” Sotto said.

Due to this, Drilon said the 15-day deadline stipulated by Republic Act 8178 (RA) on MAV Plus mechanism would only start on May 17, when Congress resumes session.

“My position is that there shall be no increase in the MAV. It can only be effective until after 15 days of May 17, assuming we do not act on it. The law is very clear,” he added.

DTI wants government to prioritize acquisition of locally made PPE

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he Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is backing the garment industry’s plea to secure preference on the purchase of locally produced personal protective equipment (PPE) during procurements.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said during a radio interview on Thursday that he wants a legislative measure that will prioritize the purchase of “critical products” made locally such as PPEs. “ May batas sana na kapag government project at saka mga critical products na ganyan, at ginawang local , sana talaga may preference [Hopefully there is a law that will give preference for the procurement of locally produced critical products like PPE under a government project],” Lopez said.

The Confederation of Philippine Manufacturers of PPE (CPMP), during a Senate hearing on

Wednesday, pushed for a bill prioritizing the purchase of locally made PPEs as they are not able to secure the bulk of the government contracts for such items.

CPMP Executive Director Rosette Carrillo lamented that the “very low-cost and substandard” China-manufactured PPEs are flooding the local market instead.

Five garment manufacturers and exporters repurposed their factories and invested $35 million to locally produce medical-grade PPE last year, forming the CPMP. Carrillo said about 7,500 workers were able to keep their jobs following the transition.

While this is a project endorsed by DTI’s Board of Investment (BOI), Lopez said, their hands are tied when it comes to the bidding process.

“Unfortunately ho, wala pa hong batas na

local po ang bibilin. Ang batas po natin ay bidding [Unfortunately, there is no law yet prioritizing the local purchase. Our law mandates bidding],” he explained, which is a responsibility of the Department of Budget and Management.

In the process of bidding, DTI Undersecretary Ruth B. Castelo explained during a Laging Handa briefing on Thursday that specifications and prices are among the criteria in choosing which products to procure. “ Kung medyo mas mataas yung [price ng ] locally produced na PPEs, halimbawa, ipasok natin sa specifications na baka naman mas mataas yung specifications, baka pwedeng ma consider na ng DBM [If the locally produced PPE are more expensive but have better specifications, for example, the DBM may still consider them],” she added.

Confederation of Wearable Exports of the

Philippines Executive Director Maritess Agoncillo supported the call of CPMP, which is covered in Senate Bill 1796.

The said bill orders government agencies to prioritize the procurement of locally produced and manufactured PPE, medicines, and other essential supplies during a pandemic.

In February, the Board of Investment (BOI) asked the Japan Hygiene Products Industr y Association to make Philippines its Southeast A s i a n h u b f o r P P E p ro d u c t i o n g i ve n t h e demand and fiscal incentives awaiting their manufacturers.

The BOI noted there are at least 300 manufacturers in the textile and garment sector.

The industry employs over 510,000 workers who can produce PPEs and face masks.

Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

Covid test now required for travelers to America

T

HE United States now requires travelers to present negative Covid-19 test results for entry.

This was revealed by several panelists during a webinar with American carriers on Wednesday hosted by the US Embassy in Manila. Michelle C. Reyes, sales manager of Delta Airlines said, “Delta requires passengers to get a Covid test within three days of departure,” adding it can be an antigen test.

She explained that this was a requirement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (As per the CDC web site, the requirement also covers vaccinated individuals.)

The webinar, largely directed at Philippine travel and tour agencies, was held even as the US State Department issued a Level 4 advisory on the Philippines last week. Level 4, is this the highest category in US travel advisories and discourages

Americans from traveling to the Philippines, due to “a very high level of Covid-19 in the country.”

The State Department also advised its citizens to “exercise caution due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping.”

Embassy officials, however, declined to respond to questions regarding the Level 4 announcement and resumption of their visa processing, despite prompts from media and some local travel agencies.

According to data from Statista, arrivals from the Philippines in the US fell to an estimated 45,812 in 2020, or more than a six-fold from 332,022 in 2019.

Speakers from the tourism boards of New York and Los Angeles also spoke about the reopening of their main attractions; both cities are strong magnets for Filipino tourists.

Delta, along with other carriers—American

Sotto, Cayetano’s view on Ivermectin use

just support it, we will advocate it,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano reiterated the public, in the meantime, should wait for experts’ decision.

For his part, Sotto said that the public should not believe “conspiracy theories” revolving around the issue.

“Just because there is a little bit of positive news, or a little bit of possibility or may nakitang kaonting [or a little] scientific basis, hindi ‘yun sapat para sabihing ‘okay iyan , pwede na iyan [that is not enough to say that it is already okay, or that will do],” Sotto said.

B oth mayors admitted that they have been receiving queries from their constituents regarding Ivermectin.

Two Metro Manila mayors urged the public on Friday to heed health experts’ advice on the issue of Ivermectin use against Covid-19.

In a media forum of the Department of Health (DOH) on Friday, Mayors Lino Cayetano of Taguig and Vico Sotto of Pasig said that the guidance of medical experts should be of utmost consideration on the use or prohibition of the controversial anti-parasitic drug.

“We listen to the medical experts. So, pagdating ng panahon inaprubahan yan ng [when the time comes that it will be approved by the] Department of Health by all means, we will not

Airlines, United Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines— underscored the health and safety protocols they follow to ensure passengers feel safe and protected against the Covid-19 virus. They also talked about the resumption of their flights to and from the Philippines transiting via third countries or code sharing with other carriers.

The carriers, however, didn’t respond to a question on whether they were joining International Air Transport Association’s (Iata’s) initiative to use the Travel Pass, a digital mobile solution designed to inspire confidence in people to travel again.

Meanwhile, Jackie Ennis, vice president for Global Markets of BrandUSA, forecast the staggered tourism recovery of their country. “To be very honest...we anticipate that some markets will recover faster than others based on both source

“ Hindi tayo doktor . Hindi tayo medical expert. Makinig tayo sa mga doktor [We are not doctors. We are not medical experts. Let us listen to the doctors],” Sotto said in answering the queries.

Meanwhile, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire appealed to the public to “move on” from the issue on Ivermectin following the initiative of Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta and Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Mike Defensor who distributed the said drug through an “Ivermectin Pan-Three.”

“Let’s all move on from this issue. Kung ano ang nangyayari dito ay gagawan natin ng imbestigasyon kung kinakailangan [What ever happened here,

market and home market conditions. A lot depends on airline connectivity and when you see the massive reductions in connectivity, that we have to the United States, it is fairly extensive. So full recovery, I think, we probably are looking at 2024.”

She added: “But we also recognize that there is an incredible pent-up demand for travel from across the globe. Every market that we’re talking to... people have been in lockdowns, people have been travel-dreaming, armchair escaping, you name it.

You know, we’ve heard it and we definitely feel that the United States is well positioned as a true aspirational destination.” BrandUSA is the main tourism promotion arm of the US government and the private travel trade sector.

She said leisure travel to the US will likely rebound much quicker than business travel.

Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo we will conduct an investigation if needed],” Vergeire assured.

The Philippine Pharmacists Association Inc., meanwhile, issued a news statement strongly opposing the “irrational dispensing of an unregistered drug and illegal compounding thereof,” apparently referring to Ivermectin.

“Medicines are developed, manufactured, prescribed, compounded, and dispensed with based on sound, scientific and evidence-based professional judgment. Medicines prescribed by a physician, after careful evaluation of a patient should be based on scientific evidence. Not all medicines are for general use of the public,” the group said.

A4

Saturday, May 1, 2021

The World BusinessMirror

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

US recovery from pandemic recession gains momentum

W

ASHINGTON—Powered by consumers and fueled by government aid, the US economy is achieving a remarkably fast recovery from the recession that ripped through the nation last year on the heels of the coronavirus and cost tens of millions of Americans their jobs and businesses.

The economy grew last quarter at a vigorous 6.4-percent annual rate, the government said Thursday, and expectations are that the current quarter will be even better.

The number of people seeking unemployment aid—a rough reflection of layoffs—last week reached its lowest point since the pandemic struck. And the National Association of Realtors said Thursday that more Americans signed contracts to buy homes in March, reflecting a strong housing market as summer approaches.

Economists say that widespread vaccinations and declining viral cases, the reopening of more businesses, a huge infusion of federal aid and healthy job gains should help sustain steady growth. For 2021 as a whole, they expect the economy to expand around 7 percent, which would mark the fastest calendar-year growth since 1984.

A s A mer ican consumers have stepped up their spending in recent months, they have consumed physical goods far more than they have services, like haircuts, airline tickets and restaurant meals: Spending on goods accelerated at an annual pace of nearly 24 percent last quarter; services spending rose at a rate below 5 percent.

But now, that disparity will likely shift as more restaurants and entertainment venues reopen and people look to spend more on experiences and less on tangible items. On Friday, for example, Disneyland will reopen, with limited capacity, to California residents.

Andrew Song, whose family owns Kwan’s Deli across from Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, is finally feeling hopeful after having lost most of his business last year as office workers stayed home. The deli should be able to sustain itself, Song said, from a rise in hotel guests, convention goers and tourists, even if office workers don’t all return. Recently, he called a laid-off employee back to work.

Song credited the rebound, at least in part, to the rise in vaccinations, which he thinks has made Americans more comfortable about venturing out.

“More tourists are coming,” he said.

“We’re seeing some familiar faces back inside the restaurant.”

Online sites that have capitalized on goods purchases during the pandemic—from Amazon to Etsy to eBay—are under pressure to show they can sustain accelerating growth,

even as consumers look more toward services and less on goods. So far, Amazon, the dominant site by far, is hardly showing signs of slowing down.

On Thursday, it reported that its firstquarter profit more than tripled from a year ago, fueled by online shopping.

The speed of the rebounding US economy has been particularly striking given the depth of damage the pandemic inflicted on it beginning last year. With businesses all but shut down, the economy contracted at a record annual pace of 31 percent in the April-June quarter of last year before rebounding sharply in the subsequent months.

The bounce-back has been swift.

In March, employers added 916,000 jobs — t he big gest bu rst of h i r ing since August. Meantime, retail spending has surged, manufacturing output is up and consumer confidence has reached its highest point since the pandemic began.

“We are seeing all the engines of the economy rev up,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at Oxford Economics. “We have an improving health environment, fiscal stimulus remains abundant and we are starting to see rebounding employment.”

The renewed strength in the United States—the largest economy—is helping lead the developed world out of recession. In Europe, for instance, a recovery has lagged because of smaller government aid and slower vaccination rollouts that have prolonged lockdowns. Economists at Berenberg Bank estimate that the 19 countries that use the euro currency actually contracted in the first quarter.

For all the US economy’s gains, it still has a long way to go. More than 8 million jobs remain lost to the pandemic. And the recovery remains sharply uneven: Most college-educated and white-collar employees have been

able to work from home over the past year. Many have even built up savings and expanded their wealth from rising home values and a record-setting stock market, which has rocketed more than 80 percent from March of last year.

By contrast, job cuts have fallen heavily on low-wage workers, racial minorities and people without college educations. In addition, many women, especially working mothers, have had to leave the work force to care for children.

In its report Thursday, the government said the nation’s gross domestic product—its total output of goods and services—accelerated in the JanuaryMarch quarter from a 4.3-percent annual gain in the last quarter of 2020.

Some economists say growth in the current April-June period could reach a 10-percent annual pace or more, driven by a surge in people traveling, shopping, dining out and otherwise resuming their spending habits.

A major reason for the brightening expectations is the record-level federal spending that is poised to flow into the economy. A $1.9-trillion package that President Joe Biden got through Congress in March provided, among other rescue aid, $1,400 stimulus payments to most adults.

On top of that, Biden is proposing two additional huge spending plans: a $2.3-trillion infrastructure package and a $1.8-trillion investment in children, families and education that the president promoted Wednesday night in his first address to a joint session of Congress.

The Federal Reserve’s ultra-low interest-rate policy, designed to encourage borrowing and spending, has provided significant support, too.

In fact, the economy is expected to expand so fast that some economists have raised concerns that it could ignite inf lation. AP

Israeli security officials and rescuers stand around the bodies of victims who died during a Lag Ba’Omer celebrations at Mt. Meron in northern Israel on April 30. The director of an Israeli ambulance service has confirmed that nearly 40 people died in a stampede at a religious festival in northern Israel. AP

‘Great tragedy:‘ 44 crushed to death, 150 hurt in Israel pilgrimage stampede

J

ERUSALEM—A stampede broke out early Friday at a Jewish religious gathering attended by tens of thousands of people in northern Israel, leaving 150 hospitalized, authorities said.

Israeli media reported that as many as 44 people were killed and published photos of rows of bodies.

The disaster occurred at Mount Meron at the main celebrations of Lag BaOmer, a holiday when tens of thousands of people, mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews, gather to honor Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a 2nd-century sage and mystic who is buried there.

Large crowds traditionally light bonfires, pray and dance as part of the celebrations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “great tragedy,” and said everyone was praying for the victims.

The incident happened after midnight, and the cause of the stampede was not immediately clear.

Videos circulating on social media showed large numbers of ultra-Orthodox Jews packed together in tight spaces.

A 24-year-old witness, identified only by his first name Dvir, told the Army Radio station that “masses of people were pushed into the same corner and a vortex was created.” He said a first row of people fell down, and then a second row, where he was standing, also began to fall down from the pressure of the stampede.

“I felt like I was about to die,” he said.

Zaki Heller, spokesman for the Magen David Adom rescue service, said 150 people had been hospitalized and confirmed there had been some deaths. Army Radio, citing anonymous medical

officials, said the death toll had risen to 44.

Heller told the station “no one had ever dreamed” something like this could happen. “In one moment, we went from a happy event to an immense tragedy,” he said.

Photos from the scene showed rows of wrapped bodies.

The Israeli military said it had dispatched medics and search and rescue teams along with helicopters to assist with a “mass casualty incident” in the area. It did not provide details on the nature of the disaster.

It was the first huge religious gathering to be held legally since Israel lifted nearly all restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. The country has seen cases plummet since launching one of the world’s most successful vaccination campaigns late last year.

Health authorities had nevertheless warned against holding such a large gathering.

But when the celebrations started, the Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, police chief Yaakov Shabtai and other top officials visited the event and met with police, who had deployed 5,000 extra forces to maintain order.

Ohana, a close ally of Netanyahu, thanked police for their hard work and dedication “for protecting the well-being and security for the many participants” as he wished the country a happy holiday.

Netanyahu is struggling to form a governing coalition ahead of a Tuesday deadline, and the national tragedy is sure to complicate those efforts. AP

Amazon’s profits triples Free rides, pot, beer: ‘Perks’ added to Covid vaccine drive amid global health crisis

N

EW YORK—Amazon’s pandemic boom isn’t showing signs of slowing down.

The company said Thursday that its first-quarter profit more than tripled from a year ago, fueled by the growth of online shopping. It also posted revenue of more than $100 billion, the second quarter in a row that the company has passed that milestone.

Amazon is one of the few retailers that has benefited during the pandemic. As physical stores temporarily closed, people stuck at home turned to Amazon to buy groceries, cleaning supplies and more. That doesn’t seem to be dying down.

In the first three months of this year, the company reported profit of $8.1 billion, compared to $2.5 billion the year before.

Earnings per share came to $15.79, about $6 more per share than what Wall Street analysts expected, according to FactSet. Revenue jumped 44 percent to $108.5 billion.

Seattle-based Amazon is one of four American companies that have reported quarterly revenue above $100 billion. The others are iPhone maker Apple, oil and gas company Exxon Mobil and retailer Walmart.

Amazon said revenue will remain at that level in the second quarter, expecting between $110 billion and $116 billion. Part of the reason why: It plans to hold Prime Day, its popular sales event, during the quarter. Amazon didn’t specify a date

for Prime Day, but said it would happen before the end of June.

B e s i d e s o n l i n e s h o p p i n g , A m a z o n ’s o t h e r b u s i n e s s e s g re w, t o o. S a l e s a t i t s cloud- computing business, which helps power the online operations of Netflix, M c D o n a l d ’s a n d o t h e r c o m p a n i e s, g re w 3 2 p e rc e n t i n t h e q u a r te r. A n d a t i t s u n i t t h a t i n c l u d e s i t s a d ve r t i s i n g b u s i n e s s, w h e re b r a n d s p a y t o g e t t h e i r p ro d u c t s to s h o w u p f i r s t w h e n s h o p p e r s s e a rc h o n t h e s i te, s a l e s ro s e 7 7 p e rc e n t.

Amazon’s growth comes as it faces activism from within its work force. Workers at a warehouse in Alabama tried to unionize, saying they wanted better pay and more break time. But a majority of voters batted down that effort.

This week, Amazon announced it was giving more than 500,000 workers a raise of between 50 cents and $3 an hour starting next month to attract new workers. The company already pays at least $15 an hour.

The online shopping giant has been on a hiring spree to keep up with a surge in orders.

It had 1.27 million employees at the end of March, adding more than 430,000 people in the last year.

Shares of Amazon.com Inc., which are up 40 percent in the last year, rose 2.6 percent in after-hours trading Thursday. AP

F

ree beer, pot and doughnuts. Savings bonds.

A chance to win an all-terrain vehicle.

Places around the US are offering incentives to try to energize the nation’s slowing vaccination drive and get Americans to roll up their sleeves.

These relatively small, mostly corporate, promotion efforts have been accompanied by more serious and far-reaching attempts by officials in cities such as Chicago, which is sending specially equipped buses into neighborhoods to deliver vaccines.

Detroit is offering $50 to people who give others a ride to vaccination sites, and starting Monday will send workers to knock on every door in the city to help residents sign up for shots.

Public health officials say the efforts are crucial to reach people who haven’t been immunized yet, whether because they are hesitant or because they have had trouble making an appointment or getting to a vaccination site.

“This is the way we put this pandemic in the rearview mirror and move on with our lives,” said Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky’s public health commissioner.

Meanwhile, more activities are resuming around the US as case numbers come down.

Disneyland is set to open Friday after being closed for over a year, while Indianapolis is planning to welcome 135,000 spectators for the Indy 500 at

In this, April 20, file photo, a man wearing a cannabis costume hands out marijuana cigarettes in New York during a “Joints for Jabs” event, where adults who showed their Covid-19 vaccination cards received a free joint. Free beer, pot and doughnuts. Savings bonds. A raffle ticket for a snowmobile. Places around the US are offering incentives to try to energize the nation’s slowing vaccination drive and get reluctant Americans to roll up their sleeves. AP the end of May. Still, rising hospitalizations and caseloads in the Pacific Northwest prompted Oregon’s governor to impose restrictions in several counties, and her Washington counterpart was expected to follow suit.

Demand for vaccines has star ted to fall around the country, something health officials expected would happen once the most vulnerable and most eager to get the shot had the opportunity to do so. Now the vaccination drive is moving into a new, more targeted phase.

“This will be much more of an intense ground game where we have to focus on smaller events, more tailored to address the needs and concerns of focused communities,” Stack said.

Nationally, 82 percent of people over 65 and more than half of all adults have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But while vaccinations hit a high in mid-April to at least 3.2 million shots per day on average, the number had fallen to 2.5 million as of last week.

As demand slows to a trickle at mass vaccination sites such as stadiums, some state and local governments are no longer asking for their full allotment of vaccine from Washington. And many large vaccination sites and pharmacies are letting people walk in, no appointment necessary.

With the shift away from larger sites to pharmacies and medical providers, Pfizer on Thursday said that at the end of May, it will start shipping its two-dose Covid-19 vaccine in smaller packages. The new packages will hold 25 vials with six doses each, rather than trays of 195 vials.

The slowdown in the US stands in stark contrast to the situation in the many poorer corners of the world that are desperate for vaccine. AP

Deadly attacks surge as American troops prepare to leave Afghanistan

V

iolence surged in wartorn Afghanistan in the first quarter of the year as US forces prepared to leave the country after two decades.

Attacks by the Taliban and other militant groups surged 37 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to a

report that cited both US forces and the United Nations. As many as 643 people were killed and 1,395 injured, the US forces reported, while the UN recorded 572 deaths, according to a report

by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, a Pentagon watchdog.

US President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw troops

by September 11 will remove military support to Afghanistan’s government and strengthen Taliban militants just as the nation’s President Ashraf Ghani struggles with a food security crisis that’s affected

nearly 17 million people, or about half of its population.

The US withdrawal “would leave the Afghan security forces without vital support, especially for its air force, which relies on contractors to maintain its planes and helicopters,” the report cited General Austin Scott

Miller, commander of US and allied forces in Afghanistan, as saying.

As many as 5.5 million people are in dire need of food, the second highest in the world, according to the report, which cited the International Organization for Migration.

Meanwhile, peace talks with the Taliban militants have stalled. The US plans to complete the final withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 troops from the country by September 11. Nato’s 7,000 troops who train and advise Afghan forces will also follow the US. Bloomberg News

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

FU KAI MAN Malaysian

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

2.

LI, SHUAI Chinese

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4.

LUONG BOI TRINH Vietnamese

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SUI, PENGWEI Chinese

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6.

WANG, JIAZHI Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

7.

YAO, YI-SHENG a.k.a.

YAO, YI-SHEN Taiwanese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

8.

ZHANG, ZHAORUI Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

ZHENG, YIYANG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

9.

10.

LIANG, TIEWEI Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

11.

SHI, JINYONG Chinese

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

ACCENTURE, INC. 7f Robinsons Cybergate Tower 1 Pioneer St Mandaluyong City 12.

KONDO , YUSHI Japanese

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION ARCHITECT

ADVANCE BEYOND INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING, INC. 3/f Salcedo One Center 170 Salcedo St. San Lorenzo Makati City 13.

14.

HAN, YU Chinese WU, XUE Chinese

CHINESE MANDARIN GLOBAL MOBILITY MANAGER MANDARIN SPEAKING DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE

BAYER BUSINESS SERVICES PHILIPPINES, INC 10 Floor Science Hub, Tower 2 Mckinley Hill Cyberpark Fort Bonifacio Taguig City 15.

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ASSOCIATE - INDIA

BAYVIEW TECHNOLOGIES, INC. 43/f Yuchengco Tower Rcbc Plaza Ayala Ave. Cor. Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. Bel-air Makati City 16.

LUSIANA Indonesian

SALES SUPERVISOR (MULTILINGUAL)

BIG EMPEROR TECHNOLOGY CORP. 5f-13f, Jiaxing Tower Building Aseana Avenue, Aseana Business Park Tambo Parañaque City 17.

18.

ZHANG, XIAOBIN Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE

TANG, JIAJIE Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

19.

YANG, HAOTAO Chinese

MANDARIN LANGUAGE SPECIALIST

20.

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BILLION DRAGON OUTSOURCE PHILS., INC. One Townsquare Place Bpo Bldg. Alabang Zapote Rd. Almanza Uno Las Piñas City 21.

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FIELD MANAGEMENT ASSISTANT

XU, CHAO Chinese

FINANCE MANAGER

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25.

26.

27.

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PROJECT COORDINATOR PURCHASING MANAGER

CHINA RAILWAY FIRST GROUP CO. LTD. (PHILIPPINE) BRANCH U-18a 18/f Trafalgar Plaza 105 H.v. Dela Costa St. Bel-air Makati City 28.

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30.

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31.

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EASTERN GOLD CORPORATION 503 Nueva St Binondo Manila

FOREIGN NATIONAL / NATIONALITY

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OPERATION MANAGER (MANDARIN SPEAKING)

VEITIA HERNANDEZ, ARMANDO RAFAEL Costa Rican

RISK MANAGEMENT OFFICER

NO.

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POSITION

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DENG, HONGFU Chinese

BUSINESS LENDING DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

95.

WANG, HUIHUANG Chinese

BUSINESS LENDING DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

96.

KE, JUNKAI Chinese

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LI, SHIWANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SUPPORT

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CHINESE CUSTOMER SUPPORT

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CHINESE CUSTOMER SUPPORT

100.

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CHINESE CUSTOMER SUPPORT

32.

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MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

33.

CHIU, LI-YAN Taiwanese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

64.

34.

LI, XIAOPING Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

35.

LIANG, YUEZHOU Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

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

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65.

HERY SHONO Indonesian

COMPUTER TECHNICAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST

101.

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CHINESE CUSTOMER SUPPORT

37.

WANG, XIAOYONG Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

66.

LIAO, JIANFANG Chinese

INFORMATION SECURITY ANALYST

102.

ZHENG, FUQIANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SUPPORT

38.

WU, LIHUA Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

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WANG, TINGTING Chinese

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RIZAL COMMERCIAL BANKING CORPORATION Rcbc Plaza 6819 Ayala Ave. Cor. Sen Gil J. Puyat Ave. Bel-air Makati City

39.

ZHANG, WENXUAN Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

68.

FAN, JINFENG Chinese

IT TECHNICAL MANDARIN

103.

40.

ZHENG, ZHENJIE Chinese

MARKETING AND SALES AGENT

69.

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70.

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QA (QUALITY ASSURANCE) SPECIALIST

RJ GLOBUS SOLUTIONS INC. Units 304, 305, & 306 3/f, Rockwell Business Tower, Tower 1 Meralco Ave. Ugong Pasig City

ENCORE AMUSEMENT AND GAMING SUPPORT SERVICES CORP. 3f Metlive Metro Park Edsa Ext. Cor. Macapagal Blvd. Brgy. 076 Pasay City 41.

DO THI MY THANH Vietnamese

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GLOBALLGA BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING Ground Level, Level 2-5 Floor Silver City 4, Ortigas East Ugong Pasig City 2nd, 3rd & 6th Flr. Ortigas Technopoint 2 Ortigas Home Depot Complex #1 Doña Julia Vargas Ave. Pasig City 42.

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43.

HE, CHENG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

44.

KO, HYUNSONG South Korean

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

KUANG, YINGHUAN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

46.

LI, JIAXIANG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

47.

LIU, KE Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

48.

LIU, BAOJING Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

49.

LIU, TIANHAO Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

50.

WANG, ZHIRONG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

51.

WEI, ZHICHAO Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

XU, HAIYI Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

53.

YU, HAO Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

54.

ZHANG, CHONG Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

55.

ZHANG, GAO Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

56.

ZHOU, BINGQUAN Chinese

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE MANDARIN SPEAKING

45.

52.

57.

CHIENG THANH THANH Vietnamese

MARKETING STAFF MANDARIN SPEAKING

HISYSGLOBAL CORP. 45 Feliciano Pasco Avenue Santolan Pasig City 58.

KWON, SANG HO South Korean

CORPORATE TREASURER AND FINANCE OFFICER

HUA JIE MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTANCY CO. LTD. INC. Unit 146 The Manila Residence Tower 2 Taft Ave. 078 Bgy. 709 Malate Manila 59.

WANG, ZHE Chinese

TELEMARKETER (MANDARIN SPEAKING)

IBM PHILIPPINES, INCORPORATED 28f One World Place 32nd St. Fort Bonifacio Taguig City 60.

STORM, GRAHAM ANDREW Australian

ASSOCIATE PARTNER

INTEGRATED SYNERGY CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION 21 Floor Tower 1 Insular Life Corporate Centre, Insular Life Drive, Fcc Alabang Muntinlupa City 61.

TOSHIHARU, YAMAGAMI Japanese

CIVIL DEPUTY MANAGER

KONGANBUDDIES MARKETING INC. 12/f Pbcom Tower 6795 Ayala Ave. Cor. V.a. Rufino St. Bel-air Makati City 71.

KEMALA MEDIKA PUTRI Indonesian

INDONESIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

MALAYAN INSURANCE CO., INC. 500 Q Paredes St 027 Bgy. 289 Binondo Manila 72.

KOBAYASHI, ATSUSHI Japanese

JAPANESE DESK OFFICER – TOKIO MARINE PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT

MC CONNELL DOWELL PHILS., INC. Level 4 Nol Tower Commerce Ave. Mbp Muntinlupa City 73.

DE BRUIN, CECILIUS CHRISTINUS South African

PROJECT MANAGEMENT SUPERINTENDENT

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

104.

JOSE, ABRAHAM Indian

TATY, DOREA EMMANUEL TSHIPAMBA Congolese

IT DIRECTOR

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE-MANDARIN

ROCOCO GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION 14/f The Enterprise Center Tower 1, 6766 Ayala Ave. San Lorenzo Makati City 105.

SEKIGUCHI, AKIRA Japanese

PRESIDENT AND CEO

SAN MIGUEL BREWERY INC. # 40 San Miguel Avenue Brgy. Wack Wack Mandaluyong City 106.

ITO, HIROYUKI Japanese

SENIOR CONSULTANT BREWING TECHNICAL GROUP

TECSCO GLOBAL SOLUTIONS INC. Flr. No. 2nd-5th, Bldg. No. 2264, Tecsco Tower Bldg. Aurora Blvd.

Cor. Edang St., Zone 16 Barangay 149, District 1 Pasay City 107.

RUAMSIT, WARUNEE Thai

CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALIST

74.

BIAN, QILIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

TRIVES TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION Tower 4 Bayport West Naia Garden Residence, Naia Road Tambo Parañaque City

75.

CHEN, DU Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

108.

LIU, XIONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

76.

DANG MY PHUNG Vietnamese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

109.

MA, LIANGLIANG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

77.

FA, TAO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

110.

WEI, TIANSHI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

78.

HUANG, LIRONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

111.

WU, MINJIAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

79.

LI, WEN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

112.

XU, HONGJUN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

80.

LI, ZHIWEI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

113.

ZHANG, DECHENG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

81.

LUO, GUANGMEI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

114.

ZHANG, YUTING Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

82.

LYU, XIN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

83.

WAN, XIANLU Chinese

VITAS INC. U-793 7f Centuria Medical Makati Kalayaan Ave. Cor. Salamanca St. Poblacion Makati City

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

84.

ZHANG, CHENG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

85.

ZHANG, JIANGUO Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

86.

ZHANG, HENGRUI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

87.

ZHUANG, FENGYUAN Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE

88.

GUO, WEI Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER SPECIALIST

89.

PYAE PYAE PHYO Myanmari

CHINESE CUSTOMER SPECIALIST

NIKKEN LEASE KOGYO CO., LTD. Unit 6-c 6th Flr. Azure Business Center 1197 Edsa Katipunan 1 Quezon City 90.

KAWASAKI, YASUHIRO Japanese

BRANCH MANAGER

91.

DEURA, KOTARO Japanese

SALES MANAGER

TCHIENGUE DOSSEU, LAWRENCE Cameroonian

FRENCH CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE

PMFTC INC. Plant C & D Champaca Ii Fortune Marikina City 93.

TSANG, EDUARDO NG Chinese

OH, JEFFREY HWAMOK American

SENIOR OPERATIONS MANAGER

WUHAN FIBERHOME INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES PHILS., INC. U-19d 19/f Rufino Pacific Tower 6784 Ayala Ave. Cor. V.a. Rufino St. San Lorenzo Makati City 116.

DUAN, XIAOJUN Chinese

PROJECT MANAGER

117.

MA, ZHENLEI Chinese

PROJECT MANAGER

XAVIER SCHOOL, INC. (ALSO KNOWN AS KUANG CHI SCHOOL) #64 Xavier St. Bgy. Greenhills San Juan City 118.

WANG, ZIWEI Chinese

CONSULTANT FOR ACADEMICS FOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (GRADE 12)

YILV SUNNY TRAVEL CORPORATION Unit 25d 2/f Zeta Ii Bldg. 191 Salcedo St. San Lorenzo Makati City 119.

HU, HAN Chinese

MANDARIN TRAVEL SPECIALIST *Date Generated: Apr 30, 2021

OAMPI INC. 8/f 6780 Ayala Ave. Ayala Ave. San Lorenzo Makati City

92.

115.

In the ad material of Notice of Filing of Application for Alien Employment Permits published on March 20, 2021, the name of WANG, XIAOQING under MEGA-WEB TECHNOLOGIES INC., should have been read as WANG, XIAOQIONG and not as published.

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

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

DIRECTOR FINANCE, PLANNING & IT

RIGHT CHOICE FINANCE CORP. 5e-1 Electra House Bldg. 115-117 Esteban Street San Lorenzo Makati City

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

A6 Saturday, May 1, 2021

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

PHL renews bid for wider access of agri exports to Australia

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

T

HE Philippines reiterated its request for Australia to provide market access on several agricultural products, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Tuesday.

In recent dialogue between the Philippines and Australia, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo expressed the country’s interest for the grant of market access for its fresh Cavendish banana shipments.

This is not the first time DTI pushed for wider market access for bananas—a major agriculture export product—as the Philippines is currently securing low to zero tariff for said produce with South Korea.

Last year, banana exports reached 3.595 million metric tons which is 18.35 percent lower than 4.403 MMT in 2019, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Revenues from banana exports fell by 20.6 percent to

$1.552 billion last year from $1.953 billion.

Apart from bananas, the Philippines is also seeking market access for dragon fruit and durian. The DTI welcomed the first-ever shipment of frozen durian from Davao to Australia.

“It [Philippines] also requested the termination of the anti-dumping measure on Philippine canned pineapples,” the trade department said, adding that it would work with other government agencies and exporters

to address the said requests.

Both countries share trade and investment opportunities as well in several areas. These include personal protective equipment, vaccine, pharmaceutical manufacturing, copper industry, electric vehicles, agriculture, defense, shipbuilding, renewable energy, education and development programs in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“Australia highlighted its focus on building stronger and wider markets

Shipping containers fall overboard at fastest rate in seven years–report C

ONTAINERS piled high on giant vessels carrying everything from car tires to smartphones are toppling over at an alarming rate, sending millions of dollars of cargo sinking to the bottom of the ocean as pressure to speed deliveries raises the risk of safety errors.

The shipping industry is seeing the biggest spike in lost containers in seven years. More than 3,000 boxes dropped into the sea last year, and more than 1,000 have fallen overboard so far in 2021. The accidents are disrupting supply chains for hundreds of US retailers and manufacturers such as Amazon and Tesla.

There are a host of reasons for the sudden rise in accidents. Weather is getting more unpredictable, while ships are growing bigger, allowing for containers to be stacked higher than ever before. But greatly exacerbating the situation is a surge in e-commerce after consumer demand exploded during the pandemic, increasing the urgency for shipping lines to deliver products as quickly as possible.

“The increased movement of containers means that these very large container ships are much closer to full capacity than in the past,” said Clive Reed, founder of Reed Marine Maritime Casualty Management Consultancy. “There is commercial pressure on the ships to arrive on time and consequently make more voyages.”

After gale-force winds and large waves buffeted the 364-meter One Apus in November, causing the loss of more than 1,800 containers, footage showed thousands of steel boxes strewn like Lego pieces onboard, some torn to metal shreds. The incident was the worst since 2013, when the MOL Comfort broke in two and sank with its entire cargo of 4,293 containers into the Indian Ocean.

In January, the Maersk Essen lost about 750 boxes while sailing from Xiamen, China, to Los Angeles. A

A WORKER walks toward the One Apus container ship, berthed at the Kobe Port in Hyogo, Japan, on December 10, 2020. The vessel, managed by NYK Shipmanagement Pte, suffered a massive stack collapse and lost 1,816 containers—64 of which are classified as dangerous goods—at sea due to severe weather on November 30 while it was en route from Yantian, China to Long Beach, US. BLOOMBERG PHOTO

month later, 260 containers fell off the Maersk Eindhoven when it lost power in heavy seas.

The need for speed is creating precarious conditions that can quickly bring disaster, according to shipping experts. The dangers range from stevedores incorrectly locking boxes on top of one another to captains not deviating from a storm to save on fuel and time as they face pressure from charterers, they said. One wrong move can put cargoes and crew at risk.

The chances for mishaps are increasing as exhausted seafarers face deteriorating conditions during the pandemic. Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty estimates that human error contributes to at least threequarters of shipping industry accidents and fatalities.

Almost all the recent incidents have occurred in the Pacific Ocean, a region where the busiest traffic and the worst weather collide. The sea route connecting Asia’s economies to consumers in North America was the most lucra-

tive for shipping companies last year.

China’s exports have gone on a tear as the pandemic fuels demand for all the stuff people need to work, learn and entertain from home.

The journey has always been rough, but it’s become more perilous due to changing weather patterns. The rise in traffic from China to the US this past winter coincided with the strongest winds over the Northern Pacific since 1948, increasing the likelihood of rougher seas and bigger waves, said Todd Crawford, chief meteorologist at The Weather Company.

With 226 million container boxes shipped each year, the loss of 1,000 or more can seem like—well—a drop in the ocean. “That’s a very small percentage lost,” said Jacob Damgaard, associate director of loss prevention at Britannia P&I at a conference in Singapore on April 23. “But it’s almost 60 percent of the monetary value of all container incidents.”

At an average of $50,000 per box, the One Apus was estimated to have

lost $90 million in cargo alone, the highest in recent history, according to Jai Sharma, a partner at maritime law firm Clyde & Co. in London. Losses so far this year have totaled an estimated $54.5 million, Bloomberg data show.

The issue is also gaining attention as last month’s grounding of the 400-meter vessel Ever Given in the Suez Canal threw a spotlight on the vulnerability of the shipping industry. The mega ship blocked traffic through the vital waterway for nearly a week, and the impact on global trade is still being felt.

So far, none of the recent container accidents has been directly attributed to safety lapses. The International Maritime Organization said it is still awaiting results of investigations into the latest incidents, and cautioned about making any conclusions before that.

But many experts say the situation has grown more dangerous because of pressure on supply chains since the pandemic. When ships approach heavy weather, captains have the option to steer away from the danger.

But the attitude is “don’t go around the storm, go through,” said Jonathan Ranger, head of marine Asia Pacific at American International Group Inc. “When you combine that with potentially poor maintenance of twistlocks and cabling required to secure these boxes, then it’s an accident waiting to happen,” he said at the industry conference in Singapore.

Top-heavy

WITH boxes stacked ever higher, a ship can become more unstable in a storm—wave after wave can cause the vessel to roll at steep angles, putting strain on the securing of containers.

The situation becomes even worse if the stack is top-heavy. That can happen when there’s incorrect weightings on the bills of lading for containers, which many in the industry say happens too often. Bloomberg News

through investments and cooperation initiatives with its trading partners,” the DTI said.

With this, Sydney proposed collaboration with several government agencies, including the DTI, the Department of Budget and Management, Department of Foreign Affairs and Anti-Red Tape Authority.

Currently, over 300 Australian companies are employing about 44,000 Filipinos in mining, shipbuilding, energy supply, retail trade, accommodation and food service

facilities, manufacturing, transportation and storage. At least 200 of these are in the information technology-business process management industry.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the countr’s export to Australia fell by 10.3 percent to $356.94 million in 2020 from $398.10 million year-on-year.

Imports from Australia reached $766.42 million last year, which is 45.7 percent lower than $1.41 billion in 2019.

China wants to improve genetics of its pigs so they’re fatter, eat less

C

HINA will work to improve the genetics of its hog herd and other livestock in the coming decade with the aim of breeding animals that produce more meat and—at the same time—consume less grains.

Sow herd productivity is about 30 percent lower than in developed countries and dairy cows produce only 80 percent of the milk than their peers in some leading markets, Shi Jianzhong, an official with the agriculture ministry’s National Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources Committee told reporters on Wednesday. China has to rely on overseas stock to produce white-feathered broiler chickens, he said.

The drive to improve livestock genetics is part of China’s goal of relying less on imports to feed its massive and

increasingly affluent population.

However, the nation will continue to bring in animals from overseas to improve its domestic stock to catch up faster with advanced countries, said Chen Yaosheng, an official at the ministry’s National Pig Genetic Improvement Program.

Millions of tons of feed grains will be saved and pressure on land will ease if hog quality can be improved to match that in advanced countries, said Sun Haoqin, another official on the livestock genetics committee. The move will also support China’s shift to industrialized hog and chicken farms, he said.

China flew in 10,433 live swine worth $25 million in the first quarter, with the imports mainly coming from Denmark and the US, Customs data show. Bloomberg News

OurTime BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Saturday, May 1, 2021 A7

Cebu City mayor says 5,000 senior citizens get Covid jab

C

By Carlo Lorenciana

EBU CITY—Mayor Edgardo Labella on Friday said nearly 5,000 Covid vaccine doses have already been administered to senior citizens here.

“I am thankful to them for heeding our call to be vaccinated because this is not for oneself alone but also for our loved ones and neighbors,” he said in a mix of Cebuano and English via social media.

The Cebu City Health Department (CHD) has reported a total of 10,403 individuals in the first priority group, including health-care workers, who were already inoculated from March 24 to April 22.

Labella also noted the fast roll-

out of vaccination for the senior residents being done in three sites in this city, including the University of Cebu-Banilad Campus, Robinsons Galleria, and SM Seaside Cebu.

However, due to the limited supply of vaccines, the Cebu City Vaccination Operations Center has decided to halt the inoculation on Friday noon in the three sites.

Labella said the vaccination will resume next week once the city government receives more doses

CEBU City Mayor Edgardo Labella

FILE PHOTO COURTESY OF CEBU CITY HALL PIO

from the Department of Health in Central Visayas.

Labella, a senior citizen himself, said he is scheduled to get vaccinated on Monday at the SM Seaside site.

He reiterated his call to the elderly to get inoculated to protect themselves from getting severe Covid-19 infection.

“We need all the protection we can get. And we can curb the pandemic together through vaccination, especially if we continue to observe the health protocols,” he added.

On Thursday, Labella officially asked the country’s vaccine czar, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., to supply Cebu City with additional doses

of Covid-19 vaccines.

“As soon as I read the news that vaccine czar, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., has reported to President Rodrigo Duterte the arrival of additional 500,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine, I immediately communicated with Secretary Galvez,” the mayor said.

Labella said he requested that Cebu City “be given a fair share of these doses” as more and more senior citizens in the city are now willing to be inoculated, based on the city government’s online registration system, “and they are just waiting for these jabs to arrive.”

“Secretary Galvez has also assured us that by June or July, other brands such as Moderna and Pfizer are also expected to arrive,” he said.

The mayor said the city government is trying to be prudent in spending the budget that it has allocated for the purchase of its own vaccines.

He said before the city government decides to buy its own vaccines, it will wait until the national government is done rolling out the free vaccines to the various local government units.

The inoculation of senior citizens in this city has temporarily been suspended due to shortage of vaccines.

The city is yet to receive a word from the Department of Health (DOH) when the next delivery would be.

As of April 22, at least 10,000 senior citizens in Cebu City have signified their intent to be vaccinated against Covid-19 but only half has so far been inoculated out of the 19,000 targeted in an online registration.

The DOH in Central Visayas noted that for the whole region that includes the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and Negros Oriental, at least 572,626 senior citizens have registered for vaccination. PNA

PCP supports vaccination drive 114-year-old Nebraska woman to protect elderly, priority groups becomes oldest living American

By Roderick L. Abad

ommended to the elderly since they usually have preconditions and weaker immune system than the younger ones, thus, making them more susceptible to get sick of Covid-19 and at risk to suffer severe infection.

The Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) supports the global and national vaccination efforts, particularly in prioritizing the different groups that are at risk of getting the infection. These include the (A1) frontline health workers, (A2) senior citizens, (A3) persons with comorbidities, (A4) frontline personnel in essential sectors including uniformed personnel, (A5) indigent population.

Other beneficiaries identified in the Covid-19 Vaccination Program’s prioritization framework are (B1) teachers and social workers; (B2) other government workers; (B3) other essential workers; (B4) sociodemographic groups at significantly higher risk other than senior citizens and poor population; (B5) overseas Filipino workers; other remaining work force; and (C) the rest of the population not otherwise included in the said groups.

“As of now, there are vaccination

Contributor

M

ORE than 3 million people have already died since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic more than a year ago. In many countries, this virulent disease continues to infect more and more people.

While Filipinos are afraid to contract the virus, majority of them remain hesitant to be inoculated due to safety concerns.

A new survey conducted by Pulse Asia from February 22 to March 23 revealed that 94 percent of adult respondents are worried about getting Covid-19 vaccines, and only 16 percent are willing to receive a dose or two.

The benefits of immunization outweigh the fears about unwanted side effects and potential adverse reactions. Getting the Covid jab is strongly recommended to patients who are immunocompromised or have chronic medical conditions such as hypertension, cancer, diabetes, kidney or heart disorders.

Age-wise, vaccination is highly rec-

Old souls, beautiful souls

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

I

AM in my late 60s, going into my 70s. By usual reckoning, consider me old indeed.

But after one year of living in the pandemic, it seems that I have grown even older. More so during the past weeks of getting messages about friends and acquaintances dying from Covid-19, day after day.

Is it just me, or has the pandemic forced us all to age faster?

Even young people must have become prematurely older because of what we all have gone through.

And it’s not yet over. We might have to go through the same ordeal again because the plague doesn’t seem to want to leave us.

Perhaps my feeling about accelerated aging may have some scientific basis. According to a very recent research, children exposed to adversity (and perhaps calamity

such as this protracted pandemic) often show signs of faster cellular aging. They reach puberty earlier than usual.

How can anybody live a normal life in this pandemic that threatens to careen out of control, frustrated and dismayed as we are with the seemingly endless loop of failure, futility, an endless morass of on and off lockdowns?

But I am looking at not just the physical or cellular aging. Mentally and emotionally, we have been forced by circumstances to grow up faster too. A lot of us have started to see life differently.

For those of us, young and old, who have been infected and survived or have lost parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, dearest friends and colleagues, mentors, a new dimension has been added to our perspec-

programs being rolled out by national and local government units where registration is the only requirement for those who are interested to get the jab. However, we still have to address misinformation about the vaccine,” the PCP said.

On March 1, the government started administering Covid-19 jabs to frontline health workers. Other priority groups followed, such as those with comorbidities, senior citizens, and frontline workers in essential sectors.

The Philippines has so far received and used the Covid-19 vaccines developed by BritishSwede drugmaker AstraZeneca and Sinovac from China.

The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to Pfizer-BioNTech and Sputnik V. Among the countries developing vaccines, however, the Pulse Asia study showed a huge distrust towards China, with 63 percent of the participants saying they do not trust Chinese-made jabs, while 44 percent indicated their confidence on vaccines developed in the United States.

tive that I call “old soul” maturity.

Don’t get me wrong. I use “old soul” in the best meaning of the term. In fact, I like to believe that it is a compliment to be called an old soul, as it implies grace and wisdom. It means that while you may be relatively young in years, you are wise beyond your years.

Basically, an old soul has more understanding of the world around him.

These people have become painfully awakened to the fact that good times are not guaranteed; fate can suddenly veer out of track and disrupt everything. They are humble enough to acknowledge that life is random and surprising, but are comforted by the fact that one can always choose how to react and respond to what happens.

Horrible stuff happens, and we just have to deal with it.

One young celebrity manifests her old soul outlook by now valuing the present moment, saying, “I realized na I should be present. She also now listens more, being more attentive to people she is talking to.

Being homebound for such a long time must have helped transform young people into old souls. Stuck at home, they now realize that staying at home is not too bad. There is nothing more restful than being in your favorite couch, tucked under a blanket, and simply enjoying the comforts of a place where they feel safe and secure. They don’t have to

O

MAHA, Nebraska—A 114-year-old Nebraska woman who has taken the title of America’s oldest living person says what she wants most is to eat with her friend after a year of pandemic restrictions.

Thelma Sutcliffe, of Omaha, became the nation’s oldest living person and seventh-oldest in the world on April 17 when Hester Ford, a 115-year-old woman, died in North Carolina, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that Sutcliffe was born on October 1, 1906. Her longtime friend, Luella “Lou” Mason, said she is happy that the senior living center where Sutcliffe lives is locked down, but “Thelma is as determined as ever to do what she wants to do.”

Until visitors are allowed in the dining room, Thelma is taking all her meals in her room.

Mason, who has Sutcliffe’s power of attorney, calls the senior living center 24 hours ahead of time to schedule visits.

look far outside to find what really makes them happy.

Rather than dealing with the superficialities of mainstream society, an old soul has deeper interests.

One indication of old soul maturity is that there is less interest in trivialities or what we call kababawan. For instance, the younger members of our family are distancing themselves from people, specially toxic acquaintances and those who waste time on frivolities.

Later I learned that old souls are picky with people they choose to spend time with. They don’t like superficial relationships. So they would rather be alone than to be with people they don’t relate with.

They shy away from chaotic, polarizing conversations. As a result, they are often seen alone.

However, while they love solitude, good souls are not unfriendly.

In fact, they value relationships.

What’s different about them is they go for quality not quantity. My wife, for instance, has pruned the list of her FB friends during this pandemic. She now just wants to limit her response to posts from friends who “talk substance.”

She has also been dishing out words of wisdom from her collection of good quotes and much to her pleasant surprise, young FB friends have been liking them. It’s what she calls her personal “food pantry” for people

THELMA SUTCLIFFE is shown with a birthday cake in October 2019, in Omaha, Neb. Sutcliffe is now the oldest living American at 114 years old. MIKE KELLY/THE WORLD-HERALD VIA AP

“She asks me every time I visit, ‘Are you going to eat with me today?” Mason recalled. “It breaks my heart that I can’t.”

Sutcliffe’s hearing and sight are fading, Mason said, but her mind is still “very sharp.”

Sutcliffe received her Covid starving for meaning and inspiration.

These young people are turning out to be not just old souls but also “beautiful souls.” A beautiful soul is the kind of person who has a kind, compassionate spirit, with a kind, giving nature—not hesitating to share what he has with those who have less.

Helping other people gives this kind of person a sense of purpose.

The fact that the community pantry was an idea of young people is a testament that this young generation is altruistic. They care for others. Because of the pandemic, there’s a lack of social life so they are now probably focusing more on outwardly sense of purpose, using gadgets not to organize parties but to promote good causes, and doing volunteer work in projects involving the poor and the needy.

When my wife and I learn about an acquaintance that is sick or dying, our children don’t hesitate to chip in when we send financial assistance. Whatever we have now, we give, no ifs and buts.

When hungry people, young or old, bang on our pedestrian gate asking for food scraps or money, we don't shout at them to go away.

We have prepared bags of biscuits and bread as well as sack of coins and small paper money, ready to be handed over to such people. They are no longer looked at as nuisance, but human beings in need of a helping

shots at the earliest opportunity, but testing for the coronavirus was a nonstarter.

Mason said Sutcliffe looked at the swab and said, “You’re not going to be sticking that thing up my nose. You can tell Lou to stick it up hers.” AP hand. We no longer care if there are opportunists among them who will exploit the situation.

Our kids make sure to give hefty tips to food delivery riders and supermarket baggers who are risking infections by going out to be able to earn something for their families at a time when more and more are losing their jobs because of this unrelenting pandemic and a stingy government.

When we now send our condolences, it goes beyond the perfunctory or obligatory. We feel for the members of the family who have been left behind.

When we hear news about people dying in tents or at home because they could not be accommodated in hospitals, we imagine ourselves going through the agonizing moments before their last breath.

One easily gets affected because we are now all sharing this experience of seeing so much brokenness in the world. Sometimes you wish you were powerful enough to make a difference.

In the book I am now reading, the musical composer Stephen Sondheim once described his mentor Oscar Hammerstein as a man of “restricted talent but an infinite PIEDAD soul.” In the midst of all this unceasing suffering, something good is happening. In spite of our restricted abilities and talents as human beings, this pandemic is making us grow up fast into infinitely good old souls.

Education BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, May 1, 2021

Free access to Tesda’s training programs to last until 2022

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By Roderick L. Abad

TUDENTS and teachers will continue to enjoy their free digital connections to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s (Tesda) online skills-training program and other state educational channels until next year.

In a statement, Globe Telecom said it is extending free data access to the Globe eLibrary and essential learning platforms of the national government, which includes the Tesda Online Program (TOP) up to 2022.

Last year, Globe offered free access to its subscribers to make it easier for them to learn and obtain

resource materials from Tesda, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) without having to incur data charges.

Numbers from e-Tesda revealed as of March 2021, TOP currently has 2,905,009 registered users since its launch in 2012.

TOP is an open educational resource aimed at making technical vocational education and training more accessible to Filipinos while broadening their employment opportunities or livelihood sources.

There are 85 online courses under various sectors available in the TOP, including computer systems servicing national certificate (NC) II, food processing NC II, bread and pastry NC II, housekeeping NC II, and other courses from sectors such as automotive, agriculture, entrepreneurship, and health care, among others.

Since 2019, Globe has been a strong partner of Tesda. Earlier, it extended communications support to the latter by providing prepaid load that enabled the agency to easily coordinate with returning overseas Filipino workers, as well as offer its training programs and services. The prepaid cards will also be used to validate the existing beneficiaries’

completion of their training.

For helping the agency reach more Filipinos in need of its services, Tesda Director General Isidro S. Lapeña thanked the telco firm.

“We are glad to have this opportunity of serving more Filipinos, in line with our guiding principle: ‘Tesda: Abot Lahat,’” Lapeña said. “Now, our services can reach our [countrymen] without having to pay for data costs.”

“We endeavor to help enhance opportunities for self-learning by making quality content available to teachers and students,” said Yoly Crisanto, Globe’s chief sustainability officer and senior vice president of corporate communications. “We hope customers will take advantage of this free service to DepEd, CHED and Tesda, in cooperation with the Department of Information and Communications Technology and National Telecommunications Commission for their on l ine lear ning requ irements.”

PIDS researchers point out medium of instruction-mother tongue mismatch

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By Cai U. Ordinario

TUDENTS and teachers lack familiarity with their chosen medium of instruction used in schools under the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) program, according to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

In a process evaluation, a team of researchers led by PIDS consultant Jennifer Monje said parents also require full understanding of the need to use mother tongue in school, when this is not the language used to land a job.

“Recognizing there are more than 19 languages nationwide, schools have been encouraged to determine feasible ways to localize the policy in their areas,” the researchers said.

“Since it was hard to determine different pathways for localization, divisions and schools were essentially left on their own to pursue

such efforts.”

The researchers noted that in some cases, such as in Region 5, the Bicolano dialect spoken in Naga is different from those in other parts of the area.

This is the same concern when it comes to Cebuano and Ilocano: The dialect spoken in Cebu is different from the one in Cagayan de Oro City, while Ilocano in the Ilocos provinces varies from what is in Baguio City in Benguet.

Due to the variations in the manner of implementation of the program, the findings showed that less than 10 percent of schools have done the four activities needed to implement the program well.

“This has spawned a lot of conceptual and operational issues—including resentment, teaching capability issues, and parents complaining that their children are being taught the archaic version of their own

language when confronted with its more formal written version,” the research stated.

Apart from this, the study stated that there is a “lack of understanding and wrong appreciation” of the objective of the MTB-MLE. The researchers noted that the “starting where the children are” and “learner-centered” education rationales come into conflict with the practical objectives.

Some comments that the researchers obtained were: “Waray na nga sa loob ng bahay, Waray pa rin sa school. [Waray is used at home, Waray will still be used in school.] Or, “Hindi naman Waray ang gagamitin during job interviews. [Waray will not be used during job interviews].”

“These misconceptions engendered resistance among parents and teachers, and undermined the successful implementation of MTBMLE,” the research stated.

To address these concerns, the

researchers recommended stepping up the information dissemination of researches that highlight the efficacy of the mother tongue in educating children.

They also encouraged knowledge generation of the way children learn various languages at once, such as simultaneous bilingualism to inform or refine program theory and delivery of service.

The authors also recommended that studies be conducted on the effects of exposure to various languages on education outcomes, as well as the impact of social media on language acquisition—including learning and identifying ways to harness these technological affordances.

The study also provided a number of other capacity-building, advocacy work, linguistic landscape and program-organization recommendations.

Editor: Mike Policarpio

Israel promotes urban gardening on Earth Day

OFFICIALS of San Juan City and Israel’s MASHAV distribute vegetable kits to promote urban gardening among the local government unit’s youth. EMBASSY OF ISRAEL

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HE Embassy of the State of Israel, in cooperation with MASHAV and the local government of San Juan City, celebrated Earth Day 2021 by promoting urban gardening among the youth, as they provided a total of 280 vegetable kits to the city’s elementary and secondary public schools.

Ambassador Rafael Harpaz said the kits will encourage the young generation to grow their own food in their backyards: “The pandemic limits the youth to stay at home.

Planting is a fun and exciting activity they can do with their families.”

San Juan City Mayor Francisco Javier M. Zamora extended his appreciation to the initiative of the embassy. He mentioned that urban gardening promotes environmental awareness and protection, as well as food security. The local chief executive also invited Harpaz to visit the homes of the children in his constituency once their vegetable gar-

dens have started to thrive.

San Juan City’s Schools Division Superintendent Cecille Carandang said the project gives hope and inspiration to their youth, and is a step closer in creating sustainable and Earth-friendly environments.

MASHAV, Israel’s agency for international development cooperation under its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is active in supporting worthy endeavors. The urban gardening project is part of its cooperation with the embassy and the local government of San Juan City.

Participating public schools in the said project were San Juan National High School Senior High School, San Juan Elementary School, San Perfecto Elementary School, Salapan Elementary School, Pedro Cruz Elementary School, Pinagl aba na n Element a r y School, West Crame Elementary School, Kabayanan Elementary School, Sta. Lucia Elementary School, and Nicanor Ibuna Elementary School.

PLM engineering students win big in national contest

What schools should know about student assessments

By Chukwudi Ogoh

Consultant, Assesments and Feedback Technologies (Turnitin)

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SSESSING students’ understanding and mastery of a subject is a crucial part of education. Testing helps educators evaluate how well students have learned course material, and informs the design of the curriculum.

An important element of assessments gaining momentum in academic circles is the ability for educators to enhance feedback delivery to measure student learning beyond memory or test-taking skills. Traditional testing methods focus on summative, high-stakes assessments, like final exams and standardized tests, that evaluate and compare students to a benchmark and have a significant impact on the final grade of a course, or the student’s education journey.

However, this assessment approach has limitations in allowing educators to deliver formative feedback that encourages deeper learning by students. Assessment formats that enable feedback, strengthen teacher-student relationships, guide students in their learning process, and help educators see what their students have grasped of the concepts being taught.

Many students across Southeast Asia are currently learning online without the opportunity to attend in-person classes. As a result, school systems are re-evaluating whether standard testing methods are transferable to virtual classrooms, or if they allow educators to see what students have learned.

For instance, the Department of Education updated its policy around the continuation of

basic learning for primary and secondary students to include guidelines for assessment and grading to support student development in the current environment. For Indonesia, its Ministry of Education and Culture has taken similar steps, urging educators to create assessments that help them understand their students’ learning abilities and outcomes, while ensuring that students do not fall behind. That said, more schools in the region are adopting new ways to deliver fair and effective assessments in virtual and remote learning environments, which is facilitating student learning and poised to become a more permanent fixture of course design.

way to achieve it. Regardless of the learning platform or delivery method, formative assessments can help educators understand the way their students learn and uncover classroom trends around the teaching of certain concepts.

For example, to assess the depth of a student's understanding of a topic, consider questions requiring a long-form answer. To evaluate a breadth of knowledge in a short timeframe, consider multiple-choice questions. Using a variety of assessment formats allows educators to extract the value of feedback without the extra time spent grading, while also addressing students' unique learning needs.

Assessment methods, formats

Integrity in assessments

APART from summative, high-stakes assessments, testing can be formative as well as lowstakes in nature. This means that the testing is constructed to collect information throughout the term that scaffolds student learning.

Some assessment formats, such as longform essays and written research work, allow for greater formative feedback opportunities, while others such as true/false and multiplechoice may be more limited in what educators can measure, but are more efficient from a time perspective. When assessments have a reduced impact on the student’s final grade, it can create an opportunity for learning through feedback and participation—a critical feature of successful online learning setups.

It is essential for educators to find balance between the time spent grading and the time interacting with students. Delivering formative feedback by creating courses that incorporate a diverse set of assessment methods, is one

THE assessment process also needed to evolve with the shift to online learning. For instance, instead of real-time assessments, educators can set a specified time period for students to complete assessments. With this asynchronous online learning environment, educators can see an increase in instances of academic dishonesty and methods, such as contract cheating.

With many students learning away from the watchful eyes of educators, they are increasingly commissioning papers to avoid failing a course or to keep up with deadlines. Electronic proctoring of exams also raises questions of fairness if all students do not have a computer with a camera and working microphone, a reliable Wi-Fi connection, or a quiet place to take an exam uninterrupted.

This is why alternatives to traditional assessments, such as open exams and presentations, which support higher-order thinking through formative feedback, are important to

reduce the likelihood of student misconduct. It also ensures that pupils with different learning styles and abilities are included and represented in classrooms. Attaching a strong feedback loop to these assessment methods will also improve teacher-student relationships and motivate students and address learning gaps which, together, minimize a student's desire to engage in misconduct.

The timing of assessment is also a factor in learning retention. Educators can schedule tests soon after the lesson to measure student aptitude in a subject accurately. Including questions specific to classroom discussions and giving multiple versions of an exam are additional methods to help educators get a full picture of what students have learned and eliminate opportunities to engage in misconduct.

Technology-based assessment solutions also help schools reinforce best practices in multiple assessment formats by including a framework for timely and effective feedback and ensuring that low-stakes assessments can frequently be conducted to gauge learning.

Student assessments are a crucial part of education delivery that help educators evaluate the knowledge students have retained from a course and support classroom engagement. As online learning continues and educators remain physically distanced from their students, assessments must focus more on meaningful student learning than test scoring against benchmarks.

It is therefore important for each school and educator to determine the most inclusive and realistic assessment design, and variety of formats, to accommodate their grading efficiency as well as students' learning needs.

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HE Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila’s College of Engineering and Technology students recently bagged top honors at the Maxim Integrated Philippines’ Design Innovation Contest.

Team Heisenberg, composed of electronics engineering students Argen Mary Arceño, Rollison Joshua Tabuyan, Ronn Joaquin Cuenco, Mave Rick Credo and Michael Buenviaje, won the national competition. Members were bestowed with the Spotlight Award and emerged as champions for their proposal: a voicecontrolled ultraviolet-sterilization robot for disinfection.

The design also provides features for monitoring purposes.

The virtual competition ran from January 13 to April 6, as the team bested seven other finalists. Maxim Integrated

Philippines—a semiconductors producer—pledged a P50,000 prize, along with a certificate and plaque of recognition for the best design that incorporated the company’s products.

“We congratulate our talented students from the PLM-College of Engineering and Technology for making a mark in this competition,” university president Emmanuel Leyco said. “Not only were they able to showcase their technical skills; they also put it into practical use amid the...pandemic.”

He added, “You are indeed bright spots during these dark days. Again, congratulations! May you continue to use your skills for [our nation’s betterment].”

PLM continues to uphold its mandate of contributing to nation-building by providing quality and accessible education since 1965.

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Saturday, May 1, 2021 A9

Gunung Mulu, the Geological Marvels of Sarawak

The opening of the Deer Cave is often shrouded in fog.

Paku Waterfall is located within the Mulu National Park.

Cruising through the Melinau river in a dense jungle setting.

Story & photos by Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero

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unung Mulu in Malaysian Borneo was largely unheard of in 2012. Nine years after, it remains to be so! Back then, there were only two ways to get there: either take the small service plane from Miri to Mulu or do the treacherous threeday trek along the Headhunter’s Trail.

Now, there is also the option to take the longer, more complicated river route. I obviously took the easiest option.

From Mulu’s airport, it took some 20 minutes on foot to get to the park’s entrance. There was no public land transportation available then. What opens to you past the gate, however, is beyond words—the experience was and still is the best communing with nature I have had. The World Heritage-listed Gunung Mulu National Park is one of the most magical, most unspoiled places in Asia. Considering how difficult the access is, the superlative natural beauty that Mulu offers is without equal.

One review on the site even aptly described it as “almost Jurassic Park,” and I could not agree more.

While there is a luxurious accommodation nearby, I opted to stay in one Rumah Panjang, a Sarawak longhouse, just outside the park’s gate. I hoped that I might find company among other travelers staying there, but I ended up occupying the whole house alone for the three nights I spent there.

Even the elderly caretakers had to leave me by 8 p.m. only to return the following day at 6 a.m.

It was frightening as they turned off the lights when they left, and you could only pray that no wild animal crawls into the room. The experience was fun, nonetheless.

A morning tour took us to the Clearwater and Wind caves. There

were five of us on the tour boarded on a longboat. The river cruise along the Melinau river gorge took us to the foot of Gunung Api. Halfway through, we stopped at a settlement of the Penan, nomadic indigenous people who are given exclusive hunting rights within the park. There was a small market, too, where one could help the community by purchasing their crafts.

Gunung Api ’s Wind cave got its name from the strong winds channeled into the cave through its numerous shafts that could go as deep as 60 meters from the surface. Its grand K ing’s Chamber is gifted with some of the best cave formations there are to find. The Clear water cave, on the other hand, spanning over 60 kms in length, boasts of having the largest cave network ever sur veyed. One of the world ’s biggest cave chambers, the Sarawak Chamber, is on the Clear water system. The cave’s opening also offers a unique habitat for a rare one-leaf plant and is often frequented by enchanting R ajah Brooke’s birdwing butterf lies.

A Pycanum rubens (nymph) spotted on the way to the Deer Cave.

One of the impressive formations inside Deer cave, the profile of Abraham Lincoln.

A dripstone inside Lang cave

A Penan woman playing a traditional nose flute

The Deer and Lang Caves, on the other hand, are in the park’s southern limestone karst hills. To

reach these caves, the three of us in the tour trekked a few kilometers, passing by an ancient Penan burial site. If the Deer cave is colossal, Lang cave is small. It is so tiny that one can even touch the ceiling. Despite its size, Lang cave is the most extravagantly ornate in terms of rock formations, as well as the most illustrative of ongoing geological processes such us dripstones, living stromatolites, and natural limestone discolorations.

A rare sighting of an orange-tip lantern fly (Pyrops intricata) spotted on the trek up to Wind Cave.

The author at the King’s Chamber in the Wind Cave.

The nearby Deer cave has the reputation of having one of the largest cave openings at 170 m x 125 m. While not as opulent as the others, the interior houses an exceptional micro-ecosystem that is deprived of sunlight and steady air movement. The cave is home to 3.5 million wrinkle-lipped bats, a few creepers, some blind shrimps and fishes, and more than a meterdeep guano. Outside the cave, one can witness the impressive “Flight of the Dragon”—a seemingly endless queue of bats leaving the cave at dusk to feed.

Everything that one wants to do inside the park has to be coordinated and booked in advance.

While a few self-guided walks within the park are permitted, the visits to the caves can only be done by joining a guided tour. In one day, I leisurely trekked to the Paku falls, encountering interesting birds, lizards, and impressive mushrooms on the way. No one is allowed to go on their own beyond the falls as that would be the start of the challenging ascent towards the Pinnacles, another highlight of Mulu which I missed. I vividly

recall that in all my walks, I always ended up being soaked in the rain—it is not called a “rainforest” for nothing after all.

Gunung Mulu is one the six great karst landscapes in this corner of the world. The others being: Ha Long Bay, Trang An Cultural Landscape, and Phong Na-Ke Bhang National Park in Vietnam, the karst landscapes of southern China, and our Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Palawan. Borneo is home to the second-largest rainforest in the world, only after the Amazon.

New Convention Center opens in Ulsan Metropolitan City K orea recently unveiled its newest convention center, Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center (UECO) on April 29. UECO is the 17th convention center in Korea, anticipated to turn the Southeastern Metropolitan City of Ulsan into the next hub for the Korean MICE industry. The opening of the center coincided with the center’s first official event—Asia Pacific MICE Business Festival 2021 took place on April 29 and 30 as an offline in-person event.

Located between Gyeongju and Busan, Ulsan is Korea’s eighth-largest city with a population of over 1.1 million, recognized as the industrial powerhouse of South Korea, home to the largest automobile assembly plant and shipyard. As one of Korea’s major cities, construction of an exhibition and convention center in the area was first promoted back in 2000, but halted due to controversy over bud-

get and scale. The project finally saw light with the opening of KTX Ulsan Station in 2010 and construction officially began in 2017, 17 years after the project was first discussed. Now, the city’s first convention center is greatly anticipated to help Ulsan put its foot forward in the MICE industry.

With an exterior design inspired by the whale-shaped carving on the Bangudae petroglyph (National Treasure No. 285) in Ulju-gun, Ulsan, one of the city’s main landmarks, UECO boasts a total area of 43,000 m2, with three floors above ground and one floor underground. On the first floor is the Exhibition Hall with a total area of 8,000 m2, divisible into 4 separate halls or combined into larger halls depending on the size of the event. The Convention Hall is located on the third floor, divisible into 3 halls or able to be combined into larger spaces, with a total of 1,336 m2. A total of 12 meet-

ing rooms in varying sizes are located throughout the center as well to accommodate smaller meetings.

Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center boasts outstanding accessibility, located within a 10-minute walk from the KTX Ulsan Station. The KTX will take delegates to and from Seoul in two hours and to Busan in just 20 minutes.

Expansion of other key MICE facilities, including accommodation and convenience facilities, are expected to gain momentum with the opening of UECO, as well as boost tourism to major destinations in the area, including the Yeongnam Alps, Daewangam Park, and Taehwagang National Garden. Further down the line, a road connecting Ulsan’s western area to the east coast is set to open, which will reduce travel time from Gangdong Beach to KTX Ulsan Station from an hour to 20 minutes.

Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center (UECO)

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, May 1, 2021 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Investing online made all-encompassing with GInvest

BY RODERICK L. ABAD Contributor THE fintech arm of Globe Telecom Inc., GCash has tied up with ATRAM Trust Corp. and SEEDBOX Philippines to make investment more inclusive through their new product—GInvest.

This first-ever digital investment channel is open for Filipinos as young as 18 years old and with a valid government-issued identification card.

“We want to allow people from all walks of life to be able to start understanding the benefits of investing,” said Martha Sazon, president and chief executive officer of Mynt, the company behind GCash. “Through GInvest, they are able to use their savings and make it grow so they can use their returns to travel or fulfill their dream purchases.”

GInvest gives access to expertly managed funds with industry leaders like Ayala and Globe locally, and the likes of Alibaba, Apple, and Google globally.

“We are thrilled to partner with GCash in providing Filipinos easier access to investment opportunities around the world,” said ATRAM CEO Mike Ferrer. “We believe that through GInvest, investing will become a habit for Filipinos and allow them to build a more financially secure future.”

According to him, they have lowered the minimum investment requirement for their funds: At least ₱50 buy-in for local funds and ₱1,000 for international funds.

To start, they just have to log in to the GCash app using a fully verified account. Then, go to the GInvest module. Next, select “Proceed to start registration.”

From there, they will need to answer the Risk Profile assessment to help GInvest gauge what kind of investments to recommend. After reading and confirming the Terms and Conditions that follow, users are ready to start investing.

They may choose to invest in five different types of funds: Money Market Fund, the more traditional way of investing, like time deposits; Philippine Total Return Bond Fund, which lets investment in bonds in local companies and government; Philippine Smart Equity Index Fund, which allows investment in local companies through the PSEi index; Global Technology Feeder Fund, which lets investment in international tech trailblazers; and Global Consumer Trends Fund, which allows investment in innovative companies.

GInvest gives users complete control and transparency over their investments and those handling their investments.

It allows them to track and subscribe assets they’re interested in, monitor their investments, buy and sell stocks, and be reminded of their investment schedule—all without leaving the GCash app.

More details are available at www.gcash.com.

AERIEL GARCIA

ARYANNA EPPERSON

The definition of chilling and quarantine realizations

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RYANNA EPPERSON and Aeriel Garcia are celebrities on social media. They are both streamers and gamers who have hundreds of thousands of followers between them on Instagram alone.

On the sidelines of a launch for a new campaign for a mints brand, we got to ask them questions on how they define “to chill” and other things.

“Chilling is all about feeling carefree. When I feel anxious or stressed, my go-to chill activities are either playing video games, having online quiz nights with friends, or even bingeing a new anime series,” said Epperson, who kind of grew up in the social media eye being the daughter of a celebrity stylist and a wellknown photographer.

“My definition of chill is simple—having a cup of coffee and playing my favorite games,” said Garcia.

In quarantine, they’ve also picked up new hobbies

and interests. For Garcia, it’s playing golf with her fiancé Pat Sugui. For Epperson it’s cooking and baking. “I started a series on my Instagram, called #HangryManagementWithAryanna, where I feature quick and easy recipes with ingredients most people probably already have in their pantry. Aside from that, I started streaming online games such as Valorant and Mobile Legends on my Facebook page [OfficialAryannaEpperson].”

For Epperson, quarantine brought about a surprising change. “I’ve made so many friends over the past year. Despite being apart from people, it’s also encouraged me to make more effort to reach out to old friends and to even make new ones.”

Epperson and Garcia were among the celebrities and influencers at the #ItsGoodToChill livestream hosted by actress Sarah Carlos. Also present were singer Christian Bautista, actor Julian Trono and sportscaster Martin Javier.

The interactive livestream kicked off with the unboxing of giant Tic Tac boxes, which contained several packs of Tic Tac in various flavors: Mint, Spearmint, Strawberry, Orange, and the limitededition Coca-Cola variant.

While Bautista, Garcia, Epperson and Javier laughed and teased each other about the sandbags they found at the bottom of their boxes, Trono found a smaller box containing a brand-new Sony PlayStation 5. When asked about the first game he’s going to play on his brand-new console, Trono said it would be War

Zone for now.

After the unboxing, Carlos revealed that the other guests will have one more shot at winning a PS5 during the livestream, stirring up another round of excitement.

The guests put their competitive hats on for a pop quiz, which featured questions about pop culture, gaming, and even riddles. After more than 10 questions and a very close game, Epperson emerged as the winner.

Tic Tac is giving away two Sony PlayStation5 and two Apple AirPods every week until May 20. A total of 20 PS5 consoles and 20 Apple AirPods can be won until the end of the promo period.

To join, simply purchase any flavor of Tic Tac 14.5g or higher. Snap a photo of your single-receipt purchase and upload it to www.tictacwin.com. Don’t forget to key in your info. With every receipt you upload, you get one raffle entry and a chance to win any of the prizes for the week.

Garcia and Epperson both have good Tic Tac memories from school.

“I remember bringing Tic Tacs with me to class because it’s the only thing I can hide and eat during class,” said Garcia.

“Tic Tac was a staple for me especially when I first entered university. One of the best ways to make friends at the start of a new school year is to have candies with you to share, It’s a great way to start a conversation,” said Epperson. ■

Amid growing demand and usage, messaging platform increases group video call capacity LED by a strong desire to provide Filipinos with different ways to stay connected with more people amid the ongoing pandemic, and as a response to its users’ growing demand and usage, Rakuten Viber, the leading messaging app in the Philippines for free and secure communication, announced that it has expanded its Group Video Call capacity to up to 30 participants.

When the pandemic due to Covid-19 was declared in 2020 and forced most people to stay at home, Viber responded by bolstering its capacities and doubling the maximum number of Group Video and Audio Calls participants to 20 people at once in anticipation of increase in app usage.

With the expansion of Group Video Calls capacity to 30 participants, Viber now allows its users to connect with and bring more people together in one secure platform, especially amid the extended quarantine in the Philippines. Delivering high-quality video calls, the feature is

especially helpful for office workers who may need to invite more participants in a virtual meeting, educators who are looking for new ways to get in touch with their students, and basically anyone who wants to spend more quality time with their friends, families, and loved ones, or build their communities while staying safe at home. A recent poll conducted by Viber showed that 33 percent of Filipino respondents said that they use Group Video Calls for work, 29 percent for connecting with family, and 20 percent for catching up with friends. Other poll respondents said they use the feature for their online classes and virtual fitness sessions.

And with Viber’s dedication in upholding users’ privacy, Group Video Calls are encrypted, so no one—not even Viber— can listen in, ensuring that conversations remain private as intended.

The update will come weeks after the messaging app has rolled out the Grid View

on both desktop and mobile platforms so people could interact easier with each other during video calls. The expanded Group Video Call will soon be live both for Android and iOS devices, and works on mobile and desktop. The app is also committing to extend the Group Video Call capacity in the next months.

“Viber is one of the most popular messaging apps in the Philippines, and we are constantly working on different upgrades to our platform so we can better serve our Filipino users and support their communication needs especially in these trying times. We believe that through this gradual expansion of our video call capacities, more people are empowered to forge stronger relationships with more colleagues, friends, or loved ones despite the ongoing restrictions set by the social distancing guidelines,” shares Anna Znamenskaya, the chief growth officer at Rakuten Viber.

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Saturday, May 1, 2021 A11

One month a�ter: Redmi Note 10 resistance—a rare but very welcome addition at this price point.

DISPLAY AND SOUND

RAJESH GANESAN

MIGRATING TO THE CLOUD BENEFICIAL FOR SMBS

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES GOING to the cloud will benefit small and medium businesses (SMBs), according to ManageEngine, the IT management division of Zoho Corp.

“They do not have to buy expensive servers, or have people take care of the physical infrastructure.

They can also run their complete set of software in the ManageEngine cloud,” Rajesh Ganesan, vice president of products at ManageEngine recently told BUSINESSMIRRO� in an online interview.

Ganesan pointed out that it would be a wise for SMBs to move now into the cloud to enable them to survive and thrive in these challenging times.

“For businesses that moved many applications to the cloud, the impact of the pandemic was much less.

We live in uncertain times, and we can see the likes of Microsoft, Google and Apple actively pushing the cloud for a good reason. We want to highlight that cloud is the way to move forward,” he explained.

“We will be prepared and we encourage our customers to do the same,” he added.

In anticipation of the huge migration to the cloud, Ganesan said the company is investing heavily in building data centers. At present, it has data centers in Singapore, China, Australia and India.

For their clients in Southeast Asia, Ganesan said ManageEngine offers the option to choose from any of these locations to run their applications, including the ManageEngine applications.

“These are just some of the things we do in catering to small and medium enterprises [SMEs]. This is over and above all the features which we are building into the product, as well as all the integration that we have built within ManageEngine and Zoho, and with third parties,” he said.

Ganesan said ManageEngine is also investing heavily in research and development to help SMEs by introducing products and services suited for their needs. Furthermore, he said the company also wants to be very flexible in terms of how to help SMEs access ManageEngine’s products and ensure that there is absolutely no barrier for them in accessing their offerings.

For SMEs wanting to use the cloud software, Ganesan said all they need to do is just sign up and start using it. Furthermore, SMEs also have the option to download and install the company’s software.

Currently, ManageEngine has 80 different free tools that SMEs/SMBs could leverage.

“Our philosophy and belief is to be very SMEand SMB-friendly in terms of product access and a transparent pricing model,” he said.

Since cloud computing is getting a lot of traction these days, Ganesan said ManageEngine is currently investing heavily and also equally committed to building on-premise and cloud software. Ganesan said ManageEngine will also provide assistance to small companies to help them face the challenges of the pandemic.

Last year, ManageEngine informed their small business clients that it automatically extended the license of the software they are using for a minimum of one month. “We also offered our customers flexible arrangements if they need more time,” Ganesan said.

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I fan culture has always been an integral part of the Xiaomi brand. The first Mi Fan Festival (MFF) was held on April 6, 2012 in Mainland China, when the brand decided to launch an event to celebrate the two-year anniversary of its founding. The company held a party for its Mi fans and during the event, 100,000 smartphones sold out in just 6 minutes and 5 seconds. Since then, Xiaomi has held MFF every year to show its gratitude toward Mi Fans for their support.

Twenty twenty-one marks the 10th year of the MFF, and the 11th year since Xiaomi’s founding, and expectations have been high for the Redmi Note 10 series. This week, we take a look at the vanilla Redmi Note 10—possibly the best bang-for-the-buck phone you can buy.

The Redmi Note series has been credited for the commodification of high-spec smartphones and the Note 10 presents a significant upgrade offering an AMOLED Display, a new Snapdragon 678 processor and fast-charging support—all at a price tag that’s below P10,000.

One month after, does is still hold on to the title of being the budget king?

DESIGN AND BUILD FROM the moment you take it out of the box, you’ll be immediately impressed with the Redmi Note 10.

Despite its “glasstic” finish, it does not look or feel like a budget phone and the dual-tone finish adds to its pleasing aesthetic. Our review unit came in the basic Onyx Gray color, but the Pebble White with its matte finish or Lake Green variant are the better options.

Personally, I think it’s currently the best-looking phone in its price segment.

On the back, you’ll find a rectangular camera module that houses its quad-camera stack that’s tucked neatly on the upper left side. The power and volume buttons are on the right side, with the former pulling double duty as the fingerprint scanner. The redesigned Arc fingerprint sensor sits flush against the side of the device, making it both seamlessly integrated and comfortable to use. It’s good that Xiaomi opted for the side-mounted fingerprint scanner as is faster and more reliable than those sluggish in-display ones which are gimmicky at best.

The Redmi Note 10 retains everything we love about Xiaomi phones—the infrared port, headphone jack, stereo speakers, and a microSD card slot for up to 512GB expandable storage. You also get Corning Gorilla Glass on the front that gives it some protection from scratches and accidental drops, plus the Redmi Note 10 also has an IP53 rating for splash

THE Redmi Note 10 has been dubbed as the “AMOLED Explorer” and rightfully so, as its display is one of its standout features. It is the first in the series, and possibly the only one in its price point, to have a Super AMOLED panel—and that 6.43inch display looks glorious.

It has a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400, and is said to have a maximum brightness of 1100 nits, making it bright enough even for outdoor use.

The display has excellent contrast, vibrant colors and deep blacks. There are further options to choose between Auto Mode, Saturated and Standard. This makes it an excellent device for watching videos and even scrolling through your social media feed, browsing photos, or just swiping around the home screen.

The only downside is that it can’t go over 60Hz unlike other phones that have been pushing their refresh rates, but I’d rather go for a nicer and more vibrant display.

As for audio quality, the Redmi Note 10 features dual speakers which further add to your viewing experience. Sound quality is noticeably louder with a more balanced mix of mid and high frequencies.

CAMERAS

NOW, if there was a chink in the Redmi Note 10’s armor, it would be its cameras. Not because it’s bad but it’s the one feature that Xiaomi didn’t push to the next level. Instead, it retains the tried-and-tested camera setup—a 48MP primary camera, 8MP ultrawide shooter, 2MP monochrome sensor and 2MP macro.

This means you can expect excellent shots from its main camera. The 48MP sensor has proven its capabilities and photos taken outside and in broad daylight are exceptional. Images look natural (and not too saturated) with just the right amount of contrast to make the colors pop. Indoor image quality is surprisingly good as well. There is some noticeable noise but not enough to ruin the shot. There’s Night Mode but its best for those with steady hands or are helped by a tripod to avoid blurry shots.

As for the 13MP front camera, you get very nice portrait shots with lots of detail and minimal skin retouching—unless you tweak and max out the beauty settings.

For videos, the Redmi Note 10 is capable of capturing 4K video at 30fps. Videos come out sharp with good colors but without any optical stabilization—better get a tripod if you want to have a steady video. With that said, if you really want a great camera, you might want to consider adjusting your

Simplifying property solutions MAKING housing transactions simple, Ohmyhome (www.ohmyhome.com) has seen scores of Filipino property seekers and sellers benefit from its practical, accessible, and efficient services. The market now enjoys hassle-free housing transactions two ways: through a DIY option where they can buy, sell, or rent on their own, or with the assistance of well-trained professional Ohmyhome agents.

Still, Ohmyhome continues to upgrade and improve its offerings. After all, the proptech company’s endgame is to be the most trusted and reliable property platform in the country. Ohmyhome has likewise launched a “Buying From Overseas” page, which assists prospective buyers based abroad in purchasing property in the Philippines.

Recently, Ohmyhome revamped two of its main website pages: the Home Page and

the Properties Page, which now have a search bar that gives buyers an option to search by project name, area, or developer. When clicked, the search bar also shows initial options of areas or developers that users can quickly select and sort through.

Ohmyhome users who choose a particular category in the Properties page will now be able to view all properties that correspond to their chosen preference or need.

For the convenience of users, the “Explore

By Area” category in the Properties Page features the following areas: Manila, Quezon City, Taguig, Pasay, Pasig, Makati, Las Piñas, Mandaluyong, North Luzon, Central Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Ohmyhome assures Filipinos that it will continue to pursue technological innovations in the Philippine real estate market and deliver high-quality services to them.

RENI SALVADOR

budget and get the Redmi Note 10 Pro instead.

PERFORMANCE/BATTERY

THE Redmi Note 10 is the first phone to use the Snapdragon 678 chipset which is an incremental update over Snapdragon 675 giving it a higher clock speed. In real-world use, the Redmi Note 10 offers satisfactory performance for day-to-day use and light gaming. This means it can handle all your favorite games like Mobile Legends, Call of Duty and Genshin Impact, but stick to the default graphic settings, as turning up the graphics might cause some game hiccups.

In all other aspects of smartphone usage, however, the Redmi Note 10 holds its own and I rarely faced any issues or bothersome slowdown. It also ships with Android 11 and the latest MIUI 12 which, if you are a long-time MIUI user, is quite customizable and feature-rich.

Lastl while its 5,000 mAh battery isn’t the highest in the budget segment, it makes up with its 33W fast charging, which is a lot better than waiting for three hours to fully charge your phone.

Final word: A month after its launch, the Redmi Note 10 remains the budget king. It looks great, has a reliable set of cameras, a workhorse of a processor, and battery life that will get you through your daily tasks without a hitch. ■

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Saturday, May 1, 2021 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

TOGETHER AGAIN S

ISI RONDINA and Bernadeth Pons provided a glimpse of the chemistry last seen in 2019 on Friday at Subic’s sand court—the third and last day of the national volleyball and beach volleyball team tryouts organized by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF).

The Rondina-Pons tandem—along with Dzi Gervacio and Dij Rodriguez—last played together in the 31st Southeast Asian Games on the same court where they clinched a bronze medal.

That bronze ended the country’s 14year SEA Games volleyball medal drought and as importantly inspired others to take to the sport as evidenced by the huge turnout on Friday.

The PNVF invited 20 athletes to the women’s beach volleyball tryouts but 21 came—not to mention two potential nationals who are on quarantine for getting in close contact with a Covid-19 positive coach.

“This goes to show that volleyball—and sports in general, for that matter—is eager to make a comeback amid the pandemic,” PNVF Ramon “Tats” Suzara said. “ We completed three days of tryouts and the turnout of aspirants breached expectations.”

Twenty-one athletes also showed up in the men’s beach volleyball tryouts on Friday afternoon and adding the 16 women and 31 men in the volleyball tryouts on Wednesday and Thursday at the Subic Gym, a total of 89 answered the call for a chance to play for flag and country.

Besides Suzara, PNVF Secretary-General Don Caringal and board members Charo Soriano (beach volleyball commission head) and Carmela Gamboa (events council head) helped supervise the tryouts staged under a

bubble environment drawn by Dr. Jose Raul Canlas (medical commission) and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

“I’m very happy because we are all together again and at the same time it’s fun to be part of the tryouts,” Rondina, 25, said at the close of the tryouts made possible through the efforts of Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano of Taguig City, the federation’s local government unit “godfather.”

Jovelyn Gonzaga also played in her first official event after declaring that she will go full time in beach volleyball and completing a 90-day retooling course with the Philippine Army.

Ten other senior players joined the women’s tryouts—Alexa Polidario, Erjane Magdato, Babylove Barbon, Princess Robles, Honey Grace Cabansay, Jennifer Cosas, Tin Tiamzon Javen, Sabas, Gen Eslapor and Mer Jauculan.

Roma Mae Doromal, Grydelle Joanice Matibag, Khylem Harl Progella and Samantha Maranan also participated in the tryouts, hoping to land slots in the PNVF’s juniors program.

Leading the men’s cast were Jude Garcia, Jaron Requinton and James Buytrago, who gave the Philippines its first-ever SEA Games men’s beach volleyball medal—a bronze—also in 2019.

Completing the seniors aspirants were Anthony Arbasto, Edwin Tolentino, Ranran Abdilla, Ronald Umang-it, Joven Camaganakan, AJ Pareja, Jade Becaldo, Calvin Sarte, James Pecaña, Jason Uy, Philip Bagalay and Joshua Miña.

Pol Salvador, Rancel Varga, Dominique Gabito, Efraem Dimaculangan, Jay Rack Dela Noche and Alexander Iraya tried out for the juniors slots.

Pacquiao returns to tough training

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By Josef Ramos

ANNY PACQUIAO returns to his calculated training program starting on Monday after taking it easy for almost a week to attend to his work as a senator.

Pacquiao will fight American Mikey Garcia either in July or August in Dubai in a non-title 12-rounder, the eight-time champion’s first outing since beating Keith Thurman in July 2019 in Las Vegas.

Long-time assistant trainer Nonoy Neri confirmed to BusinessMirror on Friday that Pacquiao, 42, will be focusing on speed while training General Santos City as he faces a younger opponent Garcia, 33.

“They are of the same height and Garcia isn’t fast like [Keith] Thurman. So we need to unleash Manny’s speed,” said Neri, adding Garcia is less of a threat than the unbeaten Terence Crawford (37-0 win-loss record with

28 knockouts) who was also supposed to take on Pacquiao.

Neri said that despite taking a week’s off from boxing training, Pacquiao stayed in shape by playing basketball for hour in his General Santos City mansion.

But Neri said they won’t let their guards down against Garcia, a former International Boxing Federation welterweight champion.

“But I know the senator’s work ethics.

He doesn’t relax against any opponent,” Neri said.

Pacquiao’s chief trainer Buboy Fernandez is also in General Santos since two weeks ago.

Pacquiao’s associate and long-time friend Jayke Joson, who is assisting Pacquiao in his drive to help Covid-19 patients around the country, said the boxing icon will always have the Filipino people in his mind when he fights Garcia.

“Everybody knows Manny. He will surely train hard for this fight. He fights for the people,” Joson said.

National weightlifters, fencers come home to warm welcome

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HE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) welcomed the national weightlifting and fencing teams which flew back home on Thursday night from their respective Olympic qualifying tournaments in Tashkent.

“Despite the imposed lockdowns and curfews in Metro Manila, we wanted to honor our athletes who made the country proud, within boundaries of the safety protocols of course,” PSC Chairman William Ramirez said.

Ramirez wanted a bigger welcome for the athletes but because of the modified enhanced community quarantine, the PSC arranged a welcome program within the bounds of health and safety protocols.

The weightlifters brought home two gold, six silver and three bronze medals from the Asian Weightlifting Championships and will be receiving cash incentives under Republic Act 10699 or the “National Athletes and Coaches

Benefits and Incentives Act.’’ Hidilyn Diaz also formalized her fourthconsecutive Olympics appearance in Tokyo even though she placed—fourth in the 55kg category in Tashkent—becoming the seventh Filipino to qualify for Tokyo.

Vanessa Sarno, Mary Flor Diaz, Elreen Ando and Kristel Macrohon came home with medals around their necks to mark as successful their stint in the Uzbekistan capital.

The fencers, on the other hand, secured a bronze medal through Samantha Catantan in the women’s foil event at the AsianOceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament also in Tashkent.

She was joined by teammates Nathaniel Perez, Jylyn Nicanor, Noelito Jose, Hanniel Abella and CJ Concepcion.

The PSC granted P4.9 million for airfare, hotel accommodation, allowances and other travel expenses of the weightlifting team. The fencers, on the other hand, got P1.2 million in financial assistance for the event.

ILOILO BIKE LANE BARRIERS

SISI RONDINA and Dzi Gervacio remain in their elements despite 16 months of inactivity.

More Power President Roel Castro turns over 35 flower pots to Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas. The project is the fruit of the bike-for-a-cause program organized by the company last February 14. The pots will be used as barriers for Iloilo City’s bike lanes.

South Korea inoculates Olympic-bound athletes

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EOUL, South Korea—South Korea began administering fast-track Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday to athletes, coaches and others expected to attend the Tokyo Olympics.

The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee said the first group of about 100 people received the first doses at a state-run hospital in Seoul at the start of the country’s prioritized vaccination program for its Olympic delegation. They will be given second shots in the coming weeks.

A total of 930 athletes, coaches, officials and other support staff will be vaccinated ahead of the Tokyo Games, which is set to open on July 23. Athletes can receive the vaccines if they have already qualified for the Olympics or are in qualifying tournaments, so some may get vaccinated but not attend the games.

The sports ministry said in a statement this week it supports South Korean athletes preparing for the Olympics and hopes their vaccinations would help realize their “safe, successful participation in the games.”

It said athletes and coaches will all get the Pfizer vaccine. Officials, support staff and journalists who are 30 or older will be given the AstraZeneca vaccine but those younger than 30

are to receive the Pfizer vaccine in line with a national vaccination program, the statement said.

South Korea tentatively aims to send about 800-900 people to the Olympics, 350 of them athletes and coaches in 27 events. Olympic committee officials expect to finalize the Olympic delegation in late June when all qualifying tournaments are finished.

The sports ministry said about 150 athletes

A SOUTH Korean Olympic volleyball team player receives the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the National Medical Center in Seoul on Thursday. AP

Fifa, UEFA join English soccer’s four-day social-media boycott

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YON, Switzerland—English soccer’s boycott of social media is spreading after Fifa and UEFA said they will join the players, clubs and organizations in a four-day protest against online abuse.

The boycott will also be joined by English cricket and rugby clubs, and the British Lawn Tennis Association, highlighting concerns that Twitter and Facebook, which also owns Instagram, aren’t doing enough to combat racist abuse on their platforms.

and coaches hoping to attend the Tokyo Paralympics will separately get virus shots on Friday and May 4. Ministry official Park Seungjoon said support staff for the Paralympics are expected to be given shots in May. The 150 people also include athletes who are still in qualifying events. South Korea sent about 160 athletes, coaches and others to the Rio Paralympics in 2016, Park said. AP

“Fifa supports the initiative from English football to call out discriminatory and other offensive abuse on social media,” world football’s governing body said in a statement. “This has no place in football or society more generally and we strongly condemn it.

“We believe that authorities and social-media companies should take real and effective steps to put an end to these abhorrent practices because it’s getting worse all the time and something needs to be done—and done

quickly—to put a stop to it.

The social-media silence will start on Friday afternoon until late Monday evening.

Much of the racist abuse is sent to players from anonymous accounts. Twitter and Facebook would only provide comments from unnamed spokespeople when asked for interviews to discuss the boycott.

Broadcasters are also taking part in the boycott including Comcast-owned Sky Sports and BT Sport, which televise Premier League games in Britain and would usually show goal clips on social media.

The protest means UEFA won’t be posting about the Women’s Champions League semifinals on Sunday.

Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, the only Black driver in F1, called on his sport to join in the boycott. AP

Project Manager : Czarina G. Blancaflor

Labor Day A BusinessMirror Special Feature

PMAP shares creative solutions

WFH challenges in the New Normal

Saturday, May 1, 2021

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Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for help with their internet connectivity. They served as a bridge between their members and government agencies in the creation of many favorable policies, such as the creation of special risk allowances for frontline public health workers. They also connected employees and members alike to mental health professionals to assist them through these uncertain times.

Human First Approach

HOWEVER, at the center of all these initiatives is the idea of putting humans first. For Gener, the foundation of an efficient work from home set up is to always be considerate of the many aspects at play in an employee’s life, and from there both parties must work to create a strong partnership. In this manner, the relationship between employer and employee becomes a circle of give and take that benefits everyone involved.

“The employer must be truly trusting of his employees to be professionals, and at the same time employees must be trustworthy and show that they can work without an eye watching them. It does not work one way,” he said. “Employer support must be there. Regardless of what issues your employees face, you must give a caring and supportive attitude to them. Because the best and first thing to do is to improve the economic conditions of the employees, because if it improves, it will always go back to the employers in a different form. Thus, surviving this pandemic needs a strong collaboration between the employer and his employees.”

By Stephanie Joy Ching

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S the premiere organization for human resources, the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) is dedicated to create a work environment where people can be the best version of themselves. For them, the key to nation building is an enlightened, competent, socially responsible, and influential sector of people managers who put the human aspect of work at the center.

Under the new normal, PMAP suddenly found itself facing a different set of challenges, especially with the work from home set up becoming the new norm.

“For those working from home, there were very specific challenges. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) struggled with digital connectivity. Because at the outset, not all were provided with laptops or desktop computers. Many businesses were caught flat footed in that, but you could see the agility of the businessmen in that,” said PMAP Executive Di-

rector Rene Gener. He also shared that only 17.7% of Filipino households have internet access, which further accentuates the problem of connectivity.

In addition to digital connectivity, another issue employers and employees encountered during this work from home set up is the tracking of output. Now that work is measured through output instead of hours, it can be difficult for some businesses to monitor the productivity of their employees.

However, for Gener, one of the most critical problems facing the workforce during the pandemic is mental health.

“There have been many cases of mental health issues because when you work from home, you not only have to manage your workplace; you also have to manage your household chores. At the same time, you also have to manage your elders if you live with them along with having to care for your children. So all this comes into play during work from home arrangements,” he said.

Creative Solutions

DESPITE the new set of problems brought about by Covid-19, Gener shared that PMAP and its members were able to come up with solutions to support and empower their employees.

For them, whatever costs the business was able to save from working from home must be redirected towards the employees. This also ensures security and loyalty from employees.

“For us in PMAP, we really adjusted to the situation. For example, we shifted some of our benefits. Those benefits that were no longer useful to our employees because of the situation. we shifted it into something beneficial to those working at home. We allowed our employees to take their work laptops home and shifted their benefits to things such as internet allowances,” he said.

Additionally, PMAP also made sure that they collaborated with various government sectors such as the Department of Information and Communication Technologies (DICT) and the

SSS introduces ExpreSSS e-Learning Portal to members, employers

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HE Social Security System (SSS) now offers an online learning platform to all members, employers, and other stakeholders to learn about the benefits and services of the pension fund.

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora Ignacio said the ExpreSSS e-Learning (ExSSSeL) Portal, which SSS launched in November 2020, represents a milestone in the pension fund’s digital transformation efforts.

“The ExSSSel will allow any participants to learn SSS programs and updates for free at the comfort and safety of their homes,” Ignacio said.

“We realized that online services and transactions are now part of the New Normal as a result of the pandemic. We find ExSSSel more effective in reaching out to more members across the country and keep them updated on the latest developments in our benefit programs and services since existing community quarantine measures restrict us from conducting face-to-face learning sessions in various offices, companies, and other organizations. As of April 27, 2021, we have already recorded a total of 71,491 visitors to the said portal,” Ignacio explained.

Through the ExSSSeL Portal, SSS members and interested individuals can learn about the different policies, programs, and

updates without the need to gather in a single venue for a training session. They can choose among the five training modules available in the learning portal, namely: Module 1 on sickness benefit, Module 2 on maternity benefit, Module 3 on unemployment benefit, Module 4 on disability benefit, and Module 5 on salary loan.

As part of their learning process, SSS will be issuing e-certificates to participants upon completion of any of the modules, if they obtain a passing rate of at least 80% in the post-examination conducted at the end of each module.

Interested individuals can access the ExSSSeL Portal homepage using this link https://bit.ly/ExSSSeL_Portal and select their preferred topic among the five modules. Once they chose a module, a registration form via Google Form will appear. Participants need to fill up the registration form to start their selected module. The participant’s complete name, valid e-mail address, company name, and the nearest SSS branch or their servicing branch should also be provided.

Participating employers should indicate the number of employees represented and may also register in multiple modules.

Participants can study the module at their own pace as access to the said portal is

available 24/7. Members may also open multiple modules simultaneously.

“At the end of each module, the participant will find a link for post-module examination. It will help them gauge how much they learned. If they failed the test, we advise them to restudy the module and retake the said exam,” Ignacio said.

For participants who obtained a passing rate, SSS will send an e-certificate to their registered e-mail addresses within seven working days.

From November 28, 2020 to April 15, 2021, a total of 23,738 participants have already viewed the five modules in the ExSSSeL Portal. Nearly 60% or 14,231 of the total participants have completed at least one module and took the post examination. Ignacio said about 45% or 6,331 of the total participants who took the post-module test received a passing rating and received their e-certificates.

“We encourage members and interested individuals to use the ExSSSeL Portal as it will help them expand their knowledge about SSS,” Ignacio pointed out.

For more information, follow the SSS’ social media accounts on Facebook and YouTube at “Philippine Social Security System,” Instagram at “mysssph,” Twitter at “PHLSSS,” or join its Viber Community at “MYSSSPH Updates.”

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Labor Day A BusinessMirror Special Feature

Saturday, May 1, 2021

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Technology is the new enabler in the job market

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By Leony R. Garcia

operations adopted a skeletal workforce or split operations arrangement.

Thirty-five percent of these companies are largely from the Shared Services Outsourcing and Financial Services industries according to a survey conducted by Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW), a leading advisory, broking and solutions company.

Of the participating companies that have adopted the workfrom-home arrangements, 56% implemented either an Internet or a mobile plan assistance to ensure their employees are connected and able to work seamlessly. For organizations with employees working in operations, most are still operating under “business-as-usual” by providing support to employees with transportation and accommodation as required by the government especially for BPO companies.

EFORE the pandemic, the Philippines was a dynamic and growing economy that performed better than some of its peers in Southeast Asia in a number of economic and social indicators.

According to a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), from 2008 to 2014, the growth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) averaged 5.4 percent, outperforming both the OECD average and a number of ASEAN economies.

On the other hand, the Philippine Statistics Authority report published in January 2020 showed the country’s GDP posted a year-on-year growth of 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019, resulting in the 5.9 percent full-year growth for 2019.

Trade and Repair of Motor Vehicles, Motorcycles, Personal and Household Goods; Manufacturing; and Construction were the main drivers of growth for the fourth quarter of 2019. Among the major economic sectors, services posted the fastest growth in the fourth quarter of 2019 with 7.9 percent.

The industry grew by 5.4 percent.

Agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing registered a growth of 1.5 percent, the PSA said.

Poverty reduction targeted

WITH these numbers, the government’s economic team targeted to reduce poverty to 14 percent of the population by 2022. The target was for the Philippines to be classified as a middle-income country with the completion of the Build, Build, Build flagship project of the current administration.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic threw away whatever progress was made. The community quarantine measures effectively shut down major sectors of the economy and had an immediate and sweeping impact on employment.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the pandemic had significant impacts on the labor market, including massive job losses and unemployment, a decline in labor force participation, and reduction in hours worked. For a country with inadequate social protection, displaced workers could not afford to remain unemployed and were forced to look for other employment opportunities in the agriculture or informal sector.

Technology as enabler Unemployment

In a press conference held on December 3, 2020, the government confirmed the country suffered the worst job losses in 15 years due to Covid-19 and the lockdown. About 4.5 million Filipinos have lost their jobs in 2020, with the unemployment rate at 10.4 percent. The prolonged wet season last year and the string of four typhoons inflicted significant employment loss in agriculture and therefore aggravated the employment situation.

In the latter half of October, the country was hit by Typhoons

Nika, Ofel, Pepito, and Quinta, which contributed to the reduction of agriculture employment by 1.1 million, or about 70 percent of the 1.5 million jobs lost between July and October, according to a report from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Workers in the provinces also faced difficulty in returning to work given inter-province transport restrictions and this contributed to the 0.5 million loss in the industry sector, the NEDA report added.

Employees’ wellbeing

Despite the grim scenario in the labor sector, there were indications that the job market was slowly picking up in the new normal. With the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the entire island of Luzon, the majority of organizations implemented policies to ensure employee welfare and business continuity to minimize impact during the crucial period.

These policies included workfrom-home arrangements, mostly for their corporate office-based employees across industries, while those in

The pandemic has definitely disrupted the way organizations conduct their business with their operational effectiveness being challenged in unprecedented ways.

These companies have learned to adopt modern technology which has become an enabler of resilience and competitive advantage.

Today, more and more companies have the new normal remote work set up and are progressively providing for their people.

With companies in the country – and all over the world – asking their employees to work from home, remote work has become the new normal for global businesses and enterprise employers.

PAG-IBIG FUND IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

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By Leony R. Garcia

HE Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund), the state-run corporation that provides affordable housing loans, has been servicing its members virtually since December 2019.

It was launched as part of the agency’s 39th Anniversary celebrations. With this, members no longer need to visit a Pag-IBIG Fund office to apply for a loan or for any other transaction. Members just need to create a Virtual Pag-IBIG account via the Virtual Pag-IBIG portal to access the government agency’s services online in a matter of clicks while staying at home. With the uncertainties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Pag-IBIG Fund has also offered programs for relief on loans. This include the mandatory grace period of 30 days on loan payments brought about by the Bayanihan Law and the three-month moratorium on all loans, which the agency initiated during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

It also expanded its home construction fund from P2 billion to P10 billion to support the country’s housing market and to help revive the economy. To further support home loan borrowers who missed their obligations, the agency intends to help them save their properties from foreclosure through four separate programs – Loan Restructuring, Penalty Condonation, Plan of Payment, and Loan Revaluation.

At the helm of Pag-IBIG Fund is Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti, the Chief Executive Officer, who is the brain behind Virtual Pag-ibig.

Moti joined Pag-IBIG Fund as Senior Vice President for the Information Technology Services Sector in 2008. He was then tasked to lead the agency’s Home Lending Operations Cluster in 2011. In March 2017, he was assigned as officerin-charge of the agency until he was eventually appointed as Pag-IBIG Fund’s CEO by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in May 2017.

BusinessMirror interviewed Moti on how the agency balances sustainability and profitability amid the new normal. Here are excerpts of the interview:

BM: How did the Pag-IBIG Fund do last year in the face of the pandemic?

Moti: The Pag-IBIG Fund performed quite well last year, considering the circumstances. In terms of our housing loans, we initially experienced a slowdown when the ECQ was implemented in March of 2020, but we quickly recovered as early as June when restrictions started to ease. From September to December, our numbers reached near “pre-pandemic levels” and from September to November, our home loan releases reached more than P6 billion to P7 billion per month. By December, home loan releases reached P12.1 billion – the highest amount ever released in a single month – pandemic notwithstanding.

Remittance of Pag-IBIG savings remained steady and even as the health crisis triggered an economic slowdown, members even chose to save more in our MP2 program. Despite the pandemic, our

members collectively saved P13.3 billion in MP2 the entire year, which is the biggest annual amount we have collected so far. At the end of the year, Pag-IBIG Fund’s net income stood at P31.69 billion, marking the fourth consecutive year that our net income surpassed the P30 billion-mark.

BM: Did many members avail of your loan products?

Moti: In 2020, we were able to help 1,735,921 borrowers during the pandemic by disbursing shortterm loans (Multi-Purpose loans and Calamity loans) amounting to P35.6 billion. We also helped 63,750 members acquire a home of their own with the release of P63.75 billion in home loans last year.

BM: Were there any delays in the remittance of these loan payments? Did you offer any amnesty program?

Moti: We acted fast to help our borrowers through these challenging times. In mid-March 2020, just a day after the ECQ was implemented in Metro Manila and other areas, we offered our borrowers a three-month moratorium on their loan payments, so they will not have to worry about it until after June 2020. Under our optional moratorium program, we helped more than 320,000 borrowers.

We also granted an automatic grace period on the loan payments – housing and short-term loans – in compliance with the “Bayanihan I” law. This grace period benefitted over 4.77 million borrowers. In the second half of 2020, we implemented the 60-day grace period following the signing of the Bayanihan II law which helped 3.69 million Pag-IBIG Housing Loan and Short-Term Loan borrowers.

Before the year ended, we offered a Special Housing Loan Restructuring Program to provide further financial relief to our members which in turn aided 85,440 Pag-IBIG Housing Loan borrowers to lower their monthly payments. And in the coming months until mid-year 2022 (July 2021 to June 2022), we are targeting to disburse P74.79 billion to help 72,524 borrowers acquire a home of their own and release P47.25 billion in cash loans to aid 2,261,380 members.

BM: What made you decide to develop the Virtual Pag-IBIG platform?

Moti: We have long been dreaming of opening a branch that never closes, a branch that is not limited by office hours so that we can continue providing services to our members at any time. With Virtual Pag-IBIG, we have made it easier for our members to get a Pag-IBIG Fund Membership ID (MID) number, enroll for an MP2 Savings account, apply for, and monitor the status of their Housing Loan, Multi-Purpose Loan (MPL) and Calamity Loan application, and view their records. The Virtual Pag-IBIG also has an online payment facility which allows members to pay for their loans and remit their monthly savings through PayMaya or with their credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, or JCB).

BM: How has it been received by your members and their employers?

Moti: When the ECQ that was implemented in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon necessitated the closure of our branches in these areas from March

MR. ACMAD RIZALDY P. MOTI. Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

to May 2020, we were still able to deliver services because of the Virtual Pag-IBIG. We even upgraded the platform less than three months after its launch to accept online applications for Multi-Purpose Loan (MPL) and Calamity Loan.

With the Virtual Pag-IBIG and interventions we set in place, we were able to assist more than 1.22 million members to apply for cash loans from March 17 up to the end of 2020. Total loans released amounted to P25.15 billion, which helped our members cope with the financial difficulties brought about by the pandemic. And, today, users of the Virtual Pag-IBIG continue to grow. From January 2021 to April 4, 2021, alone, it was visited by 4,988,028 users in 179 countries all over the world. Right now, we have about 638,187 active Virtual Pag-IBIG Accounts and many are creating accounts every day.

BM: Do you have any plans of adding more services to Virtual Pag-IBIG?

Yes. As a matter of fact, we do. We have piloted a separate Virtual Pag-IBIG for employers and we are already in the process of creating a Virtual Pag-IBIG for developers. With these, employers will be able to monitor the records of their employees and approve their employees’ loan applications, among others. For developers, the Virtual Pag-IBIG will help digitize the processing of folders and they can immediately assess homebuyers which will make transactions faster.

BM:How many employees do you have?

With Virtual Pag-IBIG in place, what is your working arrangement now?

Right now, Pag-IBIG has manpower of about 8,000 which includes both permanent employees and agency-hired staff. To protect our employees and our members, we continue to adhere to the policies set by the government in our operations during the pandemic. We implement a science-based alternative working arrangement that promotes the safety of both our employees and our members.

We are happy to say that it has proven effective as we have been able to continue serving our members even amid the pandemic.