BusinessMirror May 07, 2020

CIT rate cut may be faster–DOF

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

THE BROADER LOOK » A4-A5

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HOW A PANDEMIC THREW A MONKEY WRENCH ON PHL FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN AND THE WAY FORWARD

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HE Department of Finance (DOF) said on Wednesday it is now open to slashing the corporate income tax (CIT) rate at a much faster pace compared with what it was originally pushing for under the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (Citira).

The BusinessMirror learned from a reliable government source that the DOF is now looking to reduce the 30-percent current CIT rate—which has been the highest in Southeast Asia—to 25 percent on the first year of implementation due to the Covid-19 impact.

This comes as the government looks for ways to raise more funds and cushion the economic impact of the pandemic on businesses as well as the vulnerable sectors of the society.

In a press conference following the turnover of the P228.45-million cash donation of the Philippine National Police on Wednesday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III for the first time categorically expressed openness to quickening the pace of reduction in the CIT rate.

“We are willing to look at it and most likely cut [the CIT rate] further more quickly than originally planned,” Dominguez said.

Pressed for more details on the likelihood of a quicker pace of reduction in CIT rate, Finance Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Tony Lambino referred the question to the lawmakers.

“[We] will follow the lead of our legislative champions on the announcement.

It should happen soon,” Lambino said in a message to the BusinessMirror. “We will let our legislative champions announce the revised proposal.”

Former Finance Undersecretary and

now Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua told the BusinessMirror he will “have to leave it to DOF to compute the rate we can afford while being responsive to the businesses affected.”

Prior to Covid-19’s outbreak, industry groups have said they wanted the CIT rate to be reduced to 25 percent on the first year of implementation to somewhat allow the Philippines to compete with the average of 22.5 percent in Asia and 23 percent globally; and that a 1-percent reduction be implemented yearly thereafter until it reaches 20 percent.

However, Dominguez said then that a faster CIT rate reduction would only swell the country’s budget deficit, which could lead to a credit downgrade.

Should the faster pace of a CIT rate reduction push through, this would be a huge step for DOF, coming from its initial

See “CIT,” A2

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Thursday, May 7, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 210

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‘ABS-CBN CLOSURE TO DENT INVESTOR CONFIDENCE IN PHL’

By Elijah Felice Rosales & Cai U. Ordinario

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WORKERS install booths to be used for coronavirus testing at the Palacio de Maynila, a bayside events place on Roxas Boulevard in Manila converted into a “mega swabbing facility.” ROY DOMINGO

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By Cai U. Ordinario

HE pandemic slashed export earnings to nearly a decade low, but the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said manufacturers can bounce back if they are attuned to changes in consumer spending and redesign their product lines accordingly.

On Wednesday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said exports contracted 24.9 percent in March, the lowest since September 2011 when exports contracted 27.3 percent. Exports declined to $4.53 billion in March 2020 from $6.03 billion in March 2019.

Total exports contracted 5.16 percent to $15.72 billion in the first three months of the year. Exports earnings in the first quarter of 2019 was pegged at $16.58 billion.

“Merchandise trade may recover in 2021, but this will depend on how fast we can contain the spread of Covid-19 and mitigate its economic impact through government policies to support

affected industries and workers,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said.

The Neda said total external trade performance contracted 25.7 percent to $11.44 billion from the $15.4 billion recorded in the same month in the previous year.

The country’s total external trade growth was the lowest since July 2009 when it contracted 28.9 percent. The country was suffering from the Global Financial Crisis in 2009.

PSA data also showed imports contracted 26.2 percent in March, the lowest since August 2009 when imports declined 28.3 percent. Total imported goods in March 2020 declined

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.5440

to $6.91 billion from $9.37 billion in March 2019.

“To improve the country’s trade performance, export manufacturers are encouraged to use digital technology and innovative approaches to continue operation and secure new markets. Firms will have to put in place alternative business processes that will become the new standards for engaging with clients, buyers and suppliers,” Chua said.

Risks mean it’ll be worse

HOWEVER, former University of the Philippines School of Economics Dean Ramon L. Clarete told the BusinessMirror that the “bottom” of the decline in trade is not yet in sight.

Clarete said that for one, the Chinese firms that recently opened were not yet 100 percent recovered and were still not back to their “old normal.”

In fact, Clarete said, less than 10 percent of the Chinese economy is currently operating.

China is one of the Philippines’s top trading partners.

“My own take is it will still grow worse. The pandemic isn’t over yet,” Clarete told the BusinessMirror on Wednesday.

For his part, former Tariff Commissioner George M. Manzano said that, as the lockdown

in Metro Manila was imposed in the second half of March and extended to the second week of May, such would likely lead to a similar trade decline in the second quarter.

Manzano said Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) accounts for 35 percent of the country’s GDP. Having the region on lockdown will likely affect trade numbers negatively.

He said the minimum healthcare requirement of physical distancing would slow trade even if exporters will “rush to replenish inputs from imports.”

But what is more dangerous is a second wave. Manzano said a second wave in the spread of the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic in the country will see “second quarter trade plunge.”

“One would expect a resurgence of trade after the lifting of the lockdown, though. If there is a second lockdown arising from a second wave of infection then second-quarter trade will plunge,” Manzano said.

HE closure of a major media company in the Philippines may discourage potential investors from bringing their business to the country, jeopardizing a quick economic recovery after the pandemic, experts and business groups said on Wednesday, after regulators forced ABS-CBN to stop airing its radio and television programs.

On Tuesday afternoon, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued a cease-and-desist order against ABS-CBN, citing the expiration of its broadcasting franchise on May 4.

Local economists like Calixto V. Chikiamco told the BusinessMirror that the closure of ABS-CBN is “the wrong signal” from the government at this time when the country is grappling with a health crisis.

“Together with Panelo’s hints about the declaration of martial law, the closure of ABS-CBN reinforces the threats to press freedom and will surely frighten investors, further dimming the prospects of an economy already reeling from the lockdown,” Chikiamco said on Wednesday.

Chikiamco said one indication would be the uptake of ABS-CBN stocks. But, on Wednesday, a trading halt on ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. was imposed.

Prior to the NTC order, ABS-CBN shares closed at P17.50 apiece.

This was a steady improvement from the average of P15 per share early this year.

“It sends the wrong signal at a time when the country is preoccupied with fighting the epidemic,” Chikiamco said. “[It’s] not just a matter of pulling out investments, but [investors] not investing here.”

Brutal timing

PHILIPPINE Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) senior research fellow Jose Ramon G. Albert also lamented the “untimeliness” of the NTC order.

Albert said from a social perspective, there are 11,000 people who are now jobless. This will complicate the problems of the government, which is hard put helping millions of workers impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government has been providing for basic food needs of families now under lockdown in various areas, including Metro Manila.

Continued on A2

Government efforts

GIVEN these risks, Chua said, the export industry needs to be more responsive to the changes in consumer spending and redesign their product lines accordingly.

See “Exports,” A2

CARITAS Manila volunteers help distribute food packs for residents of Barangay Addition Hills in Mandaluyong City, in preparation for a weeklong lockdown. Caritas Manila, one of the largest church-based nonprofit organizations in the country, is calling for cash donations to provide Caritas Ligtas Covid-19 kits and Caritas Manna bags to 6,000 poor communities and families in Metro Manila. NONOY LACZA

n JAPAN 0.4744 n UK 62.9020 n HK 6.5190 n CHINA 7.1563 n SINGAPORE 35.7050 n AUSTRALIA 32.4897 n EU 54.8150 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.4641

Source: BSP (May 6, 2020)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Thursday, May 7, 2020

Growth may be worse than -1% projection; H1 outlook is ‘grim’ Continued from A8

“The rapid spread of Covid-19 in the country and around the world and most governments’ [including Philippine] response had been for an extended lockdown.

This has caused high unemployment, large cutbacks in production, income and spending which in turn egged governments to engage in unprecedented deficit spending,” the think tank said.

“Disruptions in supply chains have added to producers’ problems.

And so, the world, and the country as well, appear to have entered uncharted territory,” it added.

The think tank expects monetary policy to “remain easy” as domestic interest rates have not dropped in sync with the United States.

It expects the Monetary Board to again cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) in the second semester. This will bring down policy rates to 2.5 percent.

In April, the Monetary Board implemented a 50-bps policy rate cut, bringing interest rates down to 2.75 percent.

Fiscal outlook

ON the fiscal side, the FMIC-UA&P Capital Market Research said the government deficit is expected to widen to around 7 percent to as much as 8 percent of GDP due to low tax revenues.

Government spending could also increase due to subsidies and a reboot of infrastructure spending once construction of various projects, particularly those in the Build, Build, Build (BBB), can safely recommence.

To boost revenues, the government can opt to borrow from domestic and foreign sources, the think tank said, but this will likely increase debt-to-GDP ratio to 46 percent to 48 percent from 41.5 percent in 2019.

However, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua earlier said even if the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio increases to a high 40 percent due to Covid-19, this is still manageable.

Chua said this is still far from the 80-percent debt-to-GDP ratio of the country in 2004 when the economy was on the brink of a fiscal crisis.

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Exports...

Private schools opening in June must get IATF OK; no face to face Continued from A1

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By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

RIVATE schools who want to start classes in June may do so if allowed by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and the Department of Health (DOH), Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said on Wednesday.

“I want to clarify that the opening on August 24 is for public and private,” Briones told the BusinessMirror in an interview over the phone.

She, however, stressed that private schools are allowed to open their classes in June “if allowed by IATF and DOH guidelines” and that in any case, there will be “no face-to-face for June.”

For those public and private schools that will open in August, Briones said, the “opening [of classes] can be face-toface or virtual, depending on decisions of the IATF.” She added, “No need for faceto-face if not allowed by IATF.”

‘Grueling transition’

AS the Department of Education (DepEd) continues to confront the issues brought about by the pandemic, Briones said on Wednesday they expect a “grueling transition” come August 24, 2020, when schools open.

“…And we will need the help and support of all our stakeholders. There will be birth pains in this path but we look forward in having our teachers, our parents, our learners and our communities as allies who will work with us to

provide valuable insights and contributions,” Briones said in a statement.

Enrollment will run from June 1 to June 30, 2020. The education chief said that from June 1 to 30, the teachers can also undergo capacity building on their new lessons like the DepEd Commons— which, as of May 4, a total of 6,218,717 unique users had already accessed.

Briones reiterated the importance of education to “bring normalcy to the lives of our learners, but their health and safety, ultimately, is most important.”

“For months now, our united efforts against the Covid-19 pandemic are producing promising results in defeating the unseen threat. Still, our country and the world at large are facing new challenges brought about by this unforeseen public health crisis,” she said.

The DepEd chief said they are addressing challenges in basic education through the Learning Continuity Plan (LCP), which will be in effect by the time School Year 2020-2021 opens on August 24, 2020.

The LCP is DepEd’s major response and its commitment in ensuring the health, safety and well-being of the

learners, teachers and personnel in the time of Covid-19 while finding ways for “education to continue amidst the crisis for the upcoming school year.”

She noted they “delayed the opening of classes to ensure that our learners and teachers are given time and be properly equipped to adjust to this new learning environment.” She added: “Our policies will also be continuously guided by science and by the advice of our health experts.”

Education, she reiterated, can and must continue but only under the conditions and health protocols set by the DOH and the World Health Organization.

“We have repeatedly consulted and collaborated with our partner institutions and organizations in crafting the LCP, which includes key features on K-12 curriculum adjustments; alignment of learning materials; various modalities of delivery; and corresponding teacher and parent/guardian training for homeschooling,” she added.

These modifications on certain policies and practices, she said, were necessary steps in adapting to the “new normal” while still remaining true to the framework of Sulong EduKalidad and Education Futures.

Flexibility, context

IN the LCP, the choice and contextualization of the learning delivery modality of schools will depend on the local Covid-19 situation as well as access to certain learning platforms.

“Even as we set policies in the

central office, we will primarily consider local public health conditions in adjusting our LCP. Preventive measures will be put in place to secure the health and well-being of our personnel and our learners under this new normal,” she said.

“Access, as we are all aware, is another issue of utmost concern and we have devised various modalities to ensure that online learning is only one of the options among all others in this new learning environment.”

The DepEd chief said their field units will determine “the most appropriate combinations or strategies for every locality as we look into addressing equity concerns of our constituents in this new arrangement.”

“It is our ultimate goal to facilitate the safe return of our teachers and learners to schools without the worry for Covid-19, but until such time is already possible, we will do everything in our capacity to carry on so that basic education will still be available despite the crisis,” Briones said.

Students may use laptops, tablets or cellular phones; others may use television and radio, and other offline methods that are effective for learning, she added.

Meanwhile, activities in schools that are “crowd drawers” will no longer be allowed at the moment, like the Palarong Pambansa, talent shows, the National Schools Press Conference, the National Festival of Talents, science fairs and trade fairs.

PHL banks seen to weather virus crisis P

HILIPPINE banks are expected to weather the crisis brought about by the global coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, as lenders were seen building up their buffers in April this year.

In its most recent assessment on the Philippine financial industry, S&P Global Ratings said it has observed that Philippine banks are “bolstering their buffers” for economic turbulence ahead.

“Philippine banks have increased provisioning to prepare for a possible threefold rise in credit losses, amid sharply slower domestic economy. The lenders revealed a large increase in provisions in their first-quarter results, in anticipation of higher nonperforming loans (NPLs) in the

coming quarters,” S&P said.

S&P painted a scenario on how the near future would look like for local lenders. According to its credit analyst Nikita Anand, the local banking sector is expected to see low-single-digit credit growth, rising nonperforming loans and credit costs, and declining profitability for the rest of the year.

For the full year, credit losses are expected to rise threefold to 1.3 percent of total banking sector loans. This is from the 0.45-percent credit loss average seen in the last five years.

In terms of NPLs, S&P forecast a 2-percentage point rise in nonperforming assets, including restructured loans and repossessed assets, to 5.4 percent.

The ratings agency also flagged banks’ exposure to highly affected sectors such as hotels and catering (2 percent of bank lending), wholesale and retail trade (12 percent), transportation (3 percent) and manufacturing (10 percent). Retail loans, which form 18 percent of the banking sector’s books, could also see higher defaults in credit cards (at 3.5 percent) and unsecured personal loans (at 1.5 percent).

While secured retail loans such as mortgages and auto loans will not likely be in the first wave of nonperforming assets, they will see some stress as unemployment rises, the credit watcher said.

Largely, however, S&P said the Philippine banks’ asset quality will depend on the performance of the corporate

sector, which forms 82 percent of banks’ loan books. Large conglomerates with their strong business profiles, diversified revenue streams and solid liquidity buffers will likely come through the challenging operating conditions intact.

Micro, small and midsize enterprises— which comprise 7 percent of the banking sector’s books—and leveraged corporates may face challenges, S&P said.

“Philippine banks have built good financial buffers and are entering this slowdown from a position of strength.

The banking sector’s good capital position (14 percent Tier-1 ratio) and higher provisioning will likely help them manage the rising risks in the operating environment,” Anand said.

‘ABS-CBN closure to dent investor confidence in PHL’ Continued from A1

“For 11,000 people and their families, it creates headaches as they will not be able to get any social protection,” Albert said. “Clearly it creates more problems than solutions.”

Albert also raised questions regarding the granting of franchises by the legislature. He said it may be time to consider the granting of franchises a regulatory function rather than a legislative one.

Lawmakers’ duty

LAWMAKERS should do their part in ensuring that the freedom of the press is safeguarded—and especially at a time of crisis like this—by acting on the bills filed to renew the franchise of one of the country’s largest media outfits, industry leaders argued on Wednesday.

Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council Private Sector Representative George T. Barcelon finds it unfortunate that the government ordered ABS-CBN Corp. to stop airing TV and radio programs. He said the broadcasting giant, as with any media institution right now, is vital in the delivery of news on the pandemic.

Barcelon added this could have been prevented if state officials were clear with how ABS-CBN can stay on air. However, with the Department of Justice (DOJ), National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the leadership of the House of Rep-

resentatives sending mixed signals, the shutdown was bound to happen.

The NTC on Tuesday instructed ABS-CBN to halt the operations of its TV and radio stations, which the network complied with by signing off all of its media channels in the evening.

The NTC was supposed to be ABS-CBN’s alternative as indicated by the House leadership and the DOJ, both of which suggested that the network can secure a provisional authority (PA) from the regulator absent a new franchise. Under oath at a congressional hearing in March, NTC officials said they would grant that PA to the network so it can operate while the franchise application pends in Congress, which was bound for a two-month break.

However, NTC officials last Sunday were threatened with a graft case by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) should they issue a PA to ABS-CBN. “From the way it looks, hopefully, the closure would not be for so long,” Barcelon said, hailing ABSCBN for delivering one of the most comprehensive coverages on the pandemic among all local TV networks. “I hope Congress, OSG and the DOJ can work out something and come out with a good decision that ABS-CBN is surely more than willing to comply with.”

And at the end of the day, the buck ends with lawmakers, the business leader said, calling on them to

address the issue immediately by deliberating on the bills for ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal.

“By law, they are required to address this issue, and so I urge them to look at it. If they have to set new guidelines to restrict the coverage of the franchise, ABSCBN would be open to carry it out,” Barcelon explained.

The Makati Business Club (MBC) also urged legislators to fairly and swiftly consider measures to renew the franchise.

Should there be issues against the network, MBC reminded Congress that it is its responsibility to address them through legislation. Likewise, it is duty-bound to ensure that constitutional rights and freedoms are safeguarded and to grant ABS-CBN equal treatment just like any other firm applying for a new franchise.

“MBC expresses its concern that the shutdown of ABS-CBN Corp.’s broadcast operations will be a blow to press freedom, which is a pillar of democratic societies such as ours,” MBC said, echoing the sentiment of journalists and human-rights advocates.

The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) is also concerned about the impact of the shutdown not only on media freedom, but also on the jobs of the network employees.

ABS-CBN is facing difficulty obtaining a new franchise under the

Duterte administration, as the Chief Executive himself has accused the network of alleged bias against him. He repeatedly attacked ABS-CBN in his speeches for its failure to air his 2016 campaign ad, as well as for televising an opposition ad that offended him.

In a Senate hearing in February, ABS-CBN executives apologized to President Duterte and explained that the network had no intentions of offending him.

The last time ABS-CBN was shut down was when the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos placed the Philippines under martial rule in 1972. It went back on air after Marcos was ousted in 1986.

Press freedom

UNIVERSITY of the Philippines College of Mass Communication Associate Dean Rachel E. Khan thinks the closure of ABS-CBN is a clear press freedom issue.

Khan said the NTC could have easily given ABS-CBN an extension in its franchise considering the ongoing health crisis, but it chose not to.

Due to Covid-19, the President had appealed to firms to suspend the payment of dues for utilities, and asked landlords to halt the collection of fees from renters. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) extended to May 30 the deadline of the filing for annual income tax returns (ITRs) due to the pandemic.

“To choose to issue a ceaseand-desist order indicates that

there are powers beyond theirs that want the network shut. This is the reason we see it as a press freedom issue rather than a mere business one,” Khan said.

In a statement, the Consortium on Democracy and Disinformation and its partners condemned the cease-and-desist order issued by the NTC to ABS-CBN calling it “a legal obscenity and a moral monstrosity.”

The closure of ABS-CBN opens the floodgates for “worse obscenities [to be] committed against journalism in the name of ‘the law.’”

The Right to Know Coalition described the shutdown as “clear evidence of doublespeak and unfair play in concert by the Solicitor General, the NTC, the Executive Branch and the President himself.”

It is, too, “clear proof of the pithy negligence of the House of Representatives to act on long-pending bills to renew the network’s franchise. This, the House leaders did in obvious subservient loyalty to a President who had expressed in no uncertain terms, multiple times, his contempt for ABS-CBN over the allegedly arbitrary non-airing of just a few of his campaign ads in 2016.”

The coalition added: “The NTC, the SolGen, and the President and his lieutenants among leaders of the House did not just shut down a network yesterday. They also put press freedom, freedom of information, and the people’s right to know under virtual lock and key in ABS-CBN.”

The Neda chief said firms need to consider the needs and preferences of those working from home such as, in terms of garments, personal care, health equipment and household tools.

This, he said, could pave the way for increased interest in advanced electronics and software for artificial intelligence, plastic products that serve as barrier for store fronts, and other protective equipment.

Policies that will expedite the sector’s recovery with the health of the population in mind will be critical to the country’s trade upturn, Chua stressed.

“We are working closely with Congress to craft an economic recovery program that is attuned to the needs of affected industries, particularly our small and medium enterprises, which were forced to scale back or totally close operations due to this unprecedented health crisis. The program will include highly targeted tax incentives that are time-bound, transparent and performance-based to help us attract the right types of investments and help firms recover,” he said.

Chua added that support measures in the form of wage subsidies and guaranteed loans are being considered for critically affected export and import industries, including the supply chain.

Such support can help increase focus on research and development on new products, recalibration of production process, and development of innovative products, among others.

Trade partners

PSA data showed the country’s top export markets were led by Japan with $766.9 million or 16.9 percent of total exports for March.

However, the PSA said exports to this country decreased by 14.5 percent from $896.56 million in March 2019.

Completing the top five major export trading partners were Hong Kong with export value of $694.42 million or 15.3 percent of total; United States of America, $611.4 million (13.5 percent); People’s Republic of China, $566.2 million (12.5 percent); and Singapore, $277.58 million (6.1 percent).

Import destinations, meanwhile, were led by China, accounting for 19.9 percent of total imports, at $1.37 billion during the month.

PSA data showed imports from China contracted 31.42 percent from $2 billion in March 2019.

The next four major import trading partners were Japan with imports of $649.25 million or 9.4 percent of total; Republic of Korea, $542.47 million or 7.8 percent; USA, $516.09 million or 7.5 percent; and Indonesia, $479.65 million or 6.9 percent.

CIT...

Continued from A1

position of just cutting the CIT rate to 29 percent on the first year of implementation. The Citira bill originally seeks to gradually reduce the CIT rate from the current 30 percent to 20 percent by 2029.

Last week, Dominguez pushed for Citira’s passage, arguing that the reduction in CIT rates that the bill provides would be a “good stimulus to the economy.”

He then expressed doubt that the proposed stimulus bill would be passed immediately, considering the length of time it takes to have all the hearings from the House to the Senate.

He also earlier said the DOF is studying whether to tweak the provisions of the pending Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, including Citira, as a form of Covid-19 relief.

Aside from the reduction in CIT rate, the Citira bill also seeks to overhaul the current menu of tax perks enjoyed by economic zone firms, including the 5-percent tax on gross income paid in lieu of all local and national taxes.

These incentives are what keep the Philippines competitive against Southeast Asian competitors in the face of high logistics and energy cost here, critics of the bill have said.

The Citira bill was passed by the House of Representatives last year and the Senate has yet to pass its version of the measure.

The Philippines lost at least $12 billion worth of investments over the past two years due to the prolonged deliberation on the Citira bill, according to Albay Rep. Joey S. Salceda.

With reports from Cai Ordinario

News BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DTI opens loan facility for MSMEs opting to shift to PPE-making biz

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HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has opened a loan facility for small enterprises who may opt to repurpose their manufacturing into production lines for personal protective equipment (PPE), which health workers are in dire need of amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic.

The DTI on Tuesday announced that it has instituted a loan program for micro, small and medium enterprises that decide to produce medical items, such as PPEs, crucial in efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19. The loan, facilitated by the DTI’s Small Business (SB) Corp., can be utilized for the retrofitting of operations of the availing MSME. Cebu-based Uniform Solutions (Unisol), a start-up for on demand uniforms, was among the first to make use of the loan facility.

According to the DTI, Unisol secured P3 million worth of loan to repurpose its production lines to be able to make washable face masks and reusable protective suits. At present, the start-up can make 50,000 face masks a day and 60,000 pieces of protective suits per month.

And as of April 29, Unisol reached the 1-million mark for produced face masks.

Unisol Chief Executive Officer Jonas Quilantang said the start-up was supposed to launch in the early months of this year. However, things turned for the worse when Covid-19

in January began to spread in China, and eventually infected individuals from different parts of the world.

Assessing that the situation would soon require people to wear face masks, Quilantang took a risk at changing the direction of Unisol by retrofitting its operations.

“Before Luzon implemented its enhanced community quarantine, I got the commitment from one of our suppliers to provide the needed fabric for the washable face masks. We started to make washable face masks mid-March and reusable protective suits in early April this year,” Quilantang recalled.

After a month of production, Quilantang said that Unisol now has a stable supply of the needed inputs and is eyeing to expand its network by forging partnerships.

Trade Assistant Secretary Asteria C. Caberte cited Unisol as “one good example of a company that effectively turned a negative situation into a good business opportunity.” She said that the start-up found a way to repurpose its production lines—originally intended to make shirts, polo and jackets—to manufacture PPEs, as well as keep its workers employed.

MSMEs in Central Visayas can also avail of the loan program by reaching out to any of the DTI provincial offices in the region to signify their interest and get an endorsement to the SB Corp. Elijah Felice E. Rosales

Policemen raid ‘unregistered’ online gaming house in Makati, 63 Chinese nationals nabbed

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OLICEMEN swooped down on an online gaming firm allegedly operating illegally in Makati City on Tuesday and nabbed 63 Chinese nationals.

A report from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said a joint Philippine National Police (PNP) team raided the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) facility reportedly operating at the eight floor of a building along Obrero Street, Barangay Olympia, Makati City.

The operation, led by National Capital Regional Police Office chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas, stemmed from an information that the online firm run by a Chinese identified as Xiao Bao, was illegally operating.

T he information prompted policemen to carry out a series of surveillance operations.

Arrested during the operation were 63 Chinese nationals and 13 Filipino employees. Xiao, however, remains at large.

The raiding team also recovered 75 units of different brands of laptop computers, 13 pieces of keyboards and computer mouses, 414 units of mobile phones, 51 units of Internet

modems, 11 Chinese passports, 23 pieces of IDs, P115,200 in cash, six boxes of assorted computer cable and wires, 42 pieces of adaptors, a check booklet, three small boxes containing Globe cell-phone load card, two units of computer monitors, a speaker and 126 Chinese yuan.

“We would like to reiterate our plea for cooperation from all the people in the Metro Manila, including our foreign friends, who are staying here to please observe due compliance to all existing laws, especially the further extended ECQ protocols to alleviate the difficulties brought [about] by this pandemic, not just to our frontliners, but to each of us alike,” Sinas said.

“A lot has changed from the way we live our lives before and there is no way for us to conquer this battle against the unseen but through [a] collaborated concerted effort. We are all in this together. Please, let’s all work together to heal as one nation,” he added.

Sinas said that a certification from the Business Permit Office of Makati City showed that the business entity located at 8884 Obrero Street Barangay Olympia Makati City unregistered. Rene Acosta

Govt prepares for repatriation of 40,000 OFWs to stem 2nd wave Covid-19 spread

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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HE government is now taking additional precautions with the looming repatriation of 40,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to prevent a possible second wave of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak in the country up to next month.

In an online press briefing on Wednesday, the chief implementer of the government’s national policy on Covid-19 Carlito Galvez said they will prioritize the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the arriving OFWs to ensure they will be free from Covid-19.

“We are preparing to regulate [the arrival] of inbound passengers,

who are OFWs, to stop what we are calling second wave [outbreak],” Galvez said.

Also part of their regulation is the weeklong suspension, until May 8, of all inbound flights in the country to give the government time to decongest its quarantine facilities in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Currently, Galvez said there are 23,480 OFWs staying in hotels and accommodations facilitated by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) so they could complete their mandatory 14-day quarantine period.

Of these, 6,738 are seafarers, while the remaining 6,742 are landbased OFWs. He said another 44,724 OFWs are expected to return to the country

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by the ECQ with the closure, or limited working hours of food outlets, and will continue to suffer losses even under a GCQ [general community quarantine],” he said in the memorandum dated May 4.

At present the P1.6 billion is allocated as follows: P500 million for urban agriculture; P500 million for acquisition of protective personal equipment; P300 million for corn for food project; and P200 million for information, education and communications project.

“There is an obvious slant towards rice and corn. Aside from rice, livestock, fishery and aqua need help,” Fausto said.

There is need to hike budget for livestock disease management, he added, for both avian influenza and African swine fever, as these diseases remain to be a threat to local production beyond Covid-19.

“The ASF task force is running out of kits and lack vets to monitor the livestock industry. There is a need to provide support on a consistent manner not only when disease outbreaks occur,” he said.

Fausto said the stimulus package

this month up to June.

Ongoing mass testing

IN a radio interview, OWWA Administrator Hans J. Cacdac said the government is now rushing the 7,000 of the over 23,000 under quarantine to go through RT-PCR testing, too so they could steadily decongest the quarantine sites and provide new accommodations to additional repatriated OFWs. The target is lower compared to the Department of Transportation figure of 16,000, and of Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) Vivencio “Vince” Dizon of 25,000. Dizon is the deputy chief implementer of the National Task Force Covid-19.

Cacdac said at least 2,000 quarantined OFWs were tested in their

designated accommodations in Batangas on Tuesday.

Galvez expressed concern over the outcome of the tests since initial reports showed 19 of them might be infected with Covid-19.

“So we are still waiting for the official report of the Philippine Red Cross [on the testing] and we will see,” Galvez said.

Galvez said they will allow international airports in the country to reopen by Friday after the mass testing of OFWs is completed.

“But we will manage it to 400 to 500 at least so we could manage it,” Galvez said.

The government, he explained, will have a hard time “controlling” quarantined OFWs in Metro Manila if their numbers will reach over 30,000.

Calida on ABS-CBN case: Why bark at NTC? Blame Congress

By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

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OLICITOR General Jose Calida lauded the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on Tuesday for upholding the rule of law in issuing a cease and desist order (CDO), enjoining ABS-CBN Corp. and its affiliate ABS-CBN Convergence from operating following the expiration of their franchises.

In a news statement, Calida said critics are barking at the wrong tree in putting the blame on the NTC, considering that it was only performing its mandate as a regulatory body in issuing the CDO against ABS-CBN. Instead, Calida said ABS-CBN followers should question Congress why it has failed to grant the network’s petition for the renewal of its legislative franchise, which has been pending before it since 2016.

“The Constitution requires a prior franchise from Congress before a broadcasting entity can operate in this country. Absent a renewal, the franchise expires by operation of law. The franchise ceases to exist and the entity can no longer continue its operations as a public utility,” the government’s chief legal counsel said.

“The bill renewing ABS-CBN’s franchise has been pending in Congress since 2016. The question we should be asking is, why hasn’t Congress acted on it? Who is at fault here?” he added.

Prior to the issuance of the CDO, Calida warned the NTC that it may face graft charges if it would

issue provisional authorities to allow the said companies to operate pending Congress” action on the renewal of their franchises.

For issuing the warning, the Office of the Solicitor General also drew flak from ABS-CBN supporters but Calida stood pat on his position saying, “The OSG has the duty to advise the NTC of what is legal or not. We will be abdicating our duty to the NTC if we don’t advise them of the legal consequences of their actions.”

In defending his position, Calida cited a 2003 decision issued by the Supreme Court which held that the issuance by the NTC of both a recall order and a cease and desist order against a broadcasting entity when it failed to renew its franchise was valid and compliant to administrative due process.

“The exercise by the NTC of its regulatory power is in accordance with the principle of the rule of law.

Nobody is sacred. Even a powerful and influential corporation must follow the law,” Calida said.

Even, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra acknowledge that it is within the NTC’s power as a regulatory power to issue a CDO against any firm operating without a legislative franchise.

“The NTC’s cease and desist order as falling under the regulatory powers of the NTC,” Guevarra said.

Guevarra also clarified that while the President is the head of the Executive department, it does not mean that all decisions made by the NTC can be appealed before him.

PCAFI seeks P1.6-B share from govt’s proposed P32-B stimulus package HE Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) is urging the government to realign P1.6 billion of its P32-billion proposed stimulus package for the agriculture sector to more productivity-focused programs for livestock and poultry sectors.

In a memorandum submitted to Economic Stimulus Response Package (ERSP) Chairman Albay Rep. Joey Salceda and Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar, PCAFI outlined the proposed stimulus package for agriculture sector against Covid-19.

PCAFI President Danilo V. Fausto said they deem the P32-billion proposed supplemental budget as “inadequate and might leave the exclusions of issues and concerns not properly addressed.”

Fausto argued that the stimulus package for agriculture should be focused on productivity in anticipation of increased food demand and consumption in the second semester.

Fausto recommended that P1.6 billion of the P32-billion proposed package be refocused to programs that would improve local output of dairy, poultry, hogs, fisheries and feed crops.

“These sectors have been hit hard

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Thursday, May 7, 2020 A3

should include funding for logistical support to move farm products not only in Luzon but even those from Mindanao to avert wastage.

“A lot of these products are wasted due to suspension of airline operation, difficulty in the land transport of perishable fruits, vegetables, fish, meat [specifically pork] and including fingerlings,” he said.

“Likewise, since these products are highly perishable, they need enhancement for cold chain support like refrigerated trucks and increase provisions for cold storage facilities,” he added.

PCAFI also recommended for investments not only at the production side of the food supply system but as well as at the manufacturing and distribution segments.

“Work on programs that will encourage meat processors to use local supply, requiring minimum inclusion of local producers,” Fausto said.

“Inclusion of stimulus budget for agricultural producers, processors and suppliers of raw materials for high value fruits, vegetables and other commodities for export and local markets,” he added. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

“When I say that the President as Chief Executive has control over all agencies under the Executive department, I am saying that as a general proposition but do not mean that NTC decisions are appealable to the Office of the President,” he added.

He also admitted that the issue of whether, or not, the President may intervene is already immaterial since the latter has already set he would leave it up to Congress to decide on ABS-CBN’s franchise.

Guevarra also expressed belief that the quo warranto petition filed by the OSG against ABS-CBN Corp. and its affiliate before the SC last February has become moot with the expiration of the media giant’s franchise last May 4.

“In my opinion, this has been overtaken by events already. In short, the franchise being attacked or assailed by the OSG has already expired, last May 4, so for that reason, there’s nothing more that is the subject matter,” he said.

Calida filed the quo warranto petition seeking to invalidate the franchises issued to ABS-CBN and its affiliate by Congress for violating several of its provisions and for committing “highly abusive practices.”

Meanwhile, the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) both condemned the CDO issued by NTC against ABS-CBN. The FLAG urged the NTC to rescind the CDO in order to protect the free flow of information and the

Naia girds for resumption of regular domestic and international flights

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HE Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) is preparing for the resumption of regular flights by putting in place measures to control, if not eliminate, Covid-19 infections to occur among passengers, frontline workers and visitors.

The guidelines include: 1. The mandatory wearing of face mask when entering the airport facility. According to the airport Public Affairs Office, the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) has procured 133,750 pieces of surgical face masks. Also in the pipeline are 4,500 pieces of washable masks “to ensure continuous protection of its workers.”

2. Everyone entering the airport complex must submit themselves to mandatory body temperature checks.

There is continuing temperature checks at all the airport security checkpoints, including vehicles in all of the four passenger terminals. Security personnel manning these posts are equipped with 81 infrared thermometer guns.

3. Social distancing measures shall be strictly observed at all queuing points inside and outside the terminal building, enforcing the “one seat apart policy.”

4. The Office for Transportation Security (OTS) has been tasked to lead enforcing security procedures through “no contact means,” but not limited to walk through X-ray machines, portable scanners, handheld metal detectors, effectively limiting pat-downs, or manual frisking, to exceptional instances, or situations.

5. Only passengers with valid travel documents and confirmed bookings for the day will be allowed to enter the airport facility.

The Miaa policy of limiting non-airport workers and nonpassengers into Naia terminal shall remain in effect. Recto Mercene

people’s right to know during this time of public health emergency.

“This is how liberty dies, not with a loud bang but with dead air,” FLAG Chairman Jose Manuel Diokno said in describing the impact of the CDO to the public.

It said that it is not only the NTC should be blamed for the fate of ABS-CBN but the members of the House of Representatives as well for refusing to hear the applications for the franchise renewal before the expiration of the franchise.

The group also blamed the Solicitor General for pressuring the NTC against the issuance of provisional authorities to the broadcasting firm as well as the DOJ for its failure to clarify the issues involving the power of the NTC. “No compelling public interest will be served by killing ABS-CBN through the CDO. On the contrary, the order directly undermines public interest because it shuts off one avenue of information arguably one with the widest reach for our people in the midst of a global pandemic,” the group said.

Meanwhile, the NUPL likened the NTC’s CDO to a “gag order.”

“By resorting once again to outright suppression, this administration reveals that Covid-19 is not the only disease that besets us and spurs clamor for a cure,” NUPL’s SecretaryGeneral Ephraim Cortez said.

“There will be a time for accountability, and this will be part of the lengthening list that this government will be judged on,” Cortez added.

TheBroa

Business

A4 Thursday, May 7, 2020 | www.businessmirror.com.ph

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

HE Sars-Cov-2 virus, the strain that causes the coronavirus disease of 2019 (Covid-19), is 0.125 micron in size—so minuscule it’s invisible to the naked eye. And it packed a punch; more than enough to send shockwaves to the Philippines’s food supply chain, disrupting and exposing the system’s frailties.

This the super-tiny germ exposed after placing under lockdown the 48 million people on an area larger than Guatemala.

Trying to fend off the “invasion” of the virus was marked by supply disruptions, hindering the transport of food from farms to retail markets to dinner tables, especially during the first few weeks of an “enhanced community quarantine,” or ECQ. The ECQ did not only impact producers but consumers as well, who have been forced to stay at home, or temporarily lost their jobs and exhausted their rainy day cash.

“Food production, particularly in the processing and transport phases, is disrupted due to the ECQ, which has closed much of the economy. The ECQ is necessary, but does have high costs, as do the shutdowns in other countries,” International Food Policy Research Institute Emeritus Fellow Mark W. Rosegrant told the BusinessMirror via e-mail.

“And most importantly, the sharp drop in employment and income reduces the ability of people to purchase food. This loss of income will be especially devastating for the poor, many of whom are already food insecure and have few or no savings to cushion the loss of income,” Rosegrant added.

No less than Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar noted that the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown highlighted “the vulnerabilities of our current systems, particularly distorting the food supply chain and global trade.”

Oversupply

Indeed, one of the worst hit sectors during the pandemic was the broiler industry, which had been enduring an oversupply for months prior to the ECQ. The shutdown of the hotel, restaurant and industrial (HRI) sector, whose demands account for 30 percent of local broiler production, resulted in the diversion of supplies toward the retail markets, worsening the glut.

As of April 20, the country’s dressed chicken inventory nationwide surged to an unprecedented 71,864.86 metric tons (MT), about 35,442.73 MT of which are locallyproduced. This number roughly represents 35.4 million birds.

With the glut, farm-gate prices of live broiler have plunged below cost-to-produce of P75-per-kg to as low as P40 per killogram, a situation direr than the 2017 Central Luzon bird flu outbreak.

“It’s a terrible glut,” Elias Jose M. Inciong said with a deep sigh.

Inciong, president of the United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra), told the BusinessMirror that the high cold-storage inventory hinders the normalization of farm-gate prices as producers tend to unload dressed chicken once prices go up to maximize whatever profit is possible.

“A not he r conc e r n i s t h at gover nment d at a doesn’t inc lude t he inventor y of t he big pl ayers,” he sa id.

Major quick-service restaurants and other big players were forced to sell their chicken meat products in supermarkets to ease supplies and somehow make prof-

A man passes by rows of motorcycle riders at a checkpoint during an enhanced community quarantine to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus at the outskirts of Manila, Philippines on Monday April 27. AP/Aaron Favila

its. Some big industry players, on the other hand, donated live broiler to local government units (LGUs) as relief goods.

Inciong believes changes in supply would be seen this May. He added that Ubra also expects a 50-percent reduction in production “due to lesser flock-loading due to low farm-gate prices.”

Repair

Economist Pablito M. Villegas said the Covid-19 pandemic is a wake-up call to repair the “already oppressive and exploitative value chain” in the country’s farm sector.

For one, the production side has always been a traders’ market with traders dictating prices on farmers’ produce while the consumer side has been a retailers market with sellers dictating the retail prices of goods, Villegas explained. “ This is the opportunity to moderate the role of middlemen and traders corresponding to finance and commodity f inancing ,” Vi l legas told t he BusinessMirror.

“We have to transform this oppressive, ineffective and costly supply chain to a more shorter, less expensive, and less profit-oriented one,” he added.

He proposes that government privatize and socialize its current “Kadiwa” rolling-stores system in the future to remove government interference and make it a direct farmer-to-consumer system.

Villegas, a former United Nations’ food security and value chain consultant, recommended converting the Kadiwa into a “service-oriented system” where state-accredited service providers will link the farmers to consumers.

“You now streamline the value chain,” he said. “These service providers will provide the logistics cost from transport to storage.”

Philippine Institute for Development Studies Senior Research Fellow Roehlano M. Briones said one way to remove the multiple layers in the value chain is by having an efficient financing and information system.

Briones explained that the intermediaries have been a crucial part of the value chain, and somehow dominating it, due to their capacity to provide farmers with direct capital—in cold cash—and assured market for their produce.

“The traders are willing to swallow the risks,” he told the BusinessMirror.

“Ideally we want the farmers to step up or for farmers’ organizations to replace these traders. But they have to be able to overcome these two problems,” he added.

Go digital

This is where the use of technology and innovation would come ib, Briones said.

Financial technology (fintech) and the Internet are some of the potential game-changers in the country’s food supply chain as they can create new avenues and opportunities for both farmers and consumers, he added.

“If traditional markets are paralyzed during a crisis like this, then we can innovate through food deliveries and online deliveries,” Briones said.

Shook

How a pandemic threw a m wrench on PHL food suppl and the way forward

He noted that fintech can facilitate the flow of capital for farmers. However, there’s a caveat as Briones said there’s a need to gain the trust of farmers. He said doing so would convince farmers to use such mechanism.

“That type of system—eCommerce—is not yet widespread among farmers. There is still a level of acceptability in payment systems that we have to achieve,” he said.

Briones said the provision of Automated Teller Machine cards to farmers, who are also 4Ps beneficiaries, is one step to introducing them to digital technology.

Agri online

T he Depar tment of Agr icu lt u re’s (DA) K ad iwa prog ra m proved to be a saving grace of far mers dur ing the ECQ and the Covid-19 pandemic as the rolling-store system provided an assured market and profit.

Latest figures released by the DA showed that farmers earned over P122 million from the sales of almost 2,000-metric ton of farm goods under the three modalities of its Kadiwa system.

The DA said it was able to facilitate the sale of 40 MT of goods worth P30.27 million through 44

sites of its Kadiwa retail-selling mode while P73.55 million worth of 1,551-MT of farm produce were sold in 307 “Kadiwa on Wheels.”

The use of internet and available technology also allowed the DA to connect farmers to consumers through mobile phones and laptops. The DA said it was able to sell P18.31 million worth of farm produce through “Kadiwa Online,” which is currently running on three Internet sites.

In fact, the use of social media was also a key player in aiding farmers to sell their goods due to loss of market, according to the DA and people using such platform.

The likes of Sadiwa.PH, an online initiative run by Millennials, capitalized Twitter and Facebook to help strawberry farmers in La Trinidad, Benguet, to reach consumers in Metro Manila.

The lockdowns and the loss of tourists in Benguet and Baguio resulted in unsold strawberries; some farmers forced to produce strawberry jams. Despite such measure, there were still strawberries waiting for harvest.

Sadiwa.PH started an initiative to buy strawberries from farmers higher than the prevailing retail price in Benguet (which is about twice the current farm-gate price)

and sell them to Manila consumers at half of the prevailing retail price in supermarkets.

Not big

Inciong said the current system of small- to medium-scale farming in the Philippines cushioned the impact of Covid-19 on the country’s food supply since there are still a lot of players involved in the production.

“What’s happening in other countries is that their food chain is so disrupted because they are dominated by conglomerates, like in the US. Mabuti mabuti pa tayo [We’re okay because] a lot of us are still small players,” he said.

Inciong said they propose that broiler farms with 10,000 heads and below capacity should be established in strategic municipalities or areas near urban locations to ensure sufficiency of supply during a crisis.

“There is a need for farming to be less corporate; less big-scale, so that we will not have great pressure on the environment and supply distribution would be more strategic,” he added.

Briones said there is still a need for a wide-scale farming operations to have economies of scale.

He added that having a centralized

farming system would be easier to regulate in terms of standards and during crisis.

“We should think that the US could have done better, since centralized, as easier to regulate and implementation of social distancing standards should have been quicker,” Briones told the BusinessMirror. “Perhaps they lacked in implementing these health guidelines.”

Improvements

R aul Q. Montemayor agrees, saying there is a need to decentralize the countr y’s farming system. Montemayor, national manager of the Federation of Free Farmers, said this could be done by investing in rural areas that have potential to grow more food and diversify food supply sources locally.

“One of the lessons learned even in the US is that the concentration in input, processing and marketing systems through large agribusiness companies is very vulnerable to shocks like Covid-19,” Montemayor told the BusinessMirror.

“We have to look into decentra l i zing and d ispersing key processes aside from production such as seed production, input

aderLook

sMirror

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace | Thursday, May 7, 2020

prove far m productiv it y and market access for small farmers,” Rosegrant said.

Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) economists said the Philippines could rise from this pandemic stronger if the government would implement reforms that encourage the development of an agriculture-driven economy.

Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (Acerd) Director Alvin P. Ang the implementation of the creation of Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development (SAFD) zones as mandated by Afma is the way forward to a post-Covid agriculturedriven economy.

SAFD zones are “areas identified for production, agro-processing and marketing activities to help develop and modernize, either the support of government, the agriculture and fisheries sectors in an environmentally and socio-cultural sound manner,” according to Afma. [Read more here: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2020/05/06/admu-economistssuggest-agri-driven-economy-forphl-to-deal-with-pandemic/] Briones said future investments should not be focused only on the production side but on the whole food chain system since the country badly lags behind in terms of having a proper distribution network. “ T he entire [supply chain] should be looked into and not pour all investments in the top part of the chain,” he said. “What happens is that other elements of the chain are being neglected, such as manufacturing and distribution.”

Briones proposes that private sector investment in the food supply chain, through loans borrowed from financial institutions, could be considered as compliance with the agri-agra law to encourage faster developments and growth in the sector.

kt!

We’ll survive

monkey ly chain supply, processing and marketing, especially because of our t ra n s por t at ion con st ra i nt s,” he added.

Montemayor said there is also a need to further improve the country’s food safety system amid rise of health crisis like Covid-19.

Philippine Association for Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) Vice President Jerome D. Ong also called for more investments in key areas that do not have plants or factories but have great potential consumer market, like in Visayas and Mindanao.

This allows a more diverse supply base in light of not only a health crisis but of animal disease outbreaks that tend to disrupt food trade across the islands of the country, Ong explained.

But “decentralization” is already a “given,” Cold Chain Association of the Philippines President Anthony S. Dizon said.

This, Dizon explained, is because there are still growth opportunities for businesses to invest in viable food production areas.

He proposes putting up cold storage hubs in Caraga and Neg ros Occidenta l where aquaculture is thriving.

There is also an opportunity to provide cold storage to high-value

fruit growers in the north, as blast freezing fruits like strawberry would prolong their shelf life, Dizon added.

Zero data

THE absence of an efficient data system did not help the industry to better adjust and cope with the pandemic situation since ever yone is blind on the real amount of supply and potential production on the ground, Inciong said.

“Ever y thing is gut feel n o w. T h e r e ’s n o c o n f i d e n c e in infor mat ion.

In fact, Inciong pointed out, the need for a sound and reliable data system is not a mere “proposal” but is mandated by the Agri-Fisheries Modernization Act (Afma) of 1997.

Under the law, the government must set up a system that could easily provide data on food supply, demand, price and price trends, down to the municipal level.

“The priority should be investing in data; it is a legal requirement. And as far as we are concerned the Afma has not been repealed,” Inciong said.

Navarro proposed that all Filipino farmers’ lands should be geotagged to determine where sup-

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plies would be coming from and to make it easier to assess current food stocks.

This, he noted, would form part of the government’s data base and allow authorities to easily preposition food supplies during crises.

“By then we will be able to know where we will get our supplies,” he said. “But we do not have that kind of data until now.”

Exchange system

Navarro emphasized that the government should consider looking into the establishment of a commodities exchange system that allows for a futures-trading of domestic farm produce.

Such system would be tied up with establishments of state-run silos where locally-bought produce would be stored.

Having such kind of system would ensure farmers earn at least enough profit to break-even despite sudden disease outbreaks or even pandemics, Navarro explained.

Nav a r ro s a id gover n ment should also consider investing in other staple alternatives, such as the rice-corn blend that they have been pushing for the longest time.

He explained that having such substitute ensures the country would

have a more stable staple supply and won’t rely too much on the import market.

Need for review

Both Inciong and Navarro agree that the LGU Code should be reviewed in light of the disruptions made in food trade due to arbitrary rules set by local chief executives in the guise of protecting their localities from Covid-19.

Inciong proposes that the DA should have a presence at the provincial level and municipal level to easily intervene in collecting “sound and reliable” data needed for better policy-making.

Ong said the current autonomy of the LGUs has its pros and cons.

For one, dealing and coordinating with them is easier in terms of relief operations, he said. For another, the arbitrary rules, based on their own interpretation of existing guidelines, somehow hindered movement of food products.

“It created too much autonomy that led to different interpretations and implementations of the laws, creating confusion for everyone,” Ong said.

“Perhaps, the Local Government Code can operate and be

implemented in its officially legislated form under normal situations. But during crisis situations, there should be an exception that they must toe the line when it comes to nationally-formulated guidelines,” he added.

Outbreak-proof

IN the short term, the government should provide small-scale farmers “social support,” through food ration and income support to help them survive the pandemic amid loss of income, considering that these farmers are net food buyers, Rosegrant said.

He added that the government should prioritize long-term investments in agriculture instead of short-term support to promote domestic production since this wouldn’t be beneficial due to lower food demand.

“Direct short-term support to promote domestic production [will unlikely] be beneficial given the fall in food demand, but as the Philippines emerges f rom t he pa nde m ic , longer term investments in agriculture and rural areas would have big benefits, including ex panded investment in agricultural research and development and rural roads and markets to im-

THE DA is confident it is “ready” for the “new normal” of the country’s agriculture and fisheries sector.

Dar said this “new normal” would be anchored on three principles: survive, reboot and grow.

Under the “sur vive” principle, Dar said the DA shall continue to implement resiliency programs and projects on climate change, such as its P8.5billion rice resiliency project that aims to hike domestic rice output during the crisis.

Other interventions under this stage include cash assistance and soft loans to farmers as well as ensuring unhampered movement of food trade and directly linking farmers to consumers.

The DA also intensified its urban agriculture and back gardening programs to increase food supplies and in particular ensure availability of food in urban areas, especially in households that are capable of growing plants.

“Secondly, we must reboot a nd refor m ou r ag r ic u lt u ra l policies, and refocus our priorities to minimize the adverse effects and disruptions on agricultural production and food supply chain due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Dar said.

“Thirdly, the agriculture and fishery sector must grow, by attracting more investments and resources, and partnering with the private sector and local government units—to increase food sufficiency levels, and at the same time modernize and industrialize the country’s agri-fishery sector,” Dar added.

Under the new normal, Dar vowed to “prioritize interventions on agri-fishery productivity and resiliency.” He added that the use of digital technology would also be “maximized” to “link producers to consumers through e-commerce and related activities.” “ Together, we will sur vive, reboot, and grow toward a foodsecured nation,” Dar said.

A6 Thursday, May 7, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Can PHL economy tiptoe to normalcy?

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ew Zealand emerged from almost five weeks of strict nationwide lockdown on April 28 when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern allowed as many as half a million people to return to factories, construction sites and other essential businesses.

Italy, once the Covid-19 epicenter in Europe, began opening up cautiously on May 4 after its two-month shutdown—allowing 4.4 million Italians to return to work. The world is watching how these economies can restart without igniting a new surge in infections.

Governments around the world have reported 3.6 million infections and more than 255,000 deaths as of May 5, according to Johns Hopkins University. As of May 5, the Philippines has 9,684 cases, 637 deaths, and 1,408 patients who recovered.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government has said “by all indications,” the National Capital Region may graduate from the enhanced community quarantine after it lapses on May 15. But the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases said that it was basing its recommendations to President Duterte on the trends on the Covid-19 epidemiological curve, health systems capacity of local government units, and economic, social, and security considerations. Metro Manila and eight other high-risk geographical areas are under ECQ until May 15.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry last week urged the government to lay clear plans on the partial resumption of businesses and economic activities, particularly in Metro Manila, to stave off a wave of bankruptcies and mass unemployment. Malacañang said the decision to shift the quarantine status of the National Capital Region from ECQ to a general community quarantine (GCQ) will depend mostly on science, giving stress to the government’s capability to attend to the medical needs of the people over the need to jump-start the economy.

President Duterte wants to find a way to reboot the battered Philippine economy while trying to halt the spread of Covid-19 infections. The challenge facing the President is how to go about easing the lockdown that has closed businesses for more than a month now and how to protect millions of employees going back to the workplace.

Joey Concepcion, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder, has proposed a solution to the President. He suggested placing some barangays in “selective quarantine” after the lifting of the Luzon lockdown. In a selective quarantine, he said the mayor and the barangay chairpersons are authorized to implement an extended lockdown if an area remains stricken with the virus, especially if the rate of infection is high. The barangay quarantine, Concepcion added, aims to help to identify the most vulnerable communities, and redirect resources and services to help stop the spread of the disease.

If the barangay quarantine is implemented successfully, he said public confidence will be reinstated and the country’s economy will revive. “With proper testing and containment of the virus at the barangay level, key industries can resume operations and the essential work force can return safely to work. Let us not penalize the barangays that are infection-free and have followed the President’s orders to stay home for six weeks,” Concepcion said.

The Philippine Institute for Development Studies said the country’s economy is projected to lose up to P2.5 trillion due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Of course, the longer the lockdown, the bigger the loss. Unfortunately, there’s still a long way to go. As the President has said, the health of the people is paramount.

We do not want to return to business as usual prematurely. But nobody knows when is the right time to ease the lockdown. We agree that businesses in low-risk areas should be allowed to operate, as Concepcion has suggested.

But they should stagger shifts and strictly enforce social distancing to guarantee the health and safety of workers. Before they are allowed to open shop, businesses must be required to submit risk assessments and action plans to the IATF to ensure that safety nets are in place.

As we move to revive the economy, let’s adopt the test-test-test strategy now that we have sufficient test kits. Testing enables rapid isolation of individuals so we don’t have to quarantine as many people in order to stop another outbreak. Let’s all work together to prevent a second wave of infections.

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In truth, with the appropriate legal permissions in place, it is not difficult to imagine how an online voter registration system might work. And certainly, the availability of online voter registration carries with it the promise of many benefits, including the possibility of safe voter registration during this season of pandemic.

However, with the disease looking likely to stay with us for much of the foreseeable future, it looks increasingly certain that many parts of the country will be remaining under some sort of quarantine for a while longer. This will inevitably impact when voter registration resumes, most probably leading to hundreds of thousands more people being unable to register, reactivate, or otherwise make sure that they can cast their ballots in 2022. This raises the valid question: Why isn’t the Commission on Election talking more about online voter registration?

The short answer is that online

have been many cases when such questions have exposed people trying, usually at the behest of political operators, to register in places where they did not actually reside.

RA 10367, on the other hand, makes the use of biometrics— which can only be recorded in person—mandatory. Biometrics ensure that each person registered to vote appears in the list of voters only once, protecting the integrity standard of one voter, one vote.

At the end of the day, both biometrics and the requirement for personal appearance are key security measures that protect against electoral fraud perpetrated on the rolls of voters. Taken together, they define the voter registration process followed today: a person fills up an application form and personally submits it to the Election Officer; the application is set for hearing

James Jimenez

spox

Y the time voter registration starts up again, we will have lost at least three months out of the registration period scheduled to run throughout the rest of 2020, all the way up to September 2021. With the record of the early days averaging between 80,000 to 100,000 transactions per week—including new registrations, reactivation, changes of name and so on—we can project that about a million voter registration related transactions didn’t take place because of the Comelec’s timely response to the threat of Covid-19. voter registration is not allowed both under the specific terms of one law, and by the necessary application of another.

Republic Act (RA) 8189—the law that governs voter registration—requires that a person’s registration application form be personally filed “before the election officer of the city or municipality wherein he resides.” This enables the election officer to personally evaluate the applicants’ eligibility to vote in that city or municipality. In many cases, this is done by simply asking questions designed to test the veracity of the applicants’ claims of residence. There

A brave new world for everyone

his year is definitely going to go down as one of those “what were you doing when...?” moments. “What were you doing when man first landed on the moon?” “What were you doing when the Baguio earthquake happened?”

Barbers and beauticians that did not wear face masks before will do so once the lockdown is lifted.

And we will expect that behavior long into the future. Restaurants in Hong Kong are bringing in “hygiene ambassadors” and installing table partitions. A time might come when we will not patronize a restaurant without table partitions.

Obviously, those were events, whereas this pandemic and the global lockdowns are not events in their truest meaning. While I will not buy into the argument that we are fighting a “war” against Covid-19, our current situation is more like being part of a war as civilians in the cross fire.

Yet even World War II, which might bear close similarity to current times, did not suddenly happen. It was almost inevitable when an agreement was signed that allowed the Nazis to annex the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia. World War II was a case of

hotels are shuttered.

Further, on March 20, a mandatory lockdown was announced and later a liquor ban. By the way, “the first casualty of war against Covid-19 is beer.”

Many people out there think that in a few weeks or months, life will go back to the way it was on New Year’s Eve 2019. That is not going to happen for a much longer time.

Epidemics change short-term behavior that becomes longerterm habits. The US had a polio epidemic in 1916. Movie theaters were closed, meetings were canceled, public gatherings were nonexistent, and children were

Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug

Senior Editors

Creative Director Chief Photographer

The path to online registration

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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one thing following another.

The point is that no one saw this pandemic coming, including me, even though I am so closely related to Nostradamus that I get three US cents every time someone mentions my dear Tito’s name.

The other thing is that even World War II did not directly affect so many people at the same time. Part of it is due to instant global communication, and that every place on Earth is now connected by air travel. French Polynesia, which includes Tahiti, had a total of 60 cases with 54 recovered and no death. All of its resorts and

by the Election Registration Board; and if the Board approves the application, the applicant becomes a registered voter. Unfortunately, these two rules are also the largest obstacles to making online voter registration a reality.

The path toward online voter registration clearly runs through Congress. Without amendatory legislation that will either relax the personal appearance requirement or prescribe acceptable alternatives to it, there really is no getting around the need to have the applicant appearing before the election officer—and having his/her biometrics registered—in person. And rightly so, considering all the various ways bad actors try to compromise the integrity of the lists of voters.

In truth, with the appropriate legal permissions in place, it is not difficult to imagine how an online voter registration system might work. And certainly, the availability of online voter registration carries with it the promise of many benefits, including the possibility of safe voter registration during this season of pandemic. Nevertheless, great care must be taken to ensure that the protections provided by the existing off-line voter registration system are not carelessly tossed aside simply out of a desire to go online.

warned not to drink from water fountains. Another one occurred in 1949, but the 1952 polio epidemic was the worst outbreak in t he nat ion’s h istor y w it h 3,145 dead and 21,269 left with paralysis.

The first Lysol Disinfectant was introduced in 1889 and was used as the preferred immediate protection against every viral epidemic from 1918 until now. Actually, hydrogen peroxide is probably just as effective in killing viruses. Even after a polio vaccine was found, mothers immediately rushed a child to the doctor if he or she had a fever after swimming in a public pool.

Barbers and beauticians that did not wear face masks before will do so once the lockdown is lifted.

And we will expect that behavior long into the future. Restaurants in Hong Kong are bringing in “hygiene ambassadors” and installing table partitions. A time might come when we will not patronize a restaurant without table partitions.

Up to 80 percent of employees at the Bank of Montreal may shift to f lexible arrangements once See “Mangun,” A7

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Malaysia will be crucial to Asia’s Covid-19 damage control

Via, Veritas, Vita

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I

Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Alálaong Bagá

By Daniel Moss | Bloomberg Opinion

sia has a new public emergency: breathing life into moribund economies.

Months after severely curtailing social and commercial activity in a bid to contain Covid-19, governments are scrambling to reboot activity. They confront a coronavirus that isn’t out of business but economies that very nearly are. The policy priority is shifting from suppressing infections at almost any cost to combating truly awful scenarios for jobs, prices and gross domestic product.

Malaysia has often been a poster child for Southeast Asia’s booms and busts. The nation is again at the confluence of powerful trends. Its experience in the pandemic illustrates conditions around the region, and the choices that it now makes may be instructive. In times of tumult, the country has usually been a source of stability. Malaysia tends to avoid the sudden swerves in policy and coups that have characterized many of its neighbors. The route that Malaysia takes to recovery will be closely watched. A crash-and-burn here would bode poorly for the region.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has declared that nearly all curtailed activities can resume, rightly fearing a deep recession will be exacerbated every day the country is mothballed.

But some powerful provincial administrations are balking. State leaders fret about a spike in infections.

Should life return too quickly to a semblance of normality, there’s a legitimate concern that the lid keeping cases under control will be quickly blown. But should a nation wait to reopen for business until there is little or no chance of a renewed viral spread? That could take years. Malaysia’s thankless equation is part of a global conundrum. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley economists said in recent days that there’s evidence that worldwide activity has bottomed and is starting to recover. But the rebound from a shockingly poor first-half is predicated, at least in part, on lockdowns easing. A jump in new cases from folks getting together again would prompt new closures.

Policy-makers are contending with this great circularity. Vietnam called off its stay-at-home order last week. Singapore plans to gradually lift a few restrictions imposed during its “circuit-breaker” period. Indonesia, which for months denied the pandemic could penetrate its borders, has more Covid-19 deaths than anywhere in Asia outside China and India. Jakarta is taking a big hit to growth and may be running out of time to get ahead of the downturn.

For Malaysia, there are also homegrown political challenges. Just as the pandemic was rippling through the region, coalition intrigue felled Mahathir Mohamad’s government, the first led by a long-suffering opposition since independence. The new cabinet restores much of the old power structure but has yet to face a session of parliament; its claims of having majority-backing have yet to be tested on the floor. These are consequential times for a team that lacks the stable mandate of a general election.

In a nod to the dire circumstances, Malaysia’s central bank axed its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point on Tuesday, the biggest reduction since the Great Recession.

Bloomberg Economics foresees the economy shrinking 6.7 percent this year. The bank said conditions will be “particularly challenging.” Together with fiscal stimulus, officials aim to

Mangun. . .

continued from A6

the pandemic subsides, blending working from home with office time. The company discovered that 95 percent of its “office towers” staff could partially work from home.

Huge forces are reshaping the global economy in which Malaysia has mostly prospered the past few decades. At the least, the pandemic will accelerate trends already in place. Long reliant on manufacturing exports, oil and tourism, the country needs to retool, all the while managing an ethnically and geographically diverse populace. “offer some support to the economy.’’

Bank Negara has monetary space— the main rate stands at 2 percent after the cut—so why not use it?

This isn’t the time to fret about the approach of zero. Across the world, borrowing costs are being pushed to rock-bottom levels. The bank doesn’t just have to worry about growth vanishing; consumer prices fell in March for the first time in a year. Malaysia could be heading for its first annual deflation since 1969, according to economists at United Overseas Bank Ltd. Presenting Bank Negara’s annual report last year, Governor Shamsiah Yunus told journalists to put deflation out of their minds. It shows how the unlikely has become entirely plausible in the Covid-19 era.

The year 1969 was a defining moment in Malaysia’s history. Communal violence devastated Kuala Lumpur and gave birth to policies that became a bedrock: The majority Malays would receive an array of preferences, especially in the public sector and education, over ethnic Chinese, who long controlled the bulk of private wealth. The framework has persisted, though critics contend it fosters rent-seeking and saps aspiration. It hasn’t been tested by economic circumstances like these. As in other countries, Malaysia’s preexisting conditions look more serious under Covid-19 pressure. A lot rides on how they’re handled.

This government wasn’t voted into office, but it’s the one Malaysia has. Reaching across the aisle to create a national unity team—Mahathir’s cabinet, for all its shortcomings, did have physicians in its top two slots—would show seriousness.

Few things matter now more than judgment and experience. Huge forces are reshaping the global economy in which Malaysia has mostly prospered the past few decades. At the least, the pandemic will accelerate trends already in place. Long reliant on manufacturing exports, oil and tourism, the country needs to retool, all the while managing an ethnically and geographically diverse populace. Does China, Asia’s most recent commercial patron, become emboldened or retreat? How does Malaysia handle that shift? If the right choices are made, Malaysia lives to fight another day. If not, Southeast Asia loses another piece of stability in a world that needs it.

Where were you during the Covid-19 pandemic? Trying to prepare for what the world will be afterwards.

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

N the light of Easter, sayings of Jesus heard earlier become clear in their full meaning. In our gospel text (John 14:1-12), things Jesus is narrated to have said just before His passion in the beginning of the so-called Last Discourse now reveal their real import to His followers when meditated upon in the context of the Paschal victory.

Where are you going?

TO pass from this world to the glory of the Father was something Jesus was sure of when “the hour” comes (John 13:1). And in His love for His friends in the world, he assured them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.

You have faith in God; have faith also in me”—because His departure does not mean abandonment or separation, but merely preliminary to what is yet to come: the final and total communion with Him and His Father.

That is why he spoke of the “many dwelling places” in his Father’s house.

His going away is for the purpose of getting for them a place, so that they may also be where He is. He is coming back, to take them to Himself.

The fulfillment of everything for them and for Him is clearly spelled out; there is no room of hopelessness among His disciples in the world.

Vital in all is living faith in God who intends to share His life with His own. This must include faith in Jesus in whom and through whom everything will come to pass according to the divine plan. Hence Jesus tells his followers, “Where I am going you know the way.” The question Thomas blurts out drives home the inadequacy of whatever we may know already: “Master, we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way?” We know that raised from the dead Jesus is back in the glory of heaven at the right hand of the Father, but these images hardly exhaust the meaning of the transcendent reality we refer to as eternity with God.

I am the way

Jesus takes His disciples into the certainty of His both hands when

Thursday, May 7, 2020 A7

Our life and communion with God is already now, not some day to come. In and through Jesus, the Father speaks to us and fulfills His saving plans for us; eternity for us begins in Jesus. God dwells in Him and He in God. Jesus is the Paschal witness of God to all, making God available to us and humankind capable of God. He assured them that He is “the way and the truth and the life.” Freeing us from all futile searches and otiose imaginings, He revealed that He is personally the way to the Father and the truth about our salvation and the life of eternal communion we long for. It is all uniquely wrapped up in His person; in Him everything hangs together. In Jesus humanity has already traveled the Paschal road from this world to the Father; in Him humanity has an infallible and always accessible way to God. Clearly, we need to have faith also in Jesus.

Without explaining away the mystery of God’s unconditional love for us, we are reassured and light is cast upon our hopes. There is no other secret way; Jesus asserts, “If you know me, then you will also know my Father.” God’s love is a present favor, not merely a promise for an intimacy not-yet-but-still-to-come.

Philip wanted an immediate translation: “Master, show us the Father, and

that will be enough for us.” No one has ever seen the Father except the one who came from Him (John 1:18).

Jesus is the answer to the psalmist’s prayer (Psalm 42:3): “My being thirsts for God, the living God. When can I go and see the face of God?” Jesus is the sign and face of God for us: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” The Father and the Son are distinct and they are one.

Alálaong bagá, our life and communion with God is already now, not some day to come. In and through Jesus, the Father speaks to us and fulfills His saving plans for us; eternity for us begins in Jesus.

God dwells in Him and He in God. Jesus is the Paschal witness of God to all, making God available to us and humankind capable of God. And as the intimate union of Jesus with God makes Him God’s sacrament of life in the world, our faith-filled fellowship with Jesus makes us a blessing and a sacrament of communion to others whatever their faith, race and social standing. “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do.” He entrusts to us the work of saving and sharing life He has begun: no dead ends, no lies, no to the culture of death. In us Christians, all peoples are to find “the way and the truth and the life.”

Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, from 5 to 6 a.m. on DWIZ 882, or by audio streaming on www.dwiz882.com.

Growing a ‘flattened’ economy: Put people at the center Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo

LABOREM EXERCENS

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erish the thought that we are now to enter the “postCovid” period. Not after the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ)/general community quarantine (GCQ) arrangement. Nor after the flattening of the present infection curve.

This Covid-19 crisis is likely to persist up to 2021. The consensus among epidemiologists is that the pandemic is likely to last for two or more years. The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy of the University of Minnesota just came up on April 30 with a chilling prognosis: 1) the longer incubation and asymptomatic spread of Covid-19 mean more people are likely to get infected, 2) the population are likely to be hit by “waves” of infection (recurring “short waves” or by a “monster wave” or “slow burn” infection rates with no clear pattern), and 3) the pandemic can only be halted if 60 percent to 70 percent of the population are able to develop immunity. The trouble is that, per estimate by CIDRAP Director Michael Osterholm, the level of immunity in the world today is only around 5 percent. He warned: “This virus is going to keep finding people. It’s going to keep spreading through the population.” Which he said “means we’re in for a long haul.”

In short, the curve may rise again, and possibly, again and again. This is amply illustrated in the case of Singapore. In March, this City State was hailed as a model in Covid spread containment, given the discipline of its citizenry and the world-class health facilities Singapore has built for the Singaporeans. But in April, tiny Singapore overtook the Philippines and other Asean countries in the rate of infection. The latest figure shows that Singapore (with a population of 6 million) has around 20,000 cases, or twice those of the Philippines (population of 110 million). The main reason: Singapore forgot to attend to the housing and medical needs of migrant workers, who constitute over one-third of Singapore’s labor force. These migrant workers live in congested flats and dormitories, usually 10-12 in a room (sometimes as many as 20).

From the foregoing facts, there are two major lessons that our authori-

ties should bear in mind: One, we should prepare for a long, difficult and expensive battle. Two, we cannot stop the spread of the virus if we do not address the needs of the whole population. We need a whole-of-society approach. Ang sakit ng kalingkingan ay ramdam ng buong katawan.

The health of those living in the gated villages of Metro Manila such as Forbes and Dasmariñas depends on the health of those living in thicklypopulated urban poor areas such as the districts of Manila that are being subjected by Mayor Isko Moreno to “hard lockdown” measures.

In this context, the government’s call for “Bayanihan” to “Heal as One” is timely, appropriate and aligned with the whole-of-society concept.

The challenge is how to give life and substance to the whole-of-society Bayanihan concept? It cannot be a return to the past, back to the socalled normal way of doing things.

As discussed in previous columns, this old normal is exclusionary and unsustainable socially, economically and environmentally. The DOF and Neda should use the Covid-19 crisis to steer the country toward a new path of development, one that is inclusive (everybody in) and sustainable socially, economically and environmentally.

Along this line, we propose the following: 1. Complete the rebuilding of the public health-care system and the supporting infrastructures for the implementation of the universal health-care law. The experience worldwide shows that a strong public health-care system is critical in the management of epidemics and public health issues. Countries with well-developed public health-care system have shown the world their superiority in handling the crisis.

These countries include Cuba, Vietnam, South Korea, Canada, Germany and China.

Building this public health-care

The DOF and Neda should use the Covid-19 crisis to steer the country toward a new path of development, one that is inclusive (everybody in) and sustainable socially, economically and environmentally.

system and the domestic capacity in the manufacture of expensive testing materials, PPEs and so on are by themselves good economic stimuli. These can be reinforced further by the hiring of needed doctors and nurses for deployment in underserved areas of the country. The status of barangay health workers should also be upgraded through better compensation, professionalization training and skills certification. In the case of Cuba, its readiness program to threats of any infectious disease is part of a holistic village-level resiliency program for each “barrio.”

2. Develop a public distribution system for essential goods. Again, during emergencies and crisis periods, a reliable system of distributing goods such as rice and other household necessities is needed. The Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), the various local government units and other government agencies have discovered how difficult it is to reach those needing assistance. On the other hand, these agencies are lambasted in the social media for their failure to deliver relief materials and cash assistance that are provided under the Bayanihan Law. The National Food Authority, which has been downsized by the Rice Tariffication Law should be transformed into a real food authority that is able to map the needs of the people, strategize the country’s food security amid swings in the global market (see how Vietnam’s announcement of rice export suspension has rattled the proponents of rice trade liberalization), and the swift and smooth flow of food and agricultural products throughout the archipelago in crisis and noncrisis periods.

A well-functioning public distribution system should be paired with the development of the value chains for certain food and agricultural products, meaning value creation from the farm level to the processing and trading levels. Again, this should form part of the overall economic

stimulus program.

3. Tweak the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program in support of an upgrading, renewal and rebuilding program for the urban poor communities, rural poor communities, periurban poor communities, upland communities and coastal fisherfolk communities. Families in these communities are the country’s poorest and most vulnerable. A program of upgrading, renewal and re-building can create millions of jobs, on the assumption that the unemployed and underemployed in these communities are the ones to be hired and given needed skills training.

The big-ticket BBB projects listed

by National Economic and Development Authority should be reviewed, especially those where the government intends to allocate public funds even if the BBB projects are undertaken by the big private corporations for the benefit of these corporations. Let the “hybrid” support program for infrastructures go to infra development for the poor, e.g., better housing, multi-purpose community centers, community DRRM-related fortifications, small irrigation projects, and so on. And prioritize the hiring of the poor in infra development projects for the poor communities.

4. Rethink industrial and agricultural development. It is obvious that the export-oriented industries such as auto parts and electronics are taking a hit and will take time to recover given the massive disruptions in the GVCs in the global market.

Is this not a good time then for Neda, DTI and DA to think of new development programs based on the capacity of the domestic market (110 million consumers)? Perhaps, Malacañang can ask the top honchos of the top 50 or 100 corporations in the country to refocus their energies on the revival of Philippine manufacturing instead of competing for big-ticket BBB projects and investing on anti-poor business projects such as the conversion of the lands of poor farmers and putting them in a so-called land banking account?

Why should Ayala Corp. subcontract electronic manufacturing to China when it can be done here at home?

Can these corporations not help the Philippines, Asia’s number two in industrial development in the 1960s, rebuild Industrial Philippines in these Covid times.

More proposals in the next issue. For inquiries, please e-mail reneofreneo@gmail.com

A8 Thursday, May 7, 2020

Growth may be worse than -1% projection; H1 outlook is ‘grim’

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM & Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

INANCE Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the country’s economic growth “might be” worse than the earlier projection of negative 1 percent to zero growth this year.

The country’s finance chief made the response after he was asked in a press conference on Wednesday regarding the possibility of this happening.

Also on Wednesday, a private think tank said the first semester growth outlook remains grim, given the impact of the quarantines forced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

For his part, Dominguez told reporters, in reply to a question on whether growth figures might be worse than earlier projected, “Might be. Because other countries ...we are also monitoring the reports in other countries and it looks like that there is no magic medicine for this thing.”

He spoke to media following the turnover of P228.445 million cash

donation by the Philippine National Police to help the government finance its efforts against Covid-19.

Moreover, Dominguez said that they wanted to avoid a second round of Covid-19 infections in the country as its impact would be “very, very devastating.”

This, even though he admitted that extending the enhanced community quarantine in some areas until May 15 and placing some areas under general community quarantine would also affect the economy.

He added, “we are being very careful about that...because we don’t want a relapse and the relapse could be worse and we have seen it in other countries who relaxed a bit too early. I mean their lockdown is harder now. We want to make sure

that we are really clear before we do a more serious relaxation,” he said.

The country’s first quarter GDP growth figure is set to be announced Thursday (May 7).

Meanwhile, Dominguez also said on Wednesday they are set to discuss today and on Friday with lawmakers the outline of the stimulus package that the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee has approved.

“We will discuss this at length, I believe it is tomorrow [today] and on Friday with the legislature so we can come up with a really responsive and responsible stimulus package,” he said.

While he refused to disclose specific details on the outline of the stimulus package that they have prepared pending talks with the Legislative branch, Dominguez said they have a package of measures that are essentially “not very different from the tax reform packages” that they have put forward and are pending in Congress.

Dominguez cited estimates that the budget deficit will be around a trillion pesos.

Asked whether the Department of Finance supports seeking

THE Philippine Coast Guard got an additional 10,000 units of test kits from the Philippine Red Cross on Tuesday afternoon after transporting 2,400 samples from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The PCG, which is responsible for testing some 22,000 OFWs who have been placed on quarantine upon arrival, have entered into a partnership with the PRC, headed by its chairman and CEO, Sen. Richard J. Gordon, to get the OFWs tested for Covid-19.

a supplemental budget to Congress, Dominguez said they “have been very careful” in doing so “because actually we don’t have supplemental revenue.”

“We will strive to live within the P4.1-trillion budget this year and so far we have been okay with that. It has been difficult because we have to reallocate from past priorities to new priorities, but that is the reality of situation and we are again reviewing our budgets for 2021...to see how will this proceed,” he said.

Dominguez said the government is also continuously negotiating the country’s financing packages from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

FMIC projection

IN its latest Market Call report, First Metro Investment Corp.University of Asia and the Pacific (FMIC-UA&P) Capital Markets Research said first quarter GDP growth would be flat or slightly negative at best.

For the second quarter, the think tank said, the prospects are even dimmer and would likely lead to a “severe contraction” in economic growth in the April-to-June period.

“We expect flat to slightly nega-

tive movement in GDP in Q1 given that the ECQ [only in Luzon] came in late in the quarter,” FMIC-UA&P Capital Markets Research said.

“We think the economy will contract severely in Q2 [second quarter] and will thus have a difficult time rebounding quickly [V-recovery] to positive territory for the full-year 2020. The economy may instead see a U-type of recovery from a period of decline to a slow movement back to normalcy,” it added.

The think tank said what could drive growth is the fact that crude oil prices are at a 20-year low. This could help keep inflation at bay.

However, the downside is that even if oil is cheap, supply chains and small businesses are not operating fully. The think tank expects the operation of supply chains and businesses to normalize by the last quarter.

FMIC-UA&P Capital Markets Research sees inflation likely reaching below 2 percent in the second quarter due to supply constraints and muted demand.

The think tank does not see any upward pressure on inflation due to weak demand and “ultra-low” crude oil prices.

Continued on A2

Coast Guard cites Red Cross help in virus tests

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ITING the need to finish testing some 22,000 overseas Filipino workers who are already in the countr y before the next batch of OFWs arrives, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) lauded the Philippine Red Cross for saving the country—this time through its molecular laboratories.

Admiral Joel S. Garcia, PCG commandant, said they are very thankful that the PRC, headed by Sen. Richard J. Gordon as chairman and CEO, “anticipated” and opened up the laboratories, where test for OFWs are now conducted.

“It is the Red Cross and the Red Crescent which is now saving the country. Christians and Muslims can all be tested there. PRC’s laboratory is a game-changer. Today, we will get another 10,000 test kits from the Red Cross. With our partnership with the Red Cross, we will finish testing all the OFWs who are already here before Saturday, when inbound flights will be allowed again,” Garcia said.

The PRC already opened two testing centers that are both equipped with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines that can run up to 8,000 tests a day. The PRC’s testing capacity would expand to 20,000, with the opening of another testing center in Port Area, Manila, this week and four others in Subic, Clark, Batangas and Los Baños in the next few weeks.

“Senator Gordon is really a visionary. He is the leader that we need, especially during crisis. Senator Gordon is really a good crisis manager,” he, meanwhile, said of the PRC’s chairman.

The Coast Guard is in charge of testing both land-based and seabased OFWs arriving in the country. Some 22,000 OFWs are already in different designated quarantine sites and at least 60,000 more are expected to arrive in the next three months.

Members of the PCG also go aboard some 12 ships currently anchored at the Manila Bay to swab a total of 10,500 crew members on board the ships. At least 10 more cruise ships, with a total crew of at least 10,000, are expected to drop anchor at Manila Bay this month.

Blame for ABS-CBN fiasco splits solons: Was it NTC or Cayetano?

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

L

AWMAKERS on Wednesday blamed Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano for the closure of ABS-CBN on Tuesday night, but the minority leader pinned the issue squarely on regulators, filing a bill to abolish the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Following the NTC’s cease and desist order against ABS-CBN, House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr. called on Congress in a privilege speech to transfer NTC’s powers to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

He said it has proven over the years to be an inutile and incompetent agency that has consistently failed to perform its functions.

Before Abante’s speech, however, two veteran independent lawmakers blamed the House leadership for the fiasco, saying the problem began with its repeated failure to table the franchise application, by invoking other priority measures, and the accountability does not lie solely with the NTC. Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza, in a statement, also challenged Cayetano to immediately act on this problem, saying the NTC should not be used as a scapegoat for what Congress failed to do.

“Congress should be ready to vote on this issue, it being the only body authorized to act on this crucial matter,” he said.

“This is definitely a case of bad timing in closing down one of the more, if not the most, effective channels of communication and accurate information, especially in this time of a national health crisis,” Atienza added.

In a separate interview, he also apologized to the public for the “failure of Congress to do its job.”

“It is Congress’ fault. I would like to say squarely, it is Speaker Cayetano’s fault. He will have a lot to explain one day. It may not be today but later on this issue will hound him because he’s the one who didn’t do his job,” he said.

For his part, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman hit the

leadership of Cayetano for not only delaying the hearings on bills seeking the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise, which are all pending before the House Committee on Legislative Franchises.

“The request of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Chairman Franz Alvarez of the committee on legislative franchises to the NTC to grant ABS-CBN a provisional authority to operate after the expiration of its franchise on 04 May 2020, and the explicit undertaking of Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba of NTC during the first and only public hearing on the franchise renewal on 10 March 2020 that the provisional authority will be granted, were all part of a charade,” said Lagman.

ABS-CBN Convergence’s franchise expired last March 17, 2020, while ABS-CBN Corp.’s franchise has ended May 4, 2020, without securing legislative franchises.

Under Section 24, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution “all appropriation, revenue or tariff bills, bills authorizing increase of the public debt, bills of local application, and private bills shall originate exclusively in the House of Representatives.”A franchise bill is considered a local bill.

The Legislative Franchises panel has yet to tackle the 12 bills filed renewing the franchise of ABS-CBN for another 25 years. However, it directed all interested parties to submit their position papers for or against ABS-CBN’s application.

Upon the expiration of RA 7966 or the ABS-CBN franchise, the NTC said all authority granted by commission has always been based on a valid franchise.

Abante slammed NTC’s issuance of a cease and desist order directing ABS-CBN to cease operations immediately, despite its commitment to Congress in a March hearing to issue a provisional authority so the network could continue operations after its franchise expired on May 4.

“The latest act of the NTC in issuing a cease and desist order against broadcast company ABS-CBN is a slap in the face of Congress and an outright act of defiance,” he said.

“The House Committee on Legislative Franchises

in February 2020 urged the NTC to grant provisional authority to ABS-CBN until it has made a decision on its application. No less than House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Palawan Rep. Franz Alvarez, chair of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises, already sent a letter to NTC urging it to issue a provisional authority effective May 4, 2020. The Senate also passed a resolution calling on the NTC to issue a provisional authority to ABS-CBN,” said Abante.

After the NTC obtained a legal opinion from the Department of Justice saying there are legal bases for ABS-CBN to be given authority to continue operating while its franchise renewal is pending, “NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba told the House Committee on Legislative Franchises on March 10–– under oath—that the NTC will issue a provisional authority to ABS-CBN,” Abante recalled “Contrary to its previous pronouncements, the NTC issued a Cease and Desist Order directing ABS-CBN to cease operations immediately,” lamented Abante.

With this, Abante said the NTC should be abolished and its functions and powers be transferred to the DICT where it can be better exercised and hopefully be more responsive to the needs of our changing times.

Inutile

ALSO, Abante emphasized that “we’ve seen how inutile the NTC has become.”

Abante said NTC came out with a memorandum circular that required mobile phone service providers to abide by certain minimum quality of standards, yet it did not possess the equipment to do an independent test and had to rely on data submitted by the telcos themselves.

He also blamed the agency for its inability to encourage telco players to enter the Philippine market, requiring the intervention of President Duterte.

He assailed NTC’s failure to sanction telcos for poor services, and explained that violations of NTC regulations are supposed to be dealt with by suspension, if not cancellation of license to operate.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

Thursday, May 7, 2020

ERC denies NGCP appeal to defer initial public offering

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

he Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has directed the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to pursue the listing of its shares on the local bourse after the agency denied the grid operator’s appeal for extension.

“The petition filed by the NGCP seeking the Commission’s approval of its proposed extension of the period to list its shares of stock… is hereby denied, and is directed to commence immediately the process of public listing pursuant to RA [Republic Act] No. 9511 and to fully comply with the same within six months from receipt of this decision,” said the ERC in its 44-page decision, which was pro-

mulgated last April 17 and made public yesterday.

Under the law, NGCP is required to list and make a public offering of its shares representing at least 20 percent of its outstanding capital stock on or before January 14, 2019.

Among others, the grid operator earlier cited the pending arbitration case; the absence of the final determination of price control arrangements

from the ERC for the 4th Regulatory Period (2016-2020); poor market condition; and the public threats made against NGCP’s concession as the reasons for the delay.

ERC said the delayed regulatory reset, pendency of the arbitration case, as well as the probability of “stock-drop” lawsuits are “not compelling reasons” to further delay the initial public offering (IPO).

“At the onset, NGCP had all the opportunity to list their shares during the 3rd regulatory period, but they opted not to. The fact that NGCP did not conduct a public listing is a business judgment it made, and thus any effects thereof must be owned by them,” the ERC said.

Regardless of regulatory events, the ERC said the law requires NGCP to list within 10 years from the date of the commencement of its operations.

“As a final note, more than one year has lapsed from the time NGCP filed this petition. Thus, it is but reasonable to expect that NGCP would

have initiated preparations to comply with the requirement provided under its franchise law,” it added.

As such, the ERC directed NGCP to commence the process of public listing, and is given six months to fully comply with its IPO obligation. The said period gives NGCP a reasonable amount of time to finish the entire process of public listing, it added.

When sought for comment, NGCP said it respects the ERC’s decision.

A reply to the ERC order would be made soon.

“NGCP has always maintained that it conducts its business in full compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations. We also reiterate our position that we are not avoiding an IPO, but merely asked for a deferment of the offering to a more favorable time given the prevailing circumstances at the time of the petition.

“We fully respect the decision and jurisdiction of the ERC over the matter, and we intend to reply appropriately,” said the grid operator.

‘PPA can recoup losses due to virus’

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

S

tate-run port operator Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) expressed confidence that it can recover the foregone revenues it will incur during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

However, PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago said the port operator will not be able to top or even reach the profits it recorded in previous years.

Santiago said the virus, which has caused lockdowns in different areas in the country, has negatively affected the port operations, reflective of its performance in March.

However, he said he is bullish on the prospects of the PPA once community quarantines have eased and the health situation has been deemed better.

“With the easing of quarantines, we can recover from the drop in revenues. But we are not confident that we can reach the revenues we posted the previous years,” he said at the “Laging Handa” briefing on Wednesday.

The port regulatory body and operator is part

of the government’s so-called Billionaire’s Club, which remits billions of pesos to the national coffers every year.

Historical data shows that the PPA has always exceeded its profit targets every year. For instance, the PPA had a record profit of P7.28 billion last year, 31 percent higher than the P5.53 billion posted in 2018 and is bigger than its target of P4.94 billion.

“Even with the enhanced community quarantine and other community quarantines, the PPA continues its operations because it has been mandated that cargo movement should not be hampered,” he said.

However, even with the traffic flowing in the ports, the amount of revenues that it gets from tariff collections is dwindling.

In March alone, when the lockdowns were imposed, the port authority recorded a 79-percent decline in net income to P300.93 million, from P1.40 billion in the same month in 2019.

The port operator’s net income stood at P2.54 billion at end-March, a 25-percent decline from the P3.34 billion it booked the year prior. This performance is largely affected by the lockdowns imposed in different parts of the country and the

world to contain the spread of Covid-19.

In the same comparative periods, revenues of the port authority dipped by 17 percent to P3.75 billion from P4.51 billion, as earnings from vessel lay-up, storage, arrastre and stevedoring fell due to the lockdowns.

Meanwhile, its expenses increased by 7.32 percent to P1.22 billion from P1.13 billion due to increases in personnel servicing costs.

Still, despite this lackluster performance due to the virus, Santiago said his group is committed to ensuring that the supply chain remains healthy, noting that the maritime sector is also looking at the resumption of passenger vessel operations in areas where a more lenient general community quarantine has been imposed.

It is also looking at creating more quarantine facilities that seafarers and overseas Filipino workers may use during the pandemic.

“We are tasked to look at other areas where we could build similar quarantine facilities such that of the Eva Macapagal Pier 15 quarantine facility,” he said. “We will continue to help seafarers to be accommodated in quarantine facilities and bring them back to their provinces after their mandatory self-quarantines.”

Nestlé Philippines extends aid to Philippine Red Cross

I

n its latest action in the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic in the country, Nestlé Philippines has turned over to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) P10 million to assist the latter in augmenting government efforts to provide for people in need of health care, as part of the company’s program to address Covid-19 called Kasambuhay ng Pamilyang Pilipino.

By implementing the program, Nestlé Philippines is upholding its 108-year heritage as the Kasambuhay or “trusted companion in life” of generations of Filipino families. The program includes assisting one million families and thousands of frontliners, as well as its own employees and those of its business partners.

The PRC has been identified in the recently enacted Bayanihan to Heal as One Act as a key partner of the government in the distribution of goods and services to address the pandemic.

The donation will be used by the PRC to help fund the setting up of a testing laboratory, and the purchase of medical tents, personal protective equipment, test kits, ventilators, respirators, surgical masks, and other essential health equipment for dealing with the pandemic.

Mass testing for Covid-19 is a government priority, recommended by the World Health Organization.

Currently, the PRC has two Covid-19 laboratories operating, located in its national headquarters and its multipurpose center in Mandaluyong City, and expects to have three more laboratories up and running within two to three weeks. The capabilities of the PRC will make it possible to test 2 percent of Metro Manila’s population of 12 million, according to Sen. Richard J. Gordon, PRC chairman and CEO. “The partnership with Nestlé shows great corporate social responsibility at the height of our country’s fight against our invisible enemy, Covid-19,” said Gordon. He cited the long history of cooperation between the two organizations in times of calamity during a visit to the PRC national headquarters by Nestlé Philippines officers led by Chairman and CEO Kais Marzouki and SVP for Corporate Affairs Atty. Ernesto S. Mascenon.

“The Nestlé purpose is enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future. Our first priority is the welfare of people,

families, and communities. Therefore, it is only fitting for us to extend support to the Philippine Red Cross, as we have done time and again in the past,” Marzouki said.

“Nestlé has an essential role to play during and beyond this crisis.

As we join hands with the Philippine Red Cross and other partners to address Covid-19, we will continue to produce and deliver food and beverages to meet the needs of Filipinos. Our own frontliners are working around the clock to ensure that supply is maintained while we see to it that they are in good health, stay safe and well,” Marzouki added.

B1

PSE halts trading of ABS-CBN shares

By VG Cabuag @villygc

T

he Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) suspended trad ing of A BS - CBN Corp. shares on Wednesday after the company was forced to shut down all its free-to-air television and radio broadcasts in the country.

The trading halt came after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued a cease and desist order (CDO) against ABS-CBN on Tuesday.

Shares of ABS-CBN along with its Philippine Deposit Receipts issued by ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. were not traded the whole day but will resume trading on Thursday, the PSE said in its notice.

“Pursuant to the foregoing basic principle and disclosure standard, the Exchange required the company to submit a full disclosure on the impact of the CDO on the business, financial condition, operations, and prospects of the company, as well as its business continuity plan, risk mitigation measures, and such other material

information for the investing public,” the PSE said.

Shares of the broadcast giant were last traded on Tuesday when it closed at P17.50, up by P0.50 from Monday's close of P17 per share.

The NTC issued the order following the failure of legislators to renew its franchise, which allowed them to use frequencies for television and radio broadcasts. The company operates 21 radio stations throughout the key cities of the Philippines.

It provides news and entertainment programs for nine channels on cable TV, which is still operational.

“We trust that the government will decide on our franchise with the best interest of the Filipino people in mind, recognizing ABS-CBN’s role and efforts in providing the latest news and information during these challenging times. ABSCBN remains committed to being in the service of the Filipino and we will find ways to continue providing meaningful service to them,” the company said in a statement.

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Thursday, May 7, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

April 30, 2020

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

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK PHILTRUST RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG IREMIT MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH

45.65 100 58.5 19.74 7.84 39.05 8.54 16.4 23.65 43.95 105.1 16.6 103.4 53.8 15.5 2.73 0.94 0.34 511 0.57 165.5

48.7 101 58.95 19.8 7.85 39.1 8.79 17.9 23.8 44 116 17.1 104.4 53.9 15.88 2.8 0.95 0.35 639 0.64 168.9

48.7 100.1 59 19.82 7.63 38.15 8.5 16.7 23.5 42.5 98 17 105.9 54.6 15.42 2.74 0.95 0.345 639 0.64 165

48.7 101 59.15 19.82 7.85 39.1 8.5 16.7 24 43.9 116.4 17.1 105.9 54.7 15.5 2.74 0.95 0.36 639 0.64 168.9

48.7 98.6 58.5 19.72 7.63 37.65 8.5 16.7 23.5 42.5 98 16.5 103.1 53.6 15.42 2.73 0.95 0.33 639 0.64 165

48.7 101 58.5 19.74 7.85 39.05 8.5 16.7 23.8 43.9 105.1 16.6 103.4 53.9 15.5 2.73 0.95 0.34 639 0.64 168.9

2000 2716910 2638530 87500 130300 7605700 10700 200 152900 14400 630 45200 306480 1900 3300 32000 4000 2030000 10 20000 1230

97400 271723034.5 155180668.5 1730350 1012808 291702180 90950 3340 3641100 621890 68596 758198 31830289 102510.5 51070 87480 3800 705100 6390 12800 207225

INDUSTRIAL

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

2.29 0.93 27.4 0.171 18.82 57.35 254.4 10.64 3.18 2.38 11.5 18.46 7.89 8.38 2.96 74 13 14.3 3.63 5.29 7.9 58.95 0.55 1.43 32 143.1 6.5 6.6 1.9 6.74 1.67 4.35 1.38 0.116 125.8 0.85 58.85 60 1.11 8.17 5.37 11.22 6.55 8.52 0.83 0.72 162.1 1.74 2.79 3.53 23.75 1.29 5.91 1.17 3.87 1.22 9

2.3 0.98 27.6 0.179 19 57.7 258 10.68 3.19 2.45 11.58 18.5 7.98 8.43 2.97 86 13.46 14.32 3.72 5.5 7.91 59 0.56 1.44 32.35 143.2 6.65 6.61 1.91 6.78 1.68 4.49 1.45 0.118 125.9 0.86 60 65.3 1.12 8.21 5.38 11.5 6.6 8.88 0.85 0.73 180 1.79 2.8 3.66 24 1.3 5.92 1.19 4.93 1.23 9.03

2.32 0.93 27.4 0.18 18.54 57.15 264.2 10.9 3.2 2.44 11.16 18.4 7.88 8.24 3.02 87 11 14.5 3.74 5.56 7.9 59.05 0.55 1.47 32.4 148 6.15 6.75 1.91 6.96 1.64 4.4 1.42 0.118 122.2 0.86 60 62.95 1.13 8.16 5.44 11.2 6.64 8.5 0.86 0.74 180 1.75 2.86 3.6 26.5 1.34 5.85 1.2 4.3 1.26 8.9

2.33 0.93 27.85 0.18 19 58 266 11.04 3.22 2.47 11.8 18.68 7.98 8.6 3.06 87 13.48 14.56 3.74 5.56 7.94 61 0.56 1.49 32.4 149 6.65 6.9 1.91 6.99 1.69 4.49 1.42 0.118 126 0.86 60 68.65 1.14 8.22 5.44 11.5 6.71 8.88 0.88 0.74 180 1.75 2.9 3.6 26.5 1.34 5.92 1.2 4.3 1.29 9.15

2.26 0.92 27.2 0.171 18.44 57.15 254.4 10.64 3.15 2.38 11.14 18.32 7.88 8.21 2.93 87 11 14.3 3.61 5.29 7.86 58.95 0.54 1.43 31.05 143 6.15 6.4 1.9 6.71 1.61 4.35 1.42 0.109 122.2 0.83 55 62.95 1.11 8.05 5.3 11.2 6.5 8.5 0.85 0.71 180 1.74 2.75 3.6 24 1.28 5.78 1.17 3.81 1.2 8.5

2.3 0.92 27.4 0.179 19 57.35 254.4 10.64 3.19 2.45 11.58 18.5 7.98 8.43 2.96 87 13 14.3 3.74 5.29 7.9 59 0.56 1.44 32.35 143.1 6.5 6.61 1.91 6.78 1.68 4.49 1.42 0.118 125.9 0.86 60 68.65 1.11 8.17 5.37 11.5 6.55 8.88 0.85 0.73 180 1.74 2.79 3.6 24 1.3 5.91 1.19 4.3 1.22 9

3975000 7000 1605400 50000 740300 2610 344280 5678500 1492000 27000 273700 781500 36600 399300 1706000 40 3300 303300 11000 2187200 1029700 190540 239000 11703000 3400 1930300 9400 1791800 128000 1059900 1377000 14000 17000 790000 1907400 8018000 310 190 7190000 425800 1097900 578300 2090800 6300 241000 653000 270 97000 1312000 13000 15100 2872000 164700 8153000 8000 1954000 3424900

97400 -66787594 -77297244.5 -245344 -166215 -17403940 -1875255 48215 -126120 -15145613 -74404.5 -

9115840 6450 44168515 8720 13,945,306( 149994.5 89554478 60886890 4753920 64730 3132340 14,464,076( 290241 3359895 5070540 3480 41894 4348414 40670 11,754,598( 8134725 11261932.5 131610 16939190 107835 278959709 60910 11983088 244220 7287932 2294750 61490 24140 91180 238123566 6850010 18450 12017.5 8071170 3469706 5899528 6572410 13793373 54774 205230 473030 48600 169690 3675740 46800 364005 3742750 964713 9699600 32930 2410240 30548473

123450 -2326865 1,245,090.0004) -54428.5 -44672460 -49651592 1959210 4,781,031.9999) 188720 -206700 3435692 -3610 9,611,040.9996) -7900000 1284300 -86400 9600 -54518287 -8610 -442180 17170 2561828 57000 -51167917 91790 3777 -448740 -1435219 -361265 -2141880 -2793479 161950 -358955 92540 -12260 167592.9999

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.58 0.59 0.59 0.6 0.58 0.58 3232000 1892060 ASIABEST GROUP 7.7 7.8 7.8 7.98 7.63 7.7 26200 205503 AYALA CORP 582 582.5 582.5 586.5 580.5 582 342060 199386850 ABOITIZ EQUITY 41.5 41.95 41.5 43 41.5 41.5 1125100 47124850 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 6.4 6.46 6.36 6.5 6.28 6.46 5550300 35416203 AYALA LAND LOG 1.96 1.97 1.81 1.96 1.81 1.96 3448000 6542330 ANSCOR 5.97 6.1 6.09 6.1 5.97 6.1 2100 12730 0.53 0.55 0.54 0.54 0.54 0.54 1000 540 ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A 0.56 0.57 0.54 0.59 0.53 0.57 9738000 5486380 ATN HLDG B 0.56 0.6 0.55 0.61 0.55 0.56 116000 65530 COSCO CAPITAL 4.98 5.08 5 5.15 4.98 4.98 1742000 8770050 4.12 4.14 4.18 4.2 4.12 4.12 10548000 43669580 DMCI HLDG 8.59 8.6 8.6 8.6 8.26 8.6 10800 92512 FILINVEST DEV 453 453.8 464 469 447 453 173940 78917472 GT CAPITAL JG SUMMIT 50.85 50.9 51 51.8 50.8 50.9 3001690 153329129.5 JOLLIVILLE HLDG 4.51 6.24 6.24 6.24 6.24 6.24 1000 6240 LODESTAR 0.48 0.485 0.49 0.495 0.48 0.48 40000 19500 LOPEZ HLDG 2.61 2.62 2.67 2.68 2.62 2.62 4070000 10735930 LT GROUP 7.73 7.75 7.81 7.89 7.72 7.75 1309600 10149537 MABUHAY HLDG 0.49 0.54 0.475 0.54 0.475 0.54 220000 110250 METRO PAC INV 2.57 2.58 2.56 2.61 2.56 2.57 46462000 119755470 0.82 0.83 0.8 0.83 0.8 0.82 110000 88970 PRIME MEDIA SOLID GROUP 0.99 1.03 1.01 1.03 1 1.01 15000 15050 SYNERGY GRID 170 174.5 160.1 170 160 170 510 84460 845 845.5 843 846 834.5 845 242720 204843605 SM INVESTMENTS 97 97.5 97.9 97.9 97 97 305520 29715196.5 SAN MIGUEL CORP 0.63 0.65 0.63 0.65 0.63 0.65 26000 16560 SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER 141 142 142 142 142 142 800 113600 WELLEX INDUS 0.176 0.188 0.189 0.189 0.188 0.188 60000 11290 ZEUS HLDG 0.159 0.162 0.145 0.163 0.14 0.162 9990000 1607180

-434660.0001 54600 -44059190 -8822800 -3018251 -61050 -923240 -17823780 10318 -41991488 -91371996.5 -5728370 2160445 -10200 -20393080 -5100 35196045 -19198838 -

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.56 0.57 0.56 0.57 0.55 0.57 953000 529940 AYALA LAND 31.95 32 31.8 32.2 31.3 31.95 18012900 574228090 ARANETA PROP 1.05 1.07 1.04 1.05 1.04 1.05 268000 280820 BELLE CORP 1.37 1.44 1.35 1.44 1.35 1.37 194000 263940 A BROWN 0.57 0.58 0.58 0.59 0.56 0.58 1622000 916650 CITYLAND DEVT 0.74 0.77 0.73 0.77 0.73 0.77 3000 2270 CROWN EQUITIES 0.13 0.133 0.133 0.133 0.12 0.133 470000 58590 5.9 5.98 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.9 2000 11800 CEBU HLDG CEB LANDMASTERS 4.06 4.08 3.98 4.06 3.98 4.06 3216000 12929760 0.36 0.365 0.355 0.365 0.355 0.365 2240000 804550 CENTURY PROP 0.29 0.31 0.295 0.295 0.29 0.29 1460000 423450 CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON 16.14 16.16 16.18 16.2 16.04 16.16 260100 4202432 6.9 6.98 6.96 6.99 6.9 6.9 127700 886179 DM WENCESLAO 0.95 0.96 0.96 0.97 0.94 0.95 7155000 6836350 FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE 0.82 0.85 0.8 0.85 0.8 0.82 62000 50720 8990 HLDG 10.9 11.06 10.7 10.9 10.68 10.9 7700 82884 PHIL INFRADEV 0.86 0.87 0.84 0.87 0.84 0.87 462000 395290 CITY AND LAND 0.69 0.73 0.74 0.74 0.74 0.74 2000 1480 MEGAWORLD 2.58 2.59 2.63 2.66 2.58 2.58 20779000 54234960 MRC ALLIED 0.167 0.168 0.166 0.169 0.164 0.168 5910000 979400 PHIL ESTATES 0.31 0.325 0.325 0.325 0.3 0.31 230000 69800 1.49 1.51 1.51 1.51 1.49 1.51 9000 13510 PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND 15.04 15.1 15.5 15.82 15.02 15.04 4544900 68665726 1.51 1.52 1.5 1.54 1.5 1.52 109000 165080 ROCKWELL SHANG PROP 2.7 2.71 2.73 2.74 2.7 2.71 169000 457000 1.86 1.94 1.9 1.97 1.85 1.94 152000 292600 STA LUCIA LAND SM PRIME HLDG 30.7 31 31 31.05 30.05 31 13148900 404748825 4.02 4.04 3.95 4.1 3.95 4.04 124000 501350 VISTAMALLS SUNTRUST HOME 1.28 1.29 1.27 1.3 1.26 1.28 3756000 4810080 VISTA LAND 4.31 4.39 4.13 4.41 4.08 4.31 4178000 17951150

139522700 63000 -172820 -2957530 -7200 -1304868 -147597 717760 1072 -10440 -1915350 -16600 -26714356 -129510 -7529790 1851460

SERVICES ABS CBN 17.96 18 17.1 18.2 17.1 18 1087400 19273438 GMA NETWORK 4.83 4.87 4.8 4.89 4.78 4.87 240000 1153260 MLA BRDCASTING 8.12 10.22 10.22 10.22 10.22 10.22 2000 20440 GLOBE TELECOM 2196 2222 2250 2256 2196 2196 64440 142429590 PLDT 1288 1299 1269 1305 1263 1299 362915 467545715 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.041 0.043 0.043 0.044 0.041 0.043 31200000 1308500 DITO CME HLDG 2.2 2.21 2.24 2.27 2.18 2.2 44179000 98054670 0.081 0.083 0.083 0.083 0.083 0.083 70000 5810 ISLAND INFO NOW CORP 1.91 1.92 1.9 1.98 1.88 1.92 7696000 14850670 0.197 0.199 0.192 0.2 0.185 0.199 4030000 788010 TRANSPACIFIC BR 2.36 2.38 2.38 2.44 2.35 2.36 1937000 4604210 PHILWEB 10.56 10.66 10.7 12.2 10.5 10.6 1850500 20993480 2GO GROUP 3.34 3.35 3.35 3.35 3.3 3.34 549000 1830530 CHELSEA 48.3 48.35 50 50.05 47.35 48.35 406500 19754825 CEBU AIR INTL CONTAINER 89.55 89.6 88 92.8 87.55 89.6 3754000 336732318.5 LBC EXPRESS 13.5 13.7 13.7 13.7 13.6 13.6 4900 66780 MACROASIA 5.05 5.06 5.3 5.38 5.01 5.05 17353800 90050593 METROALLIANCE A 2.72 2.76 2.75 2.87 2.6 2.76 7268000 19862860 METROALLIANCE B 2.55 2.75 2.75 2.75 2.75 2.75 38000 104500 PAL HLDG 7.2 7.25 7.3 7.3 7.25 7.25 6100 44367 HARBOR STAR 0.89 0.9 0.89 0.91 0.88 0.89 364000 325160 1.13 1.19 1.13 1.13 1.13 1.13 1000 1130 ACESITE HOTEL BOULEVARD HLDG 0.027 0.029 0.029 0.029 0.028 0.029 12500000 354700 DISCOVERY WORLD 1.52 1.77 1.55 1.55 1.54 1.54 17000 26260 WATERFRONT 0.4 0.415 0.4 0.415 0.4 0.415 340000 137550 CENTRO ESCOLAR 6.13 6.48 6.25 6.26 6.25 6.26 2000 12510 7.03 8.38 7.8 8.39 7.8 8.39 62300 486117 IPEOPLE STI HLDG 0.345 0.35 0.345 0.35 0.34 0.345 5710000 1975500 BERJAYA 2.32 2.38 2.41 2.42 2.32 2.32 365000 851910 BLOOMBERRY 5.51 5.6 5.6 5.65 5.36 5.6 5239800 28717231 PACIFIC ONLINE 1.73 1.74 1.74 1.75 1.7 1.73 60000 103890 LEISURE AND RES 1.49 1.54 1.44 1.55 1.44 1.54 434000 651010 PH RESORTS GRP 2.81 2.89 2.94 2.94 2.81 2.91 7000 20130 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.31 0.315 0.31 0.32 0.31 0.315 4460000 1396950 ALLHOME 6.18 6.2 5.8 6.35 5.8 6.18 6339700 39515995 1.88 1.89 1.95 1.95 1.88 1.89 2612000 4961790 METRO RETAIL 46.25 46.3 46.85 46.85 45.8 46.3 4469100 206763050 PUREGOLD 67 67.05 65.55 69.5 65.55 67 709490 47573889 ROBINSONS RTL 123.5 127.9 125 125 123 123.5 53640 6626576 PHIL SEVEN CORP 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.39 1.33 1.35 15019000 20371120 SSI GROUP 14.58 14.7 14 14.7 14 14.7 2334700 33643662 WILCON DEPOT 0.315 0.32 0.31 0.34 0.31 0.32 2890000 937250 APC GROUP EASYCALL 7.9 8 8.13 8.64 7.8 7.91 302900 2472348 GOLDEN BRIA 312.4 338.2 339.8 339.8 312.4 312.4 320 106992 IPM HLDG 4.21 5 4.5 5 4.5 5 2200 10750 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.25 0.255 0.255 0.26 0.25 0.255 7490000 1920550 SBS PHIL CORP 5.5 5.83 5.14 5.14 5.14 5.14 100 514

-27729910 26574705 853410 -243220 -750 193250 -8430 -167000 -8261965 24333427.5 -16568410 900 6250 -98999.9999 93557 -5340 -10500 -1950186 -356010 -130943975 220840 -552317 -374780 6904960 -18744 -

MINING & OIL

ATOK 10.1 10.3 10.9 10.9 10.3 10.88 1500 16040 APEX MINING 0.94 0.96 0.95 0.96 0.94 0.95 726000 689950 ABRA MINING 0.001 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.001 0.001 21000000 22100 ATLAS MINING 1.85 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 2000 3800 BENGUET A 1.02 1.09 1.02 1.02 1.02 1.02 40000 40800 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.197 0.204 0.193 0.204 0.193 0.204 160000 31100 2.7 2.74 2.73 2.74 2.73 2.73 200000 546900 CENTURY PEAK DIZON MINES 6.71 6.88 6.72 7 6.72 6.87 1700 11620 FERRONICKEL 0.89 0.9 0.9 0.91 0.87 0.9 3210000 2865480 GEOGRACE 0.203 0.207 0.2 0.207 0.2 0.203 440000 89990 47150 0.081 0.082 0.082 0.083 0.081 0.081 9620000 781230 LEPANTO A LEPANTO B 0.083 0.09 0.085 0.09 0.083 0.084 6280000 529130 9400 0.57 0.59 0.58 0.59 0.56 0.59 62000 35910 MARCVENTURES NIHAO 0.91 0.96 0.96 0.96 0.91 0.91 154000 144460 NICKEL ASIA 1.7 1.73 1.72 1.74 1.67 1.7 8291000 14165400 -3193420 OMICO CORP 0.395 0.44 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 20000 8000 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.495 0.5 0.495 0.5 0.495 0.5 20000 9950 PX MINING 2.29 2.32 2.31 2.31 2.29 2.29 454000 1044310 -207030 SEMIRARA MINING 12.08 12.1 12.18 12.18 12.08 12.1 1365700 16570168 4534228 UNITED PARAGON 0.0042 0.0044 0.0042 0.0042 0.0041 0.0041 4000000 16500 6.79 6.94 6.95 6.99 6.79 6.94 25500 175381 ACE ENEXOR ORNTL PETROL A 0.0084 0.0086 0.0085 0.0085 0.0085 0.0085 8000000 68000 PHILODRILL 0.0083 0.0085 0.0084 0.0084 0.0084 0.0084 1000000 8400 PXP ENERGY 4.34 4.35 4.32 4.48 4.32 4.35 884000 3885800 -498280

PREFFERED AC PREF B1 496 500 500 500 500 500 30 15000 ALCO PREF B 99.1 101 100 100 99 99 7520 750530 AC PREF B2R 490 504 504 504 504 504 100 50400 CPG PREF A 99 99.5 99.5 99.5 99.5 99.5 1250 124375 DD PREF 99 100 99 99.95 99 99.95 510 50965 FPH PREF C 490 504 495 495 495 495 500 247500 970.5 980 981 981 970.5 970.5 26900 26383650 GTCAP PREF B MWIDE PREF 100 100.1 100 100.1 99.8 99.8 2940 293996 PNX PREF 3A 98.9 99.4 99.5 99.5 99.4 99.4 4890 486225 PNX PREF 3B 103.4 104.5 101 103.4 100.1 103.4 5000 501434 PNX PREF 4 997 1000 999 1000 998 998 1040 1038900 PCOR PREF 3A 1005 1012 1012 1012 1012 1012 110 111320 PCOR PREF 3B 1022 1039 1020 1020 1020 1020 100 102000 SMC PREF 2D 74.4 74.9 74.9 74.9 74.9 74.9 600000 44940000 SMC PREF 2E 75 75.1 75 75.1 75 75.1 2570 192907 75000 SMC PREF 2F 75.25 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 77380 5842190 SMC PREF 2G 75.2 75.3 75.3 75.35 75.25 75.25 17400 1310001 SMC PREF 2H 75 75.15 75.1 75.15 75.1 75.15 5000 375625 SMC PREF 2I 74.7 75 75 75 75 75 4900 367500 15000

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 15.7 16.36 15.58 16.5 15.58 15.7 1060800 16832122 -13580600 GMA HLDG PDR 4.64 4.89 4.83 4.83 4.83 4.83 13000 62790

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 0.78 0.79 0.78 0.82 0.78 0.8 99000 79900

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 2.15 2.16 2.29 2.32 2.11 2.15 9703000 21132500 657280 KEPWEALTH 7.79 7.8 7.7 7.87 7.51 7.79 231200 1787747 76750 XURPAS 0.62 0.63 0.64 0.64 0.61 0.63 674000 418550

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 86.6 87.2 86.25 88 86.25 86.6 17630 1534671.5 18220

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Pandemic prompts MPIC to cut 2020 capex by half

C

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

onglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) on Wednesday said its core income in the first quarter slid 6 percent to P3.4 billion, from last year’s P3.7 billion.

MPIC also announced that it will cut its capital expenditures (capex) for this year by half, as it will slash spending on company initiatives especially on discretionary projects and overseas expansion.

Jose Ma. K. Lim, the company’s president and CEO, said the company will preserve its cash as it tries to ride out the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

He said the company still has enough cash due to the P30.1 billion selldown of its interest in the hospital business at the end of last year.

“We moved to suspend our previously announced share buyback and other discretionary projects. As ear-

lier reported, Maynilad is currently unable to pay a dividend pending the outcome of the Concession Agreement review, and as a result of the ECQ [enhanced community quarantine] and other consequences of the Covid-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] outbreak, we may expect lower dividends from our power and toll roads businesses for 2020,” he said.

David J. Nicol, the company’s CFO, said the company’s capex as it stands now may be slashed to just P80 billion for all of its units this year, down by half from about P160 billion that the company earlier planned.

“We have scaled down on overhead [cost], all discretionary things.

But we will cut on every way that we can,” he said, adding that it immediately suspended its buyback program after spending some P700 million on the program.

Officials explained discretionary items include new investments in hospitality, logistics, tollroads, water and energy projects, and there will be no new overseas expansion.

The lockdown that started in middle of March reduced toll road traffic, suspended rail services and decreased commercial and industrial demand for water and power resulting in a decrease in contribution from operations of 5 percent, the company said.

MPIC Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan warned the drop in income will be “much deeper” in the second quarter and that economic recovery will not be “V-shaped,” but “most likely U-shaped.”

“In the latter part of April and first week fo May, people are slowly returning back to work. Bayad Center has opened stations. In case of PLDT, people are returning to network,” said Pangilinan.

“We are seeing that in our Meralco

[Manila Electric Co.] volumes are slowly inching up; our top ups are on an uptrend. People are slowly becoming optimistic. We turn around as quickly as we can,” he said.

According to economic charts, the V-shaped recovery is a steep downturn of the economy, followed by a quick recovery. A U-shaped economic recovery is characterized by a steep decline, followed by a gradual rise, typically from one year to 48 months.

In the first three months of the year, MPIC’s power investments accounted for P2.87 billion, or 62 percent, of net operating income, tollroads contributed P0.92 billion, or 20 percent, and water contributed P860 million, or 18 percent.

Contribution from hospitals, rail, logistics and other businesses offset each other, it said.

Consolidated reported attributable net income for the first quarter was down by 45 percent to P1.9 billion, from P3.5 billion last year due to the provisioning in full of the carrying value of Meralco's investment in Pacific Light Power, a gas-fired power plant in Singapore.

‘Local supply chains to gain popularity’

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

L

ocal and regional supply chains may replace global supply chains in a post-coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) world, according to an expert from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In an Asian Development Blog, ADB North America Representative Bart W. Édes said the pandemic has promoted “intensified localization of sourcing,” boosting local and regional supply chains.

With climate change advocates saying local and regional supply chains have a smaller carbon footprint, Édes said support for this would likely gain traction after the pandemic.

“The pandemic has highlighted the fundamental shortcomings of the globalized model for supply. As a result, there may well be a lasting renaissance of local and regional supply chains, which—among other things—will mitigate the risks of future global disruptions,” he said. Édes said social distancing has forced individuals to tap suppliers who are closer to them for household essentials. This has created “superlocalized supply chains.”

As a result, large firms are contemplating the ability of global supply chains to be reliable knowing that the pandemic has easily disrupted these networks.

Further, many governments and other businesses are also bound to support localized production in light of the millions of jobs lost due to Covid-19.

By giving jobs to citizens, governments would be able to encourage consumption and boost their economies.

“Consumer advocates may notice that local supply networks make it easier to enforce quality standards,” Édes added.

Earlier, professors from the University of the Philippine School of Economics said the pandemic had exposed the weakness in the country’s healthcare system. They said Covid-19 also exposed development gaps in logistics, research and development, social safety nets, financial system, and the overall capacity for foresight.

The economists also said the current crisis highlighted the lack of understanding in the moving parts of supply chains, as well as the micro small, and medium enterprises that are part of these chains.

Covid-19 hospitals get decontamination services from PLDT

C

oronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) hospitals and their health workers have received a fresh dose of help in the form of decontamination services and packages of hygiene and food items from telecoms and digital services provider PLDT Inc. and the Makati Medical Center Foundation.

PLDT sponsored the provision of high-level decontamination services using Steramist Asia’s Binary Ionization Technology (BIT) for The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City.

BIT is a powerful disinfectant that has been certified by the Environment Protection Agency as being effective in eliminating the novel coronavirus. This is applied in parts of the hospitals in need of specialized sanitation such the laboratories, Covid-19 wards, ambulances and even the reprocessing of N95 masks and personal protective equipment (PPEs).

Working with the Makati Medical Center Founda-

tion, PLDT also turned over care packages containing hygiene and food items to the personnel of these hospitals including their sanitation team, maintenance staff and security officers.

The rest of the care packages will be distributed to the frontline staff of quarantine facilities of the National Task Force.

The company also donated 210 blankets to Paco Catholic School which serves as a temporary shelter for over 200 people. This includes street dwellers and stay-in volunteers and staff. PLDT also gave financial assistance to the school to procure some immediate needs such as medicines and food supplies.

Moreover, PLDT is supporting the Kaagapay: Protect our Healthcare Heroes project. This is a fundraising initiative that provides life-saving medical equipment which includes PPEs, test kits and ventilators for the healthcare sector. This is spearheaded by the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, Zuellig Pharma, ABS-CBN, Metro Drug and Go Negosyo.

mutual funds

May 6, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 187.27 -29.3% -11.47% -8.06% -25.65% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 0.9737 -40.22% -13.94% -8.75% -29.54% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.5232 -39.1% -16.05% -10.69% -31.4% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.6499 -30.81% n.a. n.a. -27.56% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.6643 -24.45% n.a. n.a. -21.78% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.0739 -26.45% -8.68% -7.26% -23.54% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 0.6326 -28.5% -12.58% n.a.

-25.89% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 74.95 -40.84% n.a. n.a. -27.47% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 37.4259 -28.82% -10.12% n.a. -27.02% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 402.66 -26.41% -9.4% -7.09% -24.42% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5 0.8618 n.a. n.a. n.a. -16.34% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 0.9633 -27.39% -9.29% -6.28% -25.15% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 28.195 -27.83% -8.75% -6.22% -25.6% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7442 -29.12% n.a. n.a.

-26.9% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 3.8113 -28.44% -9.55% -6.14% -27.04% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 637.17 -28.32% -9.54% -6.35% -26.94% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.5861 -37.92% -13.27% -10.13% -31.16% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 2.9939 -31.45% -10.32% -7.3% -28.87% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7314 -28.44% -9.68% -6.27% -26.92% United Fund, Inc. -a 2.7309 -27.37% -7.38% -5.12% -25.25% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 85.467 -28.14% -9.05% -5.53% -26.92% ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$0.8768 -14.99% -2.66% -4.24% -14.74% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.2228 -5.53% 2.63% n.a. -11.31% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.4979 -13.43% -5.37% -5.08% -4.15% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 1.9677 -15.34% -5.67% -3.67% -9.78% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.3371 -12.1% -3.11% -4.6% -11.19% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.185 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-19.04% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.7895 -7.13% -1.77% -1.81% -8.84% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.3297 -9.8% -3.49% -3.25% -12.12% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 14.8677 -10.87% -3.73% -3.36% -12.34% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 1.8437 -14.1% -3.06% -13.27% -4.78% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.1372 -19.03% -5.63% -4.41% -18.81% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.9024 -10.41% n.a. n.a. -11.15% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.7963 -21.01% n.a. n.a. -20.08% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.7721 -23.27% n.a. n.a. -22.26% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.7779 -21.34% -6.52% -5.93% -20.2% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.038 4.8% 2.28% 1.38% -0.6% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b $0.9148 -7.87% -1.26% -2.45% -11.86% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.5501 -4.6% 1.89% 1.29% -9.22% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.0554 -2.94% 0.74% n.a.

-6.5% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 362.72 4.21% 3.04% 2.47% 1.38% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.93 2.3% 1.12% -0.17% 1.47% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1704 4.89% 5.18% 5.12% 1.74% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2764 5.29% 2.89% 2.27% 2.31% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4219 6.89% 3% 1.79% 2.66% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.5044 11.25% 3.7% 3.01% 2.28% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a,6 1.2808 6.84% 3.73% 2.01% 1.92% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.8906 7.75% 3.86% 1.99% 2.7% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0198 10.8% 3.41% 1.51% 5.76% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1202 7.85% 4.54% 2.92% 1.44% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.7265 7.62% 4.09% 2.59% 1.49% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $468.23 2.96% 2.27% 2.42% 0% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є213.97 -0.95% 0.49% 0.6% -2.62% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.1929 2.07% 2.19% 1.96% -1.18% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0258 1.98% 1.19% 1.04% 0% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.0523 -1.1% -0.53% -0.74% -3.92% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.3972 5.71% 2.79% 2.35% -0.27% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0595855 2.65% 1.49% 1.39% -1.21% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.159 6.16% 2.15% 2.18% -0.51% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 127.4 3.84% 3.1% 2.33% 1.29% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0374 2.73% n.a. n.a.

1.08% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2781 3.38% 3% 2.53% 1.07% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0416 1.67% n.a. n.a.

0.42% Feeder Fund Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,2 $0.9 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-9.09% a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU).

1 - Launch date is January 3, 2019. 2 - Launch date is January 28, 2019. 3 - Launch date is February 1, 2019. 4 - Launch date is November 15, 2019.

5 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 6 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.).

7 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019. 8 - Launch date is December 09, 2019.

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

Editor: Eleanor Leyco-Chua

Health&Fitness BusinessMirror

Thursday, May 7, 2020 B3

How to handle isolation and anxiety during pandemic

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he announcement of the extension of the enhanced community quarantine, which will last until May 15 for selected regions in Luzon including Metro Manila, prompted many Filipinos to check on their mental health as the almost two months’ isolation caused some people to feel stressed, anxious, fearful and in panic.

Besides the daily worries almost every family affected by the ECQ had to bear, the fact that one’s old “normal life” might be “obsolete” in the next few weeks was a constant source of anxiety. Some of us may be close to crossing the thin line that separates sanity and madness, so let’s take a break and remember these tips from webmd.com to help us feel better.

Be social.

n Socialization is key and feeling connected to others wards off loneliness and stress. n Remind yourself that we’re all still connected, even if we’re apart, consider it “distant socializing” through online or on your phone. n Look online for religious services and cultural events. Many organizations are offering digital gatherings. n Share your feelings with others.

Conversation helps you feel less alone and more supported.

Spend quality time with family.

n Spend quality time with your family like sharing some activities with them such

as board games, puzzles, or bake together. n Have deep, relaxed conversations while you have the opportunity.

Take a break from news.

n The 24-hour news cycle can make anxiety spike. Give yourself a limit. Stick with what you need to know and what’s happening in your community. n Try limiting your news intake to 3060 minutes or 1 to 2 updates a day. That should be enough to be informed. n Stick with 1 to 2 reliable news sources. Quickly scroll past triggering headlines and photos. Read only what’s relevant to you.

Change your mindset.

n Avoid thinking too much about the future or worst-case scenarios. Forecasting can trigger anxiety. n Try mindfulness Meditation and yoga apps, which can help you can help are available on many different app stores. n Practice gratitude. Studies suggest finding something to be grateful for every day improves mood. So jot something down. Maybe it’s first re-

sponders and service workers who keep us safe. Maybe it’s family, friends, and the roof over your head.

Get busy.

n Take advantage of the slower pace and free time. Try a new hobby. Learn a new language. n Do something that gives you a sense of purpose or accomplishment. Take on what you’ve been putting off, like spring cleaning, finances, or paperwork. n Play uplifting music. Tune into TV shows and movies that distract you from current events. Do things that make you feel good.

Get some fresh air.

n Though, we are not allowed to wander anywhere, you can still take a few minutes to see the things outside your house. If you have a garden, a terraza, or a small space infront of your house, stay there for few minutes to get some fresh air or to get some vitamin D from the sun. n Take a walk if you can. Even if your state mandates you to stay home, you can go outside. Just keep a healthy distance from others.

Help others.

n Helping others benefits everyone.

And this gives you a sense of control and purpose. n Try to check on your family members, friends and colleagues and ask them how they are doing. A simple text or a short call will surely be appreciated. You’ll never know that by doing this, you might be saving someone from doing harm to himself/herself. n If you can extend other forms of help such as delivering foods to those who have nothing to eat or sharing some of your stocks to your neighbours who have nothing.

Take action.

n Do something about the things you have control over. n Do what you can to stay safe and healthy. Follow the CDC’s guidelines on protecting yourself and others. n If you’re worried about bills, be proactive. Call your credit-card companies or bank. Many businesses are offering flexible schedules or lower payments.

Take care of yourself.

n Now’s not the time to slack off on sleep, exercise or diet. Good self-care offsets anxiety and stress. n Eat well and enjoy sleeping for longer hours, then take time to exercise of meditate. n Practice discipline and though you have all the time in the world right now, still, time management will be and awesome thing to do.

Get help.

n If you think or feel that you are having anxiety attack, talk to a professional counselor or check on some groups online. n If you had anxiety before the coronavirus outbreak and your feelings of fear and panic are getting worse, it’s important that you reach out to your doctor or therapist.

Try a new perspective.

n This might be the first time that you are challenged mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially and mentally all at the same time, but remember this will also come to pass. n Everyone is taking their time because all of us now have the time to go on a slower pace, so, don’t rush, chill and relax.

Source: www.webmd.com

Mobile phones as PPEs for PGH frontliners M

obile phones as personal protective equipment, or PPEs? Yes, that is how these devices are being used by health workers at the Covid-19 wards of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

The challenge in treating Covid-19 patients is that the virus is highly infectious. So, close and prolonged contact with these patients is discouraged in order to protect doctors and health workers. Also, not all doctors enter the Covid-19 wards in order to conserve PPEs which are often in short supply.

On the other hand, clear and frequent communications between the patients, doctors, and hospital staff is a key requirement for effective treatment. This is important because each patient has different needs and situations, which need to be determined accurately to ensure proper care is given.

Apart from giving medical information, doctors also deal with patients’ emotions. They have to acknowledge the anxiety, fear, and sadness that the patients and their families experience.

To resolve this dilemma, doctors, nurses, and

Medical workers at the Covid-19 wards of PGH use mobile phones to communicate with patients and with their fellow hospital staff.

some patients at the Covid-19 wards of the PGH are now using mobile phones provided by PLDT wireless subsidiary Smart Communications as PPEs. PGH Department of Internal Medicine Vice

Chairman for Research Dr. Cecilia A. Jimeno said her team had long identified the need for mobile devices to provide an extra layer of safety for health workers at the Covid-19 wards.

“The medical and nursing staff have to be protected from this highly infectious disease, therefore, they have to wear the proper protective equipment before coming near patients,” said Jimeno, who is also the department’s officer in charge of logistics and supplies.

“The doctors on duty need to contact the patients, fellow doctors in other subspecialties, and the crisis committee. We need new ways to communicate since we cannot just call up the landlines of the various departments and divisions and expect the on-call doctors to answer. The nurses also have to talk to patients, some of whom may not have their own cell phones,” said Jimeno.

When Smart officials were alerted to the idea of using cell phones in the Covid-19 wards, they quickly responded and provided 40 mobile phones with load for the purpose. The phones have been deployed in at least 14 areas within the Covid-19 units of PGH.

FITNESS RULES

Aside from doctors and nurses, laboratory technicians at the electrocardiogram, arterial blood gas, and clinical chemistry areas also use the handsets, along with the fellows of various subspecialties, who need to communicate instructions and recommendations to the on-duty doctors at the Covid-19 floors.

Covid-19 patients undergo many tests, such as ECG, ABG, and various other blood tests, which are analyzed by the clinical pathology laboratory.

Test results also need to be communicated to the “hot zone” by contact-less means to prevent the spread of the virus.

“With these phones, we have devised a system of providing medical care that is facilitated by effective communications,” said Jimeno.

“This isn’t a conventional use of mobile phones.

But we’re very happy that it is helping keep our medical workers at PGH safe,” said PLDT and Smart public affairs head Mon Isberto.

“Our frontliners are grateful to our partners in this fight. We will all overcome this adversity by working together, with the grace of God and His favor on our country,” added Jimeno.

By Greggy H. Romualdez

How the Covid pandemic is changing the fitness industry

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his time of year, gyms and fitness clubs should be a beehive of activity. People putting in the work to get that beach-ready body, or fine-tune an already finished product sculpted through months of hard work.

Instead of the usual summer crowd, fitness establishments are an empty desolate wasteland of inactivity.

Even with the plannedpartial lifting of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), in the coming weeks, it is uncertain whether gyms would be allowed to open and continue operations anytime soon.

The closure of gyms in the past weeks or so has resulted in the mad scramble to procure exercise equipment and accessories—with some people opting to build their own home gyms. Some exercise studios are renting out their equipment (such as stationary bikes) for clients to bring to their own homes and use these during scheduled online exercise classes.

Online sellers of dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, fitness bands, benches, exercise machines and all sorts of fitness paraphernalia have proliferated to cater to hordes of fitness habitués opting to work out from home and build their home gym arsenal. Granting that gyms are allowed to open in the coming months, people may be hesitant to risk infection and opt to continue

working out from the safety of their homes.

My heart does go out to gym owners and staff members who have lost employment and income opportunities due to this pandemic.

Hopefully innovations can be made to work while the coronavirus threat persists. Think online personal fitness training/counseling, or putting in place an enticing system of group exercises classes (which some are already doing) to tide fitness establishments through this crisis.

While gyms are closed for now, my advice would be to invest in a pair of dumbbells, an exercise bench and mat to set our home workout plans into action. With this set up you can work out and hit all muscle groups. Squats, lunges, chest and shoulder presses, rows and bicep curls are exercises you can do with dumbbells. They are a perfect accessory too for doing High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to get in some cardio. Signing up for online yoga, bodyweight training, and other exercises classes is also a good idea. This way, you manage some sort of limited social interaction with like-minded individuals, if you find it difficult to go at it alone.

Let’s continue staying fit at home using whatever it is we have to work with. Limited exercise is better than no exercise. We have to keep our immune systems healthy, and exercise is certainly one of the ways to do this.

‘Bayanihan,’ the sm Appliance center way

How ultrasound can enable better Covid-19 patient management

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oyal Philips, a global leader in health technology, has a broad portfolio of ultrasound products and solutions that can help hospitals in examining critical Covid-19 patients. By simplifying the process of diagnostic imaging, ultrasound can improve the overall hospital experience for both patients and health-care professionals.

Computer tomography (CT) is considered the modality of choice when diagnosing pulmonary damage. Hence, this is the most common method used in healthcare institutions for Covid-19 bedside patient management. Although CT is a reliable diagnostic imaging method, this is not always readily available in emergency room settings.

Studies have shown that lung ultrasound for Covid-19 patient management could provide care providers with a safe and efficient alternative for diagnostic imaging, other than CT. Ultrasound is considered to be one of the most important technologies to improve access to care in limited resource settings. Its role in improving emergency medicine is very important as it is a first-line diagnostic tool. In Philippines, the need for a more accessible imaging modality will help in diagnosis and treatment management. At Philips, we recognized this need and there we have mobilized our handheld/portable ultrasound systems to assigned Covid-19 referral centers to equip our frontliners.

Why ultrasound devices?

As ultrasound devices are portable, these devices can be brought to the patient rather than bringing the patient to different rooms in the hospital to get scanned. By lessening patient movement, this also reduces patient exposure to other patients and health-care professionals.

Ultrasound devices can be easily disinfected.

This allows for more patients to be scanned in a shorter time period, thus making health-care procedures more efficient.

They offer a user-friendly experience for care providers. With this type of diagnostic imaging process, there is no need for site planning as ultrasound devices are often a plug-and-play devices. It requires only basic ultrasound knowledge.

Ultrasound also reduces patients’ exposure to radiation, thereby minimizing other potential health risks.

Depending on the systems, remote capabilities for virtual collaboration is possible.

Being hybrid solutions, they can be used after the outbreak for other clinical necessities.

“Now more than ever, it is important for us to find health-care solutions that will help our medical frontliners provide the best care for patients affected with Covid-19. We are championing the benefits of ultrasound in the safe management of

the outbreak, as these solutions could help us give the best care to patients while protecting our frontliners in the fight against Covid-19,” said Ashwin Chari, country manager, Philips Philippines. “Philips is acutely aware of the risks, stresses, and challenging conditions health-care providers globally are facing in response to the Covid-19 crisis. At Philips, our top priority is supporting health-care professionals and patients during this difficult time.”

Ultrasound solutions by Philips Lumify—an easy and convenient to use, appbased ultrasound device. As Philips’s most accessible and portable solution for point-of-care lung and cardiac assessment, this could greatly aid health-care professionals in providing care to Covid-19 patients while minimizing the spread of the disease. Its integrated capabilities allow remote collaborate with POC health-care professionals in a real-time consultation.

InnoSight—This compact ultrasound system allows healthcare professionals to scan patients in more of the clinical places where care is delivered. The compact and highly portable InnoSight ultrasound system, with its innovative ergonomic design and clinical versatility, allows one to bring ultrasound to patients, whether in the office, clinic, or hospital.

CX50—Premium technologies bring a new level of image quality to compact ultrasound so performance isn’t sacrificed for portability. Getting high quality diagnostic data from portable exams is complicated by many factors. The CX50 allows professionals to have the image quality they need for diagnostic confidence wherever it is needed. CX50 can be taken to patients—in the surgical suite, CCU and ICU, in labor and delivery and at satellite clinics and screening events, in the ED and OR, and in the NICU or PICU. The CX50’s image quality and compact size makes it the ideal choice where space is limited.

Affiniti—It offers high throughput lung and cardiac ultrasound with Precision Beamforming imaging technology. Tissue Specific Presets (TSP) and automation tools deliver both performance and workflow for confident throughput. It scans technically difficult patients with ease with PureWave transducers and has powerful multimodality fusion capabilities EPIQ Elite—it features an exceptional level of clinical performance, workflow, and advanced intelligence to meet the challenges of today’s most demanding practices. The EPIQ Elite platform brings ultimate solutions to ultrasound, with clinically tailored tools designed to elevate diagnostic confidence to new levels.

T

he bayanihan spirit was alive and well when SM Appliance Center and its brand partners recently brought positivity, hope and inspiration to the frontliners and patients of the hospitals in the Philippines with donations of electric fans, mosquito zappers, and washing machines.

With summer days ahead, electric fans from Imarflex, Asahi and 3D will bring cool comfort to frontliners and patients. These were donated to the Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital’s (Tala Hospital), Philippine General Hospital, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine Children’s Medical Center and Mary Chiles General Hospital.

SM Appliance Center also provided environmentally friendly mosquito zappers from Daimaru to keep hospitals safe and free from harmful insects and flies. Insect killers from Imarflex and 3D brands were also given for further protection and assistance.

In order to help hospitals with their heavy wash load, SM Appliance Center partnered with Whirlpool to donate inverter front load washing machines. The MegaTransport Logistics Corp. delivered these to the Rizal Medical Center, Las Piñas General Hospital, Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital, San Juan de Dios Hospital, Ospital ng Maynila, San Lazaro Hospital, Mary Chiles General Hospital and Jose Reyes Medical Center.

Tysons Global Exchange Inc. also joined in SM Appliance Center’s initiatives with donations of Speed Queen heavy duty washers for the Lung Center of the Philippines and Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center.

For more updates on SM Appliance Center and its CSR initiatives, you may want to visit our SM Appliance Center web site at hyperlink “http://www.smappliance. com,” www.smappliance.com or like us at facebook.com/smappliance.

B4

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

z

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Alexander Ludwig, 28; Sydney Leroux, 30; Breckin Meyer, 46; Amy Heckerling, 66.

Happy Birthday: Well-developed relationships and work ethics will lead to welcome prospects. Do whatever it takes to position yourself for the future.

Pick up skills, keep up with technology and do your best to get along with others. Honesty and integrity will play in your favor when vying to get ahead of the stiff competition you face. Your lucky numbers are 3, 10, 17, 24, 32, 46, 48.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Work toward a goal. Negotiate, close a deal and alter the way you do things at home and at work. A change of plans shouldn’t throw you off course. Make adjustments, and keep moving forward. HHH

b

A recent edition of “Actor’s Cue” featured some of local entertainment’s top actresses. From left: Gina Alajar, Sandy Andolong, Jaclyn Jose, Elizabeth Oropesa and Lorna Tolentino

Art surviving the pandemic: The arts of the new norms

OR all the claims about the prospect of a “new normal,” it seems it will take some more days before we start doing again the things that we were doing before Luzon was closed.

Be that as it may, there are signs of life in the world of culture and arts. For those who feel they are barely existing now, they may get this sense that to talk about the arts and that huge thing called culture when people are getting infected—and many dying—is irrelevant. To that position, I am in agreement, but to a certain degree, I’d like to feel buoyant at least. And to talk about poetry, cinema, dance, paintings with the horizon gray and fading is good enough. It means we are alive, or we are keeping our spirit alive. If only for that, it is good to know the endeavors and initiatives active around us.

Let us start off with the government arm on cultures and the arts—the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Weeks after the quarantine has been declared, many artists raised their concern— and fists—with the officials of the NCCA. The question was: What does NCCA aim to do in order to help or assist a great sector of artists and allied professions now that that there are no jobs available?

The main justified worry of this huge group of artists who stormed the Internet with their queries were those contractual workers or daily wage earners.

From the NCCA comes this news of the agency approving P63 million in funding for arts and culture programs amid Covid-19 crisis.

Let us read on and understand what the communication dated April 23 says:

“NCCA Assistance Program in Response to the Call for Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.” This assistance program will augment NCCA’s initial P4 million quick response cash assistance program.

Currently, the initial cash assistance under the “NCCA Assistance Program for Artists and Cultural Workers Under the State of Calamity” provides the amount of P5,000 to artists and cultural workers who are not under an employeremployee relationship, without regular income, are working freelance, and whose source of income are gone due to the ECQ. This was charged to NCCA Board Resolution 2020-311, the “Arts Program as Quick Response for Natural and Human Induced Disaster,” approved by the Board of Commissioners during its February 20, 2020 meeting. Under this program, the NCCA is able to assist around 1,005 beneficiaries.

While the first batch of NCCA assistance focuses on immediate cash aid, the second batch of NCCA assistance shall be implemented with two primary components. The first component will be the continuation of the Cash Assistance Program to cover an additional of 1,250 beneficiaries from the NCCA-TUPAD registry and those endorsed by the Artists Welfare of the Philippines Inc. (AWPI) and Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP). This component will take up around P6.4 million from the approved budget.

The remaining P57.4 million will be allocated to the second component, which allows for support to committeedriven grants, subsidy programs, or online projects and activities relevant to each committee’s mandate and/or an option to continue with the cash assistance program. The budget for the second component will be distributed to NCCA’s 19 national committees which covers various art forms and cultural disciplines including architecture and the allied arts, cinema, dance, dramatic arts, literary arts, music, visual arts, archives, art galleries, historical research, libraries and information service, monuments and sites, museums, communication, language and translation, cultural education, and cultural communities in the north, central, and southern Philippines.

Moreover, each committee will decide on the mode through which their respective budget will be utilized. However, if the committees deem that cash assistance program is the best response for the needs of their sector, the budget may so be allotted with a maximum amount of PhP5,000.00, net of tax, endorsed and approved beneficiaries.

In a referendum conducted from April 17 to April 22, 2020, the NCCA Board of Commissioners approved a cumulative budget amounting to P63.8 million for the

Our duty now—whether you are a member of a committee or not—is to examine this document, make clarifications, and suggest ways to make the

F

program sustainable and cost-efficient in the light of the pandemic.

The creatives in other areas persist.

Online forums continue. Adolf Alix has his own #ExtendtheLove Cinema Series. It is a series of online engagement called “Actors’ Cue,” with actors discussing their craft. On May 4, it was already on its third series, focusing on Asian Actors. The listed participants were Ananda Everingham (Thailand), Nicholas Saputra (Indonesia), Rhydian Vaughan (Taiwan) and our very own Piolo Pascual. Everingham was not able to make it.

For May 6, Series 4 of the “Actors’ Cue” listed the following: Angeli Bayani, Iza Calzado, Sylvia Sanchez, Jodi Sta. Maria and Meryll Soriano.

I notice other online activities, some of them announcing lectures on specific elements or technologies in filmmaking. This is laudable. There are some with new filmmakers discussing their craft. This is fine but we have to be careful that we should get resource speakers whose skills are vetted.

Integrity is also important. Given the unusual free time available to our otherwise busy film veterans, it is best to secure the wisdom of these tested filmmakers, if our idea is to learn. If it is for mere sharing, it does not matter whether you are a fresh graduate or a one-film filmmaker.

Unusual times indeed...

From the posts of Jay Altarejos, we learn about 2076Kolektib and its efforts to uphold all arts, and use it not as vain décor but an active weapon to push agenda and fight for social reforms. It is the kind of artistic initiative that the mainstream society marginalizes as “dangerous” and “subversive.” Was it Picasso who said all art is subversive?

In its latest offering, 2076Kolektib pays tribute to GA Villafuerte who died on April 29. GA was an actor and director who did almost 100 films that were exhibited at the stand-alone cinemas in the country. For the fete, the group screens Censored Dreams, a film that shows the seamier and grittier side of indie cinema. These films may have escaped the curator’s eye when the nation was celebrating the centenary of Philippine cinema, but history and critical times do allow recrimination. Was it Luis Buñuel who said: “But that the white eye-lid of the screen reflect its proper light, the universe would go up in flames”? n

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Think for yourself. As soon as you let someone make decisions for you, it will lead to disappointment. A partnership adjustment will be necessary if you have lost equilibrium that you once had. Fairness should be first and foremost. HHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Consider what everyone else says before you respond. A proposition may lack excitement, but it can still be right for you. Heading in a lucrative direction will help to stabilize your life financially and give you wiggle room to rethink alternative options. HHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Take over and do your thing. You have plenty to offer and should not wait for someone else to step into a position you want. A change to the way you handle others and the help you provide will assist you in getting ahead. HHHHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Breathe deeply.

Don’t let drama set in and make you look bad.

Spend more time worrying about yourself and the way you feel and look. Don’t let a domestic situation crush your productivity or your ability to be reasonable and resourceful. HH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Keep everything in perspective when dealing with affairs of the heart. Honesty, integrity and loyalty should be top priorities when dealing with others. A change to the way you do things or how you see situations is in your best interest. HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Firm up and get moving. If you waffle, you will end up missing out. Trust in your ability to follow through and make things happen. As long as you don’t rely on others, you have nothing to fear. Romance is favored.

HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Get back to basics. Reconnect with someone from your past. Expand your interests, knowledge and plans to include things you’ve always wanted to try.

Partner or collaborate with someone who brings out the best in you. HHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Be honest; if you send mixed signals, you will end up having to backtrack. Offer what’s yours to give.

Present who you are, what you have and what you are looking for with unfiltered truthfulness. Play fair. HHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Size up situations, and proceed with caution. Gather information, and study your position before you make a move. Preparation and organization will make a difference when it comes to what you achieve. A frank discussion is encouraged. HHHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Don’t put up with being treated poorly. Know when to say no. Do your own thing, and control your happiness. Standing up for what you want will help you gain respect. Romance is in the stars. HH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Money matters.

Don’t squander or invest in something that won’t benefit you directly. Expand your skills, be diverse and focus on exploring lucrative avenues that will have long-term paybacks. HHHHH Birthday Baby: You are intelligent, confident and steadfast.

You are traditional and helpful.

‘do drops’ by emily carroll The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Braeburn or Gala 6 Mahershala of Moonlight 9 Easy two-pointer 14 Take the wheel 15 Dripping 16 Sheeplike 17 Letter before lambda 18 Sci-fi invaders 19 Mover?

20 Org. with a vegan starter kit 22 Like a no-name product 24 All over again 26 Month whose first day is a holiday 28 ___ Spiegel (German magazine) 29 Purplish-red printer color 30 Turf 33 Buffy slays them 35 Easy peasy 37 Related to a pelvic bone 38 Syllable before “Na Na” 40 What homeowners hold 41 Against: Prefix 43 Certain SoCal resident

5 Creature such as Treebeard 4 46 Satellite, e.g.

48 “True ___!” (“Amen!”)

49 Practiced boxing 50 Hence 51 You may show yours off in a Speedo 54 Reasonable 56 “Not so!” reply 57 Yuletide beverage 59 Josh 62 Kitchen wrap?

63 Number of states that border Washington 64 Gavel banger’s cry 65 Hogwarts potions professor 66 Terminus 67 Folk artist Grandma DOWN 1 Try to get some answers 2 Grp. that may meet in a school gym 3 Candy cane flavor (see letters 4 to 7) 4 Odorous and amorous Pepe 5 Part of QED 6 Bowl over

7 Loosen up, or a hint to the starred answers’ indicated letters 8 “Whee!”

9 Lara Croft, notably (4 to 8) 10 Wedding gown shade 11 Bread served with baba ghanoush 12 A party to 13 Stereotypical bookworm 21 Slightly cracked 23 They may be trans 24 Kind of column in a newspaper 25 SNL alum Kevin 27 Gets on in years 29 One takes a stand on stage (3 to 6) 30 Skims (5 to 10) 31 Worn-out horse 32 Explorer Hernando 34 Gentle touch 36 Hall-of-Famer Ott 39 Chip in 42 Certain North African 44 HS proficiency exams 47 Novelist Charlotte or Anne 49 Baskin-Robbins unit

0 26-Across, in Uruguay 5 51 Partiality 52 SportsCenter channel 53 Gillette razor 55 Neutron’s place 58 In ___ We Trust 60 “What did I tell you?”

61 Verbal stumbles Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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Parentlife BusinessMirror

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Marian, Waltermart mark mom’s month

Why not learn sports at home?

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ARENTS are constantly on the lookout for valuable activities their kids can engage in, especially during the summer. This year’s circumstances are very different, however, with families urged to stay home and prioritize their safety. Still, there are other ways for parents and kids to make the most out of their time at home through physical activity. The MILO Sports Clinics Online is a newly introduced digital platform that aims to make the fundamentals of sports more accessible to kids and parents, under the tutelage of professional coaches—all for free.

The weekly series of instructional videos is part of the MILO Home Court initiative, which envisions and inspires parents and their kids to channel their energies positively at home through sports, hone their skills safely, and nurture the lifelong characterforming values that come with it, such as discipline, hard work and self-confidence.

The popular beverage brand advocates for parents and kids to “stay home, stay active, and stay healthy” during these turbulent times. Together with

expert coaches and notable partner organizations such as The BEST Center Inc. (notable graduates include five-time SEA Games Gold Medalist Kiefer Ravena and national team members Juan and Javi Gomez de Liaño), Philippine Taekwondo Association (home of SEA Games Gold Medalist Pauline Lopez) and Club Gymnastica (former training ground of World Champion Carlos Yulo), the MILO Sports Clinics Online will launch a series of free training modules for kids ages seven to 12 teaching the fundamentals of four key sports: basketball, volleyball, taekwondo and gymnastics.

Available until May 15, parents and their kids can access these videos on the respective YouTube channels of the aforementioned partner organizers.

They can also check out the MILO Philippines Facebook page for official announcements and updates on the clinics.

Each week of the MILO Sports Clinics Online focuses on a specific technique or skill that will allow participants to practice and develop in their chosen sport. The programs are developed with a scientific and modern approach by leading sports associations and organizers in the country, ensuring that kids will get to enjoy fun, safe, and beginner-friendly training sessions. Parents and guardians are highly encouraged to join their children in following the instructions and performing the drills. Those who complete the four-week basic training sessions can watch out for special badges of participation on the MILO Philippines Facebook page that will recognize their hard work and celebrate the values learned during the experience.

Through the online sports clinic and its other recently launched digital programs like the

Champions IG Live, which provides parents and kids the opportunity to train with national athletes at home, MILO has created platforms for tomorrow’s champions to remain healthy and active in the face of this public health emergency. It also is in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation for children aged five to 17 to accumulate at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily, which includes exercise, to attain numerous physical and psychological benefits, such as development of healthy bones, muscles, joints, heart and lungs; coordination and movement control; maintenance of healthy weight; and improved control over symptoms of anxiety and depression.

“In these unprecedented times when staying at home remains the top priority for everybody, we want to continue to inspire parents and their kids to stay active and healthy through sports,” says Nestlé Philippines Vice President Veronica Cruz. “With our gracious partners who share this commitment, we hope that the MILO Sports Clinics Online becomes an opportunity for parents and their kids to learn something new, remain active and healthy, and learn valuable life lessons along the way.”

Through the MILO Sports Clinics Online and the other digital programs launched, together with the new MILO Champion Formula that contains more milk, packed with more Champion Energy Nutrients, such as protomalt, iron and vitamins B2, B3, B6, and B12, parents and their children are given the right energy to stay active and healthy at home.

Stay tuned to the MILO Philippines Facebook page (www.facebook.com/milo.ph) for the latest announcements on the MILO Sports Clinics Online and other important updates. n

THIS Mom’s Month, Marian Rivera-Dantes shares the story of the amazing moms who have molded her to become the person that she is today, and how she as a mom faces the challenges of our present situation with WalterMart.

Marian feels fortunate that she has two moms.

She grew up with her lola, whom she fondly calls nanay, after her parents separated when she was two.

It was her nanay, whom she considers the heart of the home, who taught Marian that you can triumph over anything if you have determination in life, faith in God, and believe in yourself and in the people that surround you and love you—values that have contributed to her success.

And then, there is her mom, who she became close to when she returned, and now considers more of a best friend.

As a mom in our current situation, Marian’s priority are her kids. She comes up with activities for her four-year-old daughter Zia to keep her busy— home-studying, doing fun art and craft activities, and baking. Marian is also hands-on in planning and preparing food for her family. “Iyon ang pinakamahalaga na maihain ko sa kanila kung ano ang dapat at ligtas para sa kanila.” She makes sure to get fresh ingredients and complete her grocery list from WalterMart. And now because of the ECQ, WalterMart Supermarket delivery service is a big help for her.

Acknowledging that she can’t do everything herself, she believes that teamwork is important in families, with husband Dingdong, daughter Zia, and of course, herself taking on different tasks.

This Mother’s Day, Marian thanks all moms for taking care of and loving their families. While she feels sad about the current situation, she feels it is important that “we stay strong together, stay in touch, and inspire each other.”

“Kung may kapitbahay na nagtutulungan sa oras ng kagipitan, tayo namang mga mommy ay magkakapitnanay,” she suggests.

This Mom’s Month, Marian gives a special salute to our “kapit-nanay frontliners—doctors, nurses, police at military. Mga government workers, food and grocery workers, OFWs, at lahat ng essential workers.” She believes that together, “kaya natin ito dahil magtutulungan tayo.”

Like Marian, you can enjoy WalterMart’s hassle-free grocery shopping experience through WalterMart Delivery service (www.waltermartdelivery. com.ph) for all your grocery needs. And those who wish to visit the supermarket need not worry as WalterMart implements its 4S program—Screening, Sanitation, Social Distancing and Service—across all WalterMart Community Malls. This is to ensure the well-being and safety of the families and communities it serves amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Marian Rivera-Dantes loves WalterMart Supermarket delivery services.

Newborn care tips during quarantine that you need to know BEING a new mom is a big milestone and having a baby brings happiness beyond measure. However, if you gave birth to your first child recently, things might be a bit different for you because of the enhanced community quarantine.

Aside from the new maternity responsibilities, fear and anxiety over the pandemic may increase stress levels. You may find yourself in the most joyful yet toughest time of your life.

As the world celebrates strong, loving mothers, AXA Philippines (www.axa.com.ph) is here to give a few tips for new moms so that they can enjoy this life stage, while minimizing the stress amid the pandemic. n Do not be afraid to ask for help. Encourage your partner to be involved with some tasks like changing the diaper or putting the baby to sleep. You can also ask for support from your mother, in-laws, or friends who are also moms. They will understand your situation and provide support. However, when things get out of hand, you should have direct access to 24/7 emergency help. You can easily do so with AXA Rescue Line through the Emma by AXA app. Rescue Line is a service which provides AXA policyholders and even non-AXA customers 24/7 free access to

emergency assistance. You can download the Emma

by AXA app on the Google Play or App Store. n Stock up on essentials responsibly. Baby essentials are hot commodities during this time.

When you go to the grocery store, avoid hoarding and only get what your baby needs so other moms can take care of their babies, too. If your local stores run out of stocks, look for other options, such as reputable online sellers or eco-friendly alternatives like cloth diapers. Many of the online sellers are Filipina mommy entrepreneurs so you’ll be supporting local businesses and fellow moms. n Establish visiting rules. No matter how much you want to show off your baby, keep in mind there is an ongoing pandemic. At this time, limit “visits” to online chats and viewing. Even among household members, make sure they wash hands and wear face masks when holding baby. Given the current situation, one can never be too cautious when it comes to protecting your baby from the virus or other germs. n Set safety and hygiene routines. Take advantage of your time indoors to clean your house to mitigate the risk of exposing your baby to harmful viruses. Always wash your hands

properly before handling your baby. It’s also best to disinfect your home using baby-friendly sanitizing solutions and cleaning wipes, paying special attention to your baby’s surroundings. n Keep your baby safe while he sleeps. Avoid placing blankets, stuffed toys, and pillows in cribs as they increase the risk of suffocation. Babies also tend to wake up in the middle of the night, so it is best to put your baby’s crib in the same bedroom. To reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, place them on their backs when they sleep but try to alternate the position of their head to prevent a flat spot. n Get enough rest. Pandemic or not, new moms should never neglect themselves. Try to get enough rest throughout the day. Sleep while baby is sleeping, and avoid negative thoughts that might add to the stress of caring for a newborn baby. Remember, your body is still recoving from childbirth so practice selfcare and be kind to yourself. n Enjoy this precious time with your newborn.

Make the most of the time you have at home to bond with your baby. The first few months of baby’s life is the best opportunity to build a bond between you and your newborn. Take advantage of this period and enjoy it.

B5

B6 Thursday, May 7, 2020

More than 155,000 tourism sector workers receive first tranche of DOF wage subsidy program The Manila Hotel, RCMC, patrons provide 35,000 Mabuhay Meals in food drive for frontliners

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TOTAL of 155,672 employees from 4,290 tourism-related enterprises received their cash grants under the joint program of the Department of Finance (DOF), Social Security System (SSS), and Bureau of Internal Revenue, called the Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBSW) program as of May 4.

Since March, the Department of Tourism (DOT) has been seeking the assistance of various national government agencies to extend their services to the tourism sector, one of the hardest hit industries of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are grateful to the DOF, SSS and BIR for providing our affected tourism workers with a monthly wage subsidy for 2 months.

With tourism hampered, and eventually closed during the first 5 months of the year, these cash grants will go a long way in helping them weather this period while travel restrictions are still in effect,” said Tourism

Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.

As of May 4, the SSS, through its partnership with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has uploaded to PESOnet or DBP Pera Padala, through MLhuillier Financial Services, the partner-remittance center of the SSS, the following beneficiaries: 155,126 employees of 4,723 employers in the Hotel and Restaurant industry and 546 employees of 17 employers in the Air Transport industry.

According to a recent press release by the DOF, the SBWS aims to provide a monthly wage subsidy of P5,000 to P8,000 for two months to around 3.4 million eligible employees of small businesses affected by the economic standstill after separate quarantine measures were imposed nationwide in March to stop the further spread of the COVID-19.

The subsidy ranges from P5,000 to P8,000 per tranche for every beneficiary, depending on the minimum wage levels in their respective regions.

Gobear Acquires Southeast Asia’s leading digital lender, AsiaKredit, to expand alternate consumer lending services

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HE war against Covid-19 is far from over. Experts say it will take one to two years for a vaccine to be developed against the contagious virus.

Tests to find out if a person has the virus or has antibodies against it are available only to those considered vulnerable, but not yet for the general population.

Among the most vulnerable now are our doctors, nurses, and other hospital care workers who take care of the sick daily, even at a risk to their own lives. They work tirelessly, many unprotected from the dangerous virus, oftentimes failing to eat due to their many tasks. Most are also quarantined away from their homes to protect their own families from the contagion, after which they immediately report back to hospitals due to their dwindling numbers.

In the spirit of "bayanihan," the private sector, even while quarantined, are busy raising funds to help provide the daily needs of hospital care workers: hot meals, housing facilities, personal protection equipment (PPEs), and transportation.

At the onset of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), The Manila Hotel decided it could open up its kitchen to prepare fresh meals for healthcare workers in the City of Manila. Then, to provide resting and sleeping quarters for healthcare workers, the Philtrust Bank, a sister company of the hotel, opened its 10-story UN Residences to health workers in nearby hospitals.

Former senator Joey Lina, the hotel’s president, explained, “The Executive Committee of the Manila Hotel, headed by Board Chairman Basilio C. Yap, immediately approved the donation of food and housing assistance to Manila healthcare workers, in coordination with Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno, as part of the Yap Group of

Companies' share in the country's fight against the virus.

"The hotel's kitchen staff, headed by Executive Chef Konrad Walter, prepare and pack healthy and filling meals for Manila healthcare workers, as well as to the Philippine Coast Guard stationed at the back of the hotel, and even private hospital workers and local government frontliners outside the city," Lina added.

As the days went on, “We realized the undertaking was becoming too big,” Atty Lina shared. He then broached the idea of a joint project with the hotel's loyal patrons and friends to donate packed meals for healthcare workers.

"The Rotary Club of Makati Central (RCMC), headed by President Bobby Alvarez, was the first to heed the call, and became the hotel's biggest partner in this endeavor, " he further said.

As more of the hotel’s patrons and friends started contacting the hotel to be partners, the Mabuhay Meals: Food Drive for Frontliners was formed.

Among the new partners of The Manila Hotel are: UP College of Law Batch 2007, Couples for Christ South A4B, Singles for Christ Las Pinas, RCMC Linton Incorporated, San Sebastian High School Batch 1980, Mr. Aries Gamboa, and lately, the Quezon City Lodge No. 122.

As of April 27, The Manila Hotel food drive has already provided 35,000 meals, with 25,000 coming from the partnership of The Manila Hotel and RCMC. Mabuhay Meals have so far been delivered to the following institutions: the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital, Ospital ng Maynila, Ospital ng Tondo, Lung Center of the Philippines, Sta. Ana Hospital, Gat.

Andres Bonifacio Memorial Hospital, Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, Medical Center Manila, Ospital ng Paranaque 1 & 2, Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital (Tala), Philippine Children’s Medical Center, National Kidney & Transplant Institute, Ospital ng Sampaloc, Tondo Medical Center, Jose Abad Santos Medical Center, as well as the Philippine Coast Guard, Paranaque City Hall Workers, Navotas healthcare workers and City Hall frontliners, Manila Health Department, and the frontliners in the office of Congressman Bong Suntay.

Our collective appreciation for the heroism and sacrifices of our frontliners and healthcare workers, especially now that the ECQ has been extended in the National Capital Region and in some parts of the country, can really be best shown with concrete action. Though some of us may be suffering from our losses and from our own fears, this is not the time to lose hope.

We must continue to act and be committed to fight Covid-19. With God's grace and mercy, we will triumph.

For groups and individuals looking to extend more help, The Manila Hotel still welcomes partners to the Mabuhay Meals initiative. For as little as P50 per meal with a minimum number of 100 meals, the invaluable support will go a long way in ensuring the health and energy of our frontliners.

The Manila Hotel practices stringent protective measures to ensure the safety of its staff and implements strict turnover procedures and due diligence reporting to its partners to ensure the meals go to intended recipients.

Call The Manila Hotel at 8527 0011 or SMS/Viber 0998 950 1912 for information on the Mabuhay Meals initiative.

Sarangani back to GCQ, but still on stricter measures

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HE province of Sarangani, one of the country’s Covid-free areas, was recently recategorized into Modified General Community Quarantine (GCQ) with the recent issuance of Executive Order No. 12 by governor Steve Chiongbian Solon.

The new EO sets measures that would facilitate the province’s transition to GCQ in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 after it was placed under the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine on March 28.

The transition also came after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases identified Sarangani as among the low-risk areas to implement GCQ from May 1 to 15.

The EO emphasized that only essential travels in the province shall be allowed, such as workers of sectors or industries providing essential services, workers for peace and order, disaster risk reduction response, other emergencies and procurement of essential goods and supplies, authorized government officials, and employees of local government

units, national government agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations, judiciary, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), repatriates, and students from institutions outside the region who are residents of Sarangani and with national government orders to return.

Solon pointed out that the regional lockdown as agreed upon in the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force on Infectious Emerging Diseases shall continue to be enforced.

Only essential goods and supplies shall be allowed to be transported to and fro.

“Even if we are now on GCQ, we still need to observe stricter measures because we still have cases everyday,”he said.

Guidelines state that only individuals aged 21 to 59 are allowed to go outside their homes to access basic necessities, but emphasized that wearing of face masks is a“must.”

It also required frequent sanitizing of hands and observance of social distancing, and to present ID as proof of employment.

Individuals with high health risks, those who have co-morbidities and are immunocompromised due to certain ailments are strongly advised to isolate themselves and advised to stay at home.

Curfew hours shall still be imposed in all municipalities, between 9 PM to 5 AM. Transportation shall continue to operate but in a reduced capacity, and inter-town transit may be allowed depending on the restrictions or requirements of each municipality, including Gen. Santos City.

The no ID, no entry policy will still be implemented, and locator slip or passenger tracking form will still be required at checkpoints.

The boundary lockdown recommended by the Regional IATF shall include transportation around Sarangani Bay and Celebes Sea where sea-based security forces and LGUs will implement GCQ policies.

Mass gatherings are still prohibited, and classes in higher institutions will resume in accordance with the guidelines from the Commission on Higher Education, while all other schools will resume based on the advise of the Department of Education.

Sarangani has been proactive in its measures to prevent the entry of Covid-19 into the province, and has retrofitted part of its new Dangerous Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Alabel town to be the isolation facility for patients under investigation (PUIs).

Moreover, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan has also approved the allocation of P18.7 million for the prevention and mitigation of Covid-19 and the African Swine Fever (ASF).

It has also completed the release of the P 5,000 financial assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development's Social Amelioration Program.

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oBear, Asia’s leading financial supermarket, has today announced the acquisition of end-to-end digital consumer lender, AsiaKredit. The acquisition bolsters GoBear’s plans to expand its business and regional reach, following its announcement last year of having raised US$80m to date. It also accelerates GoBear’s plans to drive growth through digital lending; one of three key business pillars alongside digital insurance brokerage and the company's financial supermarket, all built on the foundation of alternative data.

AsiaKredit provides consumer finance products to underserved consumers in the Philippines. Through its flagship mobile app, pera247, the company has processed over 1 million loan applications via fast and convenient lines of credit not provided by traditional banks. With robust risk management and automation, credit assessment decisions take place in a matter of minutes and time to cash disbursements in hours, bringing AsiaKredit more than 100x growth in loans disbursed in the last two years.

“The establishment of an industry-leading lending business is a critical component of GoBear’s strategy to support our banking partners in providing loans to the many underserved consumers in Asia. With AsiaKredit’s sophisticated data-driven underwriting and collections capability, which sets them well apart from lenders in the region, the acquisition will allow GoBear to accelerate strategic plans by giving us access to end-to-end digital lending capabilities,” commented Adrian Chng, CEO, GoBear.

Access to credit remains a challenge for many in Southeast Asia, with more than 70% of the region, or 296 million people, currently underbanked or unbanked, according to a study

by Bain & Company. With economic growth in developing

countries set to decline sharply in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19, providing consumers with access to credit will become increasingly important. The acquisition will see GoBear improve financial inclusion by introducing lending as a service (“LaaS”) to its network of more than 100 partners, helping them provide loans to underserved consumers in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. It will also see the expansion of a direct consumer lending service through pera247.

“Both GoBear and AsiaKredit share a vision to offer accessible and responsible financial services to those across the region. This acquisition represents a fantastic opportunity for AsiaKredit to leverage GoBear’s regional presence and expand the reach of our credit lending services to Southeast Asia and Hong Kong’s underserved consumers. We are excited to take the AsiaKredit platform beyond the Philippines in the next phase of our growth,” said Mike Singh, co-founder and CEO of AsiaKredit.

In the last year alone, GoBear has seen its revenue from consumer finance products increase by over 100%. By giving its users more access to financial products and services, GoBear will be able to leverage this data and insights from both banking and insurance verticals to better assess and price risk.

The result is the development of more appropriate financial products with partners to match consumer needs in the region.

“With AsiaKredit as part of the GoBear family, we will be in a stronger position to fulfill our mission of improving the financial health of the underserved across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. GoBear and AsiaKredit, together with our banking partners, will be able to offer millions of consumers access to an alternate source of credit and ethical lending,” added Adrian Chng, CEO of GoBear.

VLF 2020 goes on virtual stage in time of Covid

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HE Virgin Labfest braves a new front and adjusts to new realities as the playwrights, directors and actors take a further leap of faith to bring the annual festival of untried, untested and unstaged works on a virtual stage. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the theater festival will have its lockdown edition, slated on June 10 to 28, 2020.

Dubbed“VLF 2020 KAPIT: Lab in the Time of Covid (A Virtual Labfest Lockdown Edition),” the 16th edition will feature nine new works, three revisited works, and six staged readings.

The nine main performances are: “Doggy” by Dustin Celestino, directed by Roobak Valle; “Pilot Episode” by Floyd Scott Tiogangco, directed by Giancarlo Abrahan; “Dapithapon” by Jay Crisostomo IV, directed by Sigmund Roy Pecho; “Papaano Turuan ang Babae Humawak ng Baril” by Daryl Pasion, directed by Erika Estacio; “BlackPink” by Tyron Casumpang, directed by Jethro Tenorio; “Multiverse”by Juliene Mendoza, directed by Fitz Edward Bitana; “Titser Kit” by Jobert Grey Landeza, directed by Adrienne Vergara; “Mayang Bubot sa Tag-araw” by Mark Norma Boquiren, directed by Mark Mirando; and, “Gin Bilog” by Luisito Nario, directed by James Harvey Estrada.

In “Doggy,” a man's fiancee’s sexual peculiarity becomes his source of repressed anger. Frustrations surface after a game of "Never Ever Have I Ever," when he learns that his fiancee was more sexually adventurous with her previous lovers.

“Pilot Episode” shows a young gay man who just quit his job through a text message, and how his parents attempt to de-escalate his extreme manic-depressive episode.

“Dapithapon” follows the story of three boys in their senior high school years who have to confront their greatest fears in a single day: flunking out of school, impossible parental expectations, and an unhealthy infatuation with a teacher. They fervently cling to one another and try fruitlessly to preserve their friendship before they are forever parted by circumstance.

Returning home from an encounter against the NPA, a man reunites with his pregnant wife in “Papaano Turuan ang Babae Humawak ng Baril.” The sweet homecoming turns out to be the complete opposite when the wife is confronted with her husband’s impossible request.

In “BlackPink,” a father discovers that his youngest son who is a staunch fan of Blackpink was prohibited by his school principal to dance “Kill This Love” in their Family Day talent contest, and the only way for him to join the competition is if he finds other male students to dance with him. Will he be able to join the Family Day and dance the BlackPink hit song?

“Multiverse” reunites two estranged brothers - a writer and a recovering alcoholic. The two reconnect through their mutual love of comic books. As they discuss the concept of

alternate realities and dimensions prevalent in most comic book stories, they imagine how much better their relationship would have been in another reality. What if a different reality slowly reveals itself to the two estranged siblings?

When a young student gets into trouble in his new school and becomes what punishment the Principal might sanction him with, he hides inside a dilapidated storage room. He feels safe until “Titser Kit” finds him there.

“Mayang Bubot sa Tag-araw” is a painful tale of two Ayta children whose friendship is tested as they choose different paths. One follows her mother as she seeks the American dream, never thinking of who is hurt along the way. The other remains with their people, working always against oppression.

In “Gin Bilog,”old issues are rehashed in a drinking session of family and friends.

The Revisited Plays include: “Fangirl” by Herlyn Alegre, directed by Charles Yee; “Anak Ka Ng” by U Z Eliserio, directed

by Maynard Manansala; and “Wanted: Male Boarders” by Rick Patriarca, directed by George De Jesus III. Catch the Staged Readings: “Jenny Li” by Buch Dacanay, directed by Nour Hooshmand; “Dominador Gonzales National Artist” by Dingdong Novenario, directed by Joel Bunny Cadag; “LadyMasters” by Rouchelle Dinglasan, directed

by Joy Cerro; “Matira ang Matibay” by Bernice Dacara, directed

by Alon Segara; “Bagahe” by Nicko de Guzman, directed by Joel Saracho; “Mongoloida’s Casa de Pun” by Claro delos Reyes, directed by Guelan Luarca.

There will be a VLF Playwright's Fair, one of the components of the theater festival. A collaboration of the CCP Intertextual Division, the VLF Team and The Writers’ Bloc’s Rody Vera, the fair features Filipino writers. There will be online discussion and digital marketing platform for the expertise, services, publications and other products of writers of theatrical productions.

The VLF Playwrights Fair is free and open to public. It will be held online every 7:00 p.m. during the VLF 2020.

Check the FB page of VLF 2020 for the complete line up of speakers and activities.

"The Virgin Labfest is here, and it remains strong and able to adjust to new realities. The festival has a firm fan base which has filled the CCP theaters year in and year out. Let's continue to tell our stories on the virtual stage," said festival director JK Anicoche.

Established in 2005, the Virgin Labfest is co-presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, its resident theater company Tanghalang Pilipino and the playwrights' group Writer's Bloc Inc. For more details, visit the CCP website and official social media accounts, and the VLF Facebook account.

Envoys&Expats BusinessMirror

B7 Thursday, May 7, 2020

South Korea sends essentials, relief goods contra Covid-19

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N top of South Korea’s generous assistance to the Philippines during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak, the Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-water) provided $8,100 worth of relief goods to the families residing around Angat Dam, a major national facility operated by Angat Hydropower Corp. (AHC) in Norzagaray, Bulacan.

Apart from the relief packages for the families, K-water also provided personal protective equipment to the local community’s health center to help protect the health emergency responders and frontliners from the disease.

“We, together with our partner SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., promise to provide continuous and uninterrupted operations of Angat Dam, since most parts of Metro Manila and Luzon rely on it for water supply and electricity,” K-water President Park Jae-hyeon said. “We are also providing emergency relief goods to [commiserate] with residents of the dam area.”

In response to K-water’s humanitarian action, AHC President Kim Bong-jae remarked, “We appreciate the support and responsible interest of K-water.” He proceeded with a promise that AHC will continue to

support the responsible operations of the Angat Dam facilities and the healthy life of the residents.

The AHC is a joint venture between K-water and SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. Since 2014, the two companies have been handling the management and operations of Angat Dam, which is responsible for 97 percent of the water supply in Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, the Embassy of South Korea expects its recent delivery of 350 metric tons of rice to help Filipinos who were affected by the aftermath of the earthquakes and typhoons in late 2019, as well as the ongoing Covid-19 malady.

Late in April, South Korea had also initially provided humanitarian assistance worth $500,000 (about P25.38 million) of Covid-19 Q-Sens test kits, which can yield 35,000 tests from 700 units, at 50 tests per

AMBASSADOR of the Republic of Korea Han Dong-man (second from right) led the ceremonial turnover of his government’s donation of rice to the Philippines on April 24. With Han are Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Joselito D. Bautista (from left), Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar and National Food Authority Administrator Judy Carol L. Dansal. EMBASSY OF SOUTH KOREA FACEBOOK PAGE

K-WATER and AHC officials during the recent turnover of relief goods KOREAN CULTURAL CENTER

kit. They are compatible with local Covid-19 testing systems, according to the embassy.

The East Asian country previously shared its know-how and its model in flattening its domestic Covid-19 curve by hosting various web seminars for Philippine officials and experts. Its embassy in Manila had also actively helped a number of local government units with their respec-

tive requirements.

For its part, the Philippine government has provided ready assistance to facilitate South Korea’s own repatriation efforts for its stranded nationals.

There were about 1.98 million tourists from the said country who visited the archipelago in 2019. With reports from the Embassy of South Korea Facebook page/PNA

‘On our King’s Day, we say “Thanks!” to PHL’

By Saskia de Lang

Ambassador of the Netherlands

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EAR Facebook followers, lieve landgenoten in de Filipijnen.

Our national day celebrates H.M. King Willem Alexander’s birthday.

This day unites the Dutch at home and abroad in a country that prides itself for its tolerance, security and prosperity.

For the first time since 1945, we cannot celebrate as usual, with music, boat rides, leisurely street parties and spontaneous flea markets. But we would not be Dutch if we had not found a way to mark the occasion through chiming of bells, online concerts, flea markets, parties and a national toast to the King’s health at 4 p.m. local time in the Netherlands.

DE LANG NONOY LACZA

In Manila, our national day is the occasion to celebrate our relations

with the Philippines, which go back to just after World War II. We share strong investments in banking, energy, water and agriculture, and food production. Our maritime sectors are intertwined, and the Dutch airline KLM supports an intensive exchange of visitors—both professionals and tourists—and translates into valued people-to-people relations.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has hit both our countries. I would like to thank the government of the Philippines for its response and active help in ferrying stranded tourists from the islands. Thanks to the cooperation under the flag of the European Civil Protection mechanism, thousands of stranded Europeans, including Dutch nationals, managed to fly

safely back home. And we hope that more nationals will benefit.

We are now eagerly awaiting the end of the lockdown, when we can start to work on the follow-up of our first-ever bilateral consultations in January 2020, when our consular work will get up to speed again, and when we can refocus our activities in the field of sustainability with the Dutch and Philippines’s private sector.

However, caution, flexibility and creativity will be required to avoid putting people at risk in our daily work and lives. We are counting on our partners in the Netherlands and the Philippines to make it work in a new and safe way.

With this hope for better times ahead, I wish you all a very happy King’s Day! Lang leve de Koning!

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Vietnam donates PPEs via tycoon, philanthropist

FOREIGN Affairs Assistant Secretary Meynardo L.B. Montealegre (from left), Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., Embassy of Vietnam’s Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Nguyen Hong Hanh, IMEX Pan Pacific Group President Henry Serrano Nguyen, and Embassy of Vietnam’s First Secretary Vu Anh Son NILO PALAYA/DFA

V

IETNAMESEbusinesstycoon and philanthropist Johnathan Hanh Nguyen recently donated more than 750,000 masks and 16,500 personal protective suits to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to help protect the agency’s frontliners against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections.

Nguyen, chairman and founder of IMEX Pan Pacific Group (IPPG), was instrumental in establishing the first direct flight between Ho Chi Minh and Manila in 1985.

Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. received the donations from Nguyen’s son and IPPGPhilippines President Henry Serrano Nguyen during a turnover ceremony

on April 29 at the DFA headquarters.

During the ceremony, Locsin expressed his gratitude for the Nguyens’ generous and valuable donation of personal protective equipment deemed essential to the ongoing efforts of the DFA not just in bringing home thousands of OFWs and overseas Filipinos from all over the world, but also in assisting the repatriation of stranded foreign nationals in the Philippines.

Nguyen arranged a chartered flight to bring the donation to the Philippines, and was made possible through the timely assistance of the Department of Finance, Bureau of Customs and other government agencies. DFA

France boosts SE Asia labs vs pandemic

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N additional grant of €2 million has just been awarded by the French Development Agency (FDA) implemented by Institut Pasteur foundation, which aims to strengthen the surveillance, diagnosis and response systems of Southeast Asian countries to epidemics.

This new funding will provide additional support, enabling the five partner-countries of the region, including the Philippines, to cope with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

Due to significant disparities in health systems both nationally and regionally, Southeast Asia is at high risk as Covid-19 continues to spread. Although only 755 cases were confirmed in the area in the first two months of the outbreak, a second wave of contagion began in mid-March, leading to more than 6,000 cases, suggesting that major challenges lie ahead.

In line with the commitments made by French President Emmanuel Macron, the FDA is mobilizing to respond to this global health emergency. Within the framework of the “Covid-19: Health in Common” initiative launched on April 9, additional financing was allocated on April 28 to a project coordinated by Institut Pasteur called ECOMORE II,

which stands for Economic Development, Ecosystem Modifications, and Emerging Infectious Diseases Risk Evaluation. With those in the Philippines, it aims to support frontline laboratories in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam in the fight against Covid-19.

“It is essential to delay the peak of the epidemic in Southeast Asia as much as possible, as recommended by the World Health Organization, by supporting partner-countries monitoring policies and strategies pertaining to the spread of the virus through laboratory capacitybuilding,” said Regional Director Yazid Bensaïd.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, seven laboratories will receive direct support for procuring additional equipment and diagnostic kits, protecting personnel, reinforcing human resources, training and skills transfer, deploying mass diagnosis strategies complementing current molecular diagnosis, and supporting data processing in partnership with France’s Institute of Research for Development to strengthen surveillance of the epidemic. In the Philippines, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine will benefit from this support.

Embassy, Pinoy community laud UAE for aid to frontliners Japan decorates Accra Law Of Counsel

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BU DH A BI—Philippine A m b a s s a d o r Hj a y c e e lyn M. Quintana led the 650,000-strong Filipino community in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in thanking their host country for sending medical aid for the use of the frontliners in the Philippines fighting the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

The UAE government said that 7 metric tons of much-needed medical supplies arrived in Manila on April 29 via a chartered plane.

Embassies in Abu Dhabi and Manila coordinated respectively for the delivery and acceptance of the humanitarian aid.

In thanking the UAE, Quintana said that, “This medical assistance in the time of Covid-19 is only the latest of numerous instances in which the UAE has come to the aid of the Filipino people.”

Quintana recalled that in November 2013, the Emirates donated $10 million to victims of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) in the Philippines, as directed by the UAE’s president, His

Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Earlier this year, the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) launched a campaign with the Philippine Embassy to aid 200,000 displaced families affected

by the Taal Volcano eruption, upon the directives of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

About two weeks ago, the ambassador and ERC representatives distributed food boxes donated by the latter to Filipino residents in the UAE affected by Covid-19 and other vulnerable groups who were unable to fill their food supply due to restrictions.

According to Quintana, “The Philippines has witnessed, time and again, that the UAE is a genuine friend at crucial times; therefore, our leaders and the Filipino people will always remember [the Emirates’s] gesture of kindness, generosity, and humanity, especially at this time when all countries have their challenges to overcome.” DFA

T

HE government of Japan announced on April 29 the conferment of “The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon” on Atty. Eusebio V. Tan, Of Counsel at Accra Law, in recognition of his valuable contribution in strengthening the economic relations between Japan and the Philippines.

As a highly regarded lawyer, the Embassy of Japan said Atty. Tan has been promoting the Philippines as an investment destination to Japanese companies. In 2012 and 2013, he served as cochairman of the Philippines-Japan Economic Cooperation Committee (PHILJEC) and led several bilateral dialogues on trade and investment.

During the 30th Joint Meeting of the PHILJEC in 2012, Atty. Tan highlighted and emphasized the Philippines as a strategic location for a diversified manufacturing base. After the gathering attended by various key government officials from

ATTY. Eusebio V. Tan ACCRALAW/EMBASSY OF JAPAN both countries, several Japanese electronic companies announced their placement of investments in the Philippines.

Atty. Tan has also been providing the Embassy of Japan with legal advice needed in its work to promote bilateral relations, according to the embassy.

The Japanese government extends its sincere congratulations to Atty. Tan, and hopes that he will continue to take an active role in further strengthening the close ties between the two nations.

Sports BusinessMirror

B8 Thursday, May 7, 2020

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph / Editor: Jun Lomibao

HARASSED, YELLED AT, JEERED

The long-awaited return to practice amid the coronavirus pandemic wasn’t as pleasant as some Spanish athletes had hoped.

PEOPLE exercise in Madrid after Spaniards were able to go outdoors for the first time in seven weeks since the lockdown began to battle the coronavirus outbreak. AP

M

ADRID—Some got jeered. Others were yelled at by people on their balconies. Many received disapproving looks.

The long-awaited return to practice amid the coronavirus pandemic wasn’t as pleasant

Sun lodges appeal with Swiss tribunal against 8-year ban

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ANNED Chinese swimmer Sun Yang appealed to the Swiss Federal Tribunal in a last-ditch attempt to overturn his eight-year doping suspension and compete at Tokyo 2020.

According to The Australian, lawyers for the disgraced three-time Olympic champion filed an appeal against the decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) a day before the deadline last week.

The 28-year-old was given the maximum length of suspension he could have received by the CAS after one of his entourage smashed his blood vial with a hammer during a row with drug testers in September 2018.

The CAS upheld an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) against a decision from the International Swimming Federation Doping Panel to let Sun off with a warning. The ruling came after a public hearing in the case took place in Montreux in November.

A member of Sun’s legal team said earlier this year that he would appeal the ruling to the Swiss Federal Tribunal shortly after the verdict was announced in February.

The Tribunal only rules based on potential procedural issues and on human rights, and will not make a judgement on the CAS panel’s interpretation of the law.

The 11-time world champion denies wrongdoing and claimed the officials who arrived to test him at his home on the night which is likely to cost him his career did not have the correct credentials.

But the CAS panel agreed with Wada that the accreditation of the doping control officer at the center of the row, which led to the vial being smashed, were in line with international standards.

In its verdict, the CAS said Sun had “failed to establish that he had a compelling justification to destroy his sample collection containers.”

The decision rules Sun out of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, and his appeal represents his last-chance attempt to be eligible to compete at the event. Insidethegames

as some Spanish athletes had hoped.

High-performance athletes were allowed to resume training in Spain this week after nearly two months of confinement, but some reported being harassed by local residents who thought they were breaking confinement rules.

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HILIPPINE Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner Willie Marcial said the league could do nothing than wait for instructions from the government on how sports would return from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases prohibits events that attracts large crowds to curb the spread of the virus. As a result, the PBA and all other leagues in the country have to abide by the task force’s guidelines and protocols.

Marcial said that the PBA, a certified magnet to fans anywhere in the country, is considered a high risk event.

“It’s sad, but that’s the reality,” Marcial said. “It

The government has eased some of the lockdown measures that have been in place because of the pandemic, but restrictions on exercising still apply for most of the population, including specific time frames in which people from different age groups can go outside.

Professional and high-performance athletes are an exception and can exercise at any time, though some people didn’t like seeing them out on the streets outside the permitted time slots for the rest of the population,

PBA ON WAIT-AND-SEE STANCE would be hard to bring back sports because for one, there’s the social distancing issue to be followed.”

Marcial said that he will not put the safety of the players, officials and fans in danger by making a hasty decision. The league, he said, will decide in August after the Board of Governors has evaluated the situation.

“One can say our players are strong enough to be hit by Covid-19. Yes, they have strong immunity, but the problem lies when they go home and they might transfer the virus to their families. It’s a big concern,” he said.

The IATF is scheduled to lift the enhanced community quarantine on May 15, although observers believe the protocols would remain under a general community quarantine scenario where the public will embrace the “new normal” of observing public distancing, wearing of face masks and the prohibition of mass gatherings.

PBA officials met online over the weekend and decided not to hold any game or activity and will decide in August whether to resume the season or scrap it all together.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Spanish tennis club mistakenly allows Djokovic to train SO it wasn’t Novak Djokovic’s fault after all. AP

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ADRID—The tennis club where Novak Djokovic broke confinement rules in Spain said Tuesday it mistakenly allowed the top-ranked Serb to practice and apologized for the error.

Djokovic published a video of him training on Monday in apparent violation of Spain’s current rules amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The video posted on Instagram showed Djokovic exchanging shots with another man at the club in the coastal city of Marbella, where the Serb has been staying for the past several weeks.

Djokovic filmed the video while hitting shots and wrote he was “so happy to play on clay...well, just for a bit with my phone in the hands.”

Spain has eased some of the lockdown measures that had been in place since mid-March, allowing professional athletes to return to practice, but most training centers and sports facilities must remain closed until next week.

“We are sorry that our interpretation of the regulation could have been erroneous, and this could have inconvenienced Mr. Djokovic or any other citizen acting in good faith,” the Puente Romano Marbella Tennis Club said in a statement.

The statement, which was relayed by Djokovic’s management team, said the club received a request from the player to practice and gave him the go-ahead with the “understanding that from May 4 all professional sports players were authorized to train.” The club said it therefore believed he was “permitted to train in our facilities.”

It said it later received a “clarification” from the Spanish tennis federation and “both parties have agreed that training should resume” only next week.

Rafael Nadal said he also went to train on a court this week, but he did it on private property because the rules weren’t fully clear to him.

Soccer players were among the exceptions who could start training inside sports facilities beginning this week. AP

Fighters see UFC 249 as chance to spread hope, inspiration

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HEN the UFC leads North America’s major sports back into action Saturday night with a pay-per-view show in Florida, Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje know they can’t do anything tentatively.

“We’ve got to go out there and keep sports alive,” Ferguson said Tuesday after he flew into Jacksonville and was quickly tested for

either because they didn’t know the rules or because they didn’t recognize the athletes.

“I’ve never been looked at so badly and heard so many negative comments,” Spanish sprinter Cristina Lara wrote on Twitter. “They also jeered some of my colleagues. It looks like we will have to go out with signs identifying ourselves.”

Lara said she went out at about 10:30 a.m., which is a time reserved for the elderly. Children can go out with a parent from noon to 7 p.m., while others can leave their homes from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. or from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., always while staying within a kilometer (0.6 miles) from their residences.

Spanish long-distance runner Carlos Mayo also went out during the time reserved for the elderly on Monday. He told Spanish radio network COPE that he was asked why he was running at that time.

“Of the nearly 50 people that I crossed paths with today, the majority of them older than 65 because that’s when they could go out, five verbally called my attention, including a lady who yelled at me from her balcony,” he wrote on Twitter.

Spanish marathon runner Javier Guerra said he was told by people on the streets that he was a bad example.

“From what I’m seeing, I wasn’t the only one who got reprimanded while going out to practice,” he wrote on Twitter. “Being a high-performance athlete, I can practice at any time during the day, but apparently that is not enough.... We understand that this is an extreme situation, but we always have to respect each other.”

Other Spanish athletes who complained of harassment while practicing included steeplechase runner Irene Sánchez Escribano and long-distance runner Ignacio Fontes.

Athletes always must go out carrying the proper documentation showing that they are allowed to be out, otherwise they can be subjected to fines.

Soccer players from the first and second divisions are among the few athletes who can already train inside sports facilities and training centers, which have been closed since Spain entered a lockdown in mid-March to contain the spread of the virus that has already killed more than 25,000 people in the southern European nation.

Some of the sports facilities and training centers are expected to reopen next week in most parts of the country as the government continues to ease some of the restrictions while the numbers of confirmed Covid-19 cases decrease.

Tennis player Novak Djokovic apparently broke confinement rules on Monday for going onto a tennis court in the Spanish city of Marbella. The tennis federation had said players are not yet allowed to practice on courts. AP

Covid-19.

The 24 fighters at UFC 249 all realize they added another risk to their already hazardous professions when they agreed to compete amid the growing coronavirus pandemic. While the UFC has strict safety protocols in place, no one can be certain of the dangers involved when the mixed martial

arts promotion returns from an eight-week break with three shows in eight days in Jacksonville.

Ferguson and Gaethje both believe their risks are outweighed by the sporting rewards they will reap and the example they will provide when they fight for the interim UFC lightweight title in a fan-free arena.

Nadal: I think 2020 has been practically lost RAFAEL NADAL is pessimistic about the return of competitive tennis this year.

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ADRID—If given the option, Rafael Nadal said he would scrap this season entirely so tennis could resume normally in 2021.

The second-ranked Spaniard, who is 33 years old and has won 19 Grand Slam titles, said he hoped to resume playing this year but doubted it could happen because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I would sign up right now just to being ready for 2021,” Nadal said in interviews with El País and other Spanish newspapers published Tuesday. “I’m more concerned with the Australian Open than with what happens later this year. I think 2020 has been practically lost. I’m hopeful of being able to start next year.”

Nadal said the logistical difficulties of having to move people from country to country for tournaments make it hard for tennis to resume safely amid the pandemic.

“Sadly, I’m not going to lie to you, the feeling is that we are losing a year of our lives,” Nadal said. “And at 33, 34 years old, that is more valuable than at 20, when you have more time ahead of you.”

Nadal recently said he was concerned with the risk of new injuries when players return to action after a long time without

proper training. The Spaniard has had to deal with a series of injuries throughout his career and expects his body to struggle again when competitions finally resume.

Nadal also complained about “confusing” information regarding the return to practice of tennis players in Spain. He said he went to train on a private court because it wasn’t clear to him whether he could practice normally after the government eased some of the lockdown measures that have been in place in the country since mid-March.

Professional and high-performance athletes have been allowed to resume practicing at any time this week, but sports facilities and training centers are to remain closed, with some exceptions for soccer clubs and a few other sports.

Novak Djokovic apparently broke confinement rules on Monday for going onto a tennis court at a club in the Spanish city of Marbella. The tennis federation had said players are not yet allowed to practice on courts.

“It’s not clear to me whether I can go practice or not,” Nadal said.

He said he won’t be able to use the main courts at his tennis academy in Mallorca because there are still 85 kids confined there.

“Nobody can get in there,” Nadal said. AP

“We’re going to bring a sense of normalcy to people,” Gaethje said in a phone interview.

“I’m proud to be a part of it. It’s the opportunity to inspire. People need to be inspired right now. They need to not let themselves become depressed [or] emotional because they can’t control what’s going on right now. We’ve got to ride it through. They need to be inspired, and we can do that.”

“I honestly had no reservations,” Ferguson added. “Fighting is very dangerous, so I think

we’ll be just fine.”

The UFC never wanted to stop competition while the pandemic grew, and President Dana White was never short of fighters willing to compete, while he scrambled desperately to keep holding fight cards amid the unprecedented public health crisis. Now that White has found a state and an athletic commission willing to host him, UFC 249 will be followed by additional shows on May 13, May 16 and probably May 23 from Jacksonville. AP