BusinessMirror October 11, 2021

8-MO DEBT PAYMENTS 95% OF FULL-YEAR 2020

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Monday, October 11, 2021 Vol. 17 No. 3

P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 20 pages |

By Cai U. Ordinario

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@caiordinario

HE country’s debt payments as of August rose by nearly 20 percent year on year and are almost on a par with the figure recorded for the whole of 2020, according to data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

The BTr data showed debt payments grew 19.56 percent to P909.411 billion in January to August 2021 from P760.654 billion in the same period last year.

The figure posted in the January to August period was already 94.49 percent of the full-year debt payments worth P962.466 billion in 2020.

Total amortization payments in the January to August period reached P617.92 billion in 2021, 25.84 percent higher than the P491.045 billion posted in the same period last year.

Interest payments, meanwhile, amounted to P291.491 billion in January to August 2021, 8.12 percent higher than the P269.609 billion interest payments made in the same period last year.

In the full year of 2020, amortization payments made reached a total of P582.054 billion while interest payments reached P380.412 billion.

Lower in August

MEANWHILE, in August 2021, debt payments contracted 50.73 percent to P75.086 billion from P152.396 billion.

Continued on A9

A BOY in Las Piñas City starts early as he sells boiled eggs to passersby on J. Tionquiao Road, with the shimmering holiday colors serving as his background, mirroring everyone’s hopes for a Merry Christmas, despite the pandemic. NONIE REYES

DELETING ACCOUNTS NOT At travel and tech forum, need SURE WAY TO KEEP OUT for ‘human touch’ underscored BIR, INFLUENCERS TOLD

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ELETING social media accounts that allowed them to earn money will not prevent the national government from taxing social media influencers, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

Finance Assistant Secretary Dakila Napao told reporters that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) can resort to third-party information to run after social media influencers who may have deleted their accounts and those who have yet to register.

Napao said as of September 15, there are 105 individual influencers and content creators. He said online retailers and service providers who have registered reached 2,282 as of September 15.

“I think there is that tool in the

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.7330

tax code whereby the BIR can get information from the third party so the third-party information mechanism can be relied upon by the BIR in coming after those media influencers that maybe perhaps deleted their accounts and those that did not register yet to the BIR system,” Napao explained.

“I understand that the regulation also provides for mechanism on exchange of information involving those media influencers earning income even outside of the country so there is also that mechanism that can be availed by the BIR under that tax treaties.

They can invoke that. The exchange of information rule,” he added.

Continued on A2

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

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OTS, travel apps, and QR codes. Many of these digital technology innovations were adopted by the tourism industry struggling to survive in the Covid-19 pandemic. But many of the tourism leaders who spoke at the recent government-led Tourism and Technology Forum (TTF 2021) underscored the importance of the “human touch” and “face-to-face” interactions in reopening the industry.

They also batted for just one app to serve the needs of the travelers, whether it be for entry requirements or contact-tracing. TTF 2021, with its theme, “Securing

tomorrow today with digitech,” is a project of the Department of Tourism and its marketing arm, the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB).

Margie Munsayac, chair of the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association Inc. said, “Government sites must have the latest information for travelers 24/7,—what are the present protocols with regards to travel bookings, entry requirements, etc.” She cited the case of Maribago Bluewater Resorts, where she is Vice President for Sales and Marketing, which has a “24/7 front office, allowing guests to talk to humans, instead of a chatbot. The human touch is very important.”

This was seconded by Jose C. Clemente III, president of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines: “On-

line travel and tour operators take away business from us [brick-andmortar agencies].” But he added that many people “get frustrated also with technology. There’s always a place for the human factor; it’s still a necessity.” Yet he noted there were ways for digital technology and humans to co-exist, “such as in booking platforms and payments systems.”

One app to end all apps

FOR his part, Cesar R. Cruz, president of the Philippine Tour Operators Association reported anew that his members have already been repackaging tours that will involve land travel, as many tourists are still hesitant to fly.

n JAPAN 0.4546 n UK 69.0831 n HK 6.5171 n CHINA 7.8680 n SINGAPORE 37.3586 n AUSTRALIA 37.0960 n EU 58.6423 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5281

Continued on A2

Source: BSP (October 8, 2021)

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, October 11, 2021

UP, ROTC alumni rue PHL crisis: ‘Can’t go on like this’

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By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

GROUP of graduates from the University of the Philippines and its Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) asked Filipinos to “vote out” in next year’s elections those government officials and other candidates running for public office whom they branded as “complicit in the plunder and rape” of the country.

The UP and its ROTC alumni led by former DICT undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr. (Class 1965) denounced corruption in the government, extrajudicial killings and violations of human rights and the issue of sovereignty, and stressed the “country cannot go on like this.”

“We believe that at the rate the government is wantonly wasting our financial resources and lining the pockets of connected individuals and nationalities, we are again becoming the ‘Sick Man of Asia’ and returning to the previous years of crony capitalism and kleptocracy,” the group said.

“We are headed to become a ba-

nana republic where incompetence, corruption, and crime are tolerated in exchange for loyalty to the powers that be,” it added.

The statement was signed by at least 24 UP and ROTC alumni, who declared that the country was in “crisis.”

“We believe that our sovereignty has been compromised,” the alumni declared through Rio, noting that “Chinese interlopers” have already occupied and exploited the country’s territory, with the Duterte administration not doing enough to address this travesty, in “blatant disregard of its Constitutional mandate.”

“President Rodrigo Duterte him-

self called the landmark Hague ruling [a legal victory for our sovereignty] a worthless piece of paper.

Worse, the President unilaterally granted fishing rights to the Chinese to the detriment of our largely poor and marginalized fishermen,” they added.

As such, Filipinos are “being chased out of our waters by the Chinese.”

Rio and the other UP-ROTC graduates, most of whom had served in the military, declared that corruption under the current administration is very pervasive, to the detriment of poor Filipinos.

They cited the case of the undercapitalized startup trading firm Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., which Senate probers found had links to Duterte friend and former economic adviser Michael Yang. It bagged P11 billion in negotiated contracts for pandemic-related supplies.

Rio retired with the rank of a colonel in the military and had served as undersecretary with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

“We believe that graft and corruption in the Government are blatantly being committed on a massive scale. It is even more appalling that billions of taxpayers’ money has not been properly allocated to fend off the disastrous effects of the

Covid-19 pandemic on the poor and marginalized Filipinos,” they said.

The group deemed more “despicable” Duterte’s attack on senators investigating Pharmally, instead of supporting the inquiry.

“With the recent issuance of a patently unconstitutional Executive Order prohibiting his Cabinet Secretaries and other Executive officials from attending and giving testimonies in the Senate inquiry, and ordering the Philippine National Police and other government agencies to disregard and ignore the Senate proceedings, the President is recklessly fomenting a constitutional crisis and contemptuously discarding the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances enshrined in our Constitution,” the alumni said.

“We stand by the Senate of the Philippines in discharging its duties as a co-equal branch of Government in its quest to ferret out the truth in this inquiry and hold accountable those who abused their authority at the expense of the Filipino people,” they added.

“As a result of the crippling effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ineptitude of the Government’s response, our economy shrank by 9.5 percent in 2020, the worst economic decline in Philippine history since 1947,” they said.

PHL TO SEE MORE BIRTHS AFTER PANDEMIC–POPCOM

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

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OST-PANDEMIC Philippines could see an uptick in the number of births similar to what happened after the Second World War, according to the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom).

Undersecretary for Population and Development (POPDEV) Juan Antonio Perez III said as Filipinos learn to live with Covid-19, there could be a rebound in terms of marriages, pregnancies, and births.

However, Perez said the increase will be more controlled as the trend in the past decade of having smaller families could continue, especially with economic recovery still fragile.

“It will most likely approximate

and for some years exceed slightly pre-pandemic birth rates, but the trend in the last decade has been for smaller families and that will persist as the economy faces challenges,” Perez told BusinessMirror on Sunday.

“The difference [between the baby boom after the war] will be that couples have the choice of modern family planning methods this time while in the late forties they only had abstinence and delayed marriages,” he added.

The Popcom chief added that the country’s fertility rate is currently at 2.5 births per woman, from a high of 6 in the 1960s when there was no family planning program.

Living with Covid

“FILIPINOS will eventually learn to live with Covid-19. As such, we

may see increased births after the era of Covid, with family planning helping couples avoid unplanned pregnancies, unlike in the late 1940s and 1950s when there was no family planning program,” Perez said.

Based on the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), first quarter births showed a 24.8-percent decline to 268,833 births in 2021 compared to 357,510 births in 2020.

Marriages also declined 10.78 percent to 87,120 marriages in the first three months of 2021 from 97,650 marriages in the same period last year.

With this, Perez said, the slowing trend of marriages, pregnancies and childbirths will likely continue this year. He said this could lead to a lower addition to the country’s population by the

end of 2021.

“In general we are living in an abnormal time where social disruption will lead to demographic changes that were difficult to project 18 months ago. Now that we have demographic outcomes after a year, we can see some emerging tendencies,” Perez told this newspaper.

“Since the situation has not markedly improved nine months into the year it could be predictive of the year-end result, for births, marriages and deaths,” he added.

Perez said in a statement, however, that the data for the first quarter may also be lower due to delays in the registry of births, more so in the provinces, as midwives may have met difficulties in reporting them due to the pandemic.

Continued on A9

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DELETING ACCOUNTS NOT SURE WAY TO KEEP OUT BIR, INFLUENCERS TOLD Continued from A1

However, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III clarified that deleting social media accounts will not automatically mean these individuals will be treated as tax evaders. He said deleting social media accounts is not a crime.

Nonetheless, Dominguez assured the public that the government will still “go after” these social media influencers simply because “everybody has to pay tax.”

“We will still go after them whether or not they have a social media account because if they earn money and we have evidence that they have money. They have to pay the tax. It’s just hey everybody has to pay tax, guys.

Whatever source your income is,” Dominguez said.

Meanwhile, Napao said there has been no update from the BIR regarding the 250 social media influencers they have started investigating and whether the pool will be expanded to include more of these individuals.

However, Napao said the BIR is already looking into those social media influencers who have registered and could expand their investigation to those who have not registered.

Earlier, BIR said it will investigate an initial list of 250 socialmedia influencers to determine whether they are paying their taxes.

According to the BIR, they issued a “Letter of Authority” to each of these individuals the agency said are “top earners” in their field.

BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel SD Guballa said they are encouraging these individuals to register with the BIR. Guballa said in his report to the DOF executive committee meeting the BIR is also undertaking “profiling of over 250 personalities.”

The sending of letters of authority came after the BIR issued Revenue Memorandum Circular 97-2021 that accused these “influencers” as not paying income taxes despite earning huge sums from different platforms. Cai U. Ordinario

At travel and tech forum, need for ‘human touch’ underscored Continued from A1

But he appealed for government to create “just one digital platform” or app to allow tourists to seamlessly travel domestically. “Baguio has its own Visita app; I wonder why the other LGUs just didn’t adopt that,” he asked.

Baguio’s Visita app was funded by the TPB, which has also developed its own Travel Philippines app to update tourists on the latest destinations that are open and their entry requirements, aside from activities they can enjoy in these destinations. However, said app also has delays in updating travel information.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has already required all LGUs to use the StaySafe app for contact tracing.

However, it still has interoperability issues with LGU apps of the same nature.

Meanwhile, Joel Pascual, president of the Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers Inc. (Paceos), said many countries have already reopened to MICE (Meetings,

Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions). In Singapore for instance, “they believe business travelers can follow rules better than leisure travelers.”

MICE in SG

SPEAKING from the city-state where he is attending a conference on MICE, he said, when he arrived, “There is no inside airport experience” i.e., from immigration counters to baggage, all airport activities are held outside the terminals. “We were just told to register on an app for contact tracing, which we have to keep logged on until we leave Singapore.”

He added many MICE players in the conference said they have already “thrown out the idea of virtual conferencing. There is no replacement for personal interactions. And they are all waiting for us, the Philippines, to reopen.”

Singapore has strict rules on MICE, requiring participants to be vaccinated. But for those unvaccinated, there are limits in terms of the MICE size and number of delegates.

Economy BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, October 11, 2021 A3

‘E-commerce regulation a must to boost online transactions’

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By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

@TyronePiad

HE Philippines needs a regulatory framework ensuring the safety and security of online transactions to boost its e-commerce market share, a strategic advisory firm said.

YCP Solidiance Philippines Inc. Country Manager Anna Rellama said in a recent event that the consuming public needs reassurance that their

digital purchases are done in a safe manner to enhance confidence to ecommerce transactions.

“There’s still needs to be reassur-

ance,” Rellama said. “Maybe, perhaps, we would need some regulatory framework or some assistance that whatever you do online is a governed transaction that is safe, that is secure, and is not a scam.”

Amid lockdown measures to stem Covid-19 infection, more consumers have been transacting through digital marketplaces for their purchases due to mobility restrictions. Retailers and other enterprises, meanwhile, have shifted or improved their business models to cater to changing consumer behavior.

Rellama said that the country’s ecommerce market share still appears to be “small” given that the country is consumer-driven and has over 100

million population.

“This only means there’s a lot more room for e-commerce and digital solutions that will be supporting that to actually grow,” she said.

The YCP official explained that the country’s digital economy, however, could be bigger if all online merchants can facilitate all the processes of a purchase via digital platforms.

“In the Philippines, we still see a lot of people coordinating on Facebook for transaction, but still doing the transaction offline in a way. That’s good because we have that first step of doing the initial outreach and connection online.

But the next step is actually doing the payment transfer, that book-

ing, that purchase online directly,” she explained.

This is why there is also a need to urge more businesses to shift to online platforms, she said, but they need assistance like capacity building. Doing so can help fill in the gaps in the e-commerce sector, she added.

“They [merchants] can be aware of the solutions, but if they don’t have access to the needed funding, they need connections that can facilitate this,” Rellama said.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently released a draft of joint administrative order (JAO) aimed at enhancing consumer confidence in e-commerce trans-

actions. It is open for comments until October 15.

The proposed JAO seeks to instruct the online merchants and e-commerce platforms to adhere with the relevant laws, including the rules and regulation on the sale, distribution, production, importation, marketing, sale and transport of products. This is in in addition to improving protection for consumers transacting with online merchants.

Earlier, the trade department said that it aims to increase the contribution of the e-commerce industry to P1.2 trillion by 2022, which is equivalent to 5.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Salceda urges DOH to drop raffles, give vaccination allowance instead Central Bank launches

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

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NSTEAD of launching a raffle for those who will get vaccinated, the chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means on Sunday said the government should provide vaccination allowance or incentive for those who have to skip a work day just to get jabbed.

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Saleda issued the statement in response to the announcement by the Department of Health they will raffle off recipients of vaccines purportedly to encourage more

Filipinos to get inoculated against Covid-19.

But Salceda said “the problem is not the lack of some probability of winning a big prize.”

“The problem is, for many, they have to skip a work day just to get jabbed. For the average wage worker, that will cost them the day’s pay,” the lawmaker added.

Earlier this year, Salceda said he already proposed that the government give a day’s worth of minimum wage as a vaccine incentive.

“There are places where that’s being done already, like Davao City,” Salceda added.

“The point is, you compensate

for the trouble. Even with a raffle, for many working class Filipinos, foregoing a day’s wages is too much,” Salceda said.

Vaccine supplies

SALCEDA, meanwhile, also said that government needs to boost Bicol’s vaccine supply.

“Region-wide, we are just at 10 percent of the population vaccinated. That’s among the lowest in the country. We need help,” Salceda said.

The lawmaker also warned that “the lack of vaccines could threaten the strength of our response.”

“Look at the example of

Vietnam. They were among the best in the world for minimum health standards and nonpharmaceutical interventions.

They are now facing among the world’s worst surges because of a lack of vaccines, not because of neglect on the part of their government,” Salceda said.

The lawmaker added that “the point is, get more vaccines in regions that are under-vaccinated, because here, we are aching for vaccines.”

“In places that are starting to get saturated, of course vaccine demand will plateau,” Salceda said. “I assure you, get more vaccines in Bicol and you will see faster vaccination.”

regl econ confab series

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HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced it held its virtual Regional Macroeconomic Conference Series (RMCS) in Cebu City last week in line with its initiative to make the BSP more reachable to its stakeholders in the regions.

“This is one of our many continuing efforts to bring the BSP closer to the Filipino people. The regional conference is the first of a series that will be replicated nationwide,” BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno was quoted in a statement as saying.

The attendees of the maiden RMCS

included members of the banking community, MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprise) and the regional press. The conference provided a regional perspective to wider economic developments and tackled updates on the MSME sector, both in the context of current global health crisis.

“We zero in on MSMEs and our policy responses to keep as many businesses afloat during these uncertain times,” the Governor said. “MSMEs are thebackboneoftheeconomy.Measures to help them recover would redound to the resurgence of the country.”

The Nation

A4 Monday, October 11, 2021 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

PHL’s water stress increased to 3rd-highest level in 10 yrs

By Cai U. Ordinario

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@caiordinario

HILE it remained at the low-level classification, water stress levels in the country increased to its third-highest level in a decade, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Based on the PSA’s Water Flow Accounts data, the country’s water stress level slightly increased to 26.7 percent in 2020 from 26.3 percent in 2019. This is the third highest between 2010 and 2020.

The PSA said the highest water stress level in the country between 2010 and 2020 was observed in 2018 at 28.2 percent. This was followed by 2017 when the water stress level was at 28.06 percent and the 26.7 percent recorded last year.

“The annual level of water stress since 2010 consistently fell within the low-level classification range of 25 to 50 percent,” the PSA noted.

Based on the data, total fresh water extractions in 2020 reached 87,355.7 million cubic meters (mcm).

This is 1,488.56 mcm higher than

the 85,867.15 mcm posted in 2019.

The level of water stress is defined as freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources, the PSA explained.

Based on the Water Flow data, the country’s total water abstraction, or the amount of water that was removed from its source either permanently or temporarily, increased by 0.8 percent to 218.46 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2020, from 216.85 bcm in 2019.

The PSA said from 2010 to 2020, on the average, about 98.1 percent of the total abstraction was from surface water such as lakes, artificial reservoirs, rivers and streams; the remaining 1.9 percent came from groundwater reservoirs.

On the average, 98.6 percent of

the abstracted water was for own use while the remaining 1.4 percent was intended for distribution to other economic units.

Meanwhile, the PSA said during the 2010 to 2020 period, households consistently had the largest share of expenses on water. In 2020, households’ expenses on water amounted to P66.72 billion.

This was followed by the services sector and then mining and quarrying, manufacturing, and construction, amounting to P48.47 billion and P23.65 billion, respectively.

The data also showed that wateruse efficiency (WUE), “the value added per volume of water used,” decreased to P192.39 per cubic meter in 2020 from P217.42 per cubic meter of water used in 2019.

“The services sector consistently had the largest WUE from 2010 to 2020, followed by the industry sector and irrigated agriculture sector,” PSA said.

The data showed the services sector contributed 62.3 percent to the total gross value added but only accounted for 8.8 percent of the total water used.

On the other hand, the sectors of industry and irrigated agriculture correspondingly contributed 30.9 and 6.8 percent to the total gross value added while sharing 12.4 per-

cent and 78.8 percent to the total water used, respectively.

Last month, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said the Philippines needs to invest a total of P1.1 trillion in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on water supply and sanitation by 2030.

At the launch of the Philippine Water Supply and Sanitation Master Plan (PWSSMP) on Thursday, Neda Assistant Secretary for Investment Programming Roderick M. Planta said this means an annual investment of over P100 billion is needed between 2020 and 2030.

This amount has not been invested by the country before on the water and sanitation sector and Planta said this is the reason for the need to also provide incentives for other stakeholders in the sector.

The low investment has led to many problems in the water and sanitation sector. In his speech, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said only about 44 percent of households have individual connection to a proper, fullyreticulated waterworks system.

Chua added that the remaining 56 percent, or 57 million Filipinos, have to fetch water for their families from communal pipes or springs or wells up to 250 meters away.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

NPC orders LGUs to duly handle personal data in contact tracing

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @TyronePiad

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HE National Privacy Commission (NPC) ordered 58 loca l gover nment units (LGUs) this month to comply with the privacy laws in their enforcement of contact tracing efforts amid the recent reports of “smishing” attacks.

In a briefing over the weekend, Privacy Commissioner Raymund E. Liboro said the agency sent compliance letters to said LGUs, identifying the gaps they need to address.

Last month, NPC also did the same for 79 LGUs. Liboro said they received reports and complaints from the public regarding the handling of personal data shared in contact tracing. Among these pieces of information include name, contact number and address.

Apart from LGUs, Liboro said the NPC also reached out to restaurants, drug stores, supermarkets and other establishments to remind them of their responsibilities relating to contact tracing.

“Ang layon natin dito, pagtiwalaan ng ating mga mamamayan ’yung contact tracing effort na sinasagawa ng ating pamahalaan upang labanan itong Covid,” [Our goal is to instill trust in the public that contact tracing is being done to curb the spread of Covid-19],” he said.

His statements came after NPC received reports that unsolicited SMS

Navy gets surface-to-air missiles for two frigates

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

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HE Philippine Navy took delivery of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) for its two South Korean-built frigates as it build capability for modern multi-dimensional warfare.

Navy Spokesman Cdr. Benjo F. Negranza said the European-made Mistral SAMs for frigates BRP Jose Rizal (FF 150) and BRP Antonio Luna (FF 151) were delivered on Friday through the Subic Bay International Airport.

While the Navy did not say how many SAM units were procured, this is the first time that the Navy and even the Armed Forces of the Philippines has gotten hold of such type of weapon.

The Navy has already armed a couple of its multi-purpose attack craft (MPACs) with Israeli-made Spike-ER (extended range) missiles; but the arrival of the SAMs meant the military has joined the era of modern warfare.

The procurement and delivery of the Mistral SAMs is part of the Philippine Navy’s frigate-acquisition

project, which was awarded to MBDA Missile Systems Ltd. based in France, according to Negranza.

France is also leading the list of countries as the possible source of submarines for the Navy, which is currently in the process of capability upgrade under the modernization program of the whole military. “[The SAMs] are among the primary weapons of FF150 and FF151 that bolsters the PN’s anti-air warfare capability,” Negranza said. “The arrival of these missiles will greatly capacitate our JRC (Jose Rizal class) frigates in the conduct of their maritime operations.”

The Navy said the SAMs were the first delivery for arming of the two frigates. Both are also expected to receive their surface-tosurface missiles and their close-in weapon system.

The delivery and operation of the BRP Jose Rizal and BRP Antonio Luna jumpstarted the modernization of the Navy.

Once their required weapons and systems are delivered and operationalize, both warships can conduct anti-air, anti-surface, anti-submarine and electronic warfare.

PHL on track to receive 100M doses by end-Oct

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ALF of the more than 1.8 million doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines donated by the United States government through the Covax Facility arrived last Sunday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3; a boost to the government’s target to acquire a total of 100 million doses by the end of this month.

More than 14.2 million doses were delivered to the Philippines in the first week of October, with average daily arrivals hitting 1.5 million doses.

Vaccine Czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. was accompanied by US Embassy in Manila Chargé d’Affaires Heather Variava in welcoming the 918,450 doses, which arrived via Emirates Flight EK 332 at about 4 p.m.

On Monday, another 924,300

doses will arrive via the same flight and around the same time while the government-procured 272,610 doses are expected at about 9:20 p.m.

“We are very thankful that our 100 million target will be achieved considering that we have a faithful ally that really want to help us in this time of need. Again, on behalf of the Filipino people, we would like to thank the US government for its generosity and act of compassion in this time of pandemic,” Galvez said in a media interview.

Variava also reiterated Washington’s commitment to work with Manila in the vaccine rollout.

As of October 8, more than 49 million doses have been administered and 23 million individuals are already fully vaccinated. PNA

(short message service) messages were sent to mobile users, alleging their contact information were lifted from the contact tracing and health declaration forms.

This is a phishing attack called “smishing” whereby fraudsters send mobile text messages to victims, tricking them into clicking malicious web sites.

“The contents of these unsolicited messages reportedly include links that redirect to legitimate looking but fraudulent sites when clicked,” the NPC said. “These sites may steal users’ personal data, introduce mobile malware, and even commit fraud.”

The privacy watchdog noted that “smishing” can also be present in online shopping or delivery, sending a shortened link that leads to websites asking victims to provide their personal and banking information to complete the transaction.

As such, the commission told the public to be more vigilant of the cybersecurity attacks.

“One of the best ways users can arm themselves against ‘smishing’ attacks is to be aware of this kind of manipulation. Scrutinize the text messages you receive, especially if they come from an unknown number and request information about you,” Liboro advised.

Earlier reports noted that the accelerated shift to the digital platforms also fueled the surge in cyberattacks usually for financial gain on the part of the perpetrators.

Voter registration resumes until Oct. 30

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

A

SPIRING voters will have until the end of the month to register with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to participate in the 2022 polls.

The poll body resumed on Monday the voter registration after the end of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) and Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (Cona) filing last week.

In its Resolution 10720, the Comelec en banc decided to extend the voter registration beyond its original September 30 deadline.

The voter registration period will be from October 11 to October 30, 2021.

It will be held from Mondays to Fridays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on its last day, which will fall on a Saturday.

In a post on his Twitter account, Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez urged the public to avail of the extended registration period.

The Comelec noted that voter registration in the Office of the Election Officer (OEO) and in malls will be suspended in areas under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and only resume once the quarantine status is downgraded.

The poll body was initially against the extension since it could delay its preparation for the 2022 polls. But it decided to reconsider amid public clamor for a longer registration period.

Before the week-long deferment of the local voter registration, Comelec was already able to tally about 7,994,821 newly registered voters.

The W

Business

A6 Monday, October 11, 2021 | Editor: Angel R. Calso

Brazilians seek pre-pandemic lifestyle as deaths top 600,000

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AO PAULO—Bars in Sao Paulo are full again for evening happy hours, lawmakers in the capital of Brasilia have nearly done away with video sessions via Zoom, and Rio de Janeiro’s beaches are packed.

Calls for strict social distancing seem but a memory.

Brazil appears intent on returning to pre-pandemic normalcy, even as its death toll tops 600,000, according to official data on Friday from the health ministry. Relief in both Covid-19 cases and deaths have been particularly welcome given experts’ warnings that the Delta variant would produce another wave of destruction in the country with the secondmost victims. So far, that hasn’t materialized.

The country’s average daily death toll has hovered around 500 for a month, down sharply from more than 3,000 in April.

Almost 45% of the population is fully vaccinated, and a booster shot is being administered to the elderly. A greater percentage of Brazilians are at least partially vaccinated compared to Americans or Germans, according to Our World in Data, an online research site.

Improvement has encouraged mayors and governors to admit fans into soccer matches, and let bars and restaurants stay open

until the wee hours. Some are even contemplating the end of mask mandates, which people often ignore already.

Marcelo Queiroga, Brazil’s fourth health minister since the pandemic hit, suggested in a press conference on Friday that masks should not be mandatory.

“Why would I pass a law to force people to use condoms? Don’t even think of it,” he said.

Rio’s mayor has announced plans to bring back the city’s massive New Year’s Eve party on Copacabana beach.

Gonzalo Vecina, a professor of public health at the University of Sao Paulo, told The Associated Press in July that Delta, which is more contagious, would cause “a new explosion” of cases within weeks. He was hardly alone among experts sounding the alarm.

Now, Vecina believes the high number of Brazilians infected earlier this year with the gamma variant—first identified in the Amazonian city Manaus—may have slowed Delta’s advance.

“That isn’t a conclusion from a study; it is a possibility we are raising in the face of what we are seeing,” Vecina said.

“We are seeing Delta rise in countries that reopened just as much as Brazil, and our number of cases is still going down, with few very particular exceptions.”

Some analysts remain worried about Delta’s potential to spread. Among them is Miguel Lago, executive director of Brazil’s Institute for Health Policy Studies, which advises public health officials. He believes authorities are taking considerable risk by reopening too much and announcing celebrations, and that Brazil may soon see more hospital admissions.

“The pandemic has waned, but 500 deaths per day is far from good. And we don’t even have half the population fully vaccinated,” Lago said. “We just don’t know enough and we have this horrific milestone to contemplate now.”

Friday morning, on Copacabana where Rio’s New Year’s party will take place in less than three months, activist group Rio da Paz held a memorial on its sands to mourn the 600,000 dead, with hundreds of white kerchiefs strung on lines.

Across town, at a support group for family members of the virus’ victims, Bruna Chaves mourned the loss of her mother and step-father.

“It’s not just 600,000 people who are gone; it’s a lot of people who die with them, emotionally,” Chaves said in an interview. “It’s absurd that people treat it like it’s a small number. It’s a big number.”

Many in Brazil continue to downplay the pandemic’s severity, chief among them President Jair Bolsonaro, whose popularity has sagged largely due to his government’s chaotic pandemic response. But he hasn’t veered from his positions, including staunch

support for drugs proven ineffective against the virus, like hydroxychloroquine.

He also continues to criticize restrictions on activity adopted by mayors and governors, saying Brazil needed to keep the economy humming to avoid inflicting worse hardship on the poor. On Thursday night, during a live broadcast on Facebook, he showed a series of newspaper articles reporting economic turmoil in Europe and the US last year in an attempt to prove he was right all along.

Months after its New Year’s bash, Rio will also host Carnival, according to Mayor Eduardo Paes. And he said social distancing is out of the question.

“That would be ridiculous, asking people to keep one meter away. If that were the case, I would be the first to disrespect that,” he told residents in a middle-class neighborhood on Monday.

“Science has advanced, it won, it is allowing us to open.”

Brazil’s long history with vaccination campaigns has played a significant role in slowing the virus’ spread, with broad uptake. Nearly three-quarters of Brazilians have received at least one dose so far—despite the fact Bolsonaro spent months sowing doubt about their efficacy and remains unvaccinated himself.

Even most of his supporters rolled up their sleeves.

Queiroga said all Brazilians between ages 18 and 60 will be able to get vaccinated again next year. He added more than 354 million shots will be available.

Brazil’s population is of approximately 210 million.

“The scenario looks positive and I promise that Brazilians will have an efficient immunization campaign in 2022 and that will be the year the Covid-19 pandemic ends,” the minister said. AP

Demonstrators march in Rome to protest workplace vaccine rule

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OME—Thousands of demonstrators marched down Rome’s famous Via Veneto and other streets on Saturday, some smashing their way into a union office and clashing with police as they protested Italy’s new “Green Pass” vaccination requirement for employees to enter their offices.

The certification is mandatory beginning on Oct. 15 and applies to public and private workplaces. Both employees and employers r isk f ines if they don’t comply. Public sector workers can be suspended if they show up five times without a Green Pass. The pass is already required in Italy to enter museums, theaters, gyms and indoor restaurants, as well as to take long-distance trains and buses or domestic f lights.

The passes show that a person has had least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, or recovered from the virus in the last six months,

People gather in Piazza del Popolo square during a protest, in Rome on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021. Thousands of demonstrators protested Saturday in Rome against the Covid-19 health pass that Italian workers, both the public and private sectors, must display to access their workplaces from Oct. 15 under a government decree.

Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP

or has tested negative in the last 48 hours.

The protesters first held a noisy, authorized protest Satur-

day in Rome’s Piazza Del Popolo. Then they left the vast square and clashed with police as they headed through Villa Borghese Park and down the Via Veneto in an unauthorized march.

A few hundred protesters broke off and headed down another street in Rome’s historic main shopping district that ends near Premier Mario Draghi’s office in Chigi Palace. Police formed a line, aided by police vans, and sprayed water to thwart access to the seat of the Italian government.

Police swung at some demonstrators with batons. Many protesters in the front lines outside Chigi Palace raised their arms to indicate non-violence as they faced off with police. Others raised clenched fists or waved Italian flags and shouted “Freedom!” One banner read “Get your hands off [our] work.”

Rai State TV said demonstrators numbered at least 10,000, while organizers claimed 100,000 people. At least one

protester was injured, RAI said. Among the protesters were proponents of an extreme right-wing group, Forza Nuova, Italian media reported.

It’s “evident that neo-fascist groups hide behind the so-called anti-vaxxers,” Interior Minister Undersecretary Carlo Sibilia said.

Some protesters, armed with sticks and metal bars, smashed their way into the headquarters of CGIL, a left-leaning union, and trashed its office. Italy’s main labor federations have supported the Green Pass requirement as a way to keep factories and other workplaces operating safely during the pandemic, which has battered the Italian economy.

Draghi, meanwhile, pledged to go ahead with the government’s vaccination campaign. “ The right to demonstrate one’s ideas can never degenerate into acts of aggression and intimidation,” Draghi said in a statement. He denounced as unacceptable any kind of intimidation against unions, whom he described as “a fundamental garrison of democracy.”

“We won’t let ourselves be intimidated,’’ tweeted Federico D’Inca, the minister for parliamentary relations from the populist 5-Star Movement.

Draghi’s government has credited the Green Pass requirement for workplaces for a surge of recent vaccinations.

As of Saturday, 80% of people 12 and older in Italy—those eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine shot—have been fully vaccinated.

Right-wing leader Matteo Salvini, whose League party is a partner in Draghi’s wide-ranging coalition, pitched a plea Saturday to partially ease the Green Pass measure.

“Lengthen the minimum term of the Green Pass from 48 to 72 hours,” tweeted Salvini, calling that a step to “avoid chaos.” AP

Russian Nobel winner: Peace Prize is for my paper, not me

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OSCOW—As editor of Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov was well aware that his independent Russian newspaper—a persistent critic of the Kremlin, government corruption and human rights abuses in Russia— was seen as a top contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.

But the prestigious award wasn’t on his mind when the announcement came down that he’d been named cowinner. At the time Friday, Muratov was absorbed in an argument on the phone with a reporter, Elena Milashina.

“At that time, there were several calls from Oslo. But only a reckless person would say to Milashina ‘Wait, I’ll talk to Oslo and then you and I will quarrel,” Muratov said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

Finally, he was told by his paper’s spokeswoman that he had won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, along with journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines, for their fight for freedom of expression in countries where reporters have faced persistent attacks, harassment and even murder.

The 59-year-old Muratov was similarly casual, even sardonic, about the recognition of the prize that came from the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. In the radio interview, the host asked him for comment on Peskov’s statement.

Muratov said he hadn’t read it and the host offered to read it to him.

“Should I rise?” Muratov said, then heard that Peskov said “he is committed to his ideals, he is talented, he is brave.”

“All the above is certainly true,” Muratov responded.

Other reactions from Kremlin circles were far less generous.

“The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most controversial nominations of the Nobel Committee. Such decisions devalue the prize itself, it is already difficult to be guided by it,” said Dmitry Kiselev, whose weekly news magazine program on state TV is larded with paeans to Russian President Vladimir Putin and disdain for the opposition.

Considering how critical Novaya Gazeta has been toward Putin and his government, Peskov’s congratulatory words could be seen as determined spin control. They also likely reflect relief that the Norwegian Nobel Committee did not chose another Russian nominee for the Peace Prize — imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Navalny’s dramatic arrest this year when he returned from Germany after recuperating from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin gave him international prominence. Many of his supporters were disappointed that his bravery in confronting Russia’s government did not earn him the Nobel.

Lyubov Sobol, one of Navalny’s closest and most visible aides, congratulated Muratov on Twitter, but added that she believes Navalny is “the most important fighter for peace in our country.”

Muratov, though pleased by the recognition, agreed.

“I can tell you directly that if I were on the Nobel committee, I would have voted for him for his absolutely crazy courage,” he said.

Novaya Gazeta has courted controversy since its founding in 1993 by Muratov and other former colleagues at the news-

paper Komsomolskaya Pravda, the onetime organ of the Communist Youth League. The goal was to create “ an honest, independent, and rich publication that would influence national policy,” according to his citation for the 2007 International Press Freedom Award.

Although the Nobel has brought him intense international attention, Muratov has been at pains to downplay his personal prominence, saying repeatedly that he regards the award as being given to the whole paper and as a tribute to its six reporters or contributors who have been killed.

The most famous victim was Anna Politkovskaya, who reported on Russia’s Chechnya wars and was gunned down in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building in 2006.

Muratov’s Nobel award was announced one day after the 15th anniversary of her killing. Although six people were convicted of involvement in the shooting, whoever ordered it has not been identified and the statute of limitations on the case expired on Thursday.

Yuri Shchekochikhin, a reporter investigating corrupt business deals and the possible role of Russian security services in the 1999 apartment house bombings blamed on Chechen insurgents, died in 2003 of poisoning and the culprits were never found.

Anastasia Baburina was shot to death in 2009 after a news conference with a lawyer representing the family of a Chechen girl raped and murdered by a Russian military officer; the lawyer also died in the attack.

The paper and its journalists also have endured an array of threats, ranging from a severed goat’s head and funeral notices sent to the paper, to mysterious dustings of powder at the home of a reporter.

Prominent investigations at the paper in recent years include reporting on the alleged torture and murders of gay men by Chechen officials, publishing bodycam footage of Russian prison officials torturing an inmate and the beheading of a detainee in Syria by men believed to be Russian mercenaries working for a contractor closely tied to Putin.

The paper’s report on the “Blue W hale” phenomenon in which Russian youths reportedly were lured online into committing suicide was criticized as possibly overstated, but a Russian man later claimed to have organized it and was sentenced to prison.

T he Nobel Peace award raised concerns about whether it could subject Novaya Gazeta to being designated as a “foreign agent” under Russian law, a term applied to organizations and individuals who receive foreign funding and are engaged in unspecified political activity. The stipulation apparently is aimed at undermining their credibility.

“I hope that this status of Muratov will protect Novaya Gazeta from the status of a foreign agent and will become some kind of protection for Russian journalists, who are massively announced as foreign agents,” said Yevgenia Albats, editor of the Novoye Vremya news magazine. “I hope this will help Russian journalism survive in these difficult conditions.”

But a few hours after the Nobel announcement, the Russian Justice Ministry added nine more journalists and three more organizations to its list of foreign agents. AP

World

ssMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Monday, October 11, 2021

Lebanon’s 2 main state power B plants shut down, out of fuel

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Polls open in Iraq’s general elections amid tight security

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EIRU T—L eba non’s t wo main power plants were forced to shut down after running out of fuel, the state electricity company said Saturday, leaving the small country with no government-produced power.

Lebanon is grappling with a crippling energy crisis made worse by its dependency on fuel imports. Erratic power supplies have put hospitals and essential services in crisis mode.

The Lebanese increasingly depend on private operators that also struggle to secure supplies amid an unprecedented crash of the national currency.

The shortage of diesel and fuel, along with an antiquated infrastructure, has worsened power cuts that have been a fixture for years. Blackouts that used to last for three to six hours could now leave entire areas with no more than two hours of state power a day.

On Saturday, the state electricity company said Zahrani power plant in the country’s south was forced to shut down because of fuel shortage; the main plant in the north was shut down on Thursday.

Electricite De Liban said the shutdown reduces the total power supply to below 270 megawatts, which means a major drop in the stability of the grid. It said it would reach out to fuel facilities in the country’s north and south to see if they can procure enough fuel to bring back power. It added that a new shipment of fuel from Iraq is expected next week.

But the company, responsible for most of the government’s debts, is dependent on credit from the country’s central bank, which is struggling with dwindling reserves.

T he gover nment has gradually raised prices of fuel and diesel as the central bank cut back on subsidizing dollars for imports, adding to the hardships in Lebanon, where about three quarters of the population has plunged into poverty over the last year.

With prices soaring and unemployment at a record high, many families have given up private generators and few hours of state power a day is all they get.

On Saturday, distributors of gas canisters used for cooking and heating stopped operating, saying subsidy cuts

amid black-market currency fluctuations meant they were selling at a loss.

The energy sector has been a huge drain on state coffers for decades.

The electricity company has annual losses of up to $1.5 billion, and has cost the state more than $40 billion over the past decades. Energy sector reforms have been a key demand by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

To help alleviate the crisis, Lebanon has received fuel shipment from Iran via Syria. Iraq has also made a swap deal with the government that has helped Lebanon’s state electricity company stay operational for days.

The new Lebanese government is also negotiating supplies of electricity from Jordan and natural gas from Egypt, also through Syria. But those deals are likely to take months.

L ebanon’s Electr icit y Minister Walid Fayad told The Associated Press that the new shutdowns leave his government in “crisis management for a couple of days.” He said the government would turn to the military to get emergency fuel supplies from its stocks “while we await the fuel cargo from the Iraqi deal and swap.” AP

AGHDAD—Iraq closed its airspace and land border crossings on Sunday as voters headed to the polls to elect a parliament that many hope will deliver much needed reforms after decades of conflict and mismanagement.

The vote was brought forward by six months in response to a popular uprising in the capital Baghdad and southern provinces in late 2019, when tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest endemic corruption, poor services and rising unemployment. They were met with deadly force by security forces firing live ammunition and tear gas. More than 600 people were killed and thousands injured within just a few months.

Although authorities gave in and called the early elections, the death toll and the heavy-handed crackdown prompted many young activists and demonstrators who took part in the protests to later call for a boycott of the polls.

A series of kidnappings and targeted assassinations that killed more than 35 people, further discouraged many from taking part.

A total of 3,449 candidates are vying for 329 seats in the parliamentary elections, which will be the sixth held since the fall of Saddam Hussein after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

More than 250,000 security personnel across the country were tasked with protecting the vote.

Army troops, police and anti-terrorism forces fanned out and deployed outside polling stations, some of which were ringed by barbed wire.

“Get out and vote, and change your reality for the sake of Iraq and your future,” said Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, after he cast his ballot at a school in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, home to foreign embassies and government offices.

“To those who hesitate, put your trust in God and go and choose those you deem appropriate,” he added, reflecting concerns over a low turnout.

“This is our opportunity.”

The 2018 elections saw just 44% of eligible voters casting ballots, a record low. The results were widely contested. There are concerns of a similar or even lower turnout this time.

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric and a widely respected authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has called for a large turnout, saying that voting remains the best way for Iraqis to take part in shaping their country’s future.

The election is the first since the fall of Saddam to proceed without a curfew in place, reflecting the significantly improved security situation in the country following the defeat of the Islamic State group in 2017. Previous votes were marred by fighting and deadly bomb attacks that have plagued the country for decades.

As a security precaution, Iraq has closed its airspace and scrambled its air force from Saturday night until early Monday morning.

In another first, Sunday’s election is taking place under a new election law that divides Iraq into smaller constituencies—another demand of the activists who took part in the 2019 protests— and allows for more independent candidates.

A UN Security Council resolution adopted earlier this year authorized an expanded team to monitor the elections. There will be up to 600 international observers in place, including 150 from the United Nations.

Iraq is also for the first time introducing biometric cards for voters. To prevent abuse of electronic voter cards, they will be disabled for 72 hours after each person votes, to avoid double voting.

But despite all these measures, claims of vote buying, intimidation and manipulation have persisted. The head of Iraq’s electoral commission has said that initial election results will be announced within 24 hours. AP

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The World BusinessMirror

Monday, October 11, 2021

China’s Xi calls for ‘peaceful’ reunification with Taiwan

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AIPEI, Taiwan—Chinese leader Xi Jinping said on Saturday that a “peaceful” reunification of Taiwan with China’s mainland was in Beijing’s interests, despite ratcheted up military threats against the selfgoverning island.

Xi spoke at an official celebration in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People that focused largely on the need for the ruling Communist Party to continue to lead China as the country rises in power and influence.

“Reunification of the nation must be realized, and will definitely be realized,” Xi vowed before an audience of politicians, military personnel and others gathered in the hulking chamber that serves as the seat of China’s ceremonial legislature.

“Reunification through a peaceful manner is the most in line with the overall interest of the Chinese nation, including Taiwan compatriots,” the leader added.

Xi’s remarks came just days after the Chinese military sent a record number of military aircraft flying towards Taiwan in exercises that the self-ruled island has called a threat. Over the course of four days, starting last week, the mainland People’s Liberation Army flew fighter jets, bombers and airborne early warning aircraft 149 times towards Taiwan, with the largest single maneuver involving 52 jets.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 amid a civil war, with the then-ruling Nationalist Party fleeing to the island as Mao Zedong’s Communists swept to power on the mainland.

Saturday’s ceremony in Beijing was in honor of the 110th anniversary of the Chinese revolution that led to the overthrow of the Qing emperors and the establishment of the Republic of China under Sun Yatsen. Taiwan celebrates Oct. 10 as National Day and Xi’s address touched on common aspirations for a unified future, despite the stark differences between China’s authoritarian one-party system and Taiwan’s vibrant multi-party democracy.

Australian PM eyes faster international travel restart

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ustralian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that he’s in talks with the New South Wales state government in a bid to “accelerate” a plan to open international travel.

“The New South Wales government is looking at ways to fast track home quarantine in November and if that happens, we will be able to move to facilitate the opening up of the international border into New South Wales sooner,” Morrison said in a video posted on Facebook Sunday. “That would mean home quarantine for vaccinated Australians wishing to return home via Sydney, and giving the option for international travel for vaccinated Australians to leave and return.”

While Morrison didn’t give a timeline in the video for when the international border could be reopened, News.com.au reported that it understands the date being looked at is Nov. 1.

Earlier this month, Morrison announced that bans on international travel will be lifted in November, a month ahead of schedule. Sydney is due to start easing lockdown measures from Monday.

Bloomberg News

Chinese President Xi Jinping looks as he arrives at an event commemorating the 110th anniversary of Xinhai Revolution at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021. Xi said on Saturday reunification with Taiwan must happen and will happen peacefully, despite a ratcheting-up of China’s threats to attack the island. AP Photo/Andy Wong

Taiwan’s National Day celebrations this year will feature a rare display of military equipment, including missiles and a performance by fighter jets to be held Sunday in front of the Presidential Office Building in the center of the capital, Taipei.

That marks the first inclusion of military hardware in Taipei’s official celebrations in years, and the first since Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016.

Local media coverage of rehearsals for the celebration showed large missile launch vehicles driving on Taipei’s streets, although the missiles themselves were not directly visible.

In the past, the Taiwanese government has kept its missile capabilities out of the public eye to avoid appearing provocative, said Kuo Yu-jen, a defense studies expert at the Insti-

tute for National Policy Research in Taiwan.

Kuo added that Taipei feels it “must demonstrate that Taiwan has the ability to deter China’s threat” as Beijing becomes “overly assertive.”

In years past, the national day celebration has featured choreographed performances by motorcycle-riding military police and overflights by the island’s air force. However, missiles were not part of that display.

“I think this is to raise Taiwan’s people’s morale,” said Fan Shih-ping, a professor of political science at National Taiwan Normal University.

Taiwan’s leader Tsai has placed a higher premium on national defense than her predecessor from the more China-friendly Nationalist Party, launching a revitalization of the island’s shipbuilding industry and commissioning a program to build submarines domestically. She has also instituted reforms in the military, including improving benefits for military personnel and even increasing the quality of food served in the messes.

Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuocheng told legislators Wednesday that the situation with China “is the most severe in the 40 years since I’ve enlisted.” Chiu later told reporters that he believed China would have “comprehensive” capabilities to invade Taiwan by 2025.

Since the split, Taiwan has been self-ruled, but its sovereignty is denied by Beijing, which has refused to renounce the option of using force to bring the island under its control.

Beijing has also sought to isolate Taiwan internationally by barring it from the United Nations and other international organizations and opposing official contacts between its government and nations that recognize China, especially the United States, which is legally bound to consider threats against Taipei a matter of “grave concern.”

US and Japanese officials have warned that China’s growing capabilities pose a rising threat to Taiwan’s security and that of the region.

“The Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair, which tolerates no external interference,” Xi said on Saturday. “No one should underestimate the Chinese people’s strong determination, will and capability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” AP

Singapore opens quarantine-free entry from US, 8 other countries

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ingapore is pressing ahead with plans to reopen its borders despite battling a record Covid-19 outbreak, saying it will allow vaccinated travelers from nine more countries including the US and UK to enter without having to quarantine.

The other places to qualify are Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain with travel to Singapore to start from Oct. 19 and South Korea from Nov. 15, the government said Saturday. The number of Covid tests will be cut from four to two, helping to reduce cost and inconvenience, according to authorities.

The move marks a significant step in Singapore’s reopening after it shifted away from a “Covid Zero” approach that’s still being pursued by the likes of Hong Kong, another Asian financial hub. It comes as Singapore battles an escalation in Covid cases, with more than 3,000 new infections reported four days in a row this week. But is backed by the city-state’s high vaccination rate, with close to 85% of the population fully inoculated and most of the infections mild.

More details include: n All nine countries are classified under so-called Category II of the health ministry’s border measures. n Travelers using the arrangement must travel on designated flights. n Children or people medically unfit to be vaccinated will not be allowed to use the vaccinated travel lanes. n Short-term visitors and Singapore’s longterm passholders will have to apply for the vaccinated travel lanes, while citizens and permanent residents don’t need to do so. n Transport Minister S. Iswaran said Singapore will start with up to 2,500 daily arrivals across the nine countries. He said the places rank among the Southeast Asian nation’s top 20 trading partners.

“They have significant investments, a strong

business presence, and sizeable communities in Singapore,” Iswaran said during a briefing, adding the government will press on with border reopening. “It is, therefore, important that we reconnect with them early.”

With this move, Singapore Airlines Ltd. is expanding its vaccinated travel lanes network to 14 cities, with more points on special designated flights to be announced in coming weeks, the company said in a statement on Saturday.

Singapore already allows quarantine-free travel from so-called Category I places like China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, though most of those places haven’t reciprocated. Under the vaccinated travel lane arrangements in place with Germany and Brunei, close to 2,000 travelers have entered Singapore and there have been only two Covid-19 cases detected at the point of arrival.

Earlier, Singapore had already shortened quarantine periods for travelers from several countries including the US from Oct. 7. The government was under pressure from American officials to remove the requirement to isolate completely, people familiar with the matter said, partly because travelers from Singapore could more freely enter the US, the island nation’s biggest foreign investor.

Reviving air hub

The government is eager to restore connectivity given the importance of aviation, tourism and business to the trade-reliant economy.

Passenger traffic at Changi Airport, a key international hub for travel and cargo, was just 2% of pre-Covid levels in the first eight months of this year, while Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s passenger numbers are a tiny fraction of what they were in 2019.

Changi Airport posted its first annual net loss in the year through March because of the pandemic and flag-carrier Singapore Airlines has suffered hefty losses. Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Taiwan wants ‘status quo’, not China’s path–president

Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Fighters fly in close formation during National Day celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan on Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021. AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying

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AIPEI, Taiwan— Taiwan’s president on Sunday called for the maintenance of the political status quo in a forthright speech that acknowledged rising pressure from China.

Tsai Ing-wen also firmly rejected Chinese military coercion, a stance driven home by a rare demonstration of Taiwan’s defense capabilities in a parade on its National Day. A choir of singers from Taiwan’s various indigenous tribes sang to open the ceremony in front of the Presidential Office Building in the center of Taipei that was built by the Japanese who ruled the island as a colony for 500 years until the end of World War II. “We will do our utmost to prevent the status quo from being unilaterally altered,” she said. China claims Taiwan as part of its national territory although the island is self-ruled.

“We will continue to bolster our national defense and demonstrate our determination to defend ourselves in order to ensure that nobody can force Taiwan to take the path China has laid out for us,” Tsai said. “This is because the path that China has laid out offers neither a free and democratic way of life for Taiwan, nor sovereignty for our 23 million people.”

Surveys show overwhelmingly favor their current de-facto independent state and strong rejects unification with China, which claims as part of its national territory to be brought until its control by military force if necessary. Taiwan has evolved into a vibrant democracy while China remains a deeply authoritarian, single-party Communist state.

Tsai, who rarely directly singles out China in her public speeches, acknowledged the increasingly tense situation that Taiwan faces as Chinese military harassment intensified in the past year.

Since September of last year, China has flown fighter jets more than 800 times towards Taiwan.

The island has strengthened its unofficial ties with countries like Japan, Australia and the US in the face of these tensions.

“But the more we achieve, the greater the pressure we face from China,” she said.

Following Tsai’s address, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense showed off a range of weaponry including missile launchers and armored vehicles while fighter jets and helicopters soared overhead.

Tsai said Taiwan wanted to contribute to the peaceful development in the region even as the situation is “becoming more tense and complex” in the Indo-Pacific.

On Saturday, China’s leader Xi Jinping said that reunification with Taiwan “must be realized” and said that peaceful reunification was in interests of the entire nation, including Taiwanese people.

“No one should underestimate the Chinese people’s strong determination, will and capability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Since last Friday, China has sent a record-breaking number of fighter jets towards international airspace close to Taiwan.

Following Tsai’s speech, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense showed off a series of its weapons and defense capabilities. First, several assault helicopters flew across the sky. Then, air force pilots flew a formation of F-16, Indigenous Defense Fighters and Mirage 2000’s, leaving white contrails in their wake.

They were followed by a group of CM32 tanks, followed later by trucks carrying the Thunderbolt 2000 missile system. More missiles followed, such as the domestically-made Hsiung Feng III, a supersonic missile system, and communications vehicles that help guide the weapons to their targets.

The parade also featured Taiwan’s Olympic athletes who medaled at the Tokyo summer games, as well as public health officials, including those who staff a daily press conference about the pandemic, wearing their distinctive neon yellow-edged vests.

Tsai also called on other legislative parties to put aside politics in order to push for the reform of the island’s constitution, a document created by the then-ruling Nationalist Party in 1947 before it lost power and fled China ahead of the Communist takeover two years later. AP

Pope Francis: Climate change requires quick consensus

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ATICAN CITY—Pope Francis on Saturday called on lawmakers worldwide to overcome “the narrow confines” of partisan politics to quickly reach consensus on fighting climate change.

The pope addressed parliamentarians who were in Rome for a preparatory meeting before the U.N’s annual climate conference, which begins in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oct. 31.

Francis referred to a joint appeal he and other religious leaders signed this week that calls for governments to commit to ambitious goals at the UN conference, which experts consider a critical opportunity to tackle the threat of global warming.

“To meet this challenge, everyone has a role to play,’’ Francis told the visiting lawmakers from many countries. “That of political and government leaders is especially important, and indeed crucial.”

“This demanding change of direction will require great wisdom, foresight and concern for the common good: in a word, the fundamental virtues of good politics,’’ Francis said.

Francis said earlier he intended to participate in the UN’s upcoming COP26 conference, but the Vatican announced Friday that he would not attend and the Vatican delegation would be led by the secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

No explanation was given, but the 84-year-old pope underwent intestinal surgery in July.

The pope expressed hope Saturday

that the lawmakers’ efforts at the climate conference and beyond “will be illuminated by the two important principles of responsibility and solidarity.”

“We owe this to the young, to future generations,” he said.

Car ing for humanit y’s “common home,” Francis said, “is not just a matter of discouraging and penalizing improper practices, but also, and above all, of concretely encouraging new paths to pursue” that are better suited to climate-protection objectives and to contributing “to the positive outcome of COP26.”

Before his speech, Francis gave a private audience to Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives.

“His Holiness’s leadership is a source of joy and hope for Catholics and for all people, challenging each of us to be good stewards of God’s creation, to act on climate, to embrace the refugee, the immigrant and the poor, and to recognize the dignity and divinity in everyone,” Pelosi said in a statement after her audience with Francis.

She called the pontiff’s 2015 encyclical exhorting people to protect the environment “a powerful challenge to the global community to act decisively on the climate crisis with special attention to the most vulnerable communities.”

During their encounter, Pelosi expressed gratitude “for the immense moral clarity and urgency that His Holiness continues to bring to the climate crisis,” the statement said. AP

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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, October 11, 2021 A9

PhilMech: Rice planters get 15,246 farm machines

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

T

HE government may soon be able to complete the distribution of 15,900 farm machines and postharvest technologies worth P10 billion to rice farmers more than two years after the rice competitiveness enhancement fund (RCEF) was created.

Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) Executive Director Baldwin G. Jallorina said his agency has distributed a total of 15,246 various farm machines nationwide out of its target of 15,900 units under its 2019 and 2020 RCEF mechanization program.

Under the RCEF, PhilMech will receive an annual budget of P5 billion for six years to bankroll a mechanization program that seeks to reduce postharvest losses and increase rice yield.

RCEF started in 2019 following the enactment of Republic Act 11203, which liberalized the country’s rice industry. The law also created the annual P10-billion RCEF, which will be in place until 2025 to improve the domestic rice sector’s

competitiveness. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2021/01/07/mechanizationmoves-agriculture-sector-slowbut-sure-to-modern-farming/) Since the start of the RCEF mechanization program, the PhilMech, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), has faced various challenges—from bidding to distribution—resulting in the backlog and delays of delivery of the muchneeded interventions. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2021/03/29/philmech-farmmachine-distribution-hits-50 %-of-goal/) Jallorina said the remaining 654 farm machines funded by the 2019 and 2020 RCEF are allocated for farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) in island provinces and coastal areas.

The PhilMech said a few months ago that it has been experiencing difficulties in delivering the postharvest technologies and facilities in island provinces due to Covid19-related mobility restrictions.

(Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/07/05/distribution-of-farm-equipment-

A FARMER in Central Luzon plants rice in this BusinessMirror file photo.

delayed-anew/) Jallorina said PhilMech has distributed 7,290 units out of its 7,912-unit goal under the 2019 RCEF mechanization fund, representing an accomplishment rate of 92 percent. As for the 2020 RCEF mechanization fund, PhilMech has achieved an 88.5-percent distribution rate

Land governance project aims to help Mindanao attract more investments

T

HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has entered into a partnership with The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development to help Mindanao attract more foreign investments by ensuring security of land tenure.

This DENR project is also part of the “AmBisyon Natin 2040.” It is a 25-year visioning led by the National Economic and Development Authority that seeks to enable Filipinos to attain a “comfortable and secure life.”

The sixth of the 10 Socio-Economic Agenda states that government’s aim is to “ensure security of land tenure to encourage investments and address bottlenecks in land management and titling.”

The project dubbed Responsible Land Governance in Mindanao (RLGM) aims to orient local governments and communities including indigenous cultural communities in Misamis Oriental (Region 10), Davao del Sur (Region 11), and Agusan del Sur (Region 13-Caraga) on management of public lands.

The effective management of lands is expected to benefit the economy as government taxation process also becomes effective.

Moreover, investors needing land may find it easier to invest with better land identification and titling processes.

The vision takes into consideration sustainability and conflict sensitivity among ethnic groups and indigenous people on effective land management.

A study on the Land Sector Development Framework (LSDF) was conducted. It is a 10-year roadmap for the land sector for effective administration that will usher Philippines to economic development.

“This shall provide direction towards the achievement of a highly efficient and effective land sector whose potential is so great to contribute in the economic growth of our country,” the Land Management Bureau (LMB) said in a statement.

The project also aims to support the mitigation of conflicts within selected areas in Mindanao.

A study on the implementation of Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 1 issued by the Department of Agrarian Reform, DENR, Land Registration Authority, and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples was conducted in Regions 10 and 13 to determine if joint committes are functioning on the ground.

The JAO clarifies and restates the functions of each land titling agency.

It provides guidelines in resolving land conflicts in both the national and regional level.

Functions of these various land agencies used to overlap with each

other, creating conflict or confusion.

The JAO resolves this problem even as there are instances when various land uses conflict with each other.

For instance, mining areas may overlap within ancestral domain or Indigenous People’s lands.

Laws and policies also serve as an enabling environment for responsible land administration and management.

RLGM initiated studies to clarify the definition of terms and frequently asked questions for lands, and review land-related laws and policies on tenure.

Partner agencies and local government units (LGUs) were re-oriented on national policies such as the enhanced Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) guidelines. GIS (Geographic Information Service) application for land titling is also being explored.

The project also offered capacity building activities to LGUs in using unmanned arial vehicles (UAV) for land use planning.

Future activities are being eyed as potential activities for the project.

The DENR is proposing a review of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and a unified map to identify existing tenurial instruments. The unified map would make it easier for national and local government units to access data to carry out their own mandates.

PHL to see more births after pandemic­—Popcom continued from a2 With regard to the decline in the number of those entering into married life, Perez opined that generally for Filipinos, being in a relationship has become more “informal,” with figures declining from a high of 593,553 couples who tied the knot in 2003.

“As such, Popcom will devote a significant amount of its energies on young people who are now living together, and are having difficulty in acquiring

family planning services, under its recent mandate to address the root causes of teen pregnancy,” he stated.

Popcom cited a significant drop in the number of births in 2020, with just 1.516 million registered in the country—the lowest number of registered births since 1986, when only 1.494 million Filipinos were born.

Based on latest figures released by the PSA, Popcom said the

numbers are comparable to those in 1986, or almost three-and-ahalf decades ago, and are lower than 2019’s (1.675 million) by more than 157,881, which posted a decrease in births by 9.43 percent, year-on-year.

The country also saw the lowest number of marriages in the last 20 years in 2020, as 240,183 couples wed last year: 44 percent fewer than the 431,972 who tied the knot in 2019.

With 3 Senate ‘pillars’ exiting, ex-VP Binay shifts eye to legislation continued from a12 “We were raised to use our critical thinking” she added, but acknowledged that “I’m sure there would be more instances when we would be on the same line of thinking more than not. But, I’m independent from my father, in the same

way that he’s independent from me.”

Besides the loss of the Senate’s so-called “three pillars”— with Sotto, Recto and Drilon graduating—five senators must win reelection to make it back to the Senate. They are Majority

Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, and Senators Joel Villanueva, Risa Hontiveros, Sherwin Gatchalian and Leila de Lima. The first four have been among the most active in Senate deliberations and in conduct of inquiries in aid of legislation.

after it gave away 7,078 units out of its 7,988-unit target.

“We hope to complete the delivery of 2019 and 2020 [RCEF mechanization programs] before the end of this month,” he said in a recent virtual press briefing.

Jallorina said Western Visayas was the top recipient of farm ma-

chines at 2,180 units. It was followed

by Bicol Region with 1,995; Central Luzon, 1,586 units; and Ilocos Region, 1,320 units.

“Despite the Covid pandemic, PhilMech has strived to distribute farm machines under the RCEF-Mechanization Program nationwide, or as far as Caraga and Region 12 [Soccsksar-

gen] in Mindanao,” he said.

“Distributing farm machines nationwide proved to be a challenge for PhilMech, but we persevered as we strongly believe that increasing the farm mechanization level in the Philippines through the RCEFMechanization Program will help the rural economy recover amid the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Jallorina also warned the public about unscrupulous people trying to extort money from FCAs and even machine suppliers in the form of so-called “processing fees” and “facilitation fees.”

“We at PhilMech have received reports of persons with ill motive who ask for ‘processing fees’ from FCAs to facilitate the awarding/deliveries of farm machines and ask ‘facilitation fees’ from machinery suppliers who were given notices of award,” he said.

“Amid these reports, we at PhilMech would like to emphasize that we have never authorized and will not tolerate the collection of both the processing and facilitation fees.”

Jallorina said the agency has already launched an investigation to determine the veracity of reports on the extortion scheme.

Organic ‘pinakbet’ farm boosts income of Batangas planters

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

F

ARMERS belonging to the Guinhawa Farmers Association have started to harvest assorted vegetables from their organic vegetable techno-demo farm in Barangay Guinhawa, Tuy, Batangas, during a harvest festival conducted by proponents of the project, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said on Sunday.

DAR-Batangas Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer I Ma. Gemma Esguerra said the 1,000 sq.m. techno-demo farm of the organic pakbet farm was established by the Guinhawa Farmers Association through the guidance of DAR Batangas and Advent Agri-Enterprise and Consultancy Services, the professional service provider under the Sustainable Livelihood for Disaster Affected Areas of Climate Resilient Farm Productivity Support Project (CRFPSP).

Pakbet is a Filipino dish composed of a variety of vegetables which include squash, bitter gourd, okra, string beans, and eggplant.

The CRFPSP is geared toward the goal of building the resiliency of agrarian reform communities nationwide to enhance and sustain the

agricultural productivity of farmers’ organizations, by increasing their yield and income to uplift the lives of its members.

Esguerra said the techno-demo farm showcased the climate-resilient variety of “pakbet” vegetables and served as the learning field for the beneficiaries where organic farming technology was introduced.

Chief Agrarian Reform Program Officer Ma. Surallah Rabino said anyone could join the “pick, harvest, and pay” promo, where the customers will be allowed to go around the farm, pick grown vegetables themselves, and pay for their harvests.

“The idea of converting a small portion of lands devoted to sugarcane and turning it into vegetable production is a welcome opportunity for the ARBs [agrarian reform beneficiaries] in Brgy. Guinhawa.

After three months of waiting, the organic pakbet vegetables in the techno-demo farm have reached full maturity and are now ready to be harvested,” Rabino said in a statement.

“This project is a great help for us especially in this time of the pandemic because we generated additional income from this. We are so happy that the DAR and other agencies have their confidence in

us because support is what we need during this crisis,” said Guinhawa Farmers Association President Almer Abe said.

Before the harvest festival, the association started selling the pakbet vegetables to the members of the community and nearby customers, generating a total income of P16,000.

During the harvest festival, the association was able to earn a total of P6,000 in just a span of two hours, giving them a total income of P22,000. Aside from the organic pakbet vegetables, organic vermicast, insecticides, and bactericides were also sold during the festival.

To culminate the harvest festival, a graduation ceremony of 30 beneficiaries who completed the fiveday hands-on training on organic vegetable production was also conducted to acknowledge the effort of the beneficiaries contributing to the success of the project.

“Throughout the five days of hands-on training, we learned the different techniques, management and technical considerations in organic vegetable production and thank you DAR for introducing the organic farming technology,” Board of Director member Justiniano Bugay said.

8-mo debt payments 95% of full-year 2020 continued from a1 The bulk of the debt payments went to making amortization payments worth P51.154 billion in August 2021. This was a 60.6-percent contraction from the amortization payments worth P129.847 billion made in August 2020 In terms of interest payments, BTr data showed it reached P23.932 billion in August 2021. This was a 6.13-percent growth from the

P22.549 billion interest payments made in August 2020.

This year, the government has programmed P1.29 trillion for its debt service, with P758.32 billion allotted for principal amortization and P531.55 billion in interest payments.

Earlier, gross borrowings by the national government as of August settled at P2.39 trillion, slightly

lower than the same period last year.

Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed gross borrowings dipping by 3.3 percent from P2.47 trillion recorded a year ago, as the government borrowed less from both domestic and foreign sources.

Gross domestic borrowings fell to P1.93 trillion during the eightmonth period from last year’s P1.96 trillion.

Spend more, not less, on youth educn: BBM to solons continued from a12 The Department of Budget and Management earlier slashed the proposed budget of state universities and colleges (SUCs) by almost P15 billion while the P62.3-billion budget submitted by CHED was reduced to only P52.6 billion on the recommendation of the DBM, or a reduction of P9.6 billion.

The presidential aspirant also called on Congress to approve the P37-billion additional budget sought by the Department of Education for

laptops and Internet service allowance to assist teachers as the country implements distance learning for the second year.

DepEd is proposed to receive P629.8 billion next year, an increase of 6.01 percent from this year’s P594.11 billion. However, while P11.31 billion is allotted for the agency’s computerization program—a 99.83-percent increase from this year’s P5.66-billion—funds are still insufficient to cover all teachers nationwide.

“While we have not yet returned to face-to-face classes, the teachers’ needs must be provided for so they can teach well under the blended learning system and the quality of education won’t be compromised,” Marcos said.

Both education and development experts have called for more engineers, urban planners, and agriculturists to address the thinning corps of professional and technical experts in these critical fields.

A10 Monday, October 11, 2021 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Where are the answers?

T

he global situation now can best be compared to the conditions during World War II. There were then as there are now scarcities, shortages, and rationing. The causes may be different, but the results are the same.

Oil then as now is the lifeblood of the industrial world. However, the second most critical commodity was rubber. World War II saw Japan cut off US access to 90 percent of the natural rubber supply from Southeast Asia. Tires, valves, bushings, hoses, masks, medical equipment, boots, raincoats, and even shoes required rubber.

In the 21st century, almost everything from automobiles (cars account for 15 percent of global chip production) to your coffee maker needs a semiconductor or “computer chip.” Production has been impacted by the pandemic as factories were forced to close. Beyond that has been the global ocean shipping crisis. “A body representing British ports said that it expects the congestion affecting deliveries to millions of retailers and businesses to persist potentially until next summer.”

However, shortages are raging across the planet. These are not all directly tied to the pandemic and the lockdowns but for the past 18 months, almost nothing economically can be viewed without an eye on Covid.

Lebanon has been plunged into total darkness as 6 million people were left without energy as power stations run out of fuel. There is no gasoil fuel to run the power plants. None. The Lebanese currency has fallen by 90 percent against the US dollar since 2019.

The Washington Post: “Energy is so hard to come by right now that some provinces in China are rationing electricity, Europeans are paying sky-high prices for liquefied natural gas, and power plants in India are running out of coal.” Over half of India’s 135 coal-fired power plants, which supply around 70 percent of India’s electricity, have fuel stocks of less than three days.

Coal demand skyrocketed as global economies started opening.

That caused prices to equally skyrocket, and production cannot meet demand as mines were shut by the pandemic. An economic vicious cycle of unimaginable proportion.

“Britain’s most energy intensive manufacturers—producers of steel, glass, ceramics and paper—have warned that unless something is done about soaring wholesale gas prices, they could be forced to shut down production. Wholesale gas prices have increased 400 percent this year in Europe.”

The American business news web site Business Insider published a list of all the shortages the US is facing. In addition to computer chips are used cars, palm oil, truck drivers, houses, lumber, chicken, bacon, cheese, coffee, chlorine, corn, and workers in industries that hire blue-collar and manual labor employees.

Prices of goods and services is creating headlines such as “US inflation rises sharply again in August and stays at 30-year high”?

The global condition of “shortages” and rising prices is not going to end in the foreseeable future. Is it necessary to point out that the Philippines is not prepared regardless of all the “motherhood” statements from the presidential candidates?

Everyone is an “expert” in that an “economic recovery” is the first priority. Most blame the two ‘Cs’—Covid and corruption. Has anyone noticed that global cases are at nearly the same level as in October 2020 and that the trend in the Philippines is moving in the right direction?

We all know what the questions are. When are the candidates going to start offering the answers? Soon, we hope.

How the pandemic is redefining our leaders

T

Leaders in both business and government need to be able to look more deeply into the lives of people and determine how they can respond to their needs in such a way that the things the people value are prioritized. For instance, policies, structures and systems may be designed holistically and flexibly so that they are more democratic and agile.

Additionally, bosses and business owners have to deal with what economists call “The Great Resignation” because workers are more ready than ever to leave their jobs if the situation calls for it. Obviously, leaders can’t just relax and watch this exodus.

People in general are learning to value the things that matter. Family, mental health, and wellness are among the priorities now. I believe that even the way we choose our political leaders—more specifically, the things we look for in a leader—is

That’s just one of the many things bosses can do. The mental and physical well-being of workers have to be monitored and maintained, as well.

This is where business owners and the human resource department need to work together to come up with new solutions using fresh data.

Another example would be to employ a skills-first strategy in hiring and keeping people. This simply means that the organization should learn to value skills over work experience and educational attainment.

A traditional office may find it

Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

he pandemic has changed—and continues to do so—the global work landscape. The policies and practices that used to work may already seem outdated today. For example, leaders can’t motivate their employees or workers with the same carrot because their needs are evolving.

Still on the Pasig River Expressway

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changing now.

Leaders in both business and government need to be able to look more deeply into the lives of people and determine how they can respond to their needs in such a way that the things the people value are prioritized. For instance, policies, structures and systems may be designed holistically and flexibly so that they are more democratic and agile.

In the workplace, leaders need to assure the workers that everyone enjoys equal access to opportunities.

Thomas M. Orbos

STREET TALK

J

ust to be clear, my views on this project is independent of any outside influence. No one has approached me, nor am I on the employ to defend this. I am just speaking my mind. For those who know me, I have always pushed for sustainable transport. I believe in moving people not cars. When I was in government, I pushed for sustainable mass transport leading me to my stint with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as their low carbon transport advisor. Why do I need to say this? Because I believe the Pasig River Expressway (PAREX) project can work towards sustainable mobility and I see that those opposing the project, most of whom are my friends and allies in many noteworthy environmental transport-related causes, might be barking up the wrong tree.

Reducing carbon emissions in Metro Manila should be taken in its totality, and not just with one highway infrastructure. Policies that need to be in place that we committed to do as a signatory to the Paris agreement as well as the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN are still far away from being passed as laws. Regulatory cover for electric vehicles and their low carbon counterparts, as well as the needed ecosystem will most likely not make it in this administration. Pursuing this should be our focus, not just this one PAREX corridor.

The PAREX corridor can in fact help us achieve our low carbon targets. Aside from the promised BRT and bicycle lanes, PAREX is a long-

haul corridor with virtually no inbetween stops. This replaces the present stop and go east-west routes of Shaw Boulevard and Commonwealth Ave. Such stop and go motion burn more fuel, therefore more emissions. And the nuance of this corridor is that it is mostly composed of trucks loaded with materials from the quarries of Rizal. A straight uninterrupted journey of these heavy haulers will result in lesser burning of fuels, therefore lesser emissions.

With traffic reduced from the current city streets, we can begin to look at converting most of them into bike lanes, walkways and even pocket parks that we so direly need.

With fewer cars on these once congested roads, there can be more

I am sure that my friends opposing PAREX will not be happy to know where I stand on this project, but I hope they respect me in as much as I respect them. I invite them to view this from another angle. Rather than oppose it, why don’t we see areas where we can work together with the PAREX proponents who should also begin sitting down with the oppositors. PAREX can be a winning project for both the environment and economic progress if we give it a chance to succeed. room to convert to breathable open spaces. Induced congestion and its corresponding urban heat trap need not be a given with proper planning.

Environmentally speaking, the Pasig River is already damaged with or without PAREX. I had been part of the Pasig River ferry revival since about seven years ago and I have seen first-hand that the damage on the river is not even caused by those at the riverbanks. It comes all the way from its tributaries up north from Quezon City and Bulacan. If one wants to fix the river, then we need to push for the proper government enforcement beyond stopping the PAREX deal. In fact, another area where we should focus on are the many vanished esteros that once made Manila the Venice of the East. Not all of them dried up.

A good number of buildings are currently illegally encroaching on these waterways.

challenging to pull this one off, but an institution could replace talents more easily or even prevent the loss of employees using this method— which is not really new but is currently just emerging due to the talent crisis described above.

Now, we must remember that as the world of work rapidly changes in almost every way, it is becoming harder to find employees and workers who have the necessary skills to adapt to this developing, postpandemic world and our new normal.

To stay afloat, business and government leaders need to have an infrastructure in place that will allow them to find the right talent, and to actually keep them engaged.

Technology and innovations can help leaders here, along with tools and resources that can present unique, outside-the-box solutions because, as we know, new problems and a new situation call for new ways of thinking. Perhaps it would be safe to assume that it’s the creative, unconventional leader who gets ahead in this unfamiliar post-pandemic landscape.

The idea that an elevated highway will only be an eyesore and will bring the real estate costs down is not entirely true. Estero de Galino, where the Naia Expressway currently traverses, was then an eyesore, a polluted stagnant river that all of us ignored. Definitely the river looked much better now when the structure was built. We can also speak of examples of riverside highways that have succeeded. On both sides of the Han River in Seoul, Korea are elevated highways that blend well along with parks and walkways beside that long river stretch. Tokyo riverside is no different. Alongside the elevated roadway are numerous cafes and parks. We had also been assured that PAREX will in no way intervene with the historical sites along the river, much less damage them. Let’s look at their plans and see if indeed it is so. There is no point in objecting if we are not sure if the plan is indeed objectionable.

I am sure that my friends opposing PAREX will not be happy to know where I stand on this project, but I hope they also respect me in as much as I respect them. I invite them to view this from another angle. Rather than oppose it, why don’t we see areas where we can work together with the PAREX proponents who should also begin sitting down with the oppositors. PAREX can be a winning project for both the environment and economic progress if we give it a chance to succeed.

The author may be reached at: thomas_orbos@ sloan.mit.edu

Opinion

www.businessmirror.com.ph

How global deal stems corporate use of tax havens

BusinessMirror FREE-SIDENTIABLES: Marcos–When the rooster crows

By David Mchugh | AP Business Writer

Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

F

THE PATRIOT

RANKFURT, Germany—More than 130 countries have forged a deal on sweeping changes in how big global companies are taxed.

The goal: deterring multinational companies from stashing profits in countries where they pay little or no taxes—better known as tax havens.

The sweeping agreement was struck Friday among 136 countries after talks overseen by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It would update a century’s worth of international taxation rules to cope with changes brought by digitalization and globalization.

The most important feature: a global minimum tax of at least 15 percent, a key initiative pushed by US President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Yellen said the minimum tax will end a decades long “race to the bottom” that has seen corporate tax rates fall as tax havens sought to attract corporations that take advantage of low rates—but do little actual business in those locations.

Here’s a look at key aspects of the deal:

What problem does it address?

IN today’s economy, multinationals are increasingly likely to earn profits from intangibles such as trademarks and intellectual property. Those can be easy to move, and global companies can assign the earnings they generate to a subsidiary in a country where tax rates are very low.

Some countries compete for revenue by using rock-bottom rates to lure companies, attracting huge tax bases that generate large revenue even when tax rates only marginally above zero are applied. Between 1985 and 2018, the global average corporate headline rate fell from 49 percent to 24 percent. By 2016, over half of all US corporate profits were booked in seven tax havens: Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Switzerland. That costs the US Treasury $100 billion a year according to one estimate.

How would a global minimum tax work?

The basic idea is simple: Countries would legislate a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15 percent for very big companies, those with annual revenues over 750 billion euros ($864 billion.)

Then, if companies have earnings that go untaxed or lightly taxed in one of the world’s tax havens, their home country would impose a topup tax that would bring the rate to 15 percent.

That would make it pointless for a company to use tax havens, since taxes avoided in the haven would be collected at home. For the same reason, it means the minimum rate would still take effect even if individual tax havens don’t participate.

How would the tax plan address the digitalized economy?

The plan would also let countries tax part of the earnings of the 100 or so biggest multinationals when they do business in places where they have no physical presence. That could be through Internet retailing or advertising. The tax would only apply to a portion of profits above a profit margin of 10 percent.

In return, other countries would abolish their unilateral digital services taxes on US tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Amazon.

That would head off trade conflicts with Washington, which argues such taxes unfairly target US companies and has threatened to retaliate with new tariffs.

Does everyone like the deal?

Some developing countries and advocacy groups such as Oxfam and the UK-based Tax Justice Network

say the 15 percent rate is too low and leaves far too much potential tax revenue on the table. And although the global minimum would capture some $150 billion in new revenue for governments, most of it would go to rich countries because they are where many of the biggest multinationals are headquartered.

A 20 percent to 30 percent minimum was recommended by the UN’s high-level panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity. In a report earlier this year, the panel said that a rate that is too low can incentivize countries to lower their rate to remain competitive.

Countries that participated in the talks but did not sign the agreement were Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

What is the US role in the agreement?

Biden’s tax agenda is stuck in negotiations among Democratic lawmakers, as the scope of his spending and proposed rate hikes are still under debate. But the administration has staked a claim in saying that it must expand the US global minimum tax in order to convince other nations to do so.

Biden has retreated somewhat from his initial proposals as Congress has provided its input. The latest plan from the House Ways and Means Committee would increase the global minimum tax to roughly 16.5 percent from 10.5 percent. The president initially wanted 21 percent as the US global minimum rate. Domestic corporate income would be taxed at 26.5 percent, up from 21 percent currently.

US participation in the minimum tax deal is crucial, simply because so many multinationals are headquartered there. Complete rejection of Biden’s global minimum proposal would seriously undermine the international deal.

Manal Corwin, a tax principal at professional services firm KPMG and a former Treasury Department official in the Obama administration, said that the removal of the unilateral digital taxes, or DSTs, would provide “a very strong motivation” for the US to participate.

That is because the agreement would head off destructive trade dispute that could spread to unrelated companies in other sectors of the economy.

“When you get into back-andforth threats of tariffs, the tariffs are not necessarily imposed on the companies that are in the crosshairs of the issue being debated,” she said. “It may be DSTs today and then tomorrow it’s some other unilateral measure.” She said international taxation needs stability and consensus “to encourage investment and growth.... [T]he unraveling of global consensus, if it starts with DSTs, can expand to other things.”

How would the agreement take effect?

The accord will go to the Group of 20 leaders. Agreement there is likely since all 20 members signed Friday’s deal. Implementation then moves to the individual countries.

The tax on earnings where companies have no physical presence would require countries to sign up to an intergovernmental agreement during the course of 2022, with implementation in 2023. The global minimum could be applied by individual countries using model rules developed by the OECD. If the US and European countries where most multinationals are headquartered legislate such minimums, that would have much of the intended effect. Associated Press writer Joshua Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

Monday, October 11, 2021 A11

Third in a series

F

ollowing the journey of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is like gazing at two personalities: Ferdinand, the son of a President who played a significant part of Philippine history during the Martial Law days, and Ferdinand, the accomplished politician, who served various capacities in public service at an early age.

The genetic and political underpinning is so ensconced in his persona that voters will not be able to separate one from the other. Ferdinand Jr. aka BBM will always be associated with his father/dictator whose ill-gotten wealth remains as one of the nation’s largest controversy. At the same time, BBM can be remembered as a public servant who served his bailiwick province by way of authoring or sponsoring 54 bills that have been passed into law, including the Cybercrime Law, the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act, Expanded Senior Citizens Act, Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, and Solo Parents and Their Children’s Welfare Act. BBM also served as Vice Governor at the age of 23 and was a three-term Governor of Ilocos Norte before becoming a legislator.

As BBM has decided to gun for the presidency, nowhere in his recent media interviews can we find any answer much less any query raised as to what made him decide to run!

While we are still at the dawn of the campaign period, the motivation in BBM’s quest for the highest position in the land will unfold at the cusp of the May 2022 polls. Perhaps, Marcos Jr. is probably counting on his votes during the 2016 elections when he competed for the vice presidency.

His camp seems confident that those who voted for him for VP be-

fore will vote for him for President.

Marcos loyalists are purportedly staunch supporters until the end.

With the loyalist votes presumably intact, this country might see another Marcos back in Malacañang.

After all, the other known presidentiables do not enjoy a solid voting block unlike BBM. The others in the hunt are actually splitting the opposition votes.

The profile of BBM may have already woven the makings of a President into the woof and warp of his political fabric. He was schooled abroad and is married to a lawyer from a prominent political clan.

His credentials, education and experience, allow this presidential aspirant to speak confidently, practically commanding authority and clout. Armed with this confidence, BBM may also have that “killer instinct” in his blood (meaning, a hard and decisive stance as opposed to a soft heart) to thwart perennial ills like insurgency and drugs. It’s a coin toss to attribute such ruthless confidence to his genes or to his individual feat. Either way, one side works to his advantage while the other works to his irremediable inconvenience. In one interview, BBM intends to be a “unifying” president—a tough undertaking considering that the “flock of sheep” that he expects to unite has

the hormones of a growing teenager—moods, emotions, and impulses. While the Solid North remains beating fiercely red, those opposed to the Marcoses have solidified all the more in recent years. For instance, as soon as BBM announced his presidential bid, two contrasting hash-tags: #BBMismypresident and #NeverAgain trended on social media. The unification plans for these polar opposites can be the toughest sell of his campaign team!

Incidentally, BBM will have to deal with a sizeable number of “lactoseintolerant” people—those who have previously experienced “abdominal cramps” from drinking “cow’s milk” of the previous Marcos regime! This same group of people, out of fear of taking “cheese” from the same Marcos dairy product containing “lactose”, will definitely be against BBM. To them, the sin of the father is the sin on the son. To them, any Marcos will always be of the same kind, with the same dictatorial blood!

But who knows, we might be in for a surprise if ever BBM will be given a chance to atone for the dark days of Martial Law. The Marcos family has been dethroned, ostracized, and vilified for the longest time. The name has been associated with terms like thieves, murderers, and human rights violators. Almost any person given a chance to redeem the name of his family and prove his detractors wrong would likely exert best efforts to make things right! With his credentials and decisive stance, coupled with a lofty dream of unity, BBM ought to crow like a rooster! He does not need to wait and see the light of a new day like a rooster’s internal clock! As BBM believes it is time to take that seat in Malacañang, he should, however, be cautioned for a rooster crowing also denotes a sense of evasion or denial.

On several occasions, he was asked to apologize for all the wrongdoings committed during his father’s regime. And yet not in one instance did he act contrite. BBM recently re-

vealed that he would only apologize for the wrong things that he himself did, but not for those that anybody else did. Such actuation, to me, is an evasion or denial in light of former President Benigno Aquino III’s reservation that: “If he [BBM] can’t see what his family did wrong, how will we know that it won’t happen again?”

On the matter of denials, we see the Biblical disciple Peter in BBM’s “denial” of any association with his father’s transgressions. Peter denied any association with Jesus Christ when asked on three separate occasions (as we can read from James 18: 17-27). Jesus had predicted that Peter would disavow Him three times, “Verily, I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice” (John 13:36-38). Like the disciple Peter, most of us are surrounded with subtle suggestions to deny our faith.

For instance, when we consent to a dishonest business deal or when we fail to stand for what is right and good can serve as denials of our faith. The experience of Peter teaches us the truth of 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.” BBM might have that privileged position due to his genes. Believers as well stand in that privileged position in Christ, yet we are reminded not to be complacent in our walk of faith, lest we fall into sin.

Should BBM win and he adopts an attitude of eschewing that which is evil and seeks to do what is righteous in the eyes of God, perhaps the rooster will cease from crowing.

A former infantry and intelligence officer in the Army, Siegfred Mison showcased his servant leadership philosophy in organizations such as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Malcolm Law Offices, Infogix Inc., University of the East, Bureau of Immigration, and Philippine Airlines. He is a graduate of West Point in New York, Ateneo Law School, and University of Southern California. A corporate lawyer by profession, he is an inspirational teacher and a Spirit-filled writer with a mission.

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

How China flights near Taiwan inflame tensions

By David Rising | Associated Press

B

ANGKOK—A recent spate of Chinese military flights off southwestern Taiwan has prompted alarm from the island, which Beijing claims as its own, and is increasing tensions in a region already on edge.

The flights are one piece of a complex puzzle in Asia, where the United States and its allies have stepped up their naval maneuvers and Australia announced last month it is acquiring nuclear-powered submarines in a deal seen as a direct challenge to Beijing. Meanwhile, Japan has grown increasingly vocal about China becoming a security threat.

Experts agree that armed conflict is not imminent, but as military activity increases, there are growing fears that a mishap or miscalculation could lead to an unintended escalation.

Here are some of the issues at play:

What are China’s goals?

China portrays its military profile as purely defensive, arranged to protect what it says are its sovereign rights from Taiwan to the South China Sea and its long, disputed mountain border with India. The US and many of China’s neighbors see that stance as aggressive and have bolstered their own presence in hopes of arresting China’s efforts to unalterably change facts on the ground.

China, after years of rising military spending, now boasts the world’s second largest defense budget behind the US, totaling about $209 billion this year. That has allowed the development of advanced weapons systems including the J-20 stealth fighter, hypersonic missiles and two aircraft carriers, with a third under construction.

President Xi Jinping, also commander of the People’s Liberation Army, has overseen the construction of military facilities on manmade islands in the South China Sea meant to extend China’s territorial waters, and stated that bringing Tai-

wan under Beijing’s control cannot be left to the next generation. His threats toward the self-governing island democracy have been amplified through military exercises along the coast opposite Taiwan and the flying of large numbers of Chinese warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, including a single-day record of 56 on Monday, capping a total of 149 flights over a four-day period.

What is the US role?

The US, with bases in Japan, South Korea and Guam, has a large military presence in the region and has been pursuing a “pivot” in focus toward the Indo-Pacific to counter China’s increasingly assertive posture.

In a speech last week, US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro told cadets that China would be the “challenge that will define your naval careers,” saying Beijing is using its military leverage to “threaten its neighbors, challenge established norms, and attempt to control international waters as its own.”

“Our job is to preserve the peace by making sure the People’s Republic of China doesn’t gain military leverage over the United States or our allies and partners,” he said.

Washington’s longstanding policy has been to provide political and military support for Taiwan, while not explicitly promising to defend it from a Chinese attack.

Though the US has no bases on Taiwan, American officials confirmed last week that Special Forces have been training with the Taiwan military for more than a year, including maritime operations with Marine commandos in recent weeks.

US military support for Taiwan is

“based on an assessment of Taiwan’s defense needs and the threat posed by” China, Pentagon spokesman John Supple said.

What is Taiwan’s position?

Taiwan is chiefly concerned with shoring up its de facto independent status while maintaining economic links with China and avoiding a military clash.

While Taipei and Washington have not had official diplomatic relations since the US switched ties to Beijing in 1979, US law requires that Washington assist Taiwan in maintaining a defensive capability and treat threats to the island as a matter of “grave concern.” That has included sales of advanced radar systems, fighter jets and warships that have angered China.

Along with purchasing arms from the US, President Tsai Ing-wen has boosted the domestic military industry, particularly development of submarines considered crucial to defense, but which Taiwan has been unable to buy from abroad due to Chinese pressure.

Taiwan is also fighting back against a Chinese campaign to isolate it diplomatically, hosting US officials on recent visits and this week a delegation of French senators and former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who accused China of being a bully and expressed enthusiastic support for Taiwan’s government amid a sharp downturn in relations between Beijing and Canberra.

What about other regional players?

Australia made a strong statement last month when it announced it was scrapping a $66 billion deal with France for diesel-powered submarines in favor of a new pact with the US and Britain for nuclearpowered subs.

The decision was seen as a doubling down on the Australia-US alliance at a time when China is pressuring Australia with tariffs and

import bans. Beijing slammed the deal, under which the US and U.K. will help Australia construct at least eight submarines, calling it “highly irresponsible” and saying it would “seriously damage regional peace and stability.”

The leaders of Australia, the US, Japan and India — a group known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue — met in Washington shortly after the submarine deal was announced for broad talks that included discussions on how to keep the Indo-Pacific “free and open.”

India has joined regional maneuvers, significantly sending ships through the South China Sea to take part in exercises with the US, Japan and Australia off Guam in August, whose purpose New Delhi said was to show a “commitment toward freedom of navigation at sea.”

Japan has long been cautious with its relations with China, a key trading partner, but now increasingly views the country as a security threat. New Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said dialogue with China is important, but Japan should also team up with like-minded democracies and step up its security alliance with the US and other partners.

What’s Europe’s involvement?

Britain has recently been among the most engaged in the region, combining an enhanced diplomatic outreach with the dispatch of a carrier strike group on a 28-week deployment as it pursues a “tilt” toward the Indo-Pacific recommended by a British government review of defense and foreign policy.

As a maritime trading nation, Britain has emphasized the need to keep commercial shipping routes free and has been using its naval presence to reinforce established international lanes, such as sending the frigate HMS Richmond through the Taiwan Strait in a move criticized by China as a “meaningless display of presence with an insidious intention.”

A12 Monday, October 11, 2021

PHL to start 100% checks on all imported farm goods T

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

HE Philippines will start conducting a mandatory 100-percent inspection of all imported agricultural goods at the “second border” to curb smuggling in the aftermath of the influx of illegal Chinese carrots in the market.

The government has established a “second border” wherein the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) will undertake the mandatory inspection of imported goods, authorities said.

The two government agencies have also created a technical working group (TWG) to review the country’s 15-year-old guidelines and procedures on handling imported food items, according to a DA statement.

The two agencies, the DA statement explained, will implement “intensified and stricter second border inspection and control procedures” to ensure that imported farm products are “monitored for food safety.”

Under the new inspection system, imported farm goods will first undergo an “open-close” examination at the port of entry or “border,” and then the shipment will be subjected to a 100-percent

inspection once it arrives at its designated warehouses, which the DA calls “second border.”

“Our goal is to curb the entry of smuggled agri-fishery products, while ensuring consumer safety in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act [RA] No. 10611 or the ‘Food Safety Act of 2013’ and other applicable laws,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said.

“This measure will only be temporary pending the completion of the first border facilities that will be constructed by the DA at major ports, starting in Subic, called as Commodity Examination Facility for Agriculture [CEFA],” he added.

SINAG: No such thing

THE law invoked by the agriculture chief was absent in mentioning anything regarding “second border” control, an agriculture group pointed

out, noting that the measure could still be taken advantage of by unscrupulous traders and importers.

“In the parlance of international trade and global markets, there is no such thing as “2nd border” because it is a gateway to smuggling and unsafe food and tainted agricultural products,” Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) said in a statement on Sunday.

“This is just like letting go of a thief in his NMAX motorcycle, and then chasing him with your bicycle,” the group added. The group also wrote to Sen. Cynthia A. Villar, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, to investigate the DA for the delay in the construction of the country’s first border inspection facilities.

“What has happened to the promised ‘first border inspection facilities’ that has already been given funds way back in December 2019?” read the letter, a copy of which was released to the media on Sunday.

“Without first-border inspection, there is no way for the government to curb smuggling and makes the country more vulnerable to health pandemics, including Covid-19,” it added.

RA 10611 stipulated that all imported food must undergo cargo inspection and clearance procedures by

the DA and the Department of Health (DOH) at the first port of entry prior to tariff assessment by the BOC. “The DA and the DOH shall develop the regulations on cargo/shipment inspections and clearance procedures for imported products prior to assessment of the BOC for the appropriate tariffs,” the law read.

“Inspections and clearance procedures shall be consistent with Article IV of the Act, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Agreement and Codex,” it added.

Guidelines, protocols

THE new TWG created by the DA and BOC will review and strengthen guidelines and protocols regarding anti-smuggling efforts under Customs Memorandum order 04, Series of 2007.

The TWG is tasked to “establish sanitary and phytosanitary measures, food safety standards, and other regulatory measures in conducting first/second border inspection and control procedures.”

The DA said the BOC has also committed to provide its concerned agencies with the inward foreign manifest and bill of lading of all agri-fishery shipments “to enable them to identify shipments requiring food safety inspection.”

The Food Safety Act’s rule 12a.3 stipulates that this should have been the practice since the law was promulgated. “The BOC and the Association of International Shipping Lines [AISL] shall provide the DA and the DOH documents such as the Inward Foreign Manifest of Arriving Vessels to enable the DA and the DOH to identify shipments requiring food safety inspection,” the law read.

PHL OFFICIALS PUSH PLEA FOR ACTION ON ASIAN HATE CRIMES AS FIL-AM ASSAULT VICTIM DIES

P

HILIPPINE officials in New York have reiterated their appeal to city authorities for action to stem the tide of apparent hate crimes against Asians, and incidents of assault by locals with mental health problems.

The appeal was made by the Philippine Consulate General after the death, from head injuries, of a 58-year-old Fil-Am health worker, who was knocked down by an apparently deranged man on the sidewalk of New York after she visited the Consulate.

“We grieve with the rest of the Filipino Community over the death of our kababayan, Maria Ambrocio, a 58-year-old health frontliner from Bayonne, New Jersey, who is the latest victim of deranged individuals on the loose in New York City. Maria’s passing was announced shortly after she was removed from life support a few hours ago,” said a statement by Consul General Elmer G. Cato.

On hearing of the news, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. instructed Cato to help the victim’s family. Cato replied that the consulate general had conveyed its condolences and offer of assistance.

According to Cato’s office, Maria “had been on life support for the head trauma she sustained on Friday afternoon after she was knocked down by someone who was described as a mentally disturbed homeless man. Maria was walking with a kababayan near Times Square after visiting the Philippine Consulate General when she was struck by the suspect who was reportedly being chased after grabbing a mobile phone from someone.”

With 3 Senate ‘pillars’ exiting, ex-VP Binay shifts eye to legislation

By Butch Fernandez

T

@butchfBM

HE Senate will be losing its “three pillars” in 2022 with the end of the terms of Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto and Minority Leader Frank Drilon, even as at least four of its most active members will have to win reelection in order to return to the chamber.

This perceived gap in the upper house was one of the considerations of former Vice President Jejomar Binay in deciding to come out of retirement and throw his hat into the 2022 Senate race, according to eldest daughter Sen. Nancy Binay.

“Actually, I think when he [VP Binay] was just mulling over his running for senator, he asked me if I would mind if ever he runs and wins, the two of us would be thrown together in the Senate,” Senator Binay recalled in a DWIZ interview at the weekend.

“Of course I think he will be a welcome addition to us senators based on his experience. And besides, we know many of our peers, nine senators, will be graduating,” including those who have “extensive legal background and experience on policies on the ground,” Binay said, speaking partly in Filipino.

She said the exit of Senate President Sotto, Senate President Pro Tempore Recto, and Minority Leader Drilon “will be a big loss to us.”

Binay added: “They are deemed as three pillars...I think it’s crucial

Cato, who was confronted with the rash of Asian hate incidents soon after assuming his post in New York, had actively lobbied both police and civil authorities, drawing support from some US lawmakers, in seeking decisive action on the rising cases of attacks involving Fil-Am victims, as well as other Asians.

He told BusinessMirror, “We are third after the Chinese and Koreans among those being victimized” Just for 2021, there were 20 cases involving Filipinos as victims “reported to or monitored by the consulate,” he added.

In the Consulate General’s statement at the weekend, it noted that Maria’s death “is the latest in the series of violent acts committed by mentally-ill individuals against members of the Filipino Community in New York City since the start of the year.

Beginning January, we have seen several of our kababayan, most of them senior citizens, violently assaulted by individuals with mental health issues.”

Cato recalled: “We have joined calls for authorities to take the necessary steps, including heightened police visibility, to protect the public after we noted the surge in anti-Asian hate incidents that targeted some of our kababayan.”

Meanwhile, he said, “We also supported calls for authorities to take the necessary measures to address mental health issues, especially among the homeless.

We reiterate these calls as we mourn our loss but we also ask ourselves: How many more Maria Ambrocios do we have to mourn before the streets would be made safe again?”

Spend more, not less, on youth educn: BBM to solons

E

for the Senate that those who will be elected in 2022 also have the same level of capability and expertise “when it comes to, and especially in, legislation.”

Asked if it was one of the considerations that prodded the former Vice President to shift from Executive official to lawmaker, Senator Binay replied: “I think that was also part of his considerations. Because when he left politics, he realized, I guess, that his talents would be more needed now in Congress.” She noted that her father started his career as a human-rights lawyer.

“This kind of expertise, together with experience as an Executive, that’s part of what he can offer if he wins a Senate seat.”

Binay noted her father had always been “with the Executive [branch], and then the judiciary as a lawyer, right?”

The Vice President, began his political career in 1986 as Makati Mayor, then also served as Metro Manila Governor, before assuming the vice presidency in 2010.

Asked if she was ready to have her father as a Senate seatmate, Binay told DWIZ: “Yes. I am ready,” even as she aired confidence that the Binay children were brought up to be independent-minded.

She acknowledged there could be a scenario that “I could be in the majority,” while her father would be in the minority, but added this wouldn’t be a problem as all of the Binay children were trained to be independent.

DUCATION is the key to producing world-class professionals and technical workers required by an emerging economy coping with the crippling effects of the Covid-2019 pandemic, according to Partido Federal ng Pilipinas standard-bearer Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. That being the case, ensuring economic recovery amid the onslaught of the pandemic requires Congress to invest more in youth education by restoring the budget cuts in next year’s allocation for education, the former senator said on Sunday.

“We need experts; we need responsive, innovative, and globally competitive citizens for the country to recover from the pandemic.

And citizens can become experts by getting a college degree,” he pointed out.

Marcos said tertiary education equips the youth for the challenges of adult life as it trains them to think critically, participate in constructive conversations, communicate effectively, and exercise problem-solving. He added education could also be a tool for the poor to rise from poverty.

“Without sufficient budget, how can the learning institutions like universities and colleges provide a good education? How can CHED, the very agency that administers and regulates them, carry out its mandate properly? Students will be at the losing end. How can poor but deserving students get college scholarships?” he stressed.

Continued on A9

Continued on A9

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, October 11, 2021

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DOE: REM to go live ahead of other RE policies rollout

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE Department of Energy (DOE) has assured that the renewable energy market (REM) will be established ahead of the implementation of other policies meant to increase RE production and meet renewables targets.

REM is the venue for the trading of renewable energy certificates equivalent to an amount of power generated from RE resources and is intended as a facility for mandated participants to comply with their Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) obligation.

“Yes, REM will be operational before the GEAP [Green Energy Auctions Program] delivery period which is still in 2023. The same goes with

proposed RPS increase which is also proposed to start in 2023,” said DOE Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola via SMS. Delola’s reply was in response to an appeal by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

“We would like to respectfully note that the institution and operationalization of the REM is essential to ensure the smooth implementation and operationalization of the

GEAP, GEOP [Green Energy Option Program] and this draft circular,” said Meralco Vice President and Utility Economics Head Lawrence Fernandez.

RPS, meanwhile, is a policy mechanism that requires electric power industry participants such as generators, distribution utilities and suppliers to secure or produce a specified fraction of their electricity from eligible RE resources.

From 1 percent, the DOE adjusted the RPS annual percentage increment for on-grid areas to 2.52 percent.

Meralco has also asked the DOE to allow mandated participants to implement the RPS adjusted rate, saying any changes in the RPS percentage would require careful planning on their sourcing strategy and program.

Besides, Fernandez pointed out that any increase in increment should consider that “we are already in the third quarter of 2021; competitive selection

process can take up to six months, resulting power supply agreements will need to undergo ERC [Energy Regulatory Commission] proceedings and it takes two or more years to develop and construct a power plant.”

Delola assured that it will take into consideration the request of Meralco. “We are still going through all the submitted comments and position papers on the increase. As always, we will look into all their arguments.”

Under GEOP, consumers with peak demand of at least 100 kilowatts may choose RE as their source of electricity.

GEAP, meanwhile, covers power generation companies that will participate in the market as suppliers for consumers who qualify for the GEOP. Meralco earlier told the DOE that once the GEAP is implemented, mandated participants should not be required to comply with the 2.52 percent annual percentage increment until 2025.

‘Horizon Fiber must cease operations’ I nfrastructure think tank Infrawatch has filed a motu proprio request before the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to investigate the alleged “unlicensed” operations of Horizon Fiber.

Infrawatch Convenor Terry Ridon claimed that Horizon Fiber has been providing fixed-line, fiber-optic internet services in condominiums in Makati, Ortigas, Quezon City, and Bonifacio Global City despite having “no necessary permits and licenses from the commission.”

The group sought a cease and desist order to stop Horizon Fiber from continuing its operations as it has been providing internet services without a license from the regulator. Infrawatch also said Horizon Fiber should pay penalties and fines for doing so.

“We cannot allow unscrupulous actors in the telecoms sector to take

advantage of the real public need to access fast and reliable internet for their online work and classes. This has got to stop now,” Ridon said.

Aside from this, he said Horizon Fiber also committed “gross misrepresentation detrimental to the public interest,” when it “previously claimed” that it was a Japanese-owned and operated company when its records in the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that “it is everything but a Japanese-owned and operated corporation.”

“We view these actions as gross misrepresentation detrimental to the public interest as Horizon Fiber seeks to purport itself to the public as an internet services provider possessing Japanese technology in order to entice prospective customers to undertake their services,” Ridon said.

He said protecting the public

against these unlicensed service providers is vital due to the coronavirus crisis inundating the lives of Filipino families.

“With a greater number of households relying on stable, reliable and fast internet connection in their homes to undertake online classes and work, it is absolutely necessary that the Honorable Commission takes the lead in preventing unscrupulous actors in the telecoms sector from taking advantage of the general public,” Ridon said.

The BusinessMirror tried calling the mobile phone numbers listed on Horizon Fiber’s website, but failed to receive any reply for clarifications.

According to its website, Horizon Gateway Corp. was established in 2013.

It describes itself as a “fast-emerging internet broadband services company that aims to deliver affordable and reliable fiber to the home.”

Cebu Pacific brings home 531 Filipinos via Bayanihan flights

C

ebu Pacific (CEB) brought home 531 Filipinos from Dubai via two Bayanihan flights, in response to the government’s call to repatriate overseas Filipinos who were stranded in the Middle East.

The special commercial flights on October 6 and 8 were mounted by CEB in coordination with the Philippine government’s special working group.

Aside from meal upgrades, each passenger on these flights received an additional 25 kg baggage allowance.

Upon arrival, passengers have to

comply health protocols, including a mandatory facility-based quarantine; and a swab test to be taken five (5) or seven (7) days after arrival, depending on their vaccination status.

The cost of quarantine accommodation and testing for land-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were shouldered by Overseas Workers Welfare Administration; while the Philippine Ports Authority covered the cost for sea-based OFWs. CEB has coordinated with the hotels accredited by the Bureau of Quarantine to ensure that there

were adequate facilities for OFWs and their dependents.

“We remain fully committed to bringing Filipinos home amid the ongoing health crisis. As we enter the holiday season, we are happy to enable them to reunite with their loved ones,” said Alex Reyes, Chief Strategy Officer at Cebu Pacific.

Since July, CEB has safely flown more than 5,000 Filipinos from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, India, Vietnam, Lebanon and Bahrain through bayanihan and DFA-arranged charter flights.

Araneta City’s Farmers Market receives first public market Safety Seal

P

roving its compliance with standard safety protocols, Farmers Market in Araneta City has been the first public market in Metro Manila to be given a Safety Seal certification by the local government.

A ceremonial installation of Safety Seal was held on October 8 at the Farmers Market and Dampa entrances. The activity was headed by Margie Santos, head of the Quezon City Business Permits and Licensing Department (BPLD); retired police Col. Popoy Lipana, head of QC Market Development and Administration Department (MDAD); Morriel Abogado, Vice President for Operations and Zone Manager for Araneta City; Marjorie Go, Assistant Vice President for Marketing of Araneta City; and Belle De Leon, Farmers Market Property Manager.

The Farmers Market Safety Seal is among the certificates posted in entrances of Araneta City premises after they passed the rigorous

Photo shows (from left to right) Col. Popoy Lipana Head of Quezon City Market Development and Administration Department; Margie Santos, Head of the Quezon City Business Permit and Licensing Department; Belle De Leon, Farmers Market Property Manager; Morriel Abogado, Vice President for Operations and Zone Manager of Araneta City. Contributed Photo

inspection of Quezon City’s Safety Seal Certification Committee. The City of Firsts has been implementing the use of Kyusipass, and has been observing safety entrance protocols and regular sanitation in every establishment.

“The Safety Seal is a testament that we are continuously working on making Araneta City safer for everyone.

We proudly display this certificate to keep our patrons assured that their health and safety always comes first

at the City of Firsts,” Abogado said.

The Safety Seal for Farmers Plaza was installed on June 29, Gateway Mall’s safety seal was posted on July 1, while the safety seal for Ali Mall was awarded on July 6.

Aside from the strict implementation of IATF’s health protocols and guidelines, Farmers Market also utilizes contactless payment, in partnership with GCash, to safeguard the safety and protection of consumers and vendors.

Kazuo Sato (left), senior consultant of Global Trade Venture Co. Ltd. and Engr. Virginia Magante (right) look on as Rogelio Dizon of Angeles City signs the memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a joint venture on the development of an artificial intelligence industrial park in Clark Freeport. Ashley Jay Manabat

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Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, October 11, 2021

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

October 8, 2021

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 PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG IREMIT NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE VANTAGE

45.2 122.4 83.1 23.75 9 46.95 17.04 20.7 56.3 18.5 112 84.7 0.96 4.29 3.19 1.07 0.64 220 2,500 0.83

45.45 122.5 83.15 23.8 9.03 47 18.48 20.85 56.45 18.8 112.1 85.1 1.04 4.3 3.3 1.1 0.68 222.8 2,540 0.84

44 117 82.5 23.8 8.96 45.75 18.96 20.2 56.45 18.5 109.3 84.1 0.9 4.32 3.25 1.17 0.65 224.8 2,540 0.82

45.45 123.3 83.75 23.95 9.03 47.2 19 21 56.45 18.8 114.1 87 1 4.32 3.3 1.17 0.65 224.8 2,540 0.82

43.85 116.3 81.05 23.8 8.93 45.75 17.22 20.1 56.4 18.42 109.3 84.1 0.9 4.3 3.2 1.08 0.64 219 2,500 0.82

45.35 121 81.05 23.85 9 46.5 17.22 20.85 56.4 18.8 110 84.8 0.97 4.32 3.3 1.1 0.64 223.8 2,500 0.82

25,100 6,124,840 3,226,820 73,100 295,800 5,201,700 7,400 251,000 5,300 3,100 542,650 33,540 219,000 43,000 95,000 112,000 91,000 430 350 18,000

1,121,475 740,674,271 266,691,174.50 1,740,535 2,658,442 243,082,730 133,880 5,162,430 298,935 57,340 60,442,594 2,852,985 209,880 184,960 308,960 121,550 58,780 95,432 875,200 14,760

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 VIVANT AGRINURTURE AXELUM CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT FRUITAS HLDG GINEBRA JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP MG HLDG MONDE NISSIN SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH CEMEX HLDG EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CROWN ASIA EUROMED PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS PANASONIC SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

12.66 1.12 29.9 0.59 29.15 76 292.8 23.55 3.4 3.95 11.56 21.2 13.94 15 4.84 2.8 14 27.5 15.22 7.97 18.24 75.95 0.62 1.33 115.2 207.8 28.05 6.33 6.53 0.179 18.22 7.93 0.79 4.6 1.26 0.115 132.8 0.76 1.28 14.24 6.65 6.28 6.28 14.34 0.9 1.15 1.68 1.65 5.41 22.9 2.21 8.35 0.84 5.85 1.14 4.27

12.68 1.13 29.95 0.6 29.2 76.05 293 23.6 3.41 4.07 11.62 21.25 13.98 18.48 4.99 2.82 14.4 27.7 15.24 7.98 18.3 76 0.64 1.34 115.3 208 29.75 7.6 6.55 0.181 18.24 7.95 0.8 4.68 1.35 0.116 132.9 0.77 1.29 14.58 6.68 6.3 6.29 14.5 0.92 1.16 1.7 1.67 5.46 23 2.22 8.4 0.86 5.95 1.16 4.28

12.42 1.14 29.75 0.53 27.8 76 295.4 22.8 3.45 4.07 11.52 21.2 14 15 4.71 2.79 14.4 28.05 14.82 7.95 18.38 76.9 0.62 1.36 111.5 211.2 29.75 6.34 6.6 0.18 18.62 7.9 0.8 4.55 1.34 0.117 131 0.76 1.28 14.2 6.5 6.3 6.21 14.68 0.89 1.18 1.7 1.68 5.46 22.9 2.18 8.46 0.86 5.95 1.14 4.3

12.8 1.14 30.6 0.62 29.85 76.95 298 23.8 3.45 4.07 11.8 21.25 14 15 4.99 2.82 14.4 28.05 15.44 8.18 18.38 77 0.64 1.36 115.5 214 29.75 6.34 6.6 0.181 18.84 7.95 0.81 4.55 1.35 0.117 133.7 0.77 1.3 14.58 6.68 6.4 6.38 14.68 0.92 1.18 1.7 1.69 5.46 23 2.25 8.5 0.86 5.95 1.16 4.3

12.42 1.12 29.5 0.53 27.8 75.5 288 22.1 3.38 4 11.52 20 13.5 15 4.6 2.79 14.3 26.95 14.8 7.93 17.98 75.5 0.62 1.32 111.5 205 29.75 6.34 6.52 0.177 18.04 7.9 0.79 4.55 1.34 0.116 131 0.76 1.27 14.2 6.42 6.25 6.16 14.5 0.89 1.14 1.67 1.67 5.46 22.9 2.13 8.06 0.85 5.95 1.13 4.24

12.62 1.14 29.55 0.6 29 76.85 288 23.8 3.39 4 11.7 21.1 13.76 15 4.99 2.82 14.38 27.5 15.26 8.01 18.3 76 0.62 1.36 114 205 29.75 6.34 6.52 0.178 18.44 7.95 0.8 4.55 1.34 0.116 131 0.77 1.29 14.5 6.68 6.3 6.28 14.68 0.92 1.17 1.7 1.68 5.46 22.9 2.24 8.35 0.85 5.95 1.16 4.27

33,300,500 101,000 3,763,400 90,526,000 36,746,100 25,260 190,280 4,040,800 2,429,000 37,000 94,500 360,400 345,700 100 321,000 337,000 7,000 775,200 188,500 1,564,000 1,210,800 85,660 35,000 11,261,000 35,650 920,880 100 200 67,900 2,010,000 34,130,200 19,900 2,165,000 1,000 301,000 560,000 1,342,470 641,000 2,360,000 22,700 110,000 207,000 405,200 11,400 20,000 1,302,000 48,000 10,000 400 16,000 9,739,000 548,400 61,000 4,500 147,000 1,667,000

422,209,022 113,890 112,767,680 52,294,310 1,064,404,795 1,924,088 55,429,496 93,535,845 8,268,880 149,910 1,096,392 7,486,465 4,806,674 1,500 1,512,410 944,750 100,660 21,242,820 2,859,154 12,526,416 22,110,538 6,508,930 21,720 15,053,470 4,073,304 192,230,420 2,975 1,268 443,999 360,230 625,317,668 157,447 1,729,400 4,550 403,420 65,000 177,090,429 490,120 3,024,270 326,656 728,445 1,302,949 2,535,624 165,660 17,890 1,520,150 81,270 16,810 2,184 367,045 21,448,660 4,502,396 52,030 26,775 167,640 7,120,040

HOLDING & FRIMS

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

1.04 5.3 819.5 47.95 10.28 5.95 7.1 0.91 0.5 0.49 4.99 7.88 7.8 0.285 535 63.05 5.32 0.65 3.17 9.24 3.76 3.23 1.45 979 114.2 130.1 0.184

1.05 5.9 820 48.05 10.3 5.97 7.15 0.92 0.51 0.51 5.01 7.9 7.9 0.305 536.5 63.1 5.45 0.66 3.26 9.25 3.77 3.28 1.53 981 114.3 133.9 0.194

1.06 5.3 811 47.25 10.2 5.94 7.05 0.91 0.51 0.495 4.97 7.73 7.75 0.3 542 62.3 5.32 0.67 3.23 9.25 3.75 3.23 1.57 980 114.4 130 0.184

1.06 5.3 823.5 48.45 10.44 6.07 7.1 0.92 0.51 0.51 5.01 7.95 7.9 0.32 547 63.5 5.32 0.67 3.26 9.41 3.83 3.23 1.58 998 114.4 130 0.184

1.04 5.3 801 46.7 10.2 5.9 7.05 0.91 0.5 0.495 4.97 7.73 7.75 0.29 532 61.2 5.31 0.64 3.23 9.03 3.68 3.23 1.4 965 113 130 0.184

1.06 5.3 801 46.7 10.34 5.9 7.1 0.91 0.5 0.51 4.99 7.89 7.8 0.305 532 61.2 5.31 0.67 3.26 9.16 3.68 3.23 1.5 966 113 130 0.184

6,823,000 1,100 318,580 2,089,800 8,918,200 3,115,400 26,700 574,000 159,000 116,000 449,000 7,129,100 58,400 840,000 173,740 1,393,420 20,000 51,000 88,000 6,829,000 19,412,000 1,000 650,000 233,370 172,610 40 80,000

7,203,370 5,830 257,411,795 98,666,200 91,972,156 18,594,342 189,060 522,440 79,710 57,660 2,240,090 56,263,197 454,652 247,050 93,334,395 85,921,988.50 106,250 33,400 285,670 62,735,583 72,588,190 3,230 967,040 227,007,170 19,542,562 5,200 14,720

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.63 0.64 0.63 0.64 0.63 0.64 107,000 68,090 34.35 34.4 33.55 34.7 33.4 33.85 7,890,200 269,712,315 AYALA LAND ARANETA PROP 1.08 1.09 1.09 1.11 1.08 1.08 54,000 58,660 39.8 39.9 39.65 40.05 39.45 39.8 718,800 28,665,310 AREIT RT 1.33 1.35 1.35 1.35 1.33 1.35 273,000 365,300 BELLE CORP A BROWN 0.86 0.87 0.88 0.88 0.87 0.88 182,000 158,390 0.76 0.78 0.76 0.78 0.76 0.76 105,000 80,800 CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES 0.119 0.123 0.123 0.123 0.118 0.123 55,020,000 6,501,590 CEBU HLDG 6.05 6.06 6.05 6.2 6.05 6.05 98,900 598,773 2.93 2.94 2.93 2.95 2.9 2.93 715,000 2,097,910 CEB LANDMASTERS CENTURY PROP 0.44 0.445 0.445 0.45 0.43 0.45 20,580,000 9,042,800 10.22 10.24 10.2 10.3 10.16 10.3 168,800 1,721,438 DOUBLEDRAGON 1.84 1.86 1.83 1.88 1.82 1.84 4,204,000 7,771,260 DDMP RT DM WENCESLAO 6.94 6.97 6.98 6.98 6.97 6.97 34,300 239,274 0.265 0.275 0.27 0.27 0.265 0.27 2,260,000 604,100 EMPIRE EAST EVER GOTESCO 0.34 0.345 0.355 0.37 0.325 0.325 48,930,000 16,807,500 FILINVEST RT 7.26 7.29 7.33 7.35 7.25 7.3 1,409,800 10,283,648 1.09 1.1 1.09 1.11 1.09 1.1 6,829,000 7,503,800 FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE 0.9 0.92 0.96 0.97 0.88 0.9 1,740,000 1,587,870 10.62 10.64 10.5 10.82 10.34 10.7 489,300 5,205,748 8990 HLDG 1.15 1.18 1.19 1.19 1.15 1.19 69,000 80,300 PHIL INFRADEV CITY AND LAND 0.97 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.97 0.97 154,000 150,260 2.96 2.97 2.93 2.97 2.88 2.91 31,047,000 90,957,470 MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED 0.285 0.29 0.285 0.295 0.28 0.29 16,260,000 4,748,650 MREIT RT 17.46 17.48 17.2 17.6 17.2 17.5 2,155,000 37,536,732 0.48 0.5 0.475 0.51 0.475 0.51 2,180,000 1,060,100 PHIL ESTATES PRIMEX CORP 1.66 1.78 1.66 1.78 1.65 1.77 78,000 134,220 RL COMM RT 6.93 6.94 6.9 7 6.85 6.95 4,432,300 30,770,206 16.16 16.2 16.3 16.3 16 16 4,063,500 65,364,982 ROBINSONS LAND PHIL REALTY 0.245 0.248 0.24 0.248 0.24 0.245 470,000 113,140 1.56 1.57 1.55 1.6 1.55 1.57 291,000 458,880 ROCKWELL 2.85 2.87 2.81 2.9 2.81 2.85 383,000 1,104,970 STA LUCIA LAND SM PRIME HLDG 33.95 34 33.7 34.25 33.25 33.25 12,486,000 421,715,105 3.72 3.75 3.75 3.77 3.72 3.72 9,000 33,710 VISTAMALLS SUNTRUST HOME 1.48 1.52 1.5 1.52 1.48 1.48 437,000 649,300 VISTA LAND 3.54 3.55 3.52 3.59 3.51 3.51 861,000 3,050,320

SERVICES ABS CBN 15.48 15.5 15.04 15.84 15.04 15.48 817,600 12,629,590 15.36 15.38 15.2 15.5 15.02 15.28 1,752,900 26,786,106 GMA NETWORK MANILA BULLETIN 0.4 0.415 0.405 0.405 0.4 0.4 470,000 188,850 3,116 3,120 3,200 3,220 3,084 3,088 165,185 514,133,320 GLOBE TELECOM 1,677 1,681 1,678 1,739 1,659 1,670 241,925 407,625,300 PLDT APOLLO GLOBAL 0.101 0.102 0.1 0.103 0.099 0.102 172,440,000 17,431,200 34.05 34.15 37.45 37.45 32.75 33.6 67,990,300 2,349,189,960 CONVERGE DFNN INC 3.15 3.2 3.13 3.43 3.13 3.22 170,000 538,700 DITO CME HLDG 7.46 7.47 7.39 7.56 7.35 7.44 4,347,100 32,364,796 1.42 1.61 1.42 1.42 1.42 1.42 11,000 15,620 IMPERIAL JACKSTONES 2 2.1 2 2 2 2 9,000 18,000 1.86 1.87 1.83 1.87 1.83 1.86 1,344,000 2,485,430 NOW CORP 0.34 0.345 0.34 0.35 0.34 0.345 1,750,000 601,300 TRANSPACIFIC BR PHILWEB 2.33 2.34 2.29 2.38 2.29 2.33 602,000 1,412,450 8.1 8.14 8.02 8.15 8.01 8.15 29,000 232,867 2GO GROUP ASIAN TERMINALS 14 14.48 13.9 14.1 13.9 14.1 1,008,900 14,123,850 CHELSEA 2.16 2.17 2.15 2.2 2.15 2.16 463,000 1,007,770 41.4 41.65 41 43.05 41 41 317,300 13,113,680 CEBU AIR INTL CONTAINER 187.8 187.9 188 191.7 182.1 182.1 2,566,090 475,681,238 17.52 18.06 17.5 18.06 17.5 18.06 10,400 185,264 LBC EXPRESS 4.94 4.98 5.15 5.4 4.91 4.93 1,790,300 9,033,795 MACROASIA METROALLIANCE A 1.42 1.5 1.49 1.49 1.49 1.49 72,000 107,280 1.04 1.05 1.04 1.05 1.04 1.04 61,000 63,470 HARBOR STAR ACESITE HOTEL 1.48 1.52 1.47 1.51 1.47 1.48 25,000 37,200 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.076 0.077 0.075 0.077 0.074 0.076 22,960,000 1,739,570 2.39 2.47 2.5 2.64 2.32 2.45 5,350,000 13,223,950 DISCOVERY WORLD WATERFRONT 0.5 0.52 0.5 0.52 0.5 0.51 1,189,000 594,840 538 555 555 555 555 555 80 44,400 FAR EASTERN U 6.84 6.99 6.84 6.84 6.84 6.84 3,200 21,888 IPEOPLE STI HLDG 0.355 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.355 0.36 2,430,000 874,750 5.52 5.79 5.9 6 5.6 5.79 229,400 1,299,823 BERJAYA 6.22 6.23 6.21 6.29 6.15 6.15 6,222,800 38,648,400 BLOOMBERRY PACIFIC ONLINE 1.92 2 2 2.03 2 2.03 6,000 12,060 1.66 1.69 1.65 1.69 1.65 1.68 77,000 128,270 LEISURE AND RES MANILA JOCKEY 1.79 1.8 1.79 1.8 1.79 1.8 29,000 52,170 1.17 1.18 1.24 1.25 1.15 1.16 4,422,000 5,225,520 PH RESORTS GRP 0.41 0.415 0.42 0.42 0.41 0.415 11,680,000 4,832,050 PREMIUM LEISURE ALLHOME 9.9 9.99 9.9 10.2 9.67 9.9 1,145,400 11,334,493 1.34 1.35 1.34 1.36 1.34 1.35 1,148,000 1,547,910 METRO RETAIL 42.5 42.55 41.9 42.6 41.85 41.95 1,377,900 58,103,145 PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL 59.95 60 59 61 58.6 59.9 1,442,630 86,371,710 88.15 89 88.45 89 87.65 89 16,590 1,464,166.50 PHIL SEVEN CORP SSI GROUP 1.21 1.22 1.2 1.22 1.19 1.22 1,712,000 2,068,660 WILCON DEPOT 33.45 33.55 33 34.95 31 34.95 82,110,700 2,774,716,840 0.255 0.27 0.275 0.28 0.25 0.275 1,380,000 367,900 APC GROUP GOLDEN MV 525.5 535 525 535 525 535 370 194,525 7.06 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.1 6,000 42,600 IPM HLDG 2.06 2.25 2.25 2.25 2.25 2.25 25,000 56,250 PAXYS PRMIERE HORIZON 0.83 0.84 0.82 0.86 0.81 0.83 17,437,000 14,534,360 4.27 4.42 4.27 4.4 4.27 4.4 22,000 96,540 SBS PHIL CORP

MINING & OIL

ATOK 7 7.05 6.73 7.2 6.64 6.64 175,200 1,176,333 APEX MINING 1.4 1.41 1.4 1.41 1.39 1.41 1,018,000 1,424,120 5.89 5.9 5.89 5.9 5.82 5.89 300,600 1,763,928 ATLAS MINING 4.88 5.15 4.88 5.15 4.88 5.15 2,500 12,227 BENGUET A BENGUET B 4.74 4.9 4.74 4.74 4.73 4.74 74,000 350,380 0.28 0.29 0.28 0.29 0.28 0.29 60,000 16,900 COAL ASIA HLDG CENTURY PEAK 2.75 2.76 2.7 2.78 2.7 2.78 335,000 921,550 FERRONICKEL 2.09 2.1 2.05 2.1 2.05 2.09 799,000 1,672,470 0.221 0.232 0.221 0.221 0.221 0.221 310,000 68,510 GEOGRACE LEPANTO A 0.129 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.129 0.13 2,260,000 292,760 0.0094 0.0095 0.0093 0.0094 0.0093 0.0094 8,000,000 74,600 MANILA MINING A 0.0096 0.01 0.0096 0.0096 0.0096 0.0096 513,000,000 4,924,800 MANILA MINING B MARCVENTURES 0.88 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.87 0.9 1,069,000 954,610 1.02 1.04 1.02 1.03 1.02 1.02 721,000 735,550 NIHAO NICKEL ASIA 5.33 5.34 5.3 5.45 5.3 5.31 1,459,700 7,808,164 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.83 0.84 0.82 0.83 0.82 0.83 392,000 325,140 4.93 4.99 4.91 4.99 4.9 4.91 403,000 1,979,800 PX MINING SEMIRARA MINING 24.85 24.9 24.6 25.5 24.5 24.9 3,515,200 87,860,690 0.0066 0.0069 0.007 0.007 0.0066 0.0066 24,000,000 162,200 UNITED PARAGON 16.86 16.88 17.4 17.4 16.72 16.84 213,400 3,589,356 ACE ENEXOR ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.01 0.012 29,200,000 320,800 0.0098 0.0099 0.0099 0.0099 0.0098 0.0098 14,000,000 137,400 PHILODRILL PXP ENERGY 6.37 6.4 6.48 6.48 6.31 6.37 131,200 834,298

PREFFERED ALCO PREF B 101.3 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.2 101.5 32,540 3,302,786 524 525 524 524 524 524 2,180 1,142,320 AC PREF B2R CEB PREF 40.85 41.5 42.2 42.35 40.05 40.85 6,700 272,550 102.5 104 102.5 104 102.5 104 430 44,600 CPG PREF A 101 102.3 101.3 101.3 101 101 31,000 3,137,823 DD PREF FGEN PREF G 105.3 105.6 105.6 105.6 105.6 105.6 11,000 1,161,600 101 101.5 100.1 101.5 100.1 101.5 5,700 573,270 MWIDE PREF PNX PREF 3B 106 106.5 106 107 106 106.9 17,900 1,902,585 PNX PREF 4 1,005 1,009 1,009 1,010 1,006 1,009 1,990 2,005,955 1,125 1,136 1,135 1,145 1,135 1,135 10,010 11,430,185 PCOR PREF 3A SMC PREF 2F 79.1 79.3 79.05 79.1 79.05 79.1 22,820 1,804,056 76.15 76.5 76.25 76.25 76.1 76.1 89,410 6,808,043.50 SMC PREF 2H 76.4 76.9 76.5 76.5 76.5 76.5 100 7,650 SMC PREF 2J

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 14.9 15.2 15.4 15.4 15 15 42,700 640,860 14.14 14.68 14.5 14.5 14.02 14.14 126,300 1,792,084 GMA HLDG PDR

WARRANTS TECH WARRANT 1.45 1.47 1.45 1.48 1.41 1.46 3,904,000 5,627,310

723,720 322,790,473 -45,890,271.50 -172,805 75,012,700 879,190 2,470,388 -880,442 -12,960 13,490 850,000 114,881,378 28,613,315 -834,300 -156,335,530 -52,893 -10,380,356 10,747,675 702,090 2,461,395 -58,140 738,660 3,915,495 294,546 -4,116,312 -97,404 -3,473,977 -19,240 625,100 855,809 73,840,150 -3,930 -165,490,206 9,480 -65,100 22,953,202 -97,280 -2,080 -89,286 -642,600 -301,897 -127,530 -138,000 3,332,970 658,493 -149,300.00 815,600 33,820,685 3,266,840 -11,477,356 -165,120 -35,500 8,160 364,770 19,412,827 -42,735 9,569,145 29,847,663 -81,500 -873,557 820,170 25,777,840 1,419,510 121,130,485 -7,650 1,124,410 25,460 47,200 -551,783 -137,560 -84,400 -252,614.00 -149,610 18,900 -26,300 -219,954 -648,280 18,000 11,640 22,243,250 551,700.00 220,540 65,470 -6,790,062 -12,708,078.00 7,440 -257,060 35,107,750 -22,500 44,500 1,021,710 -204,254,160 143,672,630 421,240 -515,993,935 84,510 3,880,045 -10,000 -92,000 -521,450 13,886,020 15,190 -4,756,015 90,276,280 -35,000 -131,592 -7,400 4,840 262,800 8,003,506 604,100 48,400 7,597,693 -373,950 -7,131,290 12,299,004 406,878 -145,080 -46,034,275 -105,000 797,040 -57,400 138,897 921,550 606,350 -985,204 -16,400 73,670 19,632,265 23,604 - -24,985 22,330 10,600 50,450 -11,350 1,044,250.50 76,250 - -618,782 341,570

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

ALTUS PROP ITALPINAS KEPWEALTH MERRYMART

17.06 1.89 3.87 3.68

FIRST METRO ETF

106.5

17.18 1.9 3.91 3.69

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

107

17.1 1.93 3.87 3.72

17.1 1.93 3.91 3.75

17.1 1.88 3.87 3.63

17.1 1.88 3.91 3.67

11,800 172,000 5,000 4,773,000

201,780 326,730 19,430 17,568,200

1,687,500

105.4 107.2 105.4 106.5 3,520 375,184 72,224

www.businessmirror.com.ph

WalterMart plans to expand store network in Calabarzon

W

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

alterMart, SM Retail Inc.’s Luzon-based supermarket chain, is expanding the number of its branches as it plans to open two new stores in the Calabarzon area by the end of the year.

The company recently opened its 41st store in Antipolo, Rizal and will soon open another in Bacoor, Cavite this month.

“We remain true to our vision of bringing the good life to more Filipino homes through strategic expansion. We aim to bring our stores closer to serve neighborhoods with our signature service excellence as people still look for trusted, convenient and

safe ways to shop especially during these times,” WalterMart President Jennilyn Uy said.

WalterMart also recently reopened its legacy 7,000-square meter branch in E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave., Quezon City this year, bringing back the nostalgia with a modern feel to the New Manila neighborhoods. This site is exactly where WalterMart started almost

STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK Last week Share prices fell last week after investors decided to sell their holdings just when the main index breached the 7,000-point level.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 16.74 points to close at 6,906.86 points.

The main index was up during the early part of the week through Wednesday when it closed at 7,057.45 points, but it succumbed to profit-taking during the next two trading sessions which also saw a high volume of trade.

Average volume of trade for the week was at P9.33 billion, with foreigners just accounting for 30 percent of the trades and were net sellers at P1.39 billion.

Other subindices ended mostly in the green, led by the broader All Shares index that rose 12.01 points to 4,338.52, the Financials index climbed 54.78 to 1,467.23, the Industrial index gained 61.10 to 10,361.44, the Holding Firms index declined 94.10 to 6,800.18, the Property index added 71.97 to 3,061.85, the Services index fell 30.50 to 1,918.50 and the Mining and Oil index soared 328.85 to 9,726.40.

For the week, losers edged gainers 123 to 106 and 20 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers for the week were Manila Water Co. Inc., Wilcon Depot Inc., Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp. A, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., Basic Energy Corp. and MacroAsia Corp.

Top losers, meanwhile, were Prime Media Holdings Inc., Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc., Premiere Horizon Alliance Corp. Makati Finance Corp., Geograce Resources Philippines Inc. and First Gen Corp.

This week

Trading may remain volatile this week as investors will digest predictions as to who will win in the 2022 national elections after the filing of certificates of candidacy ended last week.

“Pundits have already claimed this [election] iteration to be the most polarizing yet, which translates to much higher volatility for equity markets—especially for names that have overhang tied to government offices such as power generation, mining and oil, water, gaming to name a few industries,” broker 2TradeAsia said.

It advised to brace for volatility in the coming days. The 7,000-mark may be within striking distance, but it has become elusive as investors remain indecisive, the broker said. Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., said investors are also expected to watch out for the government’s decision on social restriction measures after October 15.

“Easing of the restrictions primarily in the National Capital Region may send the local market higher,” he said.

“Global oil prices which remain elevated are seen to pose downside risk to the market however. If the high oil prices are sustained, worse, if they rally further, then it could raise inflation worries which in turn could weigh on the local bourse. Aside from these, investors may also watch out for our upcoming July foreign direct investment numbers, and August foreign trade and OFW remittance data for clues on how the economy has been faring.”

The main index may again test the 7,000 to 7,100 point trading range this week, but if it failed to so, it may move within its 10-day exponential moving average and 50-day exponential moving average at 6,842.55 as of October 8, he said.

Stock picks

Broker Regina Capital Development Corp. advised to sell on rallies on Wilcon Depot Inc. after investors decided to snap up its shares in last week’s trade on news that the stock will replace First Gen in the main index.

“Wilcon reached a high of P40 before immediately correcting and closing at P34.00 lower than open, but still higher than the previous day’s close. At this point, indicators are showing overbought signs. While buying momentum has spiked, there was also a huge jump in volatility,” it said.

Wilcon’s shares closed Friday at P34.95 apiece.

Meanwhile, the broker advised to take profits on the stock of Converge ICT, as its stock kept on hitting its all-time high last week and is now trading at “precarious” levels.

“It’s been getting cozy in the overbought region since mid-August. Take note, however, that average share price volatility is at significantly high levels.

This means that while CNVRG continues to rally, the possible correction could be bloody,” it said, placing a weekly target on the stock at P40.

Converge shares closed last week at P33.60 apiece. VG Cabuag

30 years ago, the company said.

WalterMart extends this service not just to its shoppers but to all the communities where they are located, it added.

“Our commitment to the communities and our customers is to win through malasakit [concern] from farm to market,” Rose Caalam, general manager of WalterMart supermarket, said.

“We want to ensure a sustainable income for our farmers during this pandemic through different farmer groups and organization, malasakit to our customers by providing them quality and affordable fresh produce assortment and malasakit to employees by making our proud local ambassadors of fresh and healthy products.”

Aside from physically expanding stores, WalterMart is taking a step forward towards a stronger digital presence. WalterMart is growing its

online grocery format through www. waltermartdelivery.com.ph, providing customers.

In September, it launched #14388 or the CallMeWally service, its same day buy and delivery service for both its supermarket and department store.

To date, there are 23 WalterMart stores in Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija are dedicated to this service with plans of rolling out to more stores in the near future.

WalterMart continues to bring its brand of excellent service with each expansion. This is shown by a higher rate of repeat purchases of 75 percent currently from new customers today compared with pre-pandemic levels, according to company officials.

“The way we expand is we make sure our customers have great customer experience. We make sure we deliver well,” Uy said.

mutual funds

October 8, 2021

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year

per share

Return*

Y-T-D Return

Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a

221.91

14.82%

-2.69%

-3.52%

-2.33%

ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a

1.6646

58.49%

6.95%

3.69%

26.78%

17.83%

-6.32%

-6.31%

-1.71%

ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.0794

Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.7445 12.28%

-4.97% n.a.

-8.4%

First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.7924 19.59%

-0.08% n.a.

6.85%

First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a

5.0435

21.64%

0.4%

-1.24%

2.07%

First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a

0.7459

15.54%

-2.2%

-5.34%

MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a

15.62%

-5.26% n.a.

-4.09%

97.7

PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a

45.6964

18.13%

-0.84%

-2.14%

-2.44%

Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a

477.01

14.59%

-0.73%

-2.66%

-2.44% 0.95%

Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d

1.1077

24.61% n.a. n.a.

Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a

1.2579

26.82%

1.4%

-0.39%

7.68%

Philequity Fund, Inc. -a

34.9264

20.31%

-0.18%

-1.04%

0.45%

Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a

0.8909

16.53% n.a. n.a.

-2.42%

4.699

18.93%

-0.08%

-1.45%

-1.92%

785.48

18.92%

-0.03%

-1.49%

-2.01%

Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a

0.716

18.92%

-4.09%

-4.55%

-0.4%

Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.6447

19.74%

-2.14%

-2.54%

0.57%

Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a

Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.8964 18.48%

-0.38%

-1.66%

-2.32%

United Fund, Inc. -a

-0.31%

-0.66%

-0.41%

0.11%

-1.01%

3.3051

19.18%

-3.93%

Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c

105.508

18.98%

-1.9%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities $1.1292

6.47%

5.12%

4.24%

-6.13%

Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.7547

ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

15.04%

10.9%

10.87%

4.9%

Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a

1.6613

8.3%

1.09%

-1.5%

-0.44%

ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a

2.2011

8.88%

0.8%

-1.35%

-3.69%

First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.6484

11.66%

2.65%

0.31%

0.82%

First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.1978

9.95% n.a. n.a.

NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a

1.9664

7.86%

3.08%

0.77%

-0.04%

PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a

3.6739

7.29%

Philam Fund, Inc. -a

16.4476

7.39%

2.5%

-0.55%

-3.06%

2.4%

-0.57%

Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a

2.06

-2.91%

8.84%

0.92%

-0.49%

-1.49%

Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.5808 11.28%

0.26%

-1.05%

0.21%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.979

5.67% n.a. n.a.

-4.26%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.9074

11.21% n.a. n.a.

-4.4%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.8962

13.11% n.a. n.a.

-3.95%

Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a

15.78%

2.67%

0.9114

0.28%

-1.27%

-0.15%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a

$0.03744

-4.02%

2.58%

0.83%

-4.25%

PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b

$1.0506

0.32%

3.09%

2.23%

-7.03%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $4.6391 11.14%

8.29%

7.59%

2.8%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a $1.1981 4.71%

4.75%

3.95%

-0.34%

Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a

372.86

1.21%

2.97%

2.44%

0.47%

ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.9268

-1.3%

1.22%

0.21%

1.39%

Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a

3.242

1.23%

3.34%

4.15%

0.83%

Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a

2.2513

-1.76%

2.06%

1.34%

-2.04% -0.95%

First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4298 -0.84%

3.15%

1.7%

Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a

4.4396

-4.2%

4.93%

1.29%

-4.11%

Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a

1.3177

0.4%

3.97%

2.63%

-0.27%

Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a

3.9676

0.25%

4.64%

2.41%

-0.84%

Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.028

-0.99%

5.17%

1.63%

-1.49%

Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1911

0.28%

4.95%

2.72%

-0.47%

-0.59%

4.23%

2.06%

-1.1%

Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a

1.7357

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a

$487.65

1.75%

3.06%

2.11%

0.75%

ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a

Є220.02

1.28%

1.08%

0.78%

0.36%

ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.1842

-4.44%

1.87%

0.98%

-7.47%

First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0259 -1.89%

1.46%

0.63%

-2.63%

PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b

$1.0155

-6.48%

-0.3%

-1.62%

-6.83%

Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a

$2.4609

-1.54%

4.76%

1.56%

-3.11%

Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a

$0.0627207

2.01%

3.33%

2.01%

0.68%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.1064 -2.41%

2.56%

0.36%

-3.64%

Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a

2.54%

0.74%

First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0556 0.97% n.a. n.a.

130.78

0.72%

Sun Life Prosperity Peso Starter Fund, Inc. -a,1

1.09%

1.311

1.21% 1.53%

2.95% 2.74%

2.55%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0589

0.88%

1.55% n.a.

0.5%

Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a,d 1.291

26.31% n.a. n.a.

14.29%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -a,d

$0.97

3.19% n.a. n.a.

-1.02%

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

1 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last July 8, 2021 (formerly, Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc.).

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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance

SEC: Smart investing best defense versus scammers

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

D

AVAO CITY—Be smart in investing.

This is the advice the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could give in commemorating last week’s World Investor Week in a sharp rebuke to the spike in scamming activities in the country as crooks beguile on newbies in financial transaction, notably in mobile banking and electronic transactions, forced by the exigency of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The SEC advised Filipinos “to secure their financial future by becoming smart investors so that they may protect their hard-earned money and avoid fraudulent entities.”

It said the International Organization of Securities Commissions (Iosco) defines a smart investor “as one who researches investment opportunities independently, avoids get-rich-quick schemes and never discloses personal information on an unexpected call or other communication.”

“A smart investor should also verify that the investment professional they are transacting with is duly licensed; [and should] understand the risks that exists in all investments, and plan for investments based on their future needs and goals,” the SEC said.

Moreover, it said, a smart investor “realizes the value of sustainable finance, whether it be environmental, social, and governance investing, socially responsible investing, or impact investing.”

The SEC hosted a free online lecture and presentation last Friday showing how to spot and unmask investment scams.

The World Investor Week put a spotlight on promoting investor protection, and this year’s theme focused on sustainable finance and the prevention of frauds and scams.

“The SEC is pleased to take part in this year’s World Investor Week, taking cues from the Iosco’s mission to boost financial literacy in order to promote sustainable economic growth and prevent the spread of scam and fraud among the investing public,” SEC chairman Emilio B. Aquino said.

Aquino further said that a scamfree financial environment would be possible “if we work together with the public in exposing and avoiding fraudulent schemes.”

As of October 5, the regulator has issued 87 advisories against groups and individuals who have been soliciting investments from the public without the necessary license from the SEC. A total of 126 and 50 advisories were issued last year and 2019, respectively.

The SEC said it has issued four cease-and-desist orders against 15 groups and individuals and filed 48 cases currently pending in court for violations of Republic Act 8799, or The Securities Regulation Code (SRC).

So far, a total of 187 individuals have been charged with violations of the SRC, with the SEC securing 17 judgments of convictions against 19 individuals meted with a total of imprisonment of 572 years and a total fine of P25 million imposed by various courts.

Retail lender to pursue ‘inclusive finance’ plan

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

C

BS China Bank Savings Inc., the retail lending arm of China Banking Corp. recently announced it will pursue an “inclusive finance-driven” bid to expand geographical and market reach.

“Our program of network expansion to the countryside signifies optimism in the long-term business prospects of those areas and our institutional commitment to promote financial inclusion,” CBS Chairman Ricardo R. Chua was quoted in a news statement as saying.

“As the country strives for recovery, CBS is determined to keep the pace of delivering traditional and digital banking services to the broad consumer market, small business owners, as well as special markets we serve,” Chua added.

He said the retail lender is now shifting its original thrust to cater to the needs of small enterprise and specialized lending to segments like public school teachers and Department of Education (DepEd) employees.

As a sign of bullishness on the expected rebound of the economy, the thrift bank opened three regular branches and 11 kiosk-type shops from June to September, bringing the branch network to 171.

“CBS is set to open 24 more branch-lites until December 2021,” CBS President James Christian T. Dee announced. Dee added that the bank continues to scout for sites, where new segments are expected to support its long-term growth.

“As a bank, we are genuinely concerned about promoting ‘easy banking access for all’ thereby contributing to the rapid recovery of communities we serve. And that itself makes good business sense,” Dee explained.

“Our expansion effort in the next period will focus on making

financial services highly accessible to teachers and staff of public schools through these CBS branchlites,” he added. “Branch-lites are designed so that your visits will provide a warm, personalized experience, with the assurance that business is conducted safely and comfortably.”

Niel C. Jumawan, head of the bank’s Automatic Payroll Deduction Salary (APDS) Lending group, said teachers nowadays are experiencing challenging times these days.

“For years, CBS has been promoting the idea of financial inclusion. Our expansion to towns and secondary cities is expected to benefit more DepEd teachers and staff and their families, and help improve the quality of life in the communities where CBS operates,” Jumawan said.

He pointed to the bank’s APDS loan program that “helps boost the consumer power of the public education sector.”

Jumawan explained that under this program for DepEd teachers and staff, qualified customers can borrow up to P1 million, without any collateral with a term of 12 months up to 36 months. He added the loan can be used for emergency expenses, purchase of devices, home repairs, continuing education and as working capital for home-based businesses.

“By providing easy-to-access, innovative banking services to under-served sectors, our Bank is living up to our commitment to promote financial inclusiveness and uplifting the quality of life in communities we serve,” according to Chua, noting the bank’s thrust to weave business objectives with social responsibility goals during the pandemic.

“CBS is here for the long haul,” Chua said through the statement.

The Makati-based CBS, believed to be as the country’s fourth largest thrift bank, was set up in September 2008 by its parent firm to cater to under-served markets.

BusinessMirror

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Monday, October 11, 2021

B3

SC: Sans LOA, taxpayers cannot be audited by revenue officers

T

By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Supreme Court has branded as “disturbing trend” the tax audits or investigations of taxpayers by revenue officers without a letter of authority (LOA) issued by the commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Thus, the Court released to the public last October 7 a 13-page decision by the Court’s Third Division and penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez in the case of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR) vs McDonald’s Philippines Realty Corp. (MPRC). The Court held that the practice of reassigning or transferring revenue officers originally in the LOA and substituting them with new revenue officers to conduct the audit or investigation without a separate LOA violates the taxpayers’ right to due process in tax audit.

Likewise, the SC held that the said practice “usurps the statutory power of the BIR commissioner and does not comply with existing rules and regulations of the BIR.” “Unless authorized by the CIR himself or by his duly authorized representative, an examination of the taxpayer cannot be undertaken.

Unless undertaken by the CIR himself or his duly authorized representatives, other tax agents may not validly conduct any of these kinds of examinations without prior authority,” the Court declared.

Grant of authority

The court further held that “there must be a grant of authority, in the form of a LOA, before any revenue officer can conduct an examination or assessment.”

“The revenue officer so authorized must not go beyond the authority given,” the court said. “In the absence of such an authority, the assessment or examination is a nullity.”

The SC explained that issuance of an LOA prior to examination and assessment is a requirement of due process and not just a mere formality or technicality.

The Court noted that it has previously ruled that the issuance of a Letter Notice to a taxpayer was not sufficient if no corresponding LOA was issued.

It added that due process demands that after a letter of notice has been sent, the revenue officer should have properly secured an LOA before proceeding with the further examination and assessment of the taxpayer’s accounts.

“Due process requires that taxpayers must have the right to know that the revenue officers are duly

authorized to conduct the examination and assessment, and this requires that the LOAs must contain the names of the authorized revenue officers,” the SC explained.

“In other words, identifying the authorized revenue officers in the LOA is a jurisdictional requirement of a valid audit or investigation by the BIR, and therefore of a valid assessment,” it added.

Argument junked

THE Court junked the argument of the CIR that the LOA is not issued to the revenue officer and that the same is issued to the taxpayer.

The SC noted that the LOA “is the concrete manifestation of the grant of authority bestowed by the CIR or his authorized representatives to the revenue officers” under Sections 6, l0(c) and 13 of the National Internal Revenue Code (Republic Act 8424 or The Tax Reform Act of 1997) or the NIRC. This grant of authority, according to the SC, is issued upon an agent of the BIR, thus, it is wrong for the CIR to characterize the LOA as a document issue to the taxpayer, and that once so issued, “any” revenue officer may then act pursuant to such authority.

It said that under the provisions of NIRC and Revenue Memorandum Circular 43-90, only the CIR and his or her duly authorized representatives–deputy commissioners, revenue regional directors and other officials authorized by the CIR–may issue a LOA.

Assignment transferred

THE Court’s ruling stemmed from the petition filed by the CIR seeking to set aside the 2018 ruling of

the Court of Tax Appeals, which invalidated the BIR’s P16.2-million assessment of deficiency value-added tax for 2006 issued against MPRC, a foreign firm which set up a local branch to purchase and lease back two McDonald’s restaurant sites for lease to McGeorge Foods Inc. Case records showed that on August 31, 2007, the BIR Large Taxpayers Service issued an LOA to Revenue Officers Eulema Demadura, Lover Loveres, Josa Gomez and Emalyn dela Cruz to examine the books of accounts and other accounting records of MPRC for revenue taxes from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006.

On December 2, 2008, the BIR transferred the assignment of Demadura and directed and designated Rona Marcellano to continue the audit, pursuant to Referral Memorandum 122-LOA-1208-00039.

No new LOA was issued in the name of Marcellano. The August 31, 2007 LOA was not amended or modified to include the name of Marcellano.

However, on January 25, 2011, the CIR issued a Formal Letter of Demand (FLD) dated January 11, 2011 directing MPRC to pay P17.4 million.

The company protested and pointed out it was denied due process.

On April 18, 2013, the CIR issued a Final Decision on Disputed Assessment (FDDA) for deficiency valueadded tax of P16.2 million.

MPRC elevated the assessment to the CTA, which nullified the assessment on the ground that Marcellano was not authorized by way of LOA to investigate the books of accounts of the firm.

After its appeal was denied, the CIR elevated the issue before the SC.

App operator vows to comply with BSP requirements

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

D

ORSET, England-headquartered Things I Like (TIL) Co. Ltd., operator of online shopping platform Lyka, announced it will set up shop in the Philippines to comply with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) requirements to register as an Operator of Payment System (OPS) in the country.

Over the weekend, the BSP said it upholds its decision to deny the request of Digital Spring Marketing and Advertising Inc. (Digital Spring), to be registered as an Operator of

Payment System (OPS) of the Lyka/ TIL payment system.

The BSP said that Lyka/TIL, and not Digital Spring, should register as OPS with the BSP. Lyka/TIL allows its users to purchase, exchange, and use gift cards in electronic mode or GEMs as payment for goods and services.

“These activities make Lyka/TIL an OPS and, therefore, its registration is required before it can continue with these activities,” the BSP said.

In response to this, TIL said it will “immediately put up its own office in the country,” end their partnership with Digital Spring and

operate in the country as a standalone entity.

“Instead of challenging the BSP’s decision before a judicial forum, Lyka has determined that the fastest resolution to the matter is to simply commence the registration of its own Philippine entity as an OPS, including setting up its own Philippine operations and equipping it with the best talent possible,” Lyka said.

“Just as we have established wholly-owned subsidiaries in the United States, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia, Lyka Philippines will hire the crème de la crème when it comes

to business operations and management,” it added.

The company said it has started sourcing for a country head and a support team for its Philippine operations. “[We] will continue to closely cooperate with BSP and other regulators in order to keep advancing the LYKA GEMs, the first cashless and seamless social media gift card in the world,” the firm behind the app said.

“The addition of an internal entity in a social media hub like the Philippines can only bring LYKA a step closer to its vision of becoming a global app conglomerate,” it added.

Perspectives How do you tell a fad from a trend?

T

HE entire world has experienced decades’ worth of change in one year. Because so much of this sudden, unexpected and abrupt change has been enforced by Covid-19 it can be hard, even for organizations that have invested in data and analytics, to distinguish a transient fad from an enduring long-term trend.

The distinction might sound semantic, but it is not. If organizations can detect the signals fast enough–and react accordingly–they can profit from transient short-term fads. On the other hand, organizations should base their strategic investment priorities on enduring long-term trends.

Placing big bets on the basis of one popular dataset is a risk that organizations do not have to take. Celebrity endorsements illustrate the Simpson paradox (the phenomenon where a trend in one dataset vanishes when the data is aggregated). A few years ago, the endorsement from celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyoncé made kale a very trendy food. Data capturing soaring sales suggested a paradigm shift in diets, supply increased accordingly

but then demand fell by six percent, although sales volumes for spinach and brussels sprouts grew.

Agile organizations generated extra revenue from the kale boom, whereas late arrivals, slow to receive and/or analyze the data, were more likely to incur extra cost. A thorough analysis of different types of data might have flagged up that the sudden popularity of a particular variety of leaf cabbage was indicative of a broader, deeper trend: consumers’ growing interest in healthier foods.

Understanding such nuances is critical because, as consumers look for short term fixes in unpredictable times, demand will probably remain volatile.

Indeed, this may already be happening: 27 percent of consumers say they have tried more new brands because of Covid-19 and lockdown.

Covid-19 has shown emphatically how integral data and analytics have become to the way we live, work and do business. It has also exposed how much consumers and organizations alike still have to learn to be truly data literate.

Are you gaining the right insights from your data?

A variety of factors–legacy systems, data quality, strategy, culture and governance–have thwarted organizations’ digital transformation programs.

Too often, data is used only–or primarily–to support existing conclusions or gut instincts. Organizations that rely on too few data points risk misreading the market. When data is geared to specific projects, or stuck in internal silos, it is unlikely to inspire the kind of insights that create value, drive innovation and enhance performance.

The critical need–ignored by many organizations in a rush to invest in technology–is to identify what decisions you want the data to influence. Data is not a bolt-on. It needs to infuse every aspect of an organization if it is to transform performance and drive value.

Using the insights generated from data harvested across different layers of the organization’s, businesses can deepen their understanding of customers–and the paradoxical way they can behave.

Why, for example, do nine out of ten consumers say they are happy to pay more to buy from an ethical organization that puts something back into society, yet only 28 percent say they have already done so? Possibly because consumers perform several roles simultaneously and their priorities will change according to whether they are behaving as citizens, shoppers, employees or family members.

Consumers’ good intent may be frustrated by weather, time, visibility, availability, price or how busy a store is. By clarifying such apparent contradictions, data driven insights can help organizations make better, more informed decisions.

The excerpt was taken from the KPMG Thought Leadership publication entitled “Me, my life, my wallet.” © 2021 R.G. Manabat & Co., a Philippine partnership and a member-firm of the KPMG global organization of independent member-firms affiliated with KPMG Intl. Ltd., a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved.

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

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Why mandates make us feel threatened

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By David Rock & Christy Pruitt-Haynes

While there are plenty of legal and technical issues to work through, a big issue will be managing employee reactions to the mandate. There’s no question that this topic has the potential to cause a lot of tension: One recent survey showed that 44% of Americans would choose to leave their company if it enacted a mandate, while 38% said they would leave their company if it did not mandate the vaccine. As with the issue of working from home, people feel their views passionately on both sides of the debate.

As companies figure out their next steps, brain science can help managers understand the potential conflict over mandates and develop strategies for managing this challenging situation.

Why mandates feel like a threat

Mandates feel like a violation of autonomy, which is one of the five most important intrinsic drivers of threat and reward in the brain.

(The others are status, certainty, relatedness and fairness.)

Autonomy is a feeling of being in control and having a choice.

When we have choices, we experience the natural rewards of feeling positive. Research shows that even affording a little autonomy can go a long way: When employ-

ees at one company were given the opportunity to choose how to decorate their workspaces, their productivity increased up to 25%.

On the flip side, when we perceive choices being taken away, we feel stronger reactions, ranging from frustration to anger, which can significantly diminish our ability to focus and collaborate.

A mandate removes some employees’ ability to make a personal choice. If someone has been provaccine from the start, this won’t feel like a loss. But for people who are hesitant about the vaccine, the mandate throws their brain into a threatened state.

In general, there are three levels of perceived threat in the brain: n LEVEL 1 THREATS do not seem to pose immediate danger. Think about hearing that a hurricane is making its way toward your town: Your brain is aware of the threat, but you don’t feel alarmed. n LEVEL 2 THREATS are those in your vicinity, which cause your heart rate and stress hormones to increase as your body prepares to go into fight-or-flight mode. You may become hyperalert, causing certain cognitive resources to become inaccessible. Maintaining our hurricane analogy, this is how

WWW.FREEPIK.COM

fter President Biden announced a federal mandate requiring companies with more than 100 workers to have their employees vaccinated or tested weekly, questions surrounding privacy, individual rights and collective responsibility surfaced.

you feel when the storm makes landfall near you. n LEVEL 3 THREATS are those that are upon you. The hurricane is coming right at you and your brain and body are in panic mode. You’re making decisions reflexively and actively recruiting every bodily resource to fight or flee. Minimal complex thought takes place.

A mandate could move someone who is hesitant about the vaccine from Level 1 to Level 2 or 3, causing them to feel overwhelmed and potentially instigating unnecessary conflicts.

To help people feel less threatened, managers can try to offer another form of autonomy. With the vaccine, this may mean allowing employees to choose when, where or how they receive the shot. Any form of choice, especially if it is unexpected, will help reduce the

threat to autonomy.

Triggering the brain’s reward mechanisms

Another way to address the threat is to try to trigger one of the brain’s other four reward drivers—in this case, offering employees a sense of relatedness. Maybe you have the whole team go to a vaccination site together and get lunch afterward to discuss life outside of work. The jarring nature of reduced autonomy (“Why am I mandated to do something?”) can be partially offset by increasing feelings of relatedness between employees (“I haven’t felt this close to my team in a while.”).

Managers can also take steps to make employees feel greater levels of certainty, another of the brain’s reward drivers. While it’s difficult to provide absolute certainty when dealing with a mutating virus,

transparency and communication can help provide clarity.

In the wake of a companywide vaccination mandate, employees may be asking questions like: n Will our jobs be at risk if we don’t get vaccinated? n Is it fair to allow religious exemptions to the vaccination mandate? n Is this the beginning of my employer's deeper involvement in my health care?

For some of these questions, your response may be, “I don’t know.” But even when leaders don’t have the answers, they need to respond to questions. As organizations work through this process, it’s critical for managers to communicate often with their teams and share information regularly in multiple channels (for example,

e-mail and Slack).

It’s equally important to share the complete truth, even if it’s not what everyone wants to hear. Research shows that getting an answer you don’t like is better than not receiving one at all. Any way you can provide useful information, even if it seems minor, can help increase people’s sense of clarity, if not certainty.

We all have various biases and belief structures, and figuring out this mandate can feel chaotic. Using the brain’s reactions to mandates as a central frame for thinking through your policies is one of the clearest paths we have.

David Rock is cofounder of the Neuroleadership Institute and author of Your Brain at Work. Christy Pruitt-Haynes is a diversity, equity, inclusion and access consultant at the Neuroleadership Institute.

6 strategies to help your company weather inflation

By Jason Heinrich, Simon Henderson, Tom Holland & Megan Portanova

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ith the economic recovery gaining steam amid an uncertain pand e m i c p at h , c o mp a n i e s a r e scrambling to deal with increasing commodity prices, supply constraints and higher wages caused by labor shortages. In the first half of 2021, the producer price index rose 10% in the G-7 countr ies. T he PPI measures the prices of goods immediately postproduction and serves as a critical indicator of the pressure facing companies.

The last time the world saw a similar bump in PPI was in the first half of 2008, the early months of the Great Recession. Companies that weathered that storm the best took decisive steps to counter rising inflation by pushing through price increases consistent with PPI. But that alone was not enough. The best performers also took significant steps to boost productivity, primarily by cutting costs. Our analysis of the performance of 5,700 global companies found that those that cut costs to improve productivity the most during previous inflationary periods achieved higher total shareholder returns—27% was the median—than companies that took less action.

However, this current infla-

tionary period is unique: Labor markets are volatile, consumer demand has not dipped the way it did in 2008 and supply chains are more constrained. As they prepare for higher inflation in this new environment, companies will need to make moves that not only cut costs but also build more scalable growth platforms, positioning them to strategically reinvest in programs that deliver greater resilience and stronger purchasing and pricing capabilities. They need cost programs that allow them to grow top-line revenue and reduce their dependence on volatile labor markets while improving employee retention. Successful companies deploy the following tactics to achieve these goals.

Get spending visibility.

High-resolution spending visibility is the foundation of any expense management capability.

It enables managers to fully understand where money is spent and who spends it. In an inflationary period, it is critical to establish repeatable, end-to-end, actionable visibility of spending by cost category, business process, function and business unit. This is the foundation for all other productivity efforts. It enables the right level of accountability throughout the organization to ensure that all decisions are made knowing the full impact on the profits and loss.

Differentiate between strategic and nonstrategic spending.

In any disruptive environment, odds are higher that executives will make choices that jeopardize the company’s long-term strategy. Instead, clearly distinguish between strategic and nonstrategic cost-cutting—for example, the protecting of signature customer and employee experiences, and fiduciary requirements. Use consistent, accessible financials to prioritize higher return on investments. A sustainable cost management system should fuel a company’s strategy and enable the business to out-invest competitors, at scale, on strategic costs in both good and bad times.

Managers must identify where investments should be pulled back and cost savings realized; where you can more selectively trim costs to improve the return on operating expenses; and where you can boost growth through greater investment in the strategic capabilities needed to achieve differential results. This investment posture sets the stage for reshaping the P&L, cost structure, operating model and capabilities that will enable the chosen strategy. It helps leaders agree on such basic decisions as which capabilities need to be best in class—built to enable and sustain competitive advantage— versus best in cost. It positions a company to make better decisions about deploying increasingly

scarce resources to reinvigorate its strategy and maximize shareholder value in times of economic disruption.

Unpack the drivers of spending.

Next, develop a more robust understanding of the real drivers of cost in an inflationary environment. Dissect the rate (prices paid) and consumption (quantity or volume), including the underlying drivers, for critical cost categories.

This step enables companies to create granular, trackable initiatives linked to a unique driver of a broader cost category. It sets the stage for a host of possible moves.

Among the biggest: establishing a preferred vendor program to increase buying power, reevaluating the right make-vs.-buy mix for core functions like software development and deploying artificial intelligence-powered sourcing tools to generate automated insights from spending data, flagging savings and compliance opportunities in real time.

These steps can deliver real, near-term savings. Getting this sophisticated view of what’s really driving spending is particularly critical during rising inflation.

Reduce consumption.

With increased spending visibility and the ability to isolate drivers, companies can tailor their approach to match the inflationary environment. For example, even if

companies aren’t able to buy better due to supply chain and producer pricing pressures, they can make sure that they spend better.

One way to do this is to set up a spending czar or spending control towers.

A focus on spending better can also lead to cross-functional change. Setting up cross-function spending controls helps companies zero in on the costs that can no longer be justified or can be avoided by doing the work differently, allowing the company to continually prioritize spending and make sure that any savings identified don’t creep back in as time goes on.

Eliminate work.

With labor shortages and ballooning labor costs, eliminating the work itself has the greatest impact. Companies that do this well use a clean-sheet mindset, or zero-based redesign, which can help reset the way work is done.

This approach forces companies to scrutinize both what activities are performed and how those activities are performed, with specific levers to eliminate unnecessary work and automate.

As inflation looms, companies across industries are determining what adds the most value and is absolutely necessary. This provides both cost savings and the opportunity to deploy dollars and scarce labor resources to what will help them grow.

Automate.

Technologies like robotic process automation, workflow and intelligent document processing can free up workers and make each person much more effective at creating value. In addition to labor cost savings, automation can promote stability in an organization.

Our research found that companies that had invested more in automation before the pandemic have weathered the crisis better than others. They've generated higher revenues and seen fewer disruptions to the supply chain, workforce productivity and demand.

However, d ig ita l transformations often don’t deliver the desired results. A Bain survey found that 76% of digital transformations settled for dilution of value and mediocre performance.

Companies that are successful make sure they have the right plan in place to roll out automation. This will be a critical factor for everyone looking to leverage automation to combat inflationary pressures.

Jason Heinrich is a Bain & Company partner based in Chicago. Simon Henderson is a Bain partner based in Sydney and the global leader of Bain Accelerated Transformation.

Tom Holland, a director in San Francisco, helps lead Bain’s Private Equity Group. Megan Portanova is an associate partner at Bain in Chicago.

Style

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Monday, October 11, 2021

DESIGNER Virginie Viard of Chanel was in raunchy mood for spring, with sporty monochrome bikinis worn with cascading silver necklaces, pendants and talismans. Of course the house’s bread-and-butter skirt suits were on hand, colorfully jazzed up with stripes and patterns.

Chanel caps Paris Fashion Week’s post-virus comeback

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BY THOMAS ADAMSON The Associated Press

ARIS—Chanel brought Paris Fashion Week to its final day with a runway show that illustrated how designers and the people they dress want to look to the future with optimism. It is said that fashion is a mirror of our times—and the spring-summer collections shown here were sexy, vibrant and joyful despite, or perhaps because of, the coronavirus pandemic.

The runway show was staged before a pared-down audience in an annex by the Eiffel Tower, but the location had nothing to do with the pandemic. The normal venue, the Grand Palais, is being renovated for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

American actress Kristen Stewart rocked up late to the Parisian stalwart’s show wearing a pink Chanel skirt suit. French-American model-actress Lily-Rose Depp also showed up for Chanel.

Here are some highlights of the final day of readyto-wear collections, including Louis Vuitton: CHANEL GETS SNAPPED AT THE BEACH APPROPRIATELY enough for a paparazzi-themed show, a group of frenzied minders rushed Stewart in late to take her seat. Guests had to look twice to see who the tardy invitee was because the Twilight star looked almost unrecognizable. The actress, a Chanel ambassador, sported a chic blond beehive for her latest role as Princess Diana in Spencer, which was partly filmed in Paris and set for a November release.

Designer Virginie Viard was in raunchy mood for spring. The theme was the lens, and real photographers, including from The Associated Press, huddled around a red carpet podium freestyle instead of lining up in their normal scrum. Models posed

theatrically, with inches of leg and midriff exposed.

The scene prompted chuckles from Depp.

The collection was all about swimwear. Sporty monochrome bikinis were worn with cascading silver necklaces, pendants, and talismans. Bold black-white contrasts and big statement buttons offered a faint whiff of the 1980s.

Chanel’s bread-and-butter skirt suits were colorfully jazzed up with stripes and patterns as if lifted straight from a Saint Tropez bikini. Yet this season, sadly, Viard did not seem to push the creative envelope. The mood of beach-going and optimism at a time when the pandemic still has limited exotic vacations could be borne of a desire to project hope that the freedom to travel will soon return. Or was it about giving guests a chance to dream?

200 YEARS AFTER LOUIS VUITTON’S BIRTH “LIKE a trousseau that is passed down and modified over time” was how Louis Vuitton designer Nicolas Ghesquiere described his encyclopedic show, which celebrated the 200-year anniversary since the birth of the house’s eponymous founder.

For the sumptuous Louvre show that marked the milestone, Ghesquiere imagined a charmed historic ball. “The figure of a vampire that travels throughout the ages” was a key inspiration in the display, he said. The collection seemed at times like a visual phantasmagoria, dipping in and out of different times periods as the house itself looks back to its heritage and forward to the future.

Historic detailing—the first looks featured fastidious 1920s-style embroidery from a stock of 19th century beads, followed by stiff collars held by metal wiring—mixed with contemporary pieces, such as funky fluorescent Roman sandals.

In the same vein, billowing skirt silhouettes

DANDRUFF WORSENS DURING RAINY SEASON

MIU MIU’S QUIRKS THE powerful front row of celebrities defines Miuccia Prada’s quirky little sister brand Miu Miu as much as the well-known humor and eccentric contrasts of the clothes. This season, 21-year-old American actress and singer Halle Bailey, the star of Disney’s upcoming The Little Mermaid, drew the lion’s share of camera snaps in a front row that also included British model-designer Alexa Chung.

In fashion terms, the display was unusually sober and pared down. Black, browns and the oranges of fallen leaves brought an autumnal color palette to the spring-summer runway—a typical and intentional contradiction from the unpredictable Italian designer.

In styles that mixed sartorial with street, a slouchy school vibe pervaded the 50-look show. As per normal for Miu Miu, there were quirks galore. A gray cable knit sweater had the midriff section lopped off, alongside frayed white shirt hems. Prada also cut the legs completely off some pale menswear office pants, giving the pieces the funky low-slung style of a tennis skirt. Menswear woolen socks were worn high like tights. ■

THE rains have started pouring again, marking the beginning of cooler temperatures. But aside from Covid-19, one of the biggest realities people have to face is that dandruff worsens during the rainy season. This is because the fungus causing it also flourishes during the wet season. The monsoon provides an excellent breeding ground for Malassezia, a type of fungus that is most commonly associated with dandruff.

With the goal to find ways to resolve dandruff, here are some steps that might help the situation: ■ MANAGE STRESS. Stress triggers dandruff—not because Malassezia is created by stress but because it thrives when our immune system is compromised. During stressful scenarios or periods, our immune system is affected giving dandruff more reason to flourish on our skin.

This is why you should find a way to relax and stay calm.

■ AVOID FATTY FOODS. Reduce chocolate and dairy, because it can cause an increase in dandruff production.

Instead, increase your intake of foods high in Vitamin B, green vegetables, proteins and grains.

■ GET A LITTLE SUN. Getting a safe amount of sun is encouraged, because sunlight helps suppress the fungus. Take this wonderful advice but don’t forget to protect your skin with sunscreen, and follow minimum health requirements because there’s still a pandemic.

For a more scientific approach, local hair expert Carla Latumbo advises consumers to look for a product that works well as a cleanser and a conditioner. “Men and women should look for a product with sage leaf extract as it cleanses and invigorates the scalp,” says Latumbo.

“The product should also have Quaternized Polymers that deliver strong conditioning properties, allowing the hair to keep its normal moisture.”

Both ingredients can be found in American Crew’s Anti-Dandruff + Sebum Control Shampoo (www.shopee. ph/americancrewph), plus it also has rosemary to regulate the production of sebum, peppermint, and tea tree oil that soothe and refresh the scalp.

Finally, this wonder shampoo has Zinc Pyrithione that helps prevent the itching and flaking associated with dandruff.

Issy & Co. is available on Shopee.

Another Filipino brand that’s taken strides as far as products that are inclusive, high quality and wellpriced is Colourette Cosmetics.

Colourette has ventured into hair with Bleach Cloud and Sky Dye, a hair bleaching kit and a semipermanent hair dye in eight shades, respectively.

This launch makes a lot of sense because Colourette is a brand loved by Gen Z, which likes hair bleaching and coloring as a form of self-expression.

Bleach Cloud lifts and lightens hair color by up to three to four levels in one go. This hair lightening kit contains 30 volume developer and powder bleach, with a free Colourette bowl, brush and a pair of gloves to help easily reach your desired lightening level. It retails for ₱599. Sky Dye (₱599) contains safe and moisturizing ingredients to keep hair looking and feeling lusciously soft. It comes in eight shades: Aurora (emerald green), Scorpio (twilight red), Rocket (cobalt blue), Space Girl (sunset pink), Phoenix (fiery orange), Ultra Violet (grape soda), Orbit (vibrant berry) and Moon (silver cloud).

Bleach Cloud and Sky Dye are both manufactured in China under a high caliber manufacturer with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP-ISO) certification.

Bleach Cloud, Sky Dye and a set with the two products are available on Shopee and Lazada.

COLOURETTE Cosmetics has launched a hair bleaching kit and eight shades of hair color.

with inbuilt scaffolding “evoking Louis Vuitton’s early days,” Ghesquiere said, conjured up the rich Parisienne women of the late 19th century who were the fashion house’s first clients.

And yet, as soon as guests had the chance to fall in love with the nostalgia of the 1890s, a pair of drainpipe jeans brought their musing to the 1990s.

It made for a great anachronism.

New drops from Filipino beauty brands

EVERY time a Filipino beauty brand comes out with a new product featuring new technologies and manufacturing techniques and processes, I always think about the past when we had limited choices when it came to local makeup and skin care.

As a kayumanggi-skinned Filipino, it was always a problem for me to find a shade match in powders and foundations. What was supposed to be for my skin tone would always turn out too white and/or ashy.

Issy & Co. was the first Filipino brand to have a range of face bases (Active Skin Tint) that women with skin tones like mine could wear.

Released earlier this year, the Active Skin Tint line came in six adaptable shades while the accompanying Weightless Loose Powder came in three different finishes. At less than ₱500, the products were best

sellers with the Active Skin Tint in the shade Fawn always getting sold-out.

Issy & Co. recently launced Skin On The Go 2.0 with new and improved versions of its best-selling Active Skin Tint and Weightless Loose Powder plus an all-new Active Concealer.

Active Skin Tint, which retails for ₱499, introduces three more shades to complete its spectrum of nine—Bisque FN1, Vanille FW1, Sand FO2, Beech FN2, Fawn MO2, Honey MW2, Hazel MW3, Sienna DW4 and Brûlée DO4. It comes in an improved squeezetype packaging with a metal cap and maintains its lightweight formula that feels almost like nothing on this skin.

The all-new Active Concealer is at ₱399, and is available in nine shades, too: FN1, FW1, FO2, FN2, MO2, MW2, MW3, DW4 and DO4. It’s formulated with sodium hyaluronate to maintain skin’s water balance, skin-restoring and hydrating glycerin, oilaborting bentonite clay, and avocado extract to help calm the skin from irritation.

The Weightless Loose Powder, which retails for ₱349, comes in a new finish called Radiant.

“We listened to what our customers needed and wanted, went back to the drawing board, and researched how we can develop our base makeup line—and make it even better,” said Joel Andrade, Issy & Co. cofounder and creative director.

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B6 Monday, October 11, 2021

PTA: ‘9 out of 100 Filipinos have goiter’ CCA President leads vaccination of construction, manufacturing workers

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RANCIS Gerard “Jigger” Selma Canedo, 46, an industrial engineer for 25 years, enjoined 14 local government units in the province of Cebu to avail of the Construction Industry Vaccination Program.

The program is a covid intervention of the Philippine Contractors Association (PCA) through the Cebu Contractors Association (CCA) where Canedo sits as President.

“They are also considered developmental frontliners and must be prioritized,” Canedo said. He said those at the construction sites will probably not have time, so they call on their employers also and the local government units to have them listed and scheduled.

Representing CCA, he was also part of the collaborative efforts between government, academe and industry for the improvement of skills and other related industry driven courses.

“I always believe that a lot can be done with the private sector side by side with the government. It will really be of an advantage to the public, “Jigger said.

Before becoming CCA’s president, Canedo has been doing civic participation side by side managing a strong 150 workforce, in mining and construction company.

He was the charter president of Minglanilla Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) and the Rotary Club of Minglanilla for four years.

As Rotarian Jigger was able to conduct

various environmental and capability enhancement activities including a system which would do away with middlemen in the agricultural sector.

Jigger is from a family of businessmen involved in real estate and mining. He grew up with strong influences from the religious and political values with families who are active in both factors.

CSC encourages volunteer nutrition workers to apply for first level eligibility

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HE Civil Service Commission (CSC) is inviting barangay nutrition scholars to apply for the Barangay Nutrition Scholar Eligibility (BNSE).

The CSC grants the BNSE to qualified individuals by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1569, which mandates the deployment of one barangay nutrition scholar (BNS) in every barangay who shall be trained and shall perform volunteer nutrition and related services to help strengthen the barangay nutrition program.

Qualified to apply for BNSE are barangay-based volunteer workers who have rendered at least two years of continuous and satisfactory nutrition services and other related activities such as community health, backyard food production, environmental sanitation, culture, mental feeding, and family planning to the barangay.

Those who have been hired by agencies under Job Order status and/ or Contract of Service may still qualify for the grant of BNSE. The BNSE is a first level eligibility, which may be considered for appointment to clerical positions and other first level positions in the career service requiring a general first level CS eligibility, provided the appointee meets the education, training, experience, and other requirements of the position.

Requirements

GENERAL documentary requirements include:

Properly accomplished application form (CS Form 101-I, Revised December 2011); Three pieces of identical passport size ID picture with name tag; Original and photocopy of any of the prescribed ID cards for exam and eligibility-related purposes, preferably valid (not expired) on the date of application; Original and photocopy of PSA-issued birth certificate; Original and photocopy of PSA-issued marriage certificate (for female married applicants); Certification of no pending administrative and/or criminal case using CSC SPEL Form 1, April 2012; and Authorization letter executed by the applicant, and original and photocopy of at least one valid ID card of the representative (if filing will be done through a representative).

Specific documentary requirements

include a diploma or authentic evidence of completion of high school course; certification of residency in the barangay for at least six years and ability to speak the dialect; certification of completion of the prescribed 10-day training course and 20-day practicum in the barangay where applicant is assigned; among others.

Applicants are advised to check and comply with the complete specifications for the above requirements, which can be accessed from the CSC website at www.csc.gov.ph.

Applications for BNSE must be submitted to the CSC Regional Office (RO), or any of its Field Offices (FO), having jurisdiction over the barangay where an applicant has rendered services. However, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the CSC urges applicants to inquire the most appropriate mode of filing with the concerned CSC RO/FO and avoid going directly to their office.

An evaluation fee of PHP200 is collected upon filing of the application, and a processing fee of PHP300 upon approval.

The complete list of application requirements and procedures for the grant of BNSE can be accessed from the CSC website at www.csc.gov.ph.

On the other hand, questions about the Barangay Nutrition Scholar Program must be directed to the National Nutrition Council, the agency mandated to administer the said program.

PH Resorts Group gets approval to voluntarily suspend Clark license; focuses on completion of Emerald Bay-Mactan

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N 4 October, Clark Grand Leisure Corp. (“CGLC”), a subsidiary of PH Resorts Group Holdings, Inc (“PHR” or the “Company”), received approval from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (“PAGCOR”) of its request to voluntarily suspend its PAGCOR Provisional License for its integrated resort and casino project situated in Clark Global City in the Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga (the “Project”).

CGLC sought for the voluntary suspension of its license due to some lingering uncertainties surrounding the casino gaming industry especially with more competition in the Clark, Pampanga location.

More importantly, this voluntary suspension allows PHR to ramp up and focus all efforts for the construction and development of its flagship integrated resort and casino project, the Emerald Bay Resort and Casino, located in Mactan, Cebu.

As present financial projections center on PHR’s plans for the Emerald Bay project, the voluntary suspension of CGLC’s license will have no effect on current financial numbers. Thus, PHR expects that the suspension will have little to no impact on the business of PHR. “We took a long and hard look at the current situation and we needed to concentrate our resources on the

completion of Emerald Bay which is already in advanced stages of construction. After the opening of Emerald Bay we shall revisit the project in Clark,” said PH Resorts COO gaming veteran Jose Angel Sueiro.

The voluntary suspension shall be effective until further notice and its lifting shall be subject to the approval of the PAGCOR Board of Directors.

Emerald Bay is scheduled to open by the third quarter of next year. Upon completion of the first phase, Emerald Bay will feature 122 gaming tables for mass, premium mass and junkets; 600 electronic gaming machines (EGM) and 270 hotel room bays.; 600 electronic gaming machines (EGM) and 270 hotel room bays.

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PEAKING in the media forum titled Thyroid Care: Walking The Healthy Path, Dr. Nemencio Nicodemus Jr., president of the Philippine Thyroid Association, said common thyroid diseases (such as goiter) which mostly affect women, are on the rise since 1993.

“Filipinos are afflicted with goiter more than diabetes. 9 out of 100 Filipinos have it.

While three other known thyroid disorders such as Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism and Thyroid Cancer affect a significant number, around 4 to 6 in 1000,” he bared.

The thyroid gland is a small but powerful organ that plays an important role in bodily processes such as metabolism, heart rate, digestion among others. It basically produces two important hormones, T3 and T4 that regulate vital bodily functions in coordination with other organs.

According to a study in 2020 by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, thyroid cancer is the number 7 most common cancer in the country next to cervical cancer, though it is the least most common cause of cancer deaths at the 21st spot.

Meanwhile, Dr. Adrian Fernando, head of the Head & Neck Unit of the Benavides Cancer Institute in UST Hospital, said the rise in thyroid cancer cases is mainly attributed to genetics, unhealthy lifestyle, and advancements in disease detection.

He claims Filipinos are predisposed to

thyroid cancer due to our genetic make-up.

The good news is most thyroid disorders are treatable especially if detected early.

To have a healthy thyroid gland, Dr. Nicodemus advised the public to live a healthy lifestyle, make sure to have an ideal intake of iodine through seafoods and dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese, and limit exposure to radiation. Iodine is a main component in producing thyroid hormones.

Preventive measures include routinary head and neck examination and ultrasound of the thyroid. It detects early on lumps and nodules that can lead to cancer. Another important intervention is to conduct a blood test specifically to detect abnormal amounts of T4 and T3 hormones.

Merck Pharmaceutical has been doing its lion share of treating and preventing thyroid disorders worldwide by coming up with factbased, scientific education programs and media forums, while constantly improving their medicines and drugs according to Henry Wilson, president and managing director of Healthcare of Merck in the Philippines.

“We need public discussions like this to dispel rumors, myths and fake news on thyroid care that proliferate on the internet,” Merck medical director Dr. Raymond Tapang added.

Visit Merck's Facebook page called “Unmasking Your Thyroid” about proper thyroid healthcare, and websites Thyroid.ph and Thyroidaware.com.

Eating out? Pandapro gives great dine-in deals

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S restrictions have started to open up, it’s time to safely experience the pleasures of eating out. To help you enjoy this much-missed activity, pandapro has partnered with several restaurants to offer great deals on your favorite meals!

Sign up for a pandapro membership and enjoy discounts of up to 40% when you dinein at partner establishments in the Metro. A pandapro membership also comes with other perks like free delivery, vouchers, exclusive discounts and more.

With pandapro dine-in, you can enjoy discounts on a myriad of cuisines.

Indulge in a fancy Mediterranean feast at Discovery Primea Hotel’s Tapenade, with specialties such as Salumi, Wagyu Beef, and Mushroom Paella. Load up on Mamma Mia’s hearty Italian dishes such as Agnello Alla, Scottadito, Pollo/Chicken, Filetto di Carne, Con Prosciutto, Spaghetti al Pomodoro Alla Mamma Mia, 6 Cheese Pizza, Pizza Metro, Margherita con, Prosciutto e Mascarpone, Mamma Mia Burger, and Paella Negra.

For Japanese treats, use the pandapro dineIn perks at Dohtonbori to savor Okonomiyaki, Tonkotsu Ramen, Katsudon, Gyuudon, and Tempura. Satisfy those Tex-Mex cravings at Chili’s with their Baby Back Ribs, Classic Ribeye, Fajita Trio, Molten Chocolate Cake, and Southern Smokehouse Burger. Pocodeli offers delicious European delights such as Quattro Formaggi and Quattro Carne Pizza, Bacon Slab, Sausage Platter, Cold cuts and

Cheese platter, Pastrami Sandwich, and Smoked BBQ Ribs.

“We want to give our customers the enjoyment of dining in restaurants again, this is why we have partnered with these restaurants for pandapro. This is also our way of supporting the F&B industry, to help everyone bounce back together to the next normal,” says Daniel Marogy, foodpanda managing director.

Signing up is easy, especially since it’s only P50 a month or for more savings, P399 a year.

If you’re 18 years old and above with a valid credit or debit card, subscribe now by clicking on your profile icon on the top left corner of the home screen and fill in the details on the “Become a pandapro” page.

So, hack it like a pro, and get ready to enjoy exclusive promos on delivery and dine-in!

For more information and updates on exciting foodpanda promos and a pandapro membership, visit www.foodpanda.ph.

Ogilvy Philippines clinches triple award amid the pandemic

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HE Philippines being in one of the world’s longest lockdowns drove digital adoption and raised consumers’ minimum expectations of brands and brand experiences.

Amid that environment, Ogilvy Philippines was named 4As Digital Agency of the Year, and Digital Excellence in Innovation for 2021. This was on the heels as well of securing a Bronze APAC Effie in Branded Utility for recent work on the Nestlé MILO HomeCourt campaign.

“At Ogilvy, we believe that digital transformation shouldn’t be centered on technology, but centered on the consumers who are at the heart of our brands. This transformation is rooted in the way we use data and technology to achieve a greater understanding of our consumers,” said Elly Puyat, Ogilvy Group Philippines CEO. “Because the landscape keeps shifting, we need to keep asking: how did customer behaviors change? Are there new pain and

delight points? What will be the impact to our business? We go to the core of what makes brand experiences work for the consumer and build clients’ businesses around that. From there, creatively responding enables borderless and future-proofed growth. How we work also happened to earn us the 4As Digital AOY and Digital Excellence in Innovation.”

Meanwhile, on the APAC Effie award: “For Ogilvy and our client partners at Nestlé MILO, the MILO Home Court program was a testament to living our brand purpose of nourishing ambitions and building champions in life. We made sure that Filipino families, regardless of restrictions, are continuing on their champion journeys at home,” said Mike Garcia, Ogilvy Group Managing Director. Strong customer understanding, strategic data discipline, and creative technologies—these build brandconsumer relationships that are for keeps.

Marketing BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, October 11, 2021 B7

Not-so-basic learnings from journalism L

AST week, I shared five things I learned from my stint in media that I continue to apply in my work as a corporate communicator and marketer. For those who missed that column, here are those five points:

n There’s a story in everyone and everything. n Research, research, research. n Create and nurture relationships. n Serve your audience, not yourself. n Show, don’t tell.

PR Matters

B y Abigail L. Ho-Torres

I’d like to share more of these not-so-basic learnings today, as I feel they can be helpful not only to public relations practitioners, but to anyone who’s building a career, growing a business, or just trying to live a good life as a human being. Some points apply more to specific groups of people, but they are all useful.

This is something that has been instilled in me since journalism school. Whenever you write any article, you should consider the average reader as someone who has limited knowledge of your story topic. As much as you can, avoid using jargons and too much industry-speak.

Of course, this still depends on your target audience. Specialized or niche articles, sections, or publications can get away with being more technical. However, your story should still be simple enough to be understood even by a layman—or a grade-school reader.

The same principle applies to your communication materials.

Know your consumers enough to know how far you can go with the technical stuff. If you want to be understood, it is safer to stick to simple language.

2. Mind your spelling and your grammar.

This is basic, but I feel that I should still include this here.

For the love of all things holy,

n Brand & Business: Dynamic learning, cybersecurity top bill PLDT, Smart innovations for school year

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—PLDT and wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. are boosting e-learning in the new school year with two new courses on the Innovations Academy for Disaster Awareness, Preparedness, and Training (iADAPT) platform.

Powered by the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, iADAPT houses interactive courses developed by industry leaders on risk reduction and management, business continuity, and climate change adaptation. This school year, two new e-learning courses, the CyberSmart and the Central Visayan Institute Foundation-Dynamic Learning Program (CVIF-DLP) will be made available to Smart partner schools and the Department of Education (DepEd) divisions on the iADAPT platform. The first 300 registrants on the site will be able to access the courses for free.

“The new school year presents new challenges for students and teachers

WWW.FREEPIK.COM

1. Write for a grade-school audience.

bright, and beautiful—please, please, please be conscious of you r s pe l l i ng a nd g ra m m a r.

Communication materials with spelling and grammar errors are off-putting. They ref lect badly on your brand, so please take a lot of time and care in proofreading copy before releasing them into the wild.

Word processing applications like Microsoft Word have made the task easier for us, with builtin spelling and grammar checkers.

Make use of these tools. Also, if you have not heard of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, please look it up. It can be your new best friend.

3. Never stop learning.

Your brain may not be a muscle (it is, in fact, an organ), but you still need to exercise it—regularly, consistently. Learning does not

as they continue education through blended learning. Smart offers innovative programs that ensure no learner is left behind and protect Filipinos against online threats as they rely on the Internet for school and work,” said Stephanie V. Orlino, Smart assistant vice president and head of community relations.

Learn Smart and Work Smart at home

Centered around the CyberSmart Investigation Agency, the cybersecurity course includes topics on online child safety, data privacy and security, gadget protection, spotting and combating fake news, and responsible use of social media, as well as digital wellbeing and mental health.

CyberSmart is a collaboration between various business units across PLDT and Smart. It is supported by the DepEd, the National Privacy Commission, UNICEF, International Justice Mission, and Internet Watch Foundation.

Pandemic-resilient education program

Accredited by the DepEd as a supplementary resource, the CVIF-DLP works well with blended learning whether students are at home or in a limited face-toface setting. The program develops them into independent learners through the self-directed CVIF-DLP Learning Activity Sheets (CVIF-DLP LAS).

PLDT, Smart, and the PLDT-Smart Foundation have backed the crisis-resilient teaching method developed by

stop when you graduate and get your degree. It still goes on even after decades of working and enjoying success in your career. It continues well into retirement, and stops only when the life has gone out of you.

While a beat becomes easier to cover the longer you are in it, that does not mean that you will know everything about it and not miss anything. Even the most veteran of journalists can get out-scooped from time to time. It is the same for corporate communicators. Which is why it is important to study and do your homework without fail.

The world is constantly changing.

You will get left behind if you stop learning.

4. Don’t be afraid of change.

Death, taxes, and change itself are the only constants in this world. A journalist meets new

renowned Filipino Theoretical Physicists and Ramon Magsaysay Awardees for Education Dr. Christopher Bernido and Dr. Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido since 2010.

So far, Smart has trained over 13,800 teachers in 753 public and private schools and five alternative learning system divisions and helped produce 2,235 CVIF-DLP LAS free to download at the DepEd Commons.

PLDT and Smart foster learning through technology to help the nation achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #4: Quality Education.

Check out PLDT and Smart learning materials at https://iadapt.pdrf.org/ SMART.

n Brand & Business: Google launches more ways to help people make sustainable choices

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—As part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability, Google announced more ways on how people can use Google’s products to make sustainable choices. Among them are updates on Search, new features to book flights or purchase appliances that have lower carbon footprints, a Nest program to support clean energy from home, and eco-friendly routing on Google Maps.

When people come to Google Search with questions about climate change, Google will show authoritative information from sources like the United Nations, in addition to the existing news sources that they surface—all part of

people and encounters new stories on an almost daily basis. No day is exactly the same. Public relations practitioners also face numerous issues and concerns every day, interfacing with both internal and external stakeholders whose needs and demands are constantly evolving.

This pandemic has shown us that nothing is sacred and exempt from change. The things we used to know and do have either ceased to exist or have taken a 180-degree turn. You must be flexible and agile if you want to survive as a communicator. You should even welcome change. As many great artists and leaders have said: stagnant waters fester and die—even science agrees.

5. You are only as good as your last scoop

Don’t rest on your laurels. The

their goal to help one billion people make more sustainable choices by 2022.

Travel and shop more sustainably

New features will also be added to help make decisions about travelling—from what flights to book to where to stay. Launching globally today, Google is bringing carbon emissions information to Google Flights.

People will be able to see associated carbon emissions per seat for every flight, and quickly find lower-carbon options. When searching for hotels, information on the hotels’ sustainability efforts will be shown, from waste reduction and water conservation measures to whether they’re Green Key or EarthCheck certified.

Google is also helping people make more sustainable choices when they shop, starting with home appliances. When searching for energyintensive products like dishwashers or water heaters, suggestions in the Shopping tab will help narrow search results to cost-effective and sustainable options.

Supporting clean energy from home

For over a decade, Nest thermostats have helped people save energy at home. Google is taking these efforts a step further with a new service called Nest Renew. Using a feature called Energy Shift, compatible Nest thermostats can help users automatically shift electricity usage for heating and cooling to times when energy

world is dynamic. Targets change.

Audiences change. The environment changes. Your record-breaking campaign today may not yield the same results tomorrow. The only way to survive and thrive is to acknowledge that your best work is always still ahead of you.

This is not to say that successes should not be celebrated. On the contrary, each win deserves a celebration. But do not let the high of success get to your head. Do not ever think that you are invincible and infallible.

On the flipside, do not let failure get you down. Keep a growth mindset: view failure as a springboard for growth and improvement, both in your work life and in your personal life. Use each moment of failure as an opportunity to learn. You may surprise even yourself with your capacity to learn, bounce back, and come out even stronger than before.

Just keep grinding.

W hen journalists leave the profession to do public relations work, they are said to be “crossing over to the dark side.” But, really, journalists and corporate communicators represent two sides of the same coin. We are all storytellers. We all aim to leave lasting impressions on and inspire an attitude or behavior change from our consumers. Neither side is light nor dark, and we can all learn from each other so we can do our best work.

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier organization for PR professionals around the world. Abigail L. HoTorres is AVP and head of Advocacy and Marketing of Maynilad Water Services Inc. She spent more than a decade as a business journalist before making the leap to the corporate world.

We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations.

Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.

is cleaner or less expensive. For those who want to do more to help support the growth of clean energy, Google will offer a paid subscription option, Renew Premium, that will match your fossil fuel electricity at home with high-quality renewable energy credits generated from the same projects in Google’s energy portfolio.

Getting around more sustainably

Traveling by car is one of the more carbon-intensive choices people make on a daily basis. Starting today in the US, and in Europe in 2022, Google Maps will let people choose the most fuel-efficient route if it isn’t already the fastest one. It is estimated to save over 1 million tons of carbon emissions per year—the equivalent of removing over 200,000 cars from the road—and save people money by reducing fuel consumption.

Google is also working to make sure the cars that remain on the road are eco-friendly. On Search, it will be easier to see hybrid and electric vehicle options, compare them against gas-powered models, and find rebates. These features will start to roll out in the US this year, with more to come in 2022.

Of course, the most sustainable choice often doesn’t involve a car at all. That’s why Google is introducing lite navigation for cyclists on Maps, and making it simpler to find bikes and scooter shares in over 300 cities around the world.

W

EST CALDWELL, New Jersey—One more round in the 60s at the Founders Cup is all Jin Young Ko needs to join Annika Sorenstam in the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour record book.

That might be all it takes to win the Founders Cup, too.

Ko picked up her fourth birdie on the par-five 16th and closed with two pars for a two-under 69, giving her a four-shot lead Saturday at Mountain Ridge as she tries to win for the third time this year.

The 26-year-old South Korean star has been on a tear since July, with two victories, a runner-up and three other top 10s in her last six events. Even more impressive is her last month.

Saturday was her 13th consecutive round in the 60s, one off the LPGA record Sorenstam set during a four-tournament stretch in 2005, when she had 10 wins and was halfway to the calendar Grand Slam.

Ko played bogey-free on the back nine and stretched her lead to four shots over US Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso (67), Elizabeth Szokol (65), two-time major champion So Yeon Ryu (71) and Lindsey Weaver (69).

Saso opened the third round with three birdies, going backto-back at Nos. 5 and 6. She also birdied eighth hole and Nos. 14 and 15 in succession.

But a bogey at No. 17 forced her to share second spot.

Dottie Ardina, meanwhile, went one-under for the day and found herself for 41st place 12 strokes behind the pace.

Ko was at 13-under 200 as she tries to match Nelly Korda as the only three-time winners on the LPGA Tour this season.

Korda, who also won the Olympic gold medal, replaced Ko at No. 1 in the world in late June by winning her first major at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

The 23-year-old American had not played in a month since a US loss in the Solheim Cup. She had a 68 on Saturday and was in a large group at 7-under 206 that included Maria Fassi, Caroline Masson and Lexi Thompson.

What motivates Ko as much as anything is going home. This is her fourth straight tournament.

After a week off, the LPGA Tour plays its lone Asia event in the fall in South Korea.

“I don’t want to think about win,” Ko said. “Just think about my swing or my putting. And I will have fun with my caddie, Dave Brooker. And yeah, after tomorrow I will go back to Korea.

So that’s going to be motivation for me.”

As big as the win would be a chance to join Sorenstam in LPGA history.

The streaks are similar, but only in score. Sorenstam had three victories in her fourtournament run where she set the record with 14 straight rounds in the 60s. Only one was a 54-hole event. Her streak ended with a one-over 73 in the final round of the LPGA Championship, which put her halfway home to a calendar Grand Slam.

Sorenstam’s average score in those 14 rounds was 67.1. AP

Sports

SASO 4 SHOTS OFF PACE

BusinessMirror

B8

| Monday, October 11, 2021

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

YUKA SASO stays in the hunt in New Jersey after a third-round 67. AP

BEERMEN TIE SERIES AT 2-2

S

AN MIGUEL Beer played near perfect on Sunday and routed TNT Tropang Giga, 116-90, in Game Four to level their best-of-seven semifinals at 2-2 in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.

Riding started strong behind Moala Tautuaa’s explosive performance and even posted a 37-point advantage to send the series into a best-of-three affair.

Tautuaa scored 10 points in the opening quarter and nine in the second to finish with a game-high 25 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He was 10-of-13 from the foul line and had nine rebounds in 25 minutes of action.

He pushed the Beermen to a 26-14 lead after one quarter and 57-32 at half time.

Game One hero Marcio Lassiter scattered 13 points, including a three-point bomb that gave the Beermen their largest lead at 81-44 with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter.

“I feel like I did better this time because I am finishing my layups and it’s really good to see the

A

By Josef Ramos

GLIMPSE of Philippine weightlifting’s future presented itself at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Youth World Championships in Jeddah.

And no one is prouder than the weightlifters’ coach, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz’s cousin, Allen Diaz.

But Jeddah wasn’t originally in the itinerary of the young lifters. Their focus was the 2022 Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, which was inadvertently postponed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“These kids sacrificed a lot preparing for the 2022 Youth Olympics but it was called off,” Diaz told BusinessMirror via phone call from Jeddah. “But despite the postponement, the kids never stopped training and stayed disciplined.”

Six youngsters competed in Jeddah with Diaz’s protege Rose Jean Ramos capturing

On tap with Renen de Guia THIS past Sunday morning, I was glued not only to UFC Fight Night 194 but also WTA 1000 at Indian Wells. The afternoon, it was the B.League for Kiefer Ravena’s Shiga Lakestars going up against the Javi Gomez de Liaño-less Ibaraki Robots. And in the evening, it was the Turkish Grand Prix. If the English Premier League weren’t on an international break, I would have been watching until the wee hours of Monday morning.

All these I was watching on the TapGo app.

TapGo is that newest digital media streaming service where the top international sports events and leagues are shown not just on gadgets but cable television.

The man behind this is Renen de Guia, Chief Executive Officer of Tap Digital Media Ventures. If his name sounds familiar that is because he is the same man behind Ovation Productions that brings top foreign recordings artists to perform in the Philippines.

Does sports and music mix?

Most definitely.

When I applied for the marketing manager position of Solar Sports, I was asked if I love music and to anyone who

ball went in,” Tautuaa, a transferee from TNT, said. “Coach Leo [Austria] got mad at me the last time and went to my room to beat me up. I mean it’s just listening to his game plan again and trusting our offense.”

Terrence Romeo made 16 points, got four rebounds and issued four assists, while sixtime Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo dominated with a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Alex Cabagnot contributed 12 points and Arwind Santos was all over the place with 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

CJ Perez had 10 points also for the Beermen, who bounced back from a lethargic performance in Game Three which they lost, 98-115.

“We were always in a catch-up situation. But we were able to get a good start because we were trying to limit our turnovers,” Austria said.

“Everybody stepped up and that’s the key. It seems the culprit in our two losses against them was our turnovers.”

Austria had a forgettable Game Three where his crew suffered 24 turnovers that led to 29

SAN MIGUEL Beer’s Moala Tautuaa tries to break the challenge put up by TNT’s Troy Rosario.

TNT points. But in Game Four, the Beermen were cautious and committed only 18 turnovers.

Jayson Castro led TNT with 15 points with Glenn Khobuntin adding 13 points. Mikey Williams, struggled with 11 points on an atrocious 3-of-12 shooting and committed six turnovers.

TNT suffered a major blow in its frontline in the early part of second quarter after TNT’s JP Erram was hurt after accidentally colliding with Tautuaa in a rebound play in the second quarter and was sent to the hospital to check for possible concussion.

Game Five is tentatively set on Wednesday.

two gold medals (snatch and total weight) and a silver medal (clean and jerk) in the girls’ 45-kg class, while Jeaneth Hipolito, also of Zamboanga

knows me, they will say I was weaned on music.

Sports action, in-arena entertainment and highlights are always set to pulsating music.

So we talked to Mr. de Guia about this venture and what is in store for the Filipino sports and music fan.

RO: What can you share about putting up TapGo? Were you always a huge sports fan? If so, what are your favorite sports? Favorite sports teams and personalities? Best sports event you attended live?

RDG: We initially envisioned TapGO as a purely ad supported sports-only streaming platform through server side ad insertions with pre-roll ads and automatic ad replacement of our cable television commercials on the streaming platform as we also stream our cable television channels as live linear channels on TapGO. However, in the early stages of the pandemic there were no live sports for months so our ad supported platform did not take off. We had to close down our version 1 and planned version 2 which is subscription video on demand (SVOD) and has a content mix of 65 percent sports and 35 percent general entertainment.

RO: Where do you see TapGo heading in the next couple of years?

RDG: TapGO is the home of premium sports and entertainment content. We see TapGO acquiring more premium content and possibly expanding into other markets.

RO: What can you share about your love for music?

Was it your parents’ influence? Are you still a record collector? What are your most prized records if you can be specific and why?

RDG: Having seen photos of your extensive collection of CDs and LPs and the music trivia you post in social media, my answers might surprise, even shock you. I love music but I am not a die-hard music devotee.

My music library was made up of select copies of releases given by record companies in the 1970s when I was with radio.

Then there was a mountain of leftovers from the closing down

City, settled for a bronze in the women’s 40-kg event.

“It’s our first time to compete internationally and we achieved higher than what we expected,”

S

OFIA FRANK missed the podium but secured the highest short program score by a Filipino in the International Skating Union Finlandia Trophy on Sunday at the Espoo Metro Arena in Finland.

Frank, only 16, placed 18th among 27 skaters. She posted 53.30 points to land in 18th place in the short program dominated by Russians Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (81.53), Alena Kostornaia (78.61) and Kamila Valieva (74.93).

Frank’s mom, Preciosa Tongko-Frank, told BusinessMirror in a chat message that her daughter made Philippines figure skating history in Finland.

“She [Sofia] made history as the highest scoring Filipina for a short program,” the former beauty queen said. “That’s a huge achievement. The skaters here are the best in the world, so super, so being 18th in the world isn’t bad.”

Philippine Skating Union President Nikki Cheng confirmed Frank’s accomplishment.

Frank, who skated to Donna Summer’s “Last Dance,” impressed with her double axel, triple lutz and triple loop combinations.

Olympian Michael Martinez and 2019 Southeast Asian Games silver medalist Christopher Caluza, meanwhile, finished 24th and 25th in the 26-athlete men’s free skate program. Josef Ramos

Josef Ramos

Future looking bright for PHL weightlifting

THE Philippine youth weightlifting team (from left) Jeaneth Hipolito, Christian Rodriguez, Albert Ian delos Santos, Rose Jean Ramos, trainer Coach Allen Diaz, Adrian Cristobal and Lovely Inan.

Breakthrough for skater Frank in Finland meet

Diaz, a national weightlifter from 2000 to 2008, said. “I never won any medal internationally, but it feels like I won now after the achievements of my students.”

The tournament gathered 300 weightlifters from 52 countries.

“It was not just a simple medal, not a silver or bronze, but gold on the international stage,” he said.

Diaz said their yearlong training intended for the Youth Olympics didn’t just go to waste.

“We can wait until 2026, we still have a lot of students,” he said. “For Ramos and the others, we still have the 2022 Asian Youth Olympics in [Shantou, China] and most likely maybe the Paris 2024 Olympics.”

Diaz has been coaching and training his wards at his Olympic champion cousin’s gym in Barangay Mampang, Zamboanga City.

of my 20-branch record store Pop Station Records in the late 1990s. We also purchased quite a bit of LPs during our travels abroad mainly for their nice album covers for the reason I will tell you later. I still have some LPs. As for CDs, I have since given or thrown them away. Technology has rendered them impractical and with the sheer quantity of CDs I had, it required sizeable wall spaces for proper display which I would rather allocate for artworks.

I have my favorite songs and artists but I learned not to over-attach myself emotionally to any of them.

Strangely, once I am able to get hold of the records I liked, my interest waned knowing that I can conveniently listen to them anytime. This could have been the result of years of treating music not as a hobby but as a form of work or business activity having been a radio DJ, disco Dj, A&R at a record company, record store owner, and concert promoter.

Immersing myself in records led to my developing music fatigue and preferring complete silence for relaxation.

Come to think of it, even my garments business, 1980s hugely successful TOP40 T-shirts, shrink-packaged to appear like LPs, was also music related. TOP40 was the reason I bought LPs abroad with nice album covers as mentioned earlier—for the purpose of making them into t-shirt designs.

RO: How and why did you seize upon the chance to bring foreign artists to the Philippines?

RDG: The situation presented itself when I was involved in the promotional tour of WEA artist Leif Garrett, the 1970s teenage pop superstar. I seemed to have made quite an impression with Leif’s manager because he was the one who offered me the coveted opportunity to handle Leif’s Philippine tour in 1979. He received many offers from the more established promoters of that time but he stuck with me, a person unproven in the business of concert promotions. I had no idea of the enormous challenges that awaited me but I was young, hungry, and driven.

That started my career in the concerts business. After 42

SOFIA FRANK is showing a lot of promise.

“Hidilyn [Diaz] congratulated us already, and she will give us some more equipment in the gym when we get home,” Diaz said.

Also on the Jeddah team were Adrian Cristobal (boys’ 61 kgs B), Albert Ian Delos Santos (boys’ 61 kgs B), Christian Rodriguez (boys’ 67 kgs B) and Lovely Inan (women’s 49 kgs A). The team is returning home Tuesday.

It marked the third time this year that Philippine weightlifting stamped its class on the global stage. Vanessa Sarno of Bohol won two gold medals and led the country’s two-gold, six-silver and three-bronze haul at the the Asian Weightlifting Championships last April in Tashkent.

Diaz, a four-time Olympian, traces her humble roots to his relatives’ gym in Barangay Mampang.

years, Ovation Productions is a well-oiled machine staffed by the best in the business with a nationwide network of production and marketing managers.

RO: Can you share three cool anecdotes with any of these artists you have brought over?

RDG: The time when Tears For Fears declared at Smart Araneta Coliseum that they “have officially peaked” after experiencing the massive crowds singing their songs word for word at the top of their voices. This was in 2010 long after their heyday in the 1980s. Whenever people came up to ask what the band were up to these days they’d simply say “just go to You Tube and search for Tears For Fears Manila concert.” It was their way of saying that they were very much around and they were still hot!

That moment in 2008 when singer songwriter producer Dennis Lambert finally said yes to my offer after my having chased him for over three decades! We then went on a multi-city Philippine tour back-to-back with another noted singer songwriter Paul Williams. Both artists brought with them their respective teams to film their experiences but it was Dennis’s movie that really got much attention and won many awards in various film festivals. Talks are ongoing for it to be made into a movie by a major Hollywood studio.

The utter amusement of Celine Dion upon knowing that her promoters in Manila have the same names as she and her late manager husband whom she dearly loved. They were Celine and Rene and we were Renen and Cel. What were the chances right? She mentioned this in her press conference held in Las Vegas.

RO: Who is on your Bucket List to bring to the Philippines to perform?

RDG: No promoter will divulge the artist he is working on or planning to bring in. What I can say though is that, had it not been for the pandemic, Ovation Productions was scheduled to do names long talked about in the concert and music industry circles. Years 2020 and 2021 would have been really banner years for us.