BusinessMirror October 11, 2020

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‘SPARK OF HOPE’

AVAO CITY—The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) is seeking policy interventions for some food production areas that have made significant contributions in supplying food for locked-down urban areas, a move that may likely radiate to the rest of the agriculture sector.

At the outset, rice, corn and coconut, and aquaculture, have been eyed for immediate actions that range from providing grains storage to ensuring rice and corn stocks sufficiency and review of the rice importation law to assure farmers of priority in the purchase of their yield.

MinDA chief Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol also sought the national government’s nod to lift the ban on the export of mature coconut fruits and the issuance of a special permit for the Mindanao coconut-producing sector to proceed with their export.

Policy interventions were also directed at encouraging the aquaculture sector to flourish and enhance fish production.

The interventions would likely rest on the ray of hope provided by the agriculture sector, which posted minimal growth during the second quarter this year, at least in the area of production, giving steady employment and buoying up host local economies at a time when other sectors of the economy were in the red.

Grains

PIÑOL will submit a Mindanao Corn Development Program of MinDA for inclusion in the Mindanao Peace and Development Program (MinPAD),

or Rise Mindanao, which includes establishing grains storage complexes fitted with modern dryers and silos in at least four cornproducing regions of Mindanao to ensure food security on the island and propel the economy adversely affected by the pandemic.

Among other measures are a need to liberate corn farmers from the village traders’ shackles who also provide seeds, fertilizers and cash advances at usurious rates; to organize themselves into viable cooperatives, or associations, to access credit, especially for good seeds and farm inputs; and to link up the corn cooperatives, or associations, to government lending institutions.

Mindanao corn farmers were always hounded by price instability, which, Piñol said, drastically drops at peak harvest season and goes up during the off-harvest period.

“This problem is not new. As a farm boy who grew up among rice and corn farmers, I saw the frustration and disappointment in my late father and other farmers’ faces when their earnings after four months fell way below what they had expected. This trapped them in an endless cycle of poverty where they borrowed money to plant and paid back with what they harvested, oftentimes leaving them in

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.3770

Encouraged by agriculture’s modest growth as other sectors declined in the pandemic, MinDA seeks policy interventions for fruits, aqua ventures in bid to help farmers climb out of debt trap.

MINDA.GOV.PH

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By Manuel T. Cayon

“This problem is not new. As a farm boy who grew up among rice and corn farmers, I saw the frustration and disappointment in my late father and other farmers’ faces when their earnings after four months fell way below what they had expected. This trapped them in an endless cycle of poverty where they borrowed money to plant and paid back with what they harvested, oftentimes leaving them in deep debt.”—MinDA chief Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol

deep debt,” Piñol said.

“Of course, a very important component of this program is the continuing technology and financial capability training for farmers.

With a stable price for their corn produce, farmers are expected to produce more, thus ensuring the [welfare of] industries relying on corn—like poultry, livestock and cooking oil manufacturers—of a

steady supply,” he added.

According to Piñol, Mindanao produces roughly half of the total corn production of the country, “but this could still be boosted with the implementation of the Minda­ nao Corn Development Program, a holistic approach in increasing productivity and reducing poverty in the agriculture sector.”

On the more consumed grains

like rice, the MinDA is asking Congress to review Republic Act 11203, the rice importation law, as farm-gate prices of palay experienced anew a drop in price, from P22 a kilo two years ago to just P11 per kilo in many areas of the region during harvest season.

The governing board of MinDA, composed of Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Ahod Murad Ebrahim, congressional representatives, governors and mayors who head the Regional Development Councils (RDC) and private-sector representatives, asked Congress to review and make amendments to the law that allowed the unimpeded entry of imported rice into the country.

“If it is really causing injury to the rice industry and hardships to our farmers, then it is only fair that we review the law,” said Zubiri, who was among the senators who approved the passage of the Rice Tariffication Law.

Coconut

WITH the coconut sector continuing to fuel local economies and providing income to farmers, MinDA has asked Malacañang to lift the ban on export of mature coconuts and to issue a special permit to Mindanao.

This was due to the complaint, also hounding all the other crops, about the plunging price of coconut byproducts, mainly oil, as the influx of substitute oils brought down prices of copra.

“We are resubmitting our recommendation to the President,

noting that if we want to restart the economy, we can direct our focus on our coconut farmers who are actually among the sectors affected by the pandemic,” Piñol said.

He said 1985 Presidential Decree 1106 should be lifted to allow coconut farmers in the country, “who had been reeling from the effects of low copra prices due to the influx of other alternative cooking oils,” to take advantage of the mature coconut market.

“If we take immediate action on this, there will be an immediate effect. If our coconut farmers can export, they will really earn unlike if they market it locally, the price is very low,” Piñol said.

The MinDA said this was also the move Piñol took as chairman of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Governing Board, when he was then Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

(In late September, Zubiri grilled Piñol on his agriculturefilled programs when the MinDA was supposed to be a development agency other than agriculture. Piñol retorted that this was due to the agriculture nature of Minda­ nao, which must be developed to harness the potential for industry and manufacturing.)

Piñol said giving due course to the Mindanao coconut farmers’ bid to export could wait “until such time the full impact of the measure is determined.”

In the same petition to Malacañang, MinDA had also requested BARMM to pass legislation allowing the export of mature coconuts.

Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4564 n UK 62.5611 n HK 6.2422 n CHINA 7.1153 n SINGAPORE 35.6132 n AUSTRALIA 34.6718 n EU 56.8865 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.8967

Source: BSP (October 9, 2020)

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, October 11, 2020

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‘SPARK OF HOPE’ Continued from A1

“If only coconut farmers were allowed to export mature coconuts, their incomes could improve drastically. For every 8,000 pieces [average harvest per hectare of a well-tended farm, according to the Philippine Coconut Authority] sold in the local market, they stand to earn only P32,000 to P40,000. If allowed to export, they can earn as much as P64,000 to P80,000,” Piñol said.

Aquaculture

MEANWHILE, MinDA has eyed developing the coastal town of Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte for bangus fish cage farming to push job generation in this sleepy rural town in northern Mindanao, and, at the same time, form part of a wider expansion program involving a total of 22 areas in Mindanao.

In the case of the Lanao del Norte town, Piñol told Mayor Mutalib Dimaporo that his town is the only one in the province facing the Moro Gulf, and has a 30-kilometer coastal line and a newly completed fish port.

Sultan Naga Dimaporo town has a population of 60,000, of which about 40 percent are Maranaos and 60 percent are Visayans. “This would be a perfect example of a town with peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians,” he added.

Piñol said Dimaporo may engage the town’s former migrant workers in the project, which also involves putting up an ice-making factory and cold-storage facilities.

Piñol said the 22 projects would seek funding from the P3.5billion grant assistance from the European Union. He said more than half of this portfolio were to be handled by MinDA, through the German funding unit, GIZ, and World Bank-funded Philippine Rural Development Project.

Standout

THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) report on the second-quarter performance of the Philippine economy showed that Mindanao’s agriculture sector still eked out a

SILHOUETTE of a boat resting on the shore as the sun sets in Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte. TON SANTIAGO | DREAMSTIME.COM

0.1-percent growth even as the industry and services sectors posted a negative 6.9 percent and 9.7 percent decline, respectively.

The agriculture sector’s modest growth sparked hope among Mindanaoans, MinDA said.

The region, MinDA noted, supplies over 40 percent of the country’s food requirements and contributes more than 30 percent to the national food trade.

Despite a 16.5-percent drop of the GDP in the second quarter this

year, the worst since 1981, MinDA projected Mindanao to shine amid the pandemic.

A MinDA statement quoting MinDA Assistant Secretary Romeo Montenegro said Mindanao’s contribution to the country’s agricultural output cannot be overemphasized.

“While major growth drivers succumbed to the Covid-19 pandemic, the agricultural sector output for domestic consumption and exports of top Mindanao agricultural products stood strong against the insane

waves of adversity, showing Mindanao’s resiliency,” he said.

He added that the agricultural value chain (AVC) accounted for 60 percent of Mindanao’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP), as noted in the World Bank’s 2017 Mindanao Jobs Report.

“Presumably, it is not agriculture, forestry and fisheries (AFF) per se that’s being referred to, but the AVC, which cut across other sectors such as services; for example, hotels and malls sell agri-food

products, some construction activities are related to setting up agrifacilities, and the sizable volume of logistics flow contains agri-products, raw or processed, domestic or for exports,” Montenegro said.

He added that there is a bigger message beyond the AFF serving only a fraction of Mindanao’s Gross Value Added (GVA), which is also only about 15 percent of the country’s total.

“The message is Mindanao’s agricultural performance is a small

spark of hope in this dark economic reality,” he said. “Regardless of the situation we are confronted with—calamities, disasters, conflict, pandemic and the like—we all need food to survive. So if the focus is given to improving Mindanao’s agri sector, which is an inherent strength, toward self-sufficiency, food security and sustainability, then we become more resilient and can stand better chances of overcoming internal or external shocks and recover faster.”

BLOOMBERG

BLOOMBERG

BLOOMBERG

Three finance leaders reveal what they learned from life in 2020

JOYCE CHANG

HOWARD DAVIES

GITA GOPINATH

What’s your morning ritual when working from home?

Coffee first, scan the print newspapers delivered to my door second.

What’s your morning ritual when working from home?

Dragging a reluctant dog round the village to wake myself up and confirm that there is a world outside Zoom.

What’s your morning ritual when working from home?

Wear a formal shirt. Pajama bottom can stay on. Make a cup of tea and prepare for a long day of virtual meetings.

What has brought you joy this year?

A first grandson, and the discovery of some excellent Austrian pinot noir.

What has brought you joy this year?

Not having to commute between Boston and D.C., and more time with my husband and son. My son applies to colleges this year, and I am happy that I will not miss out on any of that experience.

Chair of global research at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

What has brought you joy this year?

The biggest windfall was the “live” time with my two kids. If I were to do over anything in my career, I would have better balanced my work-travel schedule and time with family.

What was your most significant accomplishment in 2020?

A crisis is always an opportunity to set precedents. The way that we work, share information, communicate, and interact with clients is forever changed.

What would you do differently if you had to go through a lockdown again?

Embrace disruption.

What will 2020 be remembered for?

Speed. Paradigm shifts. Zero yield. Cultural intelligence: the need for people to be seen, heard, and treated fairly.

Chairman of NatWest Group Plc.

What was your most significant accomplishment in 2020?

I made a set of card models of Brutalist London buildings, which reminded me that there are aspects of London I don’t miss.

What would you do differently if you had to go through a lockdown again?

Move promptly to Sweden.

What will 2020 be remembered for?

The pandemic itself, but the explosion of government debt might merit a footnote, whose long-term consequences are uncertain.

Chief economist of the International Monetary Fund

What was your most significant accomplishment in 2020?

Figuring out with my team what the pandemic-driven crisis means for countries and how to best help them. And speaking to Trevor Noah on The Daily Show was something of a high!

What would you do differently if you had to go through a lockdown again?

Have a real end to the workday, with fewer virtual meetings. Bloomberg

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

The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, October 11, 2020

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How one piece of hardware took down a $6-trillion stock market

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By Gearoid Reidy, Shoko Oda, Min Jeong Lee & Toshiro Hasegawa

t 7:04 a.m. on an autumn Thursday in Tokyo, the stewards of the world’s thirdlargest equity market realized they had a problem.

A data device critical to the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s trading system had malfunctioned, and the automatic backup had failed to kick in. It was less than an hour before the system, called Arrowhead, was due to start processing orders in the $6-trillion equity market. Exchange officials could see no solution.

The full-day shutdown that ensued was the longest since the exchange switched to a fully electronic trading system in 1999.

It drew criticism from market participants and authorities and shone a spotlight on a lesserdiscussed vulnerability in the world’s financial plumbing—not software or security risks but the danger when one of hundreds of pieces of hardware that make up a trading system decides to give up the ghost.

“Exchanges are a crucial part of market infrastructure and it’s unacceptable that trading opportunities were denied,” Finance Minister Taro Aso told reporters in Tokyo. “You’re dealing with machines so it’s always possible they

will break. They need to create the infrastructure with that possibility of a breakdown in mind.”

The TSE’s Arrowhead system launched to much fanfare in 2010, billed as a modern-day solution after a series of outages on an older system embarrassed the exchange in the 2000s. The “arrow” symbolizes speed of order processing, while the “head” suggests robustness and reliability, according to the exchange. The system of roughly 350 servers that process buy and sell orders had a few hiccups but no major outages in its first decade.

That all changed on Thursday, when a piece of hardware called the No. 1 shared disk device, one of two square-shaped data-storage boxes, detected a memory error.

These devices store management data used across the servers, and distribute information such as commands and ID and password combinations for terminals that monitor trades.

W hen the error happened, the system should have carried out what’s called a failover—an

automatic switching to the No. 2 device. But for reasons the exchange’s executives couldn’t explain, that process also failed. That had a knock-on effect on servers called information distribution gateways that are meant to send market information to traders.

Disappearing data

At 8 a.m., traders preparing at their desks for the market open an hour later should have been seeing indicative prices on their terminals as orders were processed.

But many saw nothing, while others reported seeing data appearing and disappearing. They had no idea if the information was accurate.

A minute later, the bourse made its first communication, informing systems administrators at securities firms that there had been an issue. At some brokerages, that didn’t immediately filter down to befuddled trading desks.

At about 8:05 a.m., Twitter—often used by traders to communicate outside of more official communication channels monitored by compliance—began to buzz with rumors of an issue. Traders described a growing sense of confusion as few answers came from the bourse.

“We didn’t know if it was our system or the exchange,” said Masaya Akiba, a broker at Marusan Securities Co.’s stock-trading department. “We only confirmed it when the exchange put out a release.”

At 8:36 a.m., the bourse finally informed securities firms that trading would be halted.

Three minutes later, it issued a press release on its public web site—although only in Japanese.

A confusingly translated English release wouldn’t follow for more than 90 minutes.

It was the first time in almost 15 years that the exchange had suffered a complete trading outage. The Tokyo bourse has a policy of not shutting even during natural disasters, so for many on trading floors in the capital, this experience was a first.

Historic decision

Some market participants fumed at the closure. Others, with nothing to do, occupied their time by reading research notes or trading commodities.

“I didn’t think much of it at first,” said Kiyoshi Ishigane, the chief fund manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. “Previous outages were quickly resolved so I assumed orders would just be delayed.”

In 2012, after the switchover to Arrowhead, the exchange had quickly resolved limited issues.

Many expected the bourse to do the same this time, too.

But as the hours passed, Hajime Sakai, the chief fund manager at Mito Securities Co., grew increasingly uneasy.

“I really couldn’t pay attention to much else,” he said. “I wasn’t like, ‘Open the market!’ It was more like, ‘whichever it is, make your call on it, fast.’”

T h e c a l l w a s a d a u nt i n g one. A f ter t he fa i led sw itc h to t he bac k up, t he e xc ha nge had

ma nu a l ly forced a sw itc hover to the No. 2 shared disk dev ice.

At t h is point, t he ad m inist rators had a c hoice: t hey cou ld seek to rest a r t t rad i ng , but t his wou ld have ent a i led a f u l l reset of t he system— shut t ing dow n the power and rebooting.

Data for orders already received from securities firms would have been lost, without having been canceled. That would have led to anarchy, securities firms told the exchange. After speaking with market participants, the exchange made its decision: trading would be called off for the entire day.

Many in the market say they were relieved. A call to resume trading would have been chaotic, said one worker at a Tokyobased brokerage, with no way to tell which existing client orders remained active, while also trying to process new asks and bids.

Technical discussion

At 4:30 p.m. local time, four TSE executives, including Chief Executive Officer Koichiro Miyahara and Chief Information Officer Ryusuke Yokoyama, faced journalists at the exchange to explain the outage. In a briefing that lasted about 100 minutes, they bowed in apology in front of the crowded room before going into a detailed technical discussion of the breakdown.

If the bourse was criticized for its communications earlier in the day, it won praise for how it handled the press conference. The executives answered questions from the media with relative ease,

discussing areas such as systems architecture in highly technical terms. They also squarely accepted responsibility for the incident, rather than trying to deflect blame onto the system vendor Fujitsu Ltd. It bore little resemblance to gaffe-filled briefings by other Japanese firms in the past. On Twitter, the Japanese public voiced its approval.

“Management explained very clearly during the briefing last night,” said Megumi Takarada, a senior analyst at Toyo Securities Co. in Tokyo. “The briefing provided some reassurance that management clearly understands the issue.”

Later in the evening, the announcement came that the bourse would restart trading on Friday.

While that passed without issue, many questions remain unanswered. The Financial Services Agency has ordered the exchange to issue a report on the outage, according to local media, which may give further insight on some of the issues.

But one of the biggest is whether the same kind of hardwaredriven failure could happen in other stock markets. For one strategist, it almost certainly could—but that’s not something to worry too much about.

“There’s nothing uniquely Japanese about this,” said Nicholas Smith of CLSA Ltd. in Tokyo. “I think we’ve just got to put that in the box of ‘stuff happens.’ These things happen. They shouldn’t, but they do.” Bloomberg News

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The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, October 11, 2020

Suicide spike in Japan shows mental health toll of Covid-19

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he number of suicides rose in Japan in August due to more women and schoolaged children taking their own lives—offering a first glimpse into the consequences of the mental health strain brought about by Covid-19 around the globe.

The island nation is among a few major economies that release timely data on suicides, as it is a persistent societal issue. The numbers hint at what may be going on around the world as countries grapple with the fallout from mass unemployment and social isolation that’s impacting certain groups of people more than the rest.

Sociologists have long warned that the economic and social disruption wrought by measures to contain the coronavirus could cause more deaths than the pathogen itself. In Japan, the suicide rate has been falling but it remains a top cause of premature deaths—this year, suicide has taken over 13,000 lives, while total Covid-19 fatalities number less than 2,000.

According to government statistics, the number of suicides in August increased by 15.4 percent to 1,854.

Although a smaller proportion of suicides, the number of women taking their own lives jumped by around 40 percent. The number of suicides of students in elementary to high school more than doubled to 59 from the same period last year.

The mental health toll looks set to be one of the pandemic’s most insidious legacies given the difficulty of grasping or measuring the magnitude of self-inflicted harm until too late. Major economies like the US and China don’t report official data on suicides until years later, though experts have predicted a wave of such deaths this year while anecdotal evidence abounds on social-media platforms.

“Up-to-date suicide numbers can help quickly determine which groups are at high-risk,” said Yasuyuki Sawada, the chief economist at Asian Development Bank and a University

of Tokyo professor who has written books on suicide prevention and the phenomenon’s economic impact. “If local governments can determine which age group or what occupations are showing higher risks for suicides, suicide prevention measures can be implemented swiftly.”

A US study released in May predicted as many as 75,000 additional people could die in the next decade from “deaths of despair” as a result of the coronavirus crisis, a term that refers to suicides and substanceabuse-related deaths. In India, 65 percent of therapists reported an increase in self-harm and suicide ideation among patients since the pandemic began, said a study released in September by the Suicide Prevention India Foundation.

Not only has the coronavirus caused unemployment to rise around the globe, it’s upended social norms and halted community interaction, key factors known to worsen mental health strain. Over 60 percent of 130 countries surveyed by the World Health Organization said mental health services for vulnerable populations were disrupted as a result of the pandemic, according to a report released this week. The trend in Japan reveals that the pandemic’s also adding new, potentially deadly stressors: calls to domestic violence helplines have risen, as families remain trapped at home together.

Economically, the coronavirus has disproportionately affected women, who are more likely to be in irregular employment in retail or service industries—they made up nearly 66 percent of recent job losses in Japan.

In neighboring Korea, which has

the highest suicide rate in the OECD, a spike in women taking their own lives also occurred in April, March and June, though the overall number of suicides between January and July declined compared to the year before.

Generally, depression is more common in women and addiction is more common in men, so the prolonged pandemic might have affected the rise in women’s suicide rate, said Paik Jong-woo, the head of Korea’s Suicide Prevention Center.

“Public hea lth and infectious disease prevention measures aren’t enough to save lives on their own,” said Toshihiko Matsumoto, director of the Drug Dependence Research depar tment at Japan’s Nationa l Institute of Mental Health. He emphasized the need for spaces where people can be away from family pressure while also avoiding crowded conditions with infection risk.

Children present an even more complex picture. Pressured by the pa ndem ic, st ressed- out pa rent s “may be missing signs from their children and not being compassionate enough about their problems,” said Mayumi Hangai, a doctor at the National Center for Child Health and Development who has surveyed children’s stress levels during the coronavirus.

Any stress or unhappiness displayed by parents could also transfer to their children, who lack social outlets when schools are closed and extracurricular activities unavailable.

Although Japan has seen suicides drop overall for the past decade, youth under the age of 20 is the only segment to have seen an uptick.

As young as five

In Asia, the toll could be compounded by greater stigma around mental health issues compared to western societies. In Japan, for example, there is social pressure to not show one’s feelings and true self.

Suicides at first dropped in the spring during a state of emergency ordered by the government to curb the spread of the virus, which experts chalked up to people being away from the stress of workplaces and schools.

A collective solidarity like that inspired by wars and natural disasters also emerged.

But when the economy started reopening, portions of the population were left behind—like laid-off workers or those who continued to be stuck at home. In Japan, schools restarted in June after a three-month closure, which saw an increase in reports of bullying and added stress about catching up on schoolwork.

“Children feel even more pressured to catch up with the delay,” said Hiroyuki Nishino, the head of Tamariba, a nonprofit organization that helps struggling kids. The disruption caused by Covid-19 is exacerbating the deeply rooted phenomenon of “futoko”—children refusing to go to school. Such kids are at high risk for suicide. “We’ve heard kids as young as five years old talking about dying or wanting to disappear,” said Nishino.

According to Lifelink, a Tokyobased nonprofit that operates a suicide helpline, about 20 percent of calls received from May to August were from children in elementary, middle and high schools. Messaging apps have been effective for children to reach out for help as some can use these without parental knowledge, said Yasuyuki Shimizu, the head of Lifelink.

This is especially crucial when the issue is domestic violence.

In July, the Japanese government allocated a supplementary budget of 1.1 billion yen ($10.4 million) for suicide prevention on top of the 2.6 billion yen approved in April. The governments of Japan and Korea, despite bitter disputes over trade and territorial rights, also regularly exchange ideas on suicide prevention strategies, according to an official at the Korea Suicide Prevention Center.

Funding and investment in mental health infrastructure to serve vulnerable populations is urgently needed in Covid-19’s wake, experts said. Mental health services are chronically underfunded everywhere, even though studies have shown that investing $1 into care for depression and anxiety can return $5 in economic productivity, according to the WHO. “Financial support from the government is important, but so is recognizing that mental health is an issue,” ADB’s Sawada said. “Measures to address mental health should be a pillar of public health policy as well.”

Bloomberg News

Colleges are better at Covid-19 testing than the White House

By Faye Flam

O

Bloomberg Opinion

n the morning of October 2, just as the US was waking up to news that the president and first lady were infected with Covid-19, the New York Times was featuring a story with the headline “Colleges Learn How to Suppress Coronavirus: Extensive Testing.” And yet, President Donald Trump had often claimed he was getting tested regularly—maybe even every day. Does the White House outbreak erode the case for keeping schools and workplaces open with extensive, rapid testing?

Testing had been looking good, with new technologies promising fast, cheap tests as a tactic to prevent Covid-19 spread while allowing more of the interactions needed for commerce, travel, education and human happiness.

It’s hard to know how or whether testing failed in the White House until the president agrees to disclose who got tested, when they were tested, what kinds of tests were used, and how long it took to return results. Beyond that,

testing was never geared to work in the absence of any other measures. Footage of a Rose Garden event six days earlier showed people hugging and kissing, congregating indoors with no masks, and otherwise acting as though the pandemic were on some other planet.

Later in the newsworthy day of October 2, Harvard epidemiology professor Michael Mina gave a scheduled press briefing to discuss, among other things, a New England Journal of Medicine article in which he argued that the world would benefit from more and faster testing even if tests were less accurate.

Questioned about the White House, Mina stressed that testing can help stop such outbreaks from growing even bigger, and in this case might prevent hundreds of additional infections from rippling beyond the infected elected officials, staffers and guests. That depends, of course, on those who test positive isolating themselves right away, and those who’ve had close contact with them quarantining until they’re known to be free of the virus. It’s not clear that happened at the White House.

Colleges seem to be using their testing programs more successfully. The ones getting it right should be an example to the White House, and to other workplaces.

Some of the better-endowed campuses, such as Princeton, Harvard, Cornell, Northeastern and Yale, have done extensive surveillance tests of asymptomatic students and seen few cases. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, there was an infamous outbreak exacerbated by students who tested positive and went to parties after learning their status. But after the whole student body went into a temporary quarantine, the outbreak ended and operations resumed with students getting tested twice

weekly. The university’s efforts have lately been touted as a success.

College-age people are at low risk of hospitalization or death from Covid-19, but they can spread the disease to others. In a piece published September 29 in the Journal of the American Medical Association , CDC Director Robert Redfield pointed to statistics showing a recent increase in Covid-19 cases in communities with a high proportion of college students, even as cases were going down in surrounding areas. Testing students regularly can help protect these communities.

But it matters which kinds of tests are used.

In his article, Harvard’s Mina argued that the standard Covid-19 test, the nasal swab analyzed with a system called PCR, is fine for diagnosis but not suited for screening—it’s too slow and gives too many false positives when people feel no symptoms. PCR picks up genetic material from the virus, but people tend to harbor small genetic fragments for weeks after their infections clear.

That means PCR screening could find mostly people who were no longer contagious. Such false positives could send contact tracers on many useless trails and force quarantines on the wrong students.

Worse still, people are most likely to transmit the virus in the days before and after they first get symptoms—a window that PCR tests are likely to miss in the time it takes to send samples to labs, process them and deliver results.

But faster, cheaper tests exist, and by July, researchers were already proposing their use in colleges. David Paltiel, a professor in the Yale School of Public Health, recommended testing all students at least twice a week based on a model published in Journal of the American Medical Association . In an interview, he agreed with Mina that using more tests that are cheap

and fast would be better than using fewer tests that are slow and expensive.

He said it was shameful that the CDC is not recommending this kind of universal frequent testing for college campuses. Instead, he says, the CDC lists various examples of testing strategies but gives no advice on which to use.

Perhaps that lack of leadership is one reason that some colleges aren’t doing a very good job.

A story in the Texas Tribune described colleges in the state as having a haphazard strategy, offering tests with no guidance on who should be tested or why. Few students were getting tested, even when they were offered prizes.

Resources can also be a limitation. At the University of Rhode Island, testing everyone all the time isn’t affordable, but the school is monitoring infection rates by testing random samples of staff and students, says Gary Liguori, dean of the College of Health Sciences. And it’s using other measures such as deploying an app to help students locate unused space for socially distant study.

The university would be testing everyone if it had the resources, says Liguori. But the school planned all summer for the return of students and is keeping infections low enough to continue holding classes. “I think the schools that have done things well are ones that made choices early and stuck to those commitments,” he said.

With vastly greater resources, the White House could take a lesson from them.

The president’s aides should be working with the CDC and local health authorities to dissect the outbreak—mapping out where it came from, how it spread, and where it might be going. That would not only prevent more cases, but also give valuable scientific information on how the disease is spreading. That could benefit everyone.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Modi wants Yale and Oxford to be able to open campuses in India

I

ndia’s universities have produced chief executive officers at companies from Microsoft Corp. to Google —now Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks they can be even better with competition from global names like Yale, Oxford and Stanford.

Modi’s government is pushing to overhaul the South Asian nation’s heavily regulated education sector to woo nearly 750,000 students who spend about $15 billion each year pursuing degrees overseas, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” said in written responses to questions.

The legislation—which will regulate the operation of foreign universities—is being prepared for approval by the parliament, where the government retains a significant majority.

It represents a change of heart for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which has long resisted opening up the country’s education sector.

“There has been lot of enthusiasm,” Pokhriyal said, noting that Australia’s government and some universities had shown interest in the proposal.

“Very soon, India will have some of the finest, world-class institutions.”

The South Asian nation needs to boost its education sector to become more competitive and close the growing gap between college curricula and market demands. It’s currently ranked 72 among 132 nations in the 2020 Global Talent Competitiveness Index that measures the nation’s ability to grow, attract and retain talent.

Still, India’s notoriously tricky bureaucracy may be the main stumbling block for foreign universities, along with difficulties in acquiring land, academic staff and adequate infrastructure.

The minister didn’t specify what incentives India will offer to attract foreign universities, except that institutions, which are required to operate not-for-profit, will be on a playing field with local players.

Some universities have already set up partnerships with Indian institutions, allowing students to par tially study in India and complete their degrees on the main campus abroad. The current move encourages these overseas institutions to set up campuses without local partners.

Fresh challenges

“We’ll seek new opportunities to further pursue such collaborations as India’s new policy is implemented,” said Joe Wong, a vice president

at the University of Toronto, which has a tieup with Tata Trusts and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.

The University of Washington, London School of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Western Australia were among institutions that said they have no plans of setting up campuses in India. Others like McGill University and the University of Sydney said they’re looking to expand their partnerships in India through new courses or research programs.

“We have been dreaming about the possibilities of delivering degrees in India,” said Alessandro Giuliani, managing director of SDA Bocconi Asia Center, an Italian business school that operates in Mumbai. He said the institute is waiting to see the government’s final regulations in the new policy, which it hopes will avoid any minimum investment requirements, especially in land.

With more than 51,000 institutions, India’s higher education system is already one of the largest in the world and in terms of enrollment, it is second only to China. Still, it lags behind China in terms of infrastructure, quality teaching and research investment.

Pokhriyal is optimistic that overseas universities will set up their campus in India to tap the nation’s young demographics, with the World Bank projecting 34 percent of its population will be aged between 15 and 34 years by 2021.

India had already entered into agreements on educational programs with 55 countries that include exchange of academics and students and cooperation on other initiatives, he said.

The new plan will double education spending to 6 percent of India’s GDP “at the earliest” according to Pokhriyal. The federal government has proposed spending of over 9 trillion rupees or about $123 billion on education in the five years to 2026, of which $28 billion will be on higher education.

It’s time for India to open up its tertiary sector, said T. V. Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education Services, who has done research on the country’s higher education system.

“The main hurdle will be the actual regulations,” Pai said. “My concern is that the control-minded bureaucracy should not scuttle the execution of the policy by putting in unnecessary controls.” Bloomberg News

Covid crisis exposed what financial reformers missed

By Bill Dudley

A

Bloomberg Opinion

fter the US financial system came to the brink of collapse in 2008, Congress and regulators spent years on renovations designed to prevent that from ever happening again. More than six months into a global pandemic that has delivered another monumental shock, it’s worth asking: Were the reforms successful and sufficient?

The answer depends on what part of the financial system you’re looking at. Traditional banks have fared pretty well. The rest, not so much.

Regulators did a lot to make the core banking system more resilient. They increased requirements for loss-absorbing capital, and for the liquid assets needed to meet obligations in a crisis. They established stress tests designed to ensure that banks can survive a severe economic or financial shock. These changes neither throttled credit nor choked the economy, as opponents warned they would do. Rather, the costs were shared broadly—among shareholders (in the form of lower profits), bank executives (lower pay), borrowers (slightly higher interest rates) and savers (slightly lower deposit rates). Meanwhile, the US experienced the longest economic expansion in its history.

Now we’re reaping the benefits, as the banking system sustains lending amid an extraordinary economic shock. Rather than amplifying distress, as it did during the 2008 crisis, it has absorbed and cushioned the shock. It has kept performing the crucial functions of intermediating between savers and borrowers, and of helping businesses manage financial risks.

Yet outside the banking system—in the realm of specialized lenders, hedge funds and money market mutual funds—reforms have proven inadequate. That’s why the Federal Reserve had to go to extraordinary lengths to intervene in financial markets, in order to support such nonbank institutions. It pledged trillions of dollars to, among other things, help highly leveraged investors unwind large bets on US Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, ensure money market funds had enough cash, and support corporate and municipal securities markets so companies and state and local governments could continue to raise funds.

So what went wrong? The experience has exposed a number of flaws and omissions.

First, there’s the ineffectiveness of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, established by the Dodd-Frank Act to address systemic risks outside the core banking system. It has abandoned its power to designate non-bank institutions as “systemically important” and subject them to special oversight by the Fed. All four major

non-banks that were once designated—AIG, GE Capital, MetLife and Prudential Financial—have since been removed from the list. It has also failed to rein in risks posed by activities, such as money-market funds offering deposit-like services, mutual funds investing in illiquid high-yield bonds while allowing investors to withdraw their money on a day’s notice, and the widespread use of overnight “repo” credit to fund highly leveraged investments in Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities.

The FSOC’s poor performance stems from a flawed design. It’s headed by a political appointee, the Treasury secretary, which makes it subject to the whims of the executive branch and leaves it with little incentive to take the long view beyond the next political cycle. The committee’s members—who include the heads of all the federal financial regulatory agencies— apparently prefer that it remain weak, lest it encroach on their areas of specialization. It’s as if they had all signed a mutual nonaggression pact: You leave me alone and I will reciprocate.

Second, some of the most power ful regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, have no strong, explicit mandate to ensure financial stability. This makes it difficult for them to evaluate and address systemic risk.

Consider those mutual funds, which promise overnight redemptions even though they invest in assets that can become hard to sell during times of economic distress. This gives investors an incentive to pull out at the first sign of trouble, while there’s still enough cash on hand—putting other, slower-to-react investors at a disadvantage.

Yet the SEC doesn’t have rules to help slow such runs, such as limiting how quickly investors can redeem shares for cash.

What to do? First, give all the agencies that oversee financial markets a stability mandate and the powers to carry it out. Second, evaluate and restructure the FSOC, providing the governance needed to effectively supervise the non-bank sector. Meanwhile, officials should act to make the markets for Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities more resilient to the kinds of shocks they experienced back in March and April. One option is for the Fed to provide a standing repo facility, to ensure that leveraged investors can always refinance their positions, rather than being forced to sell at the worst possible moment. By making Treasury securities more attractive to own, such a facility might have the added advantage of reducing the government’s cost of borrowing.

Financial regulators have made a lot of progress since the 2008 crisis. But the coronavirus crisis has demonstrated that there’s still a lot to do in the non-bank part of the financial system.

Science

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

D.O.S.T-FPRDI‘s bamboo-framed face shields get another adopter

Sunday

Sunday, October 11, 2020 A5

STEM resources now widely available to students, teachers

By Edwin P. Galvez

T A

second company is now mass producing the bamboo-framed face shield developed by the DOST-Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI).

Following the institute’s design and specifications, the Bataan-based QGM Plant Nursery and Garden (QGM-PNG) has recently started commercially producing the face shields.

The first company mass producing the DOSTFPRDI-developed face shield is the local government unit of Cabuyao City in Laguna province.

DOST-FPRDI gave technical assistance on the steam-bending technology—the process wherein bamboo strips for the frame are heated to flex them into the desired form.

The institute will likewise help the company with any production-related issue, and assist in technology improvement if needed.

According to its Facebook post, the QGM-PNG is currently offering a buy-5-donate-1 promo, in which for every five bamboo-framed face shield purchased, one will be donated to a frontliner.

“We are happy that more organizations are getting interested in our technology as this means more people can have access to the bamboo-framed face shield. The QGM-PNG is currently entertaining an interested buyer from the United Kingdom,” said Grecelda A. Eusebio, chief of DOST-FPRDI’s Technology Licensing and Promotion Section.

QGM-PNG and DOST-FPRDI’s memorandum of agreement for the project was signed in August.

Those interested in adopting the institute’s technologies may send an e-mail addressed to DOSTFPRDI Director Dr. Romulo T. Aggangan at info@fprdi. dost.gov.ph or fprdi@dost.gov.ph. Apple Jean C.

Martin- de Leon/S&T Media Service

Searca leads development of national road maps for agri value chain in Asean

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he Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) is set to lead the development of national road maps for key agri-based value chains where smallholders play a prominent role in five countries, including the Philippines.

Under the five-year project “Agricultural Transformation and Market Integration in the Asean Region: Responding to Food Security and Inclusiveness Concerns [Atmi-Asean],” Searca will take the lead in crafting the national road map for the pork-based processed products value chain in the Philippines.

The priority commodities in the other Asean member states (AMS) covered by the Atmi-Asean project are maize for Cambodia and Laos, pulses for Myanmar and pig for Vietnam.

The five countries recently completed a value chain study of their chosen commodity, which will serve as the take-off points for the roadmap development.

“The national road map is intended as a set of strategies, programs and specific activities that will benefit the stakeholders at all levels of the value chain,” said Dr. Pedcris M. Orencio, Searca program head for Research and Thought Leadership.

He explained that “stakeholders in the Philippines will identify a shared regional vision for the development of the targeted value chains in the Asean region, including the role of smallholder agriculture in their upgrade and scaling-up.”

Orencio added that such vision will help identify key policies, food safety and quality standards, and opportunities for cooperation in research and development.

These, in turn, will support progress towards achieving an improved policy and regulatory framework at the international level and fostering the policy dialogue on regional food security and market integration among AMS. Searca Director Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio said “the national road maps to be crafted starting this month are expected to provide solutions to manage the process of structural transformation of smallholder agriculture and strengthen agriculture’s contribution to the competitiveness of Southeast Asian economies.”

“This aligns with Searca’s current focus on academe-industry-government interconnectivity to strengthen agricultural innovations and promote market-driven agribusiness development in the Philippines and the rest of the Southeast Asian

region to accelerate structural transformation in the agriculture sector,” Gregorio said.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is the focal agency for the development of the national roadmap on pork-based processed products value chain in the country.

DA Assistant Secretary Lerey A. Panes earlier highlighted the importance of the ATMI-ASEAN project, particularly the pioneering value chain study, in revising the country’s swine industry and in helping smallholder or backyard hog raisers.

Dr. Imelda J. Santos, DA-Bureau of Animal Industry-National Veterinary Quarantine Services Division chief said during an ATMI-ASEAN roundtable discussion that there has been an upward trend in the country’s pig population in 2010-2019 and 65 percent of this are from backyard farms, while 35 percent are imported.

The value chain study also takes into account the African swine fever (ASF) that afflicted hogs in some provinces in Luzon. Dr. Santos described ASF as the most economically devastating swine disease during the same forum.

Dr. Orencio said the study on value chain of pork-based processed products in Luzon showed that Filipino families have a general preference for pork compared to beef and chicken, and that there is increase in pork consumption due to an increase in population and income.

He shared that initial policy recommendations of the study, which was conducted by the University of the Philippines Los Baños-College of Economics and Management Alumni Foundation Inc. (UPLBCEMAFI) for the Atmi-Asean project, include expansion of yellow corn production in light of the technological seed innovation as well as live animal improvement due to improved animal inventory.

Dr. Gregorio said “the Atmi-Asean project team noted how this pandemic has affected the export potential of the commodities and would be an important consideration in developing policies.”

He stressed that “the roadmap will allow the government to gain traction and engage the industry and private sector which are potent partners in improving the value chain.”

The national road mapping is part of the technical assistance on planning and policy development component of the Atmi-Asean project, which is funded by the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad). The Atmi-Asean project is jointly implemented by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Searca.

U.P. College of Eng. receives scholarship grant from Huawei

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uawei Technologies Phils. Inc. recently announced its first scholarship program with the University of the Philippines (UP) through a virtual launching ceremony.

The scholarship is accepting applications from third-year to fifth-year students of UP College of Engineering, said the Huawei news release.

An annual stipend and book allowance amounting to P73,000 will be awarded to students who pass the screening process and qualify for the scholarship.

Representatives from the UP College of Engineering, led by Engr. Ferdinand de la Cruz, president of UP Engineering Research and

Development Foundation, Engr. Alfonso "Tito" Aliga Jr. and Prof. Juvy Balbarona attended the ceremony.

De la Cruz said: “Huawei is definitely an inspiration for UP and the UP Engineering Research and Development Foundation, and we are very happy that Huawei is doing this scholarship program.”

“As a company, Huawei values education. It is one of the pillars of our Tech4all Program and inspires us to launch our scholarship program not only in the Philippines, but in other parts of the world. We appreciate the partnership with UP. And we look forward to more collaboration in the future,” said Jade Cao, Huawei Philippines Human Resource director.

Special to the BusinessMirror

eaching and learning the basics of science, technology, engineering and mathematics will no longer be distant or remote to students and teachers as the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has made STEM resources widely available to them through weekly national radio broadcast, the use of social-media channels, and access to digital and online platforms.

“STEM teaching and learning resources are now accessible to both public and private school students and teachers,” said Dr. Ruby R. Cristobal, chief science research specialist of the DOST-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) during the weekly online program “DOST Report” aired on DOSTv on October 2.

The STEM resources are also available even to parents, private companies and institutions and media outlets who would like to use them. Syndication plans to DOST regional offices can also make these resources aired freely over community radio stations and academebased broadcast stations.

The blended format of teaching and learning—that involves the use of online, modular or broadcast methods—is being resorted to by the Department of Education this school year in lieu of face-to-face teaching amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. It is part of the protocol to prevent the children from contracting the virus.

Coming on the heels of the late opening of classes for the School Year 2020-2021 on October 5 owing to the pandemic, the resources include 20 science radio episodes of RadyoEskwela sa Siyensya, roughly translated as “Science School on Radio,” for elementary pupils, and 15 STEM video modules under TuklaSiyensya sa Eskwela, or “Discover Science in School,” for high-school students.

“Both RadyoEskwela sa Siyensya and TuklaSiyensya sa Eskwela serve not only as alternative learning resources for [school children], but also as instructional materials for teachers as these come with teacher’s guides,” Cristobal said.

The DOST-SEI is also making available 24 10-minute science films from its Indie-Siyensya Film Collection— the fruits of its four-year-old annual science filmmaking competition— and 400 downloadable lessons for Grades 1 to 8 from the DOST Courseware, a Filipino-made multimedia software in science and mathematics.

As STEM education partners, 285 teachers continue to avail themselves of the online training under the Science Teacher Academy for the Regions (Project STAR) with 13 video topics currently available online through the Project STAR YouTube channel and the DOST-SEI web site.

New normal approaches to promote STEM education, careers

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, DOST brought “mobile interactive learning facilities” to various underequipped schools all over the country.

They are buses called “Science Explorer” for elementary pupils, which first rolled out in 2010, and the “nuLab” for high-school students.

Now the Science Explorer’s laboratory, or nuLab’s STEM-in-motion

buses, can reach more schools as they have been transformed into engaging narratives in the forms of science radio episodes and STEM video modules.

“Both RadyoEskwela sa Siyensya and TuklaSiyensya sa Eskwela are products of the new normal,” which work began in April and June, respectively, when the country was under the enhanced community quarantine status owing to the pandemic, Cristobal said.

“Combining the expertise of those involved in the sciences and the arts, we converted our science modules for elementary and high school into modules that can be disseminated without in-person contact,” she said.

Cristobal said that even while the schools are physically closed, they continue to bring these services to the students to encourage them to take up courses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Nationwide reach over radio broadcast

RadyoEskwela sa Siyensya consists of 20 dramatized science lessons that make use of the extensive reach of radio to enhance the interest of young children in STEM. Its first episode for Grades 3 and 4 pupils, titled “Mikrobyo” on the topic “microorganisms,” had its initial airing on October 4 could not have been more aptly timed.

The 30-minute science episodes can be heard for the next 19 Sundays at 4 p.m. over the nationally broadcast D zRH’s “Radyo Henyo” and livestreamed on DZRH Manila’s Facebook page.

The award-winning science and technology program, which is also simulcast through cable television, is anchored by former Agham Party-list Representative Angelo Palmones and Cristobal herself.

The episodes will also be broadcast in more than 120 FM stations across the country by the community radio network Radyo Natin of the Manila Broadcasting Co. Both learners and teachers will follow the story of pupils Kaikai and Bart, teacher Melai and mommy Elsa up until the lessons for Grade 6 pupils are discussed.

The topics include stars and constellation, food safety, carbon footprint, insects, water, basic genetics, soap, matter, acids and bases, levels of the ocean, marine biodiversity, energy, measurements, plants, buoyancy, thunderstorms, sound, gravity, and the science of smell.

Once the episodes are aired, the DOST will give copies to its regional offices and the DepEd for use in their respective social-media channels and online accounts.

The DOST-SEI is open to the noncommercial airing of the story-based science lessons by media networks.

As instructional materials for

The DOST-SEI tapped the expertise of scientists and creative experts, such as film director Jeffrey Hidalgo (left), to produce 15 STEM video modules of “TuklaSiyensya sa Eskwela” for high-school students. The video modules will be streamed in DOST social media accounts and YouTube channels every week starting on October 26. DOST-SEI

teachers, these radio episodes can “reinforce or jumpstart lessons” in STEM classes.

Engaging STEM videos

Temporarily taking the place of the nuLab bus is the TuklaSiyensya sa Eskwela, which consists of 15 STEM video modules for high-school students to be streamed in DOST social media accounts and YouTube channels every week starting on October 26.

The 20-minute video modules employing a “multidisciplinary approach” were developed by experts and scientists from the academe with topics that are not commonly taught in schools, according to Cristobal.

Like the RadyoEskwela sa Siyensya, the TuklaSiyensya sa Eskwela modules can be used by both public and private schools, the DepEd, the DOST regional offices, and media networks for noncommercial screening.

“The DOST-SEI tapped the expertise of scientists from the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB) and Diliman campuses, Ateneo de Davao University, and the Balik Scientist program as well as the creativity of [veteran science journalist] TJ Dimacali and film director Jeffrey Hidalgo to make these video modules,” Cristobal said.

Distinguished scientists and scholars will be shown on camera as facilitators to discuss such topics as the “mathematics of the pandemic,” which will be tackled in the episode on biomathematics by Dr. Jomar F. Rabajante of the UPLB biomathematics research team and one of the country’s known modeler-experts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Other TuklaSiyensya facilitators are Dr. Rogel Mari D. Sese of Ateneo de Davao University and the project’s lead resource person; Dr. Aimee Lyn A. Barrion-Dupo of UPLB; DOST scholar and researcher Jose Mari C. Lit of UPLB; Balik Scientist Dr. Vallerie Ann I. Samson of DOST-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute; Dr. Aletta T. Yñiguez of UP Marine Science Institute; science researcher Pamela Louise M. Tolentino of UP National Institute of Geological Sciences; and science researcher Miko Lorenzo J. Belgado of UPLB. The module topics include stoichiometry (chemistry for junior and senior high-school students about the measure of elements in a chemical reaction), climate change, aerospace engineering, geology, environmental science, marine science, physics, biodiversity, entomology, mathematics (logic, common errors in algebra), and hydrologic cycle.

Through online platforms, the video modules can be seen constantly by formal and informal learners.

Winning ‘Citizens’ Science’ films

What’s more, the Indie-Siyensya Film Collection will make available 24 winning science films that can be used by the DepEd for both the public and private schools for their STEM lessons.

The 10-minute films made by scientists in tandem with filmmakers and high-school students were from the four-year run of the Indie-Siyensya Science Filmmaking Competition

conducted annually by the DOST-SEI. Indie-Siyensya is among the DOST-SEI’s main platforms to promote a culture of science in the country, as well as its response to the growing field of science communication, particularly in using film as a medium of information dissemination and behavior change.

Digitized lessons in science, mathematics

Aligned with the K-12 curricula, the DOST-SEI has also made available supplemental resources suited to e-learning and blended teaching and learning as packaged under the DOST-SEI Courseware, a locally produced multimedia software in science and mathematics.

The DOST-SEI Courseware was made with the help of the DOSTAdvanced Science and Technology Institute, the DepEd, Philippine Normal University and the UP-National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education.

The digitized interactive lessons made by science and mathematics teachers themselves can be downloaded and run through Microsoft Windows, Android and Apple IOS platforms for free by both learners and teachers besides accessing them through the DOST-SEI web site and Starbooks.

The “self-learning modules” can also be downloaded and viewed using Android and IOS mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets.

The lessons have also been made available to the DepEd Commons as well as to Smart Communications’ “School-in-a-Bag” program, a digital learning platform given to students of 13 schools in remote areas across the country.

The DOST-SEI Courseware consists of three groups of interactive science and mathematics lessons: 102 lessons for Grades 1 to 6 (first edition); 60 lessons for Grades 1 to 6 (second edition); and 120 lessons for Grade 7; and 118 lessons for Grade 8.

“These resources have different approaches, concepts, reviews and evaluations that can be used as standalone or complementary to lessons about basic concepts in science and mathematics from Grades 1 to 8,” Cristobal said.

The DOST-SEI plans to produce Courseware modules for Grades 9 and 10, and Grades 11 and 12 by the end of 2020.

Online STEM training for teachers

The innovative STEM training, professional development and recognition program Project STAR took the online platform starting in April in response to the threat of the pandemic.

“We have covered 13 topics during the STAR webinars attended by 285 participants,” Cristobal said.

DOST-SEI plans to conduct more webinars during the quarantine period when face-to-face training is still not be possible.

Teachers can avail themselves of the free bimonthly trainings conducted by resource persons from partneruniversities by registering through the STAR Facebook page.

Faith A6 Sunday, October 11, 2020

Sunday

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion •www.businessmirror.com.ph

‘Fratelli tutti’: Pope calls for unity V

ATICAN—Pope Francis presented his vision for overcoming the world’s growing divisions, laid bare by the coronavirus crisis, in his new encyclical Fratelli tutti ( ).

In the letter, released on October 4, the pope urged people of good will to promote fraternity through dialogue, renewing society by putting love for others ahead of personal interests.

Throughout the encyclical, the pope emphasized the primacy of love, in both social and political contexts.

The words Fratelli tutti, the text’s opening phrase, are taken from the writings of St. Francis of Assisi, to whom the pope paid tribute at the beginning of the encyclical, describing him as the “saint of fraternal love.”

The pope said he was struck that, when St. Francis met with the Egyptian Sultan Al-Kamil in 1219, he “urged that all forms of hostility or conflict be avoided and that a humble and fraternal ‘subjection’ be shown to those who did not share his faith.”

“Francis did not wage a war of words aimed at imposing doctrines; he simply spread the love of God … In this way, he became a father to all and inspired the vision of a fraternal society,” the pope wrote.

Pope Francis explained that his new encyclical brought together many of his previous reflections on human fraternity and social friendship, and also expanded on themes contained in the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” which he signed with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi in 2019.

“The following pages do not claim to offer a complete teaching on fraternal love, but rather to consider its universal scope, its openness to every man and woman,” he wrote. “I offer this social encyclical as a modest contribution to continued reflection, in the hope that in the face of present-day attempts to eliminate or ignore others, we may prove capable of responding with a new vision of fraternity and social friendship that will not remain at the level of words.”

The pope signed the encyclical in Assisi on October 3. He is thought to be the first pope to sign an encyclical outside of Rome for more than 200 years, since Pius VII issued the text Il trionfo in the Italian city of Cesena in 1814.

Pope Francis noted that, while he was writing the letter, “the Covid-19 pandemic unexpectedly erupted, exposing our false securities.”

“Aside from the different ways that various countries responded to the crisis, their inability to work together became quite evident,” he said. “For all our hyperconnectivity, we witnessed a fragmentation that made it more difficult to resolve problems that affect us all.”

Challenges amid Covid-19 The pope divided his third encyclical, after the 2013 Lumen fidei and 2015 Laudato si’, into eight chapters.

In the opening chapter, he laid out the challenges facing humanity amid the coronavirus crisis, which has killed more than a million people worldwide.

He cited wars, the “throwaway culture” that includes abortion and euthanasia, neglect of the elderly, discrimination against women, and slavery, among other threats.

He also offered a critique of contemporary political debate, as well as online communication, which he said was often marred by “verbal violence.”

“In today’s world, the sense of belonging to a single human family is fading, and the dream of working together for justice and peace seems an outdated utopia,” he wrote. “What reigns instead is a cool, comfortable and globalized indifference, born of deep disillusionment concealed behind a deceptive illusion: thinking that we are all-powerful, while failing to realize that we are all in the same boat.”

Parable of the Good Samaritan In the second chapter, Pope Francis

Pope Francis went to Assisi in Italy for the fourth time during his pontificate. There he signed his new Encyclical , before the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi after celebrating Holy Mass.

Vatican Media

reflected on the Parable of the Good Samaritan, presenting the Samaritan who helped a traveler who had been left for dead as a model of human fraternity, in contrast to others who simply passed by.

“We need to acknowledge that we are constantly tempted to ignore others, especially the weak,” he said. “Let us admit that, for all the progress we have made, we are still ‘illiterate’ when it comes to accompanying, caring for and supporting the most frail and vulnerable members of our developed societies.”

He noted that devout men failed to help the traveler, saying: “Paradoxically, those who claim to be unbelievers can sometimes put God’s will into practice better than believers.”

He urged readers to follow the teaching of Jesus by not setting limits on who they regard as their neighbors.

He added that he sometimes wondered why “it took so long for the Church unequivocally to condemn slavery and various forms of violence.”

Love in the face of poverty, inequality In chapter three, the pope stressed the importance of a fundamental attitude of love in the face of poverty and inequality.

He said that “the spiritual stature of a person’s life is measured by love,” but “some believers think that it consists in the imposition of their own ideologies upon everyone else, or in a violent defense of the truth, or in impressive demonstrations of strength.”

He continued: “All of us, as believers, need to recognize that love takes first place: love must never be put at risk, and

the greatest danger lies in failing to love.”

The pope underlined that racism remained a threat, comparing it to a virus that “quickly mutates and, instead of disappearing, goes into hiding, and lurks in waiting.”

He also said that “hidden exiles,” such as people with disabilities, should be encouraged to participate fully in society.

He argued that individualism “does not make us more free, more equal, more fraternal.” What is needed, he said, is a “universal love” that promotes the dignity of every human being.

This love should be applied also to migrants, the pope wrote.

Migration In the fourth chapter, devoted to the theme of migration, the pope appealed to countries to “welcome, protect, promote and integrate” newcomers.

He urged governments to take a series of “indispensable steps” to help refugees.

These included “increasing and simplifying the granting of visas,” as well as “freedom of movement and the possibility of employment,” and “supporting the reuniting of families.”

But even these steps would prove insufficient, he said, if the international community failed to develop “a form of global governance with regard to movements of migration.”

Adopt policies on common good In the fifth chapter, the pope called for states to adopt policies that promoted the common good, critiquing both an “unhealthy” populism and an excessively individualistic liberalism.

He said that populism could conceal a lack of concern for the vulnerable, while liberalism could be used to serve the economic interests of the powerful.

He also criticized the conviction that the market can resolve every problem, calling it the “dogma of neoliberal faith.”

The pope lamented that the world had failed to seize the opportunity presented by the financial crisis of 2007-2008 to develop new ethical principles governing the economy.

What followed instead was “greater individualism, less integration and increased freedom for the truly powerful, who always find a way to escape unscathed.”

He urged reform both of the international financial system and multilateral institutions, such the United Nations, saying it was vital for countries “to establish shared goals and to ensure the worldwide observance of certain essential norms.”

Setting out his proposal for renewal, Pope Francis said that leaders should focus on the long-term common good, imbuing their work with what he called “political love.”

He also highlighted the “urgent need to combat all that threatens or violates fundamental human rights,” especially hunger and human trafficking, which he called a “source of shame for humanity.”

Engage in authentic dialogue In the sixth chapter, the pope encouraged people to engage in authentic dialogue, which he said was not the same as arguments on social media, which were often “parallel monologues.”

He suggested that, in a pluralistic society, dialogue is the means by which society identifies those truths that must always be affirmed and respected.

He quoted a line from the song “Samba da bênção,” by Brazilian artist Vinícius de Moraes: “Life, for all its confrontations, is the art of encounter.”

It is also necessary to form a “covenant” between all members of society, rich and poor, which obliges everyone to give up some things for the common good.

Above all, he said, we need to rediscover kindness.

Conditions for peace and reconciliation In chapter seven, he discussed the conditions for peace and reconciliation, deploring the injustices of war

and calling for an end to the use of the death penalty worldwide.

He noted that the Catechism of the Catholic Church recognizes the possibility of legitimate defense by military force.

But he said this was often interpreted too broadly, arguing that “it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a ‘just war.’”

An accompanying footnote said: “St. Augustine, who forged a concept of ‘just war’ that we no longer uphold in our own day, also said that ‘it is a higher glory still to stay war itself with a word, than to slay men with the sword, and to procure or maintain peace by peace, not by war.’”

The pope appealed to governments to give money allocated to weapons to “a global fund that can finally put an end to hunger and favor development in the most impoverished countries.”

He also emphasized that the death penalty today is “inadmissible,” recalling his 2018 change to the Catechism’s teaching on the topic.

Role of religious communities In the eighth and final chapter, he highlighted the role of religious communities in building a more fraternal world, by rejecting violence and engaging in dialogue, as outlined in the “Document on Human Fraternity.”

In the encyclical’s conclusion, Pope Francis said that the text was inspired not only by St. Francis, but also by nonCatholics, such as Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu and Mahatma Gandhi, as well as the French Catholic missionary Blessed Charles de Foucauld, who the pope is expected to canonize.

Francis ended the letter with both an ecumenical prayer and a “Prayer to the Creator,” which read: “Lord, Father of our human family, you created all human beings equal in dignity: pour forth into our hearts a fraternal spirit and inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter, dialogue, justice and peace.”

“Move us to create healthier societies and a more dignified world, a world without hunger, poverty, violence and war.”

“May our hearts be open to all the peoples and nations of the Earth. May we recognize the goodness and beauty that you have sown in each of us, and, thus, forge bonds of unity, common projects, and shared dreams. Amen.”

Catholic News Agency/CBCP News

Beatified teener Carlo Acutis’s tomb open for veneration R

OME—The tomb of Venerable Carlo Acutis was opened for public veneration since October 1, ahead of the computerprogrammer teenager’s beatification on October 10.

The computer genius was beatified in Assisi town in the province of Perugia in Italy after a Brazilian boy was cured from a rare disease due to his intercession.

A spokesman for Acutis’s beatification told Catholic News Agenc y (CNA) that the entire body was present, but “not incorrupt.”

“Today we...see him again in his mortal body. A body that has passed, in the years of burial in Assisi, through the normal process of decay, which is the legacy of the human condition after sin has removed it from God, the source of life. But this mortal body is destined for resurrection,” Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi said at a Mass at the opening of the tomb October 1.

The bishop explained that Acutis’s body was “reassembled with art and love.”

Boy of Internet age, model of holiness

Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15, was known for his computerprogramming skills, and love of the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary.

The heart of Acutis, which can now be considered a relic, will be displayed in a reliquary in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi.

His mother said that his family had wanted to donate his organs when he died, but were unable to do so because of the leukemia.

“Carlo is a boy of our time. A boy of the Internet age, and a model of holiness of the digital age, as Pope Francis presented him in his letter to young people around the world,” Sorrentino said.

He added: “The computer...has become a way of going through the streets of the world, like the first disciples of Jesus, to bring to hearts and homes the announcement of true peace, that which quenches the thirst for the infinite that inhabits the human heart.”

In the year before he died, the Italian teen researched Eucharistic miracles to create a web site cataloging and sharing this information with others.

17-day celebration

Face reconstructed

The rector for the Sanctuary of Spoliation in Assisi, where Acutis’s tomb is located, told EWTN that reconstruction work on Acutis’s face was necessar y before the public viewing of the tomb.

Acutis had brain hemorrhaging at the time of his death, and he offered his suffering for the pope and the Church.

“His body was discovered to be fully integral, not intact, but integral, having all its organs. Work was done on his face,” Fr. Carlos Acácio Gonçalves Ferreira said.

“In some way, his earthly face will be seen again. But that face—let us not forget—by now does not point to itself, but to God,” Bishop Sorrentino said.

Acutis’s tomb is open for public veneration from October 1 to 17 in Assisi to allow as many

Carlo Acutis’s tomb is open for public veneration in Assisi, Italy, from October 1 to 17.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ASSISI DIOCESE/CNA

people as possible to make a prayerful visit in the weeks before and after his beatification on October 10, despite coronavirus measures limiting attendance.

Holiness is attainable for teenagers

In his interview with EWTN, Ferreira lauded Acutis as a witness that holiness is attainable for teenagers.

In the tomb, Acutis is dressed in the casual

clothes he wore in daily life. While he was not buried in this clothes, it is hoped that they will give evidence of the teen’s life.

“For the first time in history we will see a saint dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a sweater,” the rector said.

“This is a great message for us, we can feel holiness not as a distant thing b u t a s s o m e t h i n g ve r y m u c h w i t h i n ever yone’s reach because the Lord is the Lord of ever yone.”

As part of the 17-day celebration of Acutis’s beatification in Assisi, two churches are hosting exhibitions of the Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions he cataloged and attempted to spread by creating web sites.

These exhibitions, in the Cathedral of San Rufino and the Cloister of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels respectively, will run from October 2 to October 16.

The period of veneration is flanked by Masses in the sanctuary—a fitting way to honor Acutis, who was known for his deep love for the Eucharist, never missing daily Mass and Eucharistic adoration.

Churches throughout Assisi will also offer adoration of the Blessed Sacrament each day.

The celebration of his beatification also included several youth events, including a virtual gathering of Italian young people on October 2, titled “Blessed are you: A school of happiness.”

A youth prayer vigil was held on the night before the beatification. The vigil, called “My Highway to Heaven,” was led by Archbishop Renato Boccardo of Spoleto-Norcia and Auxiliary Bishop Paolo Martinelli of Milan.

It was held in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, which contains the small

church were St. Francis heard Christ speak to him from a crucifix: “Francis, go and rebuild my Church.”

Had in common with St. Francis

Acutis’s tomb is in Assisi’s Sanctuary of the Spoliation, where a young St. Francis of Assisi is said to have cast off his rich clothes in favor of a poor habit.

“Carlo Acutis, like St. Francis, had in common, in addition to love for Jesus and in particular for the Eucharist, a great love for the poor,” Sorrentino said as he announced on October 1 that a soup kitchen would be opened near the Sanctuary of the Spoliation in remembrance of Acutis.

Carlo’s mother, Antonia Salzano, said that she was very moved by the opening of her son’s tomb for public veneration.

“We are thrilled that finally Carlo’s tomb has been opened, especially because the faithful that Carlo has scattered around the world will be able to see him and to be able to venerate him in a stronger and more engaging way,” she said.

“We hope that through the exposition of Carlo’s body, the faithful can raise their prayers to God with more fervor and faith who through Carlo invites us all to have more faith, hope, and love for Him, and for our brothers just as Carlo did in his earthly life. We pray that Carlo will intercede for all of us with God and obtain many graces for us,” Salzano added.

Catholic News Agency via CBCP News

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Sunday, October 11, 2020

A7

Wildlife rescue centers

Giving hope, chance for wildlife survival

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

B

irds of prey that lost their ability to hunt, native monkeys that have become overly dependent on food handouts for many years as pets to “animal lovers,” water monitor lizards, turtles and many others.

These are just some of the animal wildlife sheltered in different Wildlife Rescue Centers (WRCs) in the Philippines, either they are used as evidence in a court case involving illegal wildlife trade or undergoing treatment for injury or health-related problems and undergoing rehabilitation before finally being released back into the wild.

Animal cruelty

Rogelio Demelletes, senior ecosystems specialist at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), said many animals rescued by the DENR have underwent “torture” one way or the other.

Inter v iewed v ia telephone on October 5, Demelletes, a w ildlife law enforcer, said even upon rescue the animals may succumb to stress.

“One time, we were able to rescue native birds in Lucena and we had to travel all the way back to Quezon City.

Some of the birds died,” he said.

Wild animals being smuggled in and out of territories are tied with a rope or taped and stuck in a small container so that they won’t be detected by authorities in checkpoints, seaports or airports. Some were suffering and were barely alive because of injuries.

Upon rescue, these animals have to go somewhere—a facilit y for treatment, rehabilitation and, finally, preparation for their release back to the wild.

QC’s Wildlife Rescue Center

One such facility is the WRC of the DENR at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center (NAPWC) in Quezon City.

Being run and managed by BMB, the DENR’s main WRC serves as temporary shelter and rehabilitation facility for confiscated, donated and/or abandoned indigenous and exotic wildlife.

It currently houses 1,055 various native and exotic animals that were turned over to the DENR. Among those housed in the WRC are long-tailed macaques, reticulated python, brahminy kite, red eared sliders and Burmese pythons.

Other DENR animal shelters

Glenn Maguad, OIC at the Wildlife

Rescue Center of DENR-BMB, said, fortunately, the facility in Quezon City is not alone as there are now other WRCs in other parts of the country.

They are either managed by the DENR through its field offices in different regions, provinces, cities and municipalities or by local government units or accredited private institutions and partners of the DENR The DENR record shows there are WRCs one each in Regions 3, 4A, 11, and 13; three in Region 4B; five in Region 7; four each in Regions 8 and 9; and two in Region 10.

The WRC in Quezon City is augmented by 37 private facilities that also act as DENR-designated WRCs, whose permit to operate range from a zoological park and botanical garden, mini zoo, to a full-pledge WRC.

Critically endangered Philippine red-vented cockatoo

White sea eagle

USAID-funded project with the DENR, could facilitate the reporting by the public to the authorities.

“We really have to actively participate since zoonotic diseases due to illegal wildlife trade can affect all of us as we have experienced with Covid-19,” he said. Covid-19 is a pandemic that started in China in December 2019. It has infected more 36 million people worldwide, and about 330,000 in the Philippines.

Prevention better than cure

Blind Philippine Eagle “Girlie” Philippine longtailed macaque

‘Halfway house’

While some of the animals were voluntarily turned over or were captured because of injuries, many of the animals sheltered in WRCs are undocumented wildlife and were confiscated by authorities from illegal traders.

Some are not as lucky, as they ended up being slaughtered for meat and other byproducts with zero chance of being rescued in animal cages and finally landing in WRCs, the halfway house for rescued animals.

DENR Assistant Secretar y R icardo Calderon said Wildlife Rescue Centers are not supposed to ser ve as permanent homes to rescued animals.

“They are supposed to be temporary homes. They are designed to be halfway centers, where rescued animals are temporarily kept while being treated of injuries and rehabilitated before they are released back into the wild,” Calderon told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview on October 2.

Calderon, concurrent director of the DENR-BMB, said rescued wildlife, including those confiscated from illegal pet traders, are given a second chance during rehabilitation.

In Wildlife Rescue Centers, they are taught to be wild again, if possible, they are taught to hunt to be able to survive once released back into the wild, he said.

Calderon said the revolving fund from the Integrated Protected Areas Fund, or fees generated in the operation of a protected area or national park, boosts the operation of these WRCs such as the the NAPWC.

Monkey problems

Caring for monkeys is more complicated than other animals in WRCs

These are among the rescued animals at the DENR-BMB Wildlife Rescue Center in Quezon City. Photos by Gaudencio de la Cruz/DENR-SCIS which is also a problem because there were instances when monkeys were released back to the wild, Calderon said.

At the WRC in Quezon City, “monkeys are housed individually because almost all are imprinted and have stereotypic behaviors,” Maguad said.

Most of the long-tailed macaques in the center were turned over to the DENR because they are no longer wanted as pets, or because of their violent and aggressive behavior once they become mature.

Maguad said unlike other animals, while many monkeys are in good physical condition and are supposed to be fit for release, the DENR-BMB ra rely relea se t hem back into the w ild “ because of high imprinting and prolonged exposure to humans.”

Once they become dependent to food handouts, monkeys lose their survival instincts.

“When released, they raid houses of humans in the nearby area to forage for food,” he said.

Biting incident

Last year, Calderon said he received a report of monkey-biting incident from the National Power Corp. involving one of its security guards assigned

at the Angat Watershed. The incident occurred a day after the monkey’s release in the area.

“When the DENR went to retrieve the monkey, it was nowhere to be found,” Calderon said.

“This happens when the monkey, which has been domesticated, becomes hungry and starts to raid houses in search of food,” he said.

The monkey, which was turned over to the DENR by a resort owner in Bulacan, was recaptured by residents and was turned over to the DENR later that week.

Release protocols

The DENR, Calderon said, observes strict release protocol for rescued animals.

Part of the protocol is to ensure that the rescued animal is healthy and fit for release or is no longer suffering from injuries. The area where they will be released are also properly assessed as the animal’s natural habitat.

More importantly, the DENR official said the local government units and communities of the release site are properly informed of the planned release and are educated about the animals to boost their protection and conservation.

He said only when the conditions for release are met w ill the DENR, including the social preparation part wherein the people are informed and asked to support the protection and conser vation of the released w ildlife in the area, w ill the rescued animals be released to their natural habitat.

“Once the animals are acclimatized or ready for release, we release them immediately,” he said

Wildlife reporting, rescue

Emerson T. Sy, researcher at Traffic, a wildlife trafficking watchdog, said besides strengthening law enforcement to prevent illegal wildlife trade, there is a need to strengthen information, education and communication about wildlife reporting and rescue.

“We need more public participation in wildlife reporting and rescue. We’ve seen success stories in Philippine Eagle and Philippine Pangolin,” Sy said.

He added that there are instances wherein pangolins retrieved in Metro Manila were reported by the public to the authorities. Likewise, public participation is critical to the rescue of several PHL eagles, citing one case last week in Bukidnon.

According to Sy, WildAlert, the

According to Sy, there is a need to be more proactive by going for prevention rather than cure when it comes to wildlife crime.

“We have to change our mindset from being reactive to proactive,” he said, which include engaging the public and educating the people of the long-term benefit of protecting and conserving the country’s rare and unique wildlife species, rather than engaging in illegal wildlife trade.

“Illegal wildlife trade is a shortterm gain for a very few individuals and takes away the opportunity for a local community to develop. Wildlife animals, in their natural habitat, will be more beneficial to a local community and could be a viable long-term income generating attraction,” he said.

A living testament

While in very rare cases rescued animals with very little chance to survive are put to sleep, even the injured ones are kept alive to serve a higher purpose—to be part of the campaign to educate the public about the importance of protecting the environment and the country’s rich biodiversity.

Calderon said in the DENR’s WRC in Quezon City, “Girlie,” a Philippine eagle with a blind eye is the poster girl of wildlife rescue in the Philippines.

The female Philippine eagle who is now about 40 years old is one of the attractions in the WRC and part of a tour for young children visiting the park.

Girlie has been in the care of the DENR’s WRC at the NAPWC since 2008. “ She is old , a nd h a s one bl i nd e ye a nd def i n ite ly, no longer f it for release but we decided to keep her a s pa r t of IEC prog ra m,” C a lderon sa id.

While the WRCs are a testimony to the successful effort of wildlife law enforcers in fighting illega l wildlife trade and animal cruelty, the anima ls sheltered there are now living testaments that there’s always hope and chance for survival in wildlife rescue.

Airbus to abandon gasoline, switch to hydrogen in 15 yrs

By Recto Mercene

G

l o b a l w a r m i n g ’s a p o c a l y p t i c manifestations are here for the world to see: frequent, stronger and deadly typhoons, Pacific islands vanishing under the onslaught of rising sea levels, infernal forest fires from the Amazon and Brazil to the Russian tundra all the way to California.

In 2019 worldwide, 15 extreme weather event, exacerbated by climate change, caused more than $1 billion in damage each. Four of these events each caused more than $10 billion in damage. The large-scale use of fossil fuels tops the list of factors contributing to climate change, Brookings said.

With the view of reducing greenhouse gases and other human-caused emissions, 195 countries forged the Paris Agreement, a landmark environmental accord adopted in 2015, to lower global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius in this century above preindustrial levels, while pursuing means to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The pact provides a pathway for advanced economies to develop alternative energy sources away from fossil fuels.

The state of California and dozen other countries around the world already have similar laws imposing a ban on gasoline-powered vehicles by 2030, including China, England, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Israel and India.

Canada and France have announced a phaseout of internal-combustion engines by 2040.

Fuel cell vehicles

Fuel cell vehicles, as alternative to batteries, use hydrogen gas to power an electric motor. Unlike conventional vehicles, which run on gasoline or diesel, fuel cell cars and trucks combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity,

which runs a motor with nothing more by way of byproduct as water.

Even boats and ships are preparing to convert from diesel power engines to hydrogen.

In September, Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates was reported to have pledged more than $600 million for a hydrogen-powered superyacht that was unveiled at the recent Monaco Yacht Show.

Increase in airlines’ emissions

As their share to reduce the airline’s carbon footprints, Airbus—the company that gave birth to the supersonic Concorde and the Airbus 380, the largest commercial carrier in the world—has proposed using hydrogen fuel in commercial aircraft to replace gasoline and other jet fuels by 2035.

Worldwide emissions from commercial flights are rising up to 70-percent faster than predicted by the United Nations, according to The Guardian.

“Carbon dioxide emitted by airlines increased by 32 percent from 2013 to 2018,” according to the study by the International Council on Clean Transportation.

Researchers said the rate of growth far exceeded that used to develop projections for carbon-dioxide emission by the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Airlines in the 36-member countries of the ICAO have signed up to a carbon reduction scheme known as Corsia and will start according to their emissions this year, The Guardian added.

A forecast by Airbus in mid-September this year said the number of commercial aircraft in operation would double to 48,000 planes worldwide by 2038, fuelled by an emerging middle class and urbanization, particularly in Asia-Pacific.

Airbus to switch to hydrogen fuel

The global aviation industry has committed to

The turbofan design would be capable of travelling transcontinentally, covering distances of more than 2,000 nautical miles. Airbus cutting emissions to half their 2005 levels by 2050.

In order to do this, the sector will need to rapidly reduce its reliance on crude oil-based jet fuel and turn increasingly to sustainable aviation fuels.

The move by Airbus to switch to hydrogen fuel could mark a significant step toward making sustainable aviation fuels commercially viable.

The company estimates that hydrogen has the potential to reduce aviation’s carbon emissions by up to 50 percent.

Hydrogen fuel cells are cleaner and more efficient than traditional combustion-based engines and power plants.

Hydrogen and fuel cells can also be used in mobile applications to power vehicles and mobile power packs. The benefit of fuel cells is reduced greenhouse-gas emissions.

The European rival to Boeing said it will carry out its plan with the unveiling of the three ZEROe concepts. This are the turbofan, a turboprop and blended-wing body design.

Anand Stanley, Airbus president in Asia Pacific, presented the three ZEROe concepts during a virtual news conference last week.

Airbus ZEROe designs

The turbofan design would carry 120 to 200 passengers with a range of over 2,000 nautical miles. It will be powered by a modified gas-turbine engine running on hydrogen, rather than jet fuel.

The turboprop design would carry up to 100 passengers and would be capable of traveling more than 1,000 nautical miles, making it suitable for short-haul trips.

A blended-wing body design would carry up to 200 passengers. The wings would merge with the main body of the aircraft, which has a range similar to that of the turbofan.

Climate and pandemic crises

Airlines and airplane manufacturers are currently facing growing pressures to tackle carbon

emissions, with some governments tying climate crisis goals to coronavirus bailout packages.

The pandemic has plunged aviation into its worst-ever slump and is expected to accelerate the shift toward renewable forms of energy, as governments use the opportunity to promote a green recovery.

But Stanley said there are some problems to hurdle before the aviation industry could go full throttle on hydrogen fuel.

He said the government and the private sector must get together and put up the infrastructure of production, delivery and distribution, the way fossil fuels today are managed.

He said the government must also pave the way for hydrogen fuel’s adoption by crafting the regulatory mechanisms.

“If we succeed, we can create a pathway toward the Paris Agreement, and create a major decarbonized aircraft and help the aircraft industry fulfill its ambitions.”

Apt timing

Acco r d ing to Stanley, Airbus always stays true to its vision of a decarbonized zero emission ambition.

“This idea has been going on for 20 years.

It’s not a new concept to us. We’ve been working multiple demonstrations of open-air mobility, vertical take-off and landing, etc., and other technological pathway towards zero emission,” he said.

He pointed out that prior to Covid-19 Airbus had wanted to have zero carbon emission aircraft by mid-2030s but he believes the timeframe is short.

“But we at Airbus believes to continue and progress with the concept of hydrogen fuel and come up with various demonstrations in matter of months, not years,” he said.

Despite the pandemic, the Airbus CEO said airline’s time line of 15 years, or by 2035, “is ripe to increase the appetite and accelerate for decarbonization and for a climate-neutral aviation industry.”

He added: “The confluence of Covid and demand for decarbonization is very apt timing.”

As clear signs that gasoline and related products are on the retreat, Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum (BP) have announced recently on separate occasions that they are slashing jobs “to accelerate a shift away from fossil fuels.”

The Anglo-Dutch company said on September 30 that it would cut between 7,000 and 9,000 positions by the end of 2022, while BP said it would cut 10,000 jobs, or 15 percent of its work force.

Hydrogen production

As for hydrogen production, a Japanese consortium has launched the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field, a renewable-energy powered 10 MW-class hydrogen production unit, known as “the largest-class in the world.”

The company said hydrogen is produced and stored based on the hydrogen demand and supply forecasting systems in the market.

On the other hand, the German government has adopted its national hydrogen strategy on June 10 with plans to ramp up production capacity to 5 GW by 2030 and 10 GW by 2040.

German Economic Minister Peter Altmaier said Germany’s hydrogen strategy is “the greatest innovation since the EEG,” a reference to the landmark German renewable energy sources act which came into force in 2000.

“With this ‘quantum leap,’ Germany wants to become the world’s leader in hydrogen technologies,” Altmaier said.

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 Sunday, October 11, 2020

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph / Editor: Jun Lomibao

WELCOME BACK, PBA!

By Josef Ramos

T

TIM CONE’S Gin Kings and Yeng Guiao’s Road Warriors mix it up on opening night.

HE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) restarts its 45th season on Sunday with its one and only conference in this Covid-19 pandemic-struck year in a unique setting at the Clark bubble in Pampanga.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel battles NLEX in the 6:45 p.m. main game of the double-header with the Gin Kings playing minus

Pandemic makes football officials’ job even tougher

T

HE TCU-Texas game needed three tries at the opening kickoff to get it right and the officials’ misadventures continued right up to the final play.

Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops was so incensed about the officiating in an overtime loss to Mississippi that he chased the crew as it left the field.

What appeared to be a missed defensive holding call on Iowa State’s game-turning interception late in the Cyclones’ upset of Oklahoma left Sooners fans screaming at their TVs. “You can tell the season is real now because people are starting to talk about officiating,” national coordinator of officials Steve Shaw said. “That’s certainly not new, whether there’s

a pandemic or not.”

Sloppy play has been common during the first few weeks of the season, much of it attributed to the lack of spring practice and disrupted preseason work. It also meant officials couldn’t visit campuses and hone their craft in live scrimmages, though Shaw said training videos and presentations were well received and helped offset some of the lost opportunities.

Chemistry among the officials also has been an issue. Conference supervisors, to mitigate a risk point for possible coronavirus infections, have tried to assign officials to games within driving distance in an effort to reduce air travel.

The scheduling strategy has meant eightperson crews that generally stay intact an entire season, and often longer, have been broken up.

Instead, officials work a game and then go their separate ways to work with another group the next week.

Instead of building camaraderie eating meals together and meeting in a hotel conference room to review mechanics, rules and video, officials are traveling alone and using videoconferencing to prepare for the next day’s game.

John McDaid, a longtime referee before being named SEC coordinator of officials this year, said sacrificing continuity can have a negative effect.

He also noted not all positions are interchangeable among football officials as they are in other sports.

“We’re all eight links and we all need to work together to be the strongest chain we can be,” McDaid said. ”For familiarity with each other, not just from a personal level but also in a professional level,

their multitude of rabid fans at the Angeles University Foundation.

Besides the entire PBA entourage confined at the bubble for more than two months, the crowd are banned from the playing venue for the entire duration of the tournament that ends a few days before Christmas.

Alaska and TNT Tropang Giga raise the curtain to the stunted season that went into a seven-month lull at 4 p.m.

Ginebra Head Coach Tim Cone expressed relief as 6-foot-9 Japeth Aguilar and court general LA Tenorio showed up at the bubble before the weekend, missing the team’s two practices as they went through stringent health protocols required of everyone in the facility.

NLEX and Ginebra had a thrilling match

how you work the position is pretty important.

That’s why I believe staying together as a crew in football is a unique desire.”

In the Southeastern Conference, which has been playing for two weeks, McDaid was able to keep five of the seven crews for the September 26 games mostly intact last week but an Associated Press review of Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference game reports

to remember in Dubai in October 5 last year when the Road Warriors pulled off a 113-111 victory in overtime. But NLEX Coach Yeng Guiao has already forgotten that classic game especially in these trying times.

“There are a lot of unknowns and a lot of things to be studied. The team that will have an advantage here is the one that can adjust and adapt easily in this kind of condition,” Guiao said. “This is a unique situation so flexibility, adaptability and resiliency are the keys here.”

Alaska Coach Jeffrey Cariaso, meanwhile, picked TNT as one of the strongest teams in the bubble after the KaTropa beefed up during the lull with the acquisition of JP Erram, Simon Enciso, Almond Vosotros, Lervin Flores and rookies showed a significant amount of shuffling of officials from week to week.

Dennis Hennigan, the ACC coordinator of officials, said keeping crews together is ideal, but many of the officials know each other from previous seasons.

“I have not observed any drop-off in their performance due to the pandemic,” Hennigan said. AP

Kib Montalbo and Rodel de Leon.

“TNT is star-studded. They were obviously busy in the off season acquiring important pieces,” Cariaso told BusinessMirror through a text message on Friday, adding he is expecting the Aces’s defense need to be at high level against TNT. “Our defense will be challenged but I am confident also that we have the pieces to play at a high level,” he said.

Alaska will be missing retired center Sonny Thoss as well as Maverick Ahanmisi, who is flying in from the US on October 17 or 18, thus missing two of the Aces’ games.

Bobby Ray Parks Jr., veteran William Jayson Castro and Jeth Troy Rosario are expected to step up for the Tropang Giga under Coach Ferdinand Ravena.

Jumping rope reintroduced to public elementary school kids

M

KENTUCKY Head Coach Mark Stoops points at an official during the first half of ther game against Mississippi in Lexington, Kentuckty recently. AP

JUDO: ‘GENTLE WAY’ IT’S NOT?

T

OKYO—Japan is the home of judo, and the 19th-century martial art is sure to get more attention at home than any other sport at next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

But it’s also drawing unwanted scrutiny over widespread allegations of violence, and accompanying injuries, abuse, and more than 100 deaths in Japan over the last several decades attributed to judo and its militarylike training methods.

“I feel it is sad judo is being perceived as extremely dangerous, and Japan’s judo world must take this seriously,” Yasuhiro Yamashita, the head of the All Japan Judo Federation, told Associated Press in an interview at his office.

Yamashita is also an Olympic legend—an Olympic gold medalist, an International Olympic Committee member, and the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee. He acknowledged forthrightly that the problems are serious in Japan with some injuries happening through punishment in training.

The national judo hierarchy says it has been focused on a fix for several years, but more needs to be done.

“The problem is that the message has not reached everyone at the grassroots level yet,” Yamashita said.

Yamashita overcame a leg injury to win a gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, limping to the awards-ceremony podium. He preaches judo’s appeal comes from building one’s body and character.

“You share joy with your team, you respect your opponent, you learn self-control. You can learn so much, not just winning or losing,” said Yamashita, who became the head of the Japanese Olympic Committee last year after his predecessor resigned in a bribery scandal.

Judo, designed to use an opponent’s force to generate throws and pins, means the “gentle way” in Japanese.

But critics say the way it’s playing out in Japan has been anything but.

From 1983 to 2016, 121 deaths were reported in judo in Japan, according to the Japan Judo Accident Victims Association.

That number covers schools, but not extracurricular dojos—schools for martial

arts—for which there are no data.

The “tough-love” training has come at a high cost. In 2019, a fifth-grader died from a blood clot after hitting his head during sparring. In a separate case, also last year, a fourth-grader was severely injured after getting thrown, according to the victims’ association.

The popularity of judo in Japan also appears to be waning, compared with other sports such as baseball and soccer.

Michel Brousse, an expert on judo in France and elsewhere, believes the problems are so serious that there is “no future for judo” in Japan unless they get addressed soon.

“No other country in the world has so many injuries,” Brousse said in a telephone interview.

One problem is that judo teachers in Japan tend to be good at judo, but not at dealing with the physical and psychological needs of youngsters, said Brousse, a seventhdegree black belt who recently retired from teaching at Bordeaux University.

Sexual abuse is also a problem.

In 2011, Masato Uchishiba, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting one of his judo students. He pleaded innocent, saying the sex was consensual. He was convicted and sentenced in 2013 to five years in prison. AP

ILO Philippines and the Philippine Jump Rope Association (PJRA) turned over 600 jump ropes to the Department of Education (DepEd) as the new academic year kicked off amid the Covid-19 pandemic early last week.

In a ceremonial turnover that was livestreamed on the DepEd Facebook page, Milo Sports Manager Lester Castillo and PJRA President Noel Agra handed the first 200 jump ropes to Mandaluyong Elementary School (MES) represented by DepEd Undersecretary Tonisito Umali and MES Principal Elvie Canilao.

The turnover of the equipment is an expansion of Milo’s online sports program, the Milo Home Court, campaign that aims to empower parents to continue their kids’ champion journeys at home.

The tripartite partnership between Milo, PJRA and DepEd added another dimension to Milo Home Court’s thrust by providing Physical Education teachers with instructional knowledge on the fundamentals of jump rope, it being a viable and accessible sport for kids to get active even while indoors.

“Milo believes that active children are better learners. We recognize that health and fitness contribute to a child’s academic performance. This partnership with DepEd and the PJRA will equip our teachers with the tools and materials to help the nation’s youth espouse an active and healthy lifestyle,” Castillo said.

The first batch of jump ropes will go to Grade 6 students of MES. PJRA will provide PE faculty members the foundational training for teaching jump rope to students. Lessons on the sport will be integrated to the Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health (MAPEH) curriculum.

“The Department of Education welcomes the support of Milo and PJRA in empowering our teachers and students with the resources that will augment our blended learning program,” Umali said.

Video lessons and exercises from Milo and PJRA will be available on the DepEd Learning Commons, the online module repository for students and teachers, as well as on the Milo YouTube channel, along with other instructional videos from the Milo Sports Clinics Online.

JUDO teacher Tomoo Hamana watches his students practice skills at Hamana Dojo in Oiso town. AP

Shopping online during the pandemic? Here are 10 tips for avoiding scams

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BusinessMirror OTOBER 11, 2020 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

YOUR MUSI

FRUITFUL COLLABORATION ‘Prutas Pilipinas’ is first Filipino folk song about local fruits

I

F you love classics “Bahay Kubo” and “Da Coconut Nut”, then you are likely to enjoy a new song that has been recently creating buzz, called “Prutas Pilipinas.” Music by National Artist Ryan Cayabyab, lyrics by Noel Ferrer and performed by The Company, the song was created in collaboration with local juice brand, Locally, and aims to educate and celebrate one of the best things we as Filipinos can be proud of – our fruits.

RYAN Cayabyab

Publisher

: T. Anthony C. Cabangon

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: Lourdes M. Fernandez

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: Aldwin M. Tolosa

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: Jt Nisay

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: Edwin P. Sallan

Group Creative Director : Eduardo A. Davad Graphic Designers Contributing Writers

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: Niggel Figueroa Anabelle O. Flores : Tony M. Maghirang, Rick Olivares, Darwin Fernandez, Leony Garcia, Stephanie Joy Ching Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez : Kaye VillagomezLosorata Annie S. Alejo

Photographers

: Bernard P. Testa Nonie Reyes

Y2Z & SOUNDSTRIP are published and distributed free every Sunday by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing Inc. as a project of the

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In line with Locally’s mission of honoring our Filipino farmers and their crops, this collaboration with top Filipino music artists entitled “Prutas Pilipinas” is a contemporary Filipino folk song featuring rhymes and riddles about homegrown fruits, both known and unknown.

“We are extremely proud of this unique collaboration between icons. Ryan Cayabyab is a national artist, Noel Ferrer is a well-known and respected lyricist with a deep knowledge of Filipino culture, The Company, is an amazing group of talented Filipino singers, and Maribel Garcia is a passionate advocate of the arts being the head of BGC’s art program as well as Mind Museum,” says Gretchen King, Locally Category Manager. “Filipinos are of course known to love music, so we wanted to reach out to them through this medium.”

“Nature, music, and science come together in our song “Prutas Pilipinas”.

What better way to celebrate life than to sing a song about our fruits that give us life!” says Ryan Cayabyab A way to spread more knowledge about something we all eat every day, “Prutas Pilipinas” not only names popular fruits, like mangoes, melons, and grapes but also more unique ones like chico, mangosteen, and dragonfruit. The song also mentions how nutritious and good these local fruits are.

“I thought that it would be a good opportunity to start from basic fruits and expand it to a collective push for a healthy nation - para sa masigla, magaling at masayang Pilipinas.

The genius of our National Artist Mr. Cayabyab, as shown in the excellent music, and the

THE Company exceptional vocal quality and harmony of The Company made the song truly fun, dynamic, and meaningful,” shares Noel Ferrer.

“We feel that it is our mission to not only introduce these Philippine fruits through our juices but also to imbibe the knowledge and culture in every Filipino, especially today’s youth,” King continues.

“Prutas Pilipinas is that rare moment in OPM where we get to tick all of the right boxes.

This contemporary folk song is entertaining, educational and edifying. Transcending merely sensory enjoyment, this song becomes a pro-active participant in nation-building,” says The Company founding member, Moy Ortiz.

The song has three versions – the first is the main song which has already been released and is quickly growing in popularity on Spotify. Set to be released soon, the second version integrates a little

bit of “bugtungan” at the song’s beginning, while the third version is short and easy to memorize, made to be shared in schools nationwide through DepEd. “This song is just the beginning,” says King. “We have exciting plans in collaboration with DepEd to integrate learning about Filipino fruits in the curriculum. We strongly believe that loving local and supporting our own is a culture that can be taught and encouraged at a young age.

Our country produces some of the best and most amazing fruits in the world, and it’s time for all of us to know about and be proud of them,” concludes King.

“Prutas Pilipinas” is available for streaming on Spotify at this link: https://rb.gy/yp1nc5, and soon, on YouTube. Locally juices are available in all leading convenience stores and supermarkets. For more information, you may visit @Locally_PH on Instagram and Facebook.

IC

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | OTOBER 11, 2020

BUSINESS

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

FROM BAGUIO VIA LONDON WITH LOVE Keiko Necesario’s new OPM

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first saw Keiko Necesario in Gloc 9’s “Dungaw” video, where she apparently shook a plump presence for most of the video.

Keiko's new album, Ready, Let Go

Upon the release of her first single this year, I asked her about her striking transformation to an agile form in a space of six months.

She replied, “First of all, I’m glad you noticed a good change (hehe) I think this season just made me more confident and is sort of like an awakening for me… and we all know that new beginnings come with life changing transformations; not only in what is seen but with the unseen.”

Keiko’s second album titled “Ready, Let Go” is now out on Warner and there’s nothing playfully quirky about her latest batch of songs. They’re just plain smart in skillfully conveying the sadness of being in and out love and letting go.

Her music now is labeled electro-folk evolved from rootsy raw folk with a modern sounding beat and rhythm. Listen closer and you’ll hear the charged emotion in the title track, the chilled restraint in “Dangerous” and techno breaking out in “Go On.” The arc of sentiments may have something to do with the genesis of the new album. Keiko said, “My life as an artist and as a person in general has changed drastically over the years. I truly honor the different transitions I’ve had, the one I am in now, and the ones I’m still about to have in this lifetime.”

“It’s always different in every season; I’d like to think I’ve grown in my musicality, in my song writing, in performing, some of the values and beliefs that I’ve gained also changed the way I view life now.”

KEIKO Necesario

The influences on the recording also made its own unique journey.

Keiko related, “From London, where we recorded 2 songs in the span of 3 days, to Baguio where we had 3 weeks to arrange 10 songs together.

“It was a bit nerve-racking yet exhilarating at the same time because of the timeline, plus the feeling of, ‘I can’t wait to finish this

record and hear what the tracks would sound like in the end.’ All of it was awesome.”

Keiko’s collaboration on the album with UK-based cinematic/ electronic production duo Cha-sing Fantasia elicited instant chemistry.

The Filipina artist gushed, “I love working with them. They’re incredibly talented and as soon as

I started working with them last year, I already had the feeling that we were about to make a great record.”

The Brit producers were just as profuse in complimenting her talent as a songwriter and her vocal range and grit. They truly admired her confidence, not afraid to laugh at herself that all adds to a positive work environment and makes the music more honest and believable at the same time.

Keiko describes the lyrical themes on the new album to have different meanings and tell different stories about love, loss of love, pain, forgiveness, joy, surrender, letting go, freedom, kindness, and especially about God’s promises.

She elaborated, “I’ve always been such a strong advocate of love so that’s still what I’m writing about only in different forms-- love for a friend, love for a soulmate, love for your life and journey, love for others, love for your dreams, love for yourself, and love for God.” “My second album is different in a way from the first record because it’s an important factor for artists to evolve and grow not just in the songs but everything else like the entire body of work that’s about to unfold,” she added.

Keiko chose the first cut to be her favorite on her latest album.

She explains, “I consider all of my songs my favorite for different reasons, but the one that has a special place in my heart is the title track which is “Ready, Let Go” because it perfectly captures the season I am in now. It speaks about stepping out in faith and in courage to really fulfill your purpose and do what you’re called to do. Letting go and knowing that it’s time to be ready.”

Right now, in a season of quarantine and lockdowns, Keiko is offering a new type of solace to drown out the distress and anxieties of forced isolation currently in vogue. She’s ready to help you let go.

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Shopping online during the pandemic?

Here are 10 tips for avoiding scams

By H. Colleen Sinclair

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Mississippi State University

he holiday season is already a booming time for online shopping. The Covid-19 pandemic only increases the likelihood that when people shop this holiday season, they will choose online shopping over brickand-mortar stores.

However, this also means there is likely to be a boom in online scams.

Already, multiple companies from outside the US are advertising relatively unchecked on the Internet, selling—or even just pretending to sell—all manner of products. The items are typically advertised using designs stolen from legitimate businesses and artists, often ripped off from Etsy, especially if those designs have been featured on popular sites like Bored Panda.

When people buy these scam products, what arrives is typically of low quality.

That’s if anything ever arrives. Often the company just shutters and renames itself without sending anything. In worst-case scenarios, they also steal customers’ creditcard information. So how to shop smart and spot scams? Here are some clues to watch for.

1

Is it too good to be true?

Does the product pictured match the price? Know the market. An amazing product for a low price is cause for suspicion. For example, Instagram was featuring photos of a “Halloween Advent Calendar.”

The ad listed a price of $59.99, but available for a limited time for $29.80. At first glance you might think you’re getting a great deal, but take a moment to think it through.

That price would barely cover the cost of shipping and handling for a product of that size. The original product, sold on Etsy, retails for over $1,800, and the creator has a backlog of orders.

2

When in doubt: Google it Perhaps you’re not familiar enough with Etsy workmanship to recognize a likely ripoff. When in doubt, search the product name or download the image and run a Google image search. You are likely to find the original source. If the product really exists, you can choose to pay the original artist for their hard work or take the risk and try to get the knockoff. The search will also reveal whether there are multiple alleged businesses selling the same “unique”

and “exclusive” items using the same exact pictures. Once you start seeing double or more, that’s a warning sign.

3

Check the business reputation Searching for the business name will likely just take you to the business’s site. Instead, search the business name with the word “scam.” You will be able to tell pretty quickly if there is a worrisome history associated with the business. You can also try Scamvoid, which is dedicated to identifying the trustworthiness of online links. There may be a Better Business Bureau listing for the company, but be careful about relying on these. You can also find Facebook groups, like this one for fashionrelated scams, that track untrustworthy sites.

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Too new to trust In some cases the business is so new that you won’t be able to find a track record. This is a red flag. They are likely one of those companies that close up once they’ve gotten enough orders then set up a new name and new domain and do it all over again. There is a chance that it’s a legitimate new businesses trying to open shop during a pandemic. To tell the difference between a legitimate new business and a fly-by-night operation, apply some of the following steps to judge them.

5

Review the reviews Take a close look at the reviews. If there aren’t any, back away. If there are, check for the following warning signs.

The reviews are few and unanimously five stars with no comments. If there are comments, they are loaded with broken English or vague praise that could have been copied and pasted from any product. None of the reviews includes pictures of the actual received product. There aren’t any negative reviews, which is a red flag because even the best legitimate businesses can’t please everyone all the time. As a side note, if you are looking at a legitimate product offering, be careful not to read too much into the negative reviews.

6

Is it a ‘good’ site?

Does the business have a web site, and not just a Facebook page? If not, that’s a big no. If they do, is it a complete web site, or is it barely there? Check that the business has a phone number that works, and when you search the number it doesn’t have 12 other “businesses” associated with it. Check that it lists a mailing address, preferably one that isn’t just a post office box. Check the site’s “about us” page. If the page has a photo purporting to be of the owner or artist, you can do a Google image search to see if it’s a photo copied from another webpage, a stock photo or a fake created by an AI system. Do their claims about themselves hold up to scrutiny? For example,

4 BusinessMirror

does the site claim to be an American Black-owned business but their WHOIS domain information lists a company in China?

7

Social-media presence: Do they have one?

Similarly, do they have a social-media presence outside of the ad that pops up in your newsfeed? If not, steer clear. If so, you can click on the poster’s name to see where the person or business is located and when the page was started. You can also see how far back their posts go, as well as check the quality of those posts and chatter about the company.

8

Beware the ‘going out of business’ story During the pandemic, legitimate businesses are, in fact, closing. Illegitimate businesses have been latching onto this as a tool to tug at people’s heartstrings to trick shoppers. It is illegal for American businesses to do this, but businesses outside of the US are not subject to the same laws.

One way to tell the legitimate businesses from the frauds is to check the starting date on web site domain registrations and social-media sites. If the business popped up during the pandemic just in time to go out of business, steer clear.

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Fad ad clickbait Watch out for fad items. Knockoffs and ripoffs abound on any hot or trendy item. Nowadays marketers are also picking up on political trends. Businesses crop up with names like “WeLuvTrump,” “FemPower” and “BlackGoodness.” The same is happening with political news.

For example, RBG items are all the rage in the wake of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. Again, following the steps above will help you sort out which products are legitimate.

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Social influence tricks Also watch out for the common marketing techniques originally uncovered by social psychologist Robert Cialdini that are used by legitimate and illegitimate businesses alike. The most common you are likely to see in scam sites are claims of exclusive access, which appeal to your need for uniqueness, claims of limited supply or time running out on a “sale,” which play on the psychological value people place on scarce items, and claims like “Karen S. from Indianola just purchased this item,” which are “social proof” that a behavior is safe or appropriate because others have done it.

Ultimately, if these 10 tips seem like too much to go through, buy instead from a trusted source you have counted on in the past. It’s also a good idea to use credit cards or payment services like PayPal that protect consumers from fraudulent charges.

Shop wisely. Your bank account is counting on you. The Conversation

October 11, 2020

Social enterprise seeks to end extreme poverty

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he world has always seen extreme inequality in wealth and spending, but even more so today when there are over 700 million people who are stuck in extreme poverty, while more than $60 trillion are being spent on consumer products every year.

United to address the injustice are three young, likeminded friends from Australia, Daniel Flynn, Justine Flynn and Jarryd Burns, who founded the social enterprise Thankyou in 2008.

Thankyou aims to flip consumerism for good.

After all the costs in running a business to get consumer products to people are taken care of, every last cent that Thankyou makes goes toward organizations fighting inequality, scarcity, and poverty in vulnerable communities.

Currently, Thankyou only sells its products in two of the world’s smallest countries: Australia and New Zealand. But because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the company felt the need to expand and make bold moves to stop the extreme rise in numbers on global poverty, and demand for personal care products like hand sanitizers.

Thankyou has sent out an invitation to two of the world’s largest and most influential companies in the world, Unilever and Procter & Gamble, to encourage them to work with Thankyou and distribute the essential products globally and help end extreme poverty.

To get the companies on board, Thankyou has asked people around the world to rally around the social-media campaign, aptly called “No Small Plan.” To join and show support, people can post a photo or share the campaign social title with the caption, “I’m in, are you?,” tag @proctergamble and @unilever, use the hashtag #thankyoutotheworld, then share Thankyou’s video to help this spread even further.

“Together with people and a partnership with one of the two biggest companies in the world, we can change funnel the dollars spent on consumer goods into helping end extreme poverty,” said Daniel.

Thankyou has set virtual meetings with both P&G and Unilever that will take place at the end of the campaign. Next month, the social enterprise will announce which company is “in” on one of the largest digital billboards in the world—in Times Square in New York City.

True to its campaign name “No Small Plan,” Thankyou has indeed taken this bold initiative because ending extreme poverty is a collective effort, one that involves compassion and a genuine desire to make the world a better place for all.

For more information on Thankyou and its goals, visit https://thankyou.co/.

Thankyou cofounders Daniel & Justine Flynn