BusinessMirror September 01, 2020

DOF withholds ₧319-M tax credits

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

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HE Department of Finance (DOF) withheld the grant of P319 million in tax perks claimed by a Bulacanbased textile firm, pending the final results of the special investigation of the Commission on Audit (COA) on “irregular” tax credit certificates (TCCs) issued during the past administrations.

The DOF, through its One-Stop Interagency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center (OSS), informed the Department of Labor and Employment of its decision to put on hold the request of the Indo Phil Group of Companies.

The Indo-Phil Group is a FilipinoIndian joint venture based in Marilao, Bulacan, including Indo Phil Textile Mills Inc. (IPTMI), Indo Phil Acrylic Manufacturing

PRESIDENT Duterte kisses the ground where a bomb recently exploded in Jolo, capital of Sulu province, on Sunday. Duterte flew to Jolo to pay his respects to government troops and civilians who died during two separate blasts last week. OFFICE OF SENATOR CHRISTOPHER “BONG” GO VIA AP

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Corp. (IPAMC) and Indo Phil Cotton Mills Inc. (IPCMI).

“We highlight that Indo Phil Acrylic Manufacturing Corp., Indo Phil Cotton Mills Inc. and Indo Phil Textile Mills Inc. are covered by the COA SAO [Special Audits Office] Report 2018-06, with findings of irregularities on the TCCs issued to each company for years 2008-2014,” OSS Executive Director Emee Macabales said in a letter to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.

Macabales wrote Bello in response to the Labor chief’s earlier referral of the request of Indo Phil Group president Shanti Sipani to have the firm’s P57-million tax refund and TCCs amounting to P262 million processed by the OSS.

Copies of Macabales’s letter were also sent to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Undersecretary Antonette Tionko, who heads the DOF’s Rev-

enue Operations Group.

In his request to Bello, Sipani pointed out Indo Phil’s tax refunds of P30.6 million for 2016 and P26.4 million for 2017 were already approved by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, but that the Bureau of Customs had withheld payment because of the COA audit findings.

Moreover, Indo Phil claimed DOF put on hold TCCs amounting to P262 million— P69 million for IPTMI, another P91 million for IPCMI, and P102 million more for IPAMC—because of the COA audit report.

Sipani argued that Indo Phil “just followed the government direction” in applying for the TCCs.

But Macabales said in her letter that the COA has begun issuing Notices of Disallowance to the companies for TCCs that were found to be “tainted with irregularities”

See “Tax Credits,” A2

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Tuesday, September 1, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 327

AGRICULTURE Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista and Anthony Dizon, president of the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines (bottom row, center and left), were the lead discussants in a webinar on “Agriculture, Food Security and Lessons from the Pandemic” organized on Monday by the BusinessMirror, in partnership with Fiera de Manila Inc. With them are Dr. Mary Ann P. Sayoc, lead for public affairs of the East West Seed Group, and economist and BusinessMirror columnist UP Prof. Rene Ofreneo ( top row, center and right). The forum, with San Miguel Corp. as platinum sponsor, and supported by East West Seed, was moderated by BusinessMirror Associate Editor Jennifer A. Ng and reporter Jasper Arcalas. Story at right, “Farmers, fisherfolk earned P6B selling directly to LGUs–DA.”

T

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

HE Philippine banking sector is anticipating further deterioration in asset quality until next year as increasing bad loans hurt the borrowings portfolio.

According to Fitch Ratings director for Asia Pacific-Banks Willie Tanoto, the local financial system is

seen to endure heightened nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio until 2021.

“Yes, we see asset quality

weakening in the Philippines into 2021 and we expect the system NPL ratio to rise to at least 3 percent this year and to stay elevated next year, depending on how the pandemic and economic situation pan out,” he explained in an e-mail to the BusinessMirror.

The local banking industry’s current NPL ratio is nearing Tanoto’s projection for the year. According to the latest preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), gross NPL ratio stood at 2.53 percent as of end-June.

S&P Global Ratings analyst Nikita Anand told this newspaper that the consumer and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) borrowings are likely to drive higher bad loans in the coming quarters. Earlier, she said that the local banking system’s NPL ratio could reach 5 percent.

Anand, on the other hand, explained that large conglomerates could remain relatively robust on the back of “good liquidity and access to funding.”

Continued on A2

DOT to revise plan as Covid-19 upends targets

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo Special to the BusinessMirror

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HE Department of Tourism (DOT) is looking to revise its targets under the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) 2016-2022, taking into account its missed targets this year due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

This was confirmed by DOT Spokesman and Undersecretary for Tourism Development Benito C. Bengzon Jr. in a Viber message to the BusinessMirror: “We will review the target[s] and let you know once the new figures are out.”

Under the NTDP, which is a blueprint of government’s tourism goals, foreign visitor arrivals this year were targeted to reach 9.2

million, then 10.4 million in 2021, and 12 million in 2022. Inbound revenue was also projected at P661 billion this year, P776 billion in 2021, and P922 billion in 2022.

From January to July this year, foreign visitor arrivals slumped by some 73 percent to 1.32 million, with zero arrivals recorded from April to July. Inbound receipts plunged by 71.5 percent to P81.05 billion.

This developed as the DOT proposed a lower budget of P3.52 billion for 2021, of which some P3.48 billion are new general appropriations.

Documents from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed the proposed budget of the DOT next year is 2.5 percent lower than the latter’s budget this year of P3.61 billion. In previous

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budget proposals, among DOT’s performance indicators were its foreign visitor arrivals and receipts targets for the year.

Also included in the DOT’s proposed 2021 budget is an automatic appropriations of P42.32 million, of which P37.74 million pays for the retirement and life insurance premiums of employees, and some P4.6 billion comes from the Tourism Development Fund, to be used for the development, promotion and marketing of tourism in the country. The TDF is sourced from the accreditation, identification card, sticker and code fees, in accordance with Section 16 of Republic Act 9593 (Tourism Act of 2009).

In a text message, DOT Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Chief of Staff Edwin R. Enrile told the BusinessMirror, “That

was the budget ceiling given us by DBM. [It was probably] lowered because of lower fund sources and also taken into account our utilization/disbursements for 2020.”

The DOT has been instructed to deposit “all income and any unexpended funds in connection with government participation in expositions and other similar events [to] the National Treasury.”

Also suffering a budget cut will be the Intramuros Administration, a DOTattached agency, with a proposed total obligations of P90.3 million in 2021, versus P188.83 million this year. At least P86.96 million are proposed new appropriations, which will fund the agency’s property conservation and development program

See “DOT,” A2

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FARMERS, FISHERFOLK EARNED P6B SELLING DIRECTLY TO LGUs—D.A.

F

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

ILIPINO farmers and fisherfolk have earned at least P6 billion by selling their produce to local government units (LGUs) that directly procured their constituents’ food requirements during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.

During a webinar organized by the BusinessMirror and Fiera de Manila Inc., Agriculture Assistant Secretary Kristine Y. Evangelista disclosed that about 442 LGUs nationwide have bought P6 billion worth of farm produce.

The transactions were made possible through the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) flagship market-linkage program Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita. The program seeks to “ensure that food commodities are made available and accessible in high consumer demand areas, particularly among the low-income families.”

The program, Evangelista explained, “harnesses” private-sector participation, capacity enhancement of farmer cooperatives and associations and engaging community organizations’ participation in the food supply distribution system.

To date, the DA has expanded the Kadiwa program into four modalities to cater to consumers through the most convenient methods to them: Kadiwa retail selling, Kadiwa on wheels, Kadiwa online and e-Kadiwa.

“The program aims to make accessible and available quality agri-fishery products, such as rice, fish poultry and livestock products, fruits and vegetables, and other basic commodities at affordable prices to the urban areas,” said Evangelista.

Evangelista pointed out that farm goods sold through the Kadiwa program are 20 percent cheaper than prevailing public market prices.

To date, Evangelista said the Kadiwa program has served nearly 2 million households nationwide with 23,251 farmers and fisherfolk benefitting from the direct market access linkage.

Continued on A2

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Source: BSP (August 28, 2020)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, September 1, 2020

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Govt soon to have Triple A facility to produce MDM of chicken–Dar

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HE Department of Agriculture (DA) said the country is one step closer from having a state-owned process facility capable of producing mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of chicken following the near-completion of a “AAA” slaughterhouse in Batangas.

In a statement, the DA said the Triple A slaughterhouse in Tanauan City is the country’s first government-owned abattoir that would be expanded in the future to

include additional cold storage and cutting facility.

The DA said the P187.2-million “AAA” slaughterhouse would be completed on November 1. The

facility was jointly funded by the DA and the Tanauan city government.

“Undoubtedly, the Tanauan ‘AAA’ slaughterhouse will help propel the modernization of the livestock industry in Batangas, and subsequently provide a sustained livelihood, source of income, and affordable, safe and hygienic meat products to constituents and neighboring communities, including Metro Manila,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said.

The upcoming slaughterhouse has a total floor area of 2,588 square meters, composed of a mechanized system that can pro-

cess 500 head of hogs per eighthour shift and equipped with a cold chain network consisting of three chilling rooms, two blast freezers, and three cold storage rooms.

It also has a meat laboratory and wastewater treatment area, according to the DA. The DA said once the facility commences operations, it will be managed by the Unified Batangas Swine Producers Association (UniBat), which would collect fees from customers to sustain its operation and maintenance.

Dar has committed to allocate P50 million to expand the slaughterhouse by integrating it

with a cutting plant. Dar said the DA will also spend P50 million in establishing a cold storage and poultry cutting facility in San Jose, Batangas.

“With these poultry dressing and cutting facilities, we will be a step closer to producing mechanically deboned meat, and thus reduce imports. At the same time, it would allow for a value-added enterprise for the benefit of poultry farmers in Batangas and neighboring provinces,” Dar said.

Triple A slaughterhouses are capable of producing export-grade meat products.

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

Banks’ asset quality seen bleak until 2021 Continued from A1

Nevertheless, she added, “we expect sectors like transportation, especially airlines, hotels, restaurants, non-essential retail, manufacturing and construction—which were badly hit by the pandemic—to be under pressure, as earnings recovery will take some time.”

Higher credit impairment, according to Tanoto, was only ex-

pected as the economy battles with recession and a major surge in joblessness in the past months.

The Philippines registered contractions in gross domestic product in the first two quarters, booking an average 9-percent decline in the economy for the first half.

Meanwhile, the latest labor market report revealed that 7.3 million Filipinos were unemployed as of April as many struggle to keep their jobs amid the lockdown measures.

The Philippine Statistics Authority will be presenting the latest figures on the matter this week.

Citing a survey, BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno earlier said that NPLs are expected to double to 4.6 percent by the end of this year.

Debt moratorium

JOYCE ONG, Moody’s Investors Service-Financial Institutions Group analyst, told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail that the lift-

ing of grace period on loan principal and interest payments can result in more NPLs surfacing.

“We expect NPLs will continue to increase through early 2021 as problem loans materialize following the lifting of moratoriums in June,” she said. That was the time when many areas in the country shifted to general community quarantine, effectively ceasing the debt moratorium.

However, a longer grace period could also further increase the banks’ exposure to credit risks, Ong explained.

“At the same time, any further debt moratoriums would lengthen the asset quality down-cycle and further increase banks’ credit risks,” she said.

The discussion on Bayanihan to Recover As One Act or the Bayanihan II, which includes a 60-day debt moratorium, is nearing conclusion.

Previously, a yearlong grace period was proposed, which the BSP and organizations like Bankers Association of the Philippines and FintechAlliance.ph opposed.

All were concerned over the impact of the longer moratorium on the banking system’s liquidity.

Gearing up

THE Fitch Ratings analyst ob-

served that the local banks have been beefing up provisions against potential credit losses.

“The major banks have been guiding for higher NPL ratios and their setting aside much higher credit provisions in the first half indicates that they, too, anticipate loan losses to climb,” Tanoto said.

The banking industry in the first semester booked allowance for credit losses amounting to P300.35 billion, which is nearly P100 billion more than last year’s figure.

Major banks have shown decline in profits as a result of heavy provisioning. In the first half, the banking sector saw its net earnings drop by 22.46 percent to P86.05 billion from last year’s P110.97 billion.

Meanwhile, Anand pointed out that the “Philippine banks’ good capital positions and upfront provisioning in the first half of 2020 will partly mitigate the rising risks in the operating conditions.”

Capital adequacy ratio of the local banks stood at 12.73 as of end-June. It is above the minimum regulatory requirement.

NPLs grew nearly 27 percent to P273.6 billion as of end-June from P215.91 billion in the previous year for the same period. This, as total borrowings in the first half inched up by 5.15 percent to P10.82 trillion year-on-year.

FARMERS, FISHERFOLK EARNED P6B SELLING DIRECTLY TO LGUs—D.A. Continued from A1

She added that about 4,453 agrifishery cooperatives nationwide have participated through the various Kadiwa modalities.

Furthermore, the Kadiwa program also established a food traceability system as consumers would be able to determine where the goods came from and the safety and quality standards they underwent, Evangelista said.

Also during the webinar, Cold Chain Association of the Philippines President Anthony S. Dizon emphasized that the problems brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic to the agriculture sector would not be resolved within the calendar year.

These problems, he noted, would linger and would require drastic and long-term actions to be solved.

Dizon explained that internal factors affect the food supply chain, such as lack of demand data to guide planting price, no post-harvest preparation facilities, and improper packaging and handling, which were all highlighted by the pandemic.

Dizon pushed for a stronger collaboration and partnership among the government, private sector and industry stakeholders to address food security issues.

“Drastic problems require drastic solutions,” he said. “Food security

problems are bound to get worse before they get better, particularly as we continue to struggle against Covid-19, African Swine Fever, avian influenza, among others,” he added.

BusinessMirror columnist and economist Prof. Rene Ofreneo said the Covid-19 pandemic is an opportunity for policy-makers to review their programs and projects for the agriculture sector.

Ofreneo pointed out that the government should do away with policies that were proven ineffective in uplifting the agriculture sector, such as neoliberal thinking on food production and deregulation policies.

He sought an integrated approach in the implementation of government programs in the agriculture sector to harness the full potential and benefit of investments, citing decades-long disjointed programs.

Dr. Mary Ann Sayoc, East West Seed Public Affairs lead, said there is still a huge room for improvement in terms of per capita vegetable consumption in the country.

Sayoc said veggie consumption in the past five years grew to 41 kilograms from 39 kilograms. This, she noted, is already a significant improvement, driven by growing consciousness among consumers to eat healthy foods and availability of produce in the market.

Expand SEF to cover alternative learning–Go Continued from A8

Go explained that the ALS is a substitute learning system offered

by DepEd for individuals who do not or cannot access formal education in schools. It provides such students an opportunity to complete their basic education in a manner that fits their special situations and needs.

Filed by Go at the start of the 18th Congress in 2019, SBN 396 will amend Section 272 of the Code which imposed strict restrictions on the use of the SEF. Presently, he noted, the use of the fund is limited to the operation and maintenance of public schools, construction and repair of school buildings, facilities and equipment, educational research, purchase of books and periodicals, and sports development.

Amid the ongoing pandemic, he noted, the education department shifted to blended or flexible learning to comply with President Duterte’s directive to ban face-to-face classes until a vaccine for Covid-19 is available.

As provided in the bill, three methods will be used to deliver lessons to students in their homes: (1) printed modules to be delivered to students without gadgets or access to the internet; (2) online platforms to be used for students with access to the internet; and (3) public television and radio stations to be used to air lessons.

It will be recalled that Duterte decided earlier to postpone the start of the 2020-2021 school year from August 24 to October 5 to give more time for students, parents, teachers, learning institutions and education authorities to better prepare for the new modes of learning and teaching, taking into consideration the adverse socioeconomic impact of the pandemic on Filipino families.

Go said the DepEd could “use the additional time to help schools and families adapt to the new modes of learning” even as he encouraged all concerned authorities and the private sector to work together and make sure that teachers are adequately equipped and trained to use the online learning platforms. Butch Fernandez

Tax credits…

Continued from A1

and against the involved OSS officials and personnel for their participation in their issuance.

“Due to these developments and the enormity of the amount involved, the Department of Finance and OSS Center [are] taking precaution[s] before any request for TCCs, Tax Debit Memos [TDMs] or duty drawbacks are acted upon,” Macabales said in her letter to Bello.

She assured Bello that the OSS will update his office “on any developments in the circumstances of the OSS Center.”

Earlier, the COA informed Dominguez that it has Notices of Disallowance on tax credits worth a combined P377.29 million granted by the OSS to four textile firms covering a four-year period from 2008 to 2012.

The COA-SAO disallowed TCCs issued to Capital-Roll Knit Corp. amounting to P326.48 million; Uni-Glory’s Knitting Corp., which received P15.03 million worth of tax credits; Primeknit Manufacturing Corp., P15.76 million; and Tai-Cheng International Resource Inc., P20.01 million.

DOT… Continued from A1

(P15.72 million), commercial property leasing program (P4.77 million), tourism promotions program (P4.33 million), and regulatory program (P7.84 million).

Likewise, the National Parks also has a lower proposed budget in 2021 at P230.23 million from P258.68 million this year. Of the proposed appropriations next year, P138.76 million will fund the parks management program and P21.42 million will fund the agency’s cultural and events program.

As for the DOT’s main budget, of total new appropriations, some P2.02 million will fund its Market and Development Program, its Tourism Policy Formulation and Planning Program (P247.38 million), Tourism Industry Training Program (P153.52 million), and Standards Development and Enforcement Program (P129.47 million).

Among the regional offices that will get the largest appropriations are Western Visayas at P34.55 million, the National Capital Region (P30.2 million), Central Visayas (P30.09 million), Ilocos (P29.68 million), and Davao (P28.32 million).

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, September 1, 2020 A3

Congress pressed to pass ‘designated survivor’ bill

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

M

OVING to avert a potential constitutional crisis and leadership vacuum, Sen. Panfilo Lacson prodded Congress on Monday to prioritize the passage of a law providing for a “designated survivor” to ensure continuity and stability of operations in government by “extending the line of succession.”

Stressing the urgency of passing an enabling legislation, Lacson said “recent events involving exceptional circumstances” such as terrorism illustrate the need to address soonest the limitations of the 1987 Constitution’s current provision on the line of succession.

“Because of the failure of Congress to pass the necessary legislation in extending the line of succession beyond the Speaker of the House of Representatives, a constitutional crisis is possible if all four top elected officials, God forbid, die in one event such as the Sona [State of the Nation Address] due to a terrorist attack in the Batasang Pambansa, or any occasion where the President and all three officials in the line of constitutional succession are present,” Lacson said.

Referring to the annual Sona delivered by the President before a joint session of Congress traditionally attended by the Vice President, Senate President and Speaker of the House, Lacson asked, “If such a tragedy occurs, who will act as President until

the next election of the President and Vice President since the constitutional line of succession to the President stops at the House Speaker?”

He added: “With all that said, I hope the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes and Laws will immediately conduct a hearing on Senate Bill 982, which I filed in August last year—or appoint me as subcommittee chairman, as I am willing and ready to sponsor and defend such an important piece of legislation on the Senate floor.”

Noting that at present, the line of presidential succession includes the Vice President, Senate President and House Speaker, as provided for in the 1987 Constitution, Lacson

cited Article VII, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution which states: “Congress shall, by law, provide for the manner in which one who is to act as President shall be selected until a President, or a Vice President, shall have qualified, in case of death, permanent disability, or inability of the officials mentioned in the next preceding paragraph.”

Lacson likewise cited Article VII, Section 8 of the Constitution which provides that “Congress shall, by law, provide who shall serve as President in case of death, permanent disability, or resignation of the Acting President. He shall serve until the President, or the Vice President, shall have been elected and qualified, and be subject to the same restrictions of powers and dis-

qualifications as the Acting President.”

“Needless to say,” the senator stressed, “passing such legislation is not only constitutional. It is in fact, required under the 1987 Constitution.”

Lacson said he found it “unfortunate” that the author of the counterpart measure in the House of Representatives requested the withdrawal of House Bill 4062.

Lacson’s bill provides that in case of death, or permanent disability, of those specified in the Constitution, the following elected and appointed officers who are not under any disability to discharge the powers and duties of the Office of the President shall act as President in the following order: 1) the most senior senator, based on the length of service in the

Senate; 2) the most senior district representative based on the length of service in the House of Representatives; and, 3) the member of the Cabinet designated by the President.

Moreover, the bill further provides that before any public or private activity, event or function with the attendance of the President, Vice President and ranking officials, the President shall designate a member of the Cabinet to be “sequestered in a secret and secure location.”

It adds that the Acting President’s official actions pertaining to the dayto-day operation of the government shall remain effective unless revoked by the elected President within 90 days from his or her assumption, or reassumption of office.

Group slams revgov bid Duterte exhorts Pinoys to be selfless modern-day heroes amid pandemic as a ‘divisive distraction’

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla & Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

O

VER 150 academics, teachers, researchers, and professionals nationwide have registered their opposition to calls for the establishment of a revolutionary government.

In a news statement, the Professors for Peace said any move that would undermine the 1987 Constitution should be condemned.

It likened the call for a revolutionary government to a call to overthrown the existing constitutionally mandated government and its elected officials led by President Duterte, the Vice President, congressmen and elected local government officials.

“The country is still facing a pandemic—with more than 200,000 confirmed cases and 3,000 deaths.

The call for revgov is a divisive distraction to the President’s own call for a more successful whole-of-society response to the pandemic,” the group said.

“The Filipino people need the government’s undivided dedication in responding to the Covid-19 crisis and the economic recession and the nation need a unified response against the clear and present danger that is Covid-19,” the group added.

It claimed that a revolutionary government poses an existential threat to the democratic processes and institutions of checks and balances among the three branches of the government.

“Among others, the separation

of powers among the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary, the independent constitutional bodies, and most importantly the Bill of Rights are all at risk under revgov,” the group said.

Professors for Peace is an informal group of academics, researchers and professionals across the nation.

It previously expressed opposition to the Constituent Assembly as a way to amend the 1987 Constitution, called for an overhaul of government’s anti-drug campaign and sought for a united stand against hatred and bigotry after the Mamasapano incident.

The group expressed support to the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and the Department of National Defense for swiftly rejecting the proposed revolutionary government.

“We appeal to the rest of the government and its officials to refrain from entertaining calls to declare a revolutionary government,” the group said.

Earlier, lawyers belonging to the Philippine Bar Association also raised their opposition to the proposed revgov, saying that such move must be immediately condemned.

The group said the revgov issue should not be allowed to fester without immediate action because doing so would encourage its proponents to “coagulate and gather.”

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines also criticized those calling for a revolutionary government, saying that such move is “repugnant to the Constitution.”

P

RESIDENT Duterte has appealed to Filipinos to become “selfless” modern heroes as the country faces an unprecedented threat from the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

Duterte made the appeal in his message for the National Heroes Day amid the still rising infections in the country, which has reached 217,396 as of Sunday.

“The current global health crisis we are facing today demands of us a new expression of heroism—the kind that has been shown us by our selfless Filipino frontliners in various settings,” President Duterte said in a news statement issued on Monday.

Modern-day heroes

THESE frontliners stand a higher risk of also getting infected. Latest government figures showed 6,932 health-care workers tested positive of Covid-19.

There were also 2,757 police and 829 personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard who were also infected.

The President called frontliners “modern-day heroes,” whose example should be emulated by other Filipinos.

“I hope that the bravery of our Filipino heroes, past and present, will inspire us all to face and overcome even the most unfavorable situations. Together, let us become everyday heroes as we pursue a better future for everyone,” President Duterte said.

More complicated

THE President also recognized the

government troops, who remain steadfast in countering insurgents and terrorism in the country even during the pandemic.

Early last week, twin explosions rocked Jolo, Sulu, killing at least 17 people, including some soldiers. Authorities are now looking for three suspects responsible for the blasts.

President Duterte visited the blast site on August 30, 2020 to express support to soldiers deployed in the volatile area.

“I know that the ongoing pandemic has not only made your responsibilities even more complicated and more hardships. Yet, in the spirit of selflessness you remain strong in your mission for the Filipino people.

Because of this, I am humbled by your commitment, inspired by your patriotism and grateful for a continued support,” President Duterte said while addressing the troops in Jolo.

He committed the government’s full support for the military forces in their mission to stop other threats to the country’s peace and stability.

Concrete measures

THE coalition of the country’s largest labor groups, Nagkaisa, demanded in a joint statement for the government to provide actual measures to help the so-called modern-day heroes.

The group noted that despite encouraging words, the government has yet to provide any substantial aid to improve the working conditions of its frontliners.

The coalition called on the government to provide hazard pay, higher entry level salary for health-care workers, health-care frontliners’ protection and free medical and other benefits for the said workers.

“We are fed up with platitudes and accolades hailing us as ‘new heroes’

when the fact of the matter is that we are suffering and neglected. We might be far from heroes, but we are also human beings in need of care,” Nagkaisa said.

Nakaisa together with the labor coalition Paggawa, as well as the Kilusang Mayo Uno held a symbolic protest action at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City to pay respect to health workers, who died from Covid-19.

Unknown Soldier honored

THE military commemorated National Heroes Day on Monday with Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay leading the wreathlaying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City along with other government officials.

Recalling the sacrifices of the nation’s heroes, Gapay dedicated the celebration to the modern-day heroes who were fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

“To the heroes of our time—medical practitioners, law enforcers, government employees, and everyone who continue to perform their duties despite the threats posed by Covid-19, thank you for your hard work and sacrifices. Our whole nation is profoundly grateful to all of you for giving the Filipino people a fighting chance and a glimmer of hope against this pandemic,” Gapay said.

The top military chief said the celebration of the National Heroes Day was a reminder of all the sacrifices and heroism of those who fought for the country’s independence.

“We want to instill this to the minds of the Filipinos, particularly the youth. This is also to honor and give thanks to the modern-day heroes,” he said.

“Heroism knows no bounds and manifests in different ways. It does not matter whether one is a uniformed personnel, a public servant, or an ordinary citizen—specks of heroism are innate in all of us, urging us to perform everyday acts of valor,” he added.

In a separate National Heroes Day message, Gapay paid tribute to those who are at the frontlines battling the Covid-19, including the soldiers.

“Being dedicated as our frontliners in serving our country, our troops never ceased in accomplishing their duty by supporting our government’s response against the pandemic. Likewise, they have sustained operations against our foes who incite chaos and lawlessness through violent acts of terrorism. As our personnel continue to perform its mandate with confidence, we vow to reciprocate this trust by fulfilling our responsibility of promoting the welfare and preserving the dignity of our military force,” he said.

“With all these, I would like to enjoin the whole armed forces and every Filipino to stand together for the principles of honor and justice to prove that our heroes’ sacrifices were never in vain. That we, living in challenging times, still have the spirit of heroism alive and well within us,” he added.

On the other hand, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana paid tribute to the “bravery, heroism, and patriotism” of national heroes and extended the country’s gratitude to “present [day] heroes,” the brave frontliners.

“Let this day serve as a reminder for us to unite and support each other as we recover from the effects of the pandemic, as well as work together to safeguard our communities from the threat of criminality, terrorism and violent extremism,” he said in his National Heroes Day statement.

POEA’s Olalia hails Qatar’s abolition of ‘kafala’ system CSC job fair opens 700 job vacancies

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HE Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on Monday said it sees fewer distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Qatar after the Middle East country passed a landmark legislation dismantling its so-called kafala system.

POEA Administrator Bernard P. Olalia said they welcome the development since it will ease the “labor mobility” OFWs and other migrant workers in Qatar.

“Once the kafala system is abolished, our OFWs will no longer have hard time going home since they will have an easier

time getting their exit clearance,” Olalia told the BusinessMirror in a text message.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) reported the Qatari government adopted a new law on Sunday abolishing the kafala sponsorship system by allowing migrant workers to change jobs before the end of their contract without obtaining a “No Objection Certificate” from their employers, as well as the “removal” of their exit permit requirement.

Wage reform

THE labor arm of the United

Nations also said Qatar passed additional legislation setting the 1,000 Qatari-riyals (QAR) minimum wage, which will apply to all nationalities and sector within its jurisdiction once it takes effect.

“The adoption of these laws supports the transition towards a more skilled and productive work force, which is a key goal in Qatar’s National Vision 2030,” ILO said.

Olalia said the new minimum wage compel foreign employers to honor wage agreements stated in the employment contract of OFWs. ILO also noted the new measures

will put Qatar in a better position in recovering from the economic impact of Covid-19.

Top destination

QATAR is one of the top 10 destination for OFWs. Based from the latest deployment data of POEA, 122,619 OFWs were deployed there in 2017.

There were, however, frequent reported abuses allegedly committed by employers against foreign workers.

Last month, DOLE reported it repatriated over 3,300 distressed and displaced OFWs from Qatar. Samuel P. Medenilla

O

VER 700 job vacancies will be up for grabs during the online job fair spearheaded by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) this month.

In an online briefing on Monday, CSC Commissioner Aileen Lizada said they’ve already registered 729 vacancies from 76 government agencies, which will join their 2020 Government Online Career Fair (GOCF).

The event will be from September 14 to 18 in partnership with JobStreet.com.

The participating agencies include Land Transportation Office, Land Bank of the Philippines, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Depart-

ment of Education and other national and local government offices.

Lizada said the number of vacancies could still increase since they extended the deadline for participating agencies to register up to September 10, 2020.

“So for the other agencies, who would want to join [in the job fair], this is the time,” Lizada said.

The job fair is part of the commemoration of CSC’s 120th anniversary and the celebration of Civil Service month.

Aside from the job fair, Lizada said they will conduct an online photography contest, recognition of notable human resources management awardees, and a public sector leader and human resources forum. Samuel P. Medenilla

Climate body calls for adoption of green Covid-19 recovery plans

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HE Climate Change Commission (CCC) has underscored the need to integrate climate resilience and sustainability as core strategies and principles to build back better in the post-pandemic era.

Hence, national and local leaders are being urged to adopt a green Co-

vid-19 recovery plan to be able to secure a better for all Filipinos, the CCC said in a news statement.

Emphasizing that building back better should be the country’s way forward to overcome not only the challenges of the pandemic but also of the threat of a global climate crisis, the CCC cited a

study conducted by Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.

Through the study “Will Covid-19 fiscal recovery packages accelerate or retard progress on climate change?” the CCC highlighted that the Covid-19 crisis represents a dramatic shock to the global economy that will affect progress

on climate change in multifaceted ways.

The CCC therefore underscored that economic recovery from Covid-19 crisis must be centered on ecological investment and climate resilience-building programs,suchassupportinglow-carbon technologies, eco-construction, eco-design policies and investments in research

anddevelopmentforecologicalpurposes, investment in education and training to address immediate unemployment from Covid-19, and natural capital investment for ecosystem resilience and regeneration. The CCC also cited the statement by the Global Commission on Adaptation— signed by world leaders, including former

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Framework Convention on ClimateChangeExecutiveSecretaryPatricia Espinosa, and House Deputy Speaker LorenLegarda—urgingcountriestobuild back better from the pandemic and to incorporateclimateresilienceintoeconomic recovery packages. Jonathan L. Mayuga

A4 Tuesday, September 1, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

DHSUD, Neda get biggest budget cuts

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

& Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

T

HE increase in the proposed national budget was not reflected on the budget of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) as these government agencies face the largest budget cuts in 2021.

The budget for the country’s housing needs will see a decline in 2021, according to the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) submitted by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to Congress this week.

Based on NEP documents uploaded in the DBM web site, the DHSUD proposed budget is P632.601 million, a 29.16-percent contraction from the P893.061 million set for 2020.

“The budget for 2021 is not enough for us to accomplish our mandate of addressing the housing gap. However, we understand that the national government needs to prioritize responses to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequently steer our country to immediate recovery,” DHSUD Secretary Eduardo del Rosario told the BusinessMirror.

The Neda and its attached agencies saw a near double-digit decline in its 2021 budget.

Data obtained from the NEP, Neda’s budget was pegged at P10.98 bil-

lion in 2021, a 9.48-percent decrease from the P12.13 billion this year.

Other agencies that suffered budget cuts included the Department of Tourism (DOT), which has been badly affected by the pandemic, and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which is helping small and medium enterprises.

The DOT’s budget for 2021 contracted 5.33 percent while the DTI budget declined by 3.57 percent next year. For 2021, DOT’s budget will only reach P3.84 billion from P4.06 billion in 2020, while DTI’s allocation will reach P20.59 billion from P21.36 billion.

Meanwhile, agencies that saw the highest increase in budgets for 2021 included the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

The list includes the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of National Defense (DND), and the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The budget of DOLE, the agency in charge of helping Filipino workers, increased 53.74 percent to P27.53 billion in 2021 from the P17.91 billion they received this year.

The DOTr, which is tasked to undertake many of the government’s “Build, Build, Build” projects, saw its budget increase 42.64 percent in 2021. Under the proposed budget, the agency is set to receive P143.56

billion in 2021 from P100.65 billion in 2020.

Under the proposed budget, the DOST saw its budget increase by 16.41 percent. The DOST is tasked, among others, to help boost research and development in the country.

The total proposed budget of the DOST reached P23.89 billion, higher than the P20.52 billion in 2020.

Meanwhile, the DPWH proposed 2021 budget increased 14.7 percent to P667.32 billion from P581.67 billion in 2020.

The DPWH, together with the DOTr, are the primary agencies tasked to implement the government’s infrastructure program.

Data also showed DSWD’s proposed budget increased 4.38 percent to P171.22 billion in 2021 from P164.02 billion in 2020.

The DSWD is the primary agency tasked to finance the social programs of the government, including the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).

The DND, meanwhile, saw its budget increase by 8.85 percent to P209.05 billion in 2021 from P192.06 billion in 2020. The services of the military personnel have been used to man checkpoints, particularly during the lockdowns.

The data also showed the DA budget saw an increase of 2.64 percent.

The proposed budget of the government reached P66.38 billion in 2021 from P64.66 billion in 2020.

The DA is tasked to help boost farmers’ incomes. The agriculture sector is one of the “bright spots” of the economy during the pandemic.

Earlier, Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said the government’s recovery plan consists of the Bayanihan 2; Build, Build, Build; and the 2021 proposed national budget.

Chua said the lockdowns and low confidence of Filipinos in recent months have caused transportation to decline by 60 percent; people going to work by 40 percent; and basic shopping by 30 percent.

Neda Undersecretary for Planning and Policy Rosemarie G. Edillon said the government is already working on the Recharge PH and that Filipinos do not need to worry in case these economic bills are not passed.

Recharge PH seeks to refocus, sharpen the design and accelerate the implementation of programs under the 2020 General Appropriations to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and help get the Philippine economy recover from the sharp decline in the second quarter of the year.

Recharge PH builds on the work of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases Resolutions Technical Working Group for Anticipatory and Forward Planning, also led by Neda, which produced the We Recover as One report containing the initial assessment of the socioeconomic impact of Covid-19.

Recharge PH is to be implemented within 2020 and into 2021 and will be incorporated in the Updated Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DENR-Region 2 donates forest hardwood to DepEd

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

T

HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Region 2 has donated a total of 15,000 board feet of forest products to the Department of Education (DepEd) in Nueva Vizcaya province.

The turnover of the confiscated common hardwood lumber was formalized on August 28 through the signing of the Deed of Donation between DENR Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn C. Bambalan and Schools Division Superintendent Rachel L. Llana represented by Roscoe N. Gacusana, senior education program specialist.

The forest products were turned over by mining firm, FCF Minerals, which recovered the forest products in its mining area.

Other government agencies can avail of the confiscated forest products provided they a submit request and indicate the purpose of which the forest products will be used, Bambalan said in a news statement.

“We just make sure that all requirements are in place before disposal,” she said.

The lumber will be utilized by 12 recipient elementary and secondary schools for infrastructure projects and school building improvement.

Meanwhile, the DENR Cagayan Valley region recognized uniformed personnel in the province for their assistance in the campaign

for intensified forest protection and anti-illegal logging.

Six Philippine National Police (PNP) officers in Sta. Fe town led by Police Capt. Ernie C. Cruz received a certificate of recognition for the apprehension of undocumented 139 pieces of Narra and Rosewood lumber with a total volume of 472.18 board feet in Barangay Tactac. The police officials apprehended the forest products on August 23 while manning a Covid-19 checkpoint.

The PNP officers in Bambang town were also recognized for the apprehension of undocumented Gmelina lumber and knockdown furniture in three incidents in barangays Sto. Domingo and Mauan.

According to the Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer Giovannie M. Magat, the team apprehended on March 8 undocumented 272 board feet of Gmelina lumber loaded in a Toyota Hiace Van while monitoring compliance against the African swine fever in Barangay Sto. Domingo.

Three days later, another apprehension of 1,100 board feet of knockdown Gmelina furniture loaded in an Isuzu Elf was recorded in the same barangay. On March 27, the PNP also apprehended 263.5 board feet of Gmelina lumber in Barangay Mauan.

With the chiefs of police committing full support in the campaign, Bambalan pinned her hopes to prevent illegal logging at source. “Sana sa bundok pa lang, mahinto na ang cutting,” she said.

2020 is the epitome of change–but business ethics are still needed

By Henry J. Schumacher

I

N addition to all the effects on every one of us, companies must break new ground more than ever. This year clearly shows how important it is for organizations to be adaptable and to be able to rethink and react quickly.

But how do I get myself, my team or my organization to act more agile? How can I act flexibly in the currently unpredictable situation and also prepare myself for an uncertain future? Companies ask themselves these questions.

As we are all thinking of strategies into the future, looking at disruptive innovation, or creative disruption, I would like to remind everybody that building and maintaining an ethical business culture must be part of the agenda. Business leaders must be aware that being caught in corruption, unfair competition, data breaches, cybercrime etc. will not only lead to heavy fines but will definitely affect the reputation of the company.

So let’s talk about building an ethical culture in practice. What is the difference between ethics and building a culture of trust?

Ethics are a set of principles.

An ethical culture is a culture

committed to pursuing those principles—and sometimes the pursuit of those principles leads an employee to take actions somebody else might dislike.

Perhaps the employee reports suspicions of misconduct, involving bribery, or collusion, in competition, or mismanagement of data privacy.

Either way, the employee needs to trust that the company will support that decision to step forward. The apparatus of a corporate compliance program—the training, the internal reporting systems, the code of conduct, the due diligence procedures; all of it—should work toward the goal of a strong sense of trust within the organization.

PhilHealth employees would certainly have pressed the “red button” much earlier, had there been that trust.

When you view “building an ethical culture” from that perspective, suddenly several tasks rise to the top of the priority list.

For example, as much as we all love a strong internal reporting system, most employees report their concerns to managers. Most employees also take their cues about how to behave from managers. Consequently, the training of managers about how to weave ethical standards into the company’s daily routines is critical.

Formal training will always be important; employees will always need to know what the law says about bribery, or privacy, or collusion, or whatever else comes along.

Culture, however, is much more than training, full of informal practices, norms, and expectations. Therefore, ethics and compliance programs must work with middle managers on what those practices, norms, and expectations are, and how to base them on the company’s ethical principles. That’s where you win, or lose, this battle.

Senior leaders in government

and in the private sector have a crucial role in building an ethical culture since they send the signals about the corporate culture that people in operations translate into daily routines.

Let’s look at three ways you can build an ethical culture: Develop clear ethical values— honesty, respect, fairness; whatever fits your organization.

Talk with senior leaders and the board about what those values should be. Put them in the Code of Conduct, in a place of prominence so that every employee is aware of it.

Develop clear training materials based on those values. Create real-life scenarios that employees might encounter, where the resolution shows how ethical conduct is the higher priority than commercial success.

Refine your internal reporting system to assure the confidentiality of whistleblowers. Someone who does report an allegation to a hot line (or some other system that circumvents his or her manager) has a fear about doing the ethical thing. He or she needs to trust that the company will protect their identity— that is, they need to trust the system. They need to see that your internal reporting system is trustworthy.

Those are only a few examples of what building an ethical culture entails. It’s long, painstaking work, that relies on communication and collaboration but that’s how you get to an ethical culture.

Both, the Integrity Initiative Inc. and EITSC, have developed training materials to assist companies in creating trust and ethics—with special emphasis on anti-corruption and data privacy protection. Both organizations are in standby to assist.

Feedback is welcome; please e-mail me at schumacher@ eitsc.com

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

The World

Baht at crossroads as Thai economy seen bottoming out

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hailand’s baht could be at a turning point. It’s the second-worst performing currency in Asia this year, but an expectation that the economy may bottom out over the next few months is spurring some bullish bets.

The baht lost ground as Thailand’s tourism-dependent economy was hit hard by travel restrictions to control the coronavirus spread.

It’s down almost 4 percent against the dollar this year, just behind the Indonesian rupiah. Though, it’s showing signs of revival with gains of 0.5 percent in August.

Some analysts are turning bullish after Thailand’s Finance Minister Predee Daochai said last week the economy will likely bottom out in the second half of the year and rebound in 2021. Current account data this week could also be supportive as it’s forecast to post a surplus of $1 billion in July from a deficit of $247 million in the previous month.

“Over a three-month horizon, we think it will outperform its Asian peers,” says Divya Devesh, head of Asean & South-Asia FX

research at Standard Chartered Bank SG Ltd in Singapore. He sees the nation’s status as a major gold exporter and positive real yields attracting inflows.

The baht’s misfortune is a dramatic swing from last year, when it was the region’s best performer with an 8.6 percent gain. While the economic recovery prospects bode well for the currency, the Bank of Thailand has indicated in its latest meeting minutes that it will act if needed to prevent a rapid appreciation.

The baht also remains vulnerable to outflows. Thailand’s Government Pension Fund, a 1 trillion baht ($32 billion) asset manager, plans to boost its overseas investments, citing limited options in domestic equities.

Technically, the baht remains in consolidation mode as the dueling forces battle it out. The currency pair’s 100-day moving average continues to cap any rally against the dollar, while support under 31.00 is limiting any downside movement. Bloomberg News

Israel sees $6.5 billion in trade as UAE peace talks kick off

T

alks to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates launch this week with a focus on economic issues, with thornier defense matters pushed off as controversy churns around the Gulf Nation’s bid to buy the US’s top warplane.

Israel’s Finance Ministry sees potential for annual bilateral trade starting at $2 billion and building up to $6.5 billion once cooperation matures, according to deputy chief economist Lev Drucker. This week ’s trip will center on promoting cooperation in fields like tourism, finance, trade and health, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The UAE Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

Just three weeks ago such a meeting would have been unheard of. But on Aug. 13, the countries announced their plan to normalize ties, a first between Israel and a Gulf Arab nation, and only the third such arrangement between the Jewish state and an Arab

one. Making this week’s two-day gathering even more eventful is that on Monday, the delegation of Israelis and Americans will fly from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi, reportedly via Saudi Arabia—a first commercial flight of its kind for an Israeli airline.

Shared animosity toward Iran brought Israel and the UAE closer, but commerce is another key motivator. While the UAE has been quiet about its aspirations for specific areas of cooperation, Israeli airlines and banks are already putting out feelers for working on Emirati turf, and Israeli officials have also expressed hope of cooperating in technology and aerospace.

The Finance Ministry’s trade projections are significantly higher than the $1 billion mooted by the Ministry of Economy. Finance Ministry officials are also looking into the potential for negotiating treaties on bilateral investment, taxation, customs and trade financing, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked for anonymity to discuss internal planning. Bloomberg News

BusinessMirror

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A5

Global infections top 25 million as US virus cases near 6 million

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ovid-19 infections worldwide surpassed 25 million, as India set a global record for daily cases and the US tally approached the 6 million mark amid outbreaks on college campuses.

Daily US coronavirus cases rose by 46,739, an 0.8 percent rise compared with an average increase of 0.7 percent over the previous seven days, according to data collected

by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg.

An additional 971 deaths were reported, increasing the US toll to 182,760, according to the data.

Indonesia saw infections spike over the weekend, while an outbreak in South Korea showed signs of easing. The UK added the most cases since early June amid slumping approval ratings for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party.

New Zealand’s largest city exited lockdown after the government said the outbreak there has been brought under control. Hong Kong has embarked on the world’s biggest experiment in voluntary testing, with more than 300,000 people already signed up for the free tests.

Key developments:

Victoria to give road map on lockdown easing

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said another week of data

is needed to formulate a “detailed road map” to ease the current restrictions as Australia’s second-most populous state moves to quash the spread of the coronavirus.

T he loc kdow n i n Vic tor i a caused an immediate slump in consumer spending and a surge in job losses this month, prompting the federal government to call for the state’s leader to announce a plan to reopen the economy.

“It is too early today to settle that road map,” Andrews said at a press conference.

Korea has 248 more cases

South Korea added 248 more coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, down from 299 a day earlier and the fewest daily infections in two weeks. While health officials said the numbers partly reflect reduced testing over the weekend, South Korea has seen cases ease after a recent spike raised worries of another wave. The government last week announced stricter social distancing measures for Seoul.

South Korea’s finance ministry is preparing extra steps to help small businesses including

restaurants and coffee shops that have been impacted by strengthened social distancing measures amid the coronavirus resurgence, Maeil Business Newspaper reported, citing the ministry. The government is likely to release measures worth 2 trillion to 3 trillion won ($1.7 billion to $2.5 billion) by early or mid-September, the report said.

Auckland exits lockdown

New Zealand’s largest city has exited lockdown after the government said a Covid-19 outbreak there has been brought under control and it remains on track to again eliminate the virus from the community.

Auck land schools and custome r - f ac i n g bu s i nes s e s re opened on Monday and a ban on traveling out of the city was lifted, almost three weeks after the outbreak prompted the reintroduction of restrictions.

Social distancing requirements remain in place for the whole countr y under level 2 restrictions and everyone from the age of 12 is now required to wear a mask on public transport.

Brazil’s new cases decline

Brazil recorded 16,158 new cases, the fourth consecutive decline in daily numbers, according to the Health Ministry. Cumulative cases rose to 3,862,311, though the weekly total has declined for the last two weeks.

Deaths increased 366 in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total to 120,828.

Russian cases rise the most in 2 weeks

Russia reported 4,980 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, of which 695 were in Moscow.

That was the biggest daily rise in about two weeks. There were 68 new deaths.

UK cases highest since June

Cases in the UK rose by 1,715, the most since June 4 and well above the previous seven-day average of 1,164. That brings the total to 334,467. Just one person died from the virus, according to government figures reported on Sunday.

German anti-virus protests continue

Protests against the German government’s coronavirus policies continued on Sunday, a day after demonstrations ended in clashes with the police. Leading German politicians expressed shock at farright protesters breaking through fences and broke through to the stairs leading up to the Reichstag building in Berlin, which hosts the federal parliament.

Iran cases drop to 3-month low

Iran reported 1,754 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the lowest number of daily infections in more than three months. Daily deaths also dropped for the seventh day in a row. The country has been observing public holidays since Saturday, with the government encouraging people to mark religious ceremonies at their homes and adhere to strict social distancing in public places. Bloomberg News

Floods in Sudan hit capital hard, over 90 people dead nationwide

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A I RO — R i s i n g f l o o d waters have hit Sudan’s capital of Khartoum hard in recent days, as weeks of heavy flooding nationwide left at least 90 people dead and destroying tens of thousands of homes, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

Sudan’s military said it deployed troops to help evacuate people and build barricades in Khartoum as well as distribute food, after flooding there cut roads and

swept away houses and belongings.

Footage circulated online showing residents of Khartoum erecting barricades and other shields as water from the Nile River swept through several districts.

Flash floods have ravaged swaths of Sudan including the capital since late July, injuring around four-dozen people and damaging or destroying 57,000 houses nationwide, the Interior Ministry said.

More than 380,000 people in

all but one of Sudan’s 18 provinces have been affected by heavy rainfall and flooding since the start of the rainy season in July, according to official statistics.

Most of the affected families were forced to seek shelter with relatives and host communities, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The f looding also damaged at least 43 schools and 2,671 h e a lt h f a c i l it i e s a c r o s s t h e

Wildfire forces over 3,100 people to evacuate in Spain’s Andalusia ARCELONA, Spain—An out-ofcontrol wildfire is raging in Spain’s southern region of Andalusia, forcing more than 3,100 people to evacuate, authorities said on Sunday.

The blaze broke out Thursday in the mountains near the town of Almonaster la Real, 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of the city of Seville. It has already scorched 100 square kilometers (38.5 square miles).

Sixteen helicopters and eight planes are helping more than 500 workers tackle the blaze, including firefighters and army emergency personnel who worked around the clock this weekend.

“It is very difficult to say when the wildfire will be under control,” said Juan Sanchez of the Andalusia Forest Fire Department, as weather conditions are playing a key role.

The wind dropped overnight, making their task a little easier, but authorities expect the fire will be fueled by strong winds later on Sunday. Crews were also struggling to reach all affected areas because of the rugged terrain, officials said.

A further 70 people were evacuated on Saturday because of a wildfire in Mula, a small town in Spain’s southeastern region of Murcia, while firefighters are also trying to extinguish two wildfires in the western region of Extremadura. AP

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Wildfires advance in Almonaster la Real in Huelva, Spain on August 27. Hundreds of people were evacuated and thousands of hectares have already burned in a wildfire that began on Thursday in the southern region of Andalusia, in Huelva. A.Perez, Europa Press via AP

countr y, the UN agency said. At least 2,000 water sources have been contaminated or are now non-functional, it said.

Also late last month, seasonal rainfall and flooding caused the collapse of the Bout Dam in the southeastern Blue Nile province.

The collapse released 5 million cubic meters of water (170 million cubic feet) and flooded at least 13 neighborhoods in the town of Bout, the UN said. AP

A6 Tuesday, September 1, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Prioritizing people over profit

T

he damage to the job market caused by the pandemic looks likely to be deep and long lasting as Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the country.

A recent Social Weather Stations survey showed 45.5 percent of the labor force, or about 27.3 million Filipinos were jobless in July.

For many businesses, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the only way to keep their organizations afloat is to cut costs and let go of a large number of their workers. Unfortunately, whatever cash aid the government could grant under the Bayanihan 2 law for these laid-off employees might take weeks to reach them, too late for their families.

Amid the constant threat of job losses, however, there are a few companies doing the heroic thing of keeping their workers employed. Not all of these businesses are big companies with huge cash reserves.

Take, for instance, the Northern Christian College, a small private school in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, which was founded by a group of evangelical leaders, aided by foreign missionaries and benefactor-families.

Its raison d’etre has always been to minister to the less privileged. As such, the great majority of its students belong to the C, D and E social strata, except their Nursing students, which come from B families.

They only have less than 2,000 students and their average tuition is only P6,000 a semester, a fraction of what many private colleges and universities are charging.

And yet, despite its smaller income stream, this school paid all the salaries of its regular and permanent employees (teaching and non-teaching staff) throughout the lockdown. Even their part-time teachers were paid their full salaries from March until the end of May, which comprise the school months missed owing to quarantine measures.

The school never enforced the no-work-no-pay policy, not even for their office personnel who, unlike the teachers, were doing no work at all.

The school also refunded miscellaneous fees to students, in particular one quarter’s worth for BES (Basic Education School), half a semester’s worth for college, and part of the unused graduation fees for the Graduate School.

It did not increase tuition for the incoming school year, even if the school was also facing the prospect of a massive drop in enrollment and even if its tuition is much less than the miscellaneous fees many private schools are charging.

Not all schools even considered refunding their unused miscellaneous fees, and not all schools paid in full their teachers and non-teaching personnel, even their part-timers, during the quarantine. But the school officials of Northern Christian College felt the word “Christian” in their name would have been a complete mockery if they had not done their best to help their employees, students and parents during this pandemic.

The way this small school has responded to the Covid crisis is a defining moment that will be remembered by its stakeholders for decades.

In March, during the start of the lockdown, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III called on private companies and other big enterprises “to take the extra mile” in assisting their workers, to keep paying their salaries even amid work stoppages, and not resort to retrenchment.

A great many businesses talk about having a social purpose and a set of values, about having corporate social responsibility. Well, this is the best CSR they can do nowadays, to sacrifice short-term profitability for the sake of their people. Anyway, companies lose money all the time. They write off the costs of restructuring, product failures or acquisitions that go wrong. And laying off their skilled workers might even prolong the path to recovery for many companies, since they will have to rebuild their work forces and thus incur new recruiting and training costs.

The country commemorated National Heroes’ Day on Monday. In this light, we also commend the companies and employers who are taking extraordinary and compassionate measures to keep their workers employed during this pandemic. This act, too, is heroism, one that will be remembered and repaid through increased loyalty, higher productivity, and a lasting legacy for many years to come.

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THE Entrepreneur

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riticisms in a democracy are always welcome to help the government uplift the lives of many Filipinos, especially its our battle against Covid-19. But if they are destructive and offer no feasible solutions to the current health crisis, critics should not get in the way of government’s efforts to solve the nation’s problems.

Amid this challenging period, we need the cooperation of everyone to overcome the unprecedented threat to our way of life. Instead of adding fuel to the fire as President Duterte describes the potshots against him and the government, everyone should help the administration in its quest to strengthen our economy and provide for the needs of our people.

The government is doing its best to overcome the pandemic and its debilitating impact on the economy. The economy may have shrunk in the second quarter of the year but we are nowhere close to past financial crises, where investors lost confidence and the peso depreciated rapidly against the US dollar.

I would commend our economic managers and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) officials for doing a good job in keeping the impact of the health crisis on the economy manageable.

We can take consolation in the fact that while the pandemic left a cavity in our second-quarter growth perfor-

mance, we have solid fundamentals that continue to shield us from price volatility and external risks.

Economic stability is more important than any other measure of growth, and what else can better represent stability than the foreign exchange rate and the inflation rate. The peso, which effectively drives all costs of commodities, has been stable and strong in the past few months, which means the value of the money we have is steady, ensuring our capacity to purchase essential goods. Based on the stable foreign exchange rate, we can better predict and manage our business expectations and household expenditures. The peso is trading between 48 and 49 against the US dollar in August, compared to between 50 and 51 in March at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Inflation was also relatively steady, settling at 2.7 percent in July 2020, which was within the BSP’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for the whole year. Along with income growth, the

No more ‘Sugar Daddy’

Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug

Senior Editors

Creative Director Chief Photographer

Economy not that bad despite critics’ claim

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

H

ere we are at the first of September with situations—plural—that were unimaginable when we celebrated New Year’s Day 2020. Let the political fools play their games. Let those with “crucial” social issues shout as loudly since they have no desire to think about what they are saying. Let the people who think that they have the right answers to all questions babble on.

We have much more serious issues that need our concern.

The global economy was entering a dead zone long before 2020. In 2010, global gross domestic product growth was 4 percent. The world had been growing between 3.5 and 4 percent a year back to the 1980s. Since 2010, the average growth rate is about 2.5 percent or about 25 percent lower. That is a big deal.

Note this well: 60 percent of global GDP comes from international trade.

This might hurt the feelings of some dedicated China apologists but in 2006

that economy grew at 14 percent. Now those same “China Cheerleaders” are super excited at the 2020 growth prospect of 4 percent. The “AmBoys” are not doing much better. The US economy has been in a decline since the 1984 seven percent growth rate and 4.5 percent growth in 1998.

Putting together the global central banks doing all they can for the “rich,” the idea that “free money” creates productive investment, and the pandemic, we see a disaster movie. Actually the pandemic has a “silver lining” since it

stability of the peso against other currencies and the low inflation rate have the most meaningful impact on the quality of living in the country.

While it may be true that the gross domestic product contracted 16.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, the stable currency and inflation rate give our people access to food and other essential products and services at affordable costs.

We would not have achieved this stability if we allowed our fears over the coronavirus to paralyze our financial markets, as well as our manufacturing, logistics and trade sectors. The key is to keep the economy operational while we observe strict health protocols and targeted lockdowns to contain the spread of the virus.

A serious economic crisis happens when there are not enough commodities in the market to meet the demand of the population, resulting in hyperinflation and the loss of value of the local currency, like what is happening in Venezuela.

We are far from that situation, as the government and the Bangko Sentral ensure that the financial system and the food chain are not disrupted even during this most challenging period.

Unlike the prev ious cr isis in the mid-1980s, the situation this year is marked by stable exchange rate and consumer prices. Between 1983 a nd 1986, t he per c apit a income in the Philippines shrank 18 percent. This was complicated by excessive inflation rate and peso devaluation. The situation was so dire that the government declared a debt moratorium in 1983, after the then-Central Bank ran short of foreign reserves.

As a result, foreign investors fled the Philippines. The peso was devalued by nearly 100 percent in 1984, while annual inflation rate averaged at double digits, hitting over 60 percent in 1984 and 24.9 percent in 1985. The situation was so severe that in Negros Island, people suffered from starvation.

Again, we are nowhere near that situation despite the health crisis this year. The BSP has more than adequate gross international reserves to service our foreign exchange needs. The GIR was approaching the $100-billion level, settling at $98 billion as of end-July 2020, representing “an ample external liquidity buffer which can cushion the domestic economy against external shocks.”

However, we should not be complacent about our economic stability, given the gravity of the health crisis, which according to the World Health Organization may linger for two more years.

As our BSP officials and economic managers remain alert to spot any sign of economic anomaly, businesses can focus on making their operations up and running while our health authorities do their best to isolate communities with high infection rates. This strategy will work best for the economy and our people, who need to continue working to be able to feed their families.

The government needs all the support it can get from all sectors amid these trying times. Criticizing it for the sake of criticism is not helpful and will not advance the people’s interests.

can be blamed for the terrible results from the first two factors.

China has done its best to not be a part of the rest of the world’s central bank failures. They decided to try their own methods of failure. “Getting Rich” from building “ghost cities” seemed like a good idea at the time. But the people expected that would continue forever. It did not. Also, the “Chinese Starlet” assumed her “USA [and European] Sugar Daddy” would continue paying the bills forever. The USA “wife” found out her IPhone was paying for the mistress’s breast enhancement.

But nearly every country since World War 2 has looked for its own “Sugar Daddy.” Nippon-koku or “State of Japan” became “Japan Inc.” selling to the US, as did South Korea and Taiwan. Of Germany’s 2019 trade surplus of $225 billion, 70 percent was with the US, the UK, and France. Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of $11 billion in 2019 of which $10.4 billion was with the US. For decades, the Philippines has been scorned by the “experts” for not having a trade surplus Sugar Daddy, instead relying on domestic/household consumption for growth. Look at the percentage of GDP growth from domestic spending: Germany-

52 percent, South Korea-48 percent, China-38 percent, Vietnam-68 percent, and Thailand-49 percent.

Philippine economic growth is fueled 73 percent by domestic/household consumption. Again, 60 percent of global GDP comes from international trade with large wealth transfer from the Sugar Daddies to the “Starlets.” The Philippines is in much better condition to improve its economy faster with one great caution, that being remittances.

OFW remittances recovered in June with 7.7 percent growth. Pray for that trend to continue. Now let’s read the BusinessMirror issue on August 31, 2020: “Uniteller Philippines President Noel Fernando Cristal said the expected decline in remittances this year should prompt overseas Filipino workers to create a long-term strategy that may not involve labor migration. In the longer term, Filipinos may have to look for alternative sources of finance beyond economic labor migration.”

For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail.

com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

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

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, September 1, 2020 A7

The necessity of oral The law and order President arguments on terror law

By Justice Noel G. Tijam

Manny F. Dooc

Former SC Associate Justice

TELLTALES

O

ral arguments scheduled next month on the anti-terror law would be useless if it will be a mere rehash by the parties of everything they have already written down in their pleadings. The High Court knows how to read.

There is no need to waste their precious time to dissect and debate on the nuances and language of the law. The Supreme Court is not a proofreader of unacceptable laws in the absence of an actual case or controversy. Aided by skilled lawyers and researchers, these SC magistrates are familiar with all the arguments of all 28 petitioners as well as the counter-arguments proffered by the Solicitor General and lawyers for the respondent.

To make the oral arguments useful, petitioners must present empirical evidence and data that human-rights violations against suspected terrorists were committed by numerous countries worldwide in the implementation and enforcement of similar anti-terrorism laws, or that the expansion of their government’s power were used to target particular anti-government, religious, ethnic, and other social groups.

On the other hand, respondents must present historical data of acts of terrorism committed in our country as well as worldwide that caused immense harm to the general population necessitating the enactment and implementation of a draconian and stiff anti-terrorism law in keeping with their duty to protect the people from such attacks. Respondents must present empirical data that human rights of terrorists are nonetheless safeguarded and respected worldwide in the

‘L

TIJAM conduct of the war against terrorism.

This is the only way the crucial issues submitted to the High Court will be rationally evaluated and judiciously resolved taking into account that International terrorism can destroy our own country. The SC magistrates are sworn to defend and uphold the Constitution, but more than anything else, they are obligated to insure that our government, our people, and our democratic institutions are insulated from terrorism that seek to destroy them.

Discussions must not dwell solely on the semantics of the law but on the primordial issue of whether the stability of government institutions are safeguarded; whether the law affords adequate protection to enhance the general welfare of the people; whether strengthening the law instead of diluting or emasculating it will remove lives and properties out of harm’s way.

The Constitution was not designed to weaken government or to put the people at risk to protect the rights of a selected few. The parties must look at the bigger picture, which is to make our country and its people safe and secured.

China just called Trump’s bluff on TikTok

By Tim Culpan | Bloomberg Opinion

I

magine a bidder wanting to buy KFC, but being told the deal might not include the Colonel’s 11 secret herbs and spices. That’s effectively what Beijing has told the list of US companies keen to purchase shortvideo app TikTok: The key ingredients may be out of reach.

At first it looked like the Trump administration had it all figured out.

ByteDance Inc., it decided, was a risk to national security and the Chinese company’s main product for international markets had to be sold.

For reasons that remain confounding, Satya Nadella entered the fray and Microsoft Corp. put in a bid. Soon, suitors were apparently lining up to buy the hip new product that claims 100 million US downloads. A short deadline—September 15—helped build a sense of urgency. TikTok is essentially going through a forced sale.

Then Beijing stepped in. China’s Commerce Ministry added new items to its list of export controls late Friday.

Now, artificial intelligence interface technologies such as speech and text recognition, as well as methods to analyze data and make personalized content recommendations, are matters of national security.

That means ByteDance will need Chinese government approval to sell TikTok’s US operations, Bloomberg News reported Sunday; a person familiar with the matter said the new rule is aimed at delaying the sale, not an outright ban. But with AI and its content recommendation engine among the key ingredients of the company’s success, Beijing becomes the arbiter of TikTok’s fate. Not the US administration.

As much as critics—including US senators and the secretary of state— express concern about the data TikTok collects, it’s really the algorithms that matter most to the company, and anyone who buys it. These are the magic formulae that tell the app which data points will predict future behavior, and keep you staring at the phone longer. If you linger on hiphop videos and swipe past cooking tips, then chances are you’ll be seeing more lip-synced DJ Khalid and fewer turkey-stuffing recipes. Speech and text recognition allow TikTok to

peer deeper into content to extract a better sense of what’s being said and written.

Facebook Inc., Snap Inc. and Alphabet Inc. are among those pouring billions of dollars into better predicting user behavior. This is the bread and butter of search-engine results and timeline feeds, helping them sell more-targeted ads at higher prices. Notice that Google tends to return better results than Bing, despite having access to the same pool of data (the entire Internet!), and you get a sense of why algorithms matter.

TikTok’s algos are gold. At least, that’s what bidders seem to think.

And it looks like Beijing agrees. Effectively, the Chinese government is saying, “You wanna buy TikTok? Go ahead, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get your hands on the secret sauce.”

This development will surely send Microsoft, Oracle Corp. and everyone else back to their bankers, and lawyers, trying to figure out what TikTok would be worth without those algorithms.

ByteDance, for its part, will need to work out what it can and cannot throw into the package it’s being forced to sell. That’s not easy.

At worst, this may require trawling through millions of lines of code to sort out whether content is allowable or forbidden. It’s not black and white.

What one person considers AI may be viewed by another as mundane software technology.

As bidders rush to guess what Beijing may allow them to buy, and reassess whether they want to make an offer, some may simply conclude that it’s too fraught with uncertainty. Any final transaction will surely be couched with provisions about what they’ll be able to obtain—management’s fiduciary duty to shareholders requires no less.

This move puts the ball back in Donald Trump’s court. The US president may need to contend with the real possibility that TikTok doesn’t find a buyer, and he’ll have to decide whether one of the nation’s most popular products should be removed from the app store of its most valuable company.

Trump may think that strong-arming China will boost his re-election chances, but being outplayed could backfire.

It’s also possible that if TikTok ends up being banned altogether, there will be a backlash by the app’s fans.

aw and order” is a recurring theme in US politics particularly among the Republican presidential candidates.

In recent past, its leading exponents were former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, both Californians. “Law and order” is a powerful message, which resonates effectively well with the electorates. It will always be a relevant issue in any political conversation whenever there is a perception of breakdown of law and order in the country.

For instance, in the 1968 presidential election, all serious candidates particularly Richard Nixon, who was then making his second run for the highest office after losing to John F. Kennedy, made law and order his centerpiece agenda. He condemned violence and crimes in the streets and called for a reassertion of authority. Nixon said that “liberty is not a ticket for violence, license and chaos. There can be no progress without order, no freedom without order, no justice without order.” Yet Nixon was forced out of office after committing a serious crime against the American people. Even Robert Kennedy, who was then leading the primary contests in the Democratic Party prior to his assassination, could not ignore the overriding public concern and campaigned as a crimebusting former Attorney General and strongly plugged for “law and order.”

During his term, President Ronald Reagan who also adopted “law and order” as his advocacy, had ap-

pointed conservative judges who were tough on crimes. More prison houses were constructed as the number of inmates more than tripled from 500,000 to over 1.5 million prisoners from 1980 to 1994. Convicted felons served longer prison terms, with less parole.

Generally, proponents of “law and order” are from the right wing of the political spectrum. Liberals and leftwing elements are not keen advocates of “law and order” since it normally clashes with civil liberties. A candidate normally projects himself as tough on crime or regards himself as “anti-crime”. He has no hesitation embracing the cause and proudly proclaims himself: “I am your law and order candidate” to the people.

That’s exactly what President Donald J. Trump said when he first ran for president in 2016. Now, after a long summer of discontent and massive street protests across the US, marked by riots, lootings and killings, President Trump in his acceptance speech

last week, introduced himself to the electorates: “I am your president of law and order.” And lambasted his opponent, former VP Joe Biden for being soft on crime. Trump claims that Biden will dismantle the police, desecrate historical monuments and give free rein to anarchists. “You cannot be safe in Biden’s America,” he intoned. And added that his opponent will fail to protect law-abiding citizens and tear down America if he is voted into office. Will “law and order” be again his successful recipe for his re-election?

We listened to the just concluded Republican National Convention where practically all speakers spoke glowingly about the achievements of the Trump administration on its first term in office and pointed to the other side for the failures of the government especially on the issue of “law and order” that they blame, among others, to the opposition.

Trump and his allies alleged that the social turmoil raging across America is politically inspired. The Democrats countered that when there is failure of leadership and abuse of power by the authorities that wield it, protest actions become legitimate and justified. During the Republican National Convention, the Democrats played a campaign advertisement that portrays Trump virtually a wolf disguising himself as a lamb. He is running on “law and order” agenda but Trump in all the years that he has been at the White House was surrounded by felons—campaign manager Paul Manafort and deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, personal lawyer Michael Cohen, personal adviser Roger Stone,

and several other characters who had brushes with the law and subsequently convicted. nnn

President Duterte is an original “law and order” president. He was a known “toughie” against crime while he was the Davao City mayor.

He imposed curfew in the city and personally patrolled the streets at night to enforce it. He made violators of the anti-smoking ordinance eat cigarette butts. He was unforgiving to criminals, particularly those involved in illegal drugs. Lawless elements turned up dead and the Commission on Human Rights extensively investigated him about them. He was fiercer than “Dirty Harry.” When he became our President, he introduced Tokhang, which is now the most dreaded term in police work. He appointed retired military and police officers in his cabinet and other sensitive posts. He declared Martial Law in Mindanao to arrest the deterioration of law and order.

Recently he had the Anti-Terrorism Act amended to give it more teeth.

Now, he asked Congress to reimpose the death penalty. We have all the laws but what we need is more “order”. We need a strong criminal justice system and stricter law enforcement. It presupposes mandatory sentencing, harsher penalties and longer imprisonment. Now, President Duterte has asked Congress to reimpose the death penalty. He may use the strong arm of the law, within legal bounds, but he should not intensify militarization and police power of the state. The rule of law should be paramount.

If he succeeds, “law and order” will define the Duterte presidency.

Gearing up for the pre-authorization audits

by DTI’s Strategic Trade Management Office Atty. Lino Ernie M. Guevara

Tax law for business

I

N my last article, I wrote about Republic Act (RA) 10697, otherwise known as the “Strategic Trade Management Act” (STMA) enacted to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by managing and regulating the trading of strategic goods, including software and technology. This affirms the Philippines’s binding commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1540 imposing upon member states to enforce measures to establish domestic controls preventing WMD proliferation.

The Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Strategic Trade Management Office headed by its Director, Atty. Luis M. Catibayan, started last July the authorization for the export of strategic goods.

To recall “strategic goods” are products that, for security reasons or due to international agreements, are considered to be of military importance that their export is either prohibited or subject to specific conditions. STMA provides a National Strategic Goods List comprised of Military Goods (Annex 1), Dual-Use Goods (Annex 2) and Nationally Controlled Goods (Annex 3). RA 10697 applies to and requires the authorization

by STMO of any natural or juridical persons operating within the Philippines or Filipinos wherever located engaging in the export, import, transit or transshipment, re-export or reassignment of strategic goods, including software and technology, as well as the provision of related services (i.e., brokering, financing and transporting). Any person covered by the requirements of STMA intending to engage in these regulated activities should obtain the necessary STMO authorization.

There are three types of license or authorization granted by STMO. First is an individual authorization given to one specific person engaged in regulated activities with respect to one end-user/ consignee, covering one or more strategic goods. Validity is for a maximum period of two years while six months for individual authorization for transit or transshipment. Next is a global authorization granted to one specific person or entity engaged in regulated activities with respect to one or more specified end-users and exported to one or more countries covering one or more

strategic goods. It is valid for a maximum period of five years. Third is a general authorization to import, export, transit, transship, re-export re-assign specified goods or provide related services to destination countries subject to conditions specified in the general license. It has a lifetime validity until revoked or amended by STMO. STMO requires, among others, an Internal Compliance Program (ICP) as a precondition for the issuance of a global authorization, on a case-by-case basis. It may also require a Technology Control Plan (TCP) for applicants of individual authorizations and governmental enduse assurances relevant to Intangible Technology Transfer (ITT).

What is an ICP? And why is an ICP pre-audit important?

ICP refers to an effective, appropriate, and proportionate means and procedures, including the development, implementation, and adherence to standardized operational compliance policies, standards of conduct, and safeguards, developed by exporters for compliance with the provisions and conditions of authorizations under STMA. Since trading strategic goods is a privilege granted through authorizations issued by the government, STMO shall now conduct ICP Pre-Authorization Audits on all covered persons per DTI Memorandum Circular 20-45 (August 3, 2020).

ICP pre-authorization audits shall cover the following: n Registered entities determined by STMO to be eligible for a global authorization; n Applicants of global authorization; n Applicants of individual authorization relevant to ITT;

n Applicants of governmental enduse assurance relevant to ITT; and n Other persons as determined by STMO. Through this ICP audit, STMO may assess whether said ICP or TCP adheres to the standard elements under the STMO Guidelines for ICP set-up and whether said standard elements are effectively implemented within the company. Among the criteria to be used by STMO to inspect an entity’s ICP or TCP compliance are the management commitment, ICP structure/responsibility/training, commodity classification, end-user/screening, risk assessment, Standard Operating Procedures Manual and record keeping. Covered persons engaging in ITT shall establish a TCP, which is an ICP for entities engaged in ITT or engaged in the transmission of software and technology by electronic media or through non-electronic means.

STMO employs various audit approaches such as Paper Audit (desk review of submitted information), Remote Audit (use information and communication technology to conduct audit when “face-to-face” methods not possible) and Field Audit (physical visits by the STMO Audit Team to the site). An ICP Field or Remote audit could take more than one day depending on various factors (e.g., volume and nature of the transactions, auditee’s preparedness, ICP efficiency, etc.). Audit result will be available within 30 working days from the closing meeting or from the submission of all information requested, whichever is later. The type of audit results could be (a) Satisfactory Rating where applicant may proceed with the authorization application process, (b) Unsatisfactory Rating with a request for corrective action and where STMO shall assist the entity to meet the required standards, and (c) Re-audit whenever any action is still required by the STMO such as production of record or minor ICP modifications.

Applicants failing to obtain a satisfactory rating during audit or re-audit shall have an option to apply for an individual authorization while improving their ICP to obtain a satisfactory rating.

Note that without a Satisfactory rating in the STMO ICP Audit, a global authorization/individual authorization (ITT), or Governmental End-Use Assurance (ITT) cannot be granted. Under the Circular, STMO shall guide entities in establishing their own ICPs. Entities may contact the STMO Policy and Enterprise Relations Division (PERD) in this regard.

Undertaking this ICP pre-authori-

zation audit could greatly improve and strengthen stakeholders’ compliance as well as heighten their awareness. As envisioned by STMO, this may identify gaps early on and proactively detect and prevent potential violations. It could certainly boost the effective implementation of RA 10697. But what is also critical would be the agency’s valued guidance and assistance to stakeholders during the process, especially at this early stage of the law’s implementation.

It is also encouraging to know the various positive steps being undertaken

by STMO through Director Catibayan’s leadership. I understand that STMO has actively engaged in discussions with local partners for the current trends in strategic trade management and also provided needed trainings for its personnel relating to the best practices in other jurisdictions. Locally, STMO has been conducting outreach activities since 2019 to both government and industry stakeholders in various locations such as Subic, Laguna and Cebu, among others, to ensure STMA compliance. They are also developing strategic trade database in coordination with other concerned government agencies. But what was most promising, especially during this pandemic and its dire economic impact, was that according to Director Catibayan, the implemented strategic trade management legislations have shown benefits in terms of investments in the manufacture and exports of strategic goods as shown in other countries.

This indeed could very well be the silver lining for our export sector during this economic downturn. Aside from its positive economic impact, a robust and well-grounded STMA enforcement by STMO also highlights the Philippines’s significant contributions to the international community’s concerted effort in preventing the proliferation of WMDs, thus, helping maintain peace and security in the region.

The author is a Special Counsel of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a memberfirm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at ernie.guevara@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-201 local 160.

A8 Tuesday, September 1, 2020

ERC to sanction more DUs that breached lockdown billing rules

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is expected to issue more decisions penalizing distribution utilities (DUs) that did not comply with the agency’s billing directives.

The agency did not identify the DUs because it has yet to receive the replies as to why they should not be penalized for, among others, collecting the Feed-In Tariff Allowance (FiT-All) and Universal Charge-Environmental Charge

(UC-EC) from their consumers during the quarantine period.

“Many have complained to us.

We reviewed the reports and we saw that there were many violators. We told them not to collect the FiT-ALL and UC-EC but they

still did. So what the ERC did was to write them and we asked them to explain,” said ERC Chairman and CEO Agnes VST Devanadera.

“I cannot say how much is the penalty because we are still waiting for their reply to the ERC order requiring them to explain as to why in our initial evaluation they committed those violations,” she added.

The ERC also issued several advisories deferring payment of electricity bills falling due within the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) without interests, penalties, fees and other charges.

Still, consumers experienced bill shocks due to confusing billing statements.

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), for one, faced rampant complaints over the unexplained surge in the monthly electricity bills of consumers at the height of the summer community quarantine.

The ERC last week fined Meralco P19 million for violating the

regulatory agency’s advisories.

In particular, Meralco did not clearly indicate that the bills were estimated. It also failed to comply with the mandated installment payment arrangement.

The ERC decision maintained that under the circumstances, prudence dictates that Meralco, in the presentation of information to the consumers should always account the normal behavior of consumers.

“Meralco’s neglect to provide accurate and timely information especially during this time of pandemic has created chaos and confusion to most of the electricity consuming public. The Commission issued the relevant Advisories with the intention of alleviating the financial burden of the electricity consumers who were mostly adversely affected by the community quarantine measures implemented by the government.

This serious neglect by Meralco resulted [in] a multitude of com-

plaints filed by its consumers to this Commission,” Devanadera had said.

The ERC then warned other DUs to take the agency’s advisories very seriously. “Our Advisories were issued to aid the electricity consumers in light of the ongoing pandemic. It was supposed to provide a respite from the various financial woes of the consumers. In real time response to the changes brought forth by the pandemic, the Commission hereby intervenes and provides relief to the most affected consumers in the form of discount to the applicable retail rate,” Devanadera said.

The ERC chief also told consumers to pay for their consumed electricity should they find no discrepancy in their billing statements. “We call on the consumers to pay for what they think is the correct billing for their electricity consumption. Let’s pay if we think that there was no error in the bill sent to us,” she added.

Expand SEF to cover alternative learning–Go

S

EN. Christopher Lawrence Go on Mond ay pressed calls for timely passage by Congress of remedial legislation expanding the Special Education Fund (SEF) to include, among others, the operation of alternative learning systems.

The enabling legislation embodied in Senate Bill 396 filed by Go last year seeks to “cover expenditures that improve access to public education, as determined by a local school board, such as the operation of alternative learning systems [ALS].”

SB 396 also includes payment of salaries, allowances and other benefits of ALS facilitators; purchase of teaching aids and other instructional materials; competency training for teaching personnel; and payment of salaries, allowances and other benefits of teaching and non-teaching personnel.

In renewing his call for an expanded SEF application, Go cited the need to give local government units the flexibility to use the SEF in order to help local public schools in their implementation of the Department of Education’s Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan.

“Through a proposed amendment to the Local Government Code,” the senator suggested that “we can provide LGUs the flexibility they need to maximize available resources and help educational institutions adopt policies that allow our students to continue their studies without exposing them to health risks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The SEF is generated from an annual 1-percent tax on real property and is automatically released to local school boards. Go filed the Senate Bill 396 last year, seeking to expand the use of SEF, but is now pushing it anew in light of new requirements of the school system imposed by the unique challenges of the Covid-induced lockdowns.

Continued on A2

Police secure an area where a bomb recently exploded in Jolo, Sulu province, on August 30, 2020. KARL NORMAN ALONZO/ MALACAÑANG PRESIDENTIAL

DTI asks DA to lift Brazil meat import ban

T

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has asked its agriculture counterpart to lift the ban on Brazilian meat imports to prevent any increases in canned good prices.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez on Monday said he wrote to Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar to seek the removal of the import ban on Brazilian meat products.

“We support the position [to recall the ban] because the basis of that ban against importation of chicken and chicken products from Brazil has no scientific basis they can be infectious,” he argued in a TV interview.

The Department of Agriculture has barred meat products from Brazil from entering the Philippines on reports that samples of chicken wings imported by China tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of Covid-19. To date, only the Philippines is enforcing such a policy.

Lopez said the import ban should be lifted to allow meat processors to purchase raw materials from Brazil, the country’s second-largest source of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) used in the production of canned goods.

Otherwise, meat processors will be left with no choice but to buy their MDM from Europe and America.

According to the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi), MDM from Brazil is fixed at $680 per metric ton compared to $800 per metric ton in other sources.

“If they source from other countries, they will have to pay more for their raw materials given the limited supply of meat now,” Lopez explained.

As such, meat processors may be compelled to petition the DTI to permit them to increase the prices of their products. In the end, consumers suffer, Lopez concluded.

The trade chief vowed his agency will evaluate any petition filed by meat processors for a price hike, taking into account the additional cost induced by the ban.

“The situation now is risky in the sense their cost of raw materials may go up. If that happens, meat processors will appeal for a price increase,” Lopez said.

“We will not automatically give it. In other words, we will study the cost impact,” he added. “We are just stressing the impact on prices if we fail to resolve this issue.”

Citing the DTI’s product monitoring, Pampi warned that the industry’s MDM inventory as of August 14 will only last for up to 45 days.

Even if the import ban is removed, it will take weeks before meat processors can refill their stockpile, as ships from Brazil to the Philippines crawl for up to 60 days.

Elijah Felice E. Rosales

PHOTOGRAPHERS DIVISION VIA AP

Quarantine protocols as way of life eyed

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

T

@alyasjah

HE government is planning to extend the duration of quarantine restrictions nationwide for up to 30 days, from 14 days, to prepare the country’s transition to the new normal.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said state officials are studying the option of prolonging the period of quarantine protocols across the archipelago. Under such policy, people are expected to practice minimum health standards and make them part of their everyday lifestyle.

“Definitely, we are looking into

a longer-term period of community quarantine. In other words, it may no longer be 14 days. The duration may now be one month,” Lopez said in a TV interview on Monday.

As in the past, local government leaders and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) recommend to President Duterte the kind of quarantine to be enforced in certain areas.

Whatever the President imposes usually lasts an average of 14 days before the decision-making process is repeated.

Lopez explained that the government wants the people to get used to wearing face masks and

face shields, keeping distance and disinfecting regularly regardless of the quarantine in place.

“Our view here is, regardless of the community quarantine, health and safety precautions must be observed,” Lopez said. “For now, we have to wait for the President’s announcement on the official community quarantines to be applied this September.”

In the trade chief’s assessment, residents of Metro Manila and nearby provinces are complying with parameters set by the government in their region’s revert to general community quarantine (GCQ) on August 19.

“All indications show we are

maintaining the GCQ parameters now. However, the only question is what are the new considerations.

Let’s say, for a new quarantine or maybe a new system of community quarantine,” Lopez said, hinting at the choices the IATF is looking at.

Under GCQ, around 75 percent of industries are operating on limited capacity, but this can go up to 90 percent if quarantine restrictions are relaxed, Lopez said.

“Many firms had to shut down for good, although some are just temporarily closed. Those who decided to reopen have yet to see their usual number of customers,” he said, adding that recovery will be delayed due to the stay- at-home

order for people below 20 and above 60.

“A big part of the market is still prohibited from going out, [and] that limitation is the reason some business operations, especially in retailing, have yet to reopen,” he added.

On the other hand, Lopez announced that gyms, grooming services and review centers are allowed to resume their enterprise in GCQ areas starting September.

They were scheduled to reopen on the first week of August before the government reverted Metro Manila and nearby provinces to modified enhanced community quarantine; thus, delaying their resumption.

Companies BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

B1

EDC maintains capex on Covid challenges

L

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

opez-led geothermal energy company Energy Development Corp. (EDC) is maintaining a capital expenditure (capex) of about P7 billion to 8 billion for next year amid the challenges brought about by the pandemic.

“For EDC, the intention is to maintain capital expenditures as planned at [more or less] P7 billion to P8 billion annually in 2020 and 2021,” officials said during the company’s annual meeting.

The pandemic, however, has brought challenges in the company’s ability to execute various

projects given various levels of quarantine across its sites, executives said. These projects are heavily dependent on foreign materials and services which were adversely affected during the lockdown measures against Covid-19, executives said.

Still, EDC expects no material

impact on electricity generation for the year and ramp up plans are already in place to quickly recover from the delays, such as the drilling activities of EDC and the execution of the upgrades in the control systems of Palinpinon 1.

“We have a plan in place to recover and to ramp up activities quickly once delivery of materials and mobilization of manpower can resume,” the company said.

EDC maintains a total portfolio of 1,499.14-megawatts (MW) of renewable energy comprised primarily of 1,204.67 MW of reliable and sustainable geothermal energy, along with 150 MW of wind, 132.5 MW of hydro and 11.97 MW of solar.

The company said it shifted to “integrated reporting” of its yearly performance to further highlight the value it contributes to the ecosystem and to society as it strives

towards a regenerative future.

For the past nine years, EDC has reported on its sustainability performance utilizing the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, which primarily covers the “triple bottom line” or impact on people, planet and profit.

EDC’s integrated reporting enhances the discussion and presentation of material issues and disclosures guided by GRI standards with the framework set forth by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), the company said.

The IIRC framework measures the performance and value that businesses have created based on six forms of capital. These are financial capital, manufacturing capital, human capital, social and relationship capital, intellectual capital, and natural capital.

EDC’s integrated reporting, it stressed, is an essential tool in

AllHome taps link with sister firm A

llHome Corp, the Villar group’s listed retail arm, said it is capitalizing on its relationship with its sister firm Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. to sell more products to its customers even during lockdown measures against the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Our retai l businesses are hinged on our knowledge and deep understanding of the growing families we have living in our communities,” AllHome and Vista Land Chairman Manuel B. Villar Jr. said. “This gives us a unique perspective when deciding what to offer and how to sell to our customers.”

According to Villar, AllHome

maximizes its links with Vista Land through specialized packages exclusive to its homeowners. These packages include furniture, appliances, housewares and linens that “take into consideration the style, measurements and floor areas of the many different Vista Land housing developments.”

For the first half of this year, All Home declared total sales worth P4.85 billion, just a 4 percent drop from last year’s P5.05 billion despite the store closures as a result of the series of lockdowns in key cities of the country since mid-March.

All Home’s income for the period was down by 36 percent during the

first half of the year to P275.65 million from last year’s P434.3 billion.

AllHome shares closed Friday at P6.20 apiece, up P0.06 from the previous trade.

Vista Land is the Villar group’s property development arm and is present in almost 150 cities and municipalities across the country.

It built nearly 500,000 homes nationwide. Through its consumer base, Vista Land provides its affiliates with access to a wide and captured market of homeowners and homebuilders. Vista Land’s locations also attract other developers to locate nearby, contributing to the growth of AllHome’s captive market.

“The same synergistic relationship with Vista Land that allows AllHome to tap a strong network of homeowners and homebuilders also gives it access to a vast 3000-hectare land bank of prime locations for future store expansion,” the company said.

With all branches situated close to residential developments, All Home said it becomes a natural and preferred option for homeowners because of ease of access, especially during the current pandemic. Not only does AllHome enjoy proximity to residential communities, it also features independent entry points, minimizing unnecessary contact with other shoppers. VG Cabuag

Eton has ‘Data still bright spot for telco biz’ new exec G

Engr. Carlos B. Carlos Eton Properties Philippines Inc.

E

ton Properties Philippines Inc., the real-estate arm of the Lucio Tan Group, has named Engineer Carlos B. Carlos as its new executive vice president (EVP). He will be next in command and reporting to Chief Operating Officer Karlu Tan Say and would help oversee the company’s operations.

Prior to his promotion as EVP, Carlos was first vice president of the company’s technical services group.

With his new role, Carlos will consequently lead the same team that handles project management, planning and design, core engineering and project development support operations. Since joining Eton in 2015, he has led the successful development of the company’s key office and commercial projects.

“Carlos has been an invaluable asset of Eton’s management team throughout the years. His vast experience in real estate and good leadership skills will help propel the company to the next level.,” Say was quoted in a statement as saying.

Carlos has 25 years of solid experience in construction and project management, real-estate development and property management locally and abroad.

lobe Telecom Inc. expects demand for data will continue to surge throughout 2020, as the Philippines transitions into a “more digital nation” due to lockdown measures against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ernest L. Cu, the company’s president, said his group is “optimistic” of the strong demand for both mobile and fixed line data services for the remainder of 2020, which has so far seen a huge bump in data traffic.

For instance, Cu said, mobile data traffic for the first six months of the year climbed by 45 percent to 1,106 petabytes, as Filipinos are using their mobile phones to work, learn and be entertained amid the pandemic.

“Data continues to be a bright

spot for business, as demand remains strong and steadily growing. Especially at this time of pandemic, internet access serves as a lifeline for many Filipinos. People use the internet to do work from home, conduct business, make payments, and homeschooling, among others. We expect this trend to continue until the rest of the year,” he said.

Cu added that Globe’s home broadband business has reached 2.9 million homes and “will continue to grow as more households gear up for working and learning from home and more are expected to follow suit as public schools reopen in October.”

“The potential of home broadband remains a source of inspiration for us. This segment is largely untapped so there are a lot of

households that are looking to be connected. We hope to fill this demand with our aggressive network roll out in the second half not only in urban areas but even in provinces all over the country,” added Cu. Still, Globe reported net income for the first half of the year declining by 5 percent to P11.5 billion from P12 billion the year prior, blaming higher depreciation brought about by continued network investments.

Service revenues was almost flattish at P72.4 billion, while total operating expenses including subsidy remained at P34 billion.

Its core net income, also affected by higher depreciation costs, stood at P12 billion, or an 8-percent decline from a year ago.

Lorenz S. Marasigan

regenerative development, a globally emerging business principle centered on holistic processes. It goes beyond sustainability and organizational impact on citizens, the economy and the environment, and extends to how the company intends to create value in the short to medium and long term.

“This shift toward an integrated reporting practice reflects EDC’s proactive approach to the long-term growth of the company.

We have focused on improving and reporting on our sustainability performance for almost a decade. Today, we understand that sustainability was only the first step in our journey. Now, we shift our focus to regeneration, in the hopes that we can restore the environment we share and create a better future for all Filipinos,” the report stated.

In his message, EDC Chairman

GERI: Contained-living lifestyle sustainable

P

roperty developer GlobalEstate Resorts Inc. (GERI) said living in an enclosed community is a sustainable and resilient business model, especially during times of pandemic “as people’s behavior and way of life dramatically shift.”

Monica T. Salomon, the company’s president, said as a result of the pandemic consumer’s priorities shifted overnight in favor of essential goods and services and the fulfillment of basic human needs to focus on personal health and well-being, the family and the place where they live.

“The company believes that its integrated leisure estates and lifestyle communities, which make possible contained living set in the backdrop of natural environments, are sustainable and resilient models and will stand to benefit from the ongoing fundamental changes in people’s behavior and way of life,” Salomon said. “We sense a growing interest in social benefit and community engagement, giving rise to mindful consumption and enlightened consumerism.

“To adapt our projects to a digitally transformed global society, we will invest in strengthening the digital capabilities of our integrated estates and communities to enable residents to live-work-play-learn in natural and resort settings and at the same time stay connected to any part of the world through technology,” she said during the company’s stockholders’ meeting.

O

“Futures added 0.8 percent in New York amid a broader rally in equities, snapping a two-day decline,” Bloomberg reported.

“Chinese economic activity continued to rebound in August as the world’s second-largest economy emerges from the virus slump.

Meanwhile, US Gulf Coast refineries started the recovery process after Hurricane Laura passed, with facilities in southeast Texas avoided the worst of the storm.”

Bloomberg said “oil is poised for a fourth monthly advance but prices are firmly anchored near $43 a barrel and struggling to push further as nations across the globe battle to contain the virus.”

“The market is also contending with more supply from OPEC+

[Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus 10 other countries] after the group started easing its historic output cuts, while signs emerged that Chinese crude purchases are starting to slow.”

“Oil still looks positive, but it’s going to grind higher rather than race because there’s still concerns regarding the consumption side of the equation,” Jeffrey Halley a senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at Oanda, was quoted by Bloomberg News. “W hichever countries opened up, Covid-19 has made a return.”

Last week, gasoline prices in the Philippines also increased while a price rollback was implemented on diesel and gasoline.

Lenie Lectura and Bloomberg News

Salomon said despite the lockdown measures that grounded to a halt all tourism activities in the country, the company’s Boracay Newcoast development in Aklan continued to be the bestseller among its integrated estates, as “demand for resort properties are still there.”

The company, she added, also saw residential lot sales in its projects that have access to natural environments such as the Eastland Heights in Antipolo, Arden Botanical Estate in Cavite and Hamptons Caliraya in Laguna.

The company, meanwhile, has cut its capital expenditure this year by close to 40 percent to P4 billion from the original P6.5 billion in spending plan as the lockdowns, regional quarantine measures and physical distancing rules continue to restrict the movement of materials and workers in its construction sites.

“While we have deferred new township launches, we will push through with the launching of projects within our integrated estates,” she said, adding that it also allocated funds for property acquisitions.

The company said it is turning over P3 billion worth of residential and commercial projects this year.

These project turnovers include residential units and commercial lots at Boracay Newcoast in Aklan, Twin Lakes in Laurel, Batangas, and Sta. Barbara Heights in Iloilo.

GERI shares closed at P0.79 last Friday, down P0.01 from the previous close. VG Cabuag

Nestlé to buy biotech firm

Gas product-price changes bared N il companies announced last Monday changes in the pricing of their products that will take effect Tuesday morning at 6 a.m.

Gasoline prices will increase

by P0.10 per liter while diesel and kerosene prices will be reduced by P0.10 per liter, respectively.

Among the oil firms that made the announcements include Pilipinas Shell, Seaoil, Petro Gazz and Cleanfuel.

Other oil firms are expected to do the same. They adjust prices every week to reflect movements in the world oil market.

A Bloomberg News report said oil rose above $43 a barrel in New York with focus returning to the fragile demand recovery after the hurricane threat eased.

and Chief Executive Officer Federico R. Lopez said that the move articulates a renewed mission for the company as well as the entire First Philippine Holdings (FPH) conglomerate “to forge collaborative pathways for a decarbonized and regenerative future.”

EDC posted its highest recurring net income of P11.6 billion in 2019 despite enduring challenges in the energy sector. It likewise reported a record high of 9,300.1 Gigawatthours (GWh) of total energy sales from renewable energy sources, up by 4.0 percent from 8,945.3 GWh in 2018.

“As a result of all our operational improvements, our EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] grew by 15 percent versus the prior fiveyear average,” EDC President and Chief Operating Officer Richard B. Tantoco said.

estlé SA agreed to buy Aimmune Therapeutics Inc. in a $2.6 billion deal, adding a leader in the treatment of peanut allergies in its biggest health-science push yet.

The Swiss owner of Nespresso will pay $34.50 a share for the US biotech firm, almost triple its market value. Aimmune makes Palforzia, the first regulatory-approved treatment to help reduce allergic reactions to peanuts in children and teens in the US. Chief Executive Officer Mark Schneider has been cultivating Nestlé’s health-science arm while shedding slower-growing businesses in areas such as bottled water and sweets. Palforzia, which exposes patients to small doses of peanut protein over time, got approval from the US Food and Drug Administration in February.

Nestlé shares rose as much as 0.8 percent last Monday morning.

Including a 26-percent stake that Nestle’s health-science arm already holds in Aimmune, the deal has an enterprise value of about $2.6 billion, the Swiss company said. The price represents a 174 percent premium to Aimmune’s Friday close. The amount to be paid for the shares is about $1.7 billion, according to calculations

by Bloomberg.

Schneider has said he is keen to buy more companies after selling Nestlé’s US confectionery operations and placing its US ice cream business in a joint venture with private equity firm PAI Partners. Nestlé’s cash pile has been bolstered with a $10-billion sale of a dermatology business.

The Vevey-based company has been dabbling in health-science for more than two decades with mixed results. Palforzia is the first health product Nestle with the potential for significant sales.

Analysts have estimated its revenue may exceed $1 billion in 2025.

Nestlé has been working on the acquisition for three months, Greg Behar, head of its healthscience unit, said in an interview. The price is 7 percent below Aimmune’s 52-week high, and Covid-19 has had a big impact on the business, which began selling Palforzia just as the US was entering lockdowns.

The deal isn’t Nestlé’ first foray into medical nutrition. The company acquired Canadian supplements maker Atrium Innovations three years ago in a $2.3 billion deal.

Nestlé has also focused on expansion in coffee, splashing out $7.2 billion on the right to market Starbucks products, including coffee capsules for the Nespresso system. Bloomberg News

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Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

August 28, 2020

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

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FIRST ABACUS FERRONOUX HLDG IREMIT MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE VANTAGE

44.25 85.95 66.4 20.5 8.5 33.5 19.66 48.3 16 96.5 54 0.8 21.15 0.56 2.56 0.96 0.295 735 0.58 155 1925 1.04

45.5 86 67 20.6 8.51 34 19.8 48.95 16.1 97 54.3 0.82 22.2 0.59 2.78 0.99 0.305 760 0.6 156.7 1950 1.1

44.5 87.1 65.4 20.3 8.6 34.5 19.8 48.9 16 97 53.9 0.86 20.85 0.6 2.62 0.97 0.295 735 0.62 156.9 1900 1.1

45.5 87.35 67 20.6 8.68 35.05 19.92 48.95 16.1 97 54.3 0.86 22.2 0.6 2.78 0.97 0.3 760 0.62 156.9 1925 1.1

44.5 86 65.4 20.3 8.42 33.5 19.64 48.3 16 95 53.9 0.82 20.85 0.56 2.62 0.97 0.295 735 0.57 156 1900 1.1

45.5 86 67 20.6 8.5 33.5 19.66 48.3 16.1 97 54 0.82 22.2 0.59 2.78 0.97 0.3 760 0.6 156 1925 1.1

2500 6172430 2366520 46100 779100 7607700 150600 800 3800 371300 61330 139000 6500 74000 8000 15000 890000 30 2164000 240 65 2000

112250 533165933 157437839 939550 6662029 256409650 2975932 38940 61000 35833760 3311597 116020 142320 42540 21350 14550 263550 22550 1267360 37634 124850 2200

45500 -328037287 56221440.5 -190730 -682096 -149198975 -1420106 -37000 -8337503.5 -584053.5 860 8400 -35700 -3120 124850 -

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 2.7 2.72 2.78 2.78 2.66 2.7 11838000 32055770 ALSONS CONS 1.27 1.29 1.3 1.3 1.27 1.27 2142000 2736590 ABOITIZ POWER 26.5 26.65 26.5 26.65 25.8 26.65 2667500 70833795 BASIC ENERGY 0.176 0.178 0.166 0.179 0.165 0.178 12290000 2111950 FIRST GEN 24.35 24.5 24.35 25.45 24.35 24.35 2865000 71189785 59.25 59.3 59 59.5 59 59.25 2340 138734.5 FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO 269 269.2 269 270 267.4 269 369420 99300400 MANILA WATER 14.3 14.38 14.28 14.38 13.94 14.38 3223400 45912914 PETRON 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.05 3.02 3.04 1600000 4852110 3.1 3.24 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 10000 32500 PETROENERGY PHX PETROLEUM 11.1 11.3 11.04 11.3 11 11.3 67800 758354 PILIPINAS SHELL 17.62 17.7 17.52 17.7 17.52 17.7 443700 7814424 SPC POWER 8.55 8.7 8.42 8.72 8.38 8.7 114700 970679 AGRINURTURE 7.65 7.7 7.76 7.76 7.55 7.65 88200 671096 2.49 2.5 2.45 2.52 2.45 2.49 19564000 48402770 AXELUM CNTRL AZUCARERA 11.44 12 12 12 12 12 100 1200 CENTURY FOOD 16.18 16.22 16.3 16.3 16.16 16.22 2651500 42952990 DEL MONTE 4.85 4.86 4.86 4.9 4.85 4.86 73000 355640 DNL INDUS 4.6 4.62 4.79 4.81 4.6 4.6 3849000 17960560 EMPERADOR 9.99 10 10 10 9.89 10 1046300 10434101 66.55 68.5 67.2 68.5 66.55 68.5 266070 18096884 SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT 0.65 0.66 0.67 0.67 0.65 0.66 661000 430570 1.18 1.19 1.2 1.21 1.15 1.19 6829000 8087890 FRUITAS HLDG GINEBRA 37.8 39 37.75 37.8 37.75 37.8 21800 824035 JOLLIBEE 135 135.1 138 138.1 135.1 135.1 1594030 216611590 7.77 7.99 8.03 8.03 7.77 7.99 6400 50600 MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP 4.8 4.82 4.81 4.82 4.74 4.82 93000 444550 0.128 0.137 0.126 0.126 0.126 0.126 10000 1260 MG HLDG SHAKEYS PIZZA 5.62 5.68 5.7 5.7 5.62 5.62 235300 1326394 ROXAS AND CO 1.16 1.17 1.17 1.2 1.16 1.17 6606000 7735120 4.5 4.53 4.5 4.53 4.5 4.5 2003000 9013530 RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG 1.56 1.63 1.65 1.65 1.65 1.65 1000 1650 137.8 139 138.8 140 135.4 137.8 2439680 336619483 UNIV ROBINA VITARICH 0.77 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.77 0.77 13516000 10535140 2.22 2.35 2.22 2.22 2.22 2.22 41000 91020 VICTORIAS CONCRETE A 52 52.9 52 52.9 52 52.9 460 24028 52.1 53.9 52.25 52.25 52.25 52.25 300 15675 CONCRETE B 1.46 1.5 1.5 1.56 1.46 1.46 53362000 80393800 CEMEX HLDG 12.04 12.3 12 12.5 12 12.3 454100 5599622 EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP 5.69 5.7 5.61 5.75 5.5 5.69 2560800 14498814 5.93 5.94 5.51 6 5.51 5.94 8317500 48749078 HOLCIM 6.34 6.35 6.54 6.54 6.3 6.35 535200 3399641 MEGAWIDE PHINMA 8.52 9 9 9 9 9 12400 111600 0.66 0.69 0.69 0.69 0.68 0.69 9000 6190 TKC METALS VULCAN INDL 0.72 0.75 0.73 0.75 0.72 0.75 64000 46600 CROWN ASIA 1.99 2 1.92 2 1.92 2 431000 848630 EUROMED 1.81 1.86 1.83 1.87 1.81 1.81 219000 399720 4.45 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 12000 54000 LMG CORP 3.9 3.98 3.99 3.99 3.99 3.99 2000 7980 MABUHAY VINYL PRYCE CORP 4.12 4.13 4.08 4.2 4.08 4.13 14000 58270 CONCEPCION 18.82 20 18.8 19 18.8 18.82 1400 26360 1.87 1.88 1.81 1.91 1.81 1.88 10665000 20023960 GREENERGY 4.67 4.85 4.66 4.68 4.65 4.67 232000 1080350 INTEGRATED MICR 0.95 0.97 0.96 0.99 0.95 0.97 375000 363670 IONICS PANASONIC 4.3 4.64 4.22 4.64 4.22 4.64 16000 69720 1.35 1.37 1.38 1.42 1.34 1.35 1749000 2381330 SFA SEMICON 5.65 5.7 5.86 5.9 5.58 5.7 3331700 18963478 CIRTEK HLDG

31120 -881920 10709750 3053390 -1777.5 -31258242 -2226788 -2120820 3997458.0004 842 107759 -41375330 1200 966190 -68190 -16822510 -5034049 -8737289.5 -121290 755999.9998 -95642274 157900 224986 -348890 -18000 -57662147 -16380 962720 6296156 166692 -758929 664010 -18838 2284120 13820 -4140 208804

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.465 0.47 0.47 0.475 0.465 0.465 1840000 863150 7.68 7.99 8.08 8.08 7.63 7.98 31700 242887 ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP 732 733.5 730 734.5 720.5 733.5 331850 242155055 47.75 48 47.8 48 46.05 48 2210100 105571550 ABOITIZ EQUITY 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.23 6.15 6.18 12030500 74346872 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 1.74 1.75 1.77 1.8 1.72 1.74 1169000 2038580 AYALA LAND LOG 6.24 6.3 6.28 6.28 6.24 6.28 5000 31280 ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.52 0.53 0.52 0.52 0.52 0.52 120000 62400 0.55 0.56 0.56 0.56 0.55 0.56 458000 254910 ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B 0.56 0.58 0.56 0.58 0.56 0.58 209000 117240 COSCO CAPITAL 4.81 5.04 5.1 5.1 4.81 4.81 2604800 12,576,830( DMCI HLDG 3.86 4 3.91 4 3.86 4 6956000 27418450 FILINVEST DEV 8.4 8.99 8.4 8.4 8.4 8.4 400 3360 399 400 406 406 396 400 261300 104379080 GT CAPITAL JG SUMMIT 63.5 64.3 63.6 64.3 61.5 64.3 6153660 391382159.5 LODESTAR 0.59 0.61 0.59 0.61 0.59 0.59 307000 184400 2.36 2.41 2.27 2.54 2.27 2.36 562000 1328630 LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP 8.28 8.42 8.26 8.42 8.2 8.42 1008600 8415643 3.35 3.36 3.42 3.45 3.32 3.36 52867000 178244380 METRO PAC INV 2.86 2.99 2.87 3.05 2.87 3.05 4000 11840 PACIFICA HLDG 0.98 1.01 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.99 50000 49500 SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID 160 169 169 169 169 169 1170 197730 SM INVESTMENTS 848.5 850 870 879.5 847 850 1338910 1152498350 100.1 101.5 100 101.5 100 101.5 46150 4667035 SAN MIGUEL CORP TOP FRONTIER 130 131.4 131 131 125 130 7290 940546 0.186 0.197 0.186 0.186 0.186 0.186 140000 26040 WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG 0.144 0.145 0.15 0.15 0.143 0.144 4200000 609180

-93550 -99979160 -4661900 20554815 262500 9,108,281.9997) 2555970 -63608852 20541615 -651960 -96386 -74827960 35660085 -3228471 -939246 -

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.52 0.53 0.53 0.53 0.52 0.52 276000 143780 7.63 8.39 - - - - - - ANCHOR LAND AYALA LAND 28.8 29 29.65 29.85 28.8 28.8 28158300 819509460 0.95 0.99 1 1 0.93 1 429000 405990 ARANETA PROP AREIT RT 25.55 25.6 25.75 25.75 25.6 25.6 1329900 34060905 1.33 1.35 1.34 1.35 1.33 1.33 143000 191590 BELLE CORP 0.81 0.82 0.83 0.83 0.81 0.82 1555000 1271800 A BROWN 0.121 0.124 0.121 0.125 0.121 0.124 380000 46570 CROWN EQUITIES 5.68 5.95 5.95 5.95 5.95 5.95 200 1190 CEBU HLDG CEB LANDMASTERS 5.08 5.19 5 5.5 5 5.19 4281000 22038990 0.365 0.37 0.365 0.37 0.365 0.37 1710000 631250 CENTURY PROP 0.255 0.275 0.26 0.26 0.255 0.255 130000 33600 CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON 14.88 15 14.92 15.3 14.84 15 1082200 16234926 5.95 5.99 5.96 5.99 5.95 5.99 116200 692807 DM WENCESLAO EMPIRE EAST 0.26 0.265 0.26 0.275 0.26 0.26 6260000 1662000 0.089 0.09 0.089 0.089 0.087 0.089 100000 8880 EVER GOTESCO 0.93 0.94 0.92 0.94 0.91 0.94 21830000 20348800 FILINVEST LAND 0.79 0.8 0.79 0.79 0.79 0.79 17000 13430 GLOBAL ESTATE 8990 HLDG 7.6 7.79 7.65 7.8 7.3 7.8 46100 351999 PHIL INFRADEV 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.2 1.15 1.17 3210000 3731990 2.91 2.93 3.01 3.01 2.91 2.91 30808000 90213010 MEGAWORLD 0.244 0.246 0.243 0.246 0.241 0.246 16810000 4099100 MRC ALLIED PRIMEX CORP 1.17 1.19 1.2 1.22 1.17 1.19 408000 490130 14.6 14.62 14.8 15.28 14.62 14.62 5737600 84513838 ROBINSONS LAND 0.227 0.228 0.227 0.227 0.227 0.227 20000 4540 PHIL REALTY 1.52 1.56 1.57 1.57 1.52 1.52 18000 27580 ROCKWELL 2.67 2.73 2.73 2.74 2.67 2.73 387000 1060170 SHANG PROP 1.83 1.86 1.86 1.86 1.85 1.86 138000 256410 STA LUCIA LAND SM PRIME HLDG 29.15 29.2 29.5 29.8 29.2 29.2 18218100 532857540 3.65 3.78 3.7 3.7 3.65 3.7 14000 51650 VISTAMALLS 1.21 1.22 1.2 1.22 1.2 1.22 1589000 1924520 SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND 3.02 3.07 3.18 3.19 3.02 3.02 2674000 8215300

-490923805 -17683715 -1330 8300 -1823350 -4544726 -249982 81500 -9309000 -306380 1160 -70651780 -24510 -25763072 1570 2730 -176498755 -6551810

SERVICES ABS CBN 7.24 7.25 7.24 7.3 7.24 7.25 443100 3214929 GMA NETWORK 5.04 5.06 5.11 5.12 5.02 5.04 560800 2847165 MANILA BULLETIN 0.395 0.4 0.395 0.395 0.395 0.395 150000 59250 11.8 11.96 11.4 11.96 11.4 11.96 1200 13856 MLA BRDCASTING GLOBE TELECOM 2088 2106 2126 2132 2082 2088 133135 278536630 -123819200 PLDT 1476 1479 1446 1480 1446 1479 268595 394242285 46789855 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.052 0.053 0.052 0.053 0.051 0.053 9070000 471280 DFNN INC 3.06 3.07 3.12 3.2 2.99 3.06 206000 625330 3.34 3.36 3.41 3.43 3.34 3.35 21086000 71027080 20350 DITO CME HLDG IMPERIAL 1.22 1.37 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.28 4000 5120 0.069 0.073 0.07 0.073 0.069 0.073 1430000 99110 730 ISLAND INFO JACKSTONES 1.58 1.59 1.59 1.59 1.58 1.59 25000 39640 2.18 2.19 2.17 2.23 2.17 2.18 6380000 13996920 -1034090 NOW CORP 0.175 0.178 0.178 0.18 0.175 0.178 1470000 260730 TRANSPACIFIC BR PHILWEB 1.97 1.99 1.89 2 1.89 1.97 630000 1239700 2GO GROUP 8.34 8.4 8.32 8.4 8.32 8.34 5700 47569 CHELSEA 3.29 3.3 3.36 3.37 3.28 3.29 429000 1425290 -65880 CEBU AIR 35.65 35.8 35.85 36.05 35.55 35.65 645600 23,093,370( 13,926,320.0001) INTL CONTAINER 105 105.5 104.5 107.4 104.5 105 2949580 312059891 -32840095 LBC EXPRESS 15.4 15.8 15.86 15.86 15.8 15.8 2100 33198 15800 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.74 0.78 0.75 0.75 0.73 0.73 81000 60710 MACROASIA 4.82 4.83 4.85 4.88 4.8 4.82 1713000 8272250 348529.9998 METROALLIANCE A 1.59 1.62 1.62 1.62 1.59 1.62 70000 111840 PAL HLDG 5.79 5.8 5.9 5.9 5.76 5.8 71500 414965 HARBOR STAR 0.87 0.9 0.91 0.92 0.87 0.87 532000 473810 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.027 0.028 0.027 0.028 0.027 0.028 40000000 1086700 FAR EASTERN U 560 575 580 580 575 575 110 63750 IPEOPLE 7.27 7.43 7.43 7.43 7.4 7.4 800 5929 STI HLDG 0.305 0.31 0.305 0.305 0.3 0.305 1240000 377150 BERJAYA 2.2 2.24 2.23 2.27 2.23 2.24 20000 44820 BLOOMBERRY 6.05 6.12 6.08 6.12 6.03 6.12 1739200 10581445 -4917263 PACIFIC ONLINE 1.94 1.98 1.98 1.98 1.98 1.98 18000 35640 LEISURE AND RES 1.2 1.25 1.2 1.21 1.2 1.2 22000 26430 -12000 MANILA JOCKEY 2.16 2.2 2.2 2.24 2.14 2.2 8000 17700 PH RESORTS GRP 2.12 2.13 2.19 2.2 2.13 2.13 11000 23830 -8590 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.29 0.295 0.29 0.295 0.285 0.295 14470000 4196450 -1638150 PHIL RACING 7.11 7.89 7.89 7.89 7.89 7.89 500 3945 ALLHOME 6.14 6.2 6.3 6.3 6.12 6.2 975800 6026067 -2727622 METRO RETAIL 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.43 1.4 1.41 680000 958580 -1420 PUREGOLD 53.8 54 51.5 54 51.15 54 3875790 206297975.5 118418363.5 ROBINSONS RTL 68.6 70.1 68 70.1 68 70.1 422190 29495704 18478465.5 SSI GROUP 1.01 1.02 1.04 1.04 1.01 1.02 3786000 3871460 103620 WILCON DEPOT 16.2 16.22 15.96 16.2 15.9 16.2 2057400 33178838 28759616 APC GROUP 0.295 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.295 0.295 1240000 366700 236750 EASYCALL 6.31 6.4 6.25 6.4 6.25 6.4 36500 229548 PAXYS 2.04 2.24 2.04 2.04 2.04 2.04 15000 30600 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.228 0.23 0.231 0.233 0.228 0.23 6520000 1502350 SBS PHIL CORP 4.5 4.7 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 3000 13500

MINING & OIL ATOK 7.3 7.99 8 8 8 8 100 800 APEX MINING 1.58 1.59 1.63 1.63 1.56 1.58 4956000 7865210 427840 ABRA MINING 0.0008 0.0009 0.0009 0.001 0.0008 0.0009 2916000000 2635800 9100 ATLAS MINING 3.1 3.14 3.11 3.14 3.1 3.14 267000 828960 -46500 BENGUET A 2.65 2.7 2.9 2.9 2.65 2.7 471000 1283850 BENGUET B 2.54 2.7 2.68 2.78 2.6 2.7 151000 401140 53500 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.201 0.205 0.201 0.218 0.2 0.201 1140000 235270 CENTURY PEAK 2.59 2.65 2.65 2.65 2.65 2.65 40000 106000 106000 DIZON MINES 7.75 7.9 8.06 8.06 7.76 7.9 14500 114312 FERRONICKEL 1.28 1.29 1.34 1.38 1.27 1.29 47709000 62285010 -25399950 GEOGRACE 0.232 0.235 0.235 0.235 0.232 0.232 70000 16310 LEPANTO A 0.15 0.151 0.154 0.154 0.15 0.15 14160000 2142800 LEPANTO B 0.151 0.153 0.15 0.154 0.15 0.15 2580000 394810 -13860 MANILA MINING A 0.0093 0.0096 0.0094 0.0095 0.0094 0.0095 4000000 37800 MANILA MINING B 0.01 0.011 0.0099 0.01 0.0099 0.01 1200000 11890 MARCVENTURES 1.04 1.05 1.02 1.09 1.01 1.04 16039000 16801470 53060 NIHAO 2.12 2.14 2.12 2.2 2.1 2.14 1426000 3051250 -12780 NICKEL ASIA 3.25 3.26 3.28 3.34 3.21 3.26 17879000 58695910 552390 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.59 0.6 0.61 0.61 0.59 0.59 785000 470190 PX MINING 3.67 3.69 3.75 3.8 3.63 3.67 2149000 7959550 2793560 SEMIRARA MINING 9.4 9.42 9.38 9.47 9.38 9.42 2083700 19635010 9330954 UNITED PARAGON 0.0049 0.0052 0.0053 0.0053 0.005 0.005 28000000 140500 ACE ENEXOR 5.56 5.6 5.8 6.2 5.52 5.6 755000 4411034 ORNTL PETROL A 0.0086 0.0089 0.0086 0.0086 0.0086 0.0086 2000000 17200 PHILODRILL 0.0094 0.0096 0.0094 0.0097 0.0094 0.0094 11000000 103900 PXP ENERGY 5.32 5.33 5.34 5.4 5.31 5.32 515400 2753604 -339360

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A 101 101.5 101 101 100.5 101 11960 1207860 AC PREF B1 511 519 515 519 511 519 4920 2529080 ALCO PREF C 101.1 106.5 106.5 106.5 106.5 106.5 70 7455 AC PREF B2R 506 515 507 507 506 506 23900 12093980 CPG PREF A 100.7 102 102 102 102 102 500 51000 DD PREF 101 103.5 101.5 103.4 100.8 103.4 43960 4514426 GLO PREF P 503 516 503 516 503 516 60 30830 -5030 GTCAP PREF A 1001 1079 1087 1087 1001 1001 75 75505 GTCAP PREF B 1020 1030 1020 1030 1020 1030 2280 2325700 MWIDE PREF 101.3 101.5 100.1 101.5 100.1 101.5 55030 5584045 PNX PREF 3A 96.25 97 97.05 97.05 97 97 19380 1880515 PNX PREF 3B 99.65 100 100 100 100 100 11970 1197000 943 949 950 950 940 943 21160 20017000 95000 PNX PREF 4 PCOR PREF 2B 1021 1070 1070 1070 1070 1070 50 53500 PCOR PREF 3A 1060 1061 1060 1060 1060 1060 2290 2427400 PCOR PREF 3B 1070 1089 1078 1078 1070 1070 1000 1071020 SMC PREF 2C 78 78.2 78.2 78.2 77.65 78.2 25740 2001756 SMC PREF 2D 75.15 75.85 75.85 75.85 75.85 75.85 900 68265 SMC PREF 2E 75.4 76 76 76 76 76 686010 52136760 SMC PREF 2F 77.1 78 77 78 77 78 1039620 81058460 SMC PREF 2G 75.85 76.8 76.6 76.6 76.6 76.6 170 13022 -13021.9999 SMC PREF 2H 76.1 76.6 75.2 76.6 75.2 76.6 2600 197760 SMC PREF 2I 78.3 78.95 78.3 79 78.3 79 44800 3534390

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 6.81 7.15 6.8 7 6.8 6.81 155000 1057180 -513180 GMA HLDG PDR 4.89 4.93 4.8 4.9 4.8 4.89 206000 993500 -734400

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 0.6 0.64 0.62 0.62 0.6 0.6 10000 6120

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ALTUS PROP 12.5 12.72 12.66 12.96 12.5 12.5 514800 6505866 -2082620 ITALPINAS 1.81 1.82 1.85 1.88 1.81 1.81 1258000 2304880 18500 KEPWEALTH 5.18 5.19 5.15 5.2 5.12 5.2 21400 110728 MERRYMART 2.94 2.95 3.13 3.15 2.92 2.94 76468000 230216560 198580 XURPAS 0.54 0.55 0.56 0.56 0.53 0.55 730000 392220

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 89.1 89.7 89.7 89.9 89.1 89.1 22350 2000739.5 118187

www.businessmirror.com.ph

SEC expands ISO certification on regulatory services, offices

T

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

he Securities and Exchange Commission received its ISO 9001:2015 Certification for its quality management system covering all core services across its main and extension offices.

The agency said it received the certificate from TÜV Rheinland Philippines Inc. in a virtual awarding ceremony on August 26.

The said certification covers the agency’s provision of regulatory

services over the corporate sector, the capital market participants, and the securities and investment instruments market in the Philippines, and protection of the investing public.

It also covers the provision of registration of partnerships and corporations doing business in the Philippines in the SEC Extension Offices in Baguio, Tarlac, Legazpi, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga.

“When I received the first ISO 9001:2015 Certification of the commission early last year, I committed that it was but the start of the great transformation of the SEC under my leadership,” SEC chairman Emilio B. Aquino said.

“The transformation of the SEC as the gateway to doing business in the Philippines continues. Soon, we will start our journey toward digital transformation to keep pace with, if not ahead of, the fast-

changing needs of the business industry and the capital market,” Aquino added.

The SEC first obtained ISO 9001:2015 Certification in 2018 for its quality management system covering the registration of partnerships and corporations doing business in the Philippines, and the licensing of capital market institutions and professionals.

From the initial 59 documented procedures, the SEC expanded the scope of its ISO-certified quality management system to cover 122 documented procedures. The audit also revealed that the SEC’s quality management system has zero nonconformity to the ISO 9001:2015 standards.

Samsung C&T targeted by activists A

ctivist climate investors warned Samsung C&T Corp. over its potential involvement in a new coal power plant in Southeast Asia amid mounting global pressure to halt use of the dirtiest fossil fuel.

Investment arms of Legal & General Group Plc, the UK’s biggest manager of corporate pension schemes, Norway’s KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS and Helsinki-based Nordea Bank Abp, have urged the South Korean company not to participate in the construction of the controversial plant in Vietnam, which it’s currently considering.

The project “poses significant reputational and climate related risks,” said Meryam Omi, the head of sustainable investing at Legal & General Investment Management Ltd. “We have asked the company to commit to no involvement in construction of new coal plants and will continue to engage with them on this matter.”

While the shareholders own just a tiny fraction of the de facto holding company of the Samsung empire, such public pressure is an increasingly common tactic by funds

to put fossil fuel-engaged companies under the spotlight amid the global push against climate change.

The funds are focused on Samsung’s potential role in constructing the Vung Ang 2 project, which may come after state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp. finalizes an impending investment in the venture.

The scrutiny comes as global investors are increasingly voicing concerns over the risks associated with South Korea’s overseas coal financing. BlackRock Inc., the world’s top asset manager, has urged Korea Electric to provide clear strategic rationale for its investment in several coal projects, including Vung Ang 2. Domestic pressure is also growing after the country unveiled a $35 billion plan to boost low-carbon power sources and foster green industries.

Legal & General Group holds a 0.02 percent stake in Samsung C&T, according to data compiled

by Bloomberg. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS and Nordea Bank Abp both own 0.01 percent of the Seoul-based company and investment arms associated with the two firms urged

Genting HK piques investors’ interests

C

ruise ship operator Genting Hong Kong Ltd. has received indicative letters from private investors interested in investing in one of its cruise brands, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange dated August 28.

The firm, controlled by Malaysian tycoon Lim Kok Thay, said “there is a reasonable prospect that the group will be able to obtain the funding” by June 2021. The company announced the development when reporting a wider first-half net loss of $687.1 million from $55.2 million a year ago.

Genting Hong Kong said earlier this month it has suspended all payments to creditors, blaming its cash crunch on the coronavirus pandemic.

The company said it owed a total of $3.4 billion as of July 31. Its shares are down 58 percent this year, battered by lockdown measures and travel curbs across the globe. They climbed 1.6 percent as of 1:48 p.m. in Hong Kong, halting a four-day drop.

The company said it has “aggressively” cut non-essential operational expenses, enacted pay freezes or reductions and lowered headcount to conserve cash and minimize the monthly cash burn rate.

The cruise operator is also ne-

gotiating a further loan deferment of $97 million with lenders after it deferred $85 million from certain lenders before June 30 this year, according to the filing. Some of Genting Hong Kong’s creditors have formed an ad hoc group to discuss a restructuring solution with the company’s advisers.

The company said the majority of its capital commitments of about $1.3 billion as at June 30 will be delayed in view of suspended ship construction activities.

German funding

Genting Hong Kong said it expects its shipyard operations to resume in October. The company, which owns the MV Werften shipyards in Germany, said it is applying for long-term funding from the German government’s pandemic-related Economic Stabilization Fund for its shipyard operations.

These funds will be used to finance the working capital needs of the shipyards and on-going construction of new ships, it said. Upon completion of the new cruise ships, the group will be able to draw down project financing from the lenders, it said. Bloomberg News

Samsung C&T not to participate in the engineering, procurement or construction of the Vung Ang 2 power plant.

Korea Electric, known as Kepco, is seeking to buy a 40 percent stake in the Vung Ang 2 project for an estimated $2.24 billion. While the stake purchase remains subject to a board decision, it wasn’t on the agenda for a meeting that took place Friday, according to Kepco.

In June, Kepco’s board of directors approved its involvement in the Jawa 9 and 10 coal project in Indonesia, despite warnings from investors and activists. The util-

mutual funds

ity’s spokesman said it’s unlikely to make new coal-financing plans given the global transition to cleaner energy, but Indonesia and Vietnam projects follow strict international environmental standards and feasibility studies have proven their profitability.

“It’ll be inevitable for South Korea to avoid criticism from both home and abroad if it joins the Vung Ang 2 project,” South Korea National Assembly member Kim Sung-whan said. “It’s also expected to have a catastrophic impact on the government’s brand-new environmental initiatives.” Bloomberg News

August 28, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 195.24 -23.35% -10.96% -5.02% -22.47% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.042 -30.98% -13.59% -3.55% -24.6% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.6121 -33.8% -15.74% -7.21% -28.98% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.6722 -28.81% -12.6% n.a.

-25.14% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.689 -19.06% n.a. n.a. -18.87% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.2061 -21% -9.23% -4.31% -21.06% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,4 0.6559 -23.3% -12.04% n.a.

-23.16% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 79.18 -33.17% n.a. n.a. -23.29% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 39.0849 -23.52% -9.64% -3.85% -23.78% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 421.22 -21.15% -8.77% -3.97% -20.94% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,5 0.8883 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-13.77% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.0011 -22.46% -9.01% -3.49% -22.21% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 29.3101 -22.76% -8.65% -3.15% -22.66% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7738 -23.73% n.a. n.a.

-24% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 3.9898 -23.07% -9.12% -3.13% -23.62% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 667.03 -22.95% -9.13% -3.25% -23.5% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.6006 -32.92% -13.12% -7.32% -29.46% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.0983 -26.9% -10.38% -4.43% -26.39% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7644 -23.18% -9.31% -3.32% -23.62% United Fund, Inc. -a 2.7858 -23.83% -8.17% -2.73% -23.74% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 89.5852 -22.82% -8.67% -2.44% -23.4% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$1.0801 17.91% 1.26% 4.99% 5.03% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.5433 22.01% 9.46% n.a.

11.94% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.578 -5.59% -4.14% -2.76% 0.97% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.0447 -10.58% -4.94% -1.45% -6.25% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.3949 -8.82% -3.48% -2.21% -8.99% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.1829 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-19.96% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.8271 -6.12% -1.71% 0.21% -6.86% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.4666 -8.31% -2.82% -0.97% -8.51% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 15.4509 -8.65% -3.11% -1.12% -8.9% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 1.9021 -11.02% -4.29% -1.19% -10.37% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.2506 -15.81% -5.27% -2.35% -15.86% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d 0.9332 -7.81% n.a. n.a.

-8.12% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d 0.8313 -16.63% n.a. n.a. -16.57% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d 0.8049 -19% n.a. n.a. -18.96% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.8032 -18.56% -6.32% -3.15% -17.6% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03905 1.43% 2.84% 1.92% 2.23% 9.52% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b $1.0595 1.79% 4.22% 4.69% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $4.1965 12.95% 6.54% 6.44% 7.31% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,3 $1.1716 5.74% 3.43% n.a.

3.8% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 367.88 4% 3.14% 2.58% 2.78% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.9488 1.91% 1.13% 0.01% 2.46% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1988 4% 4.92% 5.02% 2.59% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.306 3.93% 2.98% 2.31% 3.72% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.457 4.67% 3.54% 1.97% 4.15% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 8.37% 4.66% 2.74% 7.13% 4.6847 Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a,6 1.3095 5.65% 4.35% 2.45% 4.2% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.9529 5.74% 4.24% 2.26% 4.35% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.038 8.77% 3.71% 1.8% 7.64% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1794 4.95% 4.88% 2.76% 3.37% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.7445 3.84% 4.2% 2.21% 2.55% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $478.09 3.24% 2.54% 2.88% 2.08% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є217.05 -1.4% 0.71% 1.16% -1.25% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2388 3.67% 3.05% 2.82% 2.62% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0264 1.93% 1.83% 1.67% 2.33% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $1.089 -1.36% 0.2% 0.23% -0.42% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.4995 3.48% 3.7% 3.5% 3.99% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0609819 1.4% 2.05% 2.05% 1.13% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.2239 1.36% 2.13% 2.7% 1.53% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 128.86 3.49% 3.29% 2.5% 2.41% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0439 2.24% n.a. n.a.

1.71% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2885 2.91% 3.05% 2.61% 1.86% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0477 1.57% n.a. n.a.

0.91% Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a,d,7 1.0404 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,2 $0.95 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-4.04%

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

1 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 2 - Launch date is November 15, 2019. 3 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019.

4 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.). 5 - Launch date is December 09, 2019.

6 - Re-classified into a Bond Fund starting February 21, 2020 (Formerly a Money Market Fund). 7 - Launch date is July 6, 2020.

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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Fintech firm eyes more PHL merchant partners

By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad @Tyronepiad

F

inancial technology (fintech) firm First Digital Finance Corp. (FDFC) is looking to team up with more merchants as lockdown measures against the coronavirus pandemic contributed to boosting the e-commerce space.

In an e-mail to the BusinessMirror, FDFC President Georg Steiger said that it seeks to maximize the opportunities in the second half to extend its financing services, hoping to achieve some growth for the period.

“The crisis so far has really accelerated the shift to e-commerce,” he said. “This is an opportunity for us to partner with more merchants to provide installment plans to their customers.”

Steiger recalled that the fintech firm was off to a good start prior to the pandemic. He said that a significant slowdown in FDFC’s business, however, was observed after the lockdown was placed in March to contain the virus. He emphasized that e-commerce was “severely limited” during the initial phase of the enhanced community quarantine.

Fortunately, Steiger said demand rebounded later as restrictions were eased gradually by the government.

“By July, we had recovered most of the ground we lost,” he said.

Meanwhile, Steiger said that FDFC had to revise its growth targets for the year, adjusting them following the impact of the pandemic. But he shared that the firm is on track to

meet them. The FDFC chief, however, did not provide supporting figures.

FDFC is the firm behind the digital credit app BillEase. In June, it partnered with payment solution provider Dragonpay to launch a “buy now, pay later” payment scheme to ease financing at the point-of-sale.

Providing credit line for online consumers without debit or credit card via propriety algorithm, BillEase is incorporated into the merchant’s checkout with a single integration within the alternative payment system of Dragonpay.

“This single platform solution is focused on boosting average order value, increasing conversions and fuel growth for merchants with no inclusive payment solution,” Steiger said.

Billease and e-commerce giant Lazada, meanwhile, launched in April a financial relief program to support the online merchants during this pandemic. It is aimed at providing working capital support to the affected micro, small, and medium enterprises via the fintech platform.

The said program is open to Lazada sellers who have been in operations for at least six months on the platform. The loans to be applied by online merchants seeking additional capital will be based on their sales record before the major parts of the country underwent lockdown.

Apart from Billease, FDFC also operates Loan Ranger which offers online cash advance and Balikbayad which caters for the loans of overseas Filipino workers and seamen.

Tuesday, September 1, 2020 B3

‘ADB should withdraw funding from new coal-fired projects’

T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

he Independent Evaluation Department (IED) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) recommended that the Manila-based multilateral development bank (MDB) formally withdraw from financing new coal-fired energy projects to help the region meet the global consensus on climate change.

In a statement, the IED said the bank should also revisit its energy policy. IED said ADB has refrained from investing in coal-fired power plants since 2013.

However, the IED said there is now a need for ADB to clarify its formal institutional position regarding the financing and use of coal energy resources.

“Asia has the highest demand for natural resources and the largest emissions of greenhouse gases contributing to climate change.

Therefore, efforts of ADB’s developing member countries to curb these emissions will have worldwide

impact,” ADB Director General for Independent Evaluation Marvin Taylor-Dormond said.

Challenges, policy

The sector-wide evaluation of ADB Energy Policy and Program 2009 to 2019, assessed ADB’s assistance to the energy sector across all its developing member countries from 2009 to 2019 and the relevance of its Energy Policy 2009.

ADB has been the leading development partner in the energy sectors of several of its developing member countries in lending volume, policy dialogue and

partner coordination.

The Manila-based MDB approved $42.5 billion for the energy sector during the evaluation period, most of which went towards electricity transmission and distribution.

“As a leading development partner in the region, ADB can play a key role in helping address these serious environmental challenges through its energy policy,” TaylorDormond said.

Asia-Pacific region

The Asia and Pacific region is still heavily reliant on thermal coal for power and heat generation, which is a major contributor to climate change and air pollution.

The region has the world’s most coal projects in the pipeline, with 78 percent of new plants in the pipeline located in ADB’s developing member countries.

The review also found that ADB’s energy program made significant contributions to increasing the availability and reliability of electricity supply, through investment in power grid infrastructure, as well as increasing the share of renewable energy in the region through public and private sector financing.

Increase support

ADB was a pioneering investor in renewable energy in many of its devel-

oping member countries. However, the IED said its energy program fell short of addressing other priorities such as demand-side efficiency, last-mile electrification and sector reforms.

“The energy sector is undergoing a dramatic, rapid and global transformation due to new technological advances and climate change concerns. ADB’s current energy policy is no longer adequately aligned with the ongoing transformation and with its new corporate strategy,” said IED Director Nathan Subramaniam.

“ADB needs to ensure the new policy is aligned with the global consensus on climate change, its corporate strategy and recent changes in the energy sectors of the developing member countries.”

The report recommends that ADB revisit and update its energy policy to emphasize climate change mitigation and adaptation as a core priority, place higher emphasis on promoting a more active highlevel engagement with developing member countries in their energy sectors.

The report also called on ADB to increase its support to address gaps in ADB’s energy operations and expand energy operations in a crosssectoral fashion beyond the power sector to meet new energy needs in developing member countries.

House committee OK’s bill regulating e-cigarettes The five advantages of franchising a business A

B

eing able to start your own business is always a great achievement. But it is also a difficult challenge, especially if you have no prior experience in entrepreneurship.

Some of us may have the courage and the determination to go out and build a new venture. However, not everyone can afford the risk, have neither the time nor possess sufficient knowledge to start a business from scratch. Fortunately, there’s always the option of franchising a business.

There are many definitions of what franchising is. My favourite would have to be the one that says franchising is a form of leverage that allows a person to start a business quickly and efficiently.

By leverage, it means being able to use the resources, skills, and knowledge that other people had already learned to start a business. Simply, franchising allows you to take a short-cut to starting a business; but only if you’re willing to pay the price. Franchising a business is indeed much more expensive than starting one on your own. But with that cost also comes great advantages; five of which are given below.

A ready and tested business model

One of the most challenging tasks in starting a business is engineering the processes within.

When you buy a franchise, you are automatically getting an already running and proven effective business model.

And all you have to do is follow an operations manual. Franchising a business allows you to save time and already get started on running your business, so you could earn income sooner than designing one on your own.

Skills and knowledge training

Prior to franchising, a friend of mine has never cooked a hamburger in his life, but he does love eating them. So when he became a burger joint franchisee, he felt so good and proud that he does not only know how to properly cook burgers but he also now knows how to actually make one from scratch.

Buying a franchise allows you to upgrade your skills and knowledge through training and seminars, which of course, you can later on use for other possible ventures.

Implement efficient marketing strategies

Have you ever seen a business logo or a store sign that looked weird and

Fitz Gerard Villafuerte

personal finance uncoordinated? Or a business name that sounded awful? Chances are, the owners of these businesses didn’t have any marketing knowledge because if they did, they would know how important those are in giving a good first impression to customers.

When you become part of a good franchise business, you wouldn’t have to worry much about sales and marketing strategies. Because these tasks, which include market research, planning, and brand building are already being done for you. And all you have to do most of the time is to implement them!

Have business technology within reach It pays to be good with numbers if you’re an entrepreneur, but not everyone should spend their nights punching numbers endlessly on a calculator.

With a business franchise, you get hold of payroll, inventory, and other programs and software that will help you focus more on business development and less on crunching figures all night. Buying a franchise business can be expensive, but that’s only because you’re paying for the technology that will allow you to have the time to do more for yourself and your business.

Being part of a family When sales figures are low, a small business owner usually has no one but himself to depend on when thinking of strategies that will improve his profits.

But a franchisee has a network of cobusiness owners whom he can ask for input, feedback, and support.

A franchisee is never alone because he is always guided by the mother company and supported by other franchisees who are united with him in pursuing business success.

Fitz Villafuerte is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal-financial planning, attend the 85th RFP program this September 2020. To inquire, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text <name><e-mail> <RFP> at 0917-6248110.

HOUSE of Representatives (HOR) committee has approved the bill regulating the sale of vape devices (vapes) and e-cigarettes in hopes of boosting government’s tax collection.

In a statement, Valenzuela Rep. Weslie T. Gatchalian said taxes that can be collected from vapes, e-cigarettes, and other electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems (Ends/Ennds) could reach P20 billion.

Gatchalian, who is chairman of the House Committee on Trade and Industry, said if the bill passes into law, the government can collect around P108.9 billion in additional taxes over the next five years.

“The additional funds could also be used to help find a cure for Covid,

establish facilities that would cater exclusively to Covid-19 patients in order to help decongest our hospitals, or as additional incentives for our frontline healthcare workers who risk their lives day in and day out,” the lawmaker said.

The increased excise tax on e-cigarettes will enable the Department of Health (DOH) to push through with its plans to upgrade state medical facilities and establish more hospitals in remote areas, Gatchalian added.

The funds could also hire and train more doctors and nurses as well as scale up the country’s noncommunicable disease prevention services, especially for low-income families.

The approval of the joint committee report, Gatchalian said, will help

curb the proliferation of those selling Ends/Ennds, and heated tobacco products (HTPs) to minors.

He explained that lawfully-registered vape shops are losing revenue to an estimated 800 unregistered backyard stores. Gatchalian, however, stressed that the bill only serves to regulate and not ban the sale of these products.

The lawmaker explained that since the products come in the form of electronic devices, they will be regulated by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to protect consumers.

“Manufacturers of electrical devices intended to be used in combination with ENDS/ENNDS shall ensure that the devices they produce will comply with the applicable electrical

Investment banker says abets firms’ digital-shift

S

tandard Chartered Bank has been putting money into boosting its digital offerings to support companies in the Association of Southeast Asian (Asean) region amid the pandemic.

Chow Wan Thonh, the bank’s head of global banking in Singapore, Indonesia and AseanSouth Asia cluster markets, said in a webinar last week that the pandemic has forced a change in consumer behavior, which has led to companies finding new ways to conduct business as well.

“You have seen a lot of consumers trying to avoid crowded malls, crowded restaurants, and actually as a result we have seen an exponential growth in the e-commerce space,” she said. Thonh explained that the bank has been helping its clients to adopt and migrate to digital and electronic platforms as the pandemic accelerated digital transformation.

“Many of the companies, many of the corporates also have to adopt a different way of doing business. And when they do that, they do need banks at the back for their support,” she explained. “The good thing is Standard Chartered has invested very heavily in a variety of digital payments and collection options.”

To note, the bank said three years ago that “the proportion of Retail Banking clients that are digitally active rose from just under 40 percent to around 45 percent.” It was also in 2017 when the bank exited its retail banking businesses in the Philippines and Thailand.

“Underlying income… fell 5 percent yearon-year driven by the decisions to exit Retail Banking in Thailand and the Philippines, and from the impact of low volatility on financial

markets,” the bank said in its 2017 annual report.

Potential

Meanwhile, Thonh observed that more of its clients have been seeing the potential of the Asean region amid the pandemic.

She noted that the region is attractive because of the rising middle-class population and young workforce.

“With the pandemic, clearly, clients have become a lot more open in terms of adapting to potentially new markets in Asean,” Thonh said. “They do see Asean as a potential opportunity for the end-consumers because there is a vast population of more than 600 million people living here.”

Apart from this, Thonh said that clients in the Asean region are now looking for a more sustainable, diversified and flexible supply chain given that major disruptions were brought by the pandemic.

Standard Chartered Ventures, the bank’s unit investing in financial technology, recently joined the Open Payments Coalition to launch a universal payment ID—PayID. It aims to simplify the process of sending and receiving money across the world.

The PayID can reach 100 million consumers across the globe, addressing the pain point arising from closed payment networks.

The network is currently trying to reach more partners, including those coming from the Philippines. Among the current members are Ripple Labs, Coins.ph, BitPay, GoPay, Uphold, Forte, Coinfield and Modusbox.

Tyrone Jasper C. Piad

safety standards set by the Bureau of Product Standards of the DTI,” Gatchalian said.

Under the proposed measure, only persons aged 18 years old and above shall be allowed to purchase, sell, and use Ends, Ennds and HTPs. Moreover, Gatchalian said that the bill will also limit the flavors that entice minors to vape.

All e-liquid receptacles shall also be child-resistant, tamper-resistant, and shall be protected against breakage and leakage.

The sale or distribution of Ends/ Ennds or HTPs within 100 meters from any point of the perimeter of a school, playground, or other locations frequented by minors shall also be prohibited, the lawmaker said.

Cai U. Ordinario

Credit Suisse to double China force in 5 years

C

redit Suisse Group AG plans to double its headcount in China over five years as the firm accelerates its pursuit of the nation’s wealthy, seeking to move past a scandal that’s engulfed oncefavored client and Luckin Coffee Inc. founder Lu Zhengyao.

The bank has largely normalized approvals for Chinese companies, ending the increased scrutiny on loans that followed allegations of fabricated earnings at Luckin and a slowdown to weigh the impact of Covid-19.

Credit Suisse will add to its China workforce as it targets a 100-percent increase in revenue there, Asia Chief Executive Officer Helman Sitohang said in an interview. Its China securities venture had 154 staff at the end of last year, and the lender also offers financing, trading, wealth and asset management on the mainland.

Much of the firm’s build-out will focus on expanding advisory and investment banking services for the ballooning ranks of China’s rich. Sitohang’s plans are key to Credit Suisse meeting its goal of doubling the contribution to revenue growth that comes from ultra high net worth strategic clients over the next three years. Separately, the lender has embarked on a wide-ranging assessment of risk controls following a series of deals linked to troubled companies including Luckin.

“China is our strongest focus when it comes to headcount, and infrastructure growth compared to any country in the world,” Sitohang said.

“The worst of Covid’s impact on the region’s business activity is behind us,” he said, referring to Asia.

Asia’s largest economy has the most millionaires after the US and its financial opening this year has presented global banks and asset managers with an unmatched opportunity for expansion. Credit Suisse wants Asia to make up 25 percent of group revenue in a couple of years, from 17.5 percent now, people familiar with the matter said, declining to be named discussing internal matters.

The downfall of Starbucks Corp. rival Luckin and its billionaire founder blindsided Credit Suisse and other lenders, who are fighting to recoup losses on more than $500 million in margin loans. The Swiss bank, the lead underwriter for Luckin’s public offering, launched an internal review though Chief Executive Officer Thomas Gottstein has said it will continue to target China’s wealthy entrepreneurs. Bloomberg News

B4

Art

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, September 1, 2020 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

www.businessmirror.com.ph

León Gallery brings the magnificent this September in ‘biggest’ auction to date

By Eugenia Last

z

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Zendaya, 24; Zoe Lister-Jones, 38; Gloria Estefan, 63; Lily Tomlin, 81.

Happy Birthday: Take the plunge, and put your plans in motion. Stop procrastinating, and start moving toward your dream. Once you take the first step, you’ll be glad you did. You have so much to offer and even more to gain. A mix of what you have done and what you are doing now will lead to greater opportunities.

Your numbers are 9, 17, 21, 26, 35, 37, 44.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Keep your life moderate and straightforward, and pay close attention to your physical well-being. Don’t take unnecessary risks or give in to someone trying to entice you to partake in something indulgent or risky. When you’re uncertain, slow down and reflect. HHH

❶ Cage, Ronald

Ventura, signed and dated 2013, oil on canvas, 84” x 60”

❷ The

Offering, Fernando Amorsolo, signed and dated 1945, oil on canvas, 36” x 30”

Today’s Horoscope

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Send a message that will inform peers, relatives or friends of a decision you’ve made. The support you receive will help you get what you are trying to achieve up and running. HHHH

F

INE arts and antiques art space and auction house León Gallery rolls out one of its four major annual auctions this month that has its director making a bold statement.

“This auction could yet be our biggest ever,” said León Gallery director Jaime Ponce de León, alluding to the fact they “tend to outdo every auction by pushing themselves to get better and better assembly of pieces.”

The Magnificent September Auction 2020, however, slated on September 19, features a particularly rich mix of lots from the storied centuries of Philippine art history. This includes works by venerated old masters, mid-century modernists, and world-renowned contemporary artists and many more.

Among the highlight pieces are monumental works by Ronald Ventura, Mark Justiniani, Rodel Tapaya and Emmanuel Garibay.

A standout is a Ventura masterpiece, titled Cage, wherein the artist’s cinematic approach in creating cohesive chaos comes to fore. Ventura intertwines traditional techniques and contemporary dispositions in creating pieces that are as visually striking as they are narratively engaging. The artist once said that he approaches art with the mindset of an exacting filmmaker who feels there is always something in the picture that could be added or removed or change, resulting to a complex and informed layering of images and styles.

Ventura made headlines in 2011 when his painting sold for $1.1 million at Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings auction in Hong Kong, setting the record for a work by a Southeast Asian contemporary artist.

The Magnificent September Auction 2020 also packs quite the selection from modernists. There are two

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Refrain from sharing personal information with someone who can influence your position or standing in your community. Work quietly on your own until you are happy with what you accomplish. HH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Virtual travel and research will pay off. A creative pursuit will help you make positive changes at home that will allow you to make extra money. How you handle a partnership will determine how much help you receive.

Romance is encouraged. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Take care of business, money matters and your reputation.

Don’t feel you have to make a change because someone else does. Put your energy into what makes the most sense and brings the highest return.

Avoid taking a physical risk. HHH

❶

❷

paintings from the “Father of Philippine Modern Abstraction” H.R. Ocampo and an early work from the “Father of Philippine Modern Art” Victorio Edadas.

Also included are coveted Bencabs and major Ang Kuikoks, to go with a special 1966 work by Jose Joya, titled Angeles, which “falls within the best years of the artist,” Ponce de León said.

The León Gallery director shared that his personal favorite in the upcoming auction is a piece titled The Offering by the country’s first National Artist, Fernando Amorsolo.

“This work is a large war scene by Amorsolo of a half-naked beautiful maiden,” Ponce de León said.

“Other works I must not fail to mention are magnificent Lee Aguinaldos and Bernardo Pacquings.”

In the auction’s e-catalogue, downloadable from The León Gallery web site, Ponce de León said that each event fills him with excitement and awe. But this

year’s edition of The Magnificent September Auction, he said, is made “even more special” as they are able to bring their clients their auction offerings in the safety of their homes during this time of pandemic.

Ponce de León credits León Gallery’s early move to go digital when they presented their first online auction in 2016.

“That move has greatly helped us brave this situation we are in right now,” he said. “It has enabled us to continue our operations without interruption.”

“One good thing with the pandemic, and I’m saying this without insensitivity to others, is that people are able to stay home and reflect,” he added.

“With that, they are able to go online, read books, watch Netflix and so on. In our case, clients are able to spend more time trawling auction catalogs online, hence a larger client participation in our online activities.” n

Nike Philippines, local artists dedicate murals to Kobe Bryant NIKE Philippines honored the legacy of Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) with Mamba Week from August 23 by bringing together athletes, communities, inspiration and innovation which commemorated his enduring legacy and the transcendent Mamba Mentality.

In another chapter of the Mamba Week tribute, Nike teamed up with ARAL Cru, a local graffiti trio from the community, to dedicate two murals around Metro Manila celebrating Kobe Bryant, his legacy and Mamba Mentality.

The first mural that ARAL Cru created directly faces the historic Araneta Coliseum, the venue where Kobe Bryant made his last appearance in Manila.

The portrait of Kobe on the right side of the artwork is derived from a photo

of him smiling during his last visit to the coliseum. This mural depicts imagery of fearlessness and focus, and a color scheme that resembles a sunset, which sets a tone of thankfulness for a good Kobe day that had passed.

ARAL Cru relocated to Makai City to paint the second mural a few hours later.

Symbolizing the sunrise and the beginning of a new day, this mural uses the same colors as the first but moving toward the opposite direction.

The mural depicts Kobe wearing his two iconic jersey numbers, 8 and 24, shooting crumpled pieces of paper into a trash bin: an optimistic way of showing the moment when we are reminded to be a little better each time the sun rises, just like Kobe. Throughout

his career as he evolved both as a person and as an athlete, he was always the one you could reliably turn to when the game was on the line.

ARAL Cru consists of Bvdot, Cinos and Frank, a three-man graffiti crew from the Greater Manila Area. Through street painting and gallery work across Philippines, they are today recognized as among the most respected young talents in the street art movement in the country.

Kayo Cosio of #HoneycombArts organized and curated this project. #HoneycombArts is an organization that connects culture and messaging through a variety of public art mediums. They have also curated and executed over 60 public art projects in Manila and abroad.

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A change of pace is required. Set new goals that will challenge you. A new hairstyle or fitness routine will lift your spirits and prompt you to pursue your dreams. It’s time to take control and make things happen. Romance is favored. HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Sit back and take in what’s going on around you. Observation will buy you time and save you money. Arguing won’t help you deter others from making a mistake. Do your own thing, and refuse to get roped into someone’s misfortune. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Plan something special for someone you love.

Take the initiative, and make a change at home that will add to your comfort and your happiness.

Romance, self-improvement and a shift in your routine are featured. HHHHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Don’t trust anyone with personal information, passwords or possessions. Concentrate on taking care of business and staying out of trouble. Too much of anything will work against you. Limit yourself to pursuing personal growth and better health. HH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Investments, partnerships and joint ventures will change the way you live and do things moving forward. A relationship with someone special will take a positive turn. Home improvements, a better lifestyle and romantic adventure are heading your way. HHHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Go at your own pace. You don’t have to keep up with anyone or follow someone taking a path you don’t want to pursue. Concentrate on what matters to you, and don’t lose sight of the personal goals you set.

HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Let your intuition guide you and your heart take you in a direction that promises better days ahead.

Personal gains, love and romance are within reach; all you have to do is be honest with yourself and others.

HHH Birthday Baby: You are helpful, engaging and persistent.

You are charismatic and spirited.

‘holding company’ by evan kalish and brooke husic The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Holey rubber shoe 5 She goes “baa” 8 Without a warranty 12 Health care helper 13 In the ___ (not virtual) 15 Either parent’s nickname, perhaps 16 Smart home security features (see letters 7 to 9) 19 Used Twitch, e.g.

20 Swiss city known for early Dada art 21 Subj. of Obama’s 2016 JAMA article 22 Prefix with “soft” or “sweet” 23 PC key combo of last resort (6 to 8) 28 Soda with a vanilla variety 32 Roth ___ 33 Tree secretion 34 Stretchy glove material 35 Group of artisans or Neopets players 37 Section leaders, often: Abbr.

38 Bit of silliness 39 Pop Secret competitor 40 Outdo 42 Before, to Dickinson

43 Paper purchase 44 Groovy ocean dweller (4 to 6) 46 IVF cell 48 Singer or Mean Girls character Janis 49 Off course 52 “Later!”

57 Financial news site that hints at the starred answers’ indicated letters?

59 Decked out 60 Fragile ecosystems 61 Luxurious hair 62 Certain 63 Like just-painted nails 64 CPR experts DOWN 1 Dishonest types, old-style 2 Certain demonstration 3 Stench 4 Hotel breakfast basic 5 “Ex’s & Oh’s” singer King 6 Fuse, as metal 7 Key to try before 23-Across 8 Word after “Arab” or “Latin” 9 Indian garment that may be nine

yards 10 Apple desktop 11 Kate Middleton’s wear 13 Alpha ___ 14 Greenish eye color 17 Rum brand 18 Silent 22 Karate instructor 23 Hades smokes one in Hercules 24 Break from fighting 25 Sauce with yogurt and cucumber 26 Lightning bolt on a weather map, briefly 27 “Endless Love” singer Ross 29 Monterey Bay Aquarium mammal 30 Oscar nominee Knightley 31 Perform very well 34 Some snuggling pets 36 Newlyweds may share one 41 Marriages 44 Party on House Hunters 45 Right before the bell, say 47 Yellow vehicle in Little Miss Sunshine 49 Early lesson

50 Cho’s Star Trek role 51 Bygone Russian title 52 “Makes sense” 53 Present 54 Comic artist Ellis or skater Rippon 55 Classy chap 56 Mine deposits 58 Stitch up Solution to Friday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Chadwick Boseman was best known for his iconic performance as the title character in the Marvel Studios blockbuster Black Panther. AP

Shock, grief, and gratitude after death of Chadwick Boseman T

HE death of Chadwick Boseman last Friday, following a years long struggle with colon cancer, shocked not only fans worldwide but also a huge swath of the Hollywood community. Expressions of shock, grief and gratitude quickly flooded various social-media platforms and news services. Best known for his iconic performance as the title character in the Marvel Studios blockbuster Black Panther, Boseman was 43.

“He was a gentle soul and a brilliant artist, who will stay with us for eternity through his iconic performances over his short yet illustrious career.

God bless Chadwick Boseman.”—Denzel Washington, via a statement.

“Chadwick...no words to express my devastation of losing you. Your talent, your spirit, your heart, your authenticity.... It was an honor working beside you, getting to know you.... Rest well prince...May flights of angels sing thee to thy heavenly rest. I love you!”— Viola Davis, costar in Get on Up and the upcoming adaptation of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, via Instagram.

“During the premiere party for Black Panther, Chadwick reminded me of something. He whispered that when I received my honorary degree from Howard University, his alma mater, he was the student assigned to escort me that day. And here we were, years later as friends and colleagues, enjoying the most glorious night ever! We’d spent weeks prepping, working, sitting next to each other every morning in makeup chairs, preparing for the day together as mother and son. I am honored that we enjoyed that full circle experience. This young man’s dedication was awe-inspiring, his smile contagious, his talent unreal. So I pay tribute to a beautiful spirit, a consummate artist, a soulful brother...‘thou aren’t not dead but flown afar...’. All you possessed, Chadwick, you freely gave. Rest now, sweet prince.”—Angela Bassett, costar in Black Panther, via Instagram.

“I don’t have words. Rest In Peace, Bruh. Thank you for all you did while you were here. Thank you for being a friend. You are loved. You will be missed.”—

Boseman’s Black Panther costar Sterling K. Brown.

“I’m absolutely devastated. This is beyond heartbreaking. Chadwick was special. A true original. He was a deeply committed and constantly curious artist. He had so much amazing work still left to create. I’m endlessly grateful for our friendship. Rest in power, King.”—Chris Evans, who played Captain America in multiple Marvel films, via Twitter.

“What a man, and what an immense talent.

Brother, you were one of the all time greats and your greatness was only beginning. Lord love ya. Rest in power, King.”—Mark Ruffalo, Boseman’s costar in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, via Twitter.

“THANK YOU @chadwickboseman for all you gave us. We needed it & will always cherish it! A talented & giving artist & brother who will be sorely missed.”— Samuel L. Jackson, costar in Avengers: Endgame, via Twitter.

“This is a crushing blow.” director and actor Jordan Peele on Twitter.

“Our hearts are broken and our thoughts are with Chadwick Boseman’s family. Your legacy will live on forever.”—Marvel Studios, via Instagram.

“Heartbroken. My friend and fellow Bison Chadwick Boseman was brilliant, kind, learned, and humble. He left too early but his life made a difference.”—Kamala Harris, on Twitter. Harris and Boseman were both graduates of Howard University, and his final tweet celebrated her selection as Joe Biden’s running mate.

“The true power of @ChadwickBoseman was bigger than anything we saw on screen. From the Black Panther to Jackie Robinson, he inspired generations and showed them they can be anything they want—even super heroes.”—Joe Biden, via Twitter.

“We are devastated by the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman. His transcendent performance in ‘42’ will stand the test of time and serve as a powerful vehicle to tell Jackie’s story to audiences for generations to come.”—Major League Baseball, via Twitter.

B5

“This broke me.”—Actor and writer Issa Rae on Twitter.

“I will miss you, birthday brother. you were always light and love to me. my god.”—Don Cheadle, via Twitter.

“So stunned. Honored to have worked with @ chadwickboseman early on. Truly an amazing man.

God bless his wife and family in this difficult time.

Rest In Peace, brother.”—Terry Crews, via Twitter.

“A warrior of light til the very end. A true king.

I am without words. May he rise in power.”—Actor Kerry Washington, on Twitter.

“I met you at the premier of 42 in Pittsburgh in 2013. Even though you were in the spotlight and all eyes were on you, I remember you saying, ‘I’m that one that’s starstruck by all of these athletes here.’ That’s the man you were. Humble. You will be missed.”—Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen, a former National League Most Valuable Player when he played for Pittsburgh, on Twitter.

“Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get any worse...A deeply gifted man is gone too soon.

His memory will blaze on fiercely...from here to eternity.”—Mark Hamill, on Twitter.

“Hard to hear about this. Rest in love, brother.

Thank you for shining your light and sharing your talent with the world. My love and strength to your family.”—Dwayne Johnson, via Twitter.

“Our makeup artists are friends and he used to get on the phone and ask me to sing “You Mean The World To Me” because it was his favorite song of mine and now this song will be forever dedicated to him.”—Toni Braxton, recording artist, on Twitter.

“In power. Eternally in power.”—Moonlight director Barry Jenkins, via Twitter.

“We love you, Chadwick. Your legacy will never die.”—Lena Waithe, on Twitter.

“An immeasurable loss. From Black Panther to Da 5 Bloods, Chadwick Boseman brought strength and light to the screen, every time.”—The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, via Twitter.

“We’ve lost a great one. My heart is truly broken.”—Octavia Spencer on Instagram. AP

GMA online news outlets continue PHL leadership, boost global ranking

Consistently delivering impressive numbers, GMA’s online platforms GMA News and GMA Public Affairs remained as the Philippines’s top news outlets and further increased their respective worldwide rankings in July.

Citing latest data from cross-platform digital video measurement provider Tubular Labs, GMA News was up 9 spots and ranked No. 9 worldwide in the July 2020 leader board—outranking other top international news outlets such as ABC News, Fox News, and CNN. Still the No. 1 in the country, the account tallied 277 million views on Facebook and 192 million views on YouTube.

Driving a huge number of views for the page is the livestream of 24 Oras, which continues to be the most viewed local newscast online. In addition, the Express versions of 24 Oras, Saksi, and Unang Hirit also helped reach Filipino audiences across the globe.

Moreover, GMA News continued to lead in Facebook engagement with an all-time high of 74 million engagements according to data from Crowdtangle.

These efforts enabled GMA News to reach 15 million followers on Facebook and 7 million subscribers on YouTube. Across all platforms, the total followership of GMA News accounts has now reached 48 million.

The award-winning group of GMA Public Affairs maintained its spot as the second-ranked Philippine video publisher in the list at No. 18, with 107 million views on Facebook and 242 million views on YouTube.

Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho (KMJS), the Philippines’s highest-rating TV program, is similarly among the most-viewed public affairs shows online along with Imbestigador, Tunay na Buhay, Wish Ko Lang and Ilaban Natin ‘Yan. GMA Public Affairs digital shows Stand For Truth, Frontliners, Fact or Fake, RTx, Survivors, The Better Normal PH, Juan Love, Quarantours, Sumbungan ng Bayan, and ECQusina also drew in a substantial number of video views. Earlier this year, the GMA Public Affairs YouTube channel received the Diamond Creator Award for surpassing 10 million subscribers. GMA Network currently holds two YouTube Diamond Play Buttons—for GMA Network and GMA Public Affairs channels—and is the first Philippine network to achieve such feat.

The FDCP gets busier than ever

FILM Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) chairman Liza Diño-Seguerra broke the good news that The Actors Occupational Safety and Health Standard Bill, or more popularly known as the “Eddie Garcia Bill,” has just been approved in the House Committee Level of the Philippine Congress.

This bill seeks to institute policies for the protection and promotion of the general welfare of those who work in and for the entertainment industry. There will be three more readings on different levels of the House of Congress before the bicameral session with the Senate.

“It is still a long way to go, but things are looking great. If eventually passed to become a law, then it will be a wonderful gift to everyone of us in the industry that has been hardest hit by this pandemic. After

100 years of cinema, we can finally look forward to a law that will take care of us and our rights as entertainment industry workers,” she said.

The Eddie Garcia Bill is coauthored by Rep. Michael Romero of the 1-Pacman party-list group.

Romero is the stepson of the late great actor whose death was directly caused by an unnecessary accident that could have been easily prevented while working on the set of a TV series.

Diño-Seguerra’s team recently spearheaded the Philippine contingent at the Hong Kong Filmart.

The Philippine Pavilion included 11 participating companies that are into buying and selling of local film projects to the rest of Asia and the world.

Four local film projects have also been included at the 18th Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum: Avid Liongoren’s ZsaZsa Zaturnnah versus The Amazonistas of Planet X, Petersen Vargas’s Some Nights I Feel Like Walking, Adolfo Alix Jr.’s The Double, and a documentary titled Last Days at Sea by Venice Atienza.

The FDCP is also partnering with the prestigious Asian TV Awards (ATA) for its next edition to be held at the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.

“The ever-changing landscape of the audiovisual industry has opened doors for our local content creators and artists to be able to cross over with their outputs and visions. We hope that with this partnership with ATA, we can promote more of the

best from the Philippines to Asia and even to the rest of the world,” Diño-Seguerra shared.

Another collaboration that the FDCP head is excited about is the Full Circle Lab Philippines, a done deal with Full Circle Lab director Matthieu Darras, scheduled from September 12 to 14.

The online edition will benefit 20 projects in development from the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia.

The Philippine Film Archive, a division of the FDCP, has also reported that it was able to complete the rewinding, transfer and inventory procedures of films from two of our esteemed late filmmakers: Lino Brocka’s Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (1984) and Gerardo de Leon’s Noli Me Tangere.

While some industry colleagues who have benefited so much from the FDCP’s programs in the past, both financially and other support incentives, continue with their tirades against Diño-Seguerra and her team because of political affiliations, conflicting loyalties, and contradicting leadership expectations, here is a council that remains undaunted in its commitment to its mission of elevating Philippine cinema and its related platforms to the highest level that this country has ever experienced, and uplifting the welfare of the industry work force in ways that have never been explored and achieved before.

Liza DiñoSeguerra, chairman of the Film Development Council of the Philippines

B6 Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Amid COVID-19 pandemic, Taguig Youthcon 2020 goes online

Taguig spearheads digital convention in new normal scenario

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OVID-19 did not stop the Taguig City Youthcon for 2020, with Taguig City and the SK Federation gathering youth leaders in events held completely online between August 24 and 29.

“Over the pandemic, we’ve pushed ourselves to explore possibilities in the new normal scenario. This annual convention going to the virtual world is us pushing the envelope once more, for the welfare of a sector that has always been dear to Taguig,” said Mayor Lino Cayetano.

The inaugural Youthcon in 2019 gathered some 1,500 Taguigeños aged 15-30, but COVID-19 restricts large gatherings at this time.

“Last year’s Youthcon was a success we were determined to continue even when most cancelled or did not celebrate the youth week,” said SK Federation chair Beng Maximo. “In this trailblazing event, Taguig organized a massive digital youth convention. It is an expressions of the city’s inclusive governance – a leadership that listens to, cares for and trains young people.”

The lineup marks the nationwide Linggo ng Kabataan, whose theme this year is “Youth Engagement for Global Action.”

Positive influence

Just as last year’s convention, the 2020 edition featured a powerhouse of leaders, celebrities and influencers discussing various issues.

Taguig SK leaders launched on August 24 the “Infodemic” campaign, which raised media literacy in response to the proliferation of mis- and disinformation during the pandemic.

Team Ebs duo Angel Yap and Flow G led the Vlogging 101 webinar on August 25. The next day, athlete Rachel Daquis discussed fitness and confidence. Lazada’s Petrus Carbonell followed with a discussion on e-commerce.

Sen. Pia Cayetano, Senate Chair Committee on Sustainable Development, led the “Futures Thinking for Future Leaders” discussion on August 27. Earlier in the day, Mind Museum resident scientists Mikee Estorga at Pecier Decierdo discussed climate change. Following them, Solenn Heussaff and husband Nico Bolzico discussed relationships.

August 28, Rocco Nacino at Melissa Gohing zeroed in on relationship goals and fitness; while Bianca King tackled responsible citizenship.

On the last day, Bubbles Paraiso met young people for self-care tips.

Taguig 2nd Dist. Rep. Lani Cayetano also showed her support for Taguigeño Youth during the Taguig Youthcon 2020 by paying CICLs or Children In Conflict with the Law a visit at Bahay Pag-Asa, a city-funded shelter established in 2015.

This provides formation and education to children in conflict with the law.

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, on the other hand, shared a light moment with SK leaders as he talked about starting as a young leader in Taguig and discussing leadership values.

‘Meaningful citizenship’

In one of the highlights of this year’s Youthcon, students thought up ingenious solutions to “new normal” issues with Youth Hackathon held on August 26-28, 2020.

Hackathons gather people for a limited time to collaborate and come up with solutions to specific problems, that can range from information technology to development projects. In Taguig’s iteration, teams from different Department of Education schools discussed solutions to concerns in education, mental health, environment and sustainability, and transportation.

“The city wanted to engage future leaders by inviting them to deal with present problems,” said Maximo. “We provided young people a space for meaningful citizenship.”

“Older people often say that the young ones are idealistic, as if it’s a bad thing.

In fact, many of our successful programs

have been initiated or led by young people.

This hackathon harnesses their bright ideas and hopes to amplify them for the greater good,” said Mayor Lino.

Winners of the tilt will receive an initial funding for their projects and mentorship from the Taguig local government’s resident experts.

Exciting events

The Youthcon also hosted "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Tournament" on August 26-29, inspired by the success of e-sports at the 30th South East Asian Games hosted by the Philippines last year.

“Mobile games have been a pastime, even a livelihood, for many young people during the community quarantine,” explained Mayor Lino. “Who knows if some of the participants in our tournament could move from representing their barangays to representing the country.”

Gamification was a recurring theme of the Youthcon. Adding to the raffles and giveaways, organizers also placed contests, including daily Facebook Live Games which introduced city agendas like agriculture, mobility, tourism and COVID-19 awareness through virtual games.

In addition to the learnings, each participant also received a P100 load allowance to cover part of their expenses for attending Youthcon 2020.

“It was no wonder why we were able to organize hundreds of young people in this novel event: the content is relevant, exciting and truly inspiring,” said Maximo.

“We are truly grateful to the city for focusing on the youth sector and helping us push through with this activity despite COVID-19."

“Investing in the youth is investing in the future, which is why we should continue to develop and empower the youth of the city,” noted Mayor Lino. “Let this be evidence that Taguig sincerely believes in young people, and that we are ready to train them and give them opportunities for growth whether or not a pandemic exists. Our commitment is timeless and resilient.”

New SM scholars see beyond challenges, aspire for success

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T the recently concluded SM College Scholarship awarding virtual event, Atty. Epitacio Borcelis— one of the very first SM scholars and who is now the senior counsel of SM Investments Corporation— reminded the scholars to strive and persevere not just in their studies but also in life in general.

New SM scholars Jhon Christian Garcia and Jolyn Lachica, both coming from economically challenged families, know the essence of that value to their very core.

Even though both will be supported by SM Foundation (SMFI) in their studies, they still thought of ways on how to help their families make ends meet.

Garcia, a son of a retired security guard and a canteen helper from Bulacan, is an incoming BS computer engineering freshman at National University-Baliuag. In a kumustahan session with the new SM scholars, Garcia narrated how the COVID-19 pandemic affected his family.

“My mother, who currently provides for our family, was not able to work during this pandemic. So I thought of ways on how to earn money to help our family survive this crisis,” Garcia said.

To help his family, he ventured into selling electronic gadgets and accessories online which he gets from a

gadget shop for an agreed commission. Garcia shared that the profit may not be that big but still a huge help to address their everyday needs.

“The pandemic made me realize how financially incapable we are. Though it has affected our way of living, my dreams and vision are still intact. This encouraged me more to pursue my goals so my family’s economic status will improve in the future.” he further shared.

Similar with Garcia, Lachica went into selling during this pandemic, with the help from her mother and sister, “We decided to cook snacks and meals that we can sell in our area. That helped us with our everyday expenses during this difficult time.”

Lachica, a daughter of a security guard and a housewife from Bacolod, is an incoming BS Accountancy freshman at the University of St. La Salle in Negros Occidental.

She said that this crisis did not deter her from going toward her goals, “It actually served as an inspiration to drive myself even harder because I saw how people struggled to survive during this pandemic. I want to be successful and capable of helping my family, and even other people, in difficult times like this.”

SM scholar Jhon Christian Garcia (lower right) with his parents and sibling.

Garcia and Lachica are part of the 200 new SM scholars for School Year 2020-2021 whose lives will change as they received the gift of education from SM Foundation.

SMFI, through its Scholarship program, provides deserving and qualified students with access to college education and technical-vocational studies since 1993. To date, SMFI has supported almost 5,500 scholars nationwide.

Aboitiz chief assures continued safe, healthy business operations amid COVID-19

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ARIOUS Aboitiz business facilities are continuously operating and implementing health and safety protocols in the midst of the Coronavirus-19 (Covid-19) pandemic.

Following a series of site inspections, Aboitiz Group president and Chief Executive Officer Sabin M. Aboitiz reiterated the company’s commitment to keep its businesses running smoothly to help the country’s economy weather the challenges posed by the health crisis.

“Aboitiz is committed to providing unhampered delivery of products and services across critical sectors that will help keep our economy moving. We will continue to provide reliable and ample power supply to the country; ensure food security along with our partners; continue to create better ways to live; and ensure sufficient and domestically-produced cement of good quality to support the country’s infrastructure initiatives,” Aboitiz said.

Last August 14, the Aboitiz Group chief visited Republic Cement and Building Materials, Inc.’s (Republic Cement) Batangas Plant, which boasts of its consistent high standard in environmental and safety practices. He also toured AboitizLand, Inc.’s Seafront Residences in San Juan, Batangas, its first residential project in Luzon.

Team members on site felt empowered with the strong leadership support at this challenging time.

A few weeks prior, the Aboitiz chief and a team of AboitizPower senior officials, inspected the geothermal power plant facilities of AboitizPower Renewables, Inc. (APRI) in Makiling-Banahaw (MakBan) in Laguna and Tiwi, Albay. Aboitiz also went around the Pagbilao Thermal Power Plant in Quezon province to inspect the 420-megawatt Pagbilao 3 unit operated

by Pagbilao Energy Corporation, a joint venture between AboitizPower and TeaM Energy.

In all these visits, Aboitiz noted that these facilities are conscientiously following strict pre-entry safety requirements, health screening, and other safety protocols.

“On top of keeping unhampered operations on various work sites and business facilities, the most important thing is ensuring that our team members

Aboitiz Group chief Sabin M. Aboitiz inspected various Aboitiz facilities to ensure continuous business operations, especially in critical sectors that help keep the country’s economy moving, and that strict health and safety protocols are in place. With him at the Republic Cement Batangas Plant site visit (pictured above) is Republic Cement President and CEO Nabil Francis.

especially those in the frontlines, those who are keeping the lights on, those who are keeping the machines running, and those who are building our homes one brick at a time are well taken cared of; that they are healthy, safe and their needs are met,” Aboitiz stressed.

Aboitiz noted that while the health crisis has undoubtedly created challenges, it is also paving the way for opportunities such as harnessing the full potential of innovation and applying it in the company’s business operations.

“We were able to showcase the performance of the Batangas plant, the safety of the plant as well as our preparations on the new normal and how we implement it,” shared Republic Cement Batangas Plant manager Erwin Cruz.

The Republic Cement Batangas Plant, located in Taysan, Batangas, has been in operation since 1967. It produces Type 1, Type 1P, and Type 1 OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement) Bulk Cement.

Meantime at the Seafront Residences which was launched in 2017, Aboitiz inspected completed houses and amenities, and future areas for development. “It was good to be able to highlight our successes and initiatives towards meeting our construction goals despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic,” AboitizLand assistant vice president for Customer Management Monica Trajano said.

HMC to present successful mining rehabilitation in France

Earl John A. Gascon, Forester at HMC, says the nematodes are like our friendly army of soil engineers that will lead the way to a successful mine rehabilitation.

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INATUAN Mining Corp. (HMC) has been invited to France for a poster presentation on a study on the presence of nematodes to prove the healthy condition of the soil in the rehabilitated area at the mine site.

Nematodes are microscopic wormlike organisms abundant in the upper soil layers that are a major component of the soil’s ecosystem. At the mine site, nematodes are like “soil engineers” – the miners’ partners in the restoration of the virility of the soil.

“Despite huge economic contributions, mining is often linked to soil degradation and one of the biggest challenges for miners is to prove the success of our rehabilitation programs in bringing back life in the minedout areas,” explains Manuel A. Torres, Mine Environmental Protection and Enhancement manager at HMC. HMC spends at least P80 Million pesos yearly for rehabilitation programs.

The study by Dr. Joey Genevieve T. Martinez, DSc., Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences (CSM) at the Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) is to be presented at the International Congress on Nematology in Paris. He used the soil environment at HMC for his academic research to prove that nematodes are

ecological indicators of soil condition.

Current indicators of a successful mine rehabilitation are above ground such as vegetation. The study evaluated the effects of mining practices using soil nematodes as bio-indicators.

Some of the results of the study that will be presented to the Conference in Paris, to be attended by nematologists and scientists from all over the world, indicate that the chemical, physical and biological properties of the soil found in the ‘undisturbed areas’ at the mine site are similar to the soil found in the rehabilitated areas.

“In simpler terms this means that the conditio Engr. Francis Arañes, Jr., HMC Resident Mine Manager, says that the mining company is grateful to Dr. Martinez for choosing HMC to be the focus for his research.

“The study underscores HMC’s successful mine rehabilitation programs and brings the mining company’s name to an international stage within the scientific community ” Arañes beams.

The Philippines is a country wellendowed with mineral resources and mining companies such as HMC – subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) – are mandated by law to conduct rehab programs that will establish a sustainable agricultural life for the communities after the mine life.

Earl John A. Gascon, HMC’s dedicated company forester is excited to see the growth of various plants and crops all over the mine’s rehabilitation area but even more proud to share with the communities around the mine site the news about the study on the nematodes.

“As a forester, I see this as HMC’s legacy.

The nematodes, our friendly army of soil engineers, will lead the way in soil rehab so the people in the mining community will enjoy the virility of the mined-out lands for AgroForest and Farming, for many, many years,” exclaims Gascon. "Nematodes of the soil in the rehabilitated are somewhat similar to the areas that have not been mined and this is a proud statement that says a lot about the efficiency of our rehabilitation program,” says Torres.

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

Sports BusinessMirror

Tuesday, September 1, 2020 B7

NUGGETS FORCE DECIDING GAME 7 L

AKE BUENA VISTA, Florida—The Jamal Murray-Donovan Mitchell duel will be settled in the first Game Seven in the bubble.

Murray extended his torrid run with 50 more points, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 119-107 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday night.

Murray had his second 50-point game of the series to equal Mitchell, who finished with 44 in this one. No player has ever had more in an entire postseason.

They will go at it one more time Tuesday night, with the winner advancing to face the Los Angeles Clippers, who finished off the Dallas Mavericks in six games on the same court a few hours earlier.

Murray and his teammates are trying to become the 12th team to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win a series and the first since 2016, when the Cleveland Cavaliers completed the only one of those comebacks that came in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals.

“They believe in me, I believe in them and we’re trying to be this 12th team to come back from down 3-1,” said Murray, whose right sneaker had a picture of George Floyd and his left Breonna Taylor, two Black people killed by police this spring.

Mitchell was disappointed the Jazz had missed a chance to wrap up the series in Game Five, but understands the interest in seeing he and Murray square off in the ultimate contest.

“As a fan perspective I see it and I respect it, but I can’t tell you as a player that I want to play Game Seven if we’re up 3-1,” he said. “I don’t think anybody wants to do that but we’re here, so play the hand that you’re dealt and we’re going to go out there and execute and do what we’ve got to do.”

The Nuggets won the opener, but the Jazz won the next three games and were in good shape to finish it in Game Five, holding a 15-point lead in the third quarter.

Murray led the charge back in that game, finishing with 42 points, and then was a sizzling 17 of 24 in Game Six, going 9 for 12 behind the three-point arc.

“Last game he got to the rim and we wanted to take that away. Other than trapping him, we’re trying to make him hit contested shots and he’s doing that,” Utah Coach Quin Snyder said.

Mitchell also hit nine 3-pointers and increased what was the NBA’s top-scoring average in these playoffs at 37.6 points per game.

In the fourth quarter alone, Murray outscored Mitchell 21-17, helping prevent the Jazz from ever getting close enough to have a real chance of finishing the series.

Murray had a little more help, with Nikola Jokic scoring 22 points and Jerami Grant adding 18.

Mike Conley had 21 points for the Jazz, but Rudy Gobert and Jordan Clarkson were each only held to 11.

A seventh game between the third-seeded Nuggets and No. 6 Jazz seems fitting. Though Denver won all three meetings during the regular season, the total margin was just 11 points.

The Jazz came into the day topping all teams in the postseason in field goal percentage and three-

Former athletes, sports shows take lead on protests

Kentucky Derby, Louisville brace for racing weekend without fans

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hris Webber’s emotional comments last week in support of National Basketball Association (NBA) players, who boycotted the playoffs after the shooting of Jacob Blake, generated millions of views because they came from the heart and addressed sensitive topics.

But for Webber and other Black commentators who discussed this week’s call to action throughout the sports world, it wasn’t unusual to discuss such subjects. The only difference is that this time he spoke in front of a live TV audience.

“These are conversations I have had with my mom since I’ve been five years old. This is nothing I haven’t said a thousand times before, but no one heard it,” Webber said by phone from the NBA bubble at Walt Disney World in Florida. “These are the same conversations and hopefully something gets done.”

On-air conversations about race have been common in sports media because it is more diverse, particularly with more Black on-air talent, than the rest of the news media, where many organizations have pledged this year to hire more minorities. Former athletes have a pipeline to advance into sports media as commentators, and many popular shows feature a Black man or woman as a host.

Amid a dizzying week of news that included the Republican National Convention, the coronavirus pandemic and protests following the shooting of Blake by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sports networks devoted large chunks of their programming to discussions of social and racial injustice.

Boycotts by players in several leagues—games canceled in the NBA, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer, and National Football League players not practicing—presented an opportunity for sports on TV to deviate from the usual script.

Those conversations took different forms. TNT’s Kenny Smith showed solidarity with players by walking off the “Inside the NBA” set on Wednesday.

On Thursday, NFL Network was slated to air the Los Angeles Chargers’ first workout at SoFI Stadium.

Instead, it turned into a forum for players to express their feelings about racial and social issues after practice was canceled.

Talk shows on ESPN and FS1, normally devoted to debates about teams, players and coaches, became forums to discuss experiences with racism.

“I have young nephews and I’ve had to talk to them about death before they’ve even seen a movie,” Webber said in his comments on TNT on Wednesday.

CBS studio host James Brown, who has been a part of network television for 36 years, said his conversations with players and executives have shown that athletes feel like they’re at a crossroads. AP

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OUISVILLE, Kentucky—The fastest two minutes in sports will also be the quietest in Kentucky Derby history.

Churchill Downs scraped plans earlier this month for 23,000 physically distanced, masked fans to attend Saturday’s rescheduled Tripled Crown race due to the rise in coronavirus cases.

It will be the first time spectators will not be allowed to attend the race.

That means no iconic scene of thoroughbreds rounding the first turn before packed grandstands beneath the Twin Spires. No sea of women in big, colorful hats or men in bright suits, many sipping mint juleps with Kentucky’s famous bourbon while cheering the Run For The Roses.

But the good news for Derby diehards is there will be a race.

The Derby has followed other sports and events in running without fans—including the Belmont Stakes in June—but the unusual scenario for the Triple Crown’s marquee event has been hard for some to grasp, including horsemen used to prepping horses for huge crowds.

“It’s definitely not going to be your normal Derby,” trainer and Louisville native Brad Cox said. “It’s always a weekend that we look forward to, actually the whole week with the lead-up.

“It’s an amazing week, kind of like a festival of racing. Obviously, with no fans it will definitely be something we’ve never

point percentage, and ranking third in scoring with 121.8 points per game. And they looked early as if they would eclipse all those numbers.

Kawhi Leonard, meanwhile, had 33 points and 14 rebounds and Los Angeles eliminated Luka Doncic and Dallas from the playoffs, 111-97, in Game Six of the first-round series.

Doncic capped a superb first postseason with 38 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, keeping it interesting into the fourth quarter even while playing without injured teammate Kristaps Porzingis.

But with Leonard reaching the 30-point

experienced before.”

For a region that has dealt with social unrest and the pandemic this summer, the Derby’s absence of fans is yet another blow.

There has been more than three months of protests in Louisville calling for the arrests of police who shot and killed Breonna Taylor on March 13 in an early morning narcotics raid. No drugs were found. A demonstration last week close to the historic track resulted in 64 arrests.

And there could be more protests this week.

In announcing the decision not to allow fans, Churchill Downs President/CEO Kevin Flanery acknowledged the city “is going through a lot right now” and “a lot of people” are hurting. He said the track wants to be involved in discussions about equality and justice and that the Derby has usually been a uniting event.

“Unfortunately, just given where everything is right now, we can’t do that this year,” Flanery added. “But that dialogue will continue.”

Then there are the economic challenges.

Louisville Tourism estimated a $400 million in revenue from the two-week Derby season, which included the Kentucky Oaks for fillies run the day before. Then came postponement in March from the first Saturday in May for the first time since 1945 to Labor Day weekend, a switch that initially led to numerous events being rescheduled before being ultimately canceled by the pandemic. AP

THE Nuggets’ Jamal Murray dives for a loose ball between the Jazz’s Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson. AP

mark for his career-best fifth straight playoff game and a strong defensive effort, the Clippers simply had too many answers.

The No. 2 seed in the Western Conference advanced to a second-round meeting with either Denver or Utah. The sixth-seeded Jazz were trying

to close that series out in six games later Sunday.

Paul George and Ivica Zubac added 15 points apiece for the Clippers, who turned up their defense in this one after winning Game Five with the best offensive performance in their postse.

Leonard also had seven assists and five steals.

The Clippers said he was the first player in at least the last 20 postseasons with 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals in a game.

Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart, on the other hand, each scored 21 points, Kemba Walker added 18 points and 10 assists and Boston beat Toronto, 112-94, in Game One of the

Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Celtics improved to 4-1 against the Raptors this season—no other team has beaten the reigning National Basketball Association champions more than twice— and both of their meetings in the NBA’s restart bubble at Walt Disney World have been one-sided. The Raptors are 11-0 at Disney against everybody else.

Jaylen Brown scored 17 points and Daniel Theis had 13 points and 15 rebounds for Boston, 5-0 in the postseason. Kyle Lowry had 17 points for defending champion Toronto. AP

Olympic flame on display in Japan Olympic Museum

A LANTERN containing the Olympic Flame is shown prior to public display on Monday in Tokyo. AP

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OKYO—The Olympic flame is going on display in Tokyo, just a short walk from the new National Stadium where it was supposed to be burning a month ago.

The flame arrived in Japan from Greece in March and has been largely hidden away in Tokyo since the Olympics were postponed until next year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The flame was unveiled on Monday at a small ceremony with Yoshiro Mori, the president

of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, and Yasuhiro Yamashita, the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee.

“In this situation during Covid-19, I think athletes aiming for the Olympic and Paralympic Games are training hard each day—with great anxiety,” said Yamashita, a former Olympic judo gold medalist, speaking in Japanese. “I am convinced that the torch displayed today will support the hearts of those athletes.”

Mori added: “I hope this flame will be passed on by about 10,000 torchbearers next year, and the cauldron will be lit to make the event a great success.”

The flame will be on display beginning Tuesday at the new Japan Olympic Museum for at least the next two months. Visitors can only enter the museum, which is located across the street from the new stadium, with a reservation.

The flame’s unveiling comes just days after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his plans to resign.

Abe was on hand in 2013 in Buenos Aires when the IOC picked Tokyo, and he was the highlight of the closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro when he appeared as Nintendo game character Super Mario.

The fate of the Tokyo Olympics remains

Huawei ends sports sponsor deal over Australia ‘trade war’

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Flavien Prat on Country House (third from right) races against Luis Saez on Maximum Security (right) during the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in May last year. AP

uncertain. Organizers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) say it will open on July 23, 2021. But they have not revealed any details about how 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes will be safe in Tokyo.

Thousands of other staff, technical officials and media would also need to enter Japan. The IOC says it wants fans at events but has not explained how this will happen, or if nonJapanese fans will be allowed.

Organizers are unlikely to start providing details until the fall, or into next year as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Olympic prospects becomes clearer.

A poll this month of almost 13,000 Japanese companies showed 53.6 percent want the games canceled or postponed again. The IOC has said if the Olympics can’t happen in 2021, they will be canceled. They cannot be postponed again.

A poll in July found that two-thirds of the public also favors another postponement or cancellation.

Tokyo organizers say they are officially spending $12.6 billion to hold the Olympics, although a national audit board says it’s twice that much. In addition, local estimates say the bill for the delay could add on several billion more. Organizers and the IOC have yet to give a detailed breakdown of the new costs. AP

ANBERRA, Australia—Chinese telecom giant Huawei is ending its oldest major sporting sponsorship deal, saying Monday it was breaking its contract with an Australian rugby league team after nine years because of a “great trade war” between China and Australia.

Australia has barred the world’s largest maker of switching gear and major smartphone brand from involvement in crucial national communication infrastructure in recent years, while China has ratcheted up pressure for an Australian policy reversal.

“Unfortunately as everyone knows, Huawei has been caught in the middle of a great trade war and the effects on our business is greater than we expected,” Huawei Australia’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Jeremy Mitchell told reporters.

Huawei will end its current financial backing of the Canberra Raiders at the end of the current National Rugby League season, because of the “negative business environment” in Australia, Mitchell said. The grand final is on October 25.

Huawei will continue as one of the minor sponsors, as the team searches for a replacement major sponsor.

“We would’ve loved to have stayed for

another nine years or 10 years, but the business environment in Australia is very hard for a Chinese company,” Mitchell said.

The Raiders is the only team in the national competition based in the Australian capital, the center of government and national policy-making.

Last year, Huawei had renewed its sponsorship deal for two years until the end of the 2021 season.

Huawei’s landmark decision to sponsor the team in 2012 came months after the government banned the company on security grounds from involvement in the rollout of Australia’s National Broadband Network in 2011.

The sponsorship was seen as an attempt to improve Huawei’s public image in the eyes of lawmakers and senior bureaucrats who barrack for the Canberra team.

Raiders board member Dennis Richardson, a former head of the Defense Department and of the main domestic spy agency, Australian Security Intelligence Organization, had been a vocal supporter of Huawei’s sponsorship deal.

Mitchell said the government’s decision in 2018 to ban Huawei from Australia’s 5G networks had had a major economic impact. AP

Sports BusinessMirror

B8 Tuesday, September 1, 2020

PAGDANGANAN

Consistent Bianca

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NOTHER Filipina ace, Bianca Pagdanganan, campaigned halfway around the world— while her former national teammate Yuka Saso reaped honors in Japan—and finished a modest 71st place tie in the Walmart NW Arkansas Golf Championship at the Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas.

The 22-year-old Pagdanganan closed out with a one-over 72 on Sunday and with her 70 and 68 earlier, totaled 210 good for 71st place and a corresponding prize money of $4,329.

The tournament was the third on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour and Pagdanganan displayed consistency by making the cut in each of them.

“It feels pretty cool to make three cuts in my first three events. I’ve learned a lot from the different people I’ve played with,” Pagdanganan said. “So it’s been a pretty amazing experience so far.”

Pagdanganan also regained status as the longest hitter on the Tour at 289.95 yards average driving distance.

The US’s Austin Ernst scored an amazing eight-under 63 to win at 20-under 193, two shots ahead of Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist, who finished with a 69 for 195.

Next up for Pagdanganan is the Ana Inspiration starting September 10 in Rancho Mirage, California.

Pagdanganan shared women’s team gold medal with Saso and Loise Kaye Go at the Jakarta 2018 Asian Games and was the individual gold medalist and a member of the title-winning team with Go and Abigail Arevalo at the 30th Southeast Asian Games last December.

FOCUSED AND HUMBLE Y

UKA SASO’S back-to-back victories in a two-week span put her atop the field this early in the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association (JLPGA) Tour—but the FilipinoJapanese, who’s only 19, remained composed.

“I have just begun and I have a long way to go,” said Saso moments after winning the Nitori Ladies Golf Tournament in Hokkaido by two strokes over local bet Sakura Koiwai.

That Sunday afternoon victory was worth a whopping P16.5 million and for a teenager who is only starting her pro career, that’s big.

Add the P6.5 million in running away with the NEC Karuizawa crown two weeks ago and the stakes are getting bigger.

Saso became only the third player in the Tour after Ai Miyazato and Nasa Hataoka to book consecutive titles since 1988 and the fourth to achieve that as a teen—also after the now retired Miyazato (19 years old, twice) and Hataoka (18).

She also joined

Japan’s Ai Suzuki and Koreans Shin Jie and Lee Bo-mee on the elite list of consecutive winners.

“I’m happy that I’ve achieved the same thing as theirs,” the 2018 Asian Games individual and team gold-medal winner said.

As significantly, Saso, became the fastest on the JLPGA Tour to collect more than Y50 million. Hataoka and Korea’s Shin Jie breached Y50M barrier in eight tournaments.

“I haven’t come close to them [Miyazato and Hataoka] yet. They worked hard in Japan and competed in the US, so I don’t feel like nearing their accomplishments,” she said. “However, I felt like I was able to do what they did.”

Saso closed out with a 71, her worst for the week, at the Nitori Ladies. Koiwai settled for a 72 on the final day that was rendered wet and soggy by rains.

A rain delay marred the final round with chilly winds making it difficult day for everybody at the Otaru Country Club, considered as one of the most difficult courses in the Tour.

But Saso was calm and composed.

“There was no time to get nervous.

The weather drastically changed from the previous day,” she said. “The conditions got tough with the wind and rain and the chill

rendered the greens softer.”

“I had a hard time choosing my shots and picking the right clubs,” she added. “But golf is a game where concentration matters.”

She furthered: “Rather than being aware of the opponent, I went on my way without thinking about them. I aimed for a birdie in all holes because if I made a slight mistake, I would still have a chance for a par or bogey at worse.”

“I did not look at the leaderboard. I didn’t even know my score. I was fighting for the championship,” she said.

The International Container Terminal Services Inc.-backed Saso drew praises from the field, notably Koiwai “She’s really a strong player. I felt the difference,” said Koiwai, who engaged Saso in a virtual match play early in the final round only to succumb to pressure.

Saso confided she needed to harness herself for the Nitori tournament, arriving in Hokkaido days ahead of her rivals to acclimatize.

But she had the misfortune of being at the course three hours on Sunday only to learn that tee times were moved two hours because of the bad weather.

YUKA SASO poses with her trophy from the Nitori Ladies Golf Tournament in Hokkaido.

“I just walked around there for an hourand-a-half. I wanted to sleep but I thought it was rude to do so,” she said.

Saso—whose family name is amusingly erroneously written as Sasasa, Sasagi, Sassa,

SERVE’S UP AT U.S. OPEN N

Alaphilippe: I promised myself I’d win for Dad

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ICE, France—Racing across the finish line at the Tour de France, Julian Alaphilippe kissed his finger and raised it to the sky, dedicating his win Sunday on Stage 2 to his father who died in June.

“I promised myself that I’d win for him,” the French rider said.

The tribute and the thrilling manner of his victory showed that even amid the coronavirus crisis, the Tour is still a mighty generator of emotions.

Many of its fans are heeding government pleas to watch the action on TV from the safety of their couches. Those still turning out in towns and villages as the race zooms past are being urged to keep their distance, to prevent the virus from contaminating the riders for whom they cheer through face masks.

And yet, despite all this, the opening weekend of the Tour still set hearts racing, with dramatic spills on the rain-slickened opening day followed by Alaphilippe’s poignant win.

No one can be sure that the race will negotiate its way through France’s worsening infections to the finish in Paris on September 20. Yet the show, for now at least, is most definitely on— with Alaphilippe back in the race leader’s iconic yellow jersey, once again showing the way.

Having already done more than any other rider to turn the 2019 edition into a thriller, the darling of French cycling fans again showered the Tour with his class and guile in poaching victory in the picture-postcard Mediterranean city of Nice.

A final burst of acceleration timed with precision enabled Alaphilippe to shake two pursuers and hold off the main pack of riders furiously gaining ground on the finishing straight.

Deprived of wins since his fan-beguiling feats last summer left him drained, Alaphilippe is talking down any hope of winning the overall title in Paris.

But he intends to cling to the prized jersey for as long as possible and proved last year that once on his shoulders, it’s tough to peel off. He held the race lead for 14 days.

“The yellow jersey has to be respected,” he said. “I will defend it with honor.”

The stage win was his fifth in four Tours.

Alaphilippe had identified the 186-kilometer (115.5-mile) Stage 2, looping over mountains to the north of Nice and with hill-climbs before the finish, as particularly suited to his punchy, aggressive style. He and his Deceuninck-Quick Step team executed their plan like clockwork.

With teammate Bob Jungels leading the way on the final climb, up to the Quatre Chemins

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

A POIGNANT Julian Alaphilippe wins Stage Two at Tour de France. AP

pass on the outskirts of Nice, Alaphilippe first positioned himself in his slipstream. He then raced off with a sharp acceleration on a right-hand bend, quickly opening a gap. He was chased down by Swiss rider Marc Hirschi and Briton Adam Yates, setting up a three-way fight for the stage victory.

Speeding into central Nice, past huge yachts parked in its harbor and along the stunning seafront overlooking the Mediterranean’s azure waters, they collaborated in a strong headwind to keep the chasing pack at bay.

Alaphilippe adjusted his helmet and tightened his shoes as the trio then played a waiting game to see which of them would be first to place the final winning burst of speed.

Alaphilippe outfoxed his pursuers with his acceleration, holding off Hirschi’s late charge.

Yates was third.

“I asked my team to make the race hard,” Alaphilippe said. “There weren’t many riders left in the last climb. I gave it all. I had nothing to lose. This is the victory that I was missing. The yellow jersey is the icing on the cake.”

Afterward, slumped by the roadside, he burst into tears. One of his teammates, Dries Devenyns, was awed by the manner of the win.

“I stopped on the side of the road to watch the last 500 meters on a spectator’s smartphone,” he said. “I shouted when he won.

He already did two weeks in yellow last year, we have it again, we are going to protect it as much as we can.”

Overall, Alaphilippe has a four-second lead over Yates, with Hirschi in third place three seconds further back ahead of Monday’s hilly Stage 3 from Nice to Sisteron.

The race lost three riders to the spate of crashes on Stage 1. Many rode Sunday with bandages and painful injuries, including a broken rib for Dutch rider Wout Poels and a fracture at the base of the spine for David de la Cruz from Spain. AP

EW YORK—Back in April, an onschedule US Open simply did not seem possible.

The coronavirus was at its peak in New York—a building on the tournament grounds housing indoor tennis courts was converted to a field hospital.

The pandemic was locking down much of society, including sports. Wimbledon was canceled for the first time in 75 years, the French Open was postponed, and the US Tennis Association said it was considering “the possibility” of changing its dates, too.

On Monday, the last day of August, the 2020 US Open will, indeed, begin—as scheduled, albeit without any spectators, and with one player dropped from the field because he tested positive for Covid-19.

Benoit Paire, a Frenchman who was seeded 17th, was replaced in the draw Sunday, a striking reminder of the circumstances surrounding this attempt to ensure that the Grand Slam show goes on.

There are many other reminders, such as the plastic signs propped up around the quieter-than-usual grounds, making a mix of requests and commands.

“Keep us all safe. Please wear a mask & keep your distance.”

“Unless you are eating, please wear your mask in the dining area.”

“We’re Back! But hugging isn’t. Some ways to say hello: virtual hugs; quick elbow taps. Please avoid: hugs; fist bumps.”

“Help us keep the bubble safe. Let us know if you witness unhealthy behavior,” with a phone number to call.

Merchandise shops are filled with empty shelves and undressed mannequins. Instead of a main plaza filled with fans eating and drinking and comparing purchases and talking about tennis, there is a space for players to hang out, with a putting green, basketball hoop, and giant chess board among the outdoor diversions offered.

“When you’re walking to and from practice—you have to get somewhere for a certain time—it’s nice. You know that there’s no one around, that you’re not going to get stopped,”

said Andy Murray, who won the first of his three Grand Slam titles at Flushing Meadows in 2012. “Yeah, it’s very quiet and very relaxed.”

Then Murray described his thoughts during his trek to the locker room after a practice session last week.

“I was like, ’Wow, this is pretty sad, because usually this place is just filled with energy and atmosphere, like before the tournament starts,” he said. “Now it’s tennis players and their teams walking around with masks on. It’s just all very different and a little bit sad.”

When play begins Monday morning in Arthur Ashe Stadium—where many seats are covered by pieces of cloth with messages like “New York Tough” and “Black Lives Matter”—2016 runner-up Karolina Pliskova, the top-seeded woman, will play Anhelina Kalinina in the opening match.

That distinction was not earned by virtue of being ranked No. 1, but because the women who hold the first two Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) spots, Ash Barty and Simona Halep, chose not to participate because of the pandemic.

In all, six of the top 8 women are missing, including 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu.

If the women’s event seems unpredictable as can be—even with Serena Williams and her 23 Grand Slam singles trophies in the bracket—and it is hard to know just how well anyone will deal with lack of competition this year, the overwhelming favorite for the men’s championship is Novak Djokovic.

He is scheduled to begin Monday’s night session in Ashe against Damir Dzumhur, followed by two-time major champion Naomi Osaka—who pulled out of the Western & Southern Open final with an injured left hamstring—against Misaki Doi. “I always love playing in New York. I think I’m not the only one who shares the opinion that this is probably the most exciting, energetic, dynamic, explosive tennis court that we have in the sport,” Djokovic said. “It is strange to see empty stands.”

Rafael Nadal, last year’s champion, didn’t want to travel, while Roger Federer ended his 2020 season after two knee operations.

Djokovic is ranked and seeded No. 1, is 23-0 in 2020 and is coming off a title at the Western & Southern Open on Saturday. AP

Big putt, big win for Rahm at Olympia Fields

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LYMPIA FIELDS, Illinois—Even with a pair of silver trophies in his possession, Jon Rahm still couldn’t believe what happened Sunday in the BMW Championship. And he only saw half of it.

Rahm was on the range on the other side of the Olympia Fields clubhouse, preparing for a playoff that no one really expected, when Dustin Johnson rolled in a 45-foot birdie putt down the ridge for birdie to force a playoff.

Moments later, Rahm faced a putt even longer and more difficult on the 18th—just outside 65 feet that he had to send at nearly a 90-degree angle to the top of the ridge. From there, it was a replay of Johnson’s putt as it headed down the slope, kissed off the pin and disappeared into the cup.

“I still can’t believe what just happened,” he said.

Neither could Johnson, going for his second straight victory.

He could only laugh, at his putt and Rahm’s winner.

“I played an unbelievable putt, got in the playoff and then Jon made an even more ridiculous putt on top of me,” said Johnson, who at least kept his No. 1 ranking in the world and in the FedEx Cup. The putts overshadowed a command performance by Rahm, who closed with a 66-64 weekend on an Olympia Fields course that played like the toughest test in golf. His only bogey on the weekend came on the fifth hole Saturday when he spaced out and picked up his golf ball from the green without marking it.

There was the 6-iron from 218 yards for his third shot on the par-five 15th after his tee shot went into the trees and barely came out, setting up a key birdie. There was his 30-foot birdie putt on the par-three 16th for a two-shot lead that Johnson

erased with two birdies of his own, none bigger than the last one.

“That stretch of waiting for DJ, him making the putt, going in the playoff, me making the putt, then trying to stay mentally in it just in case he made the last putt, it’s been a roller coaster, but so much fun,” Rahm said.

He put behind him the one-shot penalty that even on Saturday he worried would come back to haunt him, and he thought about it briefly when Johnson had the long birdie putt on the 18th in regulation.

All he could think about on the 18th green in the playoff was finding a way to get to the next hole, knowing he had a putt from one end of the green to the other and Johnson had a 30-footer.

And then it was over. Rahm won for the second time this year, and for the 11th time worldwide in his four years as a pro. His first win came at Torrey Pines when he made a 60-foot eagle putt and wound up winning by three. AP

JON RAHM sinks an incredible 65-foot putt in the playoff. AP

Sasao and even Sasou in several online outfits—is expected to see action in the Golf 5 Ladies Tournament at the Golf5 Country Mizunami course in Gifu Prefecture from September 4 to 6.

Forum talks football

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HILIPPINE Football Federation (PFF) president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta and Philippine Football League (PFL) Commissioner Coco Torre will grace the webcast edition of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday.

Araneta will provide an update on Philippine football in general, while Torre will talk about the start of PFL team workouts and the league’s planned “bubble” to finally kick off its tournament.

The Forum—presented by San Miguel Corp., Go For Gold, Milo, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and powered by Smart and with Upstream Media as webcast partner—starts at 10 a.m.

The weekly session is aired live via the PSA Facebook page fb.com/PhilippineSportswritersAssociation and also shared by Radyo Pilipinas 2 Facebook page.

Tigers get reprieve extension

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NIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) will continue to enjoy some sort of reprieve when school authorities submit on Tuesday the result of their internal investigation over its men’s basketball team’s alleged breach of protocols in Sorsogon.

“No decision tomorrow [Tuesday] as UST will just be submitting results of its internal investigations,” Games and Amusements Board Chairman Abraham Kahlil Mitra said on Monday.

The GAB, Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Department of Health (DOH)—as well as the Commission on Higher Education and the University Athletic Association of the Philippines—are investigating UST Head Coach Aldin Ayo and the Growling Tigers who allegedly held an unauthorized training in Sorsogon City with strict protocols in sports still enforced.

Ayo has been tight lipped and referred to UST’s investigation as his platform to air his side. But at least two Tigers—CJ Cansino and Brent Paraiso—went to social media to hint that indeed the team had a clandestine training in Ayo’s native Sorsogon City.

The GAB-PSC-DOH joint committee has been tasked by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to manage health protocols concerning sports and physical activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

After scrutinizing UST’s report, the joint committee will make its recommendation to the IATF although the body has earlier declared a sanction—if UST is proven guilty—by the team’s mother league, the UAAP, would suffice to a punishment.

The UAAP is said to be looking at a penalty similar to the season-long and encompassing suspension that was slapped De La Salle for fielding two ineligible players in men’s basketball.

The CHED, according to its Chairman Prospero de Vera III, said that the commission would also sanction UST “if the school had full knowledge of the [trip].”

“We should wait for their investigation. We should know who authorized it,” de Vera said.