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Surviving the storm Pandemic delays plans to revive sprawling former HHIC shipyard facility in Subic

JANUARY 2020 file photo of the Hanjin shipyard in Subic reveals two vessels that are being built at Drydock 6. HENRY EMPEÑO

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By Rene Acosta

HE Philippine Navy’s effort to acquire and occupy a portion of the facility of Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction (HHIC) in Subic Bay has been derailed by Covid-19, which means it may still take some more time before the project would be launched.

The Navy is eyeing to occupy 100 hectares, or a third of the whole area of the bankrupt shipyard facility, which it intends to transform into a harbor for its big warships and other upcoming brand-new floating assets.

It is also planned to host its Philippine Fleet, which is currently based in Sangley Point, Cavite, its Naval Sea Systems Command, the Naval Installation Command and the Amphibious Assault Battalion.

Ball in DOF’s court

HOWEVER, Navy Flag Officer in

Command Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said the implementation of the project hinges on the selection and awarding of the whole facility to a winning bidder, which has been affected by the pandemic.

“The first step before the Philippine Navy moves in is for the winning proponent to take over the Hanjin shipyard,” he said.

“Because of this Covid-19 pandemic, there is no declared winning proponent yet. I believe that the ball is in the court of the DOF [Depart-

ment of Finance] and the local banks involved with HHIC,” he added.

Earlier, the Navy chief said they have set their sights on the area located in the Northern Yard of the facility, or near its fifth dry dock, one of the areas where ships are constructed, repaired and maintained by HHIC. The cash-strapped HHIC has declared bankruptcy more than a year ago and tabled it for takeover by interested firms due to its outstanding loan obligations of $400 million from various local banks and anoth-

er $900 million from South Korean banks and other lenders.

Several firms from a number of countries have expressed interest in taking over the facility, but no one had put forward any serious offer until Chinese companies came in, raising concerns from security officials due to the strategic location of the shipyard.

Before it was taken over by Hanjin, the facility used to be the home base of the United States Navy’s 7th Fleet and the biggest Continued on A2

Group travel companies are still a thing. How?

By Fran Golden

A

Bloomberg News

The pandemic had scuttled other, farther-flung plans by the retired Oregon couple, so they decided to get in the car and drive to Montana for a “safari” on the Yellowstone River—complete with such “glamping” accouterments as a real bed in a private tent, bathrooms with hot showers, and gourmet meals from a top local chef.

On their trip, in August, they were rewarded with views of grizzlies, black and gray wolves, and

ravens feasting on a bison carcass.

Plus, there was a rafting excursion on the river—which they shared with nine strangers and a handful of guides.

These are tough times for group tour operators who cater to a US audience. American travelers are weary of close contact with others, and the world is weary of them.

Some operators have shut down operations, at least into the fall. Those still seeking business

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 48.5320

BLOOMBERG

FTER several trips with boutique tour company Mango Africa Safaris, including a custom tour to Madagascar last year, Irene Bowers and David Register were intrigued by an e-mail newsletter inviting them on a group travel experience closer to home.

have experienced year-on-year losses from 40 percent to 90 percent, according to a survey of 590 multiday and day-tour operators

by WeTravel.com.

Companies are making up the difference through domestic trips, especially to US national parks. For Mango co-owner Teresa Sullivan, that very strategy has shaved the year’s losses, from 90 percent to 78 percent.

Dire as that may sound, it’s a wonder that group travel hasn’t fully come to a halt in the current climate, given that groups and travel have been largely canceled by the pandemic. Conversely, this type of business could have a leg up on the rest of the travel and cruise sector because of the extreme precautions that group settings require and the category’s emphasis on outdoor adventuring.

Bowers and Register and all their travel companions, for instance, were required to have Covid-19 tests prior to taking the Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4573 n UK 64.4651 n HK 6.2623 n CHINA 7.0881 n SINGAPORE 35.5572 n AUSTRALIA 35.2876 n EU 57.5201 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.9408

Source: BSP (September 4, 2020)

NewsSaturday A2 Saturday, September 5, 2020

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Continued from A1

trip, a tactic some cruise lines are also using.

They also had to practice social distancing and wear masks whenever they couldn’t distance (as when seated together in vehicles).

The couple paid additionally for the precautions afforded by a private bathroom, dining table, and vehicle with driver; standard options clustered travelers into pods of up to seven persons. Still, they enjoyed the camaraderie.

“After dinner, there was always a nice fire going in the fire pit, and folks could linger on into the night as the stars and a beautiful full moon came into view,” says Register. “Our friends and family alike were very supportive—and perhaps a little envious.”

The state of group travel

THE year 2020 was supposed to be a good year for the roughly 150 member brands of the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA). In December 2019, the trade group bragged that its members represented nearly $19 billion in revenue and provided tours, packages, and custom arrangements for some 9.8 million travelers. Nearly half the members were forecasting a “boom year,” with growth of at least 7 percent to 10 percent. It hasn’t worked out that way, to say the least.

“I am hoping I don’t have to think about the year 2020 for very much longer,” says Tom Hale, founder and chief executive officer of active-adventure travel com-

pany Backroads. “It’s been challenging for everybody. And we are running more trips in the US than anyone else.”

Backroads is among a subset of group tour operators that forgoes double-decker buses, guides with microphones and sign posts, and matching T-shirts for shared, upscale adventures in pristine settings. It typically hosts about 50,000 guests each year in 65 countries and restarted trips in June with a sole focus on biking, hiking, and multi-adventure trips within the US. With an average group size of 10 and only a few trips a week, compared to the 150 weekly trips it had been running, Backroads anticipates only 5,000 guests this year—of which 2,000 traveled in January and February, before the pandemic onslaught.

Putting together the domestic trips has not been easy. States and counties have their own travel restrictions and Covid-19 protocols, such as quarantine requirements for certain out-of-state visitors.

While Backroads has had success sending groups to Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, a trip to Glacier National Park was canceled at the last minute when local policies changed to limit the visitable areas. “We understand we have to roll with the punches,” Hale says.

Backroads has instituted its own Covid-19 protocols, which include temperature checks on arrival, mask wearing, fewer people in shuttles, and more options to split from the larger group. But Hale says Backroads is lucky. “All day

BLOOMBERG

Group travel companies are still a thing. How?

long, we are traveling outdoors. We are social distanced. It’s up to you as to whether you hike or bike with someone else.”

Sue and Matt Dow of Buffalo, New York, aged 50 and 51, respectively, were on one of the compa-

ny’s first post-Covid-19 outings in late June: a one-week hiking trip to the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge mountains that they had booked last fall.

“We both needed a break,” Sue says, noting that Matt, a teacher, had just wrapped up the school year. They were located within driving distance of the trip’s starting point, a key factor in their decision to go ahead. “We had been looking forward to it for so long,” Sue adds.

Before agreeing to be pandemic guinea pigs, they called Backroads for more details about the company’s Covid-19 protocols.

“I work in health care and asked what the policy was if someone refuses to wear a mask,” Sue says. “They reassured us [that mask wearing would be unilaterally enforced]. And the people on the trip were compliant.” Nobody required a warning about proper mask wearing, she explains, with everyone respectful in shared spaces. The group stayed in hotels and traveled with four women from Indiana, but used separate tables—both indoors and out—at restaurants along the way.

Back of the pack

OTHER tour companies are having limited success. Luxury boutique outfitter Classic Journeys tried to persuade US clients to switch

to Alaska in lieu of Iceland, which normally is one of their top-selling destinations but this year has undergone border closures and requirements to quarantine upon entry. The company operated three Alaska trips, all for private groups.

Likewise, the North America division of Abercrombie & Kent has run about a half-dozen trips, also for private family groups. Its European offices have been similarly quiet, though the company now plans to operate its first group trip, a small venture for Americans heading to Tanzania who are interested in summiting Mount Kilimanjaro, in early October.

Jeri Clausing, senior editor at trade publication Travel Weekly, says a lot of US tour companies scrambled to put together domestic itineraries, but many did not happen, due to summertime Covid-19 surges and confusion over rules regarding the crossing of state lines. “The result is: A lot of traditional operators aren’t doing much this year,” she says. “They will be one of the last travel segments to recover.”

Mango African Safaris is undeterred. In October, it will be taking guests to Ted Turner’s private 550,000-acre Vermejo Park Ranch in northern New Mexico for a wildlife experience that includes staying in the new 10-bedroom Turner House lodge during elk mating sea-

son (from $4,295 per person).

Meals will be offered in the dining room and on the patio, based on the weather, with cocktails promised “around a crackling fire.”

As the African-focused company works to retain some business during pandemic times, its owners are also trying to do well

by Africa, donating funds ($500 for each guest booked) to support camp staffs, guides, anti-poaching patrols, and local communities across the Atlantic that are missing crucial tourism income.

Separately, the company’s online fundraising effort has raised $20,000 for community relief, so far.

Backroads’ Hale says demand is keen. His latest round of bookings prioritizes places currently inaccessible to (but beloved by) Americans, including the Canadian Rockies, Italy’s Dolomites, and France’s Provence.

Whether it will be a good year for tour operators is “anyone’s guess” and will depend on the availability of a vaccine, he says.

Hale asserts that group travel has one unique quality that people are certainly craving in a post-lockdown world: conviviality. “We have some very thankful guests out there, who are thrilled to be out doing something,” he adds, especially in the company of others.

Surviving the storm Continued from A1

American base outside the US.

Not-so-welcome party

THE potential entry of Chinese firms and even as a possible operator of the shipyard were opposed by defense and military officials, including then Navy chief Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad, who is now retired, due to its proximity to Scarborough Shoal and the West Philippine Sea.

The shipyard, its strategic location and its deep waters and harbor prompted Navy officials to consider plans of home porting its previously acquired warships and other upcoming vessels there.

“That area is blessed with a deep-sea harbor. Right now, none of our strategic vessels can be accommodated in the Navy facilities,” Bacordo said, upon his assumption as Navy chief in February, adding Hanjin’s facility could accommodate their strategic vessels.

It also has “remnants of old

ship repair facilities after the US in terms of technology, capability.”

Bacordo sees the South Korean shipyard as a protected harbor as it is buffered by mountains and the Grande Island, which sits at the mouth of Subic Bay.

It is also close to maritime facilities like the Navy’s Naval Education and Training Command, the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy and the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific.

“We have expressed our intention with the government that is the core requirement of the Navy,” Bacordo said.

Wanted: New operator

WHILE plans have been made to transform a portion of the Hanjin’s shipyard as a modern strategic base for the Navy, the project’s realization still depends on how soon the facility can have a new operator.

“Until then, we cannot make improvements in the Northern Yard of the former HHIC in Subic,” Bacordo said.

Latest reports said that the partnership of Australian shipbuilder Austal and American equity firm Cerberus Capital Management are in the lead to take over the facility, a development that is being supported by the military.

Austal, through its subsidiary Austal Philippines which is based in Balamban, Cebu, is only one of the two defense contractors that are based in the country that have been participating in the modernization project of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

All other defense contractors are based abroad and have been dealing with the Department of National Defense and the AFP in the multibillion-peso modernization program only through their representative offices here.

Austal Philippines, through its local engineers and designers, will build the six offshore patrol vessels for the Navy, which is among the big-ticket items under the military’s modernization program, at its shipyard in Cebu.

News BusinessMirror

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

Saturday, September 5, 2020

A3

Aug inflation slows to 2.4%; Neda says agri supply chain key to keeping prices stable

By Cai U. Ordinario

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OOSTING the country’s agriculture supply chain could help keep commodity prices nationwide stable in the coming months, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

On Friday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said inflation slowed to 2.4 percent in August from the 2.7 percent posted in July. However, this was still higher than the 1.7-percent inflation rate posted in August 2019.

In a statement, Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl

Kendrick T. Chua said improving supply chain efficiency in agriculture will ensure a low and stable inf lation in the country amid the ongoing Cov id-19 pandemic and impending typhoons.

“Investments in cold storage facilities and innovations in food packaging and processing need to be increased as well, alongside the boosting of agricultural production, both in rural and urban areas, through the government’s Plant, Plant, Plant program,” Chua said.

Chua also underscored the need to effectively manage the supply and allocation of agricultural commodities

to ensure enough buffer stock, prevent wastage and spoilage, and minimize the losses of farmers. This includes facilitating the delivery of vegetables and other agricultural commodities to Metro Manila and other regions.

To mitigate possible losses and ensure quick response to possible disaster-prone areas, he also highlighted the need for preemptive preparations on production support, crop insurance, and other recovery programs, as La Niña is seen to come by late September or October.

With the PSA’s latest report, yearto-date inflation is at 2.5 percent. Food

inflation eased to 1.7 percent from last month’s 2.5 percent as the prices of rice continued to decline.

Neda attributed this lower inflation to the unhampered movement of food and other essential commodities across the country, as well as the benefits of the rice tariffication law, ensuring ample supply.

“As we continuously implement varying levels of community quarantines and localized lockdowns in the country, we need the government and the private sector to tap local agricultural produce and maximize the use,” Chua said.

Poorest Filipinos

Data showed that inf lation for t he b ot tom 3 0 p e rce nt i ncome households at the nationa l level decelerated f ur ther to 2.7 percent in Aug ust 2020.

This brings the year-to-date inflation for this income group of consumers to 2.7 percent. In July 2020, inflation for the bottom 30 percent income households was observed at 2.9 percent, and in the same month of the previous year, 1.7 percent.

T he slower annua l rate in the i n d e x o f t h e h e a v i l y w e i g ht e d food and non-a lcoholic beverages

at 1.1 percent pr imar i ly pushed dow n the overa l l inf lation dur ing the month.

The country’s food inflation slid further to 1.1 percent in August 2020.

In the previous month, the annual rate of food index was higher at 1.5 percent, while in August 2019, inflation was at -0.2 percent.

The indices of the following food groups exhibited annual negative growth rates during the month were Rice, -1.4 percent; Corn, -0.6 percent; Vegetables, -0.3 percent; and Sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery, -0.1 percent.

Moscow keen on Covid-19 vaccine Manufacturing output down for 5th month as pandemic crimps biz ops facility in PHL, Russian official says

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he Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Philippines told Congress that the Russian government is open to the proposal to set up a local manufacturing facility in the Philippines for the Covid-19 vaccine, “Sputnik V.” During Thursday’s meeting with the House Committee on People Participation, Vladisav Mongush, commercial advisor of the Russian Embassy, said establishing a local manufacturing facility in the Philippines for the Sputnik V will not only enable Manila to make its own vaccine but also to complement existing efforts for vaccine production for other illnesses.

Also, Mongush said, the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology, manufacturer of Sputnik V, and Philippine Council for Health Research and Development has already signed a non-disclosure agreement to allow the Philippines to study the vaccine for the third phase of clinical trials.

Mongush said once the safety and efficacy of the vaccine is established, the Philippine government may start the third phase of human trials next month.

Mongush also announced that Russia is set to conduct the vaccination for Covid-19 of their medical frontliners this coming September 15.

He also belied earlier reports that the daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who took part in the clinical trials of Sputnik V, has died saying the report is “pure fake news.”

Facilitate M eanwhi l e , House Committee on People Participation Chairman Florida Robes has vowed to facilitate cooperation in the conduct of clinical studies of Sputnik V to ensure their availability in the country at the earliest possible time.

Robes made a statement following a committee meeting with representatives from the Russian

Embassy on the update of its newly developed Russian vaccine.

Robes said her committee will make representations with concerned agencies like the Departments of Health (DOH) and, Science and Technology (DOST) to inquire on the status of the vaccine now being studied for Phase 3 of the clinical trials.

“We will help fast-track cooperation with the Russian government and our local agencies. We will hold another meeting with the DOH and the DOST for them to brief us on the status of Sputnik V so that we will know if there are concerns that can be addressed so that we can have access to it at the earliest possible time,” Robes said.

Robes vowed to continue with the meetings and dialogues with the different stakeholders in the vaccine development for Covid-19. “We want to ensure that as long as their safety and efficacy are proven and established, the Filipino people will have access to the Covid-19 vaccine so that we can all start to recover and move forward,” she said.

Tatiana Shlychkova, minister-counsellor and deputy head of mission of the Russian Embassy, said their vaccine has been proven to be safe and efficient in providing immunity to the Covid-19 virus using human adenovirus vectors, which were highly effective in the tests for the Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS coronavirus.

Shlychkova said she herself already received the vaccine because she believes in its safety and efficacy.

Shlychkova said the clinical trials may last for three months and if all goes well, the vaccine may be made available as early as January next year for the country. “The speed to have the vaccine will really depend on the speed on how Philippine officials will conduct the tests on the vaccine,” she said.

Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

MACALINTAL TO I.A.T.F.: 10% LIMIT ON CHURCHES, 30% ON CASINOS DEFIES LOGIC, HIKES virus RISKS

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EARCHING in vain for the “rhyme or reason” in government’s order limiting to only 10 percent seating capacity services churches while allowing a 30 percent capacity for reopened casinos, a lawyer-activist and Catholic church lay leader is seeking reconsideration of the double standard.

“While the Catholic church appreciates your decision to allow 10 percent seating capacity to attend religious activities while we are under GCQ, I am saddened that casinos will reopen with a 30 percent seating capacity,” Romulo B. Macalintal wrote the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

Macalintal, who is a parishioner and church server at the Last Supper of our Lord Parish in Las Piñas City, cited clear inconsistencies in the government policy and said this dual approach to churches and casinos, if not reversed, would heighten risks of Covid-19 infections in a short time.

“At an average 2,000 slot machines and gaming tables in a casino, 30 percent would mean some 600 people with prolonged contact with each other in an enclosed space where coronavirus is said to be at higher risk; while a church with an average of 300 seats if given 10 percent seating capacity will mean 30 churchgoers only in an open-space building where social distancing and health protocols could be properly maintained. On the other hand, even at 10 percent seating limit, a casino would still have some 200 patrons given the said average of 2,000 machines

and gaming tables,” he wrote.

“Thus,” he added, “I join CBCP Acting President and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David in his lamentation that your decision will lead to “a wider road to perdition [as] you gave more importance to the operation of casinos than religious devotions.”

He urged officials to also “consider the fact that once a parishioner takes his seat inside the church, he does not move around as he stays in his pew till the mass is over. But a casino player will never be comfortable in one seat alone as he will keep on transferring from one slot machine or one table to another until he finds his lucky machine or table. A mass lasts for an average of 40 minutes only—the longest time a parishioner would stay inside the church. But a casino player has no time limit as to the number of hours he’d stay in the casino which makes him more vulnerable” to Covid-19.

“Your guideline should also make clear if senior citizens are allowed to play or enter the casinos because, under your rules, senior citizens are not allowed to leave their residence even for religious activities. But if senior citizens are allowed to enter the casinos, there is no rhyme or reason why they cannot be allowed to leave their houses to attend religious activities,” stressed Macalintal.

“Finally, I maintain that it is better to have more people praying inside the House of the Lord, than more people playing inside the House of the Gambling Lords, especially at this pandemic period.”

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HE country’s manufacturing output posted its fifth consecutive month of decline this year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Based on the results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI), PSA said the Volume of Production Index (VoPI) contracted 11.9 percent in July 2020.

The contraction of the VoPI in July was an improvement compared to the past three months when it posted contractions of 12.5 percent in June; 24.5 percent in May; and 38.8 percent in April.

“While manufacturing is not yet in the positive territory, the trends of the volume and value of production in the last three months indicate an improvement in the trajectory of economic activity.

This momentum suggests a gradual recovery of demand in the coming months until the end of the year,” Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said on Friday.

Neda said the countr y’s manufacturing performance will remain subdued in the near term as businesses expect the pandemic to have a lingering impact on production.

To help encourage the resumption of business operations, Neda said, the government will continue to enforce minimum health standards, which include wearing face masks and face shields and observing

strict social distancing protocols.

“Sustaining the gradual and calibrated opening of the economy largely depends on the level of community quarantine that would allow businesses to operate and permit workers to remain mobile. To make this possible, safe and a sufficient availability of public transportation can be supported by service contract subsidies if needed,” Chua said.

Value of production

The Value of Production Index (VaPI) contracted 14.8 percent year-on-year. This marked the fifth month of consecutive double-digit contraction this year.

The VaPI contracted the most in April at 41.3 percent followed by May at 27.3 percent. The July VaPI growth was still lower than the contraction of 12.7 percent in March.

The PSA reported that average capacity utilization rate for manufacturing slightly decreased in July 2020.

Based on responding establishments with responses on capacity utilization, average capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector in July 2020 slightly decreased to 75.4 percent from 75.8 percent in the previous month.

Seven of the 20 industry groups had at least 80-percent average capacity utilization rate. The groups were led by machinery except electrical at

86.5 percent, followed by printing at 83.3 percent; and textiles, 82.2 percent.

“Almost one-fifth of responding establishments operated at full capacity,” PSA said.

The proportion of establishments that operated at full capacity (90 percent to 100 percent) was 17.3 percent of the total number of responding establishments with responses on capacity utilization.

More than two-fifths or 46 percent operated at 70 to 89 percent capacity, and more than one-third or 36.7 percent operated below 70 percent capacity.

MISSI is a report that monitors the production, net sales, inventories, and capacity utilization of selected manufacturing establishments to provide flash indicators on the performance of the manufacturing sector.

Cai U. Ordinario

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Saturday, September 5, 2020

News BusinessMirror

Analysis: China’s rise takes world into uncharted waters

By Ken Moritsugu

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The Associated Press

EIJING—Twice in the 20th century, Japan challenged the West, first in a military-led attempt to become an imperial power and then as an industrial powerhouse.

Now it is China’s turn to take the global stage.

Seventy-five years after Japan’s surrender in World War II, and 30 years after its economic bubble popped, the emergence of a 21st century Asian power is shaking up the status quo.

As Japan did, China is butting heads with the established Western powers, which increasingly see its growing economic and military prowess as a threat. In turn, China, again like Japan, feels the West is trying to limit its rise, fueling nationalistic sentiment among both its public and leaders.

What’s changed, though, is the global landscape—post-colonial to start, and one of nuclear-armed states, global institutions and much deeper economic interdependence.

China’s goals are similar to Japan’s—to assert control in its immediate neighborhood while securing resources for its economic growth—but its means are different. Rather than imposing direct control through armed invasion, China is relying on economic enticements, cultural outreach and a gradual buildup of its military forces to boost its standing.

“The means by which China would increase its power are vastly different, as are the means by which other countries might resist it,” said Jennifer Lind, an Asia expert at Dartmouth University.

The rest of Asia is watching with a mixture of opportunism and trepidation, eager to benefit from China’s trade and investment, wary of its size and strength and its sprawling territorial claims.

Much larger than Japan, with 10 times the population, it is potentially better able to go toe-to-toe with an established superpower.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative is building ports, railways and other infrastructure across not just Asia but also Africa and el sewhere i n t he developi ng world. Less welcome is China’s

growing presence in the South China Sea, where it chases away the fishing boats of its Southeast Asian neighbors and has built artificial islands to stake out its territorial claims.

R a mon Nav a r at n a m l ived through Japan’s World War II occupation of Malaysia as a boy.

The veteran commentator advises working with China, not against it.

“We must be able to win them over,” he said. “In other words live peacefully with the dragon, don’t antagonize it.”

In a different era, when the sun never set on the British Empire, a rising Japan sought to join the league of European colonial powers by invading and occupying China and several Southeast Asian nations, often in brutal fashion.

Japan formally surrendered 75 years ago this week on board the USS Missouri, its empire-building ambitions in tatters after US atomic bombs leveled two cities, ushering in the nuclear age. Chinese leaders marked the anniversary Thursday in a brief and solemn ceremony at a memorial hall that remembers those who fought the Japanese.

Rana Mitter, an Oxford University scholar and author of a book on the Japanese invasion of China, cautions against comparisons between then and now.

“The age of classic empires is over,” he said. “Tomorrow’s disputes will be about economics and technology, both civilian and military. Reading history is useful and necessary but it is not a guide to the future.”

Foreshadowing those disputes, Japan tussled with trading partners from France to the US as it rebuilt itself into the world’s second-largest economy after World War II. Japanese-made cars, steel and consumer electronics were blamed for rising unemployment in the industrial West.

In this December 17, 2019, file photo and provided by China’s Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, meets with representatives of the aircraft carrier unit and the manufacturer at a naval port in Sanya, southern China’s Hainan Province. Seventy-five years after Japan’s surrender in World War II, and 30 years after its economic bubble popped, the emergence of a 21st century Asian power is shaking up the status quo. As Japan did, China is butting heads with the established Western powers, which increasingly see its growing economic and military prowess as a threat. AP

As those frictions peaked in the 1980s, China was experimenting with market-style reforms. Four decades later, Japan remains wealthy but has stagnated, while China is now the No. 2 economy and the one embroiled in a trade war with the United States.

Again similar to Japan, China is accused of stealing technology and falling short on promises to open its own markets as it strives to become a global competitor in industries from electric cars to advanced medical equipment.

More fundamentally, China’s ruling Communist Party fears that its one-party system will never be accepted by the West, said Richard Heydarian, a Philippine analyst who has written extensively about the US-China rivalry in the Pacific.

That generates “the sense that... no matter what they do, the West will always see them as a threat” and seek to contain, or sabotage China’s rise, he said.

Take the Belt and Road Initiative, which has reached America’s backyard in Latin America and is viewed by the West as a gambit to increase Chinese influence overseas. Or the South China Sea, where US Navy aircraft carriers push back against China, which in turn feels encircled by US military bases from South Korea to Guam.

“Ultimately, the most significant legacy of the war in Asia is the lasting imprint of US power,” both mi litar y and economic, said former American diplomat Mintaro Oba. It’s unclear how their differences will play out in a 21st century

environment. That both China and the US can threaten each other with nuclear arms puts at least a partial check on any thoughts of going to war.

The greater risk is that the world’s two largest militaries get drawn into a limited conflict, perhaps inadvertently, over an issue such as Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its territory and the US supplies with arms.

Economically, the US and some others are pressing companies to reduce their reliance on China.

The Trump administration is putting curbs on Chinese tech companies, from telecom giant Huawei to the highly popular TikTok video app, and leaning on its allies to do the same.

But for many, breaking up with China’s efficient factories and huge consumer market would be difficult and costly.

China assembles most of the world’s smartphones, personal computers and other electronics for Apple, Dell and other brands.

Its growing market is critical to foreign automakers and other industries when American and European demand is flat. “ There was just no way that Japan could match the United States, even in the Pacific,” Heydarian said. “W here China is quite different is that its sheer size gives it increasing parity with the United States in ways that Japan never enjoyed.”

That makes China, military conflict or not, a potentially more formidable challenger in the years to come.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Covid vaccine frontrunners will soon see their moment of truth

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rugmakers made big promises for a quick turnaround on coronavirus vaccines. The moment of truth for the frontrunners is coming as soon as this month.

The first results showing whether a vaccine can stop people from getting the virus could come by mid-September from AstraZeneca Plc, according to Airfinity Ltd., an analytics company that tracks drug trials. The drugmaker has pledged as many as 30 million doses to the UK by the end of the month.

Two other contenders—the US’s Moderna Inc. and the US.-German partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE—may also have initial data before a key Food and Drug Administration (FDA) meeting on virus vaccines scheduled for October 22, Airfinity said. The federal government has told states to prepare for a vaccine by November 1. A fourth candidate, China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd., could have preliminary results shortly after the FDA meeting.

These early results will be far from the full picture.

They’re what’s known as interim readouts—snapshots taken before a study is complete, with only a fraction of the data. The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday cautioned against approving a vaccine before its full risks and benefits are clear. But with the virus resurgent in Europe and continuing to spread in India and the Americas, the initial numbers will be an important early indicator.

The first results should be enough to “give us a very good idea of where we’re heading,” Airfinity Chief Executive Officer Rasmus Bech Hansen said.

“They are moving faster than one could have anticipated.”

Airfinity’s projections are based on publicly available data on trial enrollment and design, together with infection rates in places where patients are enrolled.

Each of these experimental vaccines has already shown promise in smaller trials designed to flag any serious safety concerns and show whether candidates can spur some response from the immune system.

Early safety data is key; unlike drugs, vaccines are typically given to relatively healthy people and shouldn’t create severe risks.

The real proving ground, though, is a study big enough to show with a high degree of certainty whether a vaccine candidate can work in the real world. This requires tens of thousands of participants, compared to the few hundred people who took the vaccines in early-stage trials.

Drugmakers would usually wait for final results before requesting regulatory approval, and the trio

BOP surplus shrinks to $8M in July, a 5-month low–BSP

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HE country’s overall dollar surplus shrank to a 5-month low in July, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday.

The Balance of Payments (BOP)—or the summary of the Philippines’s transactions with the rest of the world—registered an $8-million surplus in July, the lowest for the year since it showed a deficit in January.

The BOP is usually considered as an important economic indicator in an economy as it shows the level of earnings or expenses of the Philippines with its transactions with the world. A surplus means that the country made more dollar earnings than its expenses during the period.

Data from the BSP showed that the BoP surplus in July is a decline from the $80-million surplus in the previous month and the $248 million in the same month last year.

“The BOP surplus in July 2020 reflected mainly the inflows from the national government’s [NG] foreign

PMFTC launches IQOS stores in the Philippines P

MFTC Inc., an affiliate of Philip Morris International (PMI), opened its first four IQOS stores on Friday in the Philippines making available a smoke-free alternative to cigarettes for Filipino adult smokers 21 years old and above who would otherwise wish to continue to smoke, or use nicotine-containing products.

The newly opened IQOS stores are located at the Eastwood Mall in Libis, Quezon City, SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, SM Southmall in Las Piñas City, and Estancia Mall in Pasig City. The stores carry PMI’s line of smoke-free products, the devices, heat sticks and a full range of accessories.

IQOS devices use a patented heat-control technology that precisely heats tobacco-filled sticks wrapped in paper, without the burning, to release a water-based aerosol—not smoke.

“Opening the first IQOS stores in the Philippines is a significant step towards achieving our vision of a smoke-free future. PMFTC’s vision is to help adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke to move away from cigarettes as quickly as possible and switch to a better alternative,” PMFTC’s President Denis Gorkun said.

PMI is making this happen with an investment of more than $7 billion on research, development and production capabilities to create smoke-free products.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an order on July 7, 2020, authorizing IQOS and heat sticks, to be marketed in the Unites States with a reduced exposure claim, and adding that its issuance of such order is appropriate for the promotion of public health. In the United States, IQOS is the first heated tobacco product to receive that exposure modification order.

“The US FDA decision shows that IQOS is a fundamentally different tobacco product compared

to cigarettes and a better choice for adults who would otherwise continue smoking,” said Gorkun.

“We see smoke-free products as an opportunity to reduce the smoking incidence in the Philippines for the benefit of the public health and society at large,” Gorkun further said.

“We are implementing age verification and access restriction to ensure that only legal age consumers, 21 years old and above, will have access to the store, the e-commerce web site and the tobacco products.

Presentation of a valid government-issued ID is required before any product is handed over to the consumer,” Gorkun added.

There are an estimated 16 million smokers in the Philippines, and globally, despite strict tobacco control measures, the World Health Organization estimates that there will still be a billion smokers in 2025, the same level as today.

“The best thing a smoker can do is to quit cigarettes and nicotine products entirely. But the hard reality is there will be adults who would continue to smoke. For those who don’t choose to quit, we now have a product that does not burn tobacco,” PMFTC Communications Director Dave Gomez said.

“Public health experts agree that burning, or combustion, is the main problem in people getting sick from smoking. Nicotine, although not risk-free and is addictive, is not the main cause of smokingrelated diseases. It’s the smoke,” Gomez added.

PMFTC research showed that 60 percent

of current Filipino adult smokers are willing to try smoke-free alternatives as long as they are made commercially available and meet quality production standards.

IQOS Heat Control Technology heats tobacco instead of burning it to deliver the true taste of real tobacco. Unlike cigarettes, IQOS does not burn tobacco and therefore produces no smoke and no ash.

Gorkun said when using IQOS, the aerosol dissipates more quickly than cigarette smoke. “As IQOS produces less lingering smell than cigarettes, it is less likely to bother people around you,” he added.

Last April 24, 2020, HEETS for use with the IQOS device, were made available to legal age users 21 years old and above through select tobacconists/retail stores, such as FUMA, Lighters Galore, Green Puff and DJ Shop in Metro Manila. Last August 7, 2020, the heat sticks were also made available in select 7/11 branches in Metro Manila.

On June 5, 2020, the IQOS.COM web site was launched where the IQOS devices, as well as the heat sticks and device accessories, were offered.

Committed to ensure that access to the IQOS devices and heat sticks is only limited to adult consumers 21 years old and above who wish to continue using tobacco products, or other nicotinecontaining products, the IQOS stores strictly practice age verification and adhere to the Good Conversion Practices which is a global standard observed across PMI.

of frontrunners are on track to get that full data by the end of the year, Airfinity says. In the US, that might not be fast enough. Overwhelmingly positive interim results could lead to studies being stopped early and the vaccines being rushed to the public, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Los Angeles Times earlier this week.

Political pressure will be high to approve a vaccine if even the initial snapshot of data from these trials is promising. President Donald Trump has said a vaccine is possible by the November 3 election and accused the FDA of trying to slow the approval process.

Commissioner Stephen Hahn said last week he’s open to clearing a vaccine under an emergency use authorization, which is based on more limited data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asked states in a letter to prepare for vaccine distribution sites to be “fully operational” by November 1. The agency declined to comment on the letter.

Russia and China, meanwhile, have already cleared experimental vaccines for limited use before testing was complete.

In Europe, AstraZeneca’s vaccine may be available as of November, according to a senior European Union official involved in EU efforts to secure doses from various drugmakers, who spoke to reporters on Thursday on the condition of anonymity. The EU has locked in as many as 400 million doses of the UK drugmaker’s shot. AstraZeneca said it expects efficacy readouts between October and the end of the year.

Pfizer has said it’s on track to have enough data for an authorization as early as October. Based on how quickly and where it’s currently recruiting people for its 30,000-person trial, it will probably be the first US drugmaker with interim data—by October 15—but won’t have full results until November 17, Airfinity projects. A Pfizer spokeswoman declined to comment on how many virus cases it will need to see in order to get results in the trial.

Companies testing vaccines in the US, where the virus has spread more quickly than in Europe for the past several months, may have an advantage in potential volunteers and infections. AstraZeneca said it expects results later this year, depending on the rate of infection in the communities where it’s running trials. J&J said it still plans to start its late-stage test this month, with first batches of vaccine available for potential emergency use in early 2021, pending the study results. Sinovac declined to comment. Moderna declined to comment on the time frame for its data readouts. Bloomberg News

PMFTC stores at Eastwood Mall in Libis, Quezon City, and Estancia Mall in Pasig City PMFTC photos

loan proceeds that were deposited with the BSP, as well as the BSP’s income from its investments abroad,” the Central Bank said in a statement.

“These inflows were offset, however, by the foreign currency withdrawals made by the NG to pay its foreign currency debt obligations during the month in review,” it added.

For the first seven months of the year, the country’s BOP surplus hit $4.12 billion, lower than the $5.04 billion in the same seven-month period in 2019.

“The current BOP surplus [for the first seven months of the year] was supported mainly by foreign borrowings of the NG, the bulk of which were drawn in April up to July, and the lower merchandise trade deficit,” the BSP said.

“These positive outcomes negated fully the impact of higher net outflows of foreign portfolio investments, and lower net inflows from foreign direct investments, trade in services, and personal remittances,” it added.

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

The World

Mideast’s confirmed Covid death toll goes over 50,000

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UBAI, United Arab Emirates—The confirmed death toll from the coronavirus passed 50,000 in the Middle East on Thursday, according to a count from The Associated Press based on official numbers provided by health authorities.

Those numbers still may be an undercount, though, as testing in war-torn nations like Libya and Yemen remains extremely limited.

The top UN official for Libya on Wednesday warned the coronavirus pandemic in the warravaged country appears to be “spiraling out of control.” Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who control the capital, Sanaa, and much of the north, have refused to release virus statistics.

Iran remains to be the hardest-hit nation, which saw the region’s first major outbreak.

Over 21,900 people have died there from the virus, with over 380,000 confirmed cases and 328,000 recoveries.

Also Thursday, Israel announced plans to impose strict lockdowns on cities with major outbreaks after it reported a record 3,000 new cases in a single day. The country had largely contained its outbreak last spring after imposing strict lockdown measures. But infections have skyrocketed since the economy was abruptly reopened in May. The government, which has faced widespread criticism for its handling of the pandemic, said new lockdowns would be imposed in so-called red cities. Israeli media say several cities and towns, including many Arab and ultra-Orthodox Jewish

communities, are on the list.

“We’ve decided to impose closures on red cities,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement Thursday. “I ask for the cooperation of all citizens to put the brakes on the spread of the sickness.”

The exact details of the plan were not yet known, but the lockdowns are expected to resemble those imposed countrywide in the spring, when schools and most businesses were closed, and people were only allowed to leave home to buy food and medicine.

Israel has reported more than 120,000 cases and 985 deaths.

The United Arab Emirates, which has embarked on a mass testing campaign, saw its highest daily number of new cases in over three months. That came as schools have reopened in the country and Dubai has offered itself as a tourist destination. The federation has reported more than 72,000 cases, including 387 deaths.

Beyond the Middle East, Pakistan’s numbers h a ve c o n t i n u e d t o d e c l i n e — b e f u d d l i n g expec tations in mid-June, when even the authorities were anticipating a massive increase in cases. Pakistan has reported more than 297,000 infections and 6,328 deaths.

And in Afghanistan, the government has opened up recreational facilities and most businesses. But experts fear the real numbers are likely far higher than officially reported number of over 38,000 infections and 1,409 deaths. AP

More virus clusters appear in previously cleared Singapore worker dormitories

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ingapore has reportedly found two more clusters of Covid-19 infections in previously cleared worker dormitories, a day after three other worker dorms that had previously been declared cleared were found to have virus clusters.

The city-state had 48 new cases on Thursday, with 41 of those in dorms, according to the Ministry of Health. New clusters have emerged at Cochrane Lodge II at Admiralty Road West and at Westlite Toh Guan dormitory at Toh Guan Road East, according to Channel News Asia. Cochrane Lodge II had seen more than 450 cases of the virus before it was declared cleared in June, CNA said, while Westlite Toh Guan had more than 1,200 cases linked to it before it was declared cleared last month.

Dorms housing the low-paid foreign workers that underpin Singapore’s construction and services sectors have made up the vast majority of the Southeast Asian country’s cases.

An explosion in infections saw Singapore pivot to a more restrictive approach to the virus, imposing a lockdown in April that shuttered restaurants and offices and triggered a rethink of its testing strategy.

Economies and Covid-19 are inversely correlated. The less virus there is, the more

economies can fully reopen. That’s particularly acute in trade-reliant places like Singapore.

So while the re-emergence of clusters in the dorms reflect the difficulties Singapore and other nations have in stamping out the virus, it raises questions on how soon the island city-state will fully normalize and reopen the economy amid an ongoing recession.

Singapore’s government has pledged more than S$100 billion in aid to the economy, though Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned this week that the country can’t support such measures forever.

Infections in the broader community are currently less than a handful, prompting Singapore to relax some measures and reopen a few travel borders with countries that have the virus situation under control. Of the remaining seven cases of the 48 reported on Thursday, five were imported cases and two were in the community.

In addition, 137 people were discharged, bringing the total to 56,028 who have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities. Bloomberg News

Thailand to close national parks every year to help environment

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hailand plans to shut its national parks for several months each year to reduce environmental damage at popular tourist spots, the nation’s environment minister said.

The closure of the parks during the pandemic has allowed the natural habitat to recover from the hordes of tourist crowds and brought a return of wildlife, like whales and turtles, to Thailand’s world-famous beaches, said Natural Resources & Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa.

Authorities now want to close the parks annually for two to four months at a time, starting from next year, in order to improve the conservation of the areas, he said.

“This is so that nature can rehabilitate itself and the park rangers can improve the parks,” Varawut said in an interview in Bangkok.

Thailand has more than 100 national parks, which cover the mountain regions in the north to tropical islands in the south, containing popular attractions like Phi Phi Islands and Phang Nga Bay. More than 20 million people visited Thai national

parks in the 2019 fiscal year and contributed 2.2 billion baht ($70 million) in park fees, according to data from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.

Tourism is a key part of Thailand’s economy, contributing about one-fifth to gross domestic p ro d u c t b e f o re t h e p a n d e m i c d i s r u p t e d international travel. Some of the tropical beaches, islands and other natural attractions struggled to cope with the number of foreign visitors, which reached nearly 40 million in 2019. The government predicts the number of visitors will plummet to less than 7 million this year.

Varawut, who’s been in the position for about a year, said the park closures will be staggered across the country.

Phi Phi Islands’ Maya Bay, made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie The Beach will remain closed until much of the area has recovered from the damage of mass tourism, the minister said, adding that the bay’s coral reefs could take up to 40 years to return. Bloomberg News

BusinessMirror

Saturday, September 5, 2020

A5

Russia: Germany has provided no proof of Navalny poisoning

By Daria Litvinova & David Rising

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The Associated Press

OSCOW—President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman brushed off allegations Thursday that the Kremlin was involved in poisoning the Russian leader’s most determined critic, accusing Germany of not providing Moscow with any evidence about the condition of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny.

Navalny, a politician and corruption investigator, fell ill on a flight to Moscow on August 20, 2020, and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk. He has been in an induced coma in a Berlin hospital after being flown from Siberia to Germany for treatment more than a week ago.

G e r m a n aut h o r it i e s s a i d Wednesday that tests showed “proof without doubt” that he had been poisoned with a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group. British authorities identified the Soviet-era Novichok as the poison used on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England in 2018.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted Thursday that Russian authorities still had not received any evidence from Germany to back up their allegation.

“We haven’t received any information so far,” Peskov said. “We hope that it will happen soon and will help figure out what caused the condition the patient is in right now.”

Peskov reiterated that Russian specialists in Omsk tested Navalny for poisonous substances and didn’t find any in his system. He said Russian investigators conducting a preliminary inquiry into Navalny’s illness should know “what our German colleagues found and established.”

Following his stay in Omsk, Navalny was moved two days later to Berlin’s Charite hospital after German Chancellor Angela Merkel personally offered the country’s assistance in treating him. He’s now in stable condition, but doctors expect a long recovery and haven’t ruled out that the 44-yearold Navalny could face long-term effects to his health.

Merkel on Wednesday called Navalny’s poisoning an attempted murder that aimed to silence one of Putin’s fiercest critics and called for a full investigation.

“There are very serious questions now that only the Russian government can answer, and must

answer,” Merkel said.

Asked about Peskov’s comments on Thursday, Merkel said, “Naturally I am aware of what is being said now” but refused to comment further.

“I made a comprehensive statement…about what we will do now and in the coming days,” she told reporters at the chancellery after meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven. “And of course a lot depends on the respective reactions by the Russian government. But I don’t want to add anything further.”

Germany’s Justice Ministry has confirmed they have received Russia’s request for information but would not provide details on the response.

Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s longtime ally and campaign strategist, told the German RTL broadcaster Thursday that an independent investigation in Russia is unlikely and put the blame in the Kremlin.

“An attack of such level and of such coordination couldn’t be not authorized by Mr. Putin,” Volkov said.

Volkov said he did not know what legal consequences should be for what happened to Navalny.

“But I know for sure what I want to have as an outcome and this is the political, or a moral, ethical consequence: I really want that no foreign leader ever would shake hands with Mr. Putin,” he said.

Sweden’s Lofven, joining a chorus of other world leaders, called for Russia to investigate and punish those involved.

“We need to respond,” he said.

“Something happened on an aircraft within Russia, within Russian jurisdiction, so I think it’s fair to say the ball is in your corner now to investigate.”

In Washington, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said: “Alexei Navalny’s poisoning is completely reprehensible. Russia has used chemical nerve agents in the past and we’re working with our allies and the international community to hold those in Russia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, address the media during a joint press conference as part of a meeting in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, September 3. AP

accountable wherever the evidence leads and restrict funds for their malign activities.”

V y a c h e s l a v Vo l o d i n , t h e speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, described “the situation with Navalny” as an anti-Russian plot.

“It’s a planned action against Russia in order to impose new sanctions and try to impede the development of our countr y,” Volodin said in a news statement.

In addition to receiving blow back from Moscow, the German government has come under growing pressure to use a joint GermanRussian pipeline project as leverage in getting Russia to provide answers on Navalny. When asked about the issue Thursday, Merkel declined to comment.

Germany’s opposition Greens party urged her to end to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which would deliver Russian gas directly to Germany under the Baltic when completed, bypassing Ukraine.

“The apparent attempted murder by the mafia-like structures of the Kremlin can no longer just give us cause for concern, it must have real consequences,” Green parliamentary group leader Katrin Goering-Eckardt said.

The Greens have long opposed the pipeline. Merkel has steadily resisted pressure from the United States to end the project, which Washington says will endanger European security by making Germany overly dependent on Russian gas.

Nord Stream 2 is also opposed

by Ukraine and Poland, which will be bypassed by the pipeline under the Baltic sea, as well as some other European nations. With the findings about Navalny, even Norbert Roettgen, a leading lawmaker in Merkel’s party, said “diplomatic rituals are no longer enough.”

“After the poisoning ... we need a strong European answer, which #Putin understands” Roettgen tweeted. “The EU should jointly decide to stop #NordStream2.”

Peskov dismissed the calls to abandon Nord Stream 2 as

“e mot ion a l s t at e me nt s ...not based on facts.” He called the pipeline “an international commercial project that is in the interests of Russia, Germany and the entire European continent.”

After doctors in Berlin reported last week that Navalny had likely been poisoned, before identifying Novichok as the nerve agent, Merkel rejected the idea of abandoning the project.

Merkel has also previously rejected the idea when it was floated after previous confrontations with Moscow over incidents closer to home—like evidence the chancellor’s parliamentary office had been hacked by Russia and the killing of a Georgian man in Berlin that prosecutors alleged was a hit ordered by the Russian government.

Last month, three Republican US senators threatened sanctions against a German port operator involved in the Nord Stream 2 project, prompting Germany’s foreign minister to bring up the issue with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Sw itzerland-based A l lseas, which operates ships laying sections of the undersea pipeline, suspended its work in December after US President Donald Trump signed legislation threatening sanct ions aga inst companies linked to the project.

Some say Navalny’s poisoning and the pipeline should not be linked.

Wol fga ng Kubic k i, deput y leader of the pro-business Free Democratic Party, warned that Nord Stream 2 is nearing completion and both Russian and German companies are massively invested in the project.

“I’m skeptical that we should question a project of this magnitude at this stage,” he told Deutschlandfunk radio.

And Markus Soeder, a Merkel ally who leads the smallest party in Germany’s governing coalition, said the construction of the pipeline was a private business decision, not the government’s.

“In our view, one has nothing to do with the other,” he said.

TRUMP DISPARAGED U.S. WAR DEAD AS ‘LOSERS,’ ‘SUCKERS’–REPORT D

ELRAY BEACH, Florida—A new report details multiple instances of President Donald Trump making disparaging remarks about members of the US military who have been captured, or killed, including referring to the American war dead at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France in 2018 as “losers” and “suckers.”

Trump said Thursday that the story is “totally false.”

The allegations were first reported in The Atlantic . A senior Defense Department official with firsthand knowledge of events and a senior US Marine Corps officer who was told about Trump’s comments confirmed some of the remarks to The Associated Press, including the 2018 cemetery comments.

The defense officials said Trump made the

comments as he begged off visiting the cemetery outside Paris during a meeting following his presidential daily briefing on the morning of November 10, 2018.

Staffers from the National Security Council and the Secret Service told Trump that rainy weather made helicopter travel to the cemetery risky, but they could drive there. Trump responded by saying he didn’t want to visit the cemetery because it was “filled with losers,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

The White House blamed the canceled visit on poor weather at the time.

In another conversation on the trip, The Atlantic said, Trump referred to the 1,800 Marines who died in the World War I battle of Belleau Wood

as “suckers” for getting killed.

Trump emphatically denied the Atlantic report Thursday night, calling it “a disgraceful situation” by a “terrible magazine.”

Speaking to reporters after he returned to Washington from a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Trump said: “I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes. There is nobody that respects them more. No animal— nobody—what animal would say such a thing?”

Trump also reiterated the White House explanation of why he didn’t visit the cemetery.

“The helicopter could not fly,” he said, because of the rain and fog. “The Secret Service told me you can’t do it.... They would never have been able to get the police and everybody else in line to have a president go through a very crowded, very

congested area.”

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said, “It’s sad the depths that people will go to during a lead-up to a presidential campaign to try to smear somebody.”

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Thursday, “If the revelations in today’s Atlantic article are true, then they are yet another marker of how deeply President Trump and I disagree about the role of the President of the United States.”

“Duty, honor, country—those are the values that drive our service members,” he said in a statement Thursday night, adding that if he is elected president, “I will ensure that our American heroes know that I will have their back and honor their sacrifice—always.” Biden’s son Beau served in Iraq in 2008-09.

The Defense officials also confirmed to The AP reporting in The Atlantic that Trump on Memorial Day 2017 had gone with his chief of staff, John Kelly, to visit the Arlington Cemetery gravesite of Kelly’s son, Robert, who was killed in 2010 in Afghanistan, and said to Kelly: “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”

The senior Marine Corps officer and The Atlantic , citing sources with firsthand knowledge, also reported that Trump said he didn’t want to support the August 2018 funeral of Republican Sen. John McCain, a decorated Navy veteran who spent years as a Vietnam prisoner of war, because he was a “loser.” The Atlantic also reported that Trump was angered that flags were flown at half-staff for McCain, saying: “What the f—- are we doing that for? Guy was a f—-ing loser.”

Trump acknowledged Thursday he was “never a fan” of McCain and disagreed with him, but said he still respected him and approved everything to do with his “first-class triple-A funeral” without hesitation because “I felt he deserved it.”

In 2015, shortly after launching his presidential candidacy, Trump publicly blasted McCain, saying “He’s not a war hero.” He added, “I like people who weren’t captured.”

Trump only amplified his criticism of McCain as the Arizona lawmaker grew critical of his acerbic style of politics, culminating in a late-night “no” vote scuttling Trump’s plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. That vote shattered what few partisan loyalties bound the two men, and Trump has continued to attack McCain for that vote, even posthumously. AP

A6 Saturday, September 5, 2020

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

DTI webinar promotes beauty, personal care exports to UAE M

MinDA chief seeks lifting of ban on mature coconut exports

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HE Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) and the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Dubai (PTIC-Dubai) organized a webinar on August 24 to help exporters of beauty and personal care products enter the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market.

“Today’s agenda reflects our willingness to engage the Middle East from every angle and to take head-on some of the more complicated market structures, import policies, and regulations presented before us,” said DTI Undersecretary for Trade Promotions Abdulgani Macatoman.

Resource speakers include Prism International’s Business Development Manager Mohammed Al

Zhoubi and Dubai Municipality’s Acting Manager at Registration and Permits Health and Safety Department Hessa Jaffar Hassan Al Jawi.

Prism International is a distributor of pharmaceutical and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) products in the UAE and the Dubai Municipality is one of the regulatory bodies for beauty and personal care products.

Al Zhoubi shared that the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC), where

UAE is included, is a relatively young market. The GCC has a population of 54 million people, 75 percent of which are less than 40 years old.

Meanwhile, the UAE is a diverse country with its 9.6 million population composed of 200 nationalities.

Distributors, Al Zhoubi said, are looking for the following metrics in measuring the viability of the exporter: e-commerce sales in the UAE, previous and current export performance in the UAE, as well as sales in the Philippines.

Before exporters can enter the UAE market, they must be certified by the Dubai Municipality, the certifying body for perfumes, cosmetics, health supplements, detergents, biocides, food contact materials, toys, and electric machines.

Al Jawi briefed the participants about Montaji, a consumer product registration initiative by Dubai Municipality which registers and assesses consumer products before they are traded in the local markets. A product registration certificate from Montaji is valid for five years and costs 200

DPWH vows infra support to supply chain and logistics amid contagion

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HE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has reaffirmed its commitment to provide infrastructure support to the supply chain and logistics sector in view of the industry’s key role in economic recovery.

“In this modern world, economic growth is impossible to achieve without supply chain and logistics,” said DPWH Undersecretary for Planning and Public-Private Partnership Service Dr. Maria Catalina E. Cabral in a recent webinar. She added that it is especially important to secure and strengthen the country’s supply chains in this time of crisis “in order for us to survive together from this challenge and be able to bounce back.”

“That’s why we in the DPWH commit to completing and delivering to our people the core mandates, particularly on the national roads and bridges, major flood control programs, and disaster risk resilience programs.”

Cabral, in her presentation in the UPPAF SCAn Network Hubs EForum, highlighted the major DPWH programs and projects that are aimed at supporting the supply chain and logistics market.

These include the ongoing Tour-

ism Road Infrastructure Program, or TRIP. Conducted with the Department of Tourism, TRIP develops access roads to tourism destinations to contribute to inclusive growth and economic enterprise development.

Latest data show that 1,950 kilometers of tourism roads have been completed thus far, according to Cabral. The Agri-Infrastructure Support Program is being undertaken with the Department of Agriculture, in which road networks are built and improved to service farmers in the countryside to ensure food security.

As of May this year, 1,540 kilometers of farm-to-market roads have been completed. These include the P5.67-million Imelda-San Antonio Farm to Market Road in Pudtol, Apayao, which was completed last March.

The Roads Leveraging Linkages for Industry and Trade (ROLL-IT) program, meanwhile, is a joint endeavor with the Department of Trade and Industry. It sets out to provide better road infrastructure in the countryside to disperse industries to the rural areas for a more balanced development.

So far, there are 437 kilometers of completed roads leading to industries, trade corridors, and economic

zones, noted Cabral. The Integrated and Seamless Transport System aims to link the various islands of the country by building inter-island linkages/mega bridges, roads leading to the growth corridors in Western Mindanao and the Mindanao Logistics Infrastructure Network.

An example of this mega bridge is the 3-kilometer Panguil Bay Bridge, which has a project cost of P7.4 billion and is slated to start construction later this year, or early next year. Once completed, the bridge will connect the City of Tangub in Misamis Occidental to the Municipality of Tubod in Lanao del Norte. As for Metro Manila, the DPWH is currently implementing the Traffic Decongestion Program to reduce road bottlenecks and facilitate movement of people and goods, with the plan to build high-standard highways and expressways, bypass/diversion roads, flyovers, interchanges and underpasses, and to widen national roads and bridges.

But the DPWH’s flagship project is the Philippine High Standard Highway Network Program, which envisions the construction of 1,066 kilometers of high-standard highways across the country, said Cabral.

AED or around P2,650.

The approval process for Montaji takes 22 working days for cosmetics, personal care, and perfumes; 12 working days for health supplements; and five working days for biocides and detergents. The DTIEMB offered to assist exporters in fulfilling the specific requirements for their respective products.

Philippine Consul General in Dubai Paul Raymund Cortes said that the pandemic is “a challenge for everybody to keep their economic opportunities alive, not only for themselves but for their fellow Filipinos.”

He also challenged the attendees of the webinar to not just become a distributor, but also venture into manufacturing their products.

The webinar, Beauty and Personal Care in the UAE, is part of a series.

The next webinar on Beauty and Personal Care in the State of Qatar will be on September 14. The series will conclude with a business-matching session with buyers from the Middle East and Africa scheduled on September 16.

INDANAO Development Authority (MinDA) Secretary Emmanuel Piñol renewed an appeal to President Duterte to lift the Marcos-era ban on export of mature coconuts and issue a special permit for Mindanao exporters.

The MinDa chief said Presidential Decree (PD) 1106 should be lifted to immediately help coconut farmers affected by the Covid -19 pandemic.

Issued in 1985 by the late strongman former President Ferdinand Marcos, PD 1106 banned exports of mature and dehusked coconuts.

“We are resubmitting our recommendation to the President, noting that if we want to restart the economy, we can directly focus on our coconut farmers who are actually among sectors affected by the pandemic,” Piñol said in a news statement.

“Since there is a standing order for the green and brown and young coconuts outside of the country, let’s work on that as we appeal that Mindanao be given special permit.”

After taking his oath as chairman of MinDA in August last year, Piñol requested the lifting of PD 1106 through Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, noting the action would mostly benefit coconut farmers in Mindanao.

Piñol said unless the ban is lifted, the country’s coconut farmers, who, he said, are reeling from effects of low copra prices due to the influx of other alternative cooking oils, would not be able to take advantage of the mature coconut market.

In November 2018, the Philippine Coconut Authority’s Governing Board, chaired

by Piñol who was then secretary of the Department of Agriculture, approved a resolution that would request the interagency committee on Executive Order 1016, Series of 1985 to lift the ban on mature coconut exports. EO 1016 mandated the creation of an interagency committee, which will annually update the list of prohibited products for export being implemented by the Bureau of Customs.

Germany cushions coronavirus blow by weaning itself off exports

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ERMANY expects the blow from the coronavirus crisis to be less severe than feared, as the country reduces its traditional reliance on exports.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s administration forecast that national output will shrink by 5.8 percent this year. While that still marks one of the worst recessions since the end of World War II, it’s smaller contraction than an April prediction of 6.3 percent, as efforts to shore up domestic demand bear fruit.

The relatively moderate decline is “an important sign that we have managed to stabilize domestic demand and decouple to a great extent from global economic developments,” Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said Tuesday at a news conference in Berlin.

“We are looking at an unexpectedly fast V-shaped recovery,” and the worst is over, he said.

The government forecast a 12.1percent drop in exports this year, compared with a decline of 8.1 percent for imports and 3.6 percent for domestic consumption. Germany’s trade surplus was one of the sources of tensions with President Donald Trump, and US trade conflicts with China have hit Germany, even before the pandemic

decimated economies across the world.

Germany’s domestic shift may continue. While the country can avoid another nationwide shutdown despite a recent upsurge in infections, its trading partners may need to rein in activity, Altmaier said.

“The global economic environment could remain difficult for a longer time,” he said. “The global recession will be significantly stronger” than during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009.

Still, Germany’s recovery will be less robust, with 2021 growth of 4.4 percent. That’s lower than the previous projection of a 5.2-percent expansion, and pre-crisis levels won’t likely be reached until 2022, Altmaier said.

What our economists say: “The new forecasts have less of a dip, and therefore a less pronounced recovery. That puts output to a similar spot, but there will be somewhat less pain along the way.”

Activity in Europe’s biggest economy has staged a strong rebound after collapsing in the second quarter, and German companies have turned slightly more optimistic that the economy will continue on its long road to recovery.

Reports on Tuesday showed that

German unemployment declined in August and a gauge of factory activity rose to a 22-month high. Still, the manufacturing report from IHS Markit wasn’t all positive. The machinery and equipment sectors —which are more exposed to global demand—remain weak, and businesses continued to cut jobs.

To soften the blow from the pandemic, Merkel’s government suspended constitutional debt limits as part of a massive stimulus program, including cutting value-added taxes and providing money to families. The efforts were mainly focused on getting Germans to spend.

Altmaier said Germany will emerge stronger from the crisis, and his optimistic assessment marks a stark contrast to Merkel’s stern warning last week. The chancellor said the coronavirus crisis will get worse before it gets better, defending her government’s move to abandon its balanced-budget policy.

“I am firmly convinced that it is a good decision to take on a high degree of debt because anything else would mean we would be in the grip of the pandemic for a lot longer,” Merkel said in her annual summer news conference on Friday.

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Nation celebrates birthdays of Magsaysay, Cardinal Sin

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By Severino Samonte

ANILA—As the nation marked on Monday, August 31, the 113th birthday of the late beloved President-statesman Ramon F. Magsaysay, the Filipino Catholics also observed the 92nd birth anniversary of the departed Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal L. Sin.

MANILA Archbishop Jaime Cardinal L. Sin (left) and the late President Ramon F. Magsaysay PHOTOS FROM WIKIPEDIA

Magsaysay (1907-1957) was considered as the idol of the Filipino masses. Millions of Filipinos, young and old, cried and mourned when he died at the young age of 50 years in a plane crash on a mountain in Cebu on March 17, 1957.

The seventh president of the Philippines, Magsaysay was born in Iba, Zambales, on August 31, 1907. He was elected to the presidency in November 1953, succeeding President Elpidio Quirino (1892-1956).

The annual Magsaysay Awards, Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize, was named in memory of Magsaysay.

Meanwhile, many Filipinos remember the late Cardinal Sin (19282005) for his important role in the historic and peaceful February 1986

Edsa People Power Revolution that ended the 20-year rule of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Dubbed as the people’s revolt, aided by soldiers who rebelled against the Marcos administration, from February 22-25, 1986, it drove Marcos and his family out of Malacañang to Hawaii, where he died on September 28, 1989, at age 72.

The administration of then-President Corazon C. Aquino (1986-1992) refused to allow the repatriation of Marcos’s remains to the Philippines. It was only during the succeeding administration of President Fidel V. Ramos that the body of Marcos was brought back to Manila in 1993 and kept for several years at a refrigerated crypt in his home province of Ilocos Norte.

After President Duterte assumed

office on June 30, 2016, he allowed the burial of the Marcos remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery) in Taguig City on November 18 of the same year.

The interment took place despite strong opposition from supporters and sympathizers of the Aquino family, as well as the so-called victims of martial law, which Marcos imposed on September 21, 1972, to prolong his rule, which began on December 30, 1965. The Supreme Court, voting 10-5, earlier allowed the Marcos burial at the Libingan.

Cardinal Sin, the 30th archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church of Metropolitan Manila and the third Cardinal of the Philippines, died on June 21, 2005, at the age of 77. He was buried at the Manila Cathedral Crypt in Intramuros.

While many people remember the late cardinal for his issuance of the historic call for Filipinos to support the soldiers who had rebelled against the Marcos dictatorship, he was admired mostly for his benevolence, being generous and an unselfish church leader who always thought of other people’s well-being and welfare before his own.

He showed these traits when he endorsed to then-Pope John Paul II the creation of five new bishoprics or dioceses out of his Manila Archdiocese domain shortly before his official retirement at age 75 in 2003.

These dioceses were those of Novaliches and Parañaque, which were created in December 2002, followed by those of Cubao, Pasig and Caloocan in 2003.

The successive creation of the five new dioceses in Metro Manila in a span of one year clearly demonstrated the generous and unselfish attitude and willingness of the cardinal to sacrifice for the welfare of his people.

With the establishment of the dioceses of Cubao, Novaliches, Parañaque, Pasig and Caloocan, the formerly vast jurisdiction of the Manila Archdiocese under Sin was reduced to just the cities of Manila, Makati, San Juan, Mandaluyong and Pasay.

Normally, most leaders, whether of a local government unit (LGU) or

a church bishopric, would not allow the reduction of their territorial jurisdictions. This is particularly true with government officials such as provincial governors, city or municipal mayors and barangay chairmen who are always against the partition of their respective territories.

This is because—particularly in the case of LGUs—a reduction of territorial jurisdiction would also mean lesser income for them in terms of internal revenue allotment or IRA. The amount of an LGU’s IRA depends on income, land area and population.

The Novaliches Diocese was established on December 7, 2002, and canonically erected by Pope John Paul II on January 16, 2003, from its ecclesiastical province, the Archdiocese of Manila, which had territorial jurisdiction over the northern portions of the cities of Quezon and Caloocan.

According to the Diocese web site, it has a jurisdiction area of 138 square kilometers, a dozen vicariates with over 70 parishes and churches at present—all emanating from the 164-year-old Parish and Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy located at the old town of Novaliches, which was divided in 1948 between Quezon City and Caloocan, then still a municipality of Rizal province.

The seat of the diocese, which is dedicated to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is located at Regalado Ave. Extension, Fairview, Novaliches. The current head of the diocese is Bishop Roberto O. Gaa. On the other hand, the Diocese of Parañaque, also created in 2002, covers the adjacent cities of Parañaque, Las Piñas and Muntinlupa.

It has a territorial jurisdiction of 126 square kilometers.

The Diocese of Cubao, erected on June 28, 2003, has jurisdiction over the southern half of Quezon City, mainly Districts 1, 3, and 4.

Meanwhile, the Diocese of Caloocan, also created in 2003, covers the southern half of Caloocan City, as well as the cities of Malabon and Navotas.

The Pasig Diocese was also established in 2003 with jurisdiction over the cities of Pasig and Taguig, as well as the town of Pateros. PNA

Dennis Maristany: Imparting nuggets of wisdom to local and foreign tourists

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

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LTHOUGH he recently became a “dual citizen” (endearing term for people turning 20 for the third time), Dennis Geronimo Maristany still looks forward going back to where the action is—doing his work as a Mabuhay Tour guide.

“I was actually looking forward to a dual citizen status. For some reason, I feel secure becoming a senior citizen. Funny thing is, I was questioned when I was getting my senior card at Manila City Hall. ‘Senior citizen ka?’

Most people queuing up have wrinkles or are hunchbacked. I somehow didn’t fit the mold,” Maristany told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail interview.

Nevertheless, he belongs to an industry terribly affected by the pandemic. Maristany said that the tourism sector was doing very well during the past administration.

“And then the pandemic hit. So, as early as November of 2019, our tours started to fizzle out. The good thing about our country is that it remains a ‘hidden gem’ in Southeast Asia,” he said.

Maristany loves to show to foreign visitors our less visited destinations that are just as spectacular—beaches, mountains, bustling cities and rustic towns.

Despite the current challenge caused by the pandemic, Maristany said there’s renewed interest in heri-

MABUHAY Tour guide Dennis Geronimo Maristany (right) with National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab

tage sites. Although the tourism sector is currently using social media to promote local destinations, the pandemic’s effect is still there. “The adage ‘you weren’t there if you have no pics to prove it’ applies. They just have to have Instagram worthy pics to go with the experience,” he said.

“Sometimes, I have to stop my commentary midway to allow the tour group to get the photos and selfies and wefies out of the way,” he added.

Mabuhay guides

ALL Mabuhay guides are skilled and

highly professional. They all received the same top-notch training from experts on Philippine culture and tour guiding. Every guide works according to the industry’s highest standards.

Some of them, however, might choose to focus on certain aspects depending on the guests’ interests and the guide’s background.

“Our training was conducted by instructors from Blue Badge of London,” he said.

Maristany said a Mabuhay tour guide is not necessarily required to have a fast learning curve. But the tour

guides have to do their own research and decide where to insert their findings in their commentary during tours.

He recalled two memorable incidents involving a group of American lawyers and a Dutch family. “I took a group of lawyers to the American war memorial and cemetery. And someone asked, ‘Has your president been here?’

This after Duterte swore at former president Barack Obama.”

Maristany responded, “I will not apologize for his actions, if it will please you.”

He also brought a Dutch family to the Banaue Rice Terraces. The tourists were immediately mesmerized and awed by its natural beauty. He recalled that the grandfather of the family approached an Igorot lass and told her that she was fortunate to wake up everyday and see all of the beauty around her. The tourist, however, was surprised when she told him it was boring seeing the site everyday.

“The guest was shocked. I had to tell him: You’re fortunate to have seen the world. This woman has never been anywhere for 43 years. That gave him a different perspective,” Maristany said.

Maristany always thinks of ways to incorporate history, particularly to the younger generation, by injecting tidbits of little known facts and trivia about a particular place. “But I am very careful when it comes to unconfirmed gossip popularized by another historian,” he said.

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Saturday, September 5, 2020 A7

So much in just one lifetime

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

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ODAY, one lifetime can cover as much as 8 decades, depending on one’s physical condition and constitution.

I’m now towards the end of my 6th decade. In my lifetime so many huge happenings have transpired and are still occurring that have impacted on my generation’s outlook, behavior and lifestyle.

I was born in 1951, which makes me a full-fledged member of the Baby Boomers generation (born from 1945 to 1965). I grew up with pre-mobile technology, such as radio, television and landline telephones. The main technology breakthrough in my time was the rotary telephone and tube television and record player (be it mono, hi-fi or stereo.) We did not have videogames or cell phones in our childhood. Our main entertainment was playing outdoors with other children in the neighborhood, where social skills and life lessons were practically learned.

Hence, technology did not play a pivotal role in that era, unlike with today’s Gen X or millennials.

To be honest, I was in my early 30s when the first IBM PCs and Apples came to the Philippines.

I wasn’t too keen about them because my mind resisted the computerese that one had to master. It had little impact on my everyday life. I continued to use the typewriter for my writings. It was after many years that I finally learned to use the Mac and loved it, because it was designed for “dummies.” I was not a digital native, more of a digital immigrant, albeit a reluctant one.

But aside from computers, I have never seen so many technological innovations coming one after the other in such a short span: the pager/beeper, video recorder/player, audio cassette player, compact disks, flash drives, Internet, e-mail, Facebook, Youtube, Google maps, smart TV, wide flat screens, mainstreaming platforms, cell phone, laptop, not to mention ATMs and credit cards, and lately, online entertainment and business transactions, as well as business meetings and conferences.

The so-called screen time started with us for we were the first generation to make television a central part of people’s lives. We were able to witness news as it happened and enjoy diverse entertainment never before available in such a medium.

However, we were also the first to be pervasively bombarded by advertising.

In the same lifetime, I have seen the devastation and catastrophe wrought by some of the worst natural calamities and disasters to come upon our nation: the Baguio earthquake of 1990, Mt. Pinatubo eruption of 1991, Typhoons Ondoy and Yolanda.

A long w ith natura l cataclysms, there were also political upheavals such as martial law, political assassinations, Edsa Revolution 1 and 2, and the series of attempted coups by restless military adventurists.

Globally, we have witnessed the onslaught brought about by terrible wars, terroristic bombings, racial hatred and divisions, as well as havoc being done to our environment and natural resources.

On the medical front, thanks to evolving technologies and new medicines, life spans have been extended. Diagnosing a medical

condition is now faster and more convenient.

I wasn’t born yet when the nuclear bomb came into this world, but it was during my generation when the era of space exploration began, one of the highlights being the landing of the first men on the moon.

And as if these were not enough happenings, convulsions and disruptions to put into the memoirs of one lifetime, here comes the Covid-19 pandemic, the first real viral pandemic of this lifetime, because AIDS, Ebola and SARs were just sort of previews.

Trying to recall all these happenings reminds me of Billy Joel ’s famous list song, “We didn’t start the fire” a litany of historic news headlines from the time of the singer’s birth.

In my case, what I see are blur images flashing and flicking in my memory’s eye.

I will no longer list down the tragedies and disappointments that my generation has been through, individually and collectively. Those are also too much for one lifetime.

From digital technology to a viral pandemic, our boomer generation has had it all. I’ve always believed in living life to the fullest, but I never expected it to be filled to the brim with so much.

Can we say that we are a lucky generation that we have seen so much happening so fast, all within our lifetime? We have witnessed the greatest amount of advances in technology but the question is: with all these, has mankind changed for the better?

There is certain ambivalence about it all. I embrace it all, sure it was great to live through it, but I made sure I wasn’t carried away by it all. Perhaps I sensed the pitfalls. I lived in a time of transition. While we were entering a modern era where certainties and verities have gradually vanished, I still felt the tug of old values and traditions.

There was a sense of guilty pleasure in enjoying the new level of conveniences and comfort brought about by technical innovations.

As a Catholic, I learned to value the virtue of self-denial and selfrestraint. In maturity, I took on the Buddhist perspective of the material world as an illusion and the attitude of non-attachment.

At the same time, I was also taught to be grateful for blessings. These advances in technology are to me God’s gifts to mankind, after all.

We have made our mark. It’s time to release the reins. Once it was our world, today it is the millennials’ and soon, the world will be taken over by the next generation.

Technology will continue to evolve and this technological evolution will keep on changing the generations’ behavior and lifestyle. Millennials have often led older Americans in their adoption and use of technology.

The one thing that dismays me is that we will be leaving a world to a generation that is becoming more isolated while becoming more connected.

But don’t dismiss us just yet. We are still writing the last chapter of our generation’s story. If so much could happen in the past seven decades, who knows what exciting new discoveries and previously unimagined advancements can still happen in the last few pages of our story.

A8

BusinessMirror

Saturday, September 5, 2020 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Latest trends on social media include ‘Ice Cream,’ ‘Dynamite’ and avatars Making learning at home easier WITH new tablet and smart home choices from Lenovo, now is the time to upgrade your devices for the family. Introducing the premium and powerful new Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Android tablet, and the Lenovo Tab M10 HD Gen 2 debuting the new Google Kids Space, there’s a smarter device made for every member of the family (lnv.gy/34QmwVc).

The new flagship Lenovo Tab P11 Pro tablet has been engineered for high-quality entertainment with a 11.5-inch 2K (2560 x 1600) OLED display in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, while offering productivity on the go. As an entertainment powerhouse designed for you to stream shows and music in high fidelity, it has four JBL speakers with 2.5cc chambers optimized by Dolby Atmos and enhanced via smart algorithms for consistent user-facing cinematic surround sound. Featuring an ultra-slim chassis made with an aluminum-alloy unibody in a dual-tone finish, it has 6.9mm slim bezels on all four sides and a 7.7mm profile at its thickest point.

The Lenovo Tab P11 Pro is also great for getting work done at home, or wherever inspiration strikes.

With an optional keyboard and pen, handy hotkeys and the Microsoft Office apps you’re familiar with, you can access instant productivity in a snap. The tablet also offers up to 15 hours of usage at full charge supported by the power efficiency of its Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G Mobile Platform. Smarter features such as zero-touch login (with front cameras that can unlock your tablet when it detects your face) and background blurring on video calls for more privacy (ideal for working from home) add meaningful innovation to the P11 Pro. The new Lenovo Tab M10 HD Gen 2 tablet, meanwhile, debuts Kids Space from Google, a new kids mode available first on Lenovo tablets.

A family tablet optimized for finding enriching and engaging content at home, the M10 HD Gen 2 is a multimedia hub with a 10.1-inch HD TDDI wideviewing angle display, dual speakers with Dolby Atmos, fast and powerful performance with octa-core processor featuring an up-to-2.3 GHz main frequency, and TÜV Rheinland eye protection to help reduce harmful blue light.

Kids Space from Google features recommended apps, books and videos based on interests kids choose to discover, create and grow (best for children under 9). With Family Link parental controls from Google, parents can manage their child’s device and experience in a way that works best for their family.

The Play and Read tabs include access to teacherapproved apps and popular children’s books free of charge, while the Watch and Make tabs provide creative and fun videos from YouTube Kids that encourage kids to engage in off-screen activities.

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ON’T you find it annoying when some people admonish others on social media for being on TikTok, doing the finger heart or basically, just getting on every trend out there?

I would never get into TikTok but if someone in my age range did, then that’s not my problem. If someone I know poses for a picture with a finger heart, I’m not going to get annoyed. There are so many things in this world that are more annoying, and being uncool is not one of them.

I am not on Facebook and I doubt if I’ll ever be. I am on Instagram but, truthfully, I have a lot of accounts muted. What annoys me is not when people get into certain things but when others act like they’re taste arbiters and decide whether one person is cool or uncool. You can choose to ignore them, right? You can unfollow, mute or block people and accounts if you’re so annoyed with them.

So what is trending on social media right now aside from pictures and images of people working out, baking, hugging and playing with their pets, and showing their work-from-home and/or kids’ online learning set-ups?

Blackpink’s collaboration with singer Selena Gomez called “Ice Cream” and BTS’s first all-English song “Dynamite” are the two top trending topics on social media right now, not necessarily in that or any order. “Ice Cream” is the second prerelease single off Blackpink’s long-awaited debut album, Blackpink: The Album, which is scheduled for release on October 2 through YG Entertainment.

The first single was “How You Like That.” The album release is one of the events that will mark Blackpink’s fourth anniversary as a group.

Blackpink—composed of Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé—broke its own record less than three hours after the music video premiered, hitting 10 million views after just two hours and 55 minutes, according to Korean site Soompi.

I know something is organically trending when my Instagram is filled with “Ice Cream”-related references. A beauty blogger friend posted a Jennie makeup tutorial. Non K-pop fan friends are now Blinks. People are in love with Blackpink.

By the way, Custom Mood has Blackpink’s first full-length album available for pre-order (bit. ly/2GjRGdb). Their album will include 2 of their prereleased singles “How You Like That” and their recent catchy upbeat pre-release “Ice Cream” featuring Selena Gomez.

Of course, people continue to be in love with BTS

and “Dynamite”. A look through my Instagram Stories timeline shows that over 50 percent of the active accounts I follow are now BTS fans. The new ones became fans because of “Dynamite.”

Billboard said “Dynamite” entered the chart at No. 1, the highest ranking on the chart achieved by an allKorean group. For me, the most significant statistic is that “Dynamite” now ranks higher than PSY’s “Gangnam Style”,, which peaked at No. 2 in 2012.

According to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, “Dynamite” reached 33.9 million US streams and 300,000 sales on its first week ending on August 27 and gained 11.6 million radio airplay audience impressions in the week ending on August 30.

“Dynamite” had 265,000 downloads sold in its first week, with overall first-week total sales of 300,000, including vinyl and cassette versions.

On August 30, BTS performed “Dynamite” for the first time on the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards and won all the awards they were nominated for, earning four trophies in total. The thing about K-pop is that, despite some of the fanwars that come with being a fan, it really makes people happy. And, yes, there are

still some people who think it’s uncool to be a K-pop fan but who cares about them? My daughter had a high school friend who used to laugh at her Super Junior phone case. That friend is now a K-pop fan.

Another social media trend, by the way, is using your avatar as your profile picture on Facebook. This feature allows users to create a personalized avatar, or emoji, of themselves, which will be placed on stickers that can be shared on the Facebook platform.

On Facebook, you may have noticed a “make your avatar” button when someone else posts their new avatar. If you haven’t seen that, go to a Facebook post as if you’re going to comment on it and click on the smiley face icon, which will bring you to the emoji and stickers. Find the little purple guy with the red tongue and click on him.

You’re now ready to create your own avatar by picking from among the various options, including face shape, hair type, facial features, body type and wardrobe. Accessories are optional. When you are done, you can click the arrow next to your finished avatar to share it to your feed or make it your profile picture. ■

B2B company receives S$16.6 million investment

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES ANCHANTO, a Singapore-based B2B software-as-aservice (SaaS) company specializing in ecommerce technology, recently announced that it received new investment totaling S$16.6 million as part of its expansion road map. Taking part in the funding round were Asendia, a joint-venture of the French National Post La Poste and state-run Swiss Post, and MDI Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Indonesian telco firm Telkom Indonesia.

Vaibhav Dabhade, CEO and founder of Anchanto, said the company will use the funds to strengthen its research and development portfolio to launch two new products, build a data platform and expand to three more markets. Furthermore, he said Anchanto will also invest in hiring skilled talents to enhance

and accelerate the launch of its new products into markets—especially with the demand for SaaS solutions on the rise. “Achieving profitability in these times is an excellent performance. I feel this is a more significant achievement than raising S$12 million dollars in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis. We are a capital-efficient company. A hundred percent of our revenue comes from SaaS subscription with a high gross margin; we do not buy inventory or run services shops or warehouses,” said Dabhade.

The fund-raising round also ushered in the start of Anchanto’s partnership with Asendia AG, a European cross-border ecommerce shipping and mail services giant, as a new shareholder. Asendia is the fourth customer to turn into a shareholder after MDI (Telkom Indonesia), Transcosmos Japan, and Luxasia.

MDI Ventures, a corporate venture capital initiative

by Telkom Indonesia, increased its stake further by adding to their existing investment. Marc Pontet, CEO of Asendia, and Donald Wihardja, CEO of MDI Ventures, will be joining Anchanto’s board.

“Asendia intends to continue its journey along the cross-border ecommerce value chain and support the growth of an innovative technology company serving the international growth of global brands. We have high hopes for further cooperation with Anchanto, and we expect that we are going to create additional growth and synergies for the company thanks to our logistics and technology capabilities.” said Marc Pontet, CEO of Asendia.

“We are pleased to have Asendia invest into Anchanto’s vision. Asendia Singapore’s crossborder ecommerce operations have been running on Anchanto Wareo and SelluSeller platform for

over two years now. Asendia owns 100 percent of Direct—which happens to be our customer for over six years. We see investment from Asendia as our gateway to European markets. Seventy percentplus of investment in Anchanto has been from our customers, which is a great testimony of how powerful and stable our platforms are, and the trust global companies have in us,” Vaibhav added.

“In the current digitalization era, the necessity of multiple retailers and brands to go the omnichannel path is highly critical, especially with the current pandemic where the shift to online sales is inevitable. Anchanto’s robust platforms are wellpositioned to highly capitalize on this ‘new normal’ to tackle massive problems that are not only faced in Indonesia but also globally,” said Donald Wihardja, CEO of MDI Ventures.

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Saturday, September 5, 2020

A9

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RECENTLY unsealed court documents show Google’s own engineers were troubled by the way the company secretly tracked the movements of people who didn’t want to be followed until an Associated Press investigation uncovered the shadowy surveillance.

AP

TUX the penguin, the mascot of the Linux operating system.

THE ADVANTAGES OF USING LINUX

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES AS a developing country, the Philippines is always challenged to provide concerned stakeholders all their information and communications technology (ICT) needs to boost the digital capability of the country.

Radenta Technologies Inc., a Filipino-owned computing technology company, recently pointed out that using the Linux operating system is one major way to meet the challenges of the dearth in computing software. “One difference, however, is that Linux is an open source software that is free and available for the public to view, edit and, for those with the technical skill, contribute to. Linux is customizable.

You can swap out word processor, web browsers, system display graphics and other user-interface components,” the company said in a press statement.

Since it is an open source OS, Linux’s source code can be accessed by everyone. Anyone who has coding skills can contribute, modify, enhance and distribute the code to anyone and for any purpose.

With skills in Linux, Radenta pointed out that IT professionals have a lot of opportunities in fields, such as Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, Networking and IT Infrastructure, Open Source Technologies, Android and Embedded Technologies, and High Performance Computing.

Moreover, Radenta said Linux is also being used in many devices, its code underpinning such popular platforms as Android phones, tablets and Chromebooks, digital storage devices, personal video recorders, cameras, wearables and smart appliances.

Moreover, Microsoft’s Windows OS even carries Linux components as part of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Radenta said companies and individuals select Linux for their servers for its security, flexibility and robustness, complemented by excellent support from a community of users worldwide and such global companies as Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu; SUSE and Red Hat, all of which offer commercial support.

Just like other operating systems such as Windows and Mac OS, Linux has a graphical interface, along with a plethora of applications including word processor, photo editor, video editor and the like. It is as easy to use as competing OSes. Radenta said testers can ensure everything works on different configurations of hardware and software, and report when things do not. It added that companies can create their own user interfaces.

Meanwhile, writers can create documentation, guides and other copy to go with the software.

Translators can make sure that people in different parts of the world can understand the programs and documentation.

Developed by Finnish software engineer Linus Torvalds in 1991, Linux enjoys widespread popularity and support across major sectors. One of the major users of Linux in the Philippines is the University of the Philippines-Diliman where it uses Linux as the operating system in their computers.

Radenta said it is offering a training Linux bundle for four persons as part of their campaign to promote Linux. Training starts in October.

Google location-tracking tactics troubled its own engineers

G

BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE The Associated Press

OOGLE’S own engineers were troubled by the way the company secretly tracked the movements of people who didn’t want to be followed until a 2018 Associated Press investigation uncovered the shadowy surveillance, according to unsealed documents in a consumer fraud case. The behind-the-scenes peek stems from a threemonth-old lawsuit against Google filed by Arizona’s attorney general. The files, unsealed late last week, reveal that Google knew it had a massive problem on its hands after an AP article published in August 2018 explained how the company continued to track users’ whereabouts even after they had disabled the feature Google called “location history.”

The released documents include internal Google emails and a fresh version of the state’s civil complaint with fewer redactions than the original.

The same day the AP story was published, the company held what one unidentified email correspondent called an “Oh S—-” meeting to discuss its location tracking tools, according to the unsealed records in Arizona’s Maricopa County Superior Court. Google also began monitoring public reaction to the AP story, including how it was trending across

Facebook, Twitter and other influential online services, the documents show.

Some of Google’s own engineers scolded the company for misleading people about how its location tracking settings worked. “I agree with the article,” one engineer wrote in a particularly blunt assessment after the AP story was published. “Location off should mean location off, not except for this case or that case.”

Another Google engineer wrote, “Indeed we aren’t very good at explaining this to users.” Another concurred that what the company was doing was “definitely confusing from a user point of view.”

The release of the emails is embarrassing for a company that tries to build trust with billions of users of free services such as maps and online search, which in turn provide the personal information Google can use to target ads. Those ads generated more than $130 billion in revenue last year alone.

Google is still fighting to keep many of the exhibits and key passages in the lawsuit redacted on the grounds that the contents contain confidential information.

After the AP article on location tracking came out two years ago, Google made changes to its privacy settings to make it easier for users to conceal their movements. But the revisions didn’t deter Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich from opening an

investigation that culminated in his suing Google three months ago. The complaint accuses Google of engaging in deceptive business practices that duped Arizona consumers, and could potentially result in billions of dollars of penalties if Brnovich prevails.

“The recently unsealed documents reveal statements from Google’s own engineers that are in conflict with what the company has been representing to the public,” Brnovich said in a Wednesday statement.

Google is seeking to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the Arizona law only applies to goods and services that charge consumers. That would exclude free services that draw upon the tracking tools that are at the heart of the lawsuit.

The company also contends that Brnovich, a Republican, may have been prodded to pursue the investigation by Oracle, which has been involved in a long-running legal battle over the rights to some of the software code used in Google’s Android software for smartphones and other mobile devices.

“Privacy controls have long been built into our services and our teams work continuously to discuss and improve them,” Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said Wednesday. “In the case of location information, we’ve heard feedback, and have worked hard to improve our privacy controls.” ■

Messaging app promotes self-care THE Covid-19 pandemic has not only affected public health, but it has also greatly impacted everyone’s mental well-being. Fears about a new disease and how it can affect you and your loved ones can be overwhelming, while months-long quarantine can make you feel lonely and increase your anxieties.

Taking care of your emotional and mental state should be a top priority, as this can affect how you perform daily and even how you make choices during an emergency.

A few changes can lead to big differences, and since communication is key for important connections and information, why not start with your messaging app?

Communications giant Rakuten Viber has a number of features and surprises that help keep the stress and the blues at bay. Talking with family and friends prove to be an instant stress-reliever, but since you can’t meet in person, keeping in touch has become virtual through chat messages and video calls. To help you express yourself more accurately in your daily conversations, Viber is making some of its popular paid sticker packs free for download until September 10.

You wouldn’t want to miss this limited offer as the app’s got stickers for every situation.

Say exactly what you want in your family group chat with The Family sticker pack. If you’re miles apart from your partner, make them feel your enduring love with Long Distance Love. Taking your relationship to another level?

Make your wedding more memorable with Freddie & Eve Get Married stickers. Keep your friends closer and chat with your barkada with The Girls and The Guys. Or add some out-of-this-world fun to your messages with Gen Z-approved stickers Pizza Forever and Quirky Galaxy.

Getting blow-by-blow updates on Covid-19 can get disheartening, so it’s perfectly OK to hit pause or even tune out. You can take control of the information you consume and choose when to read your news using Viber’s new Explore

/

VIBER features a new explore tab to keep you updated on the latest news and trends.

tab. This new feature includes information on the pandemic— from the top stories from verified online news sites, to a banner that redirects you to KIRA Kontra Covid bot by the Department of Health. You can also find links to lifestyle and entertainment bots, communities and websites through Viber’s Explore feature.

With everything that’s happening and with quarantine orders still in place, it’s easy to feel powerless even if you want to help others out. With a click of a button, Viber empowers you to be a bright spot to others, too. The messaging app has partnered with Help From Home, an information hub for those who want to donate to frontliners and families at risk.

It connects people at home to institutions that are running fundraising drives for their beneficiaries. To donate through

Viber, just start a chat with the ViberPH bot and tap the Donate button.

The platform is also making it possible for you to send your personal gratitude to the frontliners. You can show them your appreciation by sending a video message through the app’s Thank You Frontliners bot. It’s a small gesture that will go a long way in uplifting the spirits of today’s heroes.

Indeed, these are hard times, but this is also the very reason why it’s much more important to do what you can for the sake of your mental health and well-being. Those steps can include exchanging stickers with loved ones, tuning out the noise, or, if you can, passing on some good vibes to others. What matters most is you look after yourself, so you can better cope with the uncertainties and fulfill the roles you have to play despite the crisis.

A10 Saturday, September 5, 2020 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Chinese govt complicates TikTok sale ordered by US govt NEW YORK—The Chinese government is complicating the US-government-ordered sale of US TikTok assets.

China on Friday introduced export restrictions on artificial-intelligence technology, seemingly including the type that TikTok uses to choose which videos to spool up to its users. That means TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, would have to obtain a license to export any restricted technologies to a foreign company.

The Trump administration has threatened to ban TikTok by mid-September and ordered

ByteDance to sell its US business, claiming nationalsecurity risks due to that Chinese ownership. The government worries about user data being funneled to Chinese authorities. TikTok denies it is a nationalsecurity risk and is suing to stop the administration from the threatened ban.

Prospective buyers for US TikTok assets include Microsoft and Walmart and, reportedly, Oracle.

Oracle has declined to comment.

On Saturday, Chinese state-owned media outlet Xinhua News Agency quoted government trade adviser and professor Cui Fan, who said that

Bytedance should consider whether it should halt negotiations to sell TikTok in the US. “As with any cross-border transaction, we will follow the applicable laws, which in this case include those of the US and China,” said ByteDance General Counsel Erich Andersen.

The Chinese government’s new restrictions may be a “tactic to drive up valuation” of TikTok, said RBC Capital Markets analyst Alex Zukin, who still expects a deal announcement “relatively soon.” The Wall Street Journal reported last week that ByteDance is asking for $30 billion for the US operations, but

has faced resistance from bidders. The Journal said in a Sunday story that deal talks had “slowed.”

Microsoft and Walmart declined to comment on Monday.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, during a White House briefing, did not directly answer whether the administration would accept a sale of US assets of TikTok if the deal were subject to Chinese government approval.

“Negotiations are ongoing on a sale of TikTok so we are not going to get in the way of those negotiations,” she said. AP

Twitter launches dedicated search prompt for disaster preparedness in PHL

BY RODERICK L. ABAD Contributor

Apple preparing 75 million 5G iPhones alongside new watches and iPad

BY DEBBY WU AND MARK GURMAN Bloomberg News

A

PPLE Inc. has asked suppliers to build at least 75 million 5G iPhones for later this year, roughly in line with last year’s launch, in a sign that demand for the company’s most important product is holding up in the midst of the global pandemic and recession.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant anticipates shipments of these next-generation iPhones may reach as high as 80 million units in 2020, according to people familiar with the situation.

Apple plans to launch four new models in October with fifth-generation wireless speeds, a different design and a wider choice of screen sizes, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing unannounced products.

Among a comprehensive product refresh in the fall, Apple is also preparing a new iPad Air with an edge-to-edge iPad Pro-like screen, two new Apple Watch versions and its first over-ear headphones outside the Beats brand. A smaller HomePod speaker is in the works, too. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Suppliers to the Silicon Valley giant rose on Tuesday. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and LG Display Co. closed 2 percent up, lens supplier Largan Precision Co. climbed 4.1 percent and headphones assembler Goertek Inc. gained 2.1 percent. Apple rose 2 percent at 10:07 am in New York.

Apple and its manufacturing partners always ramp up production ahead of the rollout of new iPhones each fall. In the summer of 2019, suppliers were preparing to make components for as many as 75 million handsets. The target in 2018 was similar,

so this year’s goal of 75 million to 80 million units is a bullish sign. Key iPhone assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., also known as Foxconn, has put up several notices on WeChat over the past month recruiting workers for its main iPhone campus in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou.

While the Covid-19 outbreak has hammered the global economy and disrupted supply chains, Apple is seeing strong demand for iPhones, iPads and Mac computers from people working and studying remotely. Revenue from iPhones crushed Wall Street expectations in the most recent quarter. The device still generates almost half of Apple’s sales, and that often tops 60 percent in the holiday season. Apple shares have soared 76 percent this year, making it the first US company to surpass $2 trillion in market value.

The four new phones will be split into two basic and two high-end models for the first time, and all will feature OLED displays with improved color and clarity. The two regular iPhones will come in a new 5.4-inch size and a 6.1-inch option, while the Pro devices will offer a choice of a 6.1-inch or an enlarged 6.7-inch display, which will be the largest Apple’s ever put in an iPhone.

All of the new smartphones will have updated designs with squared edges similar to the iPad Pro, and the high-end phones will continue to use stainless steel edges versus aluminum sides on the cheaper variants. The company is also planning a dark blue color option on the Pro models to replace the Midnight Green of 2019’s iPhone 11 Pro line.

At least the larger of the Pro phones will have the same LIDAR camera as on the latest iPad Pro, which allows augmented-reality apps to have a greater understanding of their surrounding environment.

Among the most significant improvements of the new handsets will be the new A14 processor, upgrading speed and power efficiency.

Some Apple employees testing the new devices think that the new 6.7-inch screen is one of this year’s most notable improvements, the people familiar with the situation said. A few testers have also found that some of the current 5G networks are not improving connection speeds much, the people added.

Apple plans to ship the lower-end phones sooner than the Pro devices, according to people familiar with the staggered release strategy. During a recent conference call, Apple said the new iPhones would ship a “few weeks” later than last year’s models, which started shipping September 20. This year’s rollout is on course to be the latest since the release of the iPhone X in November 2017. The design of this year’s iPhones and many features were finished before Covid-19 spread, but the pandemic did create issues for final testing and delayed the start of production by several weeks. While the new iPhones won’t ship until later, Apple’s iOS 14 software will arrive in September, the people said.

The new Apple Watch lineup will include a successor to the Apple Watch Series 5 and a replacement for the Series 3 that will compete with lower-cost fitness devices such as those from Fitbit Inc. The smaller HomePod will help Apple renew its push into the smart home at a lower price, albeit with fewer speakers inside the device than the current $299 model. While the first HomePod was praised for its audio quality, consumers have panned its limited Siri functionality and price. Earlier this year, Apple merged some of the Apple TV and HomePod engineering teams as it looks to renew its focus on home devices. ■

TWITTER has launched a dedicated search prompt to help netizens stay updated with real-time information from authoritative sources around disaster relief and preparedness efforts in the Philippines. In an expansion of Twitter’s Search Prompt, which was intended for the public to find clear, credible information on disaster preparedness and emergencies, Twitter has tied up with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council or NDRRMC (@NDRRMC_OpCen), the Philippine Red Cross (@philredcross), as well as other government agencies, nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and media.

The search prompt is to amplify vital information and promote relief efforts either during or after disasters or emergencies with the goal to refer users to credible and reputable government agencies, NGOs and media that bring the latest information crisis response and disaster emergency.

It is available on iOS, Android, and on mobile. twitter.com in Philippines, and in both Tagalog and English languages. Whenever a user looks for certain keywords related to disaster relief, a prompt will direct them to the relevant information and sources of help available on Twitter.

The Twitter team will regularly review the feature to make sure that all related keywords generate the proactive search prompt.

Some of the search keyword examples are “SagipKalamidad,” “baha,” “kalamidad,” “disaster,” “floods,” “earthquake,” etc. Also, the search prompt will point to a Twitter list of state agencies, NGOs and media working toward disaster response and relief nationwide, as well as media sources reporting the latest news on natural crises in the country. Those looking for help can follow the list and easily identify and establish contact with credible authorities.

“At its core, Twitter is a real-time and modern version of a town square. These characteristics make Twitter a uniquely useful place for timely communication, and more so when a disaster strikes.

Relief teams have time and again turned to Twitter to connect with people on the ground to share realtime information on the provision of aid, rescue operations and emergency resources,” said Monrawee Ampolpittayanant, head of public policy and philanthropy, Thailand and the Philippines, Twitter.

With the launch of this initiative, she said that they are committed more to partner with citizens, civil society and governments tasked to provide emergency support. “The dedicated search prompt will ensure there is uninterrupted access to relevant and authoritative information, such as important updates on critical transit and utility outages, and establish direct access between the affected areas and rescue teams,” she stressed.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Saturday, September 5, 2020 A11

Business unusual: Cyber threats amid the pandemic I

FIRST heard about Zoom at a Logitech Rally event I attended last year. Back then, I never thought much about it, as I only used Facebook Messenger for video calls.

Who would have thought that just a few months after that event, everyone would be “Zooming” because of the pandemic. Even Zoom Chief Executive Eric Yuan admitted that the app was built primarily for enterprise customers and they did not design the product with the foresight that every person in the world would suddenly be working, studying and socializing from home.

People are “Zooming” everything and not only meetings but also reunions, weddings, parties, fitness workouts, worship services, and even concerts. Hands down, Zoom meetings has got to be the biggest trend of 2020. True enough, when it comes to its growth rate, the video conference company has more than lived up to its name.

BC (Before Covid-19), Zoom had about 10 million daily users but by April, those numbers reached 300 million users and those numbers will likely increase now that everyone is working or studying from home.

But when you’re dealing with millions of users, there will always be people who are going to crash someone’s party. They are called Zoom Bombers, people who hijack Zoom meetings (sometimes for fun and harmless pranks, playing funny noises or some country’s national anthem), but there are also those who can really disrupt and even cancel meetings by sharing disturbing photos or videos.

Zoom is one of those rare businesses that has thrived during this pandemic, while the rest have had to take on a survival mentality to keep their businesses alive.

For many years, business owners and leaders already knew digital transformation was essential but Covid-19 has made that transition an urgent necessity.

Lockdowns have meant that businesses have to run remotely, and people have to do their work from home.

The sudden transition has also left many businesses vulnerable to cyberattacks, and Zoom bombings are just among the threats businesses have to deal with. With predominantly remote workforces operating on unsecured home networks, corporate security teams are struggling to gain control of rapidly expanding attack surfaces.

According to a report from security company IntSights, the most prevalent Covid-19 cyber threats include phishing web sites and e-mails, fake coronavirus mobile apps, malware, ransomware, fraud and disinformation.

IntSights, the threat intelligence company focused on enabling enterprises to “Defend Forward,” announced its commitment to advance its business strategy and growth in Asia-Pacific. Fueled by the burgeoning demand for cyber threat intelligence, IntSights plans to further expand its partner network,

operations and support capabilities to extend the company’s External Threat Protection (ETP) Suite to enterprises across the region.

Remote workers are easy targets right now. Within the last few months, thousands of office employees have been forced to work from home. With little preparation and very little cybersecurity awareness, companies are scrambling to provide employees with devices, remote tools, and video conferencing applications.

Many organizations are simply resorting to allowing employees to use their home computers and cell phones to conduct work unencrypted and unsecured. This situation has expanded the threat surface exponentially, and “threat actors” are looking to target the most popular platforms: e-mail, messaging, video, VPNs and home networks.

A Cyber Threat Actor (CTA)—compared to a hacker or attacker—does not necessarily have any technical skill sets. They are a person or organization with malicious intent and a mission to compromise an organization’s security or data. This could be anything from physical destruction to simply copying sensitive information.

With the current work-from-home setups, it is essential to make sure they operate in a secure environment. Threat actors are looking to take advantage of the remote workforce, knowing some people will make mistakes, such as not using provided security tools; performing physical and logical bridging of networks; using home computers for work; using corporate credentials for private business; and using vulnerable software.

IntSights has been monitoring the registration of domains that include the words “corona” and “covid”.

While some of these domains were registered for legitimate uses, others now host phishing attacks. In 2019, only 190 domains using the words “coron” and “covid” were registered.

In January 2020 alone, that number was over 1,400, and during February it soared to over 5,000 before topping at 38,000 in March.

In its report “The Cyber Threat Impact of Covid-19 to Global Business,” the firm said threat actors all over the world are exploiting people’s fears around the virus in order to make money. One ransomware letter tells the victim that not only did they encrypt all of their data, but they can also “infect your whole family with the coronavirus.” These types of fear tactics work on a vulnerable population of people during a frightening pandemic.

This is similar to psychological tactics used in sextortion scams, in which hackers tell the victim they have has access to the victim’s camera or photos with evidence of wrongdoing, and threatening to expose the victim’s “sins” to family and friends if the ransom is not paid.

There has also been a surge in Covid-19-related products, scam templates, and hoaxes on deep and dark web markets. The sellers seek to exploit public fear by offering products that could allegedly serve as virus tests or vaccines. In all likelihood, however, these “products” are in no way real, and buyers would be scammed out of their money.

The report noted one particularly desperate offering, claiming to offer blood and saliva from a coronavirus survivor. In theory, this blood and saliva could be immune to the virus, having developed the antibodies to fight it off.

People around the world are desperate to find out how many coronavirus cases there are, and how

severe the threat is in their regions. Cybercriminals wasted no time exploiting this fear, creating a plethora of fake mobile apps claiming to provide such data. IntSights monitors multiple online app stores for fake apps, and while some of the fake apps that have been created are benign, others have malicious capabilities.

While phishing and malware attacks have been around for a long time, what has significantly changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic is how employees communicate and access data. There is a significant increase in the usage of online meeting platforms, and the cybercriminals are paying attention. A quick look at IntSights’ Vulnerability Risk Analyzer (VRA) shows that cybercriminals are discussing different online platform vulnerabilities and exploits.

Information about Covid-19 is pouring into the Internet from every country and from various outlets, including governments, press, social media, healthcare professionals, and cybercriminals. As with any crisis, war, or other opportunity, threat actors are using the virus to create panic, confusion and distrust. Criminals have found ways to exploit human ignorance about coronavirus detection, testing and treatment by selling various products and services that claim to help or heal people. Social media is teeming with hoaxes, myths and conspiracy theories about where the virus originated, who is to blame for its global spread, how it spreads in the population,

and how it can be detected.

Based out of its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore with a presence in Hong Kong and Japan, IntSights’ regional business is anchored by a growing team of experts from sales and pre-sales to systems engineering, channels and customer success. The company scales customer acquisition through its extensive network of channel partners including global system integrators, managed security service providers, distributors and resellers.

“As enterprises in Asia-Pacific expand their digital footprint to engage with their audience, they are increasingly aware of the need to stem vulnerabilities from cyber threats originating from the external environment,” said Michael Tan, regional sales director of Asia, IntSights.

“With our further expansion, we strive to maximize collaboration with partners and equip more organizations with actionable threat intelligence that will empower them to proactively identify, guard against and take down threats.”

IntSights’ global customers span multiple sectors including the government, e-commerce, healthcare and finance. In Asia-Pacific, the company counts a leading global insurer, top e-commerce companies, and some of the largest telecommunications providers and banks in Southeast Asia among its new logos.

Next week we’ll share some tips on how you can protect your online identity. ■

PESO gets POC nod, now official National Sports Association for esports in the PHL THE Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has accredited the Philippine Esports Organization (PESO) as an associate member, making it the official Nationals Sports Association (NSA) for esports in the country.

In a landmark decision by the POC, the mother organization of all NSAs, PESO’s recognition as an associate member makes it the official governing body for Philippine esports. Among its tasks would include organizing events, promulgation of rules of the sport, promotion and growth of the sport via grassroots programs and other activities, and the recruitment of national players and coaches.

Aside from having fulfilled all the requirements

of the POC for applicant NSAs, PESO’s approval was built on its long-standing experience in esports, having conducted National Qualifiers to the World Championships since 2012.

PESO also has World Anti-Doping Agencyapproved anti-doping protocols, as mandated by the International Esports Federation (IESF).

PESO has been a member in good standing under the IESF since 2012.

The IESF is the only esports organization in the world that fulfills all criteria set by the Global Association of International Sports Federations.

Founded in 2008, IESF is the oldest and largest esports organization in the world, counting 75

members from all continents. The IESF has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Asian Esports Federation, World Esports Consortium, and the International University Sports Federation. Of IESF’s 75 members, 36 are already accepted by their respective National Olympic Committees.

“I entrust PESO on their endeavors of uplifting the Philippines through esports globally,” said POC Chairman Stephen Hontiveros in a statement. “And I congratulate them on being an associate member of the Philippine Olympic Committee!”

Brian Lim, PESO president, said: “We are grateful to the POC in their recognition of PESO and esports.

This would help us bring in more support to our fellow Filipinos who are competing globally and bringing glory to the Philippines.”

Jane Jimenez Basas, SVP and head of Consumer Wireless Business at Smart, had this to say about PESO’s accreditation by the POC: “We thank the POC for recognizing PESO as an Associate Member.

Our goal is to continue leading the way to bring glory to Philippine esports. After supporting Team Sibol in the 2019 SEA Games, Smart reaffirms its commitment to the esports industry by looking for the next members of Team Sibol who will represent the Philippines in the IESF World Championships.”

More information is available at esports.com.ph.

Sports BusinessMirror

A12 Saturday, September 5, 2020 | mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Editor: Jun Lomibao

Lutsenko claims 1st Tour de France victory in Stage 6

M

ONT AIGOUAL, France—On paper at least, Stage 6 of the Tour de France looked interesting, with a steep ascent toward the end that the 117-year-old race was scaling for the first time and which seemed like it might tempt top contenders to test each other out on the rugged, narrow mountain road.

But the Tour’s top riders turned the mountain into a molehill, ruining race organizers’ best-laid plans.

Instead of seeing a reckoning between the favorites, the Tour saw Kazakh rider Alexey Lutsenko surge alone up the previously unclimbed Lusette pass on Thursday to earn his first stage victory in his fifth Tour de France.

Adam Yates of Britain kept the overall race lead, as he and other contenders for victory in Paris stayed bunched together as a group, waiting for bigger mountains that come later in the threeweek Tour, starting this weekend in the Pyrenees.

While they kept tabs on each other, the 27-year-old Lutsenko profited.

He was part of an initial group of eight lowerplaced riders that broke away early from the main pack in search of the stage victory on the 191-kilometer (119-mile) route that sped southwest from the start town of Le Teil in southern France.

For the first time in Tour history, the stage finished atop the Mont Aigoual, a 1,560-meter (5,118-foot) peak with commanding views of southern France and an observatory opened in 1894 to study its changeable weather.

The last kilometers were a rolling uphill past pines and pasture to the finish. The relative ease of that final approach dissuaded top contenders from attacking each other on the steep Lusette pass that preceded it, because they knew rivals would be able to catch them back up toward the top.

“It was too far to try something,” said French rider Thibaut Pinot, who is 12th overall, in a group of top contenders trailing Yates by 13 seconds.

But not too far for Lutsenko to make his move.

He had scouted out the climb in advance of the stage. He used his knowledge in shaking off his breakaway companions on the 12-kilometer slog with an average gradient of 7 percent and rhythm-snapping sections rising by more than 10 percent and with not much room to maneuver on the rough tarmac.

“I gave my upmost in the steepest section,” he said. “In my head, I was convinced I was going to make it.”

Riding for the Astana team, he started the stage in 37th place overall, nearly six minutes behind Yates. Since he and the other breakaway riders were not a threat for the yellow jersey, Yates and other top riders were content to let them race off ahead. They did so at a furious pace, covering 52 kilometers in the first hour of racing to build their gap.

The overall contenders were still far behind when Lutsenko crossed the line.

There were no changes at the top of the standings. Yellow-jersey wearer Yates is still three seconds ahead of Primoz Roglic from Slovenia. Another Slovene, Tadej Pogacar, is third, seven seconds behind Yates.

“All in all a good day,” Yates said.

Yates was wearing the iconic yellow jersey for the first time Thursday. He inherited it from Julian Alaphilippe on Wednesday after the French rider was handed a time penalty that stripped him of the race lead. Alaphilippe broke racing rules by taking a drinks bottle near the end of Stage 5, a violation for which he was docked 20 seconds, putting Yates in yellow. Yates is the ninth Briton to wear the famed jersey since the first, Tom Simpson, wore it for a day in 1962.

But Alaphilippe showed that he still has fight by sprinting ahead of other top riders as they rode in together in a group at the top of Mont Aigoual, clawing back one of the seconds he lost. The top contenders’ bunch crossed the line 2 minutes, 53 seconds behind Lutsenko. AP

KAZAKH Alexey Lutsenko profits as the big guns prefer to ride in a bunch. AP

GUIAO

ANDY MURRAY: I need to build up my body and my conditioning. AP

YOUNG CANADIAN ENDS MURRAY RUN

By Howard Fendrich The Associated Press

N

EW YORK—There would be no valiant comeback from a two-set deficit for Andy Murray this time.

His weary body—and the Canadian kid on the other side of the net—simply wouldn’t allow it.

Murray, the three-time Grand Slam champion still working his way back from a pair of hip operations, was beaten in the second round of the US Open by Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, on Thursday night.

“I need to build up my body and my conditioning,” Murray said.

The 15th-seeded Auger-Aliassime dominated throughout, compiling a 52-9 edge in total winners, including 24 aces, and taking 41 of the 46 points when he put his first serve in play.

Perhaps even more notably, AugerAliassime never faced so much as a single break point against Murray, one of the game’s great returners.

This was just too much to ask of Murray, a 33-year-old with a metal hip who two days earlier toiled for four hours and 39

minutes while building his 10th career comeback from two sets down to beat Yoshihito Nishioka, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Auger-Aliassime sat in his player suite for part of that match and was aware Thursday he shouldn’t feel too confident despite holding a big lead.

“In the back of your mind, you know you’re facing Andy Murray,” Auger-Aliassime said. “You never know what tricks he’s got in his pocket.”

That was Murray’s first Grand Slam match in nearly 20 months. He thought his problematic hip would force him to retire in 2019 but he made it back to the tour.

“The more tournaments you play, the more matches you play, the more you build up the robustness in your body, which I don’t really have,” Murray said. “Look, definitely tenniswise, could be better, as well. I feel like I played some good stuff at times, but it was quite up and down.”

Murray is a former No. 1-ranked player whose resume also includes two Wimbledon championships and two Olympic singles gold medals.

Auger-Aliassime, who turned 20 last month, is considered one of the up-and-coming future stars of men’s tennis.

He recalled being at Flushing Meadows in 2011 and attending a match of Murray’s back then.

“Life is funny,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It’s crazy that nine years later, I’m here and playing him.”

Auger-Aliassime joins No. 12 seed Denis Shapovalov and unseeded Vasek Pospisil to

give Canada three men in the third round of any Grand Slam tournament for the first time, according to the ATP. Auger-Aliassime’s next opponent will be No. 23 Dan Evans of Britain or Corentin Moutet of France; their match was suspended in the third set because of rain Thursday night and will resume Friday.

SERENA ‘RELIEVED’ TO ADVANCE

YES, Serena Williams won in straight sets again. And yes, she moved into an all-American showdown at the US Open against Sloane Stephens. Still, this victory did not quite go according to plan.

Her serve only so-so at times, her footwork a bit off, Williams got by and got through Thursday night against an opponent ranked just 117th, beating Margarita Gasparyan, 6-2, 6-4, and letting out a cry of “Yes!” at the end that reverberated in a nearly empty Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It sounded more like relief than excitement.

“The only thing that gets me flustered is really me, like, because I always feel like I’m not winning every point. I mean, like, that doesn’t make sense,” said Williams, who has won six of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles at Flushing Meadows and was the runner-up the past two years.

“I just think with the pressure and everything that I felt like I just needed to be perfect. I always feel like I’m not perfect unless I’m perfect,” she said. “That’s not a fun way to live your career and live your life.”

Williams, whose older sister, Venus, was one

of the few people in the stands, said whatever blips came Thursday “could help me know what not to do next time.”

That’ll be Saturday against Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion.

It is their seventh matchup; Williams leads 5-1, including victories in the past four meetings, but they last played at the 2015 French Open. Stephens’ lone head-to-head victory came all the way back at the 2013 Australian Open.

This caliber of contest certainly doesn’t feel as if it belongs in merely the third round at a Slam, but that’s the luck of the draw this time.

“I’m playing such a good player so early,” Williams said, “so I have to bring what I can even more.”

What will also be odd: the quiet.

All spectators were banned from Flushing Meadows this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I know if there were fans it would be so lit, and I’m kind of sad that we’re not playing in front of fans, because it would be so fun,” said the 26th-seeded Stephens, who advanced by defeating Olga Govortsova, 6-2, 6-2. “The atmosphere won’t be as big, but obviously a big opportunity to play against the greatest player in the world. So, yeah, unfortunate but still fortunate.”

Williams turns 39 this month and expended a lot of energy lately. All five matches she played from the resumption of the tour after its Covid-19 hiatus to the start of the US Open went three sets; her record was 3-2.

Anunoby’s 3-pointer saves day for Raptors

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AKE BUENA VISTA, Florida—The Toronto Raptors were a half-second away from falling into the abyss that no National Basketball Association team has ever escaped. Down by two points, down by two games, the reigning champions needed a miracle.

OG Anunoby delivered.

Anunoby caught a cross-court pass that Kyle Lowry threaded over everybody else on the floor and hit a 3-pointer as time expired, giving the Raptors a 104-103 win over the Boston Celtics in Game Three of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Thursday night.

The Celtics still lead the series 2-1. But it’s not 3-0—and that means the Raptors still have realistic hope. The Raptors mobbed Anunoby after the shot, reveling in the moment.

“Someone hit me in the nose,” Anunoby said. “It’s cool.”

The Celtics took a two-point lead when Kemba Walker found Daniel Theis for a dunk with a halfsecond left.

No team in NBA history has rallied from a 3-0 series deficit.

The Raptors won’t have to try it now; Lowry elected to audible and throw the long pass—threading it over Boston’s 7-foot-5 Tacko Fall, who was put in specifically to disrupt the inbounds play—to Anunoby.

“The pass was nothing,” Lowry said.

“OG made the shot. All the credit goes to the shot, man. That’s a tough shot. Give OG that credit. The pass was just to get it to a guy like OG. It’s OG’s moment, man.

That’s a great moment for that kid.”

Lowry played virtually the whole way, finishing with 31 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Fred VanVleet

scored 25 points, Pascal Siakam had 16 and Anunoby 12.

Walker scored 29 points for Boston, which lost for the first time in seven playoff games. Jaylen Brown had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Jayson Tatum finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Celtics.

“It hurts and stings to lose,” Celtics Coach Brad Stevens said. “But we’ll just get back to it and get ready for Saturday.”

Marc Gasol made a layup with 5:57 left for a four-point lead; the Celtics responded with the next eight points, going up 99-95 on a dunk by Brown with 3:02 remaining.

Lowry got a pair of layups, both drawing Toronto within two.

The Raptors had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead in the final half-minute, VanVleet getting an acrobatic layup to drop with 21.5 seconds left and knotting it at 101.

Theis’ score put Toronto on the brink.

Anunoby rescued the champs.

“Much credit to those guys,” Walker said. “That was a hell of a shot.”

Toronto was clawing uphill most of the night. The Raptors were outscored 19-10 to close the half, a run that gave Boston a 5747 lead at the break. Walker had 17 points in the first quarter, capping that period with a 3-pointer—and did it again to end the second to give Boston what was its biggest lead.

CLIPPERS WIN GAME 1 KAWHI LEONARD scored 29 points and the Los Angeles Clippers rolled past the Denver Nuggets, 120-97, also on Thursday night in Game One of the Western Conference semifinals.

Paul George scored 19 points and Marcus Morris added 18 for the Clippers.

Los Angeles shot 57 percent from the field in an effort that convinced Coach Doc Rivers that his team has adjusted and is in the proper frame of mind.

“If you don’t execute, it’s going to hurt you, and part of that is intensity and focus, and you have to have that on every single play,” Rivers said. “I don’t think we understood that early on. I think we do now.” AP

WHY NOT CLARK AS PBA ‘BUBBLE?’ T

HE Clark Freeport Zone looms as the strongest candidate venue for the planned “bubble” for the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) to resume its 45th season that was shuttered by the Covid-19 pandemic in March.

“Three things: first, we have the rooms—the accommodation by hotels in Clark that can entail 12 teams. So that’s about 400 to 500 people,” NLEX Road Warriors Coach Yeng Guiao said recently.

Clark is a premier business hub and a preferred tourist destination that is home to top-grade hotels that could potentially accommodate all 12 teams of the PBA. The top hotels include Marriott Hotel, Widus Hotel and Casino, Royce Hotel, Midori Hotel, among others. It is also host to the best golf courses in the country where players could enjoy the fairways in between games and practices.

“Second, Clark is gated. It is self-contained so safety and health protocols can be easily implemented there,” Guiao added.

According to Guiao, the accessibility of Clark is also a huge factor.

“Third is proximity. It’s close to Manila and other places as well. In case one of the players has a family emergency, they can easily get out of the bubble so it’s a factor,” Guiao said.

Guiao, however, said the decision to determine the “bubble” lies on the PBA board of governors and Commissioner Willie Marcial.

The PBA is also looking at Subic, Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, El Nido in Palawan, the Smart Araneta Coliseum and even Dubai as possible venues for the “bubble.”

PBA out-of-town games in Pampanga are usually held at Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.

Guiao pushed for Clark as a venue of the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games last December.

“We already saw it last year. Some games happened in Clark. Again, for the same reason, because it is conveniently located, there are plenty of open spaces, we have the facilities— first-class hotels, we have the expertise— people who are highly educated and know how to handle such sporting events and we also have a lot of sports fans there,” he said.

The PBA intends to pattern its “bubble” with the National Basketball Association (NBA) model, wherein all players from every team, including staff, officials and other people involved, will stay in a “bubble.”

Johnson chalks up 2-shot lead, another crack at FedEx Cup

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THE Raptors’ OG Anunoby releases the game-winning shot at the buzzer over the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown. AP

TLANTA—Dustin Johnson is the No. 1 seed and starts with a two-shot lead at the Tour Championship, not nearly enough to tempt him into looking too far ahead at a FedEx Cup title that already has slipped away from him once before.

“It’s not like I’ve got a two-shot lead going into the final round,” Johnson said, who speaks from experience of once losing a six-shot lead in the final round of a World Golf Championship.

“I’m still going to have to play some really good golf for four days if I want to be a FedEx Cup champion.”

And then there are players like Billy Horschel and Mackenzie Hughes, who will be 10 shots behind Johnson before they even hit their opening drives at East Lake. They have to play their absolute best golf and get some help.

“I know I’m going to have to do something special,” Horschel said.

The strangest season in golf—no tournaments for three months because of the Covid-19 pandemic, only one major championship in the last 14 months—ends on Labor Day with the second year of a format that gives players a head start depending on how they played up to this point.

Johnson, also the No. 1 player in the world, starts at 10-under par and is two shots ahead of Jon Rahm, who beat him last week at Olympia Fields with a 65-foot birdie putt.

Rory McIlroy won last year from the No. 5 seed, meaning he started five behind. He posted an actual score of 13-under 267 and still needed the top two seeds—Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay—to falter. McIlroy was 10 shots better than Thomas, 22 shots better than Cantlay. That did the trick. AP