Manila Standard - 2020 July 13 - Monday

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’No to home quarantine’

Cabinet exec pushes victims' isolation in govt facilities, hard lockdowns

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HE government is discouraging home-based quarantine for those who test positive for COVID-19 and will push for swift and longer localized lockdowns in communities that have been hit, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Sunday.

Nograles, co-chairman of the InterAgency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), said the government will shift its focus to state-run quarantine facilities to ensure that disease transmission is controlled.

“We are now discouraging… home quarantine. It should be a facility-based quarantine,” he said in an interview over radio dzBB. Nograles said the risk was greater that persons in the same household would contract the disease even if the person who tested positive self-isolates at home.

Even asymptomatic persons who test positive will be quarantined in state-run facilities, he said.

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VOL. XXXIV • NO. 139• 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

LOCAL ROUNDUP

Health relaxes rules on burials of virus fatalities

By Willie Casas and Rio N. Araja THE remains of COVID-19 fatalities can now be buried in cemeteries provided proper measures are in place, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Saturday.

In an interview on Dobol B sa News TV, Vergeire said the sanitation code requires that those who have died from any infectious disease must be cremated within 12 hours. Next page

SUPERHEROES. State-owned Philippine Postal Corporation marks the bravery and sacrifices of Filipino frontline workers with a special stamp issue, featuring them as superheroes fighting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The commemorative stamps will be made available starting today July 13, 2020, PhilPost says.

WORLD ROUNDUP

Virus cases rise globally in July

Senator questions use of shields in pillion riding after the ride?" asked Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto.

In a press statement, Recto questioned "WHAT’S the use of a barrier when the requirement—set by the Inter-Agency couples hold hands in going to the mo- Task Force (IATF) presumably to prevent torcycle, and kiss each other goodbye the spread of COVID-19--that couples

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Benjamin Chavez

wanting to ride pillion must install a virus shield between them, saying this would be as effective as installing a concrete road divider on the matrimonial bed.

"Isn’t the protection offered them by

A TOTAL of 10,369 Filipinos stranded abroad were sent back to the Philippines last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Sunday.

“This brings the total number of DFA-repatriated [Filipinos] to 78,809 since the government began its COVID-19 repatriation efforts in February 2020,” the department in a statement.

The agency said around 47.16 percent of the total or 37,166 were seabased and 52.84 percent or 41,643 were land-based.

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AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM JULY 11)

54,222

1,387 NEW

TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

918

1,372

12

14,037

807

DEATHS

RECOVERIES

FRESH

NEW

NEW

3 of 4 Filipinos want ABS-CBN to reopen—poll

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By Rey E. Requejo

COVID-19 PH

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THE coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 565,000 people out of nearly 13 million registered cases worldwide, has been accelerating sharply since the start of July, according to a count carried out by AFP from official sources.

The three biggest daily worldwide increases in new cases were seen on Saturday (more than 230,000), Friday (more than 225,000) and Thursday (nearly 220,000).

Since July 1, nearly 2.5 million new cases have been officially declared, a record level since the outbreak was first reported in China in December.

The United States (3,247,782 cases), Brazil (1,839,850), India (849,553), Russia (727,162) and Peru (322,710) account for more than half of the global total.Worldwide, a total of at least 12,736,737 infections, including 565,151 deaths, have been recorded.

More Filipinos exit from Saudi amid pandemic

NOTE: AS OF 10:30 P.M. SUNDAY, THE DOH HAS NOT UPDATED ITS COVID-19 TRACKER.

JUST CHECKING. Motorcycle rider (left) flashes his identification card to prove that he and his back rider are a married couple at a police checkpoint. The inter-agency task force on emerging infectious disease requires that pillion riding or “riding in tandem' is allowed only for married couple to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Jr Josue

Thieves rob art exhibit at will

THE Tokyo art exhibit opened to enthusiastic visitors, but many of those circulating weren't just there to soak in some culture—they were casing the joint for a mid midnight raid.

Hours after the gallery closed for the night, a crowd had gathered ready to pounce on the artworks.

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A SOCIAL Weather Stations survey found that three out of four Filipinos, or 75 percent of those polled, favored renewing ABS-CBN's franchise, and over half of those polled considered a nonrenewal a major blow to press freedom.

SWS announced the results of its survey even as Rep. Rufus Rodriquez said ABS-CBN could file an appeal after its franchise bid was denied.

Voting 70-11 last Friday, the House Next page

Fashion-food ensures health protocols IN ONE Montreal restaurant, patrons are getting a fashionfood two-for-one: Mannequins placed at tables not only ensure social distancing but also sport pur chic outfits that can be purchased to benefit charity.

With Quebec province at the forefront of Canada's coronavirus pandemic, Next page

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News

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020

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New drug spurs oil price hike O World oil prices went up last week amid optimism that a new drug, Remdesivir, formulated by Gilead Sciences Inc., showed an improvement in clinical recovery and a 62-percent reduction in the risk of mortality.

Gilead Sciences is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that develops and supplies innovative medicines in the areas of unmet medical need.

However, the increasing number of COVID-19 cases remains a cause for concern, as it will continue to affect

global oil demand.

Last week, the oil firms implemented a price rollback of P0.65 per liter of gasoline and P0.40 per liter of kerosene, ending eight weeks of consecutive oil price increases. The oil firms did not adjust diesel prices last week.

The total year-to-date adjustments now stand at a net decrease of P5.62 per liter of gasoline, P8.84 per liter of diesel and P13.39 per liter of kerosene, according to the Energy Department.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is also enhancing its contact tracing efforts by hiring more contact tracers.

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año encouraged those suspect that they've been in contact with a possible COVID-19 patient to come forward and subject themselves to testing.

As of Saturday, the Philippines had 54,222 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 14,037 recoveries and 1,372 deaths.

Nograles said shifting Metro Manila to the least restrictive modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) would be possible on July 16 as long as localized lockdowns are imposed immediately.

He said a shift to MGCQ will be one of the two options that will be proposed by the IATF to President Rodrigo Duterte.

The second option, he said, is to retain the general community quarantine (GCQ) in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Should the President decide to place Metro Manila under MGCQ, Nograles said he will expect local chief executives to quickly implement localized lockdowns in a affected barangays for at least 14 days.

He said members of the IATF-EID will be meeting on Monday (July 13) to discuss possible changes to the current quarantine classifications.

On June 30, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said he wanted NCR and Calabarzon to shift to MGCQ to revive the economy since the two regions make up 67 percent of the country's economy.

Dominguez also pushed for localized lockdowns where only barangays with a jump in the number of COVID-19 cases will be closed instead of an entire region or city.

He said a company-based lockdown could also be considered.

Metro Manila, Benguet, Cavite, Rizal, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Ormoc,

Leyte, Southern Leyte, and Cebu’s Talisay City, Minglanilla, and Consolacion are under GCQ until July 15. The rest of the country is under MGCQ while only Cebu City remains under the most restrictive enhanced community quarantine.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Dobol B sa News TV, Metro Manila Development Authority general manager Jojo Garcia said mayors will intensify enforcement of COVID-19 health protocols and impose stiffer penalties on those who would violate them.

Also on Sunday, Senator Richard J. Gordon called on the government to come up with a comprehensive plan on how to quell or at least control the spread of the virus, which he said could be present for another four years, even if a vaccine is available.

But even if the pandemic stretches out for years, the country should have a plan and policies to combat it, Gordon said.

Macon Ramos-Araneta

kits can now be sold to the public through drug stores.

"I stand corrected. Rapid antibody tests CANNOT be bought in the pharmacies as it cannot be self-administered. Only facilities with the guidance of a doctor can provide the tests," she said.

Napolcom lockdown extended THE lockdown at the Department of the Interior and Local GovernmentNational Police Commission (DILGNapolcom) Center in Quezon City has been extended for another week.

In a statement on Sunday, the NAPOLCOM said an employee of its central office tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.

“Therefore, the NAPOLCOM Office, located at EDSA corner Quezon Avenue, West Triangle, Quezon City will be closed to the public for another week from July 13 to July 17,” it said.

The extension of lockdown aims to minimize physical interaction and conduct contact-tracing activity, the Napolcom said.

Swab test urged for the stranded ILIGAN City Rep. Frederick Siao wants locally stranded individuals to go through a swab test for COVID-19 before they could be allowed to go back to their home provinces.

Interviewed over Dobol B sa News TV, Siao said “the government must foot the bill. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing is expensive. As far as I know, it ranges from P3,000 to P8,000 each, while the PCR test invented by the University of the Philippines scientists could cost from P2,700 to P3,000.

However, that is not yet made available.”

He said many local governments were still ill-equipped to deal with COVID-19 cases in their areas, saying the stranded individual must be tested negative for COVID-19 before they could travel back.

He said the PCR test is more accurate than the rapid test.

San Lazaro addresses overwork charge The management of the San Lazaro Hospital (SLH) in Manila on Sunday

answered the allegations of a group alleging the nurses at the hospital are overworked and underpaid with lack of protection from COVID-19.

“We acknowledged with utmost importance the dedication of our nursing staff all through the years of facing several outbreaks and epidemics,” a statement from the hospital read.

The hospital said it is normal to feel physical, emotional and mental exhaustion during a pandemic that has been going on for almost six months. To address this, it said, management agreed on the work schedule arrangement proposed and recommended by supervisors and staff of the nursing division that allows for fewer days of work in a week and more rest days.

It also said psychosocial and debriefing sessions are regularly conducted by its psychiatrist to address the mental and emotional concerns of the staff.

The hospital also said there was no shortage of PPEs and N95 masks, which are always closely monitored.

Alan Peter Cayetano’s call for “moving forward” after the denial of ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal was a “pretense.”

“After leading the assault on press freedom by ensuring the partisan rejection of ABS-CBN’s bid for a franchise renewal, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano cannot escape culpability by merely intoning that the protagonists and the nation must ‘move forward’,” Lagman said.

The University of Santo Tomas and the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication on Saturday threw their support behind ABS-CBN, and a day after the House of Representatives denied the network's franchise renewal application.

SWS' National Mobile Phone Survey, taken from July 3 to 6 as the House of Representatives debated the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise but before the July 10 vote by the committee on legislative franchises, also found that 13 percent disagreed with a franchise renewal while 10 percent were undecided.

Geographically, the proportion of those who called on Congress to renew ABSCBN’s franchise was highest in Mindanao

at 80 percent, followed by the Visayas at 77 percent, Balance Luzon at 74 percent and Metro Manila at 69 percent.

The proportion of those who favored ABS-CBN was higher in the rural areas at 81 percent against 70 percent than in the urban areas.

Meanwhile, 56 percent of those polled said a non-renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise would be a major blow to press freedom, while 27 percent said it would have no effect on press freedom. Fifteen percent were undecided.

The proportion of those who considered Congress’ non-renewal of ABSCBN’s franchise as a major blow to press freedom was highest in the Visayas at 59 percent, followed by Mindanao at 57 percent, Balance Luzon at 55 percent and Metro Manila at 52 percent.

The majorities in both rural and urban areas, 57 percent and 55 percent, respectively, considered a non-renewal as a blow to press freedom.

SWS’ National Mobile Phone Survey was a probability-based survey that used mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviews of 1,555 adult Filipinos nationwide.

Thieves...

East, which is home to over two million Filipinos,” the department said.

This past week, the department said, it helped in the repatriation of 6,681 Filipinos from the Middle East: nine flights from the UAE, seven flights from Saudi Arabia, three flights from Qatar, two from Bahrain and one from Kuwait.

The department said it also facilitated the return of 1,628 stranded Filipinos from the Asia-Pacific region, particularly from Hong Kong, the Maldives,

Myanmar, South Korea and Sri Lanka.

“The return of our stranded seafarers from Europe also continues as the [department] facilitated the repatriation of 1,204 sea-based workers who arrived from Italy, The Netherlands, Norway and Turkey,” the agency said.

“Finally, the [department] mounted five chartered flights this week using its Assistance-to-Nationals fund, which brought home 1,323 Filipinos from Japan, Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia,” it added.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

IL prices will likely go up this week, and by as much as P0.70 per liter, amid the optimism on a new treatment for the coronavirus disease, a supplier said Sunday.

“Expect fuel prices to go up next gasoline should increase by P0.50 to week (July 14 to 20). Diesel should in- P0.70 per liter,” Unioil Philippines said crease by P0.30 to P0.40 per liter and in its weekend advisory.

’No...

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Nograles also said the government will push for a more swift and aggressive implementation of localized lockdowns nationwide.

In a recent meeting with mayors via Zoom, he emphasized the need to impose lockdowns for at least 14 days, not just two to five days.

“A lockdown should be at least 14 days,” he said.

The incubation period for COVID-19 is on average five to six days, however, it can go up to 14 days, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

As the world continues to grapple with COVID-19, Nograles also reiterated the importance of observing minimum health and safety standards such as physical distancing, wearing of face masks, and frequent hand washing.

Local...

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However, the limited number of crematoriums—which can process up to eight bodies a day—means this requirement cannot be met.

In view of this, burials will be allowed she said, with certain conditions.

The bag in which the bodies are contained must be double-sealed and the casket too, must be sealed. Once buried the remains may not be exhumed.

Sales of rapid tests not allowed Correcting its own earlier statement, the Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday said the selling of rapid antibody test kits in drug stores, even those approved by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is still prohibited as the tests cannot be self-administered.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire corrected herself after she said at the Laging Handa public briefing earlier in the day that FDA-approved rapid test

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committee on legislative franchises denied the country's largest broadcasting firm a fresh license to operate, a move seen by some sectors as a curtailment of press freedom and a decision that put in jeopardy the livelihood of some 11,000 workers.

Rodriguez, who authored one of ABSCBN’s franchise bills, says the network can refute the drafting group's findings on the issues surrounding its previous franchise.

"As a private bill, as an applicant to Congress, as a private corporation, then, it [the network] has all the right to be able to ask for a motion for reconsideration," Rodriguez told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

Senator Richard Gordon described as a "curtailment of press freedom" the denial of ABS-CBN’s 25-year franchise.

Senator Nancy Binay said she shared the hurt and heartbreak in every Filipino home and the tears of more than 11,000 workers who were denied hope.

Rep. Edcel Lagman said Speaker

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The most recent repatriates were brought home from France, The Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Vietnam, and they arrived on Friday.

“The [department] continues to facilitate more flights from the Middle

Fashion-...

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businesses have been reopening cautiously.

Le Monarque, a fashionable restaurant in Old Montreal, reopened its doors just a few days ago – but not without putting some creative safety measures in place first.

"We wanted to give customers more space," chef and owner Jeremie Bastien told AFP. "But we didn't want to remove tables or put up Plexiglas panels."

So when Le Monarque fired up its ovens a few days ago, it took several steps to ensure social distancing.

The idea of filling some seats with mannequins, thus providing separation between human clients, came from the team behind the Sarah Pacini clothing line, including prominent

Quebec menswear designer Philippe Dubuc.

"We wanted to make a stylish, high-end installation because we are bringing two worlds together, those of fashion and gastronomy," said Dubuc, adding, "I think these two worlds have always been close."

The restaurant's 29 mannequins all sport Sarah Pacini and Philippe Dubuc designs. They are meant to be "visually beautiful," both inspired by and fitting in with their elegant surroundings.

"We are there, of course, to create and market our clothing," Dubuc said. "But we are also there because our job is to make people dream."

Nassim Habashi, who was enjoying lunch at Le Monarque, approved, saying, "I think it's a wonderful idea both to mark the separation between tables and to make the atmosphere much more pleasant, given the current situation."

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The police station was nearby, but officers only intervened for crowd control, because all the pieces at the Stealable Art Exhibition were up for grabs.

The event was intended as "an experiment" to alter the relationship between artists and visitors, organiser Tota Hasegawa told AFP. It was originally conceived as a lowkey event that might attract some covert thievery, but word spread so fast on social media that a crowd of nearly 200 people packed the streets near the gallery hoping for a chance to grab a prize.

Would-be robbers were told they could raid the gallery from midnight, but the crowd was so big that the theft started half an hour earlier, and the exhibition that had been billed as running for up to 10 days was emptied of art in less than 10 minutes.

Yusuke Hasada, 26, was a rare winner, gripping a crumpled 10,000 yen ($93) banknote in a frame, which was part of the "My Money" installation by Gabin Ito. He arrived an hour before midnight only to see a crowd had already formed.

Since there was no apparent queue, he maneuvered himself into a spot right in front of the gallery.

"The moment the staff said they should open early due to the big crowd, people rushed in from behind me. I was in the front, and I almost fell over," he told AFP. "It was scary."

Hasada said he plans to hang the work, among those on display supplied by 10 contemporary artists, in his home.

But not everyone stealing the items appeared to have the same idea, with several artworks appearing on online auction sites within hours with price tags as high as 100,000 yen.

Even after the exhibit was emptied out, would-be thieves continued arriving, forcing a nearby police station to dispatch officers for crowd control.

"You are blocking traffic!" officers shouted.

Yuka Yamauchi, a 35-year-old systems engineer, showed up 15 minutes before midnight but was too late. AFP

Senator...

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the motorcycle barrier during the day cancelled by their intimacy at night?"

Recto asked.

He also said that such an untested modification to the motorcycle could compromise its roadworthiness and the safety of the driver and the passenger.

"Please don’t get me wrong, I do commend well-meaning initiatives to get breadwinners who ride pillion on motorbikes on the road again, but such should get the green light from science,” he said.

Recto said experts could be asked if couples that sleep together at night without masks can safely ride a motorcycle together with masks and helmets on.

Meanwhile, the operation of the MRT3 resumes Monday, July 13, on a limited capacity after management was able to assemble enough employees who are not infected by COVID-19.

The urban train line shut down July 7 after 281 of its depot and station personnel and employees of its maintenance provider and subcontractors tested positive for COVID-19.

The infected workers are no in isolation at a government quarantine facility.

On July 11, 1,093 MRT-3 depot personnel and 1,010 station personnel tested negative for COVID-19, exceeding the 1,308 number of workers required to resume train operations on a limited basis.

On Monday, the MRT-3 will be dispatching 12 train sets. The first will be dispatched at 5:30 a.m. from the North Avenue station to the Taft Avenue station.

Contact tracing will strictly be implemented with passengers being required to fill up health declaration forms before boarding.

Following IATF guidelines, all depot and station personnel are required to wear full personal protective equipment (PPE), including face masks, face shields, gowns and gloves.

The MRT-3 also ramped up its health and safety measures by implementing the “5-minute disinfection hustle” on its trains every half loop (at the end stations at the North Ave. Station and Taft Station).

The MRT-3 Bus Augmentation Program will continue to deploy 90 buses with a fixed three-minute dispatching interval. It will return to normal operating hours, with the first bus departing at 5:30 a.m. and the last bus at 8:00 p.m. from both the North Avenue and Taft Avenue stations.

In addition, 190 buses are being deployed under the EDSA Busway Service to carry passengers between Monumento and the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITx). A mini loop will also run between Timog Avenue. and Ortigas to serve passengers.

Shuttle services and mini buses running in the mini loop will be allowed to pick up and drop off passengers at the curbside.

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Back clean energy post-pandemic —UN Governments should exit coal, stop subsidizing other fossil fuels, and pressure polluting industries to clean up their act in exchange for bailing them out, the UN Secretary-General told an International Energy Agency conference by video link.

"Today I would like to urge all leaders to choose the clean energy route for three vital reasons – health, science and economics. We need to stop wasting money on fossil fuel subsidies and place a price on carbon," Guterres said, adding that "coal has no place in COVID-19 recovery plans."

"Bailout support to sectors such as industry, aviation and shipping should be conditioned on alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement," he said, referring to the 2015 treaty that commits signatories to capping global warming at 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

Governments across the world have pledged unprecedented sums to support their economies to cope with the fallout from COVID-19, with many politicians and NGOs calling for green policies to become an integral part of the spending plans.

The European Parliament, for example, has urged EU governments to put "the green deal at the core" of their proposed 750-billion-euro recovery plan.

Virus hits Indonesian military academy Nearly 1,300 people at a military academy in Indonesia have tested positive for the coronavirus, an official said, as the country struggles to contain the epidemic.

The Indonesian Army Officer Candidate School in the country's most populated province of West Java has been quarantined and 30 people were initially hospitalized with mild symptoms, the army's chief of staff, General Andika Perkasa, said late Saturday.

AFP

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MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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IN BRIEF Boost anti-cybercrime capabilities, DOJ urges cops ‘Prioritize transition to e-governance’ TO usher in a ‘better normal,” Senator Bong Go on Sunday urged government agencies to prioritize transition to e-governance for more efficient and responsive delivery of service.

Aside from supporting calls of his fellow lawmakers to ensure access to fast and reliable internet for all Filipinos, he called on the Department of Information and Communications Technology and other concerned agencies to prioritize developing e-governance systems and transform the conduct of government processes.

He said this would make the government more efficient, accessible, and responsive to the changing times.

During these times, Go said we should learn all these online transitions±from e-governance, e-commerce and also online learning.

“It is Important that our country should not be left behind when it comes to transition to the digital age,” Go said. Macon Ramos-Araneta

By Rey E. Requejo THE Department of Justice has urged all law enforcement agencies in the country to modernize its capabilities to fight crimes being committed in cyberspace which have become prevalent during the community quarantine arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

This came after authorities noted a significant spike in the commission of cyberspace-related crimes during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that the spike in cyber-related crimes is expected considering the nonface-to-face mode of communication during the pandemic.

“It is expected that during these pandemic times, where direct personal interactions are reduced, more crimes will be committed in cyberspace. it is therefore imperative that law enforcement agencies beef up their cybercrime units, upgrade their technologies, and enhance their investigative capabilities,”

Guevarra said.

In a recent webinar series entitled, “Cybercrime in the Time of Corona: PH Cybercrime Trends During the COVID-19 Pandemic” hosted by the DOJ-Office of Cybercrime, it was reported by authorities that phishing has emerged as the top crime being committed in cyberspace during the pandemic.

National Bureau of Investigation NBI-Cyber Crimes Division Senior Agent Francis Señora, one of the guest

speakers in the webinar, disclosed that there was a more than 200 percent increase in the phishing cases reported to the agency.

“Before the COVID-19 outbreak we only had around 30 cases but during the start, three weeks of the outbreak we had an additional 70 cases so that is a jump of more than 200 percent. Why? Because there is a necessity to use computers to do our communication, to do our job.

Hence, this is one of the opportunities for attack…,” Señora said.

Militants face charges for ‘mauling’ cop AUTHORITIES have threatened to file criminal charges against leaders of causeoriented groups who supposedly mauled and robbed a police officer while maintaining peace and order during an “illegal” demonstration at the Commission on Human Rights compound in Barangay UPDiliman, Quezon City.

Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo, Quezon City Police District chief, said he has ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit to sue Bryan Gonzales, allegedly a Karapatan leader from Maaralin Street, UPDiliman; Kara Levina Taggaoa, a League of Filipino Student leader, also from UPDiliman; Larry Balbuena, a Pasada-Piston leader from 63 Narra St, Project.3, and other leaders from Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Sanka, Lumad, Save our School Network and Kabataan party-list.

“They were responsible for robbing and mauling Chief Master Sgt. Feliciano Evangelio, 46, from the District Special Operations Unit in Camp Karingal,” he said in a statement. Rio N. Araja

MORE TESTING. The Manila City government has bought three COVID-19 testing machines capable of 5,600 tests a week each or 16,800 combined. Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko’ Domagoso says healthcare workers will be the first ones to be tested.

P10-B set for Manila housing

By Willie Casas

Establish medical reserve corps—lawmaker

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HE Manila City government will allot a budget of about P10 billion for more housing projects in the nation’s capital and medical equipment for the Ospital ng Maynila.

CAMARINES Sur Rep. Luis Ray Villafuerte is pushing for the passage of a measure to establish a medical reserve corps in a bid to beef up front liners amid times of health crisis, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

He filed House Bill No. 7007, which states that all graduates with degrees in medicine, nursing and other related fields who have not yet secured their licenses to practice must be required to join a medical reserve corps.

Under the bill, the medical reserve corps may be called upon and mobilized to assist the national and local governments in their functions related to addressing the urgent needs of the country’s health-care system during times of crises.

The Camarines Sur lawmaker said the lack of medical personnel during the initial stages of the country’s fight against COVID19has underscored the urgency of establishing a medical reserve corps to ensure that the health-care system is not overwhelmed during emergencies. Rio N. Araja

Innovate learning, schools told WITH a little creativity and innovation, schools can ensure that students’ learning may not be reduced or disrupted during this uncharted situation created by the deadly COVID-19 virus through some changes they can implement effectively.

Among these include rescheduling of the academic calendar, a transition to online learning, and work-from-home schemes for employees.

The country’s premiere learning provider and pioneer in distance and online learning, has been spreading information and other materials to schools to help them cope with the impact of the crisis on their students, teachers, stakeholders, and more so business continuity.

One of their partner-resource speakers, lawyer Joseph Noel Estrada, author of the Education Act and a managing partner of the Estrada & Aquino Law Office, enumerates five aspects that schools should consider changing if they are to remain agile, and emerge successfully from the crisis.

Currently, most basic education programs end in March or April, while the higher education academic year usually ends July or August depending on their date of opening the previous year. Estrada said schools’ academic calendars should be agile and adjustable enough to make up for the cancellations during the quarantine period. Schools should likewise be allowed to postpone their graduation ceremonies at the appropriate time in compliance with government regulations on COVID-19. “Venues, especially government properties, should waive cancellation fees to schools who moved their schedule due to COVID-19.”

Schools can now also look into using different modes of delivery of education. These may include e-learning, the use of the Department of Education’s Open Education Resources that may be used offline, distance education, and other creative ways using online platforms to make sure students can catch up, even with meager resources, for this coming school year.

“The DepEd and Commission on Higher Education can perhaps relax the rules applicable for schools who can implement e-learning or blended learning to address the disruption of classes brought about by COVID-19.”

CHARRED IMAGE. Sto. Niño de Pandacan Parish Priest Reverend Fr. Sonny de Claro, seen between a charred Christ on the Cross and a replica of the image of Sto. Niño de Pandacan, officiated Sunday mass at the parking area outside the fire-ravaged church in Manila . Inset photo shows the extent of the damage brought about by the fire.

‘Electricity allowance’ sought for home-based workers

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Francis Tolentino Sunday said he will file today a Senate measure which recommends that employers give a monthly P1000 electricity allowance to their employees who are on work-fromhome status due to the pandemic.

In an interview over DZBB, Tolentino said companies should be able to give this (incentive) to their employees who are working from home.

“Hindi lang naman P1,000 siguro ang bayad. And that would also be deductible

from their business expenses. Yun, mababawas doon sa buwis na babayaran naman ng kompanya,” Tolentino said.

Under his proposal, Tolentino said employees who are working from home should be entitled to a P1,000 tax deduction for every month that they are working from home. He said this can be a deductible expense in the taxable income of these workers.

Aside from the P1,000 tax deduction per month, he also cited another formula that could be considered in providing this tax incentive.

Tolentino said that he devised a formula which he patterned from Australiato make this (the deduction from tax) P25 per hour He said Australia is now implementing a AU$50 per hour for those working from home.

“I computed the AU$50, it’s almost equivalent to P17 in our money,” he said.

“So if P17, it’s P136 for eight hours of work from home. But perhaps, you’re not working eight hours from home, it might be only four hours,” also said Tolentino.

In a statement Sunday, the Public Information Office of Manila said Mayor Francisco “Isko” Domagoso made the disclosure on Friday during a meeting with executives from Land Bank of the Philippines.

“Iyong mga squatter, mga walang bahay, and yung informal settlers, in line with our continuous effort, this city government will literally confront land ownership and property ownership,” Domagoso said.

“We want to put an end to it and create more housing, an honest to goodness new era of in-city vertical housing,” he added.

Domagoso said they have initially identified ten more sites for in-city vertical housing projects for informal settlers and Manila City Hall employees.

The plan to construct ten more housing projects is in line with the Domagoso’s “Land for the Landless” project and the “#BuildBuildManila” program.

“I don’t want to lose time. We’ve lost so much time already for the City of Manila,” Domagoso said.

Land Bank Vice President for Public Sector Esperanza Martinez said she expresses full support for the city government’s projects.

“Very, very supportive ang Land Bank, and continuous ang aming support to the city especially under the leadership of Mayor Isko Moreno,” Martinez said.

Aside from Esperanza, Land Bank officials present during the meeting were Account Manager Josephine Cabanela, Account Assistant Reygina Malinao and YMCA branch chief Josephine Lunizo.

New book honors PH heroes, war veterans

THE Philippines has many heroes—living and dead, recognized and unsung—who helped shape the country’s destiny and honoring them is the least the nation can do for them.

This is the essence that book publisher and author Melandrew T. Velasco underscored in the book Twilight Glory: A Tribute to Filipino Heroes and Veterans with Philippine Veterans Affairs Office Administrator Ernesto G. Carolina and former Congressional Committee on Veterans Affairs and Benefits Chairman now Lingayen Mayor Leopoldo N. Bataoil as coauthors. The book is co-published by the Ramos Peace and Development Foundation, the PVAO and Media Touchstone Ventures, Inc. A 320-page coffee table book, Twilight Glory: A Tribute to Filipino Heroes and Veterans tells the story of over 500 years of the Filipinos’ struggle for a free, independent and

sovereign nation. From the pockets of revolts in the early Spanish regime to the years of the Philippine Revolution in 1896; from the Philippine-American War to the attainment of Philippine independence from the U.S. in 1946 with World War II in between; from the post-World War II reconstruction and rehabilitation and to the Philippine participation in the Korean and Vietnam wars to ensure regional peace and security; and from the Martial era and to the rebuilding of the nation in post-EDSA People Power Revolution.

As a tribute book to heroes and veterans, it has a chapter on the national shrines, memorials and the government entity mandated to ensure the welfare of veterans, the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office.

The book also includes a chapter on the veterans’ fight for benefits and recognition

here and in the U.S. and another chapter on current challenges of the country: peace and order, foreign relations, natural calamities and the COVID 19-pandemic.

Twilight Glory was initially intended for book launch presentation on March 22, 2020 at the Fairmont Hotel to be part of the 92nd birthday celebration of former President Fidel V. Ramos.

He is among the country’s living heroes. He has witnessed and experienced the horrors of war; has participated in the Korean and Vietnam Wars; fought as a soldier in the AFP; and has served the country in another battlefield, as President of the Philippines. His Presidency ushered in a new era in the country’s history as he led the country to become one of the fastest growing economies in the region during his time. He is a hero both in times of war and peace. And he deserves to be honored in his twilight years, Velasco said.

LGUs

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor lgu@manilastandard.net editor.lgustandard@gmail.com

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020

Salceda: Bicol Airport done within 2020, Duterte vows DARAGA, Albay—The Duterte administration has committed to finish within this year the construction of the Bicol International Airport (BIA) here, considered among the big projects vital to the countr y’s post-pandemic recovery.

Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda said the commitment to finish the P4.8-billion BIA was made during the recent visit to the site by officials of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), after the project failed to meet yet another deadline, which was July 2020.

Salceda said the BIA, situated within his congressional district, is among the large projects needed to continuously roll out under the government’s “Build, Build, Build” Program to make the economy more stable, and in part to stave off the harsh impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.

The aviation industry has been among those hit hardest by the crippling effects of the pandemic, and BIA’s completion is set to give this sector a boost, Salceda added.

The DOTr said the BIA, a project initiated by Salceda, now stands at 66.61 percent accomplished.

Following years of sluggish implementation, the BIA construction resumed with vigor during Duterte’s administration, particularly its Landside Facilities (Project 2A). Runway Extension and the construction of the Passenger Terminal Building (Project 2B) commenced in 2017.

As of June 24, Package 2A of the airport was said to be about 81 percent complete. This covers the landside facilities, such as the Administration Building, Air Traffic Control Building, Crash Fire Rescue Building, and the Maintenance Building.

Its Package 2B, which covers the construction of the Passenger Terminal Building and the runway, is 34 percent complete.

IN BRIEF Angeles pushes urban gardening ANGELES CITY—Amid the COVID-19 crisis, Angeles City Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin has launched the “Luntian sa Barangay Lingap Project,” an initiative for food sustainability.

“We are encouraging local residents to use their vacant lots and conduct urban gardening,” he said.

The city government has distributed vegetable seeds such as pechay (cabbage), mustard, okra, and ampalaya to more than 150,000 households in Angeles.

“We have only 6,337 hectares or 20 percent of our total land area designated for agriculture. We aim the project will assist Angeles in getting additional food,” the mayor said.

Lazatin cited the Olalia family in Barangay Margot, who were able to cultivate a vegetable garden in their backyard from seeds provided by the city government.

“They now have extra source of food, and it teaches their young family members the value of growing plants,” he said.

The mayor also said businessman Joey Pamintuan turned the vacant lot beside his shop Impact Balibago Arts and Crafts in Brgy. Balibago into a garden from the seeds he received and is already harvesting.

Lazatin assured the city government will continue to secure the welfare of residents, with or without the pandemic. Butch Gunio

CSA offers online courses THE College of Saint Anthony (CSA) in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan will be opening its doors to its first batch of freshmen learners this academic year 2020-2021 via a fully online learning modality.

Courses include Multimedia Arts major in Graphic Design, Communication Arts major in New Media, Early Childhood Education, Special Needs Education major in Elementary Education, and Accountancy.

With its in-demand courses not only locally but also globally, its capable lineup of lecturers, and very reasonable rates, CSA hopes to be a leader in the area for quality tertiary education.

For particulars, visit its website at collegeofsaintanthony.com. You may also call at 8986-9375 and 0917-8385846 or email admissions@collegeofsaintanthony.com.

SHINING BRIGHT. The new Lipa City Community Park Amphitheater in Lipa City, Batangas, one of the Projects of Lipa Lone District Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto, shines under a starry night and its own lights. Residents may use the Amphitheater to watch programs and welcome people from neighboring towns who need a gathering place, Santos-Recto said. Benjamin Chavez

RTC bars PECO move to retain Iloilo assets

By Alena Mae S. Flores

T

HE Regional Trial Court of Iloilo City has denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Panay Electric Co. (PECO), the former power distributor of the city, regarding the expropriation of its assets.

RTC Branch 23 Judge Emerald Requina-Contreras issued an order dated July 2 rejecting PECO’s motion against the decision the court issued last April 16.

“The court in its order sought to be reconsidered already cited the reasons why the court cannot grant the omnibus motion to enforce the addendum and urgent ex parte motion to order the sheriff of the RTC Iloilo City to implement its

addendum,” the decision said.

The order said PECO no longer has a franchise to operate the distribution system and no Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to operate.

PECO’s franchise expired on January 19, 2019, while Congress granted a new franchise to MORE Power and Electric Corp. under Republic Act 11212, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on February 14, 2019.

ERC also granted the provisional CPCN to MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power).

“Defendant PECO should know this better as this has been what they have been invoking and the very reason why the court crafted the addendum,” the order said.

PECO wanted the court to enforce its addendum allowing the former distributor to retain control over the assets, with MORE Power personnel only observing.

However, the RTC decision was based on PECO still having a CPCN from the

ERC at that time.

The earlier RTC decision ordered the sheriff “to place MORE Power in possession” of PECO properties identified for expropriation such as the Baldoza-La Paz substation (land including all machineries and improvements, buildings), General Luna substation (machinery), Tabuc Suba, Jaro substation (land, machinery), Bolilao, Mandurriao substation (land, buildings, and machinery), and Avanceña Street, Molo substation (land, and buildings, machinery).

The assets were assessed to have a combined value of P217.9 million Other assets that were granted to MORE Power includes those directly used in the electric distribution services in Iloilo City, such as consumers’ electric meters, poles, transformers, transmission and distribution equipment composed of primary and secondary lines on the streets of Iloilo City, and service vehicles and equipment used directly in the distribution, maintenance and troubleshooting activities, among others.

EDC backs RT-PCR testing center in Ormoc THE city government of Ormoc in Leyte has sealed an agreement with Lopezowned geothermal energy leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC) and non-stock, non-profit OSPA Farmers Medical Center (FMC) for the creation of a molecular diagnostic center.

This will enable more timely reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing of COVID-19 swab samples from residents not only in Ormoc but from nearby provinces.

EDC donated the RT-PCR equipment worth about P25 million to Ormoc’s first

EDC DONATION. Ormoc City officials Vice Mayor Leo Carmelo Locsin Jr. (seated left) and Mayor Richard Gomez (seated center) sign the agreement for the creation of the Joint Molecular Diagnostic Center with OSPA-FMC vice president lawyer Roy Bernard Fiel (seated right) and officials of Energy Development Corp., who participated in the event through online conferencing.

COVID-19 testing facility that will be operated and maintained by OSPA-FMC, the most modern tertiary hospital in Leyte.

The agreement was signed by Ormoc City Mayor Richard I. Gomez and Vice Mayor Leo Carmelo Locsin Jr., OSPA– FMC vice president lawyer Roy Bernard Fiel, and EDC management led by president and chief operating officer Richard B. Tantoco.

Secretary Vivencio “Vince” B. Dizon, Deputy Chief Implementer of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases against COVID-19, witnessed the signing.

According to Gomez, the laboratory will greatly expedite the processing of COVID-19 swab samples, which previously required up to ten days.

“We can get our results in less than a day,” he said. “This project will bring good news to the beautiful people of Ormoc City. This is something we really need in this time of crisis.”

For its part, EDC reiterated its commitment to improve the lives of Ormocanons.

“We are very privileged to have an opportunity to address a clear gap for Ormoc City, the western part of Leyte, the province of Biliran, and Southern Leyte, that of having an RT-PCR testing center,” said Tantoco.

Role of HEIs, R&D priorities in food security during pandemics cited

By Brenda Jocson LOS BAÑOS, Laguna—The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) came up with a paper discussing the critical role of higher education institutions to undertake research and development initiatives that contribute to food security during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Authors Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, Searca director, and Dr. Rico C. Ancog, Operations Consultant for Emerging Innovation and Growth, also of Searca, said there is a needed transformative change in the agricultural food systems would stem right at the hallowed halls of the universities and colleges.

Titled “Food security amid the COVID-19 pandemic: research and development priorities for Higher Education Institutions in the Philippines and Southeast Asia” has been published in the Central Mindanao University Journal of Science Volume 23, Issue 2 on 2 July 2020.

A peer-reviewed multidisciplinary journal accredited by the Commission on Higher Education, the Journal publishes research outputs in the fields of natural sciences, mathematics, engineering, and social sciences from local, national, and international contributors.

In the paper, the authors noted the strategic position of HEIs to pursue projects and initiatives related to food security and their agility in designing their curricular and extension programs to produce professionals who can actively engage in achieving food security goals.

They explained that as agriculture remains a major engine of economic development in most Southeast Asian countries, HEIs are expected to up the ante in knowledge generation and scientific productivity.

To afford a systemic change in the agriculture sector, they said there is also a need to reorient the agricultural research themes and modalities already in place from a business perspective.

“A country like the Philippines needs an adequate cadre of researchers who appreciate the need to shorten the gap between research productivity and its translation to economic development,” Dr. Gregorio and Dr. Ancog said.

DOST ‘food defense’ webinar draws WMEs

By Jessica M. Bacud TUGUEGARAO CITY—In response to the increasing demand for food services amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Science and Technology Region 02 (DOST-RO2) recently conducted an online webinar on Food Fraud and Food Defense Prevention part 1 for Women Micro-Entrepreneurs (WMEs) in the region.

DOST-RO2 SRS II Aileen C. Gonzales, the resource speaker, underscored in her presentation “food defense,” or the effort to protect against and prevent intentional contamination of the food supply intended to cause wide-scale harm to public health.

“The firm must establish a food defense team that shall put in place appropriate control measures to reduce intentional threats to assure the protection of the food from intentional adulterations,” Gonzales said.

DOST-RO2 Director Sancho A. Mabborang, who was encouraged by the number of the participants in the webinar, said the situation with the COVID-19 crisis might be dif-

ficult, “but it is not hopeless.”

“What’s important is to survive, not just earn. I believe that your presence signifies your interest in recovering, and not to lose hope,” Mabborang said.

Dr. Teresita A. Tabaog, Assistant Regional Director for Technical Operation, said this webinar series dubbed “#DOSTRO2WEEmpower” was opened not just for WMEs under the DOSTRO2-PCW Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) project, but also to all MSMEs and other interested individuals across the country.

Tabaog, as the focal person of the Cagayan Valley Food Safety Team (CVFST), also introduced the Threat Assessment Critical Control Point (TACCP).

This is the systematic management of risk through the evaluation of threats, identification of vulnerabilities, and implementation of controls to materials and products. It includes purchasing, processes, premises, people, distribution networks and business systems by a knowledgeable and trusted team with the authority to implement changes in the procedures.

IMUS AIDS DASMA. Two of 116 victims of a recent fire in Dasmarinas City receive food packs from the Cavite 6th Congressional District Office, represented by Imus Councilors AJ Advincula and Tito Monzon, during the distribution Friday at Barangay Sampaloc 2, Dasmariñas City.

Opinion Bato and his visa SO I SEE LITO BANAYO I SHOULD have returned to the Philippines by this day. Originally, I was told the plane would land in Mactan, where after a PCR test at the international airport, I would proceed to my hotel of choice, there to await the results. If I tested negative, I would then be allowed to board another plane to Manila, where supposedly no further PCR test would be done, but with the caveat that I have to self-quarantine for I do not know how long.

I followed former DPWH Usec Karen Jimeno’s travails as she came home from two years of study in the US of A. Karen is probably the age of my daughters, and I am no spring chicken, even if I can still climb mountains on foot, as I did for the past two weekends.

The senator should not bank on what the US Embassy apparently told him.

But I had to abort my travel plans after seeing the number of Covid cases rise beyond my friend Harry Roque’s head in a matter of days after his “victory” cheer. As I write, last night’s case number rose to 54,222.

Better to be safe here in Taiwan, where mandatory face mask wearing has been lifted in open spaces, although still required in air-conditioned places where transmission possibilities are yet a danger. Both my family in the Philippines and my staff here in Taipei advised against a return at this time.

I have been in Taiwan four months straight, and there are matters I need personally attend to back home, but in these times, one’s health and peace of mind are paramount. *** President Duterte, himself a motorbike enthusiast and a daring rider, probably did not even know that his minions came up with a hare-brained pillion riding rule.

From what I read in the online news, only husbands and wives could ride in tandem, provided they wore the mandatory face mask protection. But they had to bring along a copy of their marriage certificate, in case they are stopped at some checkpoint.

That is a sure-fire violation of human rights. What the hell does government care whether couples riding in tandem are married or not, provided they wear face masks?

Do our government enforcers not know that in Metro Manila, most poor couples never bothered to get married, and just live together for decades without benefit of sacrament or legal civilities? And that such is not a crime?

On second thought, they allowed livein partners, even LGBT partners, provided they had proof they were living in the same household. Why such piecemeal decisions?

What thought process comes up with such rules?

WHEN I was younger and none the wiser, I used to simplistically draw an imaginary line separating two types of people in the political sphere: the allies and the antis. In my mind, the line that divided my black-and-white view where there are only winners and losers was definite and sacrosanct. In fact, for me, it was unthinkable, even reprehensible, to think of crossing that line.

For example, I was—and still am—a staunch believer in a consistent ethic of life.

My personal and political stand on divorce, marriage, euthanasia and abortion all reflect an underlying conviction that all life is sacred and marriage is an inviolable social institution. Not only was I strongly against the Reproductive Health Act, I actually believed it was impossible for me to work with people who believed otherwise – so much so that I declined an opportunity to be a youth advisor to an UN agency working on adolescent reproductive health. For me, it was a matter of personal integrity, strongly believing that I was right, and shamelessly concluding that those who disagreed with me were wrong.

Late last year, however, I started to work closely with non-government organizations whose advocacies on reproductive health issues ran counter to my own personal convictions. While it was difficult at first for me to put off my own biases, I was candid enough

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020

B1

EDITORIAL

How about a son bringing his father or mother, sister or brother, to the doctor—bawal din? And be at the mercy of some stupid traffic enforcer who thinks his power of discretion makes him the new king of the road? *** Catholic faith tells us that we are born with original sin. But our priests also tell us that the underlying reason for a priest-rendered baptismal ceremony is to erase the original sin, and render us spotless until we commit our mortal sins thereafter.

Such is the problem with the war against COVID. When the original sin is committed, such as not closing our borders to the source of the virus soonest, and not preparing the needed equipment, it becomes very, very difficult to fight the raging contagion. And this coronavirus strain is not only novel, it is an actively mutating, scheming and unpredictable enemy.

Those countries most notorious for their nonchalance, owing to mercurial, devil-maycare, perhaps slightly off-their-rocker leaders have condemned millions of their countrymen to the viral contagion. Why, the powerful US of A plus huge and resource-rich Brazil together have more than 40 percent of the world’s 12.5 million cases as I write this!

Which is why one really has to doff hat to Vietnam, which shares a 1,400-kilometer land border to the original country of the virus, China. They moved quickly, closed land and air borders, effectively isolated pockets of contagion, and their health system managed a zero mortality report card out of a miniscule 367 cases, despite a population of 96 million.

But then again, reviewing the history of their tough and conflict-hardened people, one is not too surprised. They fought the Chinese in border wars for a thousand years, fought and drove out the French colonialists, and defeated the most powerful armed forces run by the wealthiest country on earth, the US of A. Now they are the biggest beneficiaries of foreign direct investments in the Asean region from all over the world, including their historic adversaries. *** Senator Bato makes such a big fuss about his US visa, which was cancelled early this year and prompted the President to use as an excuse for cancelling the VFA, which he had planned to cancel all along. Senator Bato’s visa was just a mischievous take-off the President utilized for drama.

Now the US Embassy apparently told the senator to please re-apply for his visa, as they are re-considering earlier State Department and congressional prohibitions.

Don’t bank on it, Senator Bato.

A US Embassy-granted visa does not automatically allow you entry to the land of our former colonial masters. The Homeland Security people manning their airport gates can still disallow your entry despite your visa, never mind if you are a senator from the land of their “little brown brothers.”

Besides, as the social media activists warn rather nastily, you might get infected with the raging COVID, if you are allowed entry. And by the time it might be safer for your health to enter the US of A, Joe Biden will be president, and Trump in the dustbin.

Then the US Embassy and the State Department to which it answers, may not be too considerate anymore.

Allies and antis THE FIFTH GOSPEL JUDE ACIDRE

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

to respectfully ask them that we focus on issues that we agree on, and just leave to the side those on which we differed. Turned out, there were more issues that we were in agreement, much more than what we disagreed about, allowing me to discover a newfound respect for people that I would have once labelled as antis—those from the other side.

Democracy is not about us being right, and others being wrong.

Recent events in our country have reinforced this imaginary wall that divide our people into allies and antis—and the rhetoric between them is divisive, sharp and cruel.

So we ended up with the Duterte supporters and the anti-Duterte Yellows, those who supported the recently passed Anti-Terrorism Act and those who rejected it as an affront to our freedoms and liberties—and just last week, those who are in favor of the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise and those who support denying another lease on the media giant’s broadcast rights.

Each side believes itself to be right, and the other to be absolutely wrong, recklessly simplifying politics to a question of picking sides. Common sense and reason are among the first casualties, resulting in both sides’ stubborn inability to compromise and to resist trying to discredit the other.

Take for example the passage of the An-

Friendships and prerogatives I

N A Netflix documentary, political consultant and lobbyist Roger Stone extolled the value of disinformation. He described an experiment he did at elementary school, as a young boy, during the Richard Nixon-John Kennedy presidential race. Stone’s parents liked Kennedy, so Stone told everybody he could at the cafeteria that Nixon had proposed to make children go to school on Saturdays. Kennedy won the mock polls.

president’s Twitter feed, the White House denounced the ‘overzealous prosecutors’ who convicted Mr. Stone on ‘process-based charges’ stemming from the ‘witch hunts’ and ‘Russia hoax’ investigation,” the New York Times reported.

“Roger Stone has already suffered greatly,” the statement said. “He was treated very unfairly, as were many others in this case.

Roger Stone is now a free man!”

We see people who should know better than do things that are illogical and unjust, all for the sake of friendship.

That boy grew up to be a close associate of United States president Donald Trump. Last year, Stone was convicted of obstruction of justice, lying to Congress, and witness tampering in relation to a probe into Russian interference in the 2016 US elections—a gross undermining of the very foundations of their democracy. He also threatened a witness.

Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison, but on Friday Mr Trump announced that his longtime friend would serve no time at all.

“In a lengthy written statement punctuated by the sort of inflammatory language and angry grievances characteristic of the

As president, Trump does have the power to grant clemency. But that he blatantly used this power to favor Stone smacks of more than just cronyism. It is corruption, too, because Stone did not let on what he really knew—which could have damaged Trump—during the probe into Russia’s meddling with the polls. Stone was rewarded accordingly, said Jeffrey Toobin of The New Yorker.

The indignation about Trump’s gift to

Stone is such that the normally reserved, careful and apolitical Robert Mueller III, special counsel for the Justice Department who led the Russia probe, wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post denouncing the clemency.

Mueller emphasized that Stone remains a convicted felon, and listed what he had been found guilty of. “We made every decision in Stone’s case, as in all our cases, based solely on the facts and the law and in accordance with the rule of law. The women and men who conducted these investigations and prosecutions acted with the highest integrity. Claims to the contrary are false,” he said.

We can identify with the outrage over Trump’s exercise of his presidential discretion to favor his friend. It is not at all foreign to us—we see so many examples of friends and political allies of people in power getting favorable treatment by virtue of associations. We see people who should know better do things that are illogical and unjust, for the sake of their friendship with the powers-that-be and the supposed benefits they would derive from that connection.

But since those acts are their prerogative, they cannot really be held accountable for their actions. The only thing the people can do is to remember the names, remember the egregiousness of the act, and to vote these officials out of power the next time around.

Growing resistance to Beijing aggression decision which paves the way for "continued close security and defense cooperation with the Philippines."

If you recall, the arbitral victory which was applauded by the international community as a triumph in the rule of law was shelved by the current administration in an appeasement policy that set aside territorial integrity over promised economic concessions that up to now has not had any significant results especially for the government’s Build Build Build program.

OPEN THOUGHTS ORLANDO OXALES TENSIONS have reached new levels four years after the arbitral decision declared unlawful and without basis Beijing’s absurd “nine-dash line” territorial claim of 1.3 million square miles in the South China Sea (SCS). For several years, continuing buildup of military fortifications in several islands and the series of incursion incidents has created what geopolitical analysts warn as a deteriorating situation. It has been reported that Beijing will soon declare an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the South China Sea revealing the readiness of their facilities to enforce air traffic control over the SCS and a clear imposition of national authority.

This enables China to monitor and even rationalize any interception of all air traffic in the entire SCS. Military analysts point out that this move to gain control of the air is key in launching military operations. The implications are very serious as this threatens the air traffic and mercantile trade of the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.

In violation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, Beijing has again ignored an ASEAN commitment “to avoid activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability” when military exercises were conducted in the Paracel Islands.

In a re-pivot from a very pro-China policy, President Duterte instructed the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement, a key operational element of the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States, suspended.

The United States welcomed the Philippines ti-Terrorism Act. Those who disagreed with the measure believe that is a threat to our rights and freedom, notwithstanding the fact that the law itself is a product of our country’s constitutional process. In fact, the lower House simply adopted a version of the bill that already had broad support from the Senate, including from members of the opposition.

Paradoxically, democracy as we ideally believe it to be is far from how imperfect it has become as a way to govern society—and believing that for one political side to succeed, the other side has to fail is actually like pushing the system to its breaking point. If we were to persistently divide society into allies and antis, leaving no forgiveness for moderation and compromise, democracy itself is in danger of collapse, and a darker intolerant extremism may take its place.

The truth about people is that if five persons will at times find it difficult to agree on what to order for dinner—it will be impossible to get a nation of one hundred million to agree on abortion, divorce, death penalty— and even on timely issues such as the anti-terrorism measure and the renewal of the ABSCBN franchise.

This see-saw view of our society is exactly what has dragged our nation’s path to prog-

The Philippine government must complete its re-pivot.

As China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy proceeded with military drills in the Paracel islands, Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. issued an unexpected but fittingly strong warning, “Should the exercises spill over to Philippine territory then China is forewarned that it will be met with the severest response, diplomatic and whatever else is appropriate.” The Philippines also protested China’s naming of underwater features in the SCS and the creation of administrative districts with one claiming the Kalayaan Island Group in the Spratly islands.

A strong pushback statement against China was also delivered by the United States via a demonstration of military superiority with the conduct of dual carrier operations by the Nimitz Carrier Strike Force composed of the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Groups in the South China Sea. Each carrier is supported by over 60 aircraft and escorted guided-missile cruisers and destroyers. ress, when for every step forward, we had to push back one step, taking away collaboration and compromise out of the question, and replacing it with one complicated gridlock after gridlock. In the end, our democratic idealism begin to serve—no longer the people—but our own individual biases and ideological tendencies.

It would be best to be reminded that democracy is not about us being right, and others being wrong. In fact, a “government of laws, rather than of men” mean that our political institutions—such as Congress— are larger than those who for a time carry the burden, or enjoy the comforts of political office. That is why as citizens, it is our duty that no matter what, we must hold these institutions in trust, that instead of simply unfairly criticizing politicians for their political decisions, we must work to preserve and strengthen these institutions, so that despite the imperfections of today’s leaders, the next generation will know how to choose better. Too often do we forget that our political institutions will outlive our politicians, and that we cannot allow the worst of times to take away the better of us—and those who will come after us.

The US Navy stated that, "Nimitz and Reagan form the most effective and agile fighting force in the world, supporting US commitment to mutual defense agreements with regional allies and partners, and promoting peace and prosperity throughout the Indo-Pacific."

Washington has been increasing the pace of operations in the SCS with overflights

by US Air Force heavy bombers, Freedom of Navigations operations skimming Chinese occupied islands and joint naval operations with Singapore and Japan. US-China relations have been deteriorating since the global pandemic outbreak from Wuhan early this year.

The cabbage tactics of Beijing to push forward its expansionists agenda and the multiple incidents of incursion has been denounced by a growing number of nations which includes: Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, the United States, and India with its ongoing border skirmishes with China’s People’s Liberation Army.

The arbitral award that our own government hesitates to assert is now being used by other ASEAN countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia to assert maritime rights under the rule of law challenging China’s expansionist moves in the SCS. Our arbitral victory is a law that all nations must respect and has become the unifying foundation for a strategic alliance of like-minded nations who believe in the values of a rules-based international order that nurtures the interlinked development of prosperous economic systems.

The 2016 ruling of the International Court of Arbitration affirms the Philippine territorial rights and has become an example for other ASEAN nations. The Philippine government must complete its re-pivoting by asserting our national interests and help solidify ASEAN and the international community to resist Beijing’s aggression.

MORE OPINION ONLINE

(www.manilastandard.net) TO THE POINT

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MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Disney World reopens as US virus death toll surges

A girl, wearing a face mask as part of Disney World’s new health guidelines, waves at Daisy Duck during the reopening of the theme park that is known as “The Most Magical Place on Earth.” Disney World, located in the state of Florida which is one of the hardest-hit by a new wave of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States, was closed for almost four months since the pandemic started. (Screengrab from CNN)

DISNEY World is known as “The Most Magical Place on Earth” but as the Florida theme park reopened Saturday, it was counting on a bit of science—masks, social distancing, hand sanitizer—to stave off the coronavirus.

The state of Florida is one of the hardesthit by a new wave of cases and deaths in the United States, already the most affected country in the world in terms of infections and fatalities.

In Orlando, Disney World reopened two of its four parks—Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom—after four months of closure.

Epcot and Disney Hollywood Studios will open on Wednesday.

Several hundred people queued in the Florida heat ahead of the park’s reopening – some sporting Mickey ears but all wearing masks, part of the park’s new guidelines requiring them for both guests and employees.

Saturday’s visitors had reserved their tickets in advance, allowing Disney to control the number of people in the park and accommodate for social distancing. Tickets are already sold out through July.

The park was carrying out temperature checks at the entrance and hand sanitizer was widely available. Disney said it was enforcing social distancing of six feet at attractions and inside shops.

“By visiting Walt Disney World Resort you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19,” the park said on its website.

Gone are the park’s famous parades which allow mingling with Disney characters; also absent are the evening fireworks shows.

On social media, many criticized the park’s reopening as Florida experiences an accelerated number of cases. AFP

Mixed reaction on UK visa offer to HK

H

ONG Kong expatriates living in Britain have welcomed London’s pledge of “a pathway to future citizenship” for millions of the territory’s residents after China imposed a controversial security law there.

But they warned this “message of hope” would not help many, including those born after Hong Kong’s 1997 return to Chinese rule and now aged over 18 – people at the forefront of protests against Beijing.

“It is helpful – it sends a strong message of hope to Hong Kongers, many of whom are waiting to be rescued from their city,” a 35-year-old financial analyst living in London since 2005, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP. With relatives still in Hong Kong, he is very worried about their fate, especially those of university age.

“These guys won’t be helped directly by this but they are the ones who are more vulnerable – they stopped their university degrees to join the movement,” he added, referring to pro-democracy protests that erupted last year.

Beijing enacted the sweeping security law for the restless city of around 7.5 million people on June 30, banning acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

The move has sparked international condemnation.

The UK has said in response it will allow anyone with British National (Overseas) (BNO) status and their dependants – husbands, wives, civil partners and children under 18 years old – to come to Britain.

They will be able to remain and work for five years, compared to the current limit of six months, before being able to apply for citizenship.

More than 350,000 people currently have BNO passports, and the government estimates there are around 2.9 million eligible for the status in total in Hong Kong.

“This proposal will definitely help some of the people who fear for their life – at least they have somewhere safe to go,” said Abby Yau, 40, a naturalized British citizen after 19 years in the UK. “But at the same time I wonder how much it will benefit the majority of the people who are oppressed by the (Chinese) government.”

Britain Manila created the BNO status ahead of Standard Hong Kong’s 1997 handover, allowing its resiTODAY dents to apply for a form of British nationality and a BNO passport.

But it conferred no automatic right to citizenship, could only be applied for before the end of 1997 and cannot be passed on to future generations. AFP

Trump finally dons face mask

REPATRIATED REMAINS.

Members of the Armed Forces stand next to some of the more than 200 urns containing the ashes of Mexicans who died of COVID-19 in the United States, after the repatriation of their remains, during a ceremony at the presidential hangar in Mexico City, on July 11, 2020. AFP

Iron Dome inventor seeks virus ‘game-changer’ DANIEL Gold, who led the team that invented Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, has a history of safeguarding the country against what he identifies as existential threats.

With the nation facing surging coronavirus cases amid a pandemic that has triggered unprecedented economic hardship, Gold is trying to replicate his Iron Dome breakthrough in protecting Israel against the virus.

Gold, who heads Israel’s Defence Research and Development Director-

FORGET Beluga caviar, foie gras, root vegetable.

But that is not all. smoked salmon or ortolan, the tiny bird “I grow my own radishes in my garthat French gourmets put a napkin over their heads to eat so they can savor every den so I can eat them when I am drinking my champagne,” he told AFP. last second of their unique aroma.

“They haveYELLOW all the virtues.

They cost No, the food that goes best withCYAN the MAGENTA BLACK nothing and they don’t make you fat,” finest champagne is the humble radish.

The discovery was made by the cel- Depond added as he led an online chamebrated French chemist and wine expert pagne tasting, one of many which have Jacques Puisais, now 93, who has spent flourished since the coronavirus.

While champagne sales collapsed by the last half century unsparingly researching which food goes best with dif- as much as 80 percent during the lockdown—with none of the festive gathferent wines.

Didier Depond, the head of the vener- erings normally associated with the able Delamotte champagne house, is so drink—like other producers, Depond has convinced of the validity of Puisais’ sci- been staying in touch with his clients onence he has become an evangelist for the line. AFP

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

Poland votes in tight presidential election

(MStandard-July 13, 20 & 27, 2020)

EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT with WAIVER of RIGHTS

(MS-JULY 13/20/27, 2020)

forces launched Iraqi scud missiles towards Tel Aviv.

“Tel Aviv was empty” at the time, he said in an interview at Israel’s defense ministry. “I decided we had to do something.”

Gold said his motivation for designing Iron Dome was to “save lives” and “maintain the continuity of life in Israel.”

Even in times of crisis, with rockets raining down, he said he wanted people to “at least (be able) to go to work.” AFP

Humble radish goes best with champagne

NOTICE is hereby given that the estate of the late CESAR C. ACOSTA consisting of Bank deposits under BPI Current Account No. 3080-0395-46; BPI Account No. 3219-004442; RCBC Account No. 0000001273057761 and RCBC Account No. 0000009030516163 and the conjugal share of a parcel of land covered by TCT No. N-3307771 has been extra-judicially settled among the heirs before the Notary Public Atty. Vicente C. Cruz per Doc. No. 414; Page No. 83; Book No. VII; Series of 2020.

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late JESUS CHONG MARTINEZ has been extra-judicially settled among his heirs WITH WAIVER OF RIGHTS consisting of:  Personal Properties: • Bank of Commerce Checking Account No. 057-00-000059-2; • 170 Cumulative Convertible Stock in PLDT o SII-032816/0032563 (80 shares); o SIP-55952/0053210 (90 shares).  Real Properties: • TCT No. S-42863 (Parañaque City); • TCT No. S-42958 (Parañaque City).

As per Doc. No. 268; Page No. 55; Book No. LXIX; Series of 2019 before Notary Public ATTY. EDILBERTO F. PACINABAO.

ate and holds PhDs in electronic engineering and business management, has become a celebrated figure in the Jewish state.

Iron Dome faced widespread skepticism over its effectiveness before it was deployed in 2011, but it has since been credited with intercepting countless rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.

Gold told AFP that he first became convinced of Israel’s need for missile defense technology during the 199091 Gulf War, when Saddam Hussein’s

PRESIDENT Donald Trump finally yielded to pressure and wore a face mask in public for the first time on Saturday as the US posted another daily record for coronavirus cases.

White House experts leading the national fight against the contagion have recommended wearing face coverings in public to prevent transmission of the illness.

But Trump had repeatedly avoided wearing a mask, even after staffers at the White House tested positive for the virus and as more aides have taken to wearing them.

Hours after the World Health Organization urged countries to step up control measures to rein in the disease, Trump donned a dark mask bearing the presidential seal as he visited wounded military veterans at the Walter Reed military hospital in a suburb outside Washington.

“I’ve never been against masks but I do believe they have a time and a place,” he told reporters as he left the White House.

Trump is trailing Democrat Joe Biden in the polls ahead of a November election and surveys show most Americans are unhappy with how he has handled the public health crisis.

But the president has continued to praise his own response to the pandemic despite a cascade of figures showing the extent of the disease’s spread across the United States. AFP

FIRST MASS.

A policeman stands guard outside as Catholic devotees attend the first mass prayers since a partial lockdown due to the COVID-19 coronavirus at the Jakarta Cathedral on July 12, 2020. AFP

POLES began voting on Sunday in a knife-edge presidential election between a populist incumbent closely allied with US President Donald Trump and a europhile liberal who wants to restore ties with Brussels.

The result will be decisive for the future of Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party government, which critics accuse of rolling back hard-won democratic freedoms three decades after the fall of communism.

President Andrzej Duda, backed by the PiS, is facing a challenge from Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski of the opposition Civic Platform (PO) party and

the latest polls show an almost even split between the two.

“The Battle for Poland,” read a frontpage headline in the tabloid Super Express.

The liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza said the choice was between “hope and disaster” and would resonate for generations.

The vote had been due in May—at a time when Duda was riding high in the polls—but was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Duda’s support has slipped considerably since then, partly because of the virus fallout, which is pushing Poland into its first recession since communist rule. AFP

Business Survey: China likely booked growth in Q2 after virus hit BEIJING―China returned to growth in the second quarter after the coronavirus pandemic handed the world’s second largest economy its first contraction in decades, according to an AFP poll of analysts.

The survey of analysts from 11 institutions pegged China’s growth at 1.3 percent―a far cry from the 6.1-percent expansion posted last year but in better shape than other countries still grappling with the contagion.

The coronavirus, which first emerged in China’s industrial central province of Hubei late last year, has shut businesses worldwide and destroyed hundreds of millions of jobs.

But analysts forecast China will be the only major economy to experience positive growth this year―partly because it was first to be hit by COVID-19 and therefore first to recover.

China is expected to post 1.7-percent growth for the full year, according to the economists surveyed by AFP, compared with IMF forecasts of a global contraction.

Growth data for the April to June period will be published on Thursday.

The government essentially shut down the country for months to bring the virus under control, halting factory work, keeping workers at home and limiting travel.

But activity has resumed as China largely brought the epidemic under control and ended the lockdown of Hubei and its capital Wuhan in April.

Authorities were able to rein in an outbreak in Beijing last month with very limited restrictions.

Xu Xiaochun of Moody’s Analytics said mass testing and targeted lockdowns in the capital limited economic disruption, giving investors “quiet confidence that China stands ready to prevent a full-blown second wave of infections as the country continues to reopen.”

After the economy sank by 6.8 percent in the first three months of the year―the first contraction since China began logging quarterly data in the early 1990s―the government has turned its focus to stabilizing employment and ensuring living standards.

It raised its budget deficit target and set aside one trillion yuan ($140 billion) of government bonds for COVID-19 control, working to prop up businesses hit by the virus fallout.

Oxford Economics’ lead economist Tommy Wu expects China to continue recovering from the second quarter onwards “as it is no longer being held back by supply-side disruptions,” with factories back to life. AFP

ALVIN NEIL A. GUTIERREZ

Poor Q2 earnings weigh on stocks S

Green LiGht “HOW dare you?” were the words Scandinavian environmentalist Greta Thurnberg asked before the world leaders when she spoke at the United Nations Climate Action Summit on September 21, 2019.

It is a famous expression we are fond of saying whenever people we know would give us a remark that will raise eyebrows.

At the start of the ECQ, a “famous influencer” got flak from netizens when she was madly shouting invectives at her 52” television as she saw throngs of people at the checkpoint. As this was the start of the Enhanced Community Quarantine, this privileged influencer didn’t know that these people were out there to make a living, and she made a hasty conclusion that they intentionally disobeyed the directives of the government.

Another “influencer” who is getting famous for the wrong reasons made a nasty remark, this time against tricycle drivers. Having 300K youtube subscribers made this local influencer think he could say whatever he wanted, whatever he could imagine. I guess he would like to “influence” his followers to look lowly on tricycle drivers as he claimed that these people would never attain anything in life because they do not have a college degree.

I guess he failed to do his research as he made a wanton statement against these hardworking frontliners. They are the ones that provide

B3

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

By Jenniffer B. Austria

HARE prices are expected to move sideways this week on declining investor appetite due to the continued surge in coronavirus cases.

Online brokerage firm 2TradeAsia. com said a further decline in corporate earnings in the second quarter of the year was also weighing on the market.

Corporate earnings dropped by an average of 24 percent in the first quarter of the year.

“As this this number reflects 15 community quarantine days, we anticipate second quarter to scale new lows, likely a contraction of at least 30 percent on average, if not post negative results altogether,” the online bro-

kerage company said.

“And while our full year 2020 contraction forecast of -31 percent year-onyear decline in earnings for the PSEi implies slight improvement in second half earnings, reality in the medium term is that investors will have to confront with ugly earnings season until profit drivers improve, which in turn rests on the ‘holy grail’ coronavirus vaccine,” it added.

The brokerage firm, however, noted an ample liquidity in the market as seen by the strong demand on recent corporate bonds issuances by several companies, including PLDT Inc., BDO Unibank Inc. and Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. “Bottom line is, excess funds seeking yield, and as such, need only the impetus that corporate profits have stabilized before flowing back into equities, which historically provide superior capital returns on top of dividend yields,” 2TradeAsia.com said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week fell 2.8 percent to close at 6,197.38 as investors took profits on renewed concerns over the pandemic’s growing impact to the economy.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the week by P5.6 billion, while the average daily value traded stood at P6.5 billion from the previous week’s average of P8.5 billion.

Weekly top price gainers were led by GMA Network Inc., which rose 20.8 percent to P6.03.

Weekly top price losers included Ayala Land Inc., which dropped 9.1 percent to P32; Robinsons Land Corp., which shed 7.4 percent to P15.92; and Jollibee Foods Corp., which fell 6.8 percent to P137.50.

US and European stocks, meanwhile, advanced Friday on optimism over the chances of an EU economic stimulus plan and fresh hopes for coronavirus treatments. With AFP US travel blogger Alyssa Ramos poses for a photo at the ‘Patio de los Naranjos’ at The Mezquita in Cordoba on July 8, 2020 after restrictions were lifted following a national lockdown put in place to fight the coronavirus pandemic. In Spain, the world’s number two tourist destination behind France, spending by foreign tourists has plunged by 62 percent in the first five months of the year compared with the same period in 2019. AFP

PSEi July 10, 2020 TOP GAINERS

TOP LOSERS

MOST ACTIVE

Coronavirus turns Spain’s interior into a tourist desert

By Alvaro Villalobos CORDOVA, SPAIN―The Santos Bar,

across from Cordova’s celebrated mosque, would normally be groaning with tourists tucking into its trademark Spanish tortillas. But with the coronavirus pandemic, “everything’s dead,” the owner says.

The Mezquita, an eighth-century mosque later turned into a cathedral, is the most visited site in the Andalusian town in southern Spain.

But since it reopened at the end of May, only 16,000 people have set foot in the UNESCO World Heritage site considered one of the most accomplished works of Moorish architecture―the number of visitors it would normally receive in a week.

“It will take months to make that up,” said church spokesman Jose Juan Jimenez

Gueto, although money set aside in previous years means staff have been kept busy with restoration projects.

Nearby restaurants, hotels and shops are not so lucky, and many are closed.

At the Santos Bar, only owner Jesus Maldonado is working.

Business is “a quarter of normal,” he said. His 10 employees are all on a statebacked furlough scheme.

The plunge in tourism, a sector that accounts for 12 percent of Spain’s economy, will be felt like a body blow.

While the country’s beaches are its biggest draw, cities in the interior like Cordova also attract tourists with their cultural sites.

And it’s places like Grenada, Toledo and Segovia that are bearing the brunt, according to Spain’s national hotel association, with revenue drops greater than 50

How Dare You? mobility to the common Juan since it took ages for the government to decide whether jeepneys can ply the streets of Metro Manila. I appreciate their presence in this pandemic, giving me quick access to public markets and shops instead of walking for 30 minutes during the ECQ. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 23 clearly says: “1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment.

2. Everyone, without any discrimination has the right to equal pay for equal work.”

There you have it! Crafted and signed by world leaders, and as the name implies, it is the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Anyone has the choice of one’s employment and should be free from discrimination. What part of that article is difficult to understand for Mr. Influencer? It is just sad that as an “influencer” who has the power to communicate ethical values to one’s followers would make sarcastic and discriminatory remarks toward people who are just trying to make a decent living.

The typical tricycle drivers, given months of no operations, are now trying to survive. They even used their dwindling cash to ensure their vehicles are compliant to the DOTr directives. Best, we appreciate them

for their efforts to transport the common Juan from point A to B. There’s another “stuck up, privileged, feeling famous influencer” making horrible remarks to people helping millions of Filipinos to get to their work because, just like these tricycle drivers, these workers need to put food on the table. As this influencer perhaps is not yet old enough to have this burden, I guess it’s high time to check on his values and how this best reflects one’s personality. I wonder how he will end up in the future? I wonder how he would feel if big companies call influencers “fake endorsers” or more prominent name influencers insulted him too? I guess he will just say these words: “How dare you?”

Alvin Neil A. Gutierrez is a DBA candidate at De La Salle University. He earned his Master in Human Resource Management degree as an AUSAID scholar from The University of Sydney Business School. He is also an Assistant Professor of the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business, where he teaches Strategic Human Resource Management and Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance.

E-mail: alvin.gutierrez@dlsu.edu.ph The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.

percent for restaurants and bars in their historic city centers.

In Andalusia, hotel occupancy is at an average of just 25 percent, a good 10 percentage points lower than in establishments along the coast, said Francisco de la Torre, head of the region’s hotel association.

He worries that Andalusian eateries will eventually have to shed up to a third of their staff.

No Asian tourists In Spain, the world’s number two tourist destination behind France, spending by foreign tourists has plunged by 62 percent in the first five months of the year compared with the same period in 2019.

In Ronda, the mountaintop city perched above a gorge known for its stone bridge, Maria Lara Galindo has worked as a guide for Asian tourists for the past decade. AFP

Gates ‘optimistic’ about coronavirus battle

Bill Gates

AFP

GENEVA, Switzerland―American billionaire Bill Gates said on Saturday he was “optimistic” about the battle against COVID-19 and called for medicines and vaccines to be distributed to those who need them rather than to the “highest bidders.”

Gates’ foundation pledged $7.4 billion to global vaccines alliance Gavi in June to help immunization programs disrupted by coronavirus.

“If we just let drugs and vaccines go to the highest bidders, instead to the people in the place where they are most needed, we will have a longer and more unjust, deadlier pandemic,” said the Microsoft founder in Saturday’s video message to a virtual international conference on COVID-19 and AIDS. “We need leaders to make these hard decisions about distributing based on equity, not just on market driven factors.”

Gates stressed that the pandemic has interrupted the supply chains of drugs, including against AIDS, which risks disruptions which “could prevent hundreds of thousands of people from getting the treatments they need―and not just in subSaharan Africa.”

“But I remain optimistic,” he added. “We will defeat COVID-19 and we will continue to make strides against AIDS and other health crisis.”

He said the researchers are making great advances.

“Better diagnostic tools are being developed to identify those infected. Investments are being made in libraries of anti-viral drugs which has been an underinvested branch of science.

“Also, we are making great progress on vaccines,” he said.

“These platforms won’t just be useful against this particular virus. They will also help us specifically for HIV. “Of course, there is a big difference between getting a platform and making sure we get the products out to everyone who needs them.”

The second reason for his optimism, he added, is the global solidarity, already demonstrated in the fight against AIDS, with the Global Fund created in 2002, and the American aid program PEPFAR, launched by George W. Bush and intended mainly for sub-Saharan Africa.

“Whether it is AIDS or COVID-19, global cooperation and resolve to invent the tools and get them out where they are needed most is critical,” he said. AFP

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com

B4

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020

Business

NEDA to approve Tagaytay tollway PSE INDEX CLOSING Friday, July 10, 2020

4.80 points 6,197.38

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

2,263,959,721 101,965 5,173542,398.69 82 115 47

F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2020

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

49.4440

Japan

Yen

0.009327

0.4612

UK

Pound

1.260900

62.3439

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129031

6.3798

Switzerland

Franc

1.063603

52.5888

Canada

Dollar

0.736594

36.4202

Singapore

Dollar

0.718288

35.5150

Australia

Dollar

0.695900

34.4081

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652238

131.137

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266631

13.1833

Brunei

Dollar

0.715717

35.3879

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000070

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.032072

1.5858

UAE

Dirham

0.272272

13.4622

Euro

Euro

1.128500

55.7976

Korea

Won

0.000836

0.0413

China

Yuan

0.143012

7.0711

India

Rupee

0.013308

0.6580

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.234742

11.6066

New Zealand

Dollar

0.033977

1.6800

Taiwan

Dollar

0.033988

1.6918

By Darwin G. Amojelar

T

HE Department of Public Works and Highways said it expects the National Economic and Development Authority board to approve “very soon” the P22.4billion Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway.

“We’re looking to expedite the CTBEx with the NEDA. In fact, I’m talking with NEDA Secretary [Karl] Chua to fast track all the necessary informations. So, we are focused on that,” Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said.

“We hope very soon. We would like to expand the road network in the south,” he said.

Once it was approved by the NEDA board, the proposed CTBex project would undergo Swiss Challenge.

CTBEX is a 50.4-kilometer expressway that will connect Cavite and Batangas, with a spur road to Tagaytay City and ultimately terminating in Nasugbu and another spur road to Tuy, Batangas.

The government granted the original proponent status for CTBEx to Metro Pacific Tollways South Corp. in July 2018.

CTBEX is seen to decongest about 23,000 vehicles daily from the current thoroughfares.

The project will start at Silang East Interchange of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway. The alignment will traverse the towns of Silang, Amadeo, Mendez, Alfonso and Tagaytay in Cavite and Nasugbu in Batangas.

MPCALA Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of MPTC is also constructing the P35billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway―a four-lane, 47-kilometer closed-system toll expressway connecting Cavitex and South Luzon Expressway.

The expressway will start from Cavitex in Kawit, Cavite and end at SLEXMamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna.

MPCALA Holdings opened to the public the Laguna segment of the Cavite Laguna Expressway in October 2019.

Source: BSP

IN BRIEF

EU grants $39.8m for Mindanao peace

THE European Union extended two grants amounting to a combined 60.5 million euros or $39.8 million to assist in peace-building and development efforts in Mindanao with a focus on strengthening the institutions of the newlyformed Bangsamoro autonomous government, creating jobs and improving community-based infrastructure in agricultural communities.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III signed on June 26 the financing agreement for the Mindanao Peace and Development Programme-RISE Mindanao transmitted by the EU to formalize the 35.5-million-euro grant for the project.

He also signed a separate agreement for the 25-million-euro grant for the Support to Bangsamoro Transition program on July 1.

Dominguez thanked the EU for “its continued support of government efforts to achieve regional growth and financial inclusion, this time by way of a grant that will help MinDA improve infrastructure and create jobs in rural communities”. Julito G. Rada

UK firms remain optimistic on PH

BRITISH companies operating in the Philippines continue to be optimistic despite the impact of the pandemic on businesses.

British of Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines executive director Chris Nelson said the group was retaining and attracting new members in the Philippines throughout the lockdown, with prospects of new investments coming in for the long term.

Nelson said that no existing member company withdrew investments from the country and that new members joined even joined the group at the height of the pandemic.

“People are not leaving. In fact, where I would like to give slight encouragement is we’re actually getting inquiries and interest in the Philippines,” Nelson said.

He said among the sectors that attracted interest from British investors were automotive, energy, beverage and food industries.

Othel V. Campos

Pag-IBIG reduces housing loan rates

TOP officials of Pag-IBIG Fund announced they are offering promo rates on their home loans of as low as 4.985 percent per annum until the end of the year to help members acquire homes and help boost the national economy amid the pandemic.

The agency is offering special low rates of 4.985 percent per annum under a 1-year repricing period and 5.375 percent per annum under a 3-year repricing period. These are its lowestever rates under its Regular Housing Loan program and are available to members getting new home loans until the end of 2020 only.

These further reduced the agency’s previous rates, already pegged at a low 5.375 percent per annum for the 1-year repricing and 6.375 percent per annum for the three-year repricing period. Meanwhile, interest rates for its Affordable Housing Program, available for low and minimum-wage earners, remain at its lowest with a subsidized home loan interest rate of 3 percent per annum.

“By offering these special rates to our members, we are spurring economic activity in the housing industry, which has a ripple effect on the national economy. This is a win-win situation because our members get to take advantage of these home loan rates, while their purchase of their homes will help generate more jobs to help get our economy back on track. This then, is our contribution to our nation’s journey to recovery, as led by President Duterte,” said Secretary Eduardo del Rosario of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and chairman of the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund board of trustees.

ALL DAY DROPBUY STATION. Groceries ordered ahead from All Day Supermarket are loaded into customer’s vehicle at Vista Mall Daang Hari’s designated DropBuy station—a curbside pick-up system that enables customers to quickly and conveniently pick up items. To augment the efforts of the government to keep people safe by limiting contact with others, the Villar Group launches DropBuy across all its malls—Vista Mall, Starmalls and premium shopping destinations Evia Lifestyle Center in Vista Alabang and Nomo-A Vista Lifestyle Center in Bacoor.

PNOC EC seeking to resume petroleum explorations

By Alena Mae S. Flores STATE-RUN PNOC Exploration Corp. said it is looking forward to the resolution of the territorial dispute between China and the Philippines to reinvigorate the country’s oil and gas industry.

“PNOC EC is also looking forward to the resolution of the maritime disputes between China and the Philippines as this will lead to the following: resumption of petroleum operations for SC [Service Contract] 58 [West Calamian], SC 59 [West Balabac] and SC 75 [Northwest Palawan],” PNOC-EC president Rozzano Briguez said during a webinar over the weekend.

The three service contracts are presently under force majeure, putting ex-

ploration for oil and gas resources in the disputed West Philippine Sea on hold.

Briguez said the resolution of the conflict would “boost exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources in the vast West Philippine Sea.” He said PNOC EC would resume exploration in SC 57 and SC 59 with joint venture partners as soon as issues were resolved including the maritime dispute in the West Philippine Sea. Briguez said PNOC EC would also continue to support exploration and production activities of its joint venture partners, such as Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. for Malampaya gas production in SC 38 and Nido Petroleum in SC 58 and PXP Energy for SC 74 & SC 75.

He said the company would also con-

tinue to explore new service contracts in Cotabato, Cagayan, East Palawan, West Philippine Sea and other prospective areas being offered by the Energy Department.

“PNOC EC also intends to pursue collaboration with other institutions and companies to further study Philippine sedimentary basins to assess their petroleum potential given new information and advances in technology,” Briguez said.

“The main objective is to open up new areas for exploration by ensuring that the country’s geologic sedimentary basins are well-studied and properly marketed to possible investors,” he said.

PNOC EC also plans to drill an exploration well in SC 37 on the shore of Cagayan.

ARANETA’S ASSISTANCE.

J. Amado Araneta Foundation, the social development arm of Araneta City, supports Roxas City’s Crops for Creatives—a local-farmerdriven food security outreach program intended to support artists affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Sackbags containing local produce bought from smallscale farmers are distributed to members of the arts and entertainment community.

Items include vegetables from Bolo vegetable farms, rice from Gabu-an, and dried fish from Dumolog. Crops for Creatives is a concerted effort of the Roxas City government, Ang Panublion Museum, Gerry Roxas Foundation, Hublag Foundation, with the support of J. Amado Araneta Foundation.

PAL offers promo fares for local, international flights; Cebu Pacific returns to Dubai PHILIPPINE Airlines is offering a special promotion for domestic and international flights to entice more travelers to fly in the new normal.

It said for base fares as low as P388 for domestic destinations and $99 for international destinations, passengers could book their flights for travels from Aug. 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021.

It said whether passengers would be flying home to their loved ones, going on essential business travels or planning for longoverdue vacation, passengers could avail of

special fares from July 13 to 19, 2020.

“To ensure the safety and protection of all passengers, PAL is strictly implementing an all-out ‘Fly Safe’ set of new normal safety measures and practices—dubbed ‘New Normal, Same Heart’—that adopts international health and safety protocols while keeping the signature heartfelt service that the airline is known for,” PAL said.

The airline encouraged passengers to check in on-line and arrive early at the airport to allocate extra time for new safety procedures.

They are also required to wear face

masks or facial coverings at all times—at the airport and throughout the flight— and observe physical distance whenever queueing in line or while seated at waiting areas at the airport.

The flag carrier partially resumed regular commercial flights to various domestic destinations and key international cities in the US, Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and Canada.

It has also been operating special missions to repatriate stranded Filipinos and foreign nationals to and from different

parts of the world and all-cargo services to transport essential supplies across the Philippines and overseas.

Meanwhile, budget carrier Cebu Pacific said it resumed passenger flights to and from Dubai beginning July 12.

Passengers traveling to Dubai are required to obtain travel and health insurance coverage before arrival, as required by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority.

Guests without valid health insurance may be denied check-in or boarding.

Darwin G. Amojelar

Ayala Land’s residential sales begin to recover

By Jenniffer B. Austria PROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. said its residential business started to see encouraging signs in the second quarter even as the country continued to feel the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ayala Land president and chief executive Bernard Vincent Dy said in a virtual forum held by the Makati Business Club the residential business recorded increasing sales in the second quarter while the enhanced community quarantine was in effect.

“We’re seeing a pick-up in activity in residential sales as early as now.

We hope that the positive trend will continue,” Dy said.

Dy said Ayala Land was banking on the strength of the Philippine economy to help the real estate industry recover from the impact of the pandemic.

“Low interest rates, low inflation rate and stable exchange rates—these factors are conducive for investments,” Dy said.

Dy said each sector in the property segment was bound to see different stages of recovery. He said Ayala Land’s office and warehouse logistic units continued to operate without significant effects.

Its mall business, however, was affected because of the implementation of quarantine measures since March, prompting consumers to stay at home except for essential needs.

The lockdown measures also significantly affected the hotel and resorts segment, which Dy said would recover only once people began to travel.

He said that amid the negative impact of the pandemic on the economy, the real estate industry remained one of the best investment options in the country as land values continued to increase.

“If you look at long term trends of property, taking into account various economic cycles, I believe property continues to be one of the best, if not the best, performing asset class,” Dy said.

He said Ayala Land had not yet seen a meaningful price correction during the pandemic. He said if any correction occurred, it was not expected to repeat the price reductions seen during the Asian financial crisis.

DBP to streamline lending programs, bolster position as infrastructure bank STATE-RUN Development Bank of the Philippines said it will streamline its menu of lending programs and reallocate resources towards initiatives to strengthen its position as the country’s infrastructure bank.

DBP president and chief executive Emmanuel Herbosa said the bank was reviewing its lending portfolio to concentrate on initiatives to provide optimal developmental impact to key client groups while ensuring profitability and sustainability for DBP amid the economic slowdown.

“We are rationalizing our lending programs to maximize available resources to our priority sectors as we assist them in coping with the challenges of a vastly-changing socioeconomic landscape.” Herbosa said.

DBP is the eighth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and was designated as the country’s infrastructure bank by the national government.

As of end-March this year, the bank has released P371-billion in loans to borrowers.

DBP has a number of loan programs that cater to four strategic sectors of the economy—infrastructure and logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; environment; and social services and community development. Infrastructure and logistics accounted for 40 percent of the bank’s total loan portfolio.

Herbosa said DBP needed to update the features of some of its lending programs to be more responsive to the needs of the market as the bank geared up for a more expanded role under the various economic stimulus bills lodged in Congress.

He said the bank would work with institutional partners to ensure that resources for the critical sectors of the economy were maximized and remove redundancies in terms of program offerings vis-à-vis other government financial institutions.

“It is imperative for all financial institutions, such as the DBP, to productively use its available resources to benefit more stakeholders as we gradually emerge from this pandemic,” Herbosa said.

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020

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Altamirano recalls NU’s breakthrough UAAP season

By Peter Atencio

Alexander Volkanovski (right) and Max Holloway trade punches in this file photo of their first fight at UFC 245 on December 14, 2019. AFP

Usman, Volkanovski post close wins Medina earns Tokyo slot as ‘alternate’ at Paralympics JOSEPHINE Medina is thankful for opportunities that are bringing her closer to her dreams again.

Medina said this after she earned an outright “alternate” invitation from the International Table Tennis Federation for next year’s Tokyo Paralympic Games.

The 50-year-old Medina said not many Asians are given a chance to compete in the Games.

“Most of my competitors are Europeans. And many of them are in the list. Sana mabigyan din ng chance yung mga underprivileged countries,” said Medina in an online interview.

Afflicted with poliomyelitis which affected the length of her legs, Medina last saw action at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, and almost achieved a podium finish.

In the 2016 Summer Paralympics, she won a bronze medal after defeating Juliane Wolf of Germany.

Medina’s invitation was made possible by the ITTF thru a bipartite agreement that was given by all international federations to member countries.

Currently, the ITTF is still in the pre-selection process to determine the qualifiers for the Paralympics.

Chef de Mission Francis Diaz recently got confirmation on Medina’s status.

For Medina to finally get accepted to the Games, the international federation will now coordinate with the Tokyo Paralympic Games Accreditation committee to facilitate this process.

She will be able to avail of an extra seat if a participant begs off or an additional berth is added.

Peter Atencio

By Reuel Vidal

K

AMARU Usman played a smart game as he relied on his strength and grappling skills to grind out a unanimous decision victory over Jorge Masvidal Sunday afternoon in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to retain his UFC welterweight title.

In the co-main event Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway fought practically the same way they did in their first meeting and the result was also the same with Volkanovski earning a split decision victory.

Volkanovski thus successfully defended his UFC featherweight championship belt. Volkanovski landed 137 significant strikes to Holloway’s 102 and earned three takedowns.

It was actually a fight that could have gone either way. Holloway may have taken the first two rounds but Volkanovski rallied late in the fight to retain his title.

Usman traded punches with Masvidal early. But with Masvidal counterpunching effectively and getting the better of the exchanges Usman switched tactics.

He instead repeatedly pushed Masvidal up against the cage. He then struck Masvidal with his shoulder, stomped Masvidal’s feet and drove in hard punches to the body. Usman even accidentally headbutted Masvidal several times and went on to grab the decision.

In the third title fight of the card Jose Aldo started strong but wilted late to lose by KO in the fifth round to Petr Yan who grabbed the UFC Bantamweight title.

A bloodied and bruised Rose Namajunas relied on superior striking to eke out a hard-earned decision victory over Jessica Andrade in a battle of former UFC world champions.

Paige Van Zant, looking like she just wanted to finish her UFC contract, was pushed, tossed around and then submit-

ted through armbar by an enthusiastic Amanda Ribas.

Usman completed a big takedown in the third. But Masvidal defended competently from full guard with Usman failing to inflict too much damage from the top position.

In the second Masvidal landed the cleaner punches at the center of the Octagon but Usman pushed him against the cage, grappled, and connected with an “accidental” headbutt.

Usman took down Masvidal twice in the first round but could not inflict too much damage in an opening round that was largely even.

There’s no love lost between the two fighters who refused to tap hands at the opening of the fight.

Masvidal took the fight on very short notice after Usman’s scheduled opponent, Gilbert Burns, tested positive for Covid-19 July 3, just hours before the UFC charter was set to leave Las Vegas for Abu Dhabi.

The UFC and Masvidal came to terms only over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Hamilton storms to Styrian Grand Prix pole SPIELBERG, Austria—Defending sixtime world champion Lewis Hamilton delivered one of his greatest qualifying performances in treacherous rain-swept conditions on Saturday (Sunday Philippine time) when he stormed to pole position for the Styrian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver, who struggled in practice on Friday, bounced back to his best with a fastest lap in one minute and 19.273 seconds, outpacing nearest rival Max Verstappen of Red Bull by a stunning 1.2 seconds.

His performance confirmed his enduring class on a day when heavy rainstorms had delayed the session by 45 minutes and forced the cancellation of third practice.

It was his third pole success at the Red Bull Ring circuit, the 89th of his career and confirmed his reputation as a great driver in the wettest conditions.

“What a tricky day,” said Hamilton.

“It was so difficult for all of us with this weather and some of the time you can’t see where you are going, but I loved it—though I did have a big aquaplane and had my heart in my mouth.”

Ferrari-bound Carlos Sainz was third for McLaren ahead of Valtteri Bottas, winner of last Sunday’s season-opening Austrian Grand Prix at the same circuit, in the second Mercedes, Esteban Ocon of Renault and Lando Norris in the second McLaren.

Norris, however, will drop three places on the grid after taking a penalty on

Olympic bets remain PSC’s priority as sports activities resume Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton steers his car during the qualifying for the Formula One Styrian Grand Prix on July 11, 2020 in Spielberg, Austria. AFP

Friday for ignoring yellow f lags in opening practice.

That will elevate Alex Albon, who was seventh in the second Red Bull, Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri and Daniel Ricciardo, ninth in the second Renault, but leave Sebastian Vettel 10th in the leading Ferrari on another difficult day for the Italian team.

‘I can’t see a thing’ His teammate Charles Leclerc qualified 11th.

Leclerc, however, was later penalized three places on the grid for blocking Kvyat.

After a 45-minute delay, Q1 began with Vettel first out for Ferrari.

Both the four-time champion and Bottas were promptly told that the rain would intensify, making it vital to record a “banker” lap, in case the conditions deteriorated seriously.

“I can’t see a thing,” said Verstappen as Vettel clocked a time soon trimmed by his rivals, including George Russell of Williams, the best lap time descending rapidly as plumes of spray lifted water off the asphalt. AFP

Astros halt training amid Covid-19 fear

Carlos Correa 31 of the Houston Astros takes batting practice during the first day of summer workouts at Minute Maid Park on July 03, 2020 in Houston, Texas. AFP

SEASON 77 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament was like no other for the National University Bulldogs.

They were coming from a fourth place finish in season 76, following a third place finish the year before.

In the 11 seasons before that, the Bulldogs never reached the Final Four, and were dead last in some years. But, things changed when Altamirano came aboard from 2011 to 2016, and handled a talented and motivated bunch of players.

“Syempre heartbreaker sa amin yung Season 76. Lahat talaga masama loob and then knowing na hindi na babalik si Bobby Ray and we lost some players also,” said Altamirano when he recalled the Bulldogs’ best season, which was their historical title conquest in 2014.

Altamirano talked about the Bulldogs campaign during a weekly podcast hosted by Kiefer Ravena.

That year, one of their key players Bobby Ray Parks was not coming back.

“Parang we wanted to erase that in our minds eh. We wanted to focus on the new season, move forward.

Then parang somehow, we knew how to approach the next season dahil doon sa nangyari sa amin sa Season 76,” said Altamirano.

On October 14, 2014, the long wait was finally over for National University, who made an effort to start strong and ended up finishing even stronger as they turned back Far Eastern University, 75-59, at the Araneta Coliseum.

Alfred Aroga asserted his height and might all throughout Game 3 of their best-of-three finals series.

His big game helped end the NU Bulldog’s 60-year title drought.

“So talagang para bang clean slate kami lahat. Yung mga players namin, out to prove something.

Lahat yan, lahat lahat sila eager sila to prove themselves. I mean siguro nobody would say that but they wanted to prove na this is not a Bobby Ray Parks team. This is NU,” said Altamirano.

LOS ANGELES, United States—Coronavirus concerns continue to cast a shadow over Major League Baseball’s build-up to a pandemic shortened season, with the Houston Astros cancelling practice Saturday (Sunday Philippine time) as two more teams reported players testing positive for Covid-19.

The Astros opted to cancel a day’s worth of training after a staff member reported potential exposure to someone who had tested positive for the virus.

“As part of MLB’s testing and reporting plan, we were alerted that a staff member was potentially exposed to a Covid-positive individual outside the organization,” Astros general manager James Click said in a statement.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have cancelled today’s workout.

“We are working closely with MLB and our team physicians to follow the established testing and clean-

ing protocols so that we can safely bring our players and staff back to the field as soon as possible.”

It marked the second time this week that the Astros have cancelled training because of coronavirus concerns.

Within hours of the Astros’ announcement, the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees both announced that players had tested positive.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman will not be with the team “for the foreseeable future” after testing positive for the virus.

Boone said that the six-time All-Star was experiencing “mild symptoms but overall is doing well.”

Chapman, 32, can’t rejoin the Yankees until he has had two negative tests over a 24-hour period.

He had been working out at Yankee Stadium for a week but had not yet participated in the club’s intrasquad games. AFP

THE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) emphasized the need of Olympic qualifiers to resume their training during the PSC-GAB- DOH Stakeholders’ Virtual Meeting hosted by the Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday.

PSC Officer-in-Charge Ramon Fernandez and National Training Director Marc Velasco represented the sports agency in the discussion for the Joint Administrative Order Guidelines on the Conduct of Health-Enhancing Physical Activities and Sports during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

In the meeting participated in by Games and Amusements Board (GAB) Chairman Baham Mitra, sports leaders of the Department of Education, professional sports league, colleges, and universities, the PSC heads bared their solid plans on resuming the preparations of Tokyo-bound athletes.

“We are working towards the approval of the training of our national athletes who have earned their slots in the Games. We are hoping it gets the gosignal from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) first,” shared Fernandez.

“The PSC discussed this with the POC (Philippine Olympic Committee).

We still have to sit down with the PPC (Philippine Paralympic Committee).

The POC will determine through their NSAs (National Sports Associations) who are coming for the Olympic slots and they will be the ones to return first or if possible, we can have them in a bubble,” explained Velasco.

He added that the PSC has to work with the POC, NSAs, and the team of Dr. Randy Molo of the PSC’s Medical Scientific Athlete Services (MSAS) and look at the guidelines and the protocols so “we can all have a good guide for the return to training. We’re preparing the venues as well.”

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Life

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020

Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com

FOOD

Comfort food at the café A

SIAN specialties, including local dishes, served at East Café can once again be enjoyed for dinein, takeout, or pick-up as the mall-based food outlet reopens.

Tucked inside the walls of Rustan’s Makati, East Café welcomes back diners who love its all-time favorites Pinakbet with Bagnet, Spicy Tuna Maki, Grilled Salmon in Banana Leaf, Hainanese Chicken Rice Set, Chicken Inasal Salad, Squid in Salted Egg, and Tori Karaage.

To ensure the safety of its customers, the Makati branch will allow up to 30 percent capacity of the venue, with only 10 tables available for occupancy to practice safe social distancing. An advance table reservation via Viber (0917-8386117) is recommended.

Those who prefer to dine in the comfort of their homes, curbside and courier service pickups are also available. Orders can be placed via East Café mobile hotline (0917-8386117) or through Google order form (https://forms.gle/ YhC1HNfesTRvFZce9).

An East Café personnel will check order’s availability and inform customers of their total bill as well as payment options and pickup schedule.

Spicy Tuna Maki

Pinakbet with Bagnet

Squid in Salted Egg

Hainanese Chicken

Grilled Salmon in Banana Leaf

7 must-try burgers

at Eastwood City and Uptown Bonifacio BEEFY, juicy, comforting. Burgers are familiar, that’s why they are an easy choice for a quick meal; burgers can be indulgent, they make for a satisfying reward after a stressful day.

This sandwich is almost everywhere, but these seven are the must-tries over at Eastwood City and Uptown Bonifacio:

Premium beef tenderloin, seafood, and more are now grilling on Yurakuen’s teppan.

The heat is back on Yurakuen’s teppanyaki grills DIAMOND Hotel’s Japanese restaurant Yurakuen has reopened its teppanyaki private rooms, offering allyou-can-eat promotion.

The Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can starts with appetizers, salads, and sashimi to get those taste buds tingling. For the main event, be prepared to witness teppanyaki at its most exhilarating as premium ingredients like scallops and beef tenderloin are skillfully seared to utmost perfection. Diners may choose their rice, soup, and dessert.

For those seeking a more traditional sit-down meal, a special a la carte menu is offered at the main dining room.

Purchase vouchers for Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can at onlineshopping.diamondhotel.com. For reservations and pick-up arrangements, send an email to

restaurant_rsvn@diamondhotel.com or call 0926-156-9866 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Meanwhile, Corniche now accepts dine-in reservations. Diamond’s in-house restaurant serves a brand new a la carte menu and bento sets. Choices include savory specials like Pan Seared Salmon Salpicao and Lechon Kawali; diverse cuisines such as Dim sum, Japanese Spaghetti Mentaiko, and Deep-Fried Shrimp with Salted Egg Yolk; and customized dishes with Make Your Own Pasta.

Reservations are accepted via email or phone, while card payments are accepted at the outlet.

Diamond’s bestselling Ensaymada, as well as new merienda treats like Ginataang Halo-Halo and Turon with Langka are also available at onlineshopping.diamondhotel.com.

This unique taco-filled burger is offered at Taqueria 101. It features a half Angus, half chorizo patty with queso, cheese sauce, fried tortillas, and more.

Taqueria 101 is at Eastwood Citywalk. Call 8077358 for more information.

Foie Gras Burger

Pound’s luxurious Foie Gras Burger is made with a delectable, high-quality tender beef patty, with duck liver on top and tomato, lettuce, and unique sauce and dressings.

Pound is located on the second floor of Eastwood Mall.

It is open for pick-up and deliveries from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Call 7940-6019.

Spicy Sriracha Burger

Love it spicy?

Denny’s Spicy Sriracha Burger offers that sizzling kick.

Denny’s is located on the ground f loor of Uptown Parade. Order and book a pick-up and delivery from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 0917-6294442 or 8625-6361.

Say it with cookies

The special edition Oreo embossed cookies in vanilla and chocolate flavors are now available in stores nationwide. Oreo’s special edition embossed cookies.

Buffalo Wild Wings also knows how to make burgers with its Smokehouse Burger made with ground beef, cheese, and dressings.

The outlet is located on the fourth floor of Uptown Mall. Book a pickup or delivery from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 0917-1779188 or 8625-6361.

Taqueria Burger

BITES TO SPARK playful connections, Oreo launches its special edition embossed cookies.

Each cookie sandwich features embossed letters and emojis that can be used to create messages or as a fun education tool for learning letters.

“However you use them, these embossed delights are sure to enrich family emotional bonds and create lasting memories that will sustain parents and children for a lifetime,” the brand said in a statement.

Oreo is giving away Sodexo gift certificates to the most creative photos using the embossed cookies. Post it on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #SayItWithOREO. One hundred winners will be chosen during the contest period from July 1 to Sept. 11.

Smokehouse Burger

Flatiron Burger

Take a bite out of this ultimate urban comfort food best paired with potato fries.

Flatiron is located on the upper ground floor of Uptown Mall. Call 09178544540 for more information.

Typhoon Burger

This melt-inyour-mouth burger is one of Outback Steakhouse’s musttry options. This tender and juicy grilled burger meat is topped with the restaurant’s fried onion rings.

Outback Steakhouse is at Eastwood Citywalk. Order and book a pick-up and delivery from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at 8277-3216.

Bully Boy Burger

Come in hungry and walk out happy after you get a taste of Army Navy’s Bully Boy Burger, a triple patty burger that’s sure to fill up tummies and delight meat lovers.

Army Navy is at Eastwood Citywalk. Book for a pick-up or delivery from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 8333-3131 or www. armynavy.com.ph.

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020

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advertise@manilastandard.net

of their duties and responsibilities.

“It is really overwhelming that the PPA, across all its offices, has moved forward as one unit, contributing to the efforts of the Government as it copes with the challenges that the country is facing due to the pandemic, not to mention the other challenges and emergencies that the country has faced since the start of the year,” GM Santiago emphasized.

“The ‘Bayanihan sa Pantalan’ initiative of the PPA community with the help of other government agencies and civic organizations has provided relief goods and cash assistance to a total of 5,762 porters, dockworkers, PPA outsourced personnel and other persons in need with an overall estimated amount of P2,298,443.83 all over the 25 PPA PMOs,” GM Santiago said.

Not only that, PPA made a big splash in helping the country ease the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic to the day-to-day lives of Filipinos by paying in advance its 2019 dividend remittance amounting to P5 billion to help the government finance its anti-COVID-19 mea-

using the fund donation from the Lopez Group of Companies.

In partnership also with the management of the Manila International Container Terminal and the Manila South Harbor, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Finance and the Bureau of Customs, a Joint Administrative Order was issued to successfully address the looming congestion at the Ports of Manila brought about by the non-withdrawal of cargoes due to COVID-19.

To further assist port stakeholders, the PPA extended the payment of concession and rental fees by 30 days for all payments falling under the period of community quarantine and likewise extended the Holdover Authority and permits issued by the agency during the quarantine period up to 31 July 2020.

Taking the lead from the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATFEID) and the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, PPA issued a memo easing up the movement of cargoes to and from the ports to address the demands of the international and local supply chains particularly essential supplies amid the

sures. It is the biggest dividend remitted

by PPA in its 46 years of existence that enabled the PPA to land a spot in the Top 20 Philippine Corporations released by the Department of Finance.

Likewise, using the P100-million funding from the Lopez Group of Companies, the PPA—through the guidance of the Department of Transportation headed

by Secretary Arthur P. Tugade and in partnership with the Philippine Coast Guard, the Maritime Industry Authority and the Department of Health, with other government agencies, the 2GO Group and Asian Terminals, Inc.—retrofitted the Eva Macapagal Super Terminal inside the South Harbor into a state-of the art, 211-bed capacity Bayanihan to Heal As One COVID-19 Quarantine Center to help ease the demand for such quarantine facilities due to the increasing number of infections in the NCR and its nearby cities, provinces and municipalities. The PPA likewise procured a Stage 3 Ambulance to further prop-up the capability of the Quarantine Center

pandemic.

The PPA also continues to help and support other government programs specifically the Balik-Probinsya Program of the Office of the President, the repatriation of locally stranded individuals, returning overseas Filipinos, seafarers and students. To date, more than 20,000 repatriates were handled and processed in different ports nationwide and the number continues to grow.

While still in the middle of the pandemic, PPA has also successfully completed 14 port projects to boost the connectivity and efficiency of the ports system to address the future demands of local and foreign shipping. These projects include the ports in Coron, Palawan; Boac, Marinduque; Estancia, Iloilo; Iligan, Lanao del Norte; Jagna, Bohol; Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro; Ozamiz, Misamis Occidental; El Nido, Palawan; Tagbilaran, Bohol; Malalag, Davao del Sur; Currimao, Ilocos Sur; and Masao, Agusan del Norte. There are also two separate projects for the Iloilo Commer-

PPA:...

From C4

cial Port Complex. The PPA was able to complete these projects without registering any COVID-19 infection.

MOVING FORWARD Considering the high risk of possible COVID-19 infection, the PPA is implementing measures to guarantee that ports remain COVID-free in preparation for the ‘new normal’.

The measures include misting of luggage and cargoes of incoming passengers, mandatory wearing of face masks, mandatory washing of hands before entering any port premises, accomplishment of the PPA entry protocol form for contact tracing, markings relative to physical distancing and the establishment of COVID-19 Testing Facilities in select ports.

PPA is also partnering with other government agencies like the Department of Health in its anti-COVID-19 advocacies by utilizing all available port platforms to help bring the information to the public.

PPA is also eliminating face-to-face transactions by introducing several online platforms like the unified passenger ticketing system, automated

payment scheme and automated cargo payment regime to comply with the ‘new normal’ procedures.

The agency is also set to complete 22 more port projects this year to further improve operational efficiency of PPA ports. The projects include the Pier 18 rehabilitation and upgrade in Vitas, Tondo, Manila; the construction of a port operations building in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro; the Balanacan Port expansion project in Marinduque; the construction of the RC Pier and Ro-Ro ramp at the Port of Bansud, Oriental Mindoro; the construction of a backup area at the Port of Bulalacao also in Oriental Mindoro; the construction of a Ro-Ro ramp and expansion project at the Port of Bulan, Sorsogon; and the construction of the Coastal Access Road project at the Port of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro.

Also expected to be finished by the end of the year are the expansion of the Port of Capinpin, Bataan; the reconstruction of the Carmen Port in San Agustin, Romblon; the Cobo Port construction project in Cobo, Catanduanes; and the construction of port operations buildings at the ports of Coron, Currimao, Masbate, Mauban, Quezon, and Talaga in Mabini, Batangas.

The port rehabilitation and upgrading of RC wharf at the Port of Legazpi; the port expansion projects in Matnog, Puerto Princesa, Salomague, Ilo-

cos Sur, Tablas, Romblon, and TMO Pasig; and the rehabilitation of the Port of Tabaco, Albay are also targeted for completion by the end of 2020.

More importantly, PPA is taking care of its major asset. Its people. Roundthe-clock supply of COVID-19 protective equipment and other essentials are being provided to all its ports in order to protect its employees, particularly its frontline personnel against possible infection. Alternative work platforms are likewise adopted to further reduce the risk. Campaign materials are posted in strategic places to remind its employees on the ‘new normal’ procedures.

“We cannot do all of these if we do not take care of our people. The employees are the foundation of the success of our agency most especially during this pandemic.

PPA is blessed with having a hardworking workforce giving unparalleled public service during this pandemic. Showing what ‘Bayanihan sa Pantalan’ is all about. As their General Manager, I salute each and every one of them. As we continue to march on forward in this fight during our 46 th Founding Anniversary, we will show what PPA is all about: Kabalikat ng Bayan sa Pagbangon,” Santiago said.

“The PPA remains committed to provide the best service we can as we consider ourselves as soldiers in this battle,” Santiago added.

C4

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020

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PPA: 46 years of promoting nation-building through integrity and dedicated public service in ports for every Filipino

M

ANILA—The year 2020 was supposed to be a prosperous year for the entire world according to fortune tellers.

Everybody was upbeat. The business community, government economic leaders, and GOCCs like PPA were anticipating unprecedented opportunities ushered in by the new year and a new decade. Until disaster struck.

In the first quarter of the year alone, the Philippines already faced several challenges like the eruption of Taal Volcano in January displacing thousands of residents from the provinces of Batangas and Cavite as well as nearby cities and municipalities.

The death of notable celebrities and world leaders where countries, the Philippines included, drew inspiration from, and the spread of a new strain of Coronavirus, the Novel Coronavirus 2019 or now known as the Coronavirus Disease 2019 or COVID-19.

The magnitude of its spread is so huge, affecting even nations considered as global superpowers, infecting and killing hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.

The Philippines has not been spared from this global health crisis. It caught the entire nation by surprise, paralyzing the flow of people, goods, trade and tourism until this time.

If not for the proactive approach of the National Government led by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte immediately placing the entire country under a State of Public Health Emergency on 16 March 2020, the health condition in the Philippines could have been worse considering the huge number of infections centered not only in the country’s capital but also in other densely populated areas in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Anchored on this declaration, the Philippine Ports Authority, under the guidance of the Secretary of the Department of Transportation Arthur P. Tugade, wasted no time and quickly buckled down to work to make sure that the presence of the agency can be felt most especially by the communities whose livelihood depend heavily on its ports.

Thus, the Bayanihan sa Pantalan was born.

Waves upon waves of relief operations were conducted in partnership with the private sector and other civic organizations to help those who are in need like porters, dockworkers, as well as the immediate neighboring communities to help them withstand the global pandemic.

PPA employees also continued to help by sharing a portion of their salaries to help our countrymen who are most in need.

PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago said that, in the midst of this pandemic, the agency and its people once again showed their unity and resiliency by working together towards finding ways to provide public service beyond the usual dayContinued on C3 to-day performance

TURNING PORTS INTO TURNING POINTS These are trying times, but we are resilient, responsive.

Despite the many challenges in this unprecedented time, we continue to quickly and safely deliver basic goods, food, medicine and supplies.

With tireless, selfless men and women at the forefront, we are able to deliver essentials needed by societies and economies to heal and recover.

WE ARE STRONGER THAN EVER

CORPORATE OFFICE ICTSI Administration Bldg., Manila International Container Terminal MICT South Access Road, Port of Manila 1012 Manila, Philippines +632 8 245 4101 info@ictsi.com www.ictsi.com ARGENTINA • AUSTRALI A • BRAZIL • CAMEROON • CHINA • COLOMBIA • CROATIA • D.R. CONGO • ECUADOR • GEORGIA • HONDURAS • INDONESIA • IRAQ • MADAGASCAR • MEXICO • PAKISTAN • PAPUA NEW GUINEA • PHILIPPINES • POLAND