Manila Standard - 2020 April 1 - Wednesday

DUTERTE WARNS PUBLIC OFFICIALS NOT TO PROFIT FROM CRISIS (Story below) COVID-19 PH

PLEASE STAY. Police manning a

AT A GLANCE

checkpoint in Quezon City hold up placards reminding people to stay at home amid concerns of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Luzon, which is on the second week of a lockdown to contain the spread of the disease. AFP

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VOL. XXXIV • NO. 49 • 2 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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More testing centers give hope vs COVID

By Macon RamosAraneta, Rio N. Araja, and Joel E. Zurbano THERE’S a pleasant whiff in the fight against the spreading coronavirus in the Philippines, with more laboratories activated for testing submitted cases and reports China would be sending a team of medical experts to help Manila fight the pandemic.

This despite the number of positive cases of the virus in the

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Govt triggers path to normalcy • Eyes selective lockdown • Removal of checkpoints • Restoring economic flow

By Julito G. Rada, Alena Mae Flores, Joyce Pangco Pañares, Vito Barcelo and Francisco Tuyay

T

HE government is eyeing a “selective lockdown” and gradual resumption of economic activity when the enhanced community quarantine over the COVID-19 outbreak in Luzon ends on April 14, wary of a more damaging effect on the economy if another national lockdown happens.

In an Inter-Agency Task Force-Private Sector meeting over the weekend, IATF head Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government might consider a “selective lockdown” instead of a national lockdown to make sure that the spread of the disease will be contained.

Hans Sy

Benjamin Diokno

The task force, which met with the country's business leaders over the weekend (see some attendees at right—Editor), is also contemplating a barangay lockdown (modified community quarantine) for at least two more weeks Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala Manny Pangilinan beginning April 16.

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PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte threatened to detain politicians who will engage in corruption amid the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) health crisis, stressing that the public should never be deceived especially in these times.

In a televised address Monday night, Duterte said he would not tolerate corruption, embezzlement, hoarding,

and other crimes that could deter the government’s heightened efforts to curb the pandemic.

“I am not a cruel man but if there are police reports, I will order your detention until the COVID-19 pandemic ends,” he Next page

2 more doctors join ‘heroes‘ TWO more doctors succumbed to the COVID-19 coronavirus on Tuesday— bringing the total across the country to 14—just a day after President Rodrigo Duterte promised health workers they would get “everything they require” to stave off the global pandemic.

In Cebu City, oncologist Dennis Tudtud passed away on his son's birthday—and just four days after his wife, pathologist Helen Tudtud, also

Doctor Dennis Tudtud

died due to COVID-19.

Their son, Dennis Thomas Tudtud, confirmed this in his Facebook post Tuesday, saying he and his sister, Debbie, are "in deep sorrow that God had to take both of them."

Dr. Helen, 66, died of Covid-19 on March 27, 11 days after she was admitted to Perpetual Succor Hospital.

"Our Daddy Dennis has joined Next page

Doctor Leandro Resurreccion III

George Barcelon

Enrique Razon

Lance Gokongwei

Joey Concepcion

William Dar

Isolation tightens as global toll rises

Duterte warns public execs: Behave or you go to prison

By Vito Barcelo

Carlos Dominguez

Rody details response to pandemic

MADRID, Spain—Tightened lockdowns across the planet saw nearly half of humanity told to stay at home in a bid to stem the spiralling coronavirus pandemic, as Spain recorded its deadliest day Tuesday and the United States braced for the full impact of the disease.

The virus has claimed nearly 38,000 lives worldwide in a health crisis that is rapidly reorganising political power, hammering the global economy and the daily existence of some 3.6 billion people.

Spain, whose outbreak is the world's second deadliest after Italy, broke another national record of 849 deaths in one day Tuesday, dampening hopes it could have passed the peak of the crisis that has

debilitated the country for weeks.

In battered Italy, flags flew at halfmast during a minute of silence to honour the more than 11,500 people who have perished from the virus, and the health workers still working through nightmarish conditions.

Although there are signs the spread of infections is slowing in Italy, hundreds are still dying every day, leading authorities to extend a stringent nationwide shutdown despite its crushing economic impact.

In Belgium a 12-year-old girl infected with COVID-19 was pronounced dead, a rare case of a young person succumbing to the disease, and yet another grim reminder of its reach.

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By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz A WEEK after the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (RA 11469) was signed into law, President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday submitted his first report on government measures being undertaken to respond to the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) health crisis, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said in an online news coference Tuesday.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III, in a separate statement, also confirmed that Duterte submitted his report to Congress.

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DOUBLE POSITIVE. Former Senator Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos (right) on Tuesday confirmed that he tested positive for the coronavirus. The same goes for Interior Secretary Eduardo Año (left), who said he got tested on March 27 and received the result yesterday. Both officials said they are doing fine in their self-quarantine. Teddy Pelaez

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Last virus-free places hold tight K

OROR, Palau―A coronavirus-free tropical island nestled in the northern Pacific may seem the perfect place to ride out a pandemic—but residents on Palau say life right now is far from idyllic.

The microstate of 18,000 people is among a dwindling number of places on Earth that still report zero cases of COVID-19 as figures mount daily elsewhere.

The disparate group also includes Samoa, Turkmenistan, North Korea and bases on the frozen continent of Antarctica.

A dot in the ocean hundreds of kilometres from its nearest neighbours, Palau is surrounded by the vast Pacific,

which has acted as a buffer against the virus.

Along with strict travel restrictions, this seems to have kept infections at bay for a number of nations including Tonga, the Solomons Islands, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia.

But remoteness is not certain to stop the relentless march of the new disease.

The Northern Mariana Islands confirmed its first cases over the weekend, followed by a suspected death on Monday.

Klamiokl Tulop, a 28-year-old artist and single mum, is hopeful Palau can avoid the fate of Wuhan, New York or Madrid—where better-resourced health services were overrun.

But she describes a growing sense of dread, a fear that the virus is coming or could already be on the island undetected. ‘‘You can feel a rising tension and anxiety just shopping,’’ she told AFP. ‘‘Stores are crowded even more during non-payday weeks.’’

There have been several scares on Palau, including a potential case that saw one person placed into quarantine this week as authorities await test results.

Antarctic seclusion Inside Australia's four remote Antarctic research bases, around 90 people have

Govt...

amount of borrowing.

Some businessmen, however, said the government may be forced to extend the enhanced quarantine period if it is unable to flatten the curve on the coronavirus outbreak.

The private sector is waiting for the government to make the “the more responsible” decision as COVID-19 infections continue to soar daily.

San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang, for example, urged the government to conduct rapid testing for COVID-19 before lifting the quarantine.

“I think we need to do rapid testing of 100,000 people suspected before we lift it so maybe by May 15,” Ang said when asked for comment whether the Philippines is ready to lift the lockdown.

Jaime Azurin, president of Global Business Power Corp. said he is not in a position to say whether the country is ready to lift the quarantine, stressing that the ECQ is meant to be able to control the spread of the virus and allow the health care system to be able to administer proper care for those affected by coronavirus.

“I am not sure though if government has already flattened the curve of new patients yet. While this may have serious effect on the economy at this time, it is the more responsible decision for the government to take,” Azurin said, Isidro Consunji, chairman of DMCI Holdings, Inc., for his part, also said he is not qualified to say when the quarantine should be lifted.

But he urged the government to mitigate the impact of the quarantine to the poor.

“The lockdown is very painful for the poor and [its harmful effects] should be minimized,” Consunji said.

Fernandez Martinez, chairman of Eastern Petroleum Corp. also said that food production and logistics supply must go unhampered, which was agreed by everyone “except some very selfish local officials who want to either keep the supply for their locality or harass the producer.”

GE Philippines chief executive officer Emmanuel J.V. de Dios said the Health department and medical experts are in the best position to decide if the quarantine can be lifted.

“For GE’s part, we continue to support our hospital customers with the equipment we have installed,” De Dios said.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Tuesday that on the question of a possible extension of the lockdown, “science is in charge.”

"The IATF TWG to be led by the Department of Health is directed to convene and finalize the parameters for deciding on the eventual total or partial lifting of the ECQ in Luzon, the possible extension of its duration, or its expansion to other areas outside the contained area, subject to the approval, amendment or modification by the IATF," Nograles said.

The technical working group, Nograles said, will also formulate and present a decision tool for the management of landbased or sea-based overseas Filipino workers who may be repatriated.

Under Resolution No. 17 of the IATF adopted Monday evening, the following were approved: • The DOH will coordinate with the Department of Transportation and the Department of National Defense to ensure the prompt delivery of personal protective equipment from suppliers or donors to the National Task Force COVID-19 task group on resource management and logistics and, ultimately, to the frontliners on the ground; • The DOTr will identify maritime vessels that can serve as floating quarantine centers, in coordination with the DOH; • The Department of Tourism will identify hotels and other similar establishments as quarantine facilities in every region of the country. The Bureau of Quarantine is directed to assess the adequacy of such facilities identified by the DOT; • The Department of Public Works and Highways, in cooperation with private entities, will complete all the works necessary to convert the Philippine International Convention Center, World Trade Center, the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, and such other facilities as may be necessary, into fully-functional quarantine facilities; • Local government units will finalize the identification and furbishing of provincial, city, municipal, and barangay quarantine facilities in accordance with the guidelines issued by the DILG; • The DOH Centers for Health Development and the regional offices of the DILG, LGUs, as well as the uniformed services, will form composite teams who will serve as personnel in quarantine facilities operated by the national government and LGUs; and • LGUs must sustain the provision of basic necessities and local transport for their residents; identify appropriate human resources who may aid the national government in conducting intensive contact tracing, assessment, and

monitoring of PUMs and PUIs, as well as in the issuance of certificates of completion of 14-day quarantine; and disinfect areas in their respective localities as frequently as necessary.

The IATF recommended to the President a proposal of the Department of Agriculture to import a total of 300,000 metric tons of rice by the Philippine International Trading Corp. through government-to-government arrangements for contingency purposes.

Reports circulating on the social media that the lockdown will be extended for another 60 days are not true, Nograles said.

“The quarantine extension was not true.

It’s fake news. With regard to this issue, science is in charge. It should be clear to all,” he said.

He also said it was too early to say if the strict quarantine protocols have flattened the curve of new COVID-19 cases.

The Palace official reiterated the government’s call to the public to be be more understanding and cooperative.

“There are many ways we can help one another as we work to overcome this crisis together––but it all begins with staying home and taking all the necessary precautions to avoid spreading the virus,” he said.

The Department of Health (DOH) has recorded 1,546 confirmed Covid-19 cases.

Meanwhile, the enforcement arm of the IAT reminded police commanders across the country to ensure that no barangay checkpoints would be set up along national highways and provincial roads to establish a uniform implementation of lockdown guidelines.

Joint Task Force Corona Virus Shield (JTF CV Shield) commander Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar said the move was in compliance with the order from Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año to remove all barangay checkpoints along major thoroughfares amid complaints about the different ways that local governments were implementing lockdown guidelines.

Eleazar said barangay checkpoints along national highways and provincial roads have resulted in the delay of the movement of basic commodities and also caused confusion among the people, particularly those exempted from the home quarantine.

“Despite the guidelines issued on the conduct of checkpoints, we still received complaints that some barangay checkpoints are disregarding the IATF rules,” Eleazar said.

“Some of these barangay checkpoints are implementing their own rules which are clearly in defiance of the IATF guidelines.”

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The law authorizes the executive to realign the national budget and tap additional funds to address the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Nograles said the executive branch has yet to release a detailed budget breakdown.

In his public address, Duterte assured the public that the two powers granted him by the law would be exercised “only when absolutely necessary.”

These are the power to direct the operation of private establishments and the power to require businesses to prioritize contracts for materials and services necessary for the crisis.

Under the law, the executive department must submit a weekly report to Congress, every Monday, detailing how he used his special powers to address the COVID-19 outbreak.

The report must include the amount and corresponding use of funds used, augmented, reprogrammed, reallocated, and realigned.

Meanwhile, Congress must establish a joint congressional oversight committee composed of four members of each house to be appointed by the Senate President and House Speaker.

The committee will determine whether such acts, orders, rules, and regulations are within the restrictions provided.

Duterte signed the law on March 24. The law will be in full force and effect for three months unless extended by Congress.

Duterte placed the entire of Luzon under enhanced community quarantine from March 17 to April 12 requiring all individuals to stay indoors and limit their movement to accessing basic goods and necessities.

The House of Representatives's oversight committee, headed by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, will start reviewing the President's implementation of the Bayanihan Law following Malacanang's submission of its first weekly report on Monday night.

With PNA

Mommy Helen. My sister and I are in deep sorrow that God had to take both of them, but I take comfort that they are happy together in their journey to paradise," Dennis Thomas said.

In Manila, Dr. Leandro “Jun” L. Resurreccion III, one of the country's few pediatric transplant surgeons, lost a threeweek battle with the disease, his children also said on social media.

“There were no hugs, there were no kisses, and there were no goodbyes.

As a matter of fact, the last time I saw him, he was still able to smile. It gives you a kind of heartbreak that I cannot even explain,” his son, Leandro Castillo Resurreccion IV said in a Facebook post “It is with our deepest sorrows to say that he has lost the battle. He passed away this morning in the ICU of the Philippine General Hospital,” Pia Isabel Resurreccion, his daughter, posted.

“Although we could not see him through this ordeal, he was under the best care of his PGH family. For all their efforts, we are truly grateful. We would also like to thank everyone who helped us through these trying times,” she added.

Meanwhile, in a televised public address late Monday, Duterte revealed that the government is deploying the resources of government to provide frontline health workers with “everything they require so they can save as many lives as possible”.

“We are now procuring medical supplies, devices, and personal protective equipment,” he said.

The President said about one million medical protective items are being acquired, with the government and the private sector working together to purchase or produce the necessary quantities.

Still, the Philippine General Hospital's current supply of protective gear for its workers tending to patients with the novel coronavirus will run out in the next two weeks, its spokesperson said.

Willie Casas, Francisco Tuyay and Rey E. Requejo

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The task force also discussed the possible resumption of manufacturing activities, the elimination of checkpoints to allow the free flow movement of goods, and the provision of means of transportation for movement of workers.

Business tycoon Jaime Zobel de Ayala said based on the estimates of the Ayala

Group’s scientists, the peak of the disease in the country could happen in the middle of May to middle of June 2020, adding he hoped he was wrong. “We need to flatten the curve,” Ayala said.

Ayala said the government must prioritize the feeding of the poor and avoid the possible collapse of the economy. The Philippines was the first Third-World nation that implemented a massive lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.

Moving forward post-COVID, Ayala said the government must explore ways on how to partially operate public transportation and review the country’s health care system.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said under the modified community quarantine from April 16 onwards, there must be an isolation of persons under investigations/ persons under monitoring, as well as the elderly, pregnant women, and non-earners.

Nograles said the PUIs/PUMs could be isolated in hotels in a one-room per-person setting. Those with mild COVID symptoms will be confined in a coliseum-style setting.

Some of the venues considered for this are the World Trade Center and Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, and the Rizal Memorial Coliseum along Vito Cruz in Manila.

Meanwhile, severe and critical COVID patients will be confined in hospitals. At this stage, Nograles also said malls will remain closed so that social distancing will continue to be observed.

Businessman Joey Concepcion of RFM Corp. said business revenues are expected to decline by 40 percent this year versus a year ago because of the disruption in business activities nationwide.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III reiterated the need to collect taxes to fund the stimulus program of the government.

Dominguez also appealed to taxpayers who are able to file and pay their taxes early to do so, despite the one-month extension, so that this program can be funded with the least

Isolation...

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'We need help now' Across the Atlantic, the United States was preparing for its darkest days after the death toll topped 3,000 out of 163,000 known infections—the highest case count for any country.

Scenes previously unimaginable in peacetime—such as a field hospital set to open in Central Park—shook frightened New Yorkers hunkered down in an eerily quiet city.

A US military medical ship with 1,000 beds also docked in Manhattan to relieve pressure on the city's overwhelmed health system.

The city's food banks are seeing a surge of newcomers who have lost income as the world's financial capital shuts down.

"It is my first time," Lina Alba, a 40-year-old single mother of five, said at a food distribution centre run by the New York charity City Harvest.

She worked as a maid in a Manhattan

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country blowing past the 2,000 mark with 538 new cases on Tuesday, a new daily record high.

The Department of Health also reported 10 more new deaths to the disease, bringing the total to 88, with no new recoveries and the aggregate staying at 42.

The World Health Organization (WHO) attributed the “quite high” proportion of deaths in the Philippines to its testing strategy, where severe cases are prioritized.

In a media breifing, Dr. Matthew Griffith, WHO Western Pacific Region Technical Advisor for COVID-19 Incident Management Support Team, said the high death rate was due to the Philippines' testing priority.

hotel until it closed two weeks ago.

"We need the help now. This is crazy.

So we don't know what's gonna happen in a few weeks."

Challenging times ahead' In the state of Maryland, alarm bells rang after 67 residents of a retirement home tested positive for the virus, with one 90-year-old man dying at the weekend.

Maryland joined Virginia and Washington DC to become the latest parts of the US to impose stay-at-home orders, putting three-quarters of Americans under some form of lockdown.

President Donald Trump sought to reassure Americans that authorities were ramping up distribution of desperately needed equipment such as ventilators and personal protective gear.

But he also offered a stark warning, saying "challenging times are ahead for the next 30 days" as he acknowledged a potential nationwide stay-at-home order.

"We're sort of putting it all on the line," Trump said, again likening the efforts against coronavirus to a "war." AFP Strategically, he noted that this was dictated by availability of of reagents, supplies and travel history of suspected COVID-19 patients.

Griffith also dismissed claims that deaths of COVID-19 patients in the Philippines was due to lack of ventillators.

In related developments, the government is now expediting the process of transforming maritime vessels, hotels, and other private establishments into quarantine and isolation facilities, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Tuesday.

Nograles, in a virtual news conference aired over governmentrun PTV-4, said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) had directed concerned government agencies to hasten the identification of establishments that would be used for quarantine purposes. With PNA

found themselves ensconced on the only virus-free continent as they watch their old home transform beyond recognition.

There is no need for social distancing in the tundra. ‘‘They're probably the only Australians at the moment that can have a large dinner together or have the bar still open or the gym still open,’’ Antarctic Division Operations manager Robb Clifton told AFP. The bases are now isolated until November, so the group is safe, butClifton admits ‘‘the main thing that's on the mind of expeditioners is how their loved ones are going back home.’’

In some places, reporting no cases does not always mean there are no cases to report. AFP

Local biz back use of COVID rapid test kits

By Joel E. Zurbano THE business community is supporting the government's move to use five brands of Covid-19 coronavirus rapid test kits from Singapore and China in the campaign against the deadly disease.

The rapid test kits approved by the Food and Drug Administration were Nanjing Vazyme 2019-nCoV manufactured by Biolidics Limited of Singapore; Novel Coronavirus Antibody Detection Kit manufactured by Nanjing Vazyme Medical Technology Co. Ltd.; Diagnostic Kit for Antibody to Coronavirus manufactured by Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostic Inc. of China; 2019 nCoV Antibody Test manufactured by Innovita Biological Technology Co. Ltd., and SARS-CoV2 Antibody Test manufactured by Guangzho Wondfo Biotech Co. Ltd. Health officials earlier urged local government units, private groups and hospitals to secure their rapid testing kits only from authorized distributors of the approved brands.

Petron slashes LPG prices by P10.70 per kilo

By Alena Mae S. Flores PETRON Corp. will cut prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by P10.70 per kilo or P117.70 per 11-kilo tank to reflect the lower contract price of cooking gas in the world market for April.

“Petron will implement a P10.70/kg rollback in LPG prices effective 12:01 am, April 1,” Petron, the country’s biggest oil company, said in its advisory.

“AutoLPG prices will likewise decrease by P6.00/li at the same time.

These reflect the international contract price of LPG for the month of April,” Petron said.

Prior to the rollback, LPG prices in Metro Manila range from P611 to P745 per 11-kilo tank.

Other oil companies have yet to issue their respective advisories on the LPG price rollback but are expected to follow.

Last February 1, Petron also cut its LPG price by P2.20 per kilo for a total of P24.20 per 11-kilo tank and autoLPG by P1.25 per liter.

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said in mix of English and Filipino.

He said he would also suspend national and local officials involved in politicking.

“If you engage in politicking and I hear about it, I will suspend you on the spot.”

He said that people tasked with distributing the money, food, and relief goods should do their work “to a tee” or risk being detained.

“There’s a crisis and you would no that…you really deserve to be jailed,” he said.

Last week, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año urged the public to report local officials who required their constituents to present their quarantine passes or voter’s identification before they were given food assistance or allowed to buy food outside.

He said requiring a quarantine pass or voter’s ID is not part of the guidelines under the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine to reduce the transmission of COVID-19.

“That’s not right. That’s what you call self-promoting barangay captains. Report their names, which barangay and we will take action,” he said.

He asked barangay officials to think twice about how they treat their constituents as it would be their basis for electing new officials during the next elections.

He also reminded local officials against going overboard while enforcing policies, especially in restricting the movement of vehicles carrying basic necessities such as food, medicines, and other health-related items.

In the same address, the President also said no Filipino would go hungry as a result of the lockdown, saying the government would make up for the loss of economic opportunities by launching “the largest and widest social protection program in our country’s history.”

“We have allotted P200 billion for low-income households who are badly affected by the current crisis,” he said.

He was referring to a provision under the Bayanihan to Heal as One law (Republic Act 11469) that allows government to realign PHP275 billion from the national budget in an effort to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in the country. With PNA

News

IN BRIEF Be earth-friendly, DENR asks Pinoys amid crisis THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources is urging the Filipino people to turn the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) crisis as a chance to form “earth-friendly” habits.

“Save water, use environmentfriendly materials to minimize trash and regulate the use of energy during the enhanced community quarantine,” Secretary Roy Cimatu said.

He urged households to use water responsibly and avoid wastage, especially with the expected increase in consumption, because of frequent hand washing and use of drinking water.

Earlier, the National Water Resources Board, DENR’s attached agency, said there would be an increased the water allocation of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System’s two water concessionaires from 42 cubic meters per second to its normal allocation of 46 cubic meters per second to ensure a steady water supply for Metro Manila amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny Antiporda said minimizing trash and segregating used personal protective equipment would substantially help garbage collectors in the collection and disposal of solid waste. Rio N. Araja

Respect truce, solon urges CPP-NPA, AFP A FIRST-TERM legislator on Tuesday called on the Armed Forces and communist-led New People’s Army to respect the ceasefire declared by President Rodrigo Duterte to hasten efforts to battle Covid-19 that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles made the call as an Army soldier and an NPA guerrilla were killed in a clash in Montalban, Rizal. The town is part of the province’s Second District that Nograles represents.

Capt. Jayrald Ternio of the Public Affairs Office of the Army’s Second Infantry Division, an estimated 30 NPA rebels attacked a group of 18 soldiers in barangay Puray at around 3 p.m. on Saturday.

The Second Infantry Division, which maintains a detachment in Montalban, is based at Camp Mariano Castaneda in Tanay, Rizal, that also belongs to the province’s District. Maricel V. Cruz

Overstaying Kuwaiti arrested in Davao City BUREAU of Immigration (BI) agents arrested an overstaying Kuwaiti national in Davao city whose deportation was sought by local officials for allegedly being a troublemaker in the community.

BI acting intelligence chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. identified the alien as Faisal Abdullah Almansour, who was arrested by operatives from the BI’s Mindanao Intelligence Task Group (MITG) at his home in Governor Generoso, Davao city.

Manahan said the foreigner was arrested after the BI received a complaint from Mayor Katrina Joy Orencia alleging that the Kuwaiti national was the subject of numerous complaints from residents in the neighborhood.

The mayor said Almansour had caused chaos and trouble in the community, thus necessitating his expulsion from the country.

Investigation revealed that the Kuwaiti national had overstayed in the country for more than seven years and that his passport already expired two years ago. Vito Barcelo

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Makati seniors get mid-year cash gift

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Makati City government announced on Tuesday it has started the early distribution of mid-year cash gift for senior citizens via door-to-door delivery with food packs.

Around 78,262 senior citizens under the city’s Blu Card program will be receiving the mid-year cash gift along with food packs to be delivered directly to their homes.

Mayor Abigail Binay said the city government has decided to give the cash gifts ahead of the usual schedule in June to help reassure the elderly of its steadfast support.

“We want to ease the anxiety of our senior citizens and assure them that we will continue to take care of them despite the crisis,” Binay said.

“By advancing this benefit, we aim

to give them the means to help out with household expenditures, especially for those whose breadwinners are daily wage earners,” she added.

The city chief executive said city government personnel will be delivering the cash gift and food packs right at the doorsteps of the beneficiaries so they need not go out.

“We ask our Blu Card members to stay home so they will surely be around to receive their allowance and food packs,” she said.

The mayor said senior citizens aged 60 to 69 years old will get P1,500 each, 70 to 79 years old, P2,000, and 80 to 89, P2,500.

She said that the city made use of its databank of vulnerable sectors to easily pinpoint those that should be prioritized in the provision of emergency assistance during critical situations such as the COVID-19 global pandemic.

NO TO CROWDING. Local government workers from the city governments of Parañaque (above) and Pasay (top) man the vegetable stalls as they will be selling the goods to their constituents to avoid the crowding of citizens in local markets and ease the possible spread of the COVIN-19.

Norman Cruz

Ill-fated plane’s ‘black box’ retrieved

By Joel E. Zurbano

T

HE team investigating the Ninoy Aquino International Airport plane mishap last Sunday was able to retrieve the aircraft’s flight data and cockpit voice recorders.

The retrieval would help probers determine what happened minutes before the Westwind 1124A type-aircraft owned and operated by Lionair Inc., crashed and caught fire along Runway 06/24 of the airport on the night of March 29.

The flight data recorder, according to Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesperson Eric Apolonio, is the

device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters.

He said the purpose of an FDR is to collect and record data from a variety of aircraft sensors into a medium designed to survive an accident.

Investigators also recovered the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder from the crash site.

The CVR is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of

an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents.

Apolonio said the CAAP made an arrangement for the analyzation of the recorded material and to process the FDR’s and CVR’s readouts.

“The rest of the aircraft’s parts have also been relocated to a nearby hangar where the investigation will continue,” said Apolonio.

CAAP grounded the entire fleet of Lionair, Inc. and suspended its operation after two of its medical evacuation planes crashed within seven months, of each other, killing 17 people aboard the two flights.

The recent one happened last Sunday when six Filipinos and two foreign nationals were killed while aboard the air-

craft bound for Japan which caught fire while taking off at the runway.

The other plane crash happened in Calamba City in Laguna where nine people died.

The investigation for the latest plane mishap is being conducted by the Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board, while the Flight Safety Investigation Committee (FSIC) is looking if there are aviation safety procedures violated by the aircraft operator and/or the crew.

CAAP Captain Don Mendoza earlier said the plane was airworthy and that all its pilots passed the requirements.

Lionair volunteered and helped the Department of Health to transport medical supplies and health commodities to Zamboanga, Mactan, Iloilo,

DISINFECTION SHOWER.

All vehicles entering the Alabang, Muntinlupa road from Bacoor, Cavite on March 31 were asked to go through a disinfection shower built by the Department of Public Works and Highways, Region 4A to prevent illness caused by the Covid 19. JR Josue

Partylist solon faces estafa case

SC okays online filing of cases, bail posting

A BUSINESS executive has filed qualified theft and syndicated estafa charges against Magsasaka party-list Rep. Argel Joseph Cabatbat before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.

Solomon “Dexter” Villamin Jr., DV Boer Microfinance Inc. president, accused Cabatbat, Gilbert Bugia, Rachel Bugia, Ariel Camarillo, Ma. Loreta Abelida Daguio, Sophia Bianca Parro, Liezel Regis Abella, Saron Jhon Sobrino, Julie Ann Cunanan, Paul Jeremy Peren, and the board members and incorporators of the Northwinds Farm Zambales of unauthorized release and disbursement of loans that benefited Bugia’s Northwinds Farm Zambales, “through his wife or through an obscure employee.”

He said the respondents were once affiliated with the microfinance firm.

“The crime happened in the company’s offices abovementioned. Crime transpired sometime from 2017 - 2019,” he said.

“Respondents, when they were still running the company, did not have a documented procedure of extending loans. Many loan applications were not completely filled out. Proof of financial capacity, such as proof of ownership of property, personal and business tax returns, certificate of employment and salary, etc., were absent. On the face of these lapses, the respondents let the loans through and the money out,” the complaint stated. Rio N. Araja

THE Supreme Court has allowed courts to receive complaints and posting of bail during the period of public health emergency arising from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta on Tuesday issued Administrative Circular No. 33-2020 allowing online filing of complaints before the first and second level courts and posting of bail purportedly to reduce the “necessity of the judge and court staff to physically

By Rey E. Requejo

travel to their stations.”

AC No. 33-2020, which is addressed to all litigants, judges and personnel of the first and second level courts, and members of the Bar, mandates implementation of online filing of complaint or information and posting of bail due to the rising cases of COVID-19 infection.

“Criminal complaints and information, together with other supporting documents, may be filed through electronic transmission or email before the proper first and second level court.

Once the complaint or information is received by the court, the Clerk of Court shall refer the same to the judge on duty who shall personally evaluate the complaint or the resolution of the prosecutor, and its supporting evidence,” the circular stated.

Within three days, the judge on duty must evaluate the filings and decide to either immediately dismiss the case or issue a warrant of arrest or a commitment order. The judge may also order the prosecutor to electronically submit additional evidence, the circular added.

Prayers offered for ex-DAR chief Alvarez, wife

By Rio N. Araja THE Department of Agrarian Reform community is now praying for its former chief, Heherson Alvarez, and his wife Cecile Guidote, who are both in critical condition in a hospital in Manila due to coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) infection.

Its management requested for prayers for the immediate recovery of the wellloved couple to be recited at the em-

ployees’ homes in compliance with the government’s strict stay-at-home policy to prevent the further spread of the virus.

The couple were said to have been placed under intubation after their condition got worse.

The DAR employees wish that the Alvarezes survive the virus.

Alvarez, now 80, assumed office at the DAR on May 1, 1986 until he relinquished the post to run and eventually won a seat in the Senate in the

1987 national elections.

He served out the two-term limit for senator in 1998.

Meanwhile, Secretary John Castriciones, in his latest video conference with the agency’s third-level officials, directed Undersecretary for Support Services Office Emily Padilla to come up with a proposal on how to support the agrarian reform beneficiaries in line with the government’s program “Bayanihan to Heal as One.”

A4

Opinion

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Fighting SARS CoV-2 WHY is there need for lockdown and social distancing? The answer lies in what is called reproductive number of the virus. To stop it, the reproductive number must be 1 or 0, what scientists call the R-nought. If one patient infects only one person, the virus stops spreading.

However, SARS CoV-2 has an R/0 of two to five. An infected person infects two to five more and each of those two to five in turn infect their own twos to fives. The result is an epidemic which, if it leaps into two or more continents, becomes a pandemic. To stop that, the usual reaction of governments is lock down, immobilize people en masse, ask them to wash their hands and be six feet apart while socializing.

The other problem with SARS CoV-2 is that the disease it causes, COVID-19, has a long incubation period, from two days to two weeks with an average of five days. Incubation is when symptoms start to appear after infection. So an infected person can show no symptoms between two days and two weeks. During that time, he keeps infecting two to five other people and the chain goes on.

How do you stop that spread? Again, lock down huge patches of the population where Patient Zero has appeared.

How do you spot Patient Zero before he becomes one? Testing, testing, testing.

How do you locate the two to five he has infected? Contact tracing.

Here, you need manpower and vast technology: cellular phones with GPS, Instagram and Facebook accounts of contacts, database of addresses like voters’ lists, LTO drivers list, even the Pantawid Pamilya lists.

It's all about contact, contact, contact.

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

And location, location, location—and the hell with privacy.

In Wuhan, a city of 11 million, 1,800 contact tracing teams were formed, each with five people. In Metro Manila, a metropolis of 14 million, contact tracing is almost non-existent; perfunctory at most, lacking focus, diligence, and rigor.

To battle the virus, four Ts are needed— testing, tracing, treatment, and trust in the government.

Aside from discipline of its people, South Korea went into massive testing, testing, testing. More than 348,000 tested at 10,000 daily for eight weeks, from early February.

This brought down daily new cases from 800 on March 3 to 105 by March 28, and limited deaths to 158, only one percent of 9,661 cases. South Korea has 51 million people. It had over 348,000 tested. The Philippines has 110 million people. It tested only 2,300 during the same eight weeks.

In a way despite our almost criminal negligence, we are lucky to tally 1,546 cases, with 78 deaths. But that is not because of success against the virus; it is the result of negligence— the lack of adequate testing. Which means our confirmed cases are probably understated by a ratio of five to one, meaning the actual cases could be more than 7,000 by now.

The key to solving the virus crisis problem is testing, testing, testing, up to 500,000 tests at the rate of 15,000 per day. If you achieve that level of testing, there might be no need for a lockdown.

Without a lockdown, we can restart the economy which has lost P1 trillion in production and massive hun-

Nobody’s fools I

N ORDINARY times, today would have been a day for pranks. It’s the first of April, after all. But our days now are extraordinary; our challenges existential and profound. The mood is too somber for silly jokes.

Unfortunately, often we feel that some people—sometimes, the leaders who of all people should be in charge and coherent and who should serve as good examples—are still playing pranks on us.

The past three weeks have been so different from how we used to pass our days. Along with our fear of contracting the disease, our empathy for those who are sick and those who go against the odds to treat them, we are likewise anxious about how the people will be enabled to deal with the pandemic.

Many have stepped up to the challenge. The private sector, development sector, and some other officials have set an example in helping one another despite great restrictions.

Unfortunately, the bad jokes being played on the Filipino officials— by those precisely tasked to help them—grate.

Amid a shortage of testing kits, many “VIPs” and their families and staff members elected to get themselves tested even if they did not have any symptoms. They demand-

ed a swift release of results and even re-tests, dislodging from the queue others with more pronounced symptoms who should have been given appropriate treatment. As a result, many have died without even receiving their test results.

A senator who has now sealed his place in history had the temerity to accompany his wife, set to give birth, to the hospital. He went shopping at a supermarket at a time he was supposed to be in quarantine. He later on tested positive for COVID-19.

Yet another senator lived up to his reputation of taking selfies on most occasions. Some showed him distributing relief to fire victims— clearly neglecting social distancing.

A health official continues to refuse to act with urgency on the need to get more people tested for the virus, even as the experience of other countries have shown that it is only through mass testing that any society can hope to slow the virus’ spread.

On Monday night, the nation waited for updates on how the national government was faring in its dis-

charge of emergency powers. We had hoped for a prompt announcement, but were willing to extend patience for seven more hours just to be reassured by the President.

We did not quite agree that medical frontliners were “fortunate” to die for their country, when they should not be dying in the first place.

While the chief executive said he was worried about us and that he had billions to spare, we wanted to hear more. How will the money be spent? What exactly will be done to speed up the rate of testing?

How and how soon will hospitals be equipped to deal adequately with the crisis?

In this global pandemic, each country’s failure or success will be determined by the decisions and actions of its leaders. As we wait out the crisis from the safety of our homes, we will observe how our decision-makers are conducting themselves. We will commend their worthy initiatives and criticize those less worthy. We will call out follies and reject being made fools, not because we want to bring anyone down or prove ourselves better than others, but because blunders will mean lives.

We will do this because we know the only way to survive is to survive together.

Turn to A5

Food worries

THE nation and our government are in deep crisis.

All because of the spread of the coronavirus labelled by the WHO as COVID-19. And all because our health system is largely unprepared for the magnitude of this pandemic. To be fair, many other countries, wealthier and more advanced than we are, are not prepared.

We look at countries like Germany and tiny Singapore, South Korea and even Taiwan, and we see the death ratio to COVID cases as being extremely low. For Germany, it is one tenth of one percent; for Singapore, one third of 1 percent; South Korea’s ratio of death to identified cases is similar to Taiwan’s, at 0.016 percent.

But we wonder why rich countries like the USA, Italy, Spain, France and the UK are registering higher mortality rates: highest for Italy with 11.4 percent; Spain with 8.8 percent; France with 6.8 percent, the UK with 6.3 percent. The USA now has 163,479 identified infection cases, with 3,148 deaths, at this point a lower 2 percent. The governor of New York is worried it will go much higher, while their president, Donald Trump, seems quite befuddled as he tries to out-lie his previous lies on the “China virus.”

Ours is about 5-percent mortality at an identified 1,546 cases as of Monday evening, but at the rate our doctors and nurses are dying, and at the rate they are dropping out of fatigue and demoralization, giving the lack of facilities and equipment, we worry that first, we haven’t seen the peak rate of infection, neither

the mortality rate that is likely to go higher.

Which brings us to the question of whether our government leaders can lift the lockdown by Easter—Pasko ng Pagkabuhay.

DILG Sec. Eduardo Ano (one among the troika of lockdown implementers) wants it lifted as originally scheduled because of the effects on the economy. At the rate our health system and its top official are wading through uncertainty and indecision, Ano’s desire may be more of wishful thinking.

Food security is national security.

We haven’t reached the peak of the health crisis; reasonable estimates place the peak being reached in midMay at best, even mid-June. I hope, I pray these are wrong, by some miracle of faith.

Let me zero in on just one major, major aspect of the economic fallout—food.

This is the third week of the lockdown. How much of our emergency food inventory (rice, canned goods, instant noodles, the kind that are being packed for distribution to the nowork, no-pay population) has had a demand and supply shock, and will continue to dwindle in the next two weeks? Let alone an extension due to an unabated state of the nation’s health breakdown?

Food manufacturing facilities have either closed, or are on the verge of closing. First because workers are discombobulated; second, because supply chains are disrupted; third because of port congestion, a logistical problem brought about by the extensive quarantine, and many other Turn to A5

A cry for help CROSSROADS J.A. DE LA CRUZ I JUST received a note from a friend of mine who runs a small restaurant (30 tables) and a retail shop in a mall selling antiques and artworks from struggling artists. He employs about 30 people and takes in additional ones (mainly servers) if the need arises. He has been dutifully paying his dues: rentals, utilities, taxes and, of course, wages and benefits for his workers.

Since the lockdown began, he has

tried as best as he can to ensure that his workers are taken care of: the

What is the government’s plan for micro-, smalland medium-sized businesses? regular ones he gave their monthly wages as well as have their leaves credited for extra funds. The others, he shelled out whatever he can to get them through until the lockdown's

lifting.

Beyond that, he can only hope that things will somewhat "normalize" although he realizes that it will be a new normal, if ever. Thus, he is crying out for help like all the other small and micro, perhaps even medium, enterprises out there who have to restart themselves under very, very tight conditions. Here's his take which hopefully government and others can look into: "The President in his address late last night said that help is coming but mainly to address the urgent needs of the ‘poorest of the poor’ and the disTurn to A5

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Opinion An appeal for global ceasefire

By Antonio Guterres Secretary-General of the United Nations OUR world faces a common enemy: COVID-19.

The virus does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith.

It attacks all, relentlessly.

Meanwhile, armed conflict rages on around the world.

The most vulnerable—women and children, people with disabilities, the marginalized and the displaced—pay the highest price.

They are also at the highest risk of suffering devastating losses from COVID-19.

Let’s not forget that in war-ravaged countries, health systems have col-

Food worries From A4

unexpected disturbances of the normal conduct of business operations.

In a previous article I mentioned the “just-in-time” (JIT) normal practice of procuring raw materials and supplies as close to processing as possible, for cost economies.

The JIT impacts on supply, while the emergency creates an unforeseen high demand, with LGUs and the national government procuring food supplies much faster than they would normally do in times of natural calamities such as typhoons and earthquakes, the former just around the corner after the “peak” is reached and the COVID infection curve flattens.

The best scenario would be to move from an Enhanced Community Quarantine, which is the present norm, and downgrade into some kind of modified lockdown, allowing for curing the disruptions as best as possible, so that economic activity would have a semblance of normalcy.

But that again would depend on the ability of the health system to contain COVID-19 by ramping up implementation of urgently needed practices we failed to do for the last two months.

Now let me discuss the rice situation, as it is the staple food of our people.

The IATF, speaking through Cabinet Sec. Karlo Nograles, recently announced that we will import 300,000 metric tons equivalent to about nine days of the country’s normal consumption level to augment our rice inventory.

That rice inventory is good for 75 days (pre-lockdown), of which 60 days is in the hands of the private sector, whether commercial traders or households, and 15 days inside NFA warehouses. With the lockdown’s emergency measures, foremost of which is the immediate distribution of food to the marginal sectors, those 15-day stocks are fast depleting.

The DA and NFA proposed this immediate emergency action, but as of this writing, it is yet to be approved by our economic managers, which will have to consider how this squares off with the one-year-old Rice Tarrification Law and its implementing rules. The NFA is nothing more than a public warehouse agency; maybe the PITC, created under martial law for barter trade and since given authority to trade with money, could be utilized for the purpose.

The problem is compounded by the recent suspension of export trading

by Vietnam, our largest supplier of imported rice. In an article on this space last March 2 entitled “Havoc,” I wrote about the tightening of world supplies of rice, with China’s under-production due to Wuhan’s

lapsed.

Health professionals, already few in number, have often been targeted.

Refugees and others displaced by violent conflict are doubly vulnerable.

The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war.

That is why today, I am calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world.

It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives.

To warring parties, I say: Pull back from hostilities.

Put aside mistrust and animosity.

Silence the guns; stop the artillery; end the airstrikes.

This is crucial…

To help create corridors for life-saving aid.

To open precious windows for diplomacy.

To bring hope to places among the most vulnerable to COVID-19.

Let us take inspiration from coalitions and dialogue slowly taking shape among rival parties to enable joint approaches to COVID-19. But we need much more.

End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world.

It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere. Now. That is what our human family needs, now more than ever.

woes (20 percent of China’s total production), Pakistan and India’s locust infestation, along with lockdowns as well, and with Vietnam and Thailand intending to cut their export volumes.

Government need not have gone public with the need to import. In rice trading, silence is golden. Under present dire circumstances, it would have been better if we quietly negotiated with our Asean suppliers to secure our needed rice shortfall. By announcing what has yet to be implemented, we risk a scramble for supplies from similarly situated shortfall countries, competing for a thin marketable volume of 6 percent of the world’s total production of rice.

The USDA upped the ante, by predicting that we will need to import 3.3 million metric tons this year, a 14-percent increase from last year’s massive imports which our farmers decried and continue to decry. (Take note: even our rice-producing provinces are on lockdown mode).

Expectedly, the farm sector, speaking through the Federation of Free Farmers national manager Raul Montemayor, an expert on the economics of rice, is raising a howl. “ They should have kept this plan under wraps for now. DA is asking farmers to plant, plant, plant, but at the same time they are already thinking of importing,” rued Montemayor.

But then again, food security is essential, whether in normal times, or in times such as these, when calamity sees no light at end.

But if the commercial sector has ample supply, and its inventory of lower-grade rice not moving due to quarantine restrictions, plus free NFA rice supplanting part of their usual market, an intermediate measure could probably be undertaken by government.

Part of the 2019 privately-imported rice stocks could be taken by government, given the public emergency, compensated at landed cost with the 35-percent tariff reimbursed as well, or applied as tax credit for the next round of private-sector imports.

300,000 metric tons, assuming the cited figure is correct, should amount to at most P8.3 billion at current exchange rates. The other assumption of course is that the import cost declaration is correct.

This practice could in fact be replicated in future exigencies, with NFA providing free warehousing and the DOF waiving the tariff for every metric ton withdrawn by the NFA from privately-owned stock. This way, no public funds are used for rice imports, and whatever NFA gets by way of budget subsidy is devoted to buying palay from our farmers at competitive prices.

Once again, we repeat the mantra, that “food security is national security.”

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Fighting major crises: Fiscal policy vs. monetary policy THE way things are looking, the world economy is headed for a downturn of very serious proportions. Just how serious the downturn will be—whether or not it will be categorizable as a depression—will depend on how quickly the Covid-19 outbreak is contained.

The world has been fighting two wars concurrently: the medical war of containing the corona virus outbreak and the economic war of keeping the world economy from going into a deep downturn. While the medical war is being fought, the economic war has become more complicated and more pain-filled with every passing day. The bad things that had been happening to the economies of an increasing number of countries—the losses of demand, incomes, profits and jobs—have suggested to the world’s economic policymakers that the coming downturn is going to be deep and prolonged.

Accordingly, the heads of treasuries and central banks around the world have set aside the usual operational limits and have begun to think mainly in fiscal-policy terms.

In the most recent monetary deployment, the world’s No. 1 central bank, the US Fed (Federal Reserve Board) has announced a policy of QE (quantitative easing) that is more far-reaching than the QE policy that it brought into play in the 2008 global crisis; the new Fed policy is virtually a no-limits policy. Prior to the recent action of the Fed, several other major central banks had positioned themselves for a monetary assault against the corona virus pandemic, allowing special lending programs for small-business and other special borrowers and reducing their interest rates to near-zero levels.

There has been a continuing debate about the comparative efficiencies of economic policy tools among practitioners of crisis-time econom-

ic policymaking. Some practitioners argue that monetary policy tools are better for crisis-solving; others contend that policy actions of a fiscal nature are preferable for dealing with COVID-19-type situations.

The debate must, in this instance at least, be decided in favor of fiscal policy.

The principal function of a central bank is to manage the money supply in order to ensure that the supply of money will be at a level sufficient for (1) the accommodation of all legitimate emergency demand for funds and (2) the maintenance of general price stability. A central bank undoubtedly has a very important role to play in the kind of economic environment in which many countries find themselves today, but the bad things that are taking place in most economies with frightening rapidity—business closures, layoffs, food shortages, etc.—are not the kinds of things that are turned around by measures such as more easily accessible loans, lower interest rates and required-reserve ratio (RRR) reductions. These measures are very helpful but at a time like the present, with bad economic news following one another in quick succession, what are needed most are policy measures of the quick-disbursing kind.

This is because monetary policy does not lend itself easily to needfor-quick-response situations. True,

Fighting...

From A4

ger and joblessness, in the cities and in the countryside.

In South Korea, even as cases piled up to the rate of 800 a day which happened for two days, the country never locked down entire towns, cities or region. Their economy keeps humming.

To battle the virus, four Ts are needed—testing, tracing, treatment, and trust in the government.

For the first three Ts—testing, tracing, and treatment, we need numbers. How many tests are required in the Philippines? A certain Dr. Salvana says the capacity is not more than 1,000 daily. That is grossly inadequate.

Congressman Joey Salceda says 5,000 daily tests are needed.

I feel we need to do as many as 15,000 tests a day to be a step or two away from the virus.

If Wuhan, much smaller than Metro Manila, could assemble 1,800 teams, our national capital should be able to mobilize at least 500 teams of five people each, using the manpower of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (easily 400,000), and the idled IT work force of private companies. Both Globe Telecom and Smart PLDT have location apps in their cellular network which has more than 120 million subscribers—more than the population of the Philippines. Moreover, the banking system has 22,000 ATMS nationwide, a veritable, accurate and specific data base of addresses

A cry...

From A4

advantaged. I can understand that.

They need to be assisted as they are in most need of government assistance. But I hope the government will also take a look at the situation of business, specially micro, small and perhaps even medium sized ones, all of whom will have to restart their trade somehow. These sectors employ the majority of our workers yet they do not have the same kind of voice as the Big Ones who get to hobnob with friends in high places and get their concerns answered quite quickly. We need to also know how we can work things out in these hard times so that we can support not just ourselves but the millions of workers and their families who depend on us for their existence. We

in this country a Monetary Board resolution is all that is needed to make a larger quantity of lower-cost money available to the banking system, but banks just do not stuff money into the pockets of those who, in an emergency, need financial rescue urgently. Those who are in direst need of emergency financing—the small and medium-size enterprises (SMSEs) that have stopped operating and the workers whom they have been forced to dismiss—must first file loan applications, which the banks then subject to processing. This defeats the whole idea of emergency financing, the essence of which is quickness.

The foregoing discussion presupposes that loan-experiencing SMSEs and dismissed workers are inclined to seek, and banks are inclined to grant, loans during economically stressful times, like the present. This, usually, is not the case. Workers who have just lost their jobs usually are disinclined to incur more debt, and banks usually are unwilling to grant loans to such individuals.

The long-running debate regarding the comparative worth of monetary policy and fiscal policy— whether one is superior, overall, to the other as a means of restoring economic stability—is being sharpened by the progressive deterioration by the world’s largest economy, the US economy, occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. Can central bank measures mainly do the job of stopping the deterioration? Or is fiscal action by the government, especially quickly-disbursed grants and benefits, required to bring a bad economic situation under control?

Given the speed with which demand and production are drying up because of the worldwide lockdowns, the debate must, in this instance at least, be decided in favor of fiscal policy.

and names.

Because of inadequate testing and contact tracing, our DoH never found out who Patient Zero is and where is he is now, and how many he infected. What DoH traced are the first three cases, three Chinese from Wuhan, and a husband and wife who frequented Greenhills, San Juan and became infected. Since the Filipino husband and wife (Case 4 and 5) never met Case 1, 2 and 3 (the three Chinese), they were infected by somebody else. That is Patient Zero.

As for treatment, we need numbers asap. Assuming 300,000 health personnel (doctors, nurses, assistants, the cleaning people) who need one set of personal protective equipment (masks or face shields, goggles, gloves, gowns, shoes, and shoe covers, etc) or PPE set for 30 days, that's 9 million ppes.

For a start, the Philippine system probably needs one million PPEs right now, plus three million masks.

Ventilators? Fewer than 100 have died. Half of them probably would have been saved with ventilators. Assuming 1,500 would die by April, we need to order 750 ventilators right now.

We need the IATF on the coronavirus to crunch these numbers. We don’t know the situation on the testing and treatment front. If we cannot solve the four Ts, we cannot solve the economic slowdown and the hunger and mass joblessness it has caused. And we lose P40 billion day in economic output. biznewsasia@gmail.com

would like the government and other leaders to give us some answers and stay our fears: Do we have a stimulus package for businesses specially micro, small and medium ones? The Big Ones, I am sure, can take care of themselves; perhaps they have even steered government to their favorite incentives.

Are there any fiscal and monetary policies in place to help us out during this crisis?

The government says it will provide five to eight thousand pesos allowance for all salaried workers.

How can we avail of this incentive for our own workers? What are the guidelines? What about those who are outsourced and working on a day-to-day basis? Some of these are our own workers too?

Can the Bangko Sentral provide assistance in terms of our loans and amortizations? Can they increase

credit limits? Can they oblige the banks for deferred payments?

Can mall owners forego rentals for at least 60 even up to 90 days? Or at least extend payment terms?

Can government assist us as far as business taxes are concerned? Can we have extended payment terms or even a moratorium?

Can government also assist in terms of sourcing for our requirements like, say, for our supply of ingredients, equipment and the like?"

There are a number of other issues that my friend raised but I will leave these for some other time. Suffice it to say that there are a thousand and one concerns out these specially for these SMSEs and micro enterprises including those businesses in the informal sector which need to be looked into if we are going to be regain our footing—and move forward.

A6

World

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Trump, Putin discuss fuel price plunge, coronavirus PRESIDENT Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed plunging oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic Monday, as Trump said Moscow is pressing for an end to US sanctions.

The two “expressed serious concern regarding the scope of the spread of the coronavirus” and “discussed closer cooperation,” according to a Kremlin statement on what it described as the “lengthy” phone call.

The White House said in a separate statement Trump and Putin had “agreed to work closely together through the G20” against the virus and the economic shock resulting from travel bans and social distancing.

Both statements reported that the oil market turmoil was discussed, with the White House version stating agreement on the “importance of stability in global energy markets.”

The Kremlin version said only that they “exchanged opinions” on oil.

Earlier, Trump had said he was going to use the call to raise objections over a Russian-Saudi price war driving down world oil prices and “really hurting” the US energy industry.

“This is a fight between Saudi Arabia and Russia... and they both went crazy,” Trump told Fox News in an interview shortly before talking to Putin.

“I never thought I'd be saying that maybe we have to have an oil (prices) increase, because we do,” Trump said.

Sanctions Trump also told Fox he expected Putin would use the call to push for a lifting of US sanctions on Russia.

“He'll probably ask for that,” Trump told Fox News. “He’s been asking that for two years.”

Trump did not say what his response would be, noting that he had put sanctions on Russia but adding: “They don’t like that. Frankly we should be able to get along.”

Neither the Kremlin nor White House statement mentioned sanctions.

The bulk of US sanctions against Russia were imposed over Moscow's annexation of Crimea in Ukraine and what US investigators say was a concerted attempt to interfere in the 2016 presidential election won

by Trump.

Last Thursday, Putin told G20 leaders during a conference call that he wanted a moratorium on sanctions as a “matter of life and death” during the global coronavirus outbreak. AFP

UN urges $2.5tr in aid package to virus hit developing countries T

HE UN called Monday for a $2.5-trillion aid package to help developing countries weather the COVID-19 pandemic, including debt cancellation and a health recovery “Marshal Plan.”

A report from the United Nations Conference on Trade, Investment and Development (UNCTAD) noted that the two-thirds of the global population who live in developing countries (excluding China) face “unprecedented economic damage” from the crisis.

“It is... a matter of immediate urgency for the international community to co-ordinate appropriate economic rescue packages with a more global reach to address the looming financing gap which many developing countries are now imminently facing,” the report said.

In the two months since COVID-19 began spreading beyond China, de-

veloping countries have been hit hard by capital outflows, currency depreciations, and lost export earnings, notably from falling commodity prices and declining tourist revenues.

In most areas, the impact is worse than during the 2008 financial crisis, UNCTAD said.

“Economic fallout from the shock is ongoing and increasingly difficult to predict but there are clear indications that things will get much worse for developing economies before they get better,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said in a statement.

The report was released as the number of cases soared past 700,000,

including more than 33,500 deaths, and with nearly 3.4 billion people under lockdown.

No ‘magic money tre’ While leading economic powers have put together unprecedented government rescue packages, UNCTAD stressed that developing countries do not have “a magic money tree.”

“Lacking the monetary, fiscal and administrative capacity to respond to this crisis, the consequences of a combined health pandemic and a global recession will be catastrophic for many developing countries,” it warned.

UNCTAD’s head of globalisation and development strategies Richard Kozul-Wright pointed out that the world's 20 largest economies had “promised to do 'whatever it takes’ to stop their firms and households from taking a heavy loss of income.”

“But if G20 leaders are to stick to their

IN BRIEF Mexican journo dies in ambush A JOURNALIST was ambushed and shot dead in Mexico's eastern Veracruz state, local officials said Monday, the latest murder of a media worker in a country notoriously dangerous for reporters.

Maria Elena Ferral, a correspondent for the Diario de Xalapa daily newspaper, was getting into her car in Papantla when two men on motorbikes opened fire and mortally wounded her before fleeing the scene, a police source told AFP. "Despite the efforts of doctors to save her life, we are terribly sorry to learn that a few minutes ago the journalist Maria Elena Ferral died," Veracruz governor Cuitlahuac Garcia wrote on Twitter.

Mexico is one of the world's most dangerous countries for reporters, with more than 100 murdered since 2000.

"The authorities should immediately investigate these events and provide protection to her family and colleagues," Balbina Flores of media rights group Reporters Without Borders told AFP. AFP

Huge forest fire in China kills 19 PYRAMID SHOW. A picture taken on March 30, 2020 at the Giza plateau outside the Egyptian capital Cairo shows the Great pyramid of Kheops where a laser projection writes ‘Stay home, stay safe,’ amid the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus. AFP

N.Korea slams Pompeo, warns cutting off dialogue with US NUCLEAR-ARMED North Korea on Monday warned it could cut off dialogue with the United States, but Washington's top diplomat said the US still looked forward to talks, even after the North called his insistence on sanctions “ludicrous.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week told nations to “stay committed to applying diplomatic and economic pressure” over the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes while calling on it to return to talks.

A string of weapons drills by Pyongyang has come during a prolonged hiatus in disarmament talks with the US and despite overtures from Washington offering help against the coronavirus pandemic.

“Listening to Pompeo’s ludicrous language made us give up on any hopes for

commitment of ‘a global response in the spirit of solidarity,’ there must be commensurate action for the six billion people living outside the core G20 economies,” he said.

Monday's report called on the global community to provide an aid package of $2.5 trillion (2.3 trillion euros) to developing countries.

That included a $1.0-trillion liquidity injection made possible by reallocating existing special drawing rights at the International Monetary Fund, as well as a new, large allocation.

It also included $1.0 trillion in debt relief, as well as a $500-billion “Marshall Plan for Health Recovery” funded from already-pledged but never delivered official development assistance.

UNCTAD said that over the past decade, wealthy countries had failed to dish out $2.0 trillion in promised development aid to developing countries. AFP

dialogue,” an unnamed official in charge of negotiations with the US said in a statement released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

“We will walk our way,” the official said.

Analysts say the North continues to refine its weapons capabilities more than a year after a summit between the North’s leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump broke down in Vietnam.

Negotiations have since been deadlocked over sanctions relief and what the North would be willing to give up in return.

North Korea is under multiple sets of sanctions from the United Nations, United States and others over its banned weapons programmes.

Pompeo had “unleashed insult at a

country with which his president was willing to forge a good relationship”, the official continued, referring to Trump's letter sent to Kim expressing an intent to cooperate in anti-epidemic efforts.

“It is puzzling who the real commander in chief is in the US,” the official said.

Waiting for ‘progress’ But in a telephone briefing with South Korea's Yonhap and other Asian news outlets, Pompeo said his position and that of Trump have always been “in lockstep.”

“We have been trying very diligently from the American side since to move forward with those negotiations and hope that we will get an opportunity to do that,” Pompeo said, referring back to the groundbreaking 2018 summit in Singapore between Trump and Kim.

At that meeting, the two men signed a vague statement on denuclearisation.

“President Trump has also been clear, until we get to that point, till we get to the point where we have made sufficient progress along the way, the sanctions— not American sanctions, but UN Security Council resolutions—will continue to be enforced and in place,” Pompeo added.

The criticism from the North Korean official came after the North earlier Monday said it had successfully tested “superlarge multiple rocket launchers” the day before.

South Korea said two projectiles—presumed to be ballistic missiles—were fired on Sunday from the North Korean port city of Wonsan into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea. AFP

Citizens Harry, Meghan start US life

MEGXIT. In this file photo taken on March 05, 2020 Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (R) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in London on March 5, 2020. Prince Harry's wife Meghan will make an instant start to life away from Britain's royal frontline by na rating a new film about a family of African elephants, Disney announced on Thursday. AFP

LONDON—Prince Harry and his wife Meghan formally step down as senior members of the British royal family on Tuesday, as they start a controversial new life in the United States.

The couple have already relocated to California, according to reports, after announcing in January that they intended to quit royal life and "work to become financially independent."

The decision means they will no longer carry out duties on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II and are giving up their office within the monarchy in Britain.

It follows reports Meghan was deeply unhappy with life inside the centuries-old institution and increasing complaints from the couple about media intrusion.

Their shock announcement rocked the royal family, appearing to blindside the queen and other senior family members.

It led the 93-year-old monarch to call an emergency summit with her eldest son and heir Prince Charles, and his two sons Princes William and Harry, to thrash out the terms of their departure.

The family eventually agreed the

couple, who have an 11-month-old son Archie, will relinquish their His or Her Royal Highness titles, and no longer use the "Sussex Royal" label.

They currently use the name for their popular Instagram account and website, and had also made dozens of trademark applications with it for various products.

However, they will continue to be known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, their official titles, and Harry remains sixth in line to the throne, with no change in the line of succession.

Dream soured Harry and Meghan's departure— dubbed "Megxit" by the British press— is a far cry from 2018, when they married in a fairytale wedding at Windsor Castle watched around the world.

Meghan, 38, a former TV actress who is of mixed race, was seen as a breath of fresh air for the royal family, which is often characterised as overly stuffy.

But relations with the media soon soured, with some newspapers accused of peddling offensive racial stereotypes and dishing out unfair criticism. AFP

EIGHTEEN firefighters and one forestry guide died while fighting a huge forest fire in southwestern China, the local government said Tuesday.

State television footage showed large flames shooting into the sky from the mountains above the city of Xichang in Sichuan province, turning the sky orange.

Heavy clouds of smoke billowed above the buildings and roads of the city, which has a population of some 700,000 people.

The blaze started near Xichang in the southwestern province's mountainous Liangshan prefecture at 3:00 pm (0700 GMT) on Monday, "directly threatening the safety of Xichang city", the city government said in a Weibo statement on Tuesday morning.

More than 140 fire engines, four helicopters and nearly 900 firefighters have been sent to tackle the blaze, according to local officials.

In total over two thousand emergency workers are involved in rescue efforts to contain the blaze and more than 1,200 local people have been evacuated.

Helicopters were still battling the blaze Tuesday morning.

Several forest fires have broken out in the same prefecture in recent days, reported state news agency Xinhua.

Last April, twenty-seven firefighters were killed in a huge forest fire in Muli County in the same prefecture. Authorities deployed 700 firefighters to the scene. AFP

Who's driving?

Ask the pitbull LOS ANGELES—A resident of the western US state of Washington was arrested following a high-speed chase that left officers dumbfounded after they found the man's pit bull behind the wheel.

The incident unfolded Sunday afternoon after police received calls about a driver hitting two vehicles in an area south of Seattle and then speeding away, state trooper Heather Axtman told AFP. She said the emergency services subsequently got multiple calls about a car traveling erratically at more than 100 miles per hours (160 kilometers per hour).

Axtman said that as officers gave chase, they got close to the vehicle—a 1996 Buick—and were shocked to see a pit bull in the driver's seat and a man steering and pushing the gas pedal from the passenger side.

The pursuit ended after police deployed spike strips and arrested 51-year-old Alberto Tito Alejandro, who was booked on multiple felonies including driving under the influence of drugs. AFP

Business

A7

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stock market rallies; URC rises T HE stock market bounced back Tuesday following another rally on Wall Street overnight, with traders welcoming a surprise jump in Chinese factory activity.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index jumped 190.07 points, or 3.7 percent, to 5,321.23 on a value turnover of P7.4 billion. Gainers beat losers, 132 to 53, with 41 issues unchanged.

Universal Robina Corp., the largest snack food maker, advanced 6.6 percent to P104, while parent JG Summit Holdings Inc. of the Gokongwei Group rallied 5.7 percent to P52.30 Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the second-biggest lender in terms of assets,

climbed 6.4 percent to P40, while SM Investments Corp. of the Sy Group rose 6.2 percent to P818.

Most Asian equities, meanwhile, enjoyed gains Tuesday while oil bounced, though analysts cautioned that the road ahead remained rocky for the global economy.

The World Bank also warned that fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could bring China’s growth to a standstill, with even a best-case scenario seeing expansion slow to 2.3 percent from 6.1 percent in 2019.

Trillions of dollars pledged to offset the economic impact of the deadly virus have provided a semblance of stability to world markets, which were initially pummeled by the rapid spread of the disease, which has forced swathes of the planet—and the economy—into lockdown.

While the number of infections and deaths continues to rise, observers said

to end down two percent, having soared seven percent Monday on its best day in history. Tokyo finished 0.9 percent lower.

“Stock market price action suggests that investors are comfortable with the ‘whatever it takes, whatever is necessary’ policymakers’ response so far into a deep economic recession,” said AxiCorp’s Stephen Innes.

“At a minimum, the massive monetary and fiscal stimulus gives investors some breathing room with fingers crossed for a health care solution.”

He added that market players were now turning their attention to the implementation of government stimulus measures.

“This is positive in its own right as it suggests investors are already getting their shopping list ready for the bounce back when government policy tries to raise GDP,” he said. With AFP

traders appear to be getting used to the new normal, with some suggesting the sell-off in stocks may have seen its worst.

“Certainly we are seeing bottoming in the equity market,” Jun Bei Liu of Tribeca Investment Partners told Bloomberg TV. But she added it was “very hard to see equities rally away, on the basis that the infections are still getting worse and the employment numbers continue to track lower.”

After another rally on Wall Street, which saw all three main indexes jump more than three percent, Asia picked up the baton.

Hong Kong, Jakarta and Wellington were all more than one percent higher, Mumbai climbed more than three percent, while Singapore, Seoul and Bangkok were more than two percent better off. Shanghai edged up 0.1 percent.

But Sydney reversed early advances

Manila Standard BuSineSS daily StockS review tueSday, March 31, 2020

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

44.45 62.8 103.5 0.6 20.45 15 7.53 2.69 718 0.26 38.25 0.52 20.1 167 16.6 105 53.9 1.01

44.9 63.9 106 0.6 20.6 15.5 7.97 3.13 718 0.27 40.45 0.67 20.75 168.8 17.1 109 53.9 1.12

44.45 60.7 102.5 0.6 20.1 15 7.53 2.69 718 0.26 38.25 0.52 19.9 165 16.5 104.7 53 1.01

FINANCIALS 44.9 2,700 61.8 3,723,630 103.5 3,697,910 0.6 9,000 20.15 54,000 15.5 2,600 7.7 142,200 3.13 5,000 718 20 0.26 390,000 40 7,019,200 0.67 22,000 20.05 716,100 168.8 500 17.1 11,900 107 638,970 53.1 16,130 1.12 17,000

120,545 230,418,157 383,650,219 5,400 1,090,900 40,000 1,107,104 14,410 14,360 102,700 277,762,270 11,740 14,373,375 83,486 202,044 68,447,642 856,530 17,830

INDUSTRIAL ABOITIZ POWER AC ENERGY AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS AXELUM BASIC ENERGY BOGO MEDELLIN CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CIRTEK HLDG CONCEPCION CROWN ASIA DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP EMPERADOR EUROMED FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG FRUITAS HLDG GINEBRA GREENERGY HOLCIM INTEGRATED MICR IONICS JOLLIBEE LMG CHEMICALS MACAY HLDG MANILA WATER MAXS GROUP MEGAWIDE MERALCO PANASONIC PEPSI COLA PETROENERGY PETRON PHINMA PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL PRYCE CORP RFM CORP ROXAS AND CO SFA SEMICON SHAKEYS PIZZA SMC FOODANDBEV SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VIVANT VULCAN INDL

25.05 1.93 6.57 0.53 1.17 2.11 0.164 85 1.05 13.5 6.55 28.95 1.8 3.3 4.9 7.52 5.3 8 2.05 16.02 48 1.15 32.2 0.8 12.28 4.64 0.94 105 4.8 4.75 9.31 4.59 6.5 221.2 4.9 1.75 2.5 2.4 8.95 9.5 18.52 4.1 4.69 1.34 0.75 5.11 50 8.01 0.101 0.72 98.15 0.87 12.1 0.57

27.05 2.04 6.6 0.53 1.17 2.19 0.164 85 1.09 13.76 6.94 28.95 1.92 3.58 5.01 7.52 5.31 8 2.05 16.5 48.2 1.19 32.5 0.81 12.28 4.64 1.04 109.5 4.8 4.75 9.69 4.77 6.59 225 4.9 1.82 2.5 2.53 8.95 10.2 19 4.1 4.69 1.45 0.78 5.27 50 8.2 0.101 0.72 104 0.89 12.1 0.6

25 1.93 6.2 0.51 1.11 2.11 0.155 85 1.04 13.46 6.5 28.9 1.8 3.3 4.87 7.35 5.05 7.97 1.91 15.88 48 1.15 31.9 0.78 12.28 4.53 0.94 105 4.4 4.75 9.31 4.52 6.3 213 4.9 1.75 2.5 2.37 8.2 9.5 18.52 4.1 4.23 1.34 0.7 4.91 46.5 7.8 0.101 0.7 98 0.86 12.1 0.57

26.3 2 6.3 0.51 1.11 2.19 0.162 85 1.07 13.5 6.65 28.95 1.92 3.54 4.95 7.4 5.1 7.98 1.97 16.5 48 1.17 32 0.8 12.28 4.53 0.99 106.4 4.4 4.75 9.52 4.7 6.3 225 4.9 1.8 2.5 2.53 8.2 10.2 18.86 4.1 4.3 1.45 0.75 4.93 50 8.05 0.101 0.71 104 0.87 12.1 0.58

75,511,465 13,346,140 3,524,154 23,050 136,720 2,611,350 176,450 4,250 12,880,910 887,466 22,133,397 298,155 261,700 31,100 15,096,730 10,821,986 5,959,788 2,048,037 2,509,020 43,714,514 1,282,005 11,029,790 2,560,020 2,086,740 2,763,000 279,030 745,390 166,562,737 46,000 47,500 18,594,357 4,167,920 12,815,041 83,180,356 9,800 4,043,300 80,000 7,692,560 25,495 1,449,300 7,028,768 24,600 51,360 1,227,900 595,830 1,661,780 19,872,900 830,503 10,100 5,670 377,714,279.50 431,700 8,470 244,460

22,372,150 -446,510 -702,929 -600,810 -4,250 309,100 -788,920 46,497 52,095 230,400 -3,300 -4,323,480 -1,183,063 992,358 308,326 -1,432,724 -43,400 -286,990 1,317,680 -800 -480,148 -18,097,543 -47,500 -10,272,686 -2,885,190 -7,336,114 -6,988,734 -454,710 314,700 -574,750 -2,564,484 4,230 -145,230 -163,410 410,290 15,653,732 8,800 -

ABACORE CAPITAL ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANGLO PHIL HLDG ANSCOR ASIABEST GROUP ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B AYALA CORP AYALA LAND LOG COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP METRO PAC INV PRIME MEDIA SAN MIGUEL CORP SM INVESTMENTS SOC RESOURCES SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.51 35 6.7 0.51 6.35 5.71 0.52 0.6 480 1.76 4.87 3.7 8.4 402.6 3.6 49.85 0.4 2.9 7.1 2.5 0.83 91.4 785 0.63 0.8 131 0.182 0.138

0.52 37.7 6.98 0.54 6.36 5.71 0.53 0.6 492.4 1.76 4.95 3.89 8.4 415.4 3.7 52.55 0.415 2.9 8.3 2.53 0.83 96.15 820 0.63 0.8 150 0.19 0.138

0.5 34.25 6.6 0.5 6.35 5.51 0.52 0.53 467.4 1.75 4.63 3.66 8.4 402 3.6 49.85 0.4 2.79 7.1 2.42 0.8 90 785 0.63 0.8 131 0.18 0.138

HOLDING FIRMS 0.52 1,586,000 37.7 2,162,800 6.98 10,156,000 0.54 59,000 6.36 2,000 5.51 51,200 0.52 215,000 23,000 0.53 467.4 2,363,000 1.76 136,000 4.75 2,041,000 3.77 9,698,000 8.4 200 407 233,410 3.7 289,000 52.3 3,335,900 0.405 70,000 2.79 1,085,000 8.3 1,179,200 2.42 110,243,000 0.82 11,000 91.5 410,510 818 550,010 0.63 12,000 0.8 10,000 150 710 0.19 410,000 0.138 170,000

811,520 79,222,600 68,690,230 30,060 12,714 282,595 111,810 13,190 1,116,191,018 238,260 9,769,730 36,490,820 1,680 94,972,570 1,064,300 172,163,080 28,350 3,094,550 9,146,007 272,021,710 8,870 37,614,581.50 442,957,420 7,560 8,000 101,440 74,880 23,460

51,890 16,303,820 10,411,493 -91,230,692 -960,730 712,670 2,667,836 -1,027,300 24,468,905 -2,625,000 2,232,707 -77,013,760 -13,032,071.50 -61,358,625 -25,650 -

11.8 0.51 0.57 30.2 1.3 3.7 0.37 0.68 0.79 0.127 7 15.9 0.91 0.75 3.6 2.45 0.14 0.68 1.6 14.42 1.48 2.68 27.2 1.95 1.16 4

PROPERTY 11.96 153,000 0.51 2,087,000 0.61 527,000 30.2 30,775,000 1.31 982,000 3.72 503,000 0.37 5,980,000 0.68 11,000 0.79 1,000 0.127 80,000 7 121,400 16.16 180,100 0.91 9,939,000 0.77 290,000 3.6 8,000 2.5 55,048,000 0.141 2,460,000 0.68 696,000 1.71 46,000 14.84 3,128,400 1.48 1,000 2.75 569,000 28.4 23,699,100 2.05 845,000 1.19 280,000 4.08 2,760,000

8990 HLDG A BROWN ARTHALAND CORP AYALA LAND BELLE CORP CEB LANDMASTERS CENTURY PROP CITY AND LAND CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES DM WENCESLAO DOUBLEDRAGON FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE KEPPEL PROP MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL INFRADEV PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

11.98 0.51 0.57 31.6 1.34 3.8 0.38 0.7 0.79 0.127 7 16 0.93 0.75 3.61 2.45 0.14 0.7 1.75 14.5 1.48 2.75 28.05 2.14 1.2 4.21

12 0.54 0.62 32.8 1.34 3.8 0.38 0.7 0.79 0.127 7.01 16.2 0.95 0.77 3.61 2.59 0.142 0.7 1.75 15.68 1.48 2.8 28.7 2.14 1.27 4.32

VOLUME

2,883,100 6,715,000 547,100 45,000 120,000 1,212,000 1,110,000 50 12,062,000 65,700 3,264,700 10,300 137,000 9,000 3,032,000 1,457,800 1,163,600 256,600 1,277,000 2,702,200 26,700 9,434,000 80,100 2,615,000 225,000 61,000 764,000 1,549,020 10,000 10,000 1,964,200 887,000 2,010,900 378,030 2,000 2,259,000 32,000 3,143,000 3,100 148,500 373,000 6,000 12,000 914,000 803,000 332,000 414,200 105,200 100,000 8,000 3,705,010 495,000 700 425,000

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

NAME

40,410 -39,897,438.50 -22,642,251 -772,945 -14,102 13,093,675 -1,340 -5,691,875 1,670 17,000 -6,496,090 -773,317 11,110

NAME

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

VISTAMALLS

3.49

3.68

3.36

3.61

269,000

949,070

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL ALLHOME APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL ASIAN TERMINALS BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR CHELSEA DFNN INC DISCOVERY WORLD EASYCALL GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN BRIA HARBOR STAR INTL CONTAINER ISLAND INFO ISM COMM LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA MANILA BULLETIN METRO RETAIL METROALLIANCE A METROALLIANCE B NOW CORP PAL HLDG PH RESORTS GRP PHIL RACING PHIL SEVEN CORP PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRANSPACIFIC BR WATERFRONT WILCON DEPOT

6 15.9 1.25 4.5 0.245 0.039 15.78 2.1 5.8 0.027 47 6.78 2.56 3.1 1.88 4.9 1,916 5.18 360 0.74 73.95 0.084 1.6 11.6 1.41 0.7 4.73 0.37 1.41 1.55 1.6 1.36 6.69 3.94 8 128.7 1.51 1,069 0.31 0.202 35.95 57 5.42 1.13 0.405 0.16 0.375 12.84

6.2 15.92 1.25 4.8 0.245 0.04 15.8 2.28 6 0.027 47.5 6.8 2.89 3.5 1.88 5 1,949 5.26 396 0.76 76.25 0.084 1.7 11.6 1.42 0.7 4.9 0.375 1.42 1.63 1.63 1.42 6.69 4 8.5 130 1.6 1,129 0.315 0.203 37.8 57.8 5.42 1.26 0.405 0.16 0.39 13.3

6 15.68 1.2 4.49 0.245 0.038 15.78 2.1 5.8 0.027 45 6.78 2.56 3.1 1.88 4.6 1,913 5.15 330 0.65 72.5 0.08 1.56 11.6 1.41 0.7 4.61 0.37 1.37 1.52 1.48 1.36 6.3 3.9 8 128.7 1.51 1,050 0.295 0.195 35.85 55 5.4 1.13 0.395 0.155 0.37 12.84

SERVICES 6 15.82 1.25 4.68 0.245 0.039 15.8 2.28 6 0.027 45.3 6.79 2.85 3.5 1.88 4.85 1,930 5.24 368 0.75 74.7 0.08 1.7 11.6 1.41 0.7 4.77 0.37 1.39 1.55 1.48 1.41 6.6 4 8.5 130 1.56 1,129 0.305 0.2 36.45 57 5.4 1.25 0.4 0.16 0.39 12.96

32,700 170,300 4,000 7,761,000 210,000 10,200,000 4,000 2,000 2,296,100 8,800,000 282,100 1,300 2,527,000 2,000 1,000 57,000 77,700 66,400 840 298,000 1,930,410 30,000 60,459,000 3,200 112,000 30,000 1,181,000 80,000 2,615,000 813,000 39,000 1,344,000 12,000 52,000 600 29,920 1,311,000 277,210 1,310,000 1,110,000 5,401,800 644,600 8,300 1,322,000 6,770,000 330,000 110,000 1,067,200

197,587 2,685,344 4,950 36,159,830 51,450 389,500 63,160 4,380 13,596,174 237,600 13,023,645 8,826 7,026,790 6,600 1,880 277,173 149,865,820 343,776 289,264 217,450 143,785,881.50 2,440 99,727,820 37,120 157,930 21,000 5,627,270 29,650 3,637,190 1,265,290 62,290 1,877,810 78,818 207,520 4,850 3,889,483 2,050,730 304,792,545 392,650 220,020 197,285,320 36,552,837.50 44,856 1,616,070 2,706,850 52,550 41,800 13,836,286 4,400 389,891 221,150 1,890 191,502 1,293,930 48,560 15,120 1,551,620 9,350 9,230 1,620 8,400 480,210 16,474,040 153,320 23,200 89,000 21,000 1,588,640 846,720 50,355,028 4,100

260,000 -9,200 -224,140 -5,299,820 -307,040 85,620 10,401,494 -139,360 4,900 -14,220 -9,567,435 -334,480 -693,302.50 -785,140

MS 1,821,982 1,080,250 308,690 948,649,195 1,282,490 1,883,380 2,232,950 7,520 790 10,160 850,099 2,886,830 9,237,100 219,000 28,840 139,097,240 346,050 477,460 75,790 46,284,866 1,480 1,562,830 669,725,360 1,672,450 334,620 11,446,280

-3,582 -15,500 -148,364,205 -695,060 445,950 -452,499 -152,206 -2,109,110 -1,554,690 2,499,254 -893,780 -130,029,135 -417,510

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

OPEN

ABRA MINING ACE ENEXOR APEX MINING ATLAS MINING ATOK CENTURY PEAK COAL ASIA HLDG DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE LEPANTO A LEPANTO B MANILA MINING B MARCVENTURES NICKEL ASIA NIHAO ORNTL PENINSULA ORNTL PETROL B PHILODRILL PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING UNITED PARAGON

0.0011 5.2 0.74 1.89 10.86 2.57 0.23 6.25 0.56 0.188 0.071 0.08 0.0084 0.57 1.5 0.87 0.475 0.0084 0.007 2.05 4.1 10.7 0.0041

0.0011 5.27 0.74 1.89 10.86 2.6 0.249 6.48 0.57 0.191 0.071 0.082 0.0084 0.64 1.61 0.96 0.475 0.0094 0.007 2.06 4.12 11.5 0.0041

0.0011 5.1 0.71 1.89 10.5 2.57 0.23 6.25 0.55 0.183 0.071 0.08 0.0084 0.57 1.5 0.87 0.46 0.0084 0.007 2 4 10.7 0.0041

MINING & OIL 0.0011 4,000,000 5.1 75,600 0.72 307,000 1.89 1,000 10.86 17,700 2.6 499,000 0.246 200,000 6.35 2,400 0.57 2,768,000 0.183 50,000 0.071 130,000 0.082 20,000 0.0084 1,000,000 0.57 816,000 1.55 10,654,000 0.9 163,000 0.465 50,000 0.0094 10,000,000 0.007 3,000,000 2.04 789,000 4.1 208,000 11 4,562,900 0.0041 1,000,000

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2R CPG PREF A DD PREF GLO PREF P GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B HOUSE PREF A MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 3A PCOR PREF 3B PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B PNX PREF 4 SFI PREF SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

14 498 492 100.8 97.75 498 4.91 999 980 95 98.2 1,014 1,020 98 102 998 1.7 75.5 74 74.5 74 74.5 74.2

14 498 492 100.8 97.75 499.8 5.25 999 980 95 99.5 1,016 1,030 98 102 999 1.7 75.5 74 74.5 74.5 74.5 74.2

13.8 498 490 100.8 97.6 498 4.9 999 980 92.5 96.5 1,014 1,015 98 100 998 1.7 74.8 74 73 74 74.3 73.5

PREFERRED 13.84 146,200 498 70 490 490 100.8 100 97.7 77,000 499.8 80 5.25 7,000 999 20 980 2,290 92.5 1,250 99.5 2,000 1,015 17,100 1,030 485 98 100 100 4,990 999 1,090 1.7 2,000 75.5 223,590 74 5,000 74.5 5,220 74.5 77,520 74.3 6,370 74 37,610

2,027,368 34,860 240,120 10,080 7,522,891.50 39,966 34,385 19,980 2,244,200 115,755 195,101 17,357,400 494,450 9,800 501,740 1,088,820 3,400 16,785,233 370,000 385,880 5,758,632.50 473,311 2,775,090

LR WARRANT

0.63

0.69

0.63

WARRANTS 0.69 14,000

9,540

ITALPINAS KEPWEALTH XURPAS

1.98 5.8 0.47

2.27 5.9 0.5

1.98 5.65 0.47

2.09 5.85 0.47

FIRST METRO ETF

79.45

82.4

76.9

Trading Summary

SHARES

FINANCIAL

17,733,735

INDUSTRIAL

74,215,075

HOLDING FIRMS

146,881,177

PROPERTY

141,569,872

SERVICES

121,413,276

MINING & OIL

40,866,444

GRAND TOTAL

546,308,236

SME

543,000 38,500 2,990,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 81 52,260

-99,047 345,270 -1,872,366 -7,887,665 3,500 -13,899,825 -237,038 14,717,645.50 3,679,910 16,930 198,990 -422,430 490,690 1,332 160,000 -2,805,504 -295,120 45,018,830 -68,419,775 -20,006,213 10,820 381,340 -2,466,600 858,014

-

1,113,180 222,250 1,440,650

164,860 52,800

4,136,003

-2,082,404

VALUE 1,210.09 (up) 47.19 1,041,679,077.31 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 6,165.12 (up) 290.08 998,504,001.75 HOLDING FIRMS 5,233.52 (up) 249.48 2,374,337,106.00 PROPERTY 2,748.30 (up) 26.73 1,192.04 (up) 22.41 1,850,178,282.48 SERVICES MINING & OIL 4,161.90 (up) 114.35 1,070,179,872.314 PSEI 5,321.23 (up) 190.07 73,792,934.9274 All Shares Index 3,237.77 (up) 93.46 7,415,588,356.46 Gainers: 132; Losers: 53; Unchanged: 41; Total: 226

GT Capital registered 2019 profit of P20.31b

By Jenniffer B. Austria

CONGLOMERATE GT Capital Holdings Inc. said net income in 2019 increased 54 percent to P20.31 billion from P13.16 billion in 2018.

The company’s 2019 net income was boosted by higher sales from the automotive business as well as disposal of its investment in real estate unit Property Company of Friends Inc. (Pro-Friends) Core net income climbed 22 percent to P15.8 billion.

GT Capital said in a regulatory filing Tuesday consolidated revenues rose eight percent in 2019 to P222.9 billion from P205.8 billion in the previous year.

The increase in revenue came from higher auto sales of Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. and Toyota Manila Bay Corp., which stood at P192.9 billion, up eight percent.

The group registered a 27-percent increase in net income of associates and joint venture to P14.58 billion, accounting for seven percent of total revenues.

Property unit Federal Land Inc. posted a seven-percent decline in sales to P9.84 billion.

Reservation sales, however, surged 96 percent to P24.4 billion from P12.4 billion after the company launched six new residential projects.

Of the nine component companies of GT Capital, six firms, namely Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Toyota Motors, Toyota Manila Bay and Sumisho Motor Finance Corp. posted year-onyear growths in their respective net income.

AXA Life Insurance Corp. and Toyota Financial Services Philippines Corp. reported declines in their respective net income for the year, while GT Capital Auto Dealership Holdings Inc. booked a lower net loss.

GT Capital in July obtained the approval of the Philippine Competition Commission to dispose of its 51-percent stake in Pro-Friends and 702 hectares of real estate properties, mostly in Lancanster New City in Cavite, worth P20 billion. The deal enabled GT Capital to post a net gain of P2.3 billion.

PCC OKs share swap transaction of Synergy Grid

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE Philippine Competition Commission approved the proposed acquisition of shares in One Taipan Holdings Inc. and Pacifica21 Holdings Inc. by Synergy Grid & Development Philippines Inc. One Taipan owns controlling shares in Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp., which holds 30 percent plus one share in transmission operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines. Pacifica21 has controlling shares in Calaca High Power Corp., which in turn owns 30 percent minus one share in NGCP. State Grid Corp. of China owns 40 percent of NGCP. “Upon review of the findings and recommendation of the Mergers and Acquisitions Office (MAO) and the parties’ submissions, the Commission finds that the proposed acquisition by Synergy of the shares in One Taipan and Pacifica21 will not likely result in substantial lessening of competition in the Philippine market,” the PCC said in a decision.

The PCC said the transaction would not result in any substantial change in the control, operations and management of NGCP and would not likely result in any significant change in the structure of the market for the provision of electricity transmission services.

“The Commission likewise notes the finding of MAO that the corresponding acquisition of equity in Synergy by Mr. Henry Sy Jr. and Mr. Roberto Coyiuto, Jr., as part of the consideration for the transaction, does not meet the size of transaction threshold provided under Section 3, Rule 4 of the IRR, and that it does not appear to result in a change in control of Synergy,” the regulator said.

The commission said it would take no further action with respect to the proposed transaction between Synergy, One Taipan and Pacifica21.

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

A8

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

Business

WB cuts PH growth forecast to 3% T

By Julito G. Rada

HE World Bank downgraded the 2020 growth forecast for the Philippines to 3 percent from the actual expansion of 5.9 percent in 2019 because of the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

“Real GDP growth is projected to significantly decelerate from 5.9 percent in 2019 to 3.0 percent in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and the associated community quarantine.

The quarantine restricts all nonessential movement of people and closed down businesses and government agencies in Luzon—which accounts for 70 percent of national GDP—until April 14,” the World Bank said in its latest regional economic update titled “East Asia and Pacific in the Time of COVID-19.”

The multilateral lender said domestic consumption would slow down sharply in the first half of 2020 while the implementation of a public infrastructure program was expected to be delayed and private sector investment to be postponed.

“Export of goods and services are also expected to be negatively impacted with the imposition of travel restrictions globally and the production disruption experienced in China in which the

Philippine electronic sector has a strong linkage. Furthermore, travel bans and the COVID-19 outbreaks in overseas Filipino workers-destination countries are likely to affect the inflow of remittances in 2020, further damping domestic consumption growth,” it said.

The World Bank said the economy could contract in 2020 in case of a rapid surge in confirmed cases resulting in a prolonged community quarantine, lengthier disruptions to government and business activities, loss of incomes and a protracted weakening of the public health system.

The World Bank said economic growth was expected to accelerate rapidly in 2021 to 22 as global conditions improve and with more robust domestic activity bolstered by the public in-

vestment momentum and a boost from 2022 election-related spending.The bank said the Philippines is among countries in the East Asia and Pacific region that should act now to counter the possibility of a global financial shock and recession associated with the spread of the disease.

Among the actions recommended by the report were urgent investments in national healthcare capacity and longerterm preparedness. The report also suggested taking an integrated view of containment and macroeconomic policies.

It said targeted fiscal measures such as subsidies for sick pay and healthcare would help with containment and ensure that temporary deprivation does not translate into long-term losses of human capital.

Airlines seek gov’t help to keep survival

By Darwin G. Amojelar LOCAL airlines are calling for government intervention to prevent the aviation industry from going bankrupt because of the huge impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Robert Lim, vice president and executive director of Air Carriers Association of the Philippines, sent a letter to government economic managers for intervention as Philippine carriers were facing “existential threat to their survival”.

“Given these extraordinary times where the survival of the domestic airline industry is at stake, ACAP member airlines urgently appeal to your good offices for timely government intervention which is indispensable, (so that) Philippine aviation will have the capacity to resume its vital role of connecting the people father archipelago for trade, commerce and tourism and contribute meaningful to the recovery of the economy,” Lim said in the letter.

ACAP members include Philippines Airlines Inc., Air Philippines Corp., Cegbo Inc., Cebu Air Inc. and Philippines AirAsia Inc. Lim said the member airlines shut down their passenger operations until April 14, 2020 amid the enhanced community quarantine over Luzon. This translated into 30,000 cancelled flights and affected almost five million passengers.

“With no revenue flow seen for the next several weeks or even months, ACAP members airlines will urgently need government intervention,” he said.

Aviation think tank Center for Asia Pacific Aviation earlier predicted that by end of May 2020, most airlines in the world would be bankrupt because of COVID-19.

The International Air Transport Association estimated that the COVID-19 crisis would reduce passenger demand in Asia-Pacific by 37 percent this year compared to 2019, with a revenue loss of $88 billion.

ACAP requested the government to provide a credit guarantee scheme (not cash) that guarantees the banking sector’s loans and credit lines, most of which are secured with collaterals, to remove its aversion to the poor credit risk of the airline industry under the present operating environment.

Villar Group donates bottled drinking water AMONG the clear non-negotiables in the fight against COVID-19 is maintaining public health via ensuring constant access to proper hygiene and hydration—especially now that summer has officially set in.

The Villar Group, through Crystal Clear Purified Drinking Water, thus, has been working closely with various organizations during this critical time, extending muchneeded help in terms of donating drinking water.

The Villar Group on Monday turned over 3,000 bottles of Crystal Clear to UP Los Baños for distribution to students stranded in their dorms. Another 4,800 bottles have been turned over to Tagaytay City Health Office for the city’s frontliners and other medical staff.

Among the other institutions that the Villar Group and Crystal Clear have teamed up during this time of enhanced community quarantine are the Department of Health, the Philippine Red Cross, and the GMA Kapuso Foundation—by supplying them with bottles of purified drinking water for redistribution to frontliners and affected citizens.

Japanese firms buy 10% of toll road firm

A GROUP of Japanese companies is acquiring a 10.32-percent stake in an Indonesian toll road operator from a wholly-owned subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. for $35 million.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. told the stock exchange Tuesday that MPTC through wholly-owned subsidiary, CIIF Infrastructure Holdings Sdn. Bhd., signed an agreement with West Nippon Expressway, Japan Expressway International Co., Ltd. and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development to sell 10.32 percent in PT Margautama Nusantara.

The value of the transaction is about $35 million.

After the transaction, MPTC will continue to hold majority shares in MUN through PT Metro Pacific Tollways Indonesia, which holds an equity interest of 75.89 percent of PT Nusantara Infrastructure Tbk, which owns a 74.98-percent equity interest in MUN. CIIF will keep 9.68-percent MUN shares from a 20-percent equity interest in MUN. Darwin G. Amojelar

BDO Unibank offers banking alternatives

SM DONATION. SM Group through SM Foundation is donating more than P170 million toward the fight against coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, surpassing its initial allocation of P100 million. Healthcare workers in hospitals nationwide receive personal protective equipment, face shields, gloves, N95 masks, surgical masks, goggles and raincoats as requested by some hospitals as backup alternatives from SM Foundation.

58% Filipinos unable to purchase basic goods—survey MORE than half of Filipinos could not purchase basic necessities in March amid the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, which forced the government to impose community lockdown, according to a research by comparison platform Finder.com.

Finder says 58 percent of respondents surveyed are unable to purchase basic necessities in the past month. “That’s an estimated 39.8 million Filipinos who were unable to buy items like food, medicine, toilet paper and hand sanitizer,” it says.

Finder says the results were based on a survey it conducted among 2,021 Filipino adults from March 16 to 18.

The study shows that fresh food products are the hardest to come by, with 27 percent of Filipinos unable to make a purchase. “With most local wet and dry markets being ordered by local governments to close down, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise,” it says.

Meanwhile, more than one-quarter of Filipinos (26 percent) were unable to buy hand sanitizer and soap, it said.

More than a fifth of Filipinos (22 percent) say they couldn’t buy medicine.

The survey says other products that people couldn’t buy include dry food (17 percent), toilet paper (16 percent) and other toiletries (14 percent). “Hopefully, the stricter shopping guidelines set by the Department of Trade and Industry will help abate these difficulties,” it says.

Among the age groups, Finder’s survey reveals that Filipinos aged 45 to 54 are having the hardest time buying necessities. About three in five of Filipinos (61 percent) in this age bracket couldn’t purchase at least one of the items included in the survey. Those aged 25 to 34 are a close second (60 percent), followed by those aged 35 to 44 (58 percent).

“In terms of gender, more women [59 percent] found it harder to make a purchase compared to men [55 percent].

In fact, women were consistently more likely to face trouble at the shops across all product categories,” it says.

The gap widened for medicine, with 26 percent of women saying they couldn’t buy medicine compared to just 18 percent of men—a difference of eight percentage points. However, the gap was less significant for other products like dry food, hand sanitizer and fresh food.

Finder ran the same survey in six countries including the United States, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

The Philippines recorded the highest number of people unable to buy essential goods (58 percent), followed closely by the United States and South Africa (56 percent each). Of the six countries, those living in Hong Kong are least likely to report being unable to buy what they need (43 percent).

Nearly one in three North Americans have been unable to buy toilet paper, suggesting it’s a popular item to panic buy in the region.

Over a third of South Africans say they’ve been unable to buy hand sanitizer in the last month (37 percent), the most of any country in the study. Nearly a third of Americans reported the same (32 percent), followed by Canadians and Irish (29 percent each).

About 18 percent of South Africans reported they were unable to buy dry food like rice. Filipinos were the next most likely to report the same (17 percent), followed by Americans and Canadians (15 percent each).

PPA warns of port shutdown amid congestion at container terminals STATE-RUN Philippine Ports Authority warned of a possible port shutdown if cargo owners and consignees continue to shun calls to clear overstaying cargoes.

PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago said despite efforts to transfer cleared and overstaying containers from the Manila International Container Terminal to a facility inside the Manila North Harbor, there were not enough breathing space for Manila port terminals to operate efficiently and productively.

Yard utilization at the Manila international ports, composed of the Manila International Container Terminal and Manila South Harbor, were almost 100-percent full as majority of cargoes remained idle after the implementation of the community quarantine two weeks ago.

More than 800 cleared reefer vans were inside the MICT containing perishables like food, medicines and other essentials,

IN BRIEF

while more than 2,000 dry containers which were ready for delivery remained inside the terminal as of Friday.

“Ports, specifically the Manila ports, are the lungs of the country’s commerce and trade. These lungs right now are not functioning efficiently due to congestion,” Santiago said.

“If we continue to ignore calls to withdraw even only those cleared, ready for delivery and overstaying cargoes, these lungs are in danger of total collapse, resulting in full-blown port congestion, or worst, a shutdown, and consequently a shortage in the much-needed goods and supplies which are expected to address the demands of the market,” he said.

Santiago said the government was appealing to the consignees, cargo owners, brokers, logistics, manufacturers and other supply chain service providers to help us address the situation by withdrawing their cargoes. Darwin G. Amojelar

CLARK’S ASSISTANCE. Clark Development Corp. donates various protective materials to Jose S. Lapid District Hospital in Porac. The materials include 1,000 face masks, 300 pairs of gloves and 10 thermal scanners. Porac Mayor Jaime Capil (from left) receives the donations (from right) CDC president and chief executive officer Noel Manankil, CDC director Nestor Villaroman Jr., CDC-OP staff Wilfredo Dayrit and CDC vice president Mariza Mandocdoc.

EVER since the extended community quarantine was implemented in Luzon to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, banks have been serving their customers in new ways.

The number of open branches is reduced, banking hours are shortened, and skeletal force is in effect where possible. While the objective is to keep serving the urgent banking needs of clients, the adjustments in operations aim to protect the health and safety of both the customers and the front liners.

In the unprecedented situation, customers’ understanding and openness to adapt to the “new normal” is valuable. BDO Unibank, for instance, is offering alternatives to branch banking, from promoting its online and mobile banking services to keeping its other channels available. This way, even if the branch near them is not available or handling heavier than usual transactions, their banking activity will not be hampered.

BDO encourages clients to bank from home via its online and mobile banking services. Using its digital channels, clients can pay bills, send money, load up their prepaid mobile phones,and check account balances.

Inflation likely dipped to as low as 2% in March THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said inflation in March likely slowed to as low as 2 percent from 2.6 percent in February, pulled down by lower oil prices amid the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 worldwide.

The BSP Department of Economic Research said in a statement the March inflation would likely settle within a range of 2 percent to 2.8 percent.

“The sharp decline in the prices of petroleum products due to the significant fall in global crude oil prices contributed to the downward price pressures for the month,” it said.

“In addition, the prices of selected food products remained broadly stable in March due to adequate supply and favorable weather conditions along with the price freeze imposed on basic necessities by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Agriculture,” it said.

Electricity rates in Meralco-serviced areas slightly increased during the month.

The BSP assured it would continue to monitor economic and financial developments and was ready to implement appropriate policies in support of its primary mandate of price stability conducive to balanced and sustainable economic growth.

Inflation in the first two months averaged 2.8 percent, following the slowdown in consumer prices in February to 2.6 percent from 2.9 percent in January.

The benign inflation environment prompted the Bangko Sentral to cut the policy interest rates by 50 basis points to 3.25 percent on March 19. The move was also aimed at providing monetary stimulus to counter the impending economic slowdown amid the onslaught of the COVID-19.

The Monetary Board’s latest baseline forecasts indicated a lower path of inflation for 2020 and 2021, with inflation expectations remaining firmly anchored within the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent. Julito G. Rada

Sports

Ex-NBA star sorry for China coronavirus quarantine row SHANGHAI—Former NBA player Joe Young apologised and pledged to abide

by China’s strict coronavirus quarantine rules after a “misunderstanding” at the hotel in which he is isolating.

Chinese media published a series of text messages that appeared to show the 27-year-old former Indiana Pacers guard and a friend demanding they be brought food and water in the early hours of the morning, threatening to fetch it themselves.

Young, who recently returned to China to complete the suspended Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) season with Nanjing Monkey Kings, provoked a backlash on Chinese social media as fans branded him arrogant and demanded he be sent back to the US. “We are sincerely sorry and we apologize to the staff for asking them about a delivery at late night which affected people’s sleep,” the American said in a video posted on China’s Twitter-like Weibo.

“In the future we (will) strictly abide by the Chinese epidemic prevention regulation rules and will improve our words and our deeds,” added Young in the video, which was viewed more than 900,000 times in 14 hours.

“We will not cause any trouble with the people around us and cause any misunderstandings. I love China, I love Nanjing and this is the truth.”

Young is among the foreign players who have returned to China—where the coronavirus emerged in December—in anticipation of the CBA season restarting.

Mid-April was touted at one point but that now looks highly unlikely despite infection rates slowing markedly in the country.

It is the second time in as many weeks that the Houston-born Young has sparked anger in China, having suggested in a tweet that he did not want to return to the country. He also called that a misunderstanding.

Addressing the latest controversy, the Monkey Kings said in a statement that Young, who played for Indiana in 20152018, was tired after long-haul travel and was missing his young family in the US. Separately, Young tweeted Monday that he was donating to Houston 50,000 masks and 300 body suits for hospital workers in the battle against the coronavirus. AFP

Filipina volleyball stars vow to help medical frontliners VOLLEYBALL Community Gives Back to the Philippines is an organization led by various volleyball players with the goal of uniting the community during times of adversities.

The organization was formed in 2013 to raise funds for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda.

The group, led by Gretchen Ho, Charo Soriano, Alyssa Valdez, and Dzi Gervacio, has since been raising funds to help other communities such as those affected in the Marawi siege in 2017, Typhoon Lawin in 2018, and most recently, the Taal Volcano eruption in January.

This time around, VCGBPH is organizing a fundraising campaign named #ServeOurFrontliners: RAFFLES FOR HEROES. The group met through Zoom last Saturday to talk about ways on how to produce Personal Protective Equipment for the medical frontliners, who are doing a valiant battle against coronavirus (COVID-19).

“I read the news everyday about the battles of our doctors, nurses, health workers, and frontliners. And I wanted to help them, to ease their pain, their burden. So I was speaking with Pablo Cabahug about his efforts to produce PPEs in his shop. And he mentioned that they are having difficulty sourcing materials. So I contacted Ate Cha and said it’s time we revived the VCGBPH,” said volleyball star Alyssa Valdez.

VCGBPH is eyeing to produce an initial 2500 PPEs, but hopes to make more.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

B1

In this file photo, Joe Young of the Indiana Pacers controls the ball under pressure from Brandon Knight of the Phoenix Suns during the first half of the NBA game at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. Young apologized and pledged to abide by China’s strict coronavirus quarantine rules after a “misunderstanding” at the hotel in which he is isolating. Separately, Young tweeted on March 30, 2020 that he was donating to Houston 50,000 masks and 300 body suits for hospital workers in the battle against the coronavirus.

Red Bull official wanted drivers to deliberately catch coronavirus V

IENNA—Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko has admitted that he wanted the team’s Formula One drivers to deliberately contract coronavirus before the potential start of the new season.

The 76-year-old said his idea was to bring the team’s senior drivers, Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon, together with the junior drivers in a training camp.

“The idea was that we could organize a camp where we could mentally and physically fill this dead time,” Marko told Austrian television channel ORF. “Then of course it would’ve been ideal for the infection to come.

“They are all young, strong men in good health. Then you would be prepared for whenever you start, and you would be ready for a very tough world championship.”

Marko admitted that his plan was “not well received”.

The 2020 Formula One season has been thrown into disarray by the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed over 33,000 lives worldwide according to an AFP tally.

So far, Grand Prix races scheduled for

Bahrain, Vietnam, China, Netherlands and Spain have also been postponed while the iconic Riviera showpiece in Monaco and the season-opening Australian race were cancelled.

F1 chairman Chase Carey last week said he hoped the campaign would start in the summer with a revised calendar of “15-18 races”, down from an original 22.

Meanwhile, hunkered down with his parents in Normandy, Renault driver Esteban Ocon is racking up the hours on a Formula One virtual simulator to be ready when the season finally gets underway.

The 23-year-old is preparing for his first campaign with Renault after spending last year as a Mercedes reserve driver following a successful two-season stint racing for Force India.

“My days are full and I behave as if I was going to race next week,” the French-

man told AFP. “I do a lot of racing on the simulator, and a great deal of sport.

“Nobody knows when the season will start, and as we have all the time we need now it’s easy to keep in top shape.”

The 2020 Formula One season has been thrown into disarray by the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed over 33,000 lives worldwide according to an AFP tally.

So far, Grand Prix races scheduled for Bahrain, Vietnam, China, the Netherlands, Spain and Azerbaijan have been postponed while the iconic Riviera showpiece in Monaco and the season-opening Australian race were cancelled.

“It will restart when it restarts, once things are safe,” Ocon said.

“The winter break should have been over a long time ago, and with everything that’s going on, we’re glued to the news every evening, we see the figures rising and the tough times the world is going through.

“We just hope this will soon be over.”

France has been under lockdown since March 17, with Ocon spending his time on a simulator also being used

Adiwang bares wishes on 27th birthday LITO “Thunder Kid” Adiwang celebrated his birthday in an intimate setting with his loved ones on 23 March in Baguio City.

The celebrated strawweight from Team Lakay turned 27 last week, and the celebrations were expectedly toned down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the unusual circumstances, Adiwang sees a silver lining during the crisis.

“We had a small celebration. I just prepared for my family. Right now I am just cherishing the moments we have together with my siblings, my mother, and my dad,” Adiwang said.

“While we’re waiting for this to be contained, let’s cherish the moments we have now, the ones we cannot do during normal days like spending time with our families.”

For his birthday, “Thunder Kid” not only asked to be better as an individual, he also had one request from his fans.

“I wished to be a better person first. Then I wished that I become stable both in my career and my life.

I hope to continue what I am doing now and

leave a mark in this profession,” Adiwang said.

“For the fans, just keep on supporting us, whether during our great times or down moments. That’s where we need you the most.”

Adiwang’s 27th birthday celebration came down to one final wish, a chance to face a former World Champion in the talent-rich strawweight division.

“My biggest wish in my career now is to face the top contenders so I can prove myself. Number one on my list is Yoshitaka Naito,” Adiwang said.

“I think that’s the only thing missing right now for me. I have faced strikers and wrestlers and now I want to face a legitimate grappler.

“Seeing the criticisms about us and our ground game, I really want to try and face a legitimate grappler so I can test myself.”

Catch all the ON E Championship action live and for free by downloading the ONE Super App. Lito Adiwang

by fellow F1 drivers Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.

“It keeps you up to speed facing off with good drivers. It keeps your reflexes primed,” he said.

“I’m hoping it will give me an edge, that when we get back I’ll be more ready.

A real car, and real sport is always better than a simulator, but they are getting closer to the real thing these days.

“I train on Grand Tourismo, it’s a real leap forwards.”

The earliest the F1 season could now get underway is at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, scheduled for June 14. AFP

Chesser dies two weeks after crash

By Peter Atencio FIL-AUSTRALIAN chess player Arianne Caoili passed away two weeks after figuring in a car accident in Yerevan, Armenia.

Her husband, world no. 4 grandmaster Levon Aronian paid tribute to his 33-year- old wife on Twitter.

“I have no words to express the grievance over my wife Arianne’s death. She was intelligent, hard working and a joyous person that lived a beautiful life... I love you honeybun, sleep tight....,” wrote Aronian, who is Armenia’s top player in chess.

Caoili, who married Aronian in 2017, was involved in an accident as she crashed her Lexus RX350 into a supporting column under the bridge in Lake Yerevan at the intersection of Sebastia Street and Isakov Avenue on March 14.

Rescuers managed to pull Caoili out of the car. She was taken to Astghik Medical Center.

A women’s international master, Caoili transferred her affiliation to the Australian Chess Federation in 2004.

She played in seven World Chess Olympics, representing the Philippines in the 1998 and 2000 editions, and Australia in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012.

She had a FIDE rating of 2139.

From winners to worriers: Isolated athletes face mental health risks HONG KONG—Fear, stress and money worries: coronavirus lockdown is hard for anyone, but athletes are facing extra mental health risks as they go from highly active lifestyles to isolation and boredom, experts warn.

While some housebound athletes have posted upbeat videos of themselves training or attempting internet challenges such as juggling toilet rolls, the stress caused by the extreme adjustment and uncertain future looks likely to take its toll.

Long-term effects on athletes after the SARS and swine flu outbreaks included anxiety, obsessive hand-washing and fear of getting too close to people,

Carolyn Broderick, Tennis Australia’s chief medical officer, told AFP. But the impact of the current pandemic is unprecedented, with athletes sidelined worldwide after COVID-19 forced most sports into hibernation and put billions of people in lockdown.

Those affected range from well-paid superstars such as tennis’s Serena Williams, who has suffered from depression in the past, to journeyman pros and Olympic hopefuls whose lives have been thrown into turmoil.

Williams, 38, who only needs one more Grand Slam title to equal the alltime record of 24, admitted that social distancing because of coronavirus had

left her feeling “a ton of stress”.

“Every little thing makes me crazy.

And by anxiety I mean I’m just on edge.

Any time anyone sneezes around me or coughs I get crazy,” she said on TikTok. Even before the virus, a steady stream of people involved in sports—often an insecure and high-stress profession— have wrestled with depression, from Williams to Olympic swimming great Michael Phelps, MMA fighter Ronda Rousey, boxer Mike Tyson and All Blacks rugby player John Kirwan.

‘I’m struggling’ The athletes currently out of action include thousands of would-be Olympians, many of whom have put careers

on hold to chase medal dreams but now face extra disruption after the Tokyo 2020 Games were postponed for a year.

“I would be lying if I said I was all right. Just like most people I’m struggling in my own ways,” Olympics-bound American weightlifter Kate Nye, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, told America’s WOODTV.com.

Concerns have also been raised about Australia’s swimmers and cricketers, after athletes in both sports suffered well-documented psychological problems in the past.

“The mental health thing, we talked about it in a conference call this week,”

said Australian men’s cricket coach Justin Langer.

“Particularly for any of our staff or players who are home alone basically.

We have to keep an eye on those guys and girls to make sure they’re OK.” Broderick, who was deputy medical director for Australia’s 2016 Olympics team, and sits on an advisory panel for the National Rugby League, said the effects of isolation can be felt more acutely by athletes.

“They have all the same psychological issues that everyone does but also the stress and anxiety about their futures that they cannot easily control,” she said. AFP

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

B2

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

Entertainment

Heartfelt ditty from Psalms David GMA Music presents another treat to its listeners via The Clash Season 1 alumnus Psalms David’s first single entitled “Di Na Magtatagal.”

This ballad, written by Mark Moses Valdellon, is about heartbreak as it narrates the unexpected circumstances encountered by couples along the way.

According to Psalms, he dedicates the song to people, who like him, have gone through the ups and downs of being in a relationship.

“I can very much relate to the song, not just because

I already experienced it but because it made me more aware of the realities of love and relationships.”

Moreover, Psalms added that “Di Na Magtatagal” mirrors the painful reality of acceptance, imperfections, and letting go.

Fans can stream it now on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, and other digital stores worldwide. They can also listen and request for it through Barangay LS 97.1 and other pop radio stations in the country.

Up-and-coming singer Pslams David

Angels on Earth

Actress and philanthropist Angel Locsin

We called for help, they answered

W

HILE everybody is on “house arrest” and trying to figure out what series to watch next or what food to cook for dinner, some celebrities care more about helping our frontliners and people affected by the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine than spending their time on something else.

Any, if not most of the A-list celebrities in the country can write a check or wire money for a good cause, but there are some who stand for something beyond some IG photos that can attract numerous likes and praises on the comment section.

Angel Locsin, who is always referred to as the real-life Darna, has done so much for her country than those in elected positions who are missing in action at a time their countrymen need them most.

Angel has started setting up tents for patients at Metro Manila hospitals, to help address overcrowding amid the surge of cases of the COVID-19. Through her fundraising campaign dubbed #UniTentWeStandPH, the actress and her fiancé Neil Arce, a film producer, aim to provide additional room at hospitals operating at full capacity due to the pandemic.

The couple has chronicled their effort and calls on other celebrities to donate.

Bella Padilla

As of this writing, Angel has raised more P3.5 million pesos and was able to set up two tents each at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Las Piñas Doctors Hospital, and Las Piñas City Medical Center last week, Friday.

Angel plans to deliver more tents not just in Metro Manila and Luzon but across the country as well.

Bela Padilla, is another actressphilanthropist who is extending her hands to the people in need this difficult time.

Through her personal effort, the 28-year-old actress was able to raise P3.3 million in just two days. She opened a GoGetFunding page on March 16 after expressing concern for the welfare of street vendors whose income would be hit by the community quarantine.

Meanwhile, Eat B u l a g a mainstay Maine Mendoza is once again putting her social media influence to good use. The

25-year-old TV personality is raising funds to help daily wage earners affected by the Luzon-wide quarantine.

Called “DoNation Drive,” Maine made an appeal via twitter calling on people to donate.

“The COVID-19 virus has been continuously affecting all sorts of people, regardless of their status in the society.

We are all required to stay at home, but some people, especially our frontliners, whether be it in the government, food and medical industry have been trying their best to fulfill their duty as our modern heroes on these difficult times,” she noted.

“But the world won’t stop despite the peril of the virus. Consider yourself blessed, if despite all, you can purchase food and sanitation supplies (even hoard!) for your homes. But what about those workers who live on a day-to-day basis? Now that they are obliged not to go to work, how can they survive?,” she continued.

And we also have Alex Gonzaga and online sensation Ivana Alawi who use their Youtube earnings to buy grocery items and have them repacked. Actress Sarah Lahbati has been distributing relief goods and sanitizers and masks to hospitals in the metro, while newest Darna Jane de Leon quietly works with the help of her family to distribute packed goods to those who are greatly affected by the community quarantine.

Maine Mendoza

Jane de Leon

Ivana Alawi with her mom and sister

Sarah Lahbati

Angel Locsin with fiance Neil Arce

Sam Milby in a scene from iWant›s ‘The Tapes’

‘The Tapes’ is groundbreaking, fit for global audience—critics, fans

SAM Milby and Yassi Pressman’s iWant original series The Tapes has left viewers demanding a sequel, as its first season’s whodunit narrative garnered positive reviews and challenged its viewers’ own interpretations of the story.

Now streaming on iWant, the mystery thriller sees two partner cops (Sam and Yassi) digging through a series of tapes that contain snippets of disturbing events related to a cold case, taking viewers into a rabbit hole of dark clues behind the disappearance of an alluring, local lass named Judy (Barbara Ruero).

Cinema review page Today I’ve Watched was fascinated from the getgo and rated the iWant original a 9/10, calling it a “stylish… intricate puzzle.”

“The show boasts some incredible visuals, with a neo-noirish touch.

[Its] impressive long, continuous shots build up the dread of the scenes. The very detailed production design... completes the show’s uncanny atmosphere.

The show’s use of synth pop music perfectly matched the 90s setting and the show’s weird vibe,” it said in a review. “Even though its open-ended finale raises more questions than answers, ‘The Tapes’ is a compelling mystery that will leave you craving for a second season.”

Review Twitter page @WatchOrSkipIt also commended the Bradley Liew-helmed series saying, “The Tapes is by far one of the best Filipino-produced shows there is. Although

there’s always room for improvement (i.e. how each episode is paced), it’s groundbreaking stylistically and thematically. Love the mythos—looking forward to S2!”

Viewers also took their opinions, questions, and theories to social media.

“It’s fresh and new. The more you watch it, the more it grows on you.

And the interesting part here is that it seems to hold back the details of the story that it’s trying to tell. It leaves you with hints,” posted Twitter user @ KingValdez17. “They really did a great job at excellently putting together the mind-blowing parts. It left me wanting to see more.”

“I never comment on local TV but The Tapes on iWant is pretty good.

I like the atmosphere. I hope dumating sa ganitong level ang local TV because people will be missing out,” tweeted @ohitsmerenz.

Fans also recognized the series’s potential to capture an international audience, like Sheena Elbo who posted on YouTube, “Ganda pang international! Suspense thriller, kakaiba naman ito. Congrats to you idol Yassi and Sam also.”

Press play and discover the truth behind The Tapes on the iWant app (iOs and Android) or iwant.ph. For updates, like www.facebook.com/iWant, and follow @iwant on Twitter and @ iwantofficial and @dreamscapedigital on Instagram, and subscribe to www. youtube.com/iWantPH.

Life

Bernadette Lunas, Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife @MStandardLIFE

FASHION AND BEAUTY

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

B3

Sewing hope in times of crisis

By Bernadette Lunas

W

HEN medical personnel called for help in replenishing their dwindling supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), brands and fashion designers answered, scissors and tape measure at the ready.

Last week, local fashion designers started mobilizing their teams to source materials and produce PPEs for medical frontliners, while appealing to the public to donate to further increase their production.

Answering to the call from the Office of the Vice President, designer and milliner Mich Dulce, together with her colleagues, immediately established the Manila Protective Gear Sewing Club to design and produce medically approved PPEs which will be distributed through the OVP. The design was medically reviewed in Berkeley, California. Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Jesus Julio Ancheta also helped in checking the prototypes and materials on hand. After 48 hours of checking and sourcing, Joey Socco’s Tafetta Silver Back Lining (SBL) has been approved as the material to be used.

“A few days ago, we made a call to our local fashion designers to help design a protective suit for medical frontliners.

In just a few hours, well-known fashion designer Mich Dulce answered our call and already asked for a sample of what we wanted. After a day, they already have a pattern and it was available online for everyone to copy,” Vice President Leni Robredo said in a Facebook post.

The Manila Protective Gear Sewing Club group on Facebook, which has nearly 2,000 members as of this writing, offers instructions on how to make the PPEs. “The pattern is available for everyone’s consumption. We will be producing in bulk but you can all have your local mananahis (seamstresses) make them for your own frontliners,” said Robredo.

To donate materials and fabrics, contact Cynthia Diaz at 0917-866-2496.

For cash donations, deposit via BPI Account 4169-5911-43 (Stephanie Tan) or through GCash 0906-474-6084.

Rajo Laurel has also opened his factory to produce free PPEs for medical frontliners. “I could not sit idly and not do anything for our frontliners,” the designer said in an interview with Metro.Style.

Laurel’s design aims to use Tyvek, a high density polyethylene fiber manufactured by DuPont. But since the said material is not commonly found in the Philippines, Laurel and his friends, including Anne Curtis, are asking the public for donations or leads on suppliers.

Aside from Tyvek, Laurel is also asking for donation of waterproof materials, 28 inches plastic zippers, and ¼ garter threads.

To donate, contact Tricy Vergel de Dios at 0917-324-6091 or Mabi Yulo at 0917-824-3322, or email hol.ppedonations@gmail.com Fashion designers Steph Tan, Rob Ortega, Rosenthal Tee, Bessie Besana, Yong Davalos, Dre Tetangco, Jot Losa, Debbie Co, Vina Romero, Jill Lao, and Daryl Maat banded together to form Fashion for Frontliners.

The team aims to produce non-medical grade but doctor-approved PPEs made of Taslan material (priced at P400 each), with the help of donations from the public.

“Our PPE suit is suggested as a decent alternative to protect our healthcare workers,” said Fashion for Frontliners.

The first batch of the protective gear to be manufactured, the team said, will

Medically approved personal protective equipment made using Tafetta SBL designed and created by the Manila Protective Gear Sewing Club.

(Photo from Leni Robredo/Facebook)

which, based on initial cost per piece, could fund more than 6,300 PPEs. Donate through BDO Account 00352-802-1594 (Stephanie Go Tan), BPI Account 8060-0089-31 (Jill Adrianne Lao), GCash 0956527-4065, or Paypal at fashionforfrontlinersph@gmail.com.

tective lab suits per week, with the help of public’s support in sourcing the material. “If you could donate something or at least give us the materials we need, then we’ll be willing to produce these suits ASAP,” the brand said in a Facebook post on March 24.

Go to Stay Dope on Facebook to k now more.

Local apparel and accessories brand Penshoppe on March 26 an-nounced that the company and its sister brands earmarked P200 million “as aid for our immediate and extended communities.”

Penshoppe has donated meals and rice to affected households in local community in and around its Quezon City offices.

The brand added that they are donating to the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation’s Project Ugnayan to provide food Fashion designer Michael Leyva (left) teams up with Angel Locsin to distribute the first relief for those in need, as well as batch of PPEs his team created. (Photo from michaelleyva_/Instagram) to the Tanging Yaman Foundation Designer Michael Leyva was also to fund for PPEs. “We are also dogo to the Philippine General Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, Philip- quick to turn his studio into a facility nating 25,000 surgical masks arpine Heart Center, Amang Rodriguez producing washable face masks, head riving this week, with the support Memorial Medical Center, UERM Me- covers, and other PPEs for frontliners. of our vendors.”

Leyva teamed up with Angel Locsin morial Hospital, Philippine Orthopedic to distribute the first batch of PPEs his Center, and San Juan Medical Center.

“The PPE suits are solely for dona- team created. Prior to receiving his dotion, with public hospitals as priority,” nation, some of the healthcare workers had to use improvised PPEs made from the group clarified.

As of March 30, the group have re- plastic cover.

“Seeing them makes me feel proud. I ceived over P2.5 million cash donations, Founder know that they are protected and can conGiorgio Armani tinue fight the battle. We should never let announces the our heroes fight wearing garbage bags,” company will Leyva wrote in his Instagram post. create singleCheck out @michaelleyva_ on Instause medical overalls for gram to know more.

FASHION NEWS

More groups are currently raising funds for PPEs. Discover MNL has launched #BaryaNiJuan 50 in an effort to raise P300,000 to produce 1,000 locally made PPEs. In just eight hours since activation, the group surpassed its initial goal and raised P336,670. The group also gathered enough funds to finance the second batch of PPE suits.

Send donations through Paymaya 0956-675-7868, BPI Account 4899-063398 (Walter Steven Siy), or BDO Account 0024-0021-4901 (Lucky Lyn Alabado).

Leyva and his staff continue the production of PPEs for medical frontliners. (@michaelleyva_)

The final prototype of PPE suit alternative to be produced by the Fashion for Frontliners. (Photo from @fashionforfrontliners /Instagram)

healthcare workers fighting coronavirus.

Local clothing brand Stay Dope offers manufacturing of 100-150 pro-

Armani Group to manufacture single-use medical overalls

Healthcare workers take a much-deserved break to take a photo wearing the PPEs donated by Michael Leyva. (@michaelleyva_)

IN AN effort to help healthcare workers fight coronavirus in hardhit Italy, the Giorgio Armani Group have turned all its Italian production plants into facilities manufacturing single-use medical overalls.

The announcement came after the luxury goods company pledged to donate 1.25 million euros to Italy’s Civil Protection Department as well as Italian hospitals and institutions including the Luigi Sacco, San Raf-

faele, and Istituto dei Tumori in Milan, and Istituto Spallanzani in Rome.

In previous weeks, Giorgio Armani has also contributed to hospitals in Bergamo, Piacenza, and Versilia in the Tuscany region, bringing the total of his donation to 2 million euros.

Italy, where the company is established and based, currently has the highest death toll due to coronavirus, with 11,591 deaths as of March 30.

Motoring

RAMON L. TOMELDAN Editor

B4

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

Isuzu lends vehicles to transport frontliners I

SUZU Philippines Corporation, responding to the immediate needs of the country’s healthcare and frontline workers fighting to stem the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (CoViD-19), lent on March 28 two units of the Isuzu D-MAX and one Isuzu mu-X to authorized representatives of the Binan local government.

Following the strict government protocols on social distancing and disinfection, the three Isuzu light commercial vehicles were completely sanitized and sterilized, and will be delivered to the Municipality of Biñan, Laguna.

These vehicles will be used to support

the frontliners in Biñan and Sta. Rosa Laguna, to transport them going to and from the several hospitals to help them fulfill their critical duties in this public health crisis.

IPC also lent one mu-X and one NLR PUV to Medical City in Sta. Rosa, La-

PROJECT PITLANE

guna, which will be used as the Medical City’s frontliners’ service. IPC still continues to reach out to other hospitals to address their mobility problems.

IPC President Hajime Koso paid tribute to the country’s healthcare workers and frontliners. “As the world, including the Philippines, faces an unprecedented health crisis threatening countless lives, our healthcare workers and frontliners— the doctors, nurses, medical researchers, hospital and clinic technicians, and other staff—have risked their own lives to help stop the pandemic, while caring for those who have contracted the disease. And they have been performing such selfless work tirelessly, without letup. With

AS CONFIRMED by The UK Government, during the past two weeks a collective of seven UKbased Formula 1 teams,* their respective technology arms and Formula 1 has made significant progress in defining and coordinating its response to the UK Government’s call for assistance with the manufacture of medical devices to help in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The seven teams’ combined efforts, termed ‘Project Pitlane’, are part of a UK industry-wide effort to manufacture and deliver respiratory devices to support the national need. The seven are Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, BWT Racing Point F1 Team, Haas F1 Team, McLaren F1 Team, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, Renault DP World F1 Team, ROKiT Williams Racing.

Following decisions taken this week by the UK Government, Project Pitlane is focussed on three workstreams. These workstreams vary in scope from reverse engineering existing medical devices, to support in scaling the production of existing ventilator designs as part of the VentilatorChallengeUK consortium, to the rapid

design and prototype manufacture of a new device for certification and subsequent production.

In each instance, Project Pitlane will pool the resources and capabilities of its member teams to greatest effect, focusing on the core skills of the F1 industry: rapid design, prototype manufacture, test and skilled assembly. F1’s unique ability to rapidly respond to engineering and technological challenges allows the group to add value to the wider engineering industry’s response.

The focus of Project Pitlane will now be on coordinating and answering the clear challenges that have been set. The seven teams remain ready to support in other areas requiring rapid, innovative technology responses to the unique challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. F1.

AS THE world reacts to stem the COVID-19 pandemic, Formula One has scrapped eight races so far from its 2020 season schedule.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix has become the latest race to be postponed, the organisers have announced.

Officials from the Baku City Circuit said on Monday: “The postponement was agreed upon after extensive discussions with Formula 1 as well as the FIA and the Government of the Azerbaijan Republic.

“This comes as a direct result of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and has been based entirely on the expert guidance provided to us by the relevant authorities.”

It becomes the eighth race of the year to be postponed or cancelled – after the Australian, Bahrain, Viet-

nam, Chinese, Dutch, Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix .

After the first seven Grands Prix of the year were put on hold or called off, there had been hopes that the season could begin with the Azerbaijan race in Baku, but organisers have now confirmed the race will not go ahead as planned on June 7th.

Baku City Circuit (BCC) has today taken the decision to postpone the FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 2020 due to take place on June 5th – 7th.

The postponement was agreed upon after extensive discussions with Formula 1 as well as the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the Government of the Azerbaijan Republic. This comes as a direct result of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and has been based en-

tirely on the expert guidance provided to us by the relevant authorities.

In coming to this conclusion, BCC’s primary concern throughout has been the health and wellbeing of the Azerbaijani people as well as all visiting F1 fans, staff and championship participants.

BCC shares its fans disappointment at not being able to experience the pinnacle of motorsport race through the streets of Baku this June. To that end, we will continue to work closely with Formula 1, the FIA and the Government of the Azerbaijan Republic to monitor the situation with a view to announcing a new race date later in the 2020 season.

Baku has already seen some of the most dramatic moments in F1 in recent years, like the Ricciardo/ Verstappen’s crash in 2018

• UK-based F1 teams unite to help in ventilator production

these vehicles, we at IPC hope that our dedicated and enduring heroes in the hospitals would find comfort and safety in their transport. Through our vehicles, we can help them fight the virus more effectively.”

IPC also assures that its aftersales service program, the Isuzu Mobile Medics, will still be offered for Isuzu vehicles used in essential operations for the duration of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine. With the Isuzu Mobile Medics service, owners, operators, and drivers of Isuzu vehicles can avail of expert and experienced technicians and troubleshooters wherever and whenever they are needed.

“The Isuzu Mobile Medic is an onsite emergency servicing will be essential for Isuzu vehicles to continue operating uninterrupted in the government, armed forces, utility companies, logistics, and healthcare sectors,” Mr. Koso added.

To add to Isuzu owners’ peace of mind, IPC’s nationwide network of 45 dealers has also offered a 30-day grace period on all Isuzu vehicles with scheduled PMS (periodic maintenance service) during the enhanced community quarantine, while all Isuzu vehicles whose warranty coverages will be lapsing within the quarantine period will also be given a 30-day warranty extension.

Azerbaijan GP reset amid outbreak McLaren, Mercedes: Power Reunion NEXT year will see two famous brands reignite a relationship that brought them plenty of success in the past, as McLaren take on Mercedes power units. However, the coronavirus pandemic has made it a slightly trickier proposition…

Last week, F1, the FIA and the championship’s 10 teams opted to delay the introduction of the revolutionary 2021 technical regulations by a year with the 2020 chassis being carried over into next year to save costs in a financially challenging time.

McLaren, who currently run Renault power units, had been planning their 2021 design with the architecture of the Mercedes power unit in mind, but they now have to spend resource accommodating it in the 2020 chassis.

Despite the challenge, the iconic British team are pushing on

with the change. “We will be using the Mercedes engine in 2021 as planned and we will accommodate it in the current base chassis,” said McLaren in a statement.

This is far from ideal for McLaren.

While the mounting position can be adjusted on the chassis quite easily, the architecture and packaging of every power unit is different.

One manufacturer will place its turbo and energy recovery systems in different positions to their rivals. Some have the compressor at the front, others at the back. Equally, the size and shape of those components will be different.

In turn, this can in some cases require a big reconfiguration of the chassis, adjustments to the cooling system and even the necessity to

reconfigure the gearbox to make a power unit fit.

Mika Hakkinen took two World Championship titles for McLaren Mercedes in 1998 and ‘99 This would not be a problem if you were starting your chassis from scratch. But it is problematic if you are trying to fit it into an existing chassis, as substantial resource will be required to accommodate the switch.

But McLaren have experience of such a challenge, having made a late call to swap from Honda to Renault power for 2018. They made it work. This time around, they have more time to find a way to make the unit sit comfortably.

And they will also be hopeful the work will be worth it, as the Mercedes unit should give them a power and reliability advantage over the Renault.