Manila Standard - 2020 April 23 - Thursday

Modified lockdown pushed

Private, public sectors prod Duterte to back calibrated reopening

By Darwin G. Amojelar, Vito Barcelo, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Willie Casas

B

USINESS leaders added to the groundswell of support from lawmakers, the private sector and local government leaders for the Duterte administration to modify the Enhanced Community Quarantine across Luzon once it expires on April 30.

VOL. XXXIV • NO. 64 • 2 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Billionaire tycoon Enrique Razon on Wednesday urged the government to allow some businesses to reopen as long as they can test their employees for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and transport them to work.

“I think the areas where infections are down and businesses and industries can handle the opening… could be given serious consideration,” said Razon, owner of port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc., in an interview on the ANC news channel.

President Rodrigo Duterte is set to decide today (Thursday) if the government will extend or modify the ECQ in Luzon, which was extended by two weeks on April 14 from its initial one-month duration.

Previously, the Makati Business Club expressed that a gradual lifting of the restrictions was “the most likely scenario,” with MBC president Edgar Chua also telling ANC there could be “some relaxation” for business that can ensure the safety of their workers and communities.

MBC Executive Director Francisco Alcuaz Jr. had said the extension meant more time for the government to address the

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM APRIL 22)

6,710

NUMBER OF CASES

446 (9 new) DEATHS

693 (39 new) RECOVERIES

111

NEW CASES

PAINFUL DECISION. A medical

worker takes a prick of blood from the finger of a government frontliner for rapid coronavirus testing in Pasig City on Wednesday in this photo from the city's Facebook page. The national government also faces a potentially painful decision today in either extending the COVID-19 induced lockdown of Luzon or relaxing it to allow the economy to restart.

Germany okays vaccine trials on human, 4th test worldwide BERLIN—As nations race to find a cure for the novel coronavirus, Germany has authorized its first clinical test of a vaccine for it, the country's regulatory body said Wednesday, green-lighting trials on human volunteers for an RNA vaccine developed by German firm Biontech and US giant Pfizer.

"The Paul-Ehrlich-Institut... has authorized the first clinical trial of a vaccine against COVID-19 in Germany," the regulatory body PEI said in a statement.

The trial, which was only the fourth to have been authorized worldwide, was a "significant step" in making a vaccine "available as soon as possible," the institute added.

It said that approval was the "result of a careful assessment of the potential risk/ benefit profile of the vaccine candidate."

The trials will see "200 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 55 years" vaccinated with variants of the RNA vaccine, while the second phase could see the inclusion of volunteers who belonged to high-risk groups.

Neither PEI nor the developers specified when the trial will begin, though Biontech claimed in a statement that it would be "soon" and "ahead of our expectations."

The PEI also claimed that "further clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine candidates will start in Germany in the next few months."

Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly has demanded equal access for any future COVID-19 vaccine but its seeming unanimity was a fluke.

The United States in fact opposed the

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Recoveries outpace deaths, 26 provinces post no cases Dr. Ruben Fabunan

Palace to FDA: Study efficacy of Fabunan's cure

ABOUT 26 provinces in the country have zero novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases or have not seen an increase in cases in a long time, which Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Wednesday was “good news.”

Although the Department of Health did not say which provinces

have not seen a rise in their COVID-19 cases, 32 percent of the country’s provinces and 38 percent of its cities are still seemingly untouched by the pandemic, an ABS-CBN report citing its own research said.

The broadcast network's Investigative and Research Group said Next page

MALACAÑANG on Wednesday urged the Food and Drug Administration to study the effectiveness of the Fabunan anti-viral injection in curing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the FDA should check if Fabunan is safe and effective for use in the treatment of COVID-19.

“Why is there no study about the Fabunan anti-viral injection so that, once and for all, the FDA could declare if it is safe to use or not?,” Roque said in an interview with state-run Radyo Pilipinas.

A now-deleted video that circulated on social media this month claimed that Fabunan, a patented anti-viral drug against Next page

PANDEMIC GRAVES. An aerial view shows cemetery workers unloading coffins from a truck at an area where new graves have been dug at the Parque Taruma cemetery during the COVID-19 pandemic in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, on April 21. AFP

DoJ simplifies pardon to decongest jails The agency says it is part of the efforts to ease the overcrowding in prisons and to control the spread of the coronavirus in THE Justice department has simplified the penal system.

In a resolution approved by Justice the requirements for processing the applications for parole and executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra on April Next page clemency by inmates.

By Rey E. Requejo and Vito Barcelo

Trump immigration curb to last 60 days WASHINGTON―President Donald Trump partially blocked immigration to the United States for 60 days "to protect American workers" from the economic shock of the coronavirus, as the United Nations warned the world was facing "a humanitarian catastrophe."

The UN alarm bell came as nations scrambled to not only fight the virus— which has killed 177,000 people and infected more than 2.5 million—but also desperately seek ways to limit the vast damage unleashed on the global economy.

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HAPPY CAMPER. A city government worker for Malabon dressed in pink

overalls poses before handing out food packs to residents on Wednesday. The suits are designed by fashion designer Roman Sebastian, who normally makes wedding gowns. The protective suits are the Barangay Ibaba native's contribution to the city's fight against the coronavirus.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020

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Congress set to reopen May 4 C

By Maricel V. Cruz

He says the people have been reeling under the six-week-old lockdown euphemistically called “Enhanced Community Quarantine.”

Rep. Ronnie Ong said the Philippine

Charity Sweepstakes Office should help generate funds that could be used in the fight against COVID-19.

He said funds were needed to support the millions of Filipinos who had lost

their livelihood because of the Enhanced Community Quarantine.

Cayetano said he talked with Senate President Vicente Sotto III and they agreed to convene on May 4.

“If we are still on ECQ, we will have to convene electronically just like we did in the Bayanihan Act,” Cayetano said.

“We will hold sessions to pass important legislation even if we have to meet up to the wee hours of the morning.”

Cayetano said he hoped the congressmen would have more time studying the pending bills “like in the US, [where] it took them several

Modified..

The President is expected to announce his decision on April 23 what course the country will take after the Luzon-wide lockdown ends.

National Task Force Covid-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said local government units have been ordered to facilitate regional and provincial cooperation to better contain the spread of COVID-19.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is formulating sector-specific plans, strategies and targets, he said.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government and local government units will lead the conduct of contact tracing in communities, Galvez said, saying LGUs have the capacity to identify possible COVID-19 clusters in their areas.

“The localization of the implementation of the National Action Plan against COVID-19 at the regional, provincial, municipal, city and barangay levels is the key to beat COVID-19," he added.

Galvez cited research conducted by the University of the Philippines Research Institute that said the ECQ was helping curb the spread of COVID-19.

He said UP Professor Mahar Lagmay and Dr. Ted Herbosa, UP executive vice president and National Task Force on COVID-19 medical adviser, also warned that the number of infections could go up after the ECQ is lifted.

Galvez said targeted mass testing for COVID-19 cases among health workers and those most vulnerable members of society including the elderly, pregnant women and immuno-compromised individuals provided the task force a better picture of the health situation in the country.

Galvez said the COVID-19 testing laboratory of the Philippine National Red Cross is now operational and could accommodate about 12,000 tests per day.

The government, he said, aims to test some 2 million people, he said.

"This plan will provide the government the critical data and analysis to help address the crisis brought about by COVID-19," he added.

Galvez said 52,837 individuals have already been tested, and that the first batch out of the 900,000 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing kits and 2 million rapid testing kits being procured are expected to arrive this week.

There are 3,052 quarantine facilities that have already been established nationwide, he said, which can handle about 211,474 suspected and mild COVID-19 patients.

He said the Philippine Health Insurance

Corporation (PhilHealth) will provide health packages for COVID-19 patients who had been confirmed positive and admitted not later than April 15.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the government should extend the quarantine in areas largely affected by COVID-19, such as Metro Manila, but with some modifications.

"For example, we can allow tricycle but only with one passenger at a time and then in buses, only one person would occupy per row," he said.

Sotto said he believes the government can just enforce “safe distancing” in areas with very low or no recorded cases of COVID-19.

Senator Leila de Lima expressed hope the government will not go for a total lockdown.

"I know that, as clarified by relevant officials, a total lockdown is not (or not yet) an option. Let’s hope that they will never go for it," she said.

“A total lockdown can only mean more hungry and angry people—a veritable social volcano," De Lima said.

"I’m for a thoroughly-assessed, wellplanned gradual, calibrated lifting of ECQ, and selective quarantine, case-to-case, by barangay and by industry as to work resumption."

Senator Christopher Go, who was present during the President’s meeting with health experts Monday night, said a modified quarantine will likely be enforced.

Among those being considered is whether quarantine measures in areas with fewer or no cases of COVID-19 could be relaxed and whether quarantine measures could be stricter over Metro Manila should the ECQ be extended.

The DOH said there are about 30 provinces in the country that have either a few or no cases of the coronavirus disease.

The Luzon-wide ECQ was imposed last March 16 and it was supposed to be lifted

by April 14.

However, it was extended until April 30 as medical experts have yet to determine whether the lockdown has been able to flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases.

While the doubling time has been lengthened from two days to five days, the DOH is aiming for a 30-day doubling time so that the number of cases can be accommodated and treated by hospitals.

In related developments: • The League of Cities of the Philippines on Tuesday suggested enforcing localized ECQs. "The view of the many mayors is that they are for a more localized enhanced community quarantine," league president Evelio Leonardia said over radio dzMM. “We feel that this is the more effective way to do this considering that the cities, per our

check, 63 percent of these [COVID-19] cases are in the cities," he added.

• The Philippine National Police said detention areas are being reserved for violators of the ECQ as part of intensified law enforcement operations. "We will file a case against them and then we will reserve appropriate confinement areas to arrest all those (who) violate the guidelines," PNP Chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa, said in a radio interview on Wednesday. Gamboa said arrested violators could be detained for a longer time because of the number of cases being handled by courts. "You will surely be detained and could be (in detention) for a longer time and you will be mixed with other offenders," he added. So far, the PNP has recorded a total of 136,000 ECQ violators.

• Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite said the government should focus on educating people about the importance of staying home, instead of sending soldiers to the streets to intimidate the population into following quarantine guidelines. The deployment of combat units and armored vehicles in communities is an unnecessary display of force, Gaite said. Instead of intimidation and coercion, the government must embark on a mass education campaign about the virus to create awareness about the need to stay at home. It must convince the people of the importance of preventive quarantine by providing them information they can understand and easily follow, he added.

• The Department of Transportation said it is studying the partial resumption of some modes of mass public transportation, with buses and train lines being allowed to operate subject to strict regulations. “If the IATF will allow it, we can do partial operability but the operational capacity will be abbreviated and reduced to maintain the Department of Health's guidelines on social distancing,” said Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, speaking in Filipino at an online press briefing.

Under this setup, he said, buses and trains may only ferry 30 percent of their full capacity to maintain social distancing.

• The Department of Information and Communications Technology encouraged government, private and business entities exempted from the ECQ to register their authorized frontliners and personnel in the Rapid Pass System (RPS) through bulk application. RPS is the government’s initiative to speed up inspections of frontliners and priority vehicles at designated quarantine control points to reduce unnecessary physical contact during the ECQ. Launched April 6, RPS uses QR codes and control numbers as checkpoint passes in Metro Manila.

care -- and was in fact associated with more deaths, the biggest study of its kind showed Tuesday.

The US government funded analysis of how American military veterans fared on hydroxychloroquine was posted on a medical preprint site and has not yet been peer reviewed.

The experiment had several important limitations, but adds to a growing body of doubt over the efficacy of the medicine that counts President Donald Trump and right wing news channel Fox News among its biggest backers.

Researchers looked at the medical records of 368 veterans hospitalized nationwide who either died or were discharged by April 11.

Death rates for patients on hydroxychloroquine were 28 percent, compared to 22 percent when it was taken with the antibiotic azithromycin -- a combination favored by French scientist Didier Raoult, whose study on the subject in March triggered a surge of global interest in the drug.

The death rate for those receiving only standard care was 11 percent.

In ordinary times, the General Assembly adopts resolutions either by consensus or by majority votes— displayed openly on an electronic board or held secretly in the case of elections. AFP

Palace...

the Fabunan Medical Clinic and its doctors in the practice of their profession.”

On Tuesday, Roque announced that Duterte is offering a P10-million reward to any Filipino who could develop a vaccine against COVID-19.

The President, he said, would also give the University of the PhilippinesPhilippine General Hospital a “substantial grant” to develop a vaccine.

During his intervention at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Plus Three Summit on April 15, Duterte said the Philippines is ready to join other countries in conducting clinical trials of Avigan, a Japanese anti-viral drug, for the potential treatment of COVID-19.

Research studies at Wuhan University and other institutions in China have disclosed that Avigan is seen as effective in treating COVID-19.

As of Tuesday, the Philippines has reported 6,599 COVID-19 infections, with 437 deaths and 654 recoveries.

Since appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the new coronavirus has spread to at least 185 countries and regions.

According to data compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University, worldwide COVID-19 infections have passed 2.5 million, with the death toll nearing 172,000, while almost 660,000 people have recovered.

the WFP executive director David Beasley told the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

"Millions of civilians living in conflict-scarred nations... face being pushed to the brink of starvation."

The WFP warned the number of people suffering from acute hunger was projected to nearly double to 265 million this year.

In the United States, where the economy is reeling and 22 million people have lost their jobs, Trump said he would stop the issuing of green cards for 60 days, but exempt temporary workers such as seasonal farm laborers. AFP

DoJ...

ONGRESS will resume sessions on May 4 to tackle pending legislation, many of which involve the easing of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the people and the economy, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said Wednesday.

From A1

pandemic and gauge the effectiveness of the lockdown.

He said it also helps the government and private sector prepare for a modified lockdown, which gradually allows operations of certain business sectors. “[The extension] does put more pressure on all of us to provide for workers who aren’t getting paid and support businesses that are paying their workers, first of all the SMEs, because we will need small and big companies in the recovery,” Alcuaz said.

The group Laban Konsyumer Inc. also said it was in favor of the gradual lifting of the Luzon-wide lockdown.

Its president, lawyer Vic Dimagiba, said that consumers' responsibility “requires we comply strictly with ECQ measures like wearing face masks and social distancing.”

“We support bringing back laborers and consumers back to work, with details for the government [to establish],” he added.

Razon said he cannot quantify the impact that a second lockdown would have on the economy.

"We are really, proverbially, between a rock and a hard place. It’s a tough choice. We let the economy die or people die. It’s really a terrible choice to make," he said.

“There’s no question we’re in a recession … it could lead to depression in the second lockdown, it’s really a choice of the lesser evil [to] save the economy,” Razon said.

“The government I think at the end of the day will have to spend at least an additional P1 trillion to keep things intact over and above of the 2020 budget,” he added.

Razon also said that public transportation is a concern since the virus can freely move around society.

“That’s probably what will happen if public transportation is allowed. It’s really a tough choice,” he said.

Razon also warned that if the lockdown goes longer more Filipinos will be out of jobs “so the government and Congress should come up a second package for small business and for the people.”

The government earlier announced subsidy programs amounting to P256 billion for the country’s most vulnerable sectors hit the hardest by the economic impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Top government officials said the President may opt for a modified ECQ after the Luzon-wide lockdown expires on April 30, to keep the country’s economy going while protecting public health.

Germany...

From A1

resolution but acted too late to stop it, diplomats say.

The 193 members of the General Assembly adopted by consensus Monday a resolution led by Mexico that calls for "equitable, efficient and timely" access to any vaccine developed to fight the pandemic.

But the non-binding resolution irked the United States for another reason. It highlighted the "crucial leading role" of the World Health Organization, which President Donald Trump has strongly criticized for not doing more to halt the virus after it was detected in China.

The adoption of the text was announced three hours after the vote, an unusually long gap.

The reason for the delay, diplomats told AFP, was that the United States had tried unsuccessfully to block it after the fact.

There is no veto at the General Assembly, which includes every UN member state, unlike the more powerful Security Council where five powers— Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- can stop any resolution.

Also, a malaria drug widely touted as a potential cure for COVID-19 showed no benefit against the disease over standard

Trump...

From A1

With more than half of humanity under some form of lockdown, businesses shuttered and millions of jobs lost, the world is facing its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and the UN's World Food Programme said it would hit the least privileged the hardest.

"I want to stress that we are not only facing a global health pandemic, but also a global humanitarian catastrophe,"

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dengue developed by Washington-based Filipino doctor Ruben Fabunan, has been “proven to be used to treat COVID-19” and is already an “approved” drug.

In an April 8 advisory, the FDA warned the public that no drug and vaccine has been licensed “specifically for use in COVID-19 treatment.”

Roque cited the need to conduct a study about the effectiveness of Fabunan to stop confusion among individuals who think that the drug can treat COVID-19.

“So long as there is no official declaration from FDA, many will still believe that it is the cure,” he said. “So the FDA should study it and make a pronouncement.”

Roque said there should be a scientific basis that Fabunan can be used for COVID-19 treatment or prevention.

“There should be a scientific basis so we would know if it is good or bad for public health,” he said.

In a Facebook post on March 31, the Fabunan Medical Clinic clarified that the anti-viral injection is not commercially sold.

Following the circulation of viral social media posts about the anti-viral injection, the clinic said Fabunan is used “exclusively by

From A1

15, the Board of Pardons and Parole relaxed the rules and removed most of the documentary requirements for the grant of paroles—except for the court certification that an inmate has no pending cases and appeals and a record check by the National Bureau of Investigation.

Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said parolees and pardoned inmates were also no longer required to report to parole and probation officers while the state of national emergency was in place.

days to tackle their economic stimulus program but it was still not enough. We will continue to be relevant and will do our part in helping the Filipinos survive these trying times.”

While on lockdown, Congress was able to pass the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, the law that gave the President additional authority to combat COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Ong, vice chairman of the House Games and Amusement Committee, said after the PCSO shut down its operations, it also stopped generating the funds to help shore up the government's capacity to respond to the health crisis.

He says the revised rules also require the Board of Pardons and Parole to double its caseload for review and deliberation during its meetings to speed up the processing of applications.

Decongestion The Bureau of Immigration will decongest its detention center in Bicutan in Taguig to reduce the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks among the foreigners confined there.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente has ordered the bureau’s legal division and other offices to speed up the resolution of the deportation cases against the foreigners detained in Camp Bagong Diwa.

Seized PPEs, gear ready for redistribution

By Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta SIX agencies have adopted a circular governing the speedy forfeiture or auction of seized personal protective equipment and other medical supplies in the fight against the pandemic, officials said.

They said these supplies and equipment were for immediate distribution to and use of healthcare workers and frontliners in the battle against the spread of the coronavirus, which has its epicenter in Wuhan City, China.

Adoption of the circular coincided with the arrival at the Clark airport north of Manila of laboratory equipment worth $2.5 million, according to the Department of Health.

The DOH said the equipment, which can do up to 45,000 COVID-19 tests and set up from seven to 10 days, were taken from Shenzhen, China and flown in by a C130 cargo plane of the Philippine Air Force.

The Philippine government, through the grant assistance from the Manilabased Asian Development Bank, secured the equipment to strengthen the testing capacity of the country.

With Jess Malabanan

PH files protest over twin China WPS ’violations’ THE Philippines has filed two protests with China over the pointing of a radar gun at a Philippine Navy ship and for declaring parts of Philippine territory as part of Hainan province, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin confirmed Wednesday.

On his Twitter account, Locsin said the

Chinese Embassy in Manila at 5:15 p.m. received the twin protests, which he said were “both violations of international law and Philippine sovereignty.”

China recently announced its creation of two new districts in the South China Sea, which included the Paracel island group near Vietnam and the Spratly island group in the West Philippine Sea. Beijing said the new districts were placed under the control of the Chinese city of Sansha in Hainan province.

"We worked on this the whole day. And that is all that will be said on it because diplomatic notes are strictly confidential between the two states parties. Period," Locsin added without further details. Rey E. Requejo

Recoveries...

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data from the DOH showed that 26 out of 81 provinces in the Philippines have not had a single confirmed case of COVID-19 to date—even as cases in the country, especially in Metro Manila, continued to rise.

The DOH also reported Wednesday that the rate of transmission of COVID-19 has slowed as the number of recoveries surpassed deaths for the eighth straight day.

Vergeire said 39 COVID-19 patients recovered Wednesday, bringing total recoveries to 693, while nine deaths on the same day brought total fatalities to 446.

As of 4 p.m. April 22, the country had a total of 6,710 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 111 new cases reported Wednesday.

Among the confirmed cases were 1,062 health care workers who tested positive for COVID-19. These were made up of 422 doctors, 386 nurses, 30 medical technologists, 21 radiologic technologists, 51 nursing assistants and 152 other frontliners, including barangay health workers.

An encouraging development, Vergeire said, was the slowing of the virus’ doubling time, or the time it takes for the number of COVID-19 cases to double.

“It used to be three days, and now it’s up to five days. That’s a good sign for all of us,” Vergeire said.

She added, however, that this was no reason for complacency, noting that there was a resurgence of cases in countries where stringent measures were lifted.

Vergeire advised the public to be ready to embrace the “new normal” where physical distancing, cough etiquette and maintaining good hygiene by frequent hand washing will still be practiced even after the Enhanced Community Quarantine is lifted by May 1.

“We have to be ready for this new normal we’re talking about. Even if we come to April 30 and it [ECQ] will not be extended anymore or it will be extended, whatever the decision will be, we will have a new normal,” she said.

“We all know that the virus... will still be here by May 1,” she added. Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rey E. Requejo

News

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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STORIES ONLINE

(at manilastandard.net) NBI nabs man selling fake Palace ID cards ARRESTED.

Barangay Chairwoman Papala Guinongco of Brgy. Datu Esmael in Dasmariñas, Cavite and his brother Macapado Guinongco were arrested during a buy-bust operation of Cavite provincial intelligence unit and the Dasmariñas police on April 21. The arresting policemen recovered 300 grams of suspected shabu with a street value of P2,040,000.00 and one 1911 colt pistol .45.

JR Josue

IN BRIEF Araneta City roving guard cited for honesty ARANETA City security guard commended for returning lost wallet containing P60k.

Rex Alloro, a roving security guard assigned on Center Avenue, Araneta City, is being acclaimed in social media for his honesty in returning a lost wallet containing more than P60,000 in cash.

While making his usual rounds in the morning of April 12, Alloro found a wallet in front of Julie’s Bakeshop at the Center Avenue Arcade.

Upon opening the wallet, Alorro saw that it contained several bank cards, ID cards and a thick wad of cash.

Without hesitation, Alorro went to the Famers Market administration office and surrendered the wallet to his superiors. The wallet turned out to contain P60,180 and belongs to a certain Eugenio Michael O. Plana.

Alloro has set an example of exemplary honesty which the company wishes to see not just among its employees but among every Filipino, especially during these troubled times.

Taguig City launches village-based testing THE Taguig City government on Wednesday launched its barangaybased and drive-thru testing to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease.

With these new initiatives under its innovational Systematic Mass Approach to Responsible Testing, the city will increase mass testing.

“Many experts have seen increased COVID-19 testing as an effective tool to decrease transmissions and more effectively treat those infected. We are heeding their suggestions,” said Mayor Lino Cayetano.

Since March, SMART has tested nearly 1,000 individuals through oncall service, wherein mobile teams of health workers would collect swabs from possible COVID-19 patients in their homes.

SMART will increase the number of tests conducted across the city with barangay-based and drive-thru testing. Joel Zurbano

P’que distributes P1k gift checks to seniors THE Parañaque City government has started the distribution of gift checks worth P1,000 to more than 58,000 senior citizens in 16 barangays.

Mayor Edwin Olivarez said the gift checks will be delivered by a local courier to seniors presently enrolled in the city’s Office of Senior Citizens Affairs program to ensure that only legitimate and qualified residents received the food voucher.

Records showed that there are 58,429 seniors enrolled in OSCA Cares from the city’s 16 barangays.

It was learned several senior citizens were not able to avail cash assistance under the social amelioration program of the government.

Olivarez said the GC may be used to purchase grocery and supermarket items from any SM outlet by the seniors themselves or by anyone they entrust the voucher.

He said this is part of the city’s continuing relief operations to ensure the well-being of residents especially the elderly who are most vulnerable and equally helpless during the quarantine period. Joel Zurbano

ECQ not an excuse to release UST hazing suspect—solon A

By Maricel V. Cruz

LEGISLATOR on Wednesday said the campaign to contain the spread of the Coronavirus-19 disease should not be used as an excuse in releasing one of the accused in the alleged hazing death of a University of Santo Tomas law student.

Party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. of Ako Bicol at the same time praised the media for drawing attention to the reported attempt to get Mhin Wei Chan, one of the accused in the case involving the alleged fatal hazing of Horacio Castillo in 2017.

Castillo, then 22, was a freshman at the UST Faculty of Civil Law when he died of the injuries he reportedly sustained while undergoing the initiation rites of the Aegis Juris fraternity.

One of the prominent alumni-members of the Aegis Juris fraternity is Nilo Divina, the dean of the college at the time of the alleged initiation rites.

Garbin said Mhin Wei Chan, in his motion for release, cited the recommendation of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Justice saying: “Since the current COVID-19 crisis demands prompt action, there is a need to grant provisional liberty to detainees in highly

congested jails outside the provisions of Republic Act 10389, but still within the bounds of the Constitution and other existing laws.”

That law, which was signed into law in 2013 is titled “An act institutionalizing recognizance as a mode of granting the release of an indigent person in custody as an accused in a criminal case and for other purposes.”

Garbin, a member of the House Committee on Justice, said: I trust that the prosecutor handling the case would readily see that provisions in the Recognizance Act of 2012 apply only to the release of any person in custody or detention for the commission of an offense who is unable to post bail due to poverty.” Violation of hazing law is a non-bailable offense, he said, adding: “ I also doubt if Mhin Wei Chan and the other accused can qualify as indigents. They are flight risks and with the means to hide or flee.”

In a related development, Quezon City Rep. Precious Castelo urged the Supreme Court and the Department of Justice that low-risk and vulnerable detainees be tested for COVID-19 before they are released.

Castelo, a deputy majority leader, said the SC and the DOJ could request the Department of Health to do the test.

“The government should determine if the prisoners to be released are coronavirus carriers or not. If they are and are sent home, they can spread the virus to their families and the community,” she said.

If the detainees are carriers, they should be immediately isolated and treated, Castelo said. Contact tracing should also be done to identify persons the detainees have interacted with so they could be quarantined, she added.

Castelo made the appeal in the wake of reports that the SC is allowing the release of certain offenders, including those whose period of detention is equal to or has exceeded the prison term they would serve if they were convicted.

The high court took the move apparently in response to appeals for it and the DOJ to free low-risk and vulnerable persons deprived of liberty to decongest jails and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in these detention facilities.

‘China should pay PH for WPS damages’

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday demanded that the Chinese government should shoulder the costs of the Philippines’ COVID-19 response, in reparation for the annual losses the country has incurred due to China’s damage of reef ecosystems in the West Philippine Sea. “China should foot the Philippines’ COVID-19 bill. The destruction to our reefs in Scarborough Shoal and Spratly Islands is equivalent to at least P33.1 billion in losses annually, on top of other economic and health costs,” said Hontiveros.

“This money is past due and could go to government’s efforts in fighting the pandemic,” said Hontiveros, citing the breakdown of costs stated by the University of the Philippines’ Marine Science Institute.

She citedd a report by the Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy which stated that China began reclaiming land in the West Philippine Sea in December 2013.

“China has been damaging our ecosystems for over 6 years now, which means our losses could already amount to over 200 billion pesos. This money could be used to fund our health and economic plans as we transition to a new normal,” the senator said.

She said despite the pandemic, China has continued its land reclamation operations and illegal fishing activities in the West Philippine Sea, which means that the Philippines’ losses will only continue to grow.

“The government already has a huge budget deficit because of COVID-19.

China’s ongoing disregard for our own resources will worsen our economic standing,” she said.

“The government should demand what is rightfully ours and use this to help the Filipino people battle COVID-19,” she added.

On top of the money that could be collected from the West Philippine Sea damages, Hontiveros said that the government should also demand the P50 billion unpaid taxes from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.

Earth Day with COVID ‘perfect time to ponder’ DAR suspends cases while ECQ active PLM to pass students amid virus pandemic GSIS lauded for hike in members’ benefits CamSur opens facility to treat ‘corona’ cases

Makati City tests hospital, health center frontliners

By Joel E. Zurbano AT LEAST 110 hospital and health center frontliners in Makati City were tested for coronavirus on Wednesday.

Mayor Abigail Binay said the Makati Health Department conducted the test for 50 health care workers at Ospital ng Makati, 39 at Rizal Health Center, and 27 at Pembo Health Center to detect, isolate, and treat those who have contracted COVID-19.

She said testing frontliners for coronavirus is important to make sure that they are safe and healthy.

“The city’s priority is testing the frontliners and residents who are PUIs [persons under investigation] and PUMs [persons under monitoring]. Our frontliners are vulnerable to contracting the disease since they have direct contact with patients,” Binay said.

MHD chief Dr. Bernard Sese said the samples will be brought to the Philippine Red Cross National Headquarters in Mandaluyong City for diagnosis. He added the results are expected to come out after two days.

The city government earlier signed a memorandum of agreement with Red Cross for the mass testing of at least 2,000 frontliners, PUIs, and PUMs. Apart from the testing center at Red Cross, Makati also sends samples to UP National Institutes of Health in Manila.

Earlier today, the city opened three temporary emergency quarantine facilities at Pembo Elementary School and another one at the parking area of OsMak for PUIs. Binay thanked WTA Architecture and Design Studio for helping the city in building additional facilities for patients with symptoms.

Bid to reopen classes in August backed

COMMITTED. SMFI Chinese General Hospital and Binakayan Hospital SM remains committed in helping frontliners curb the spread of COVID-19 Through its social good arm, SM Foundation. SM has already provided several critical medical supplies such as personal protective equipment, N95 masks, surgical masks, alcohol, goggles, face shields, gloves, ventilators, and many more to more than 100 hospitals—both public and private— nationwide.

150 soldiers sent in Sampaloc lockdown

By Willie Casas SOME 150 soldiers from the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region were deployed to Sampaloc, Manila to implement the 48-hour hard lockdown in the area.

“I already sent 150 soldiers doon sa Manila para makatulong sa implementation ng hard lockdown sa Sampaloc,” JTF-NCR commander Brigadier General Alex Luna said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV. “I think it will be done tomorrow so I think I would see the area at titignan ko rin ‘yung paglalatagan ng sundalo para alam namin paano kami makakatulong,” Luna said.

Aside from Sampaloc, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso ear-

lier said more areas may be placed under hard lockdown to strictly implement the Enhanced Community Quarantine as well as the social distancing.

Domagoso ordered a hard lockdown in Sampaloc from 8 p.m. of April 23 (Thursday) until 8 p.m. of April 25 (Saturday) due to the high number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the area.

Initial reports said only those who are considered as frontliners, those with health emergency, uniformed personnel, government employees, service workers (pharmacies, drug stores, death care service establishments), barangay officials, and government-accredited media members will be allowed to pass the checkpoints at the locked –down areas.

A PARTY-list legislator on Wednesday welcomed the decision of the education authorities to move the opening of classes to August or later due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 virus.

ACT-CIS Rep. Jocelyn Tulfo said schools should be given time to recover from the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 situation.

Tulfo earlier recommended to the Department of Education, the Commission on Higher Education, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to “synchronize the opening of the new school year either in August or September” on a trial basis.

“Do not start the school year in June.

It is better to err on the side of caution,” she said.

“Many schools are being used as staging areas or relief goods distribution center, or temporary community quarantine facility. These should be cleaned thoroughly,” she added.

The week-long Brigada Eskwela, Tulfo said, will not be enough to ensure that every school and classroom is disinfected, clean, and safe for use.

She said an entire month should be devoted for decontamination of all school and sports facilities, including dormitories, that were used for COVID-19 response measures.

At the same time, Tulfo said delaying the opening of classes would also allow the national and the local governments to come up with solutions to ensure that every student will be able to attend school amid the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Maricel V. Cruz

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Opinion

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Another extension MORE people are getting infected with coronavirus. This is why the lockdown will definitely be extended.

I really don’t know what kind of modifications the Inter-Agency Task Force will adopt. It may mean the easing of some restrictions on movement, or perhaps in the purchase of essential goods.

I have been asked many times by relatives: How long will the enhanced community quarantine really last? I am not a health expert, but I am sure that until a cure is discovered, we will remain in this guarded situation.

All we can do now is hope and pray that this pandemic does not last until Christmas. The world will never be the same again.

Just how our country can ever recover is everybody’s concern. Many have lost their jobs and livelihood.

What will happen to those living below the poverty line, who were having trouble living decently even before COVID-19?

Still, there are pockets of good news. The number of recoveries is now exceeding the number of deaths.

The fact that the Philippines is no longer number one in terms of the number of cases in Southeast Asia gives us a glimmer of hope.

Government assures us that there is enough rice supply. I wonder though how long donations can last in sustaining the needs of the people, especially the poor, if the lockdown is extended.

The bad news is that many are still violating the lockdowns. Do we

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

Filipinos really lack discipline? Are we unable to make sacrifices for the common good? Because of all these, there is talk that government is imposing a martial law-type lockdown.

I do hope that the modifications that the government is considering do not pertain to greater restrictions in movement, at a time when the country is reeling from so many things.

For my wife and me, World War II

I wonder how much longer the poor can take this. was easier compared to this. At least, then, you knew who your enemy was. *** Over the weekend, my attention was caught by reports that the Quezon City jail had nine inmates who had tested positive for COVID-19.

My reaction was, nine only?

That’s an improbable number when you see photos of inmates sitting side by side, unable to observe social distancing. It is likely the number is understated, given how congested the jail facility is.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra should order all city and municipal jails to report what’s been happening so the spread of the virus can be prevented, or contained.

I can also imagine what is happening at the New Bilibid Prison and the Correctional Institute for Women. The inmates are not all convicts.

Many of them are mere detainees awaiting trial in court. My gulay, my heart bleeds!

Even before the pandemic, I have been urging both President Rodrigo Turn to A5

If wishes were wings

P

RESSURE to reopen economies around the world is building up as nations strain against the staggering losses caused by lockdown measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

While most health experts counsel caution in the face of uncertainty, some politicians are eager to throw off the yoke of social distancing in favor of a return to “normal” life.

Among those who advocate an end to shelter-in-place and stay-at-home restrictions, Sweden has been a rallying cry.

Unlike its other Scandinavian neighbors, Sweden has eschewed strict quarantine measures to reduce the movement of citizens and has opted for a relaxed, less restrictive approach that has allowed many schools, bars and restaurants to remain open. And, while gatherings of more than 50 people have been disallowed, crowds continue to gather and life in many parts of Sweden goes on as if it were 2018.

In the United States, where President Donald Trump and his conservative fan base are chomping at the bit to get the economy restarted regardless of the health consequences, Sweden is the poster child.

In April, Fox talk host Tucker Carlson attacked Michigan’s governor for strict quarantine regulations and said

Sweden has never “adopted the Chinese model—the authoritarian model—in order to contain coronavirus,” before praising Sweden’s numbers compared to Michigan’s.

On another occasion, he said the United States chose the “Chinese model—total lockdowns, internal travel restrictions, punishment for those who step out of line—instead of the “Swedish model of targeted restrictions coupled with voluntary distancing.”

Former US speaker of the House New Gingrich said “places like Sweden ... have done a much better job with much less economic damage.”

He also praised Sweden’s approach during an edition of Fox & Friends, saying “the result is their economy is stronger and they have fewer people infected than either Denmark or Norway.”

In mid-April, Fox News host Laura Ingraham tweeted praise for Sweden’s model three separate times. In one tweet, Ingraham complained that “it's now obvious that our press will oppose any strategy that doesn't lead to a complete lockdown for at least the remainder of the year.”

Candace Owens, who has been among the most vocal right-wing media figures in denying the realities of the coronavirus pandemic, tweeted praise for Sweden’s model and mocked social distancing.

Trump himself has been pushing for a greater relaxation of state-imposed restrictions, tweeting his call for people in Democratic-led states to “liberate” themselves.

This ugly use of the term “liberate” has even found its way to the Philippines, where some clueless legislators have picked it up, thinking this makes them sound clever.

For the record, here is what the data from the Johns Hopkins University shows.

Among all the Scandinavian countries, Sweden has the most number of coronavirus cases—15,322—and also the highest death toll, at 1,765 as of April 22. In fact, the number of infections is about double what it is in Norway (7,191) and Denmark (7,891), and three times as much as in Finland (4,014).

The number of deaths from COVID-19 in Sweden is 12 times more than Finland, nine times more than Norway and four times more than Denmark.

Sweden’s fatality rate is 11.52 percent, much higher than Denmark, 4.69 percent; Finland, 3.51 percent; and Norway, 2.53 percent.

According to John Hopkins University, Sweden has the 20th highest number of confirmed cases in the world and is ranked 13th in the world for number of fatalities.

And the economic gains?

Sweden’s finance minister says the economy is expected to shrink 4 percent this year as the coronavirus outbreak hits supply and demand, regardless of its “relaxed approach.”

If wishes were wings, pigs would fly—and so would crazy notions that we can safely ignore the data when dealing with a deadly pandemic.

What happened to due diligence?

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte ordered acting National Economic Development Authority Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua to expedite the implementation of the National ID system. It is widely believed that this could have made easier the distribution of the government’s emergency subsidy distribution during this COVID-19 crisis.

Perhaps the Philippine Statistics Authority can shed some light on this matter.

This has long been anticipated by the chief implementor of the program—the Philippine Statistics Authority when Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa, chief of the PSA, announced last week his office would resume data collection operations including work on the national ID, after its employees secured exemptions from quarantine protocols during the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.

In fact, Mapa had already informed JV Idemia Identity and Security France and FMC Research solutions Inc. it had secured the P683-million project as early as the first week of April, having submitted the lowest bid.

In his letter addressed to Gauray Gupta, authorized representative of Idemia dated April 6, Mapa instructed the bid winner to enter into a contract with PSA10 days upon receipt of the letter and to submit the corresponding Performance Security Bond.

While we have no idea how PSA arrived at awarding the project to Idemia, it seems the agency had failed

miserably in conducting due diligence on the bid winner.

According to sources, Idemia is blacklisted in other countries, including Kenya, which it failed to disclose to the PSA, which in itself, is a ground for disqualification.

To effectively hide from supposed liabilities and blacklisting, Idemia allegedly uses multiple companies when in fact, it is controlled by a single global ultimate owner--Advent International Corp.

Accordingly, Advent has been the owner of Oberthur Technologies since 2011. On May 31, 2017, Advent completed the acquisition of Safran Identity and Security (Morpho). As a result, Oberthur Technologies became OT-Morpho which was eventually rebranded as Idemia on September 2017.

In 2015, Oberthur entered into a deal with the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to establish a secure, accurate and reliable national ID system. The project however, was debarred by the World Bank in 2017.

In 2019, the Kenyan High Court declined to suspend a 10-year ban imposed by the National Assembly on Idemia because of corruption and fraud issues connected to the Hiduma Namba National ID Project in 2017.

However, in its notarized Omnibus Sworn Statement submitted to the PSA, Idemia declared they have no active blacklist from any local or foreign government or foreign international financing institutions despite its active ban in Kenya which include all its affiliates.

Further, according to the source, the National ID System’s Modular Open source Identity Platform or Mosip registration system is integrated to an Automated Biometric Identification System or Abis which is said, not to be compatible with that of Idemia’s system.

If the PSA awards the Abis, a vital component in the national ID system, Idemia has to work on the following developments: (a) A validator middleTurn to A5

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The devil and the deep blue sea MORE than a month has passed since our government implemented the enhanced community quarantine. We are all feeling the consequences of the lockdown, the downsizing of production and manufacturing, stoppage of income-generating activities for many, and disruption in the delivery of goods and services.

The Department of Health has recorded more than six thousand COVID-19 cases. At the current rate, we see that recoveries start to outnumber deaths. While we consider this progress, we have yet to see the flattening of the curve in the country.

The quarantine has relatively prevented massive spread of the virus. How-

Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno Anita F. Grefal Baldwin R. Felipe Edgar M. Valmorida

Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Treasury Manager Head—Ad Solutions Circulation Manager

ever, we are now at a crossroad. As the economic impact of the lockdown becomes palpable, we are now faced with the question—do we continue or lift the ECQ? We all strive for stability. We are also aware that the virus will remain even if the ECQ is lifted. When and how to resume life, as we will know it post-COVID, is like being between the devil and the deep blue sea. Perhaps we can seek assurance that

COVID-19 is effectively contained and the risks of transmission are significantly reduced in order for us to start anew.

We can take a closer look at the implementation of mass testing and the possible issuance of certification from DOH-accredited testing centers that a person is COVID-free as of date of testing. With mass testing in COVID-stricken areas, we will be able to isolate cases in quarantine facilities and allow those without risks or contact with such positive cases to cautiously return to work. This will allow people to continue with their employment and other economic activities Turn to A5

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua

Managing Editor Associate Editors News Editor Opinion Editor

Emil P. Jurado

Honor Blanco Cabie Night Editor Jimbo Owen Gulle City Editor Lino M. Santos Chief Photographer

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Opinion No end in sight IN PREPARATION for the President's decision on what to do next when the Luzon lockdown ends on April 30, the Inter Agency Task Force appear to have decided that local government units will now play a more prominent role on whatever actions will be decided.

I do not know what it will take to make the Department of Health act faster.

This is at least how I read the latest press briefing of Secretary Carlito Galvez. After receiving recommendations from experts in a meeting last Monday, what might happen will be some kind of a modified lockdown which probably will be more localized depending on the degree of infections in a certain geographic area?

This is only an educated guess because the President will only make his decision today. The IATF appears to have come to the realization that it makes more sense for a local government unit to take charge and handle its own problems for the simple reason that local leaders know their areas more intimately than our national officials based in Manila. The IATF will henceforth provide the policy guidelines and local leaders will manage and implement these.

Lateral coordination between local leaders will now also be encouraged so that whatever best practices have been developed by a local leader can be shared with others.

This is actually how a crisis management system should work. Each level of government has its own responsibility to perform which goes up the ladder until it reaches the national and highest level of decision making. The national government only takes over local functions under extreme circumstances.

This should have been done right from the start instead of making it difficult for local leaders to innovate and grapple with the fast-developing problems. Still, as they say, it is never too late to change gear. For one, we are fortunate that we have a bunch of local leaders who have demonstrated able and outstanding leadership during these trying times. In the metro area for instance, there appears to be an unintended friendly competition among some of the local mayors in developing new approaches to old problems such as providing cash and food aid to their constituency. It is heartening to see them go about doing their thing more efficiently than the mayors of old. Many of the local government units have become more technical and more scientific in the way they have gone about solving difficult problems like the identification

What happened...

From A4

ware for quality check of biometric captures; and, (b) Synching features to send offline packets for biometric processing), which according to IT experts, will take at least four to six months. In addition, there will be a stabilization stage that would take another two to six months depending on the issues to be encountered when the system is deployed.

In sum, given Idemia’s lack of experience in the system the PSA’s national ID requires, implementation of the program would take at least eight to twelve months to implement, which runs counter to the government’s objective of capturing and issuing five

of aid recipients.

Many of them are also young and aggressive regardless of gender and this has made the job of the national government a lot easier. This is not only true in the Metro area but also in many provinces and cities.

Some of course have shown their total incompetence but the vast majority are truly very capable leaders and the national leadership should be thankful because there is still no end in sight for this pandemic.

For one, there is the possibility of a second or third wave if a vaccine is not developed at the shortest possible time. If there is anything that the 1918 flu pandemic teaches us, is that there was a second wave that killed more people than the first and third waves. The chief medical adviser to the US president, Dr Anthony Fauci believes that a second wave is possible which makes the IATF move of cascading operational responsibilities more to the LGUs timely. I hope we will be more prepared if there will be a second wave which I hope will not happen. We have to also bear in mind that even if some restrictions are lifted, there will still be infections. We all must still be on guard and be better prepared. *** When 14 senators demanded that Health Secretary Francisco Duque resign, he refused but promised to work harder and admitted to some missteps. One of these missteps is certainly the issue of mass testing.

The DOH has consistently refused to implement mass testing. It was only recently that it agreed to implement what it termed as an expanded mass testing program. But even this excludes many people because the program includes only about three or four groups of people. One must still have to be referred because no walk-in testing is allowed, when this is what is needed if some restrictions will be gradually lifted.

The slowness of the DOH in appreciating the situation and acting immediately can be frustrating. I do not know what it will take to make this department act faster. Take the case of the Marikina testing laboratory. It was only a few days ago that it was certified and it took a visit by the Health secretary to do it. It seems that the DOH is so secure in its science-based approaches that it is hesitant to venture into the unknown without the prodding of medical colleagues outside the bureaucracy.

When the President announced the order of about one million rapid test kits, DOH should have immediately read this to mean that the President wants universal mass testing. It should have prepared accordingly and moved fast to increase the number of testing centers all over the country.

Seventeen testing centers is inadequate for a country of 107 million people. There has to be more.

There may be signs of change. It was reported yesterday that about 30 drive-in testing facilities are being prepared. If true, at least the DOH is beginning to see the point.

million IDs this year.

To date, Idemia reportedly has yet to submit its contract and Performance Security Bond, according to the source.

While PSA may justify its awarding of the project to Idemia, it seems having submitted the lowest bid should not be the sole consideration in securing the said project. If the allegations against Idemia are true, then how can it be expected to deliver everything it had promised.

It has been two years since the national ID system had been approved.

Why then did it take so long for the PSA to finally announce the bid winner and a time when everyone is focused on the COVID-19 pandemic?

And to a possibly questionable supplier at that?

Another...

From A4

Duterte and Secretary Guevarra to address the congestion in jails. Inmates are human too and they deserve to live decently.

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Third quarter crucial to 2020 GDP TOWARD the end of every year the nation’s economic planning agency, NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) assesses the performance of the Philippine economy in the ending year and the likely economic environment in the approaching year. It then proceeds to make a projection of the economy’s growth in the coming 12-month period. The projection is not set in stone and the economic planners adjust the figure if necessitated by the economy’s quarter-by-quarter performance.

The annual GDP (gross domestic product) growth indicated in the Philippine Development Plan 20172022 is 7 to 8 percent. In the face of adverse changes in the world economic environment and the Philippine economic environment and the Philippine economy’s disappointing 2019 performance (5.9 percent growth), however, NEDA downscaled its 2020 growth projection to 6.5-7.5 percent.

At the time that it reiterated its 2020 growth projection, the Philippine economy was enjoying a robust 2019 fourth quarter and things pointed to a growth rebound in 2020. The economy appeared to be headed to a return to the 6-percent-plus annual GDP growth of recent years.

Then reports began filtering out of China of a mysterious flu-like virus that was causing respiratory problems and killing people in the city of Wuhan in the Chinese province of Hubei. The reports subsequently be-

came reality: The virus had become so deadly and so rampant that the Chinese government placed Wuhan, the largest city in central China, on a lockdown. Alarmed, Hong Kong

A great deal depends on what happens between July and September. and the countries nearest the Chinese mainland—Taiwan, Japan and South Korea—banned travel to and from Wuhan. All hell was beginning to break loose because the deadly potential of the virus, now designated as novel coronavirus or COVID-19, had come to be recognized.

By late January, the Philippine government decided that it had to take action on an epidemic that was showing signs of becoming a fullblown world health problem. At first it placed a ban—with minimal exceptions—on travel to and from China. Soon after, it extended the travel ban to Japan and South Korea.

All the Northeast Asian countries are hosts to large OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) communities.

With the numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths steadily rising, President Rodrigo Duterte decided to swallow the most bitter medicine of all: A lockdown. At the outset, the lockdown covered Metro Manila only; the effectivity date was March 15. Two days later, the whole of Luzon, which includes the growth centers of Calabarzon and Region IV-A, was placed under lockdown.

With the ban on foreign travel in January—this government action affected three of the biggest sources of tourism revenue—and the lock locking down of Luzon during two en entire weeks of March, this country’s GDP growth in 2020’s first quarter is bound to be substantially lower. And with Luzon non-operational for an entire month—and possibly one and a half months—the second quarter is bound to come close to being a virtual write-off in GDP growth terms.

A great deal, thus, depends on the July-to-September quarter. On the one hand, a strong recovery in that quarter is sure to have a strong positive impact on 2020’s final quarter. On the other hand, continued weakness in the third quarter will mean that this country’s GDP growth will be minimal at best in 2020. The 2-percent growth that an international financial institution has projected may then come to pass.

The third quarter has to be a good quarter for the Philippine economy. Otherwise, 2020 will be a year of near-total victory for the coronavirus.

IOM supports displaced persons and communities in fight against COVID-19 in PH AS THE number of COVID-19 confirmed cases rises in the Philippines, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is focusing on supporting against the spread of the pandemic the most vulnerable internally displaced persons (IDPs) and communities across the southern region of Mindanao.

Natural disasters and recurrent conflict have left nearly 300,000 IDPs across the country, primarily in Mindanao. IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) reveals these IDP communities lack access to basic livelihoods, live in close confinement in evacuation centers, and have limited access to health, water, sanitation and hygiene—all factors that significantly increase the risk of COVID-19 community transmission.

With the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on 21 April reaching 6,459—with 428 deaths—in a country of over 106 million people, IDPs and surrounding communities are considered particularly vulnerable.

Since October 2019, IOM has been working with local government units in the North Cotabato earthquake-affected areas to provide emergency and life-saving assistance, including

shelter, camp management assistance and cash support to poor IDPs. Most of the nearly 200,000 earthquake-induced displaced people (more than 48,000 families), are staying in either makeshift shelters exposed to extreme weather elements, or in overcrowded evacuation centers with limited Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities.

Because these living conditions put them at a higher risk of contracting and developing the infectious disease, IOM has been rapidly increasing its activities to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among the IDP communities. That effort has included the construction of 75 WASH facilities— latrines, handwashing stations, and bathing cubicles—in the displacement sites across North Cotabato.

Community hygiene and disinfection kits also have been distributed to vulnerable sites to promote infection prevention in communal areas.

Finally, IOM is supporting local COVID-19 contingency planning, focusing on inclusion of communities in camp or camp-like settings.

Kristin Dadey, IOM Chief of Mission in the Philippines said, “We are racing against the clock to work with

local government to implement initiatives that will protect the most fragile and displaced populations against COVID-19. This includes building additional water and sanitation facilities in the evacuation centres and implementing cash-for-work schemes that help poor families with no livelihoods to access essential supplies— such as food and medicines. With this, we aim to ensure socioeconomic protection for the IDPs as COVID-19 is having a devastating impact on the local economy.”

The activities are supported by funding from USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and from United Nations Member States through the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

As part of IOM’s revised global COVID-19 Response Plan, the IOM Mission in the Philippines requires USD 6.3 million to support the Government’s efforts to address the health and socio-economic consequences of the pandemic.

The devil...

to recover from.

The University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health shall be distributing its test kits soon.

Hopefully, with the availability of locally-made test kits, more testing centers will be established by the government to hasten and expand mass

province. It is with high hopes that as test kits are rolled out, the local government units will also be able to conduct mass testing in these facilities.

It is inevitable for the public to worry as we continue with restricted movement and limited resources.

I hope that the national government supports the expansion of COVID testing to help ease public anxiety. As we await the decision of the Executive on the lockdown, whatever religious group you may belong to, I ask that we join in praying for our country, for our health care workers, and for those afflicted with the ill effects of COVID-19. For Catholics, we can recite the rosary, pray the Oratio Imperata, and ask for the Lord’s protection as we all go through the hard times.

This is a crisis unlike any other our nation has expected. But we are resilient. And we will prevail.

From A4

without fear of getting infected. This will also facilitate the gradual resumption of businesses, manufacturing, and mobilization of essential goods and services, and eventually, prevent or mitigate economic recession.

In the long run, testing people for COVID will lead to better management of risks of community transmission. Hence, I seek the help of the Department of Health in expanding testing in as many areas as possible, especially those where industrial and economic zones are located. I urge our health and economic managers to look into this proposal as we find solutions to defeat the looming dangers of COVID without putting our country to multiple adversities which are hard

*** Politics has become irrelevant in the wake of this pandemic. The best example of this is Vice President Leni Robredo who can no longer criticize what the Duterte administration is doing, because it is now beyond her sphere.

This also involves the senators who asked for

This is a crisis unlike any other our nation has expected.

But we are resilient.

And we will prevail. testing in the country. The Quezon Provincial Government is working on establishing additional facilities for COVID. At present, the Quezon Medical Center and its staff is equipped and able to handle COVID patients in the

the resignation of Secretary of Health Francisco Duque. To what end? We are in the midst of a pandemic!

Small relief that we no longer hear about grandstanding politicians on a daily basis. *** My daughter, who has taken us into her home

For further information, please contact Troy Dooley at IOM Philippines, Tel: +639178133601, Email: tdooley@iom.int

in Merville, Parañaque, got the surprise of her life when we received 10 kilos of rice and other goods from the office of Mayor Edwin Olivarez. I heard all families in the village got theirs, as well.

We never received anything from our barangay. But thank you, Mayor. The goods were a big help.

A6

World

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Trump wishes Kim Jong Un ‘well’ on Nokor leader's health

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IN BRIEF Harvard told to pay back millions in aid US PRESIDENT Donald Trump insisted Tuesday that Harvard, the world's wealthiest university, pay back millions it received under a massive government stimulus package meant to cushion the economy from the coronavirus pandemic.

"Harvard, you pay that money back. I want Harvard to pay the money back, ok?

And if they don't do that, then we'll do something else," Trump said at his daily briefing on the pandemic.

"I don't like it at all. This is meant for workers. This isn't meant for one of the richest institutions ... in the world," the billionaire president continued.

Shortly after Trump spoke, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university tweeted that it was allocated $8.6 million as part of the historic $2.2 trillion package passed last month to stimulate the collapsing US economy.

It said 100 percent of the funds would be given to students "facing urgent financial needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic", and stressed that the money did not fall under the Paycheck Protection Program for small business relief.

"President Trump is right that it would not have been appropriate for our institution to receive funds that were designated for struggling small businesses," it tweeted.

It did not respond directly to Trump's call for the money to be repaid.

"Give it back. Everyone, literally everyone, needs it more than you," responded one user, Ellen Sledge. AFP

Jihadists kill 52 in Mozambique A SHADOWY Islamist group that has terrorised northern Mozambique killed 52 villagers on April 7 after locals refused to be recruited to their ranks, according to police cited by local media Tuesday.

"Recently, the criminals tried to recruit young people to join their ranks, but there was resistance on the part of the youths.

This provoked the anger of the criminals, who indiscriminately killed —cruelly and diabolically—52 young people," police spokesman Orlando Mudumane told the state-owned broadcasting service.

The killings took place in the village of Xitaxi in of Muidumbe district.

Mudumane said the villagers were "massacred", either shot dead or beheaded.

Police said they have launched a manhunt for the attackers to bring them to justice.

Militants have in recent weeks stepped up attacks as part of a campaign to establish an Islamist caliphate in the gas-rich region, seizing government buildings, blocking roads and briefly hoisting their black-and-white jihadist flag over towns and villages across Cabo Delgado province. AFP

Virus violators land in 'haunted house' SRAGEN, Indonesia—Fed up with people breaking virus quarantine rules, one Indonesian politician has decided to scare rulebreakers straight by locking them in a "haunted house."

Sragen regency head Kusdinar Untung Yuni Sukowati says she issued the unusual edict this week to deal with an influx of people to the area after lockdowns in the capital Jakarta and other major cities.

Some newcomers, however, weren't respecting orders that they isolate themselves for 14 days to prevent the spread of coronavirus across the region on Indonesia's densely populated Java island.

So Sukowati instructed communities to repurpose abandoned houses that were feared to be haunted—tapping widespread beliefs in the supernatural, which play a key role in Indonesian folklore.

Five people have been tossed into Sragen's spooky jails so far.

"If there's an empty and haunted house in the village, put people in there and lock them up," Sukowati told AFP Tuesday when asked about the rule.

Officials in Sepat village chose a long-abandoned house and outfitted it with beds placed at a distance and separated by curtains. AFP

China has also established new administrative districts for the contested Paracel island chain

China names Islands; move to roil neighbors C

HINA on Tuesday defended its naming of 80 islands and other geographical features in the South China Sea in a move likely to anger neighbours as the country asserts its territorial claims.

A joint announcement of the names on Sunday from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Civil Affairs came a day after China established new administrative districts for the contested Spratly and Paracel island chains.

The notice listed the Chinese names and coordinates of 80 islands, reefs, seamounts, shoals and ridges, 55 of them submerged in water.

China last released such a list in 1983 when it named 287 geographical features across the disputed waterway.

Beijing has repeatedly asserted its sovereignty in the sea despite rival claims by Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and other nations.

"No state can claim sovereignty over

underwater features unless they are within 12 nautical miles of land. So is China ignorant of this or deliberately trying to overturn international law?" said Bill Hayton, associate fellow at British think tank Chatham House.

"China has ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which is very clear on what states can and cannot claim as territory. Yet China seems to be going against UNCLOS by asserting sovereignty in very far away places."

In recent years, Beijing has stepped up its territorial claims in the South China Sea by building artificial islands and a heavy military presence, making it a flashpoint for geopolitical tensions.

China angered Vietnam after announcing at the weekend that the Paracel and Spratly islands, the Macclesfield Bank and their surrounding waters would be administered under two new districts of Sansha city, which China created on nearby Woody Island in 2012.

Vietnam claimed the move "seriously violated" its territorial sovereignty in the area.

In response, China's foreign ministry said Tuesday the Spratly and Paracel islands are its "innate territories" and that Vietnam's claims are "illegal."

Earlier this month Vietnam lodged an official complaint with China and the UN saying Beijing illegally sank a fishing trawler near the Paracel Islands, killing eight people on board.

As a result, the United States warned China not to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to assert itself in the South China Sea. AFP

UK PM back to work amid growing flak BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson tentatively began his return to work on Tuesday after being hospitalised for coronavirus, as parliament returned and criticism grew over the government's response to the outbreak.

Johnson spoke on the phone to US President Donald Trump about the international response to COVID-19, and officials said he would speak to Queen Elizabeth II in the coming days for the first time in three weeks.

However, his spokesman said the 55-year-old, who spent several days in intensive care, was not yet "formally doing government work" as he recuperated at his official countryside retreat of Chequers.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab remains in temporary charge and will take prime minister's questions on Wednesday during a semi-virtual session of the House of Commons.

MPs returned on Tuesday from their Easter break and immediately approved new measures to allow the vast majority of the 650-seat house to stay away.

Social distancing rules mean only 50 MPs can attend safely, and Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has instead asked MPs to dial in via Zoom, an internet video conferencing service.

Hoyle said it was a "historic moment" for the 700-year-old parliament, adding: "In times of crisis, we must find new ways of working."

Many MPs have been keen to get back to work amid growing questions and criticism about the government's response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Britain is currently one of the worsthit countries in the pandemic, with 17,337 deaths in hospital according to Tuesday figures—an increase of 828 on the previous day.

Raab last week announced that a nationwide lockdown requiring people to stay indoors would continue for another three weeks.

But debate is growing about how the measures might be eased, with questions about its economic impact. AFP

GRIM WORK. Cemetery workers wearing protective gear bury an unclaimed COVID-19 coronavirus victim, at the Municipal cementery No. 13 in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on April 21, 2020. AFP

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump wished North Korea's Kim Jong Un "well" on Tuesday but stopped short of directly commenting on the reclusive leader's health amid reports he underwent surgery.

"I can only say this: I wish him well," Trump told reporters at the White House, noting the "good relationship" he shares with the North Korean leader.

"I just hope he's doing fine," Trump said, adding he "may" reach out to Kim to see how he is doing.

"If he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, that the news is saying, it's a very serious condition."

Trump declined to say whether he had direct information about Kim's health, and suggested he was basing his information on news reports.

"I don't know that the reports are true," he said.

The US president's comments follow a flurry of questions about Kim's health after a report Tuesday that Kim was being treated after surgery.

South Korea has played down the report, which followed mounting speculation over Kim's absence from a key anniversary.

Pyongyang marked the birthday of its late founder, Kim's grandfather Kim Il Sung, on April 15 -- by far the most important date in its annual political calendar.

Kim was not seen in attendance.

Daily NK, an online media outlet run mostly by North Korean defectors, said Kim underwent a cardiovascular procedure earlier this month and was recovering at a villa in North Phyongan province.

"Excessive smoking, obesity and fatigue were the direct causes of Kim's urgent cardiovascular treatment," it cited an unidentified source inside the country as saying. AFP

US state sues Sino top brass over COVID THE US state of Missouri on Tuesday sued China's leadership over the COVID-19 coronavirus, seeking damages over what it described as deliberate deception and insufficient action to stop the pandemic.

The first-of-a-kind state lawsuit comes amid calls in Congress to punish China and a campaign by President Donald Trump to focus on Beijing's role, amid criticism of his own handling of the crisis.

Missouri, led by Trump's Republican Party, filed a lawsuit in a federal court seeking an unspecified amount in damages and an injunction on continuing actions by China that are alleged to include hoarding of protective equipment.

"The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers and did little to stop the spread of the disease," Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said.

"They must be held accountable for their actions," he said.

The lawsuit's chances of success are far from certain as US law, under the principle of sovereign immunity, generally forbids court action against foreign governments.

Missouri addressed the issue by suing the ruling Communist Party, arguing that it is not formally an organ of the Chinese state. AFP

No last goodbye to Gulf workers lost to pandemic THE body of the Indian migrant who died from coronavirus far from home was kept inside the ambulance in front of the crematorium in case a friend came by for a last goodbye.

But nearly an hour later no one had appeared, and the workers in protective suits had to carry out their grim task.

In silence, the four men carefully moved the body, wrapped in a white plastic bag, to a furnace where it was reduced to ashes that were placed in a silver box.

Millions of foreigners work in the United Arab Emirates and across the other wealthy Gulf nations, providing the backbone of the workforce in hospitals and banks, as well as on construction sites and in factories.

Many have spent decades toiling to provide for their families, with the hope of returning one day to open a business or build a house.

But a death from coronavirus means that the body cannot be sent home, and that it has to be cremated or buried in the country where the person dies.

"The whole world is changing. Nobody comes anymore, nobody touches,

nobody says goodbye," said Ishwar Kumar, a manager of the Hindu Cremation Ground located in a desert area south of Dubai.

Before coronavirus "people would come here, around 200 to 250, to grieve and bring flowers. Now they die alone," he told AFP. The majority of the 166 deaths and 26,600 registered cases in Gulf countries so far have been foreigners, according to health ministries, most of them from Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines.

One thing in common A few hours before the cremation of the Indian man—aged in his 50s and a partner at a tourist company in Dubai— the body of another victim, a 40-year-old Filipino beautician, was also cremated at the facility.

Both had one thing in common on their death certificates—"covid pneumonia" as the cause of death.

The silver boxes, bought from a hypermarket, are handed over to the next of kin if they are in Dubai, or to the embassy.

"They work as labourers so most of

them don't have family members. Sometimes their work colleagues come," said Suresh Galani, another manager at the facility.

Despite halting commercial flights to stop the spread of the pandemic, governments in the region have been trying to lay on repatriation flights for foreign workers who are now out of a job as the economy grinds to a halt.

But dealing with victims' bodies is another challenge, as the presence of the contagious disease means that burial or cremation has to take place immediately.

'Part of heaven' In Saudi Arabia, according to a source in the health ministry who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, "until now all the families are asking to bury the bodies inside Saudi because they prefer so."

Among them was Wazir Moahmed Saleh, a 57-year-old Afghan who worked and lived in the Muslim holy city of Medina since the 1980s after he fled his country during the war with the former Soviet Union.

The stationery shop owner died of coronavirus last week. AFP

Business

A7

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks down; ICTSI, PLDT rise S

TOCKS fell slightly Wednesday, with investors keeping close tabs on the world oil market where the commodity resumed its painful retreat.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index shed 18.50 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,573.75 on a value turnover of P5.1 billion. Losers beat gainers, 101 to 67, with 54 issues unchanged.

GT Capital Holdings Inc. of the Ty Group dropped 5.1 percent to P450.80, while Alliance Global Group Inc. of business tycoon Andrew Tan declined 4.5 percent to P6.35.

International Container Terminal Services Inc., the biggest port operator and owned by tycoon Enrique Razon Jr., however, rose 5.3 percent to P81.05, while PLDT Inc., the largest telecommunica-

tions firm, climbed 4.4 percent to P1,180.

Oil, meanwhile, extended a rout that has torn through energy markets, though stock exchanges in Asia and Europe were mixed following a two-day sell-off.

Asian markets have struggled this week, though there were some recoveries Wednesday.

Tokyo ended down 0.7 percent while Singapore and Bangkok each shed 0.9 percent and Wellington retreated more than one percent. Sydney was marginally lower.

However, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai, Seoul and Taipei were all up along with Jakarta.

There was little reaction to the US Senate approving a near-half-trilliondollar coronavirus relief package, with funding earmarked for small businesses, hospitals, and a ramp-up of testing nationwide.

Adding to the sense of unease on trad-

ing floors is uncertainty around earnings season, with many firms struggling to provide forecasts as they try to assess developments in the pandemic, which has shattered their bottom lines.

“There’s no way you can predict earnings right now,” Michael Cuggino, at Pacific Heights Asset Management, told Bloomberg TV. “It’s virtually impossible until we have more visibility with respect to how the world comes out of the coronavirus on the other side.”

In Hong Kong, the de facto central bank stepped in to sell the local dollar for a second successive day to defend its peg with the US dollar.

With demand virtually non-existent owing to virus lockdowns, and production still high despite storage at bursting point, crude markets have been sent into free-fall with WTI for May delivery diving to minus $40 on Monday.

Focus has turned to the June contract, which started Wednesday on fine form following news that top producers had held talks—but it plunged into the red in the afternoon, having lost almost half its value on Tuesday, when Brent collapsed by a fifth.

WTI surged 20 percent before changing course to sit more than seven percent down later, while Brent was off more than 16 percent.

The crisis in the oil market caused by coronavirus was compounded by a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, but while they drew a line under the row and joined other key producers in slashing output by 10 million barrels a day, that has not been enough.

Crude’s rout “merely reflects the underlying theme that there is no demand for physical oil, and there is nowhere to store it”, said AxiCorp’s Stephen Innes.

With AFP

Manila Standard BuSineSS daily StockS review wedneSday, arpil 22, 2020

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

ASIA UNITED BANK PH ISLANDS BDO UNIBANK CHINABANK COL FINANCIAL EAST WEST BANK MANULIFE MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PHILTRUST PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK SUN LIFE UNION BANK

45.25 59.8 100 19.96 15.5 7.88 630 0.31 38.5 0.67 23.7 163 125.9 42.5 17.28 103.4 1,510 54.85

48.3 60.15 102 19.96 15.86 7.88 630 0.32 39.05 0.67 23.7 168.9 125.9 42.5 17.28 104.2 1,510 54.85

45 59.2 99.65 19.86 15.5 7.78 629 0.3 37.6 0.65 23 163 98 41 17 102 1,510 53

FINANCIALS 48.3 12,500 60 3,226,130 100.5 2,768,990 19.88 122,600 15.6 14,600 7.8 98,700 629 40 0.3 390,000 38.05 3,677,300 0.65 115,000 23.5 193,600 168.8 370 98 540 41 5,000 17.28 7,000 103.2 554,670 1,510 30 53.9 5,500

585,720 193,446,203 278,088,657 2,437,408 227,146 771,411 25,180 121,950 140,919,455 74,800 4,525,540 61,697 54,553 209,045 120,680 57,265,044 45,300 295,417.50

341,370 -37,726,498 -20,750,538.50 -860,874 -19,542 -59,525,230 -1,572,530 1,960 -98,496 15,070,431 -208,978.50

ABOITIZ POWER AC ENERGY AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS AXELUM BOGO MEDELLIN CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION CONCRETE A CONCRETE B 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 PEPSI COLA PETROENERGY PETRON 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

26.45 2.37 7.6 0.5 0.93 2.63 73.4 1.05 14.5 8.78 12.8 25 53.05 47 1.89 3.8 5.63 8 5.39 7.97 2.69 18 56.2 1.35 32.6 1.05 11.48 5.78 1.18 135 4.7 6.25 10.84 6.08 7 255 1.84 2.33 3.08 10.1 17.9 4.24 4.5 1.46 1.04 5.8 59.2 8 0.108 0.73 118.5 0.83 14.42 0.72

27.35 2.42 7.8 0.52 0.93 2.88 73.4 1.05 14.5 9.3 13.3 25 53.05 59.9 1.89 3.8 5.63 8.01 5.4 7.98 2.71 18.16 56.2 1.44 32.6 1.13 11.48 6.3 1.18 135 4.7 6.25 10.86 6.08 7 270 1.84 2.56 3.16 10.4 18.26 4.24 4.5 1.46 1.09 5.8 59.2 8 0.115 0.76 122 0.84 14.42 0.72

25.7 2.24 7.45 0.5 0.93 2.61 73.4 1.02 13.8 8.6 12.8 25 53.05 47 1.89 3.5 5.38 7.81 5.1 7.91 2.5 17.8 55.8 1.31 31.05 1.02 11.02 5.75 1.11 131 4.7 6.25 10.5 5.8 6.75 252.2 1.81 2.33 3 10 17.5 4.04 4.5 1.46 1.01 5.59 55 7.98 0.108 0.73 115.2 0.79 13.5 0.69

INDUSTRIAL 27.35 1,684,500 2.41 28,054,000 7.6 358,000 0.5 269,000 0.93 115,000 2.65 7,495,000 73.4 40 1.02 6,048,000 13.8 636,600 8.9 11,541,700 13.3 1,100 25 5,000 53.05 240 59.9 20 1.89 3,000 3.5 6,000 5.45 1,530,500 8 1,523,300 5.24 2,210,300 7.97 2,963,700 2.65 1,607,000 18.16 888,800 56 38,540 1.44 13,885,000 32.5 29,600 1.13 4,965,000 11.4 150,300 6.03 745,600 1.14 532,000 134 5,807,560 4.7 1,000 6.25 200 10.8 4,110,500 6 946,100 6.81 1,731,800 270 252,590 1.81 1,767,000 2.56 40,000 3.13 2,151,000 10.3 282,100 18.26 1,635,900 4.04 46,000 4.5 3,000 1.46 191,000 1.06 1,232,000 5.8 1,172,100 59 167,520 7.98 8,900 0.115 230,000 0.76 28,000 118 1,052,790 0.81 5,594,000 13.5 13,900 0.71 433,000

45,275,055 65,735,220 2,742,241 136,180 106,950 20,604,340 2,936 6,230,670 9,065,204 104,214,039 14,130 125,000 12,732 1,069 5,670 22,420 8,303,603 12,185,691 11,653,724 23,620,187 4,253,060 15,952,108 2,155,179.50 19,198,230 958,595 5,410,150 1,705,550 4,505,575 598,370 775,857,960 4,700 1,250 43,955,548 5,573,555 11,837,099 66,121,594 3,217,360 94,810 6,636,950 2,900,158 29,464,160 192,390 13,500 278,860 1,299,270 6,707,308 9,682,857 71,134 26,380 20,470 124,043,685 4,530,500 188,672 300,580

-3,750,475 13,027,640 64,055 7,500 -3,778,610 -3,016,550 -2,414,740 1,697,286 -75,000 -4,147,943 -11,932,151 -1,432,926.00 -19,925,000 -29,440 1,938,768 1,005,152 89,220 19,440 -4,180 -123,794 -1,322,656 271,910,075 -327,350 31,158 -6,895,943 6,489,238 -874,320 -56,830 3,322,630.00 -155,280 -41,100 2,325,991 4,529,238.50 -1,150 -52,233,367 -73,200 -

ABACORE CAPITAL ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANGLO PHIL HLDG ANSCOR ASIABEST GROUP ATN HLDG A 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 PACIFICA HLDG PRIME MEDIA SAN MIGUEL CORP SM INVESTMENTS SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.6 43.5 6.6 0.52 6 7.36 0.45 558 1.61 4.88 4.14 8.62 463 3.94 49.45 0.45 2.77 7.5 2.63 3.14 0.73 98 817 0.98 165 147 0.201 0.14

0.61 44 6.6 0.55 6 7.58 0.455 593 1.61 4.88 4.2 8.62 463 3.94 51.55 0.46 2.77 7.6 2.64 3.14 0.79 98 825 0.98 166 151.9 0.201 0.15

0.58 41.3 6.27 0.52 5.93 7.01 0.44 550.5 1.51 4.78 4.04 8.5 433 3.94 49.05 0.45 2.73 7.44 2.6 3.14 0.71 95 808 0.98 165 139.1 0.185 0.137

HOLDING FIRMS 0.6 4,175,000 43.9 803,900 6.35 13,460,100 0.55 61,000 6 17,100 7.1 24,100 0.45 1,220,000 429,040 593 1.59 2,801,000 4.78 732,000 4.18 5,461,000 8.5 61,300 450.8 344,740 3.94 16,000 50.9 1,566,430 0.45 70,000 2.74 651,000 7.52 1,559,400 2.62 26,118,000 3.14 1,000 0.77 853,000 97.9 240,010 818 233,300 0.98 4,000 166 210 146.9 980 0.198 100,000 0.149 2,490,000

2,468,850 34,951,460 85,555,233 32,150 102,499 172,612 542,000 242,249,580 4,377,360 3,509,330 22,708,300 523,670 155,112,780 63,040 79,521,557 31,600 1,792,800 11,713,219 68,376,950 3,140 641,820 23,220,602 190,447,760 3,920 34,710 139,550 19,240 362,950

206,570 -1,572,105 -61,175,721 99,534 -38,424,050 -1,664,760 -494,480 -12,584,050 -96,675,266 -41,977,366.50 -1,073,280 -5,828,065 2,629,720 28,750 2,291,894 -61,173,805 4,950 -57,915 89,400

11.5 0.52 0.54 30 1.3 3.9 5.9 0.355 0.75 0.74 0.129 6.91 15.8 0.285 0.9 0.79 3.99 2.65 0.159 0.32 0.77 0.227 1.6

PROPERTY 11.5 106,700 0.53 2,123,000 0.56 723,000 30.2 8,860,200 1.31 321,000 4.01 870,000 5.9 7,400 0.355 4,640,000 0.75 1,000 0.74 12,000 0.129 110,000 6.92 186,300 16 46,600 0.295 150,000 0.91 6,369,000 0.8 2,893,000 3.99 4,000 2.72 13,033,000 0.168 52,870,000 0.33 2,010,000 0.8 621,000 0.232 480,000 1.6 60,000

1,228,220 1,115,070 400,490 267,933,640 421,950 3,437,570 43,660 1,655,150 750 8,880 14,320 1,314,728 741,550 43,550 5,811,540 2,309,400 15,960 35,002,660 8,875,470 644,300 491,230 110,440 96,000

-154,318 -106,722,975 -74,670 -2,077,170 1,260,737 -131,990 -2,704,980 -4,555,480 -8,880 -

8990 HLDG A BROWN ARTHALAND CORP AYALA LAND BELLE CORP CEB LANDMASTERS CEBU HLDG CENTURY PROP CITY AND LAND CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES DM WENCESLAO DOUBLEDRAGON EMPIRE EAST FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE KEPPEL PROP MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PHIL INFRADEV PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP

11.6 0.54 0.57 30.5 1.33 3.91 5.9 0.36 0.75 0.74 0.131 7.2 16 0.285 0.92 0.8 3.99 2.71 0.161 0.33 0.79 0.236 1.6

11.6 0.54 0.58 30.5 1.33 4.01 5.9 0.36 0.75 0.74 0.131 7.2 16 0.295 0.93 0.8 3.99 2.72 0.174 0.33 0.8 0.249 1.6

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

NAME

NAME

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND VISTAMALLS

15.1 1.5 2.64 29.5 1.85 1.18 4.12 3.75

15.46 1.5 2.67 29.9 1.87 1.25 4.12 4.2

15.02 1.45 2.63 29.1 1.84 1.16 4.02 3.62

15.32 1.5 2.66 29.7 1.87 1.23 4.08 4.1

797,700 111,000 41,000 8,003,400 162,000 790,000 1,161,000 293,000

12,164,940 166,280 108,520 236,124,120 299,200 949,320 4,716,910 1,138,010

-3,576,408 21,000 -69,608,825 -898,480 -11,400

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

6.24 16.8 5.86 0.295 0.037 2.37 5.79 0.031 49.65 6.01 3.09 3 1.85 2.22 5.15 2,096 5 330 0.85 76.6 0.083 12.9 1.55 0.79 4.74 0.365 2.2 1.68 1.72 1.9 1.74 7.2 2.91 135.5 2.58 1,138 0.305 0.217 46.35 60.8 5.3 1.2 0.37 0.179 0.45 14.56

6.24 16.8 5.95 0.31 0.039 2.37 5.8 0.031 49.7 6.02 3.12 3 1.85 2.32 7.35 2,192 5 330 0.88 81.05 0.086 13 1.55 0.79 4.74 0.375 2.2 1.68 1.74 1.9 1.74 7.2 3.09 135.5 2.78 1,194 0.315 0.242 46.9 60.9 5.32 1.22 0.375 0.18 0.45 14.58

6.15 16.64 5.61 0.295 0.037 2.15 5.4 0.029 47 6.01 3.01 3 1.63 2.17 5.15 2,096 4.85 330 0.83 75.3 0.083 12.8 1.44 0.79 4.3 0.36 2.2 1.61 1.64 1.78 1.74 6.8 2.7 130.1 2.4 1,138 0.305 0.215 45.9 59 5.3 1.15 0.32 0.177 0.45 13.72

SERVICES 6.16 16.8 5.89 0.3 0.038 2.3 5.66 0.031 47.75 6.02 3.05 3 1.63 2.29 7.02 2,168 4.87 330 0.88 81.05 0.086 13 1.49 0.79 4.56 0.36 2.2 1.63 1.7 1.85 1.74 6.85 3.08 135.5 2.59 1,180 0.315 0.242 46.5 60.2 5.32 1.18 0.345 0.18 0.45 14.58

39,200 54,700 2,346,200 350,000 8,800,000 38,000 7,940,700 7,700,000 355,800 900 818,000 27,000 18,000 61,740,000 683,100 69,205 137,000 410 501,000 973,030 30,000 10,200 279,000 11,000 5,393,000 370,000 2,000 2,822,000 1,464,000 2,496,000 3,000 7,700 72,000 35,140 6,086,000 380,565 5,600,000 13,370,000 1,634,100 395,880 2,900 1,869,000 31,290,000 1,680,000 30,000 2,073,700

242,107 914,750 13,651,618 104,650 327,600 85,790 43,884,369 230,700 16,990,080 5,417 2,495,010 81,000 31,840 139,007,280 4,659,786 149,864,670 669,660 135,300 428,360 76,679,990.50 2,550 132,380 406,390 8,690 24,454,490 133,550 4,400 4,648,650 2,447,700 4,568,550 5,220 52,989 206,010 4,639,436 15,652,030 447,409,345 1,727,550 3,086,220 75,850,215 23,799,019 15,388 2,226,730 10,814,550 299,090 13,500 29,852,960

-156,788 4,035,225 5,092,287 -9,835,985 145,540 -695,420 -25,640 1,971,140 24,900 -3,274,681 16,040 -3,682,500 -448,660 -84,170 -47,694 110,890 130,829,710 6,100 128,510 16,244,130 -20,346,054 -1,079,460 -2,051,750 3,131,886

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

0.0011 7.19 0.92 1.85 10.7 0.95 2.67 0.205 6.85 0.74 0.081 0.083 0.0065 0.56 1.65 0.95 0.52 0.0087 0.0083 2.2 4.4 12.2 0.0042

0.0011 7.29 0.94 1.9 10.7 0.95 2.75 0.205 6.85 0.75 0.081 0.083 0.0065 0.56 1.66 0.98 0.52 0.0087 0.0083 2.2 4.4 12.22 0.0042

0.001 6.7 0.9 1.85 10.7 0.95 2.65 0.2 6.53 0.72 0.08 0.083 0.0065 0.53 1.58 0.89 0.49 0.0087 0.0083 2.15 4.21 11.8 0.004

MINING & OIL 0.0011 12,000,000 7.24 338,200 0.92 934,000 1.9 21,000 10.7 8,000 0.95 1,000 2.75 570,000 0.2 100,000 6.65 3,500 0.72 5,348,000 0.08 720,000 0.083 200,000 0.0065 25,000,000 0.53 185,000 1.63 4,906,000 0.95 16,000 0.52 175,000 0.0087 1,000,000 0.0083 20,000,000 2.19 50,000 4.39 1,399,000 12 1,653,600 0.004 16,000,000

12,800 2,381,486 854,150 39,350 85,600 950 1,521,500 20,250 23,154 3,885,890 57,850 16,600 162,500 99,970 7,946,540 15,180 89,380 8,700 166,000 109,730 6,043,270 19,840,852 64,400

11,952 192,500 13,870 -2,095,400 7,700 -23,930 160,300 1,285,582 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B2R CPG PREF A DD PREF FPH PREF C GTCAP PREF B HOUSE PREF A MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 3A PCOR PREF 3B PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 4 SFI PREF SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2H

15.2 495 99.5 97.8 460.2 997 98.7 100 1,000 1,019 99.45 1,000 1.7 76.3 74.2 75 75

15.9 495 99.5 102.8 460.2 1,000 98.7 100.1 1,005 1,019 99.5 1,000 1.7 76.4 74.2 75.65 75

15.1 495 99.5 97.8 460 997 97.9 100 1,000 1,019 99.45 1,000 1.7 76.2 74.2 75 75

PREFERRED 15.9 15,100 495 920 99.5 2,870 100 196,480 460 2,000 1,000 20,470 97.9 580 100.1 83,410 1,005 4,030 1,019 10 99.5 4,990 1,000 2,200 1.7 1,000 76.2 11,810 74.2 8,390 75 7,600 75 187,260

228,800 455,400 285,565 19,648,236 920,004 20,463,290 56,808 8,341,020 4,042,400 10,190 496,435 2,200,000 1,700 900,744 622,538 571,350 14,044,500

-

LR WARRANT

0.79

0.81

0.76

WARRANTS 0.77 129,000

99,920

-

ITALPINAS KEPWEALTH XURPAS

1.9 6.75 0.59

2.35 7.5 0.63

1.88 6.7 0.59

2.35 7.3 0.63

FIRST METRO ETF

84.95

84.95

83.1

MS Trading Summary

SHARES

FINANCIAL

12,307,379

INDUSTRIAL

118,032,802

HOLDING FIRMS

63,740,963

PROPERTY

108,829,658

SERVICES

174,074,353

MINING & OIL

90,772,521

GRAND TOTAL

600,522,912

SME

25,303,000 465,500 6,974,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 84.7 19,270

54,005,060 3,348,611 4,299,810

-292,850 -32,550 -115,140

1,626,080

23,680

VALUE 1,189.60 (down) 5.74 747,482,216.75 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 7,277.63 (up) 22.22 1,498,850,359.24 HOLDING FIRMS 5,510.91 (down) 40.93 965,841,732.60 PROPERTY 2,813.66 (down) 47.26 1,295.33 (up) 28.36 628,863,645.31 SERVICES MINING & OIL 4,554.32 (down) 88.48 1,125,873,398.184 PSEI 5,573.75 (down) 18.50 43,460,821.366 All Shares Index 3,388.17 (down) 1.57 5,073,657,618.13 Gainers: 67; Losers: 101; Unchanged: 54; Total: 222

Batangas, Manila ports operating at highest level

By Darwin G. Amojelar ASIAN Terminals Inc. said its Manila and Batangas ports are operating at optimum level, facilitating the uninterrupted flow of goods in the supply chain over a month since the implementation of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon.

“We are grateful to PPA, BOC, DTI and DOF as well as the Interagency Task Force for setting the right policy at the onset of the ECQ. Government’s early intervention was critical to ensure that terminal operations remain unimpeded, so that the flow of food, raw materials, medicines, health equipment and other essentials remain unhampered, especially during this time of national emergency,” said ATI executive vice president William Khoury.

“We also thank our dockworkers, our valued customers and other stakeholders for their support and for coming together to ensure that our ports remain upbeat at this critical juncture,” Khoury added.

In early April, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Finance, Philippine Ports Authority and the Bureau of Customs issued Joint Administrative Order (JAO) 2001 that established stringent guidelines for the expedient and unhampered flow of cargoes from the terminals during the ECQ. The order has pre-empted possible logistics bottlenecks during the ECQ with containers, especially refrigerated vans, being pulled out slower than usual by cargo owners. With the government order, overstaying cargoes are being transferred to offsite container yards to free up precious space at the container terminals.

A week after the Lenten break, berth and yard operations at Manila South Harbor remained steady, with yard utilization at an optimum level of around 70 percent.

Over in Batangas, yard utilization at the Batangas Container Terminal remained at its usual 50 percent, with manufacturers and industrial locators, mostly based in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), pulling out cargoes in a regular and timely manner.

Bukidnon dairy firm, Fruitas tie up to sell fresh milk

By Jenniffer B. Austria LEADING food and beverage kiosk operator Fruitas Holdings Inc. has teamed up with Bukidnon Milk Co., operator of Mindanao’s biggest and only pasture-fed dairy farm, in selling fresh milk and yogurt products.

Fruitas said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Wednesday the company expanded its partnership with Bukidnon Milk, making it now the exclusive carrier of its products through carts, kiosks and stalls.

Fruitas initially carried Bukidnon Milk fresh milk and yogurt on its CocoDelivery platform.

The company earlier reported plans to launch a fresh store concept under the Babot’s Farm brand that will prominently feature Bukidnon Milk products alongside Fruitas’ leading buko beverage line, and Soy & Bean’s soy-based products.

“We have received very positive feedback on Bukidnon Milk Company products from our customers. Dairy is a staple component of a balanced diet and we are glad to partner with a topnotch local producer of fresh dairy.

This new collaboration is in line with our vision for Fruitas to be synonymous with fresh products and become an essential part of Filipinos’ daily lives,” said Fruitas president and chief executive Lester Yu. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present challenges to all businesses from large conglomerates to small operators, Fruitas said it was committed to mitigate the impact by adding new revenue and profit streams.

The company last year raised P820 million in net proceeds from an initial public offering.

Since its IPO, Fruitas has completed the acquisition of Heat Stroke Grill, Kuxina, The Tofu Store and CocoDelivery, and forged partnerships with Pan de Manila and Bukidnon Milk, making the company bigger and stronger.

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

A8

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020

Diokno asks public to shift to electronic transactions

By Julito G. Rada BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno advised Filipinos on Wednesday to shift to electronic payments in their transactions during the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019.

“We can do our part in stopping the spread of COVID-19 by staying home,” Diokno said in a statement.

He encouraged Filipinos to “use epayment services such as PESONet and InstaPay when purchasing essentials like food and medicines, when transferring money to accounts of loved ones, and when paying utility bills, loans and other obligations.”

He said fees for these services were waived by authorized financial institutions during the ECQ period.

InstaPay enables an account holder to transfer money up to P50,000 per day, immediately credited to a recipient account in any participating financial institution. InstaPay is designed for urgent and small value transactions.

PESONet is designed for high value transactions of companies, other businesses, government agencies and individuals. It is the electronic alternative for transferring funds via checks.

Money transfers made under PESONet have no transaction limit per day. Crediting to the recipient account is on the same banking day, provided that a sender transfers money within the cut-off time set by financial institutions.

InstaPay is being offered by 45 financial institutions, while PESONet is offered by 56 financial institutions as key services for their account holders. These services provide convenient, safe and secure alternatives to face-to-face cash or check transactions, according to the BSP. They can be used by individuals for person-to-person money transfers, remittances, bill payments or payments to merchant accounts for purchases of goods and services. Companies and other businesses can also benefit from these services when accepting client payments and when paying their suppliers, creditors and employees’ salaries.

Subject to appropriate institutional arrangements, government agencies may leverage on InstaPay and PESONet to facilitate person-togovernment transactions such as tax payments or government-to-person transactions such as the distribution of monetary benefits under the Social Amelioration Program of the Bayanihan We Heal as One Act. Diokno said e-payments could be conveniently accessed by account holders of banks and e-money issuers. Individuals without existing accounts can take advantage of online onboarding facilities of banks offering basic deposit accounts and the online e-wallet creation offered by e-money issuers.

He, however, advised Filipinos to exercise due diligence and utmost vigilance when performing e-payments and other online transactions in view of potential risks, such as phishing, spoofing, fraud and scams.

Business

Ayala Land cancels P125b worth of projects this year

By Jenniffer B. Austria

P

ROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. said Wednesday it will not launch P125 billion worth of new projects it earlier programmed for 2020 and will reduce capital expenditures to P70 billion from the original target of P110 billion to ensure its healthy and strong financial position amid the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Ayala Land president and chief executive Bernard Vincent Dy said in a live-streamed annual stockholders’ meeting the company was in the process of adjusting plans to remain resilient throughout the crisis.

“No doubt, our financial performance will be significantly affected for the year. Just during the enhanced community quarantine, we’ve seen significant lost revenues from most of our business lines as the economy practically stood still,” Dy said.

“Having said that, we are now plan-

ning to restart our various businesses post-quarantine. As to be expected, the buildup will be gradual and will take time. But we are hopeful that once this pandemic is addressed, our products will continue to be well-positioned to benefit from the renewed growth of the Philippine economy,” he said.

Ayala Land chief finance officer Augusto Bengzon said the company decided not to launch new projects this year.

The company earlier disclosed plans to launch P125 billion worth of projects this year.

Bengzon said the property firm has sufficient projects in its development pipeline to sell once the situation normalizes, given the P158.9 billion worth of projects launched in 2019.

“We recognize that we may miss out on some opportunities but we believe that this is the right decision to ensure that Ayala Land is in a healthy and strong financial position throughout this crisis, for however long it may persist,” Bengzon said.

Bengzon said Ayala Land also revised its projections on cash flow from operations to take into account a possible slowdown in residential sales, the rent concessions it provided to mall tenants and the significantly lower occupancy in its hotels and resorts.

“Based on this revised budget, the net cash flow from our operations will still be more than sufficient to cover our projected lower capex spend, our financing expenses and potentially reduce our outstanding debt, all without the need to raise new capital,” Bengzon said.

CHINA LAB EQUIPMENT. A set of laboratory equipment with 45,000 test kits funded by the Asian Development Bank and developed by Beijing Genomics Institute in China arrive at Clark International Airport.

The $2.5-million laboratory apparatus will be used to detect and test the presence of the coronavirus disease 2019. It will also be used to support medical-related researches and training in the future. The shipment was picked up from Shenzhen, China and flown to Clark by a Philippine Air Force C130 cargo plane.

THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority said Wednesday investment pledges declined 28 percent in the first quarter to P16.5 billion from P20.9 billion in the same period last year amid the uncertainty in fiscal incentives and the current health crisis.

“PEZA’s investments continued to be challenged for the first quarter of 2020.

On top of this issue is still the continuing uncertainty posed by the rationalization of incentives under the pending legislative measures that have created uncertainties. Added to this is the current pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus which has caused a tremendous and immediate impact on PEZA’s export manufacturers and exporters of ITenabled services [BPOs],” said PEZA director-general Charito Plaza.

She said the figures in February were carried over until the quarter’s end. The

agency did not approve any investment in March as the government imposed an enhanced community quarantine in Luzon by the middle of the month.

“Before the declaration of the ECQ on March 16, 2020, PEZA’s total approved investments from January to February 2020 were already down by 5.85 percent compared to the same period last year. Due to the ECQ, the PEZA board was unable to meet last March, therefore, no new investment projects were approved and thereby resulting in no additional investments for PEZA for the said month,” Plaza said.

Data showed the number of projects approved in the first quarter declined 32 percent to 87 projects from 128 a year ago. Information technology posted the biggest drop of 22.55 percent to P2.32 billion from PP3 billion.

Exports by the IT sector, however, increased 15.5 percent to $1.15 billion from $990 million.

RICE WAREHOUSE. A forklift operator unloads 10 metric tons of rice, equivalent to 24,000 sacks, in a warehouse in San Simon, Pampanga. Aboitiz infrastructure business unit Republic Cement helped secure the warehouse as assistance to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

STATE-RUN National Electrification Administration said the delayed delivery of solar panels from China affected an off-grid solar project for 5,000 households amid the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

The NEA Total Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Department noted the non-delivery of solar panels was holding up the project.

“The competitive bidding process and the awarding of contracts to the successful bidders have already been completed. We are just awaiting delivery of solar panels, which will be coming from China,” Ernesto Silvano Jr., acting manager of NEA-TEREDD, said in a statement.

NEA allotted P153 million to cover the implementation of the solar mainstreaming project under its Expanded

SAN Miguel Corp. is teaming up with the Department of Agriculture to buy agricultural produce in bulk, starting with four million kilos of surplus corn, to provide a lifeline to farmers and help secure the country’s food supply amid COVID-19.

The surplus corn is enough to produce feeds to over 7 million live broilers that can eventually feed 4 million families in one day.

San Miguel is also in talks with the DA to use strategic Petron stations nationwide as outlets for government’s “Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita” rolling store program to make farm produce such as fruits and vegetables accessible to consumers.

The program is the market system project of the DA that links local farmers to consumers to ensure the sale of agricultural produce at reasonable prices.

“Through this program with the Agricultural department, we will be able to keep our farmers afloat as we navigate these uncertain times. At the same time, we also help people stay safe, healthy and nourished by providing them a convenient way to buy fresh fruits and vegetables from our local farmers,” said San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang.

BOC re-exports waste materials to S. Korea THE Bureau of Customs returned to South Korea some 2,676 metric tons of waste materials that were stored at the PHIVIDEC Industrial Authority premises in Misamis Oriental since 2018.

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said in a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III the volume was part of the 5,176.91 MT that South Korean government officials committed to help ship back to their country after these were illegally exported to the Philippines in July 2018.

The waste materials consist of plastic synthetic flakes that were unlawfully imported by the Cebu-based Verde Soko Philippines Industrial Corp.

Guerrero said the garbage was shipped back in 151 forty-footer containers. The first batch of 51 containers was re-exported to Korea on Jan. 25, 2019. It followed by another shipment of 50 containers on Jan. 15 this year. A third batch consisting of 50 containers was shipped to Korea on March 21.

“The re-exportation took some time because the wastes have been exposed to natural elements of heat and rain, which made it difficult to re-bag and stuff inside the containers,” Guerrero told Dominguez.

Julito G. Rada

SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian is calling for an inquiry on whether Congress needs to draw up a financial stimulus package for the power sector to ensure reliable supply while protecting electricity consumers.

Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, filed a resolution to determine the short, medium and long-term effects of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon on the power sector and consumers.

“We have seen that with the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine, electricity consumption from transport, industrial and commercial activities also went down. The continued decline in consumption may affect the country’s energy security,” said Gatchalian in a statement.

The lawmaker wants to look into how consumers can cope with payments of all electricity bill obligations at the end of the ECQ. Alena Mae S. Flores

The effect of the ECQ on PEZA’s firstquarter employment and exports figures are still being completed. PEZA said that as of January, employment was up 6 percent to 1,675,598 from 1,486,091 a year earlier, while exports rose to $4.36 billion from $4 billion in the same period in 2019.

“Currently, PEZA has a lot of projects planned, pending applications that need to be reviewed, expansion plans, construction of new plants and new investors to partner with. However, because of the pandemic, ECQ measures are to be strictly followed to help flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases so that the lockdown can also be lifted and we can safely go back to work,” said Plaza.

Plaza called for a “unified and synchronized ECQ plan, rules, policies and enforcements by IATF, national agencies and LGUs that will address pandemic’s three main challenges that need to be addressed specifically health, economy, and public order.”

Delayed delivery of Chinese solar panels affects NEA’s off-grid electrification work

By Alena Mae S. Flores

San Miguel buying agri produce in bulk

Gatchalian mulls over power sector stimulus

Economic zone investments fell 28% in first quarter

By Othel V. Campos

IN BRIEF

Household Electrification Program.

“The PV [photovoltaic] mainstreaming program is an off-grid electrification scheme that aims to bring electricity to the most dispersed and isolated households that are deemed unviable for grid connection in the next five years,” Silvano said.

The beneficiaries are households under the coverage areas of five electric cooperatives, including Busuanga Island Electric Cooperative Inc., Camarines Sur IV Electric Cooperative Inc., Iloilo III Electric Cooperative Inc., Cotabato Electric Cooperative Inc. and Zamboanga del Norte Electric Co-operative Inc. The agency said of the 5,039 solar home system units for distribution and installation in off-grid communities, BISELCO will receive 1,200 SHS units; COTELCO, 1,063 units; ZANECO, 967 units; ILECO III, 931 units; and CASURECO IV, 878 SHS units.

Brent plummets to 2-decade low as WTI recovers HONG KONG—Brent hit a two-decade low Wednesday as oil resumed its painful retreat and extended a rout that has torn through energy markets, though stock exchanges in Asia and Europe were mixed following a twoday sell-off.

With demand virtually non-existent owing to virus lockdowns, and production still high despite storage at bursting point, crude markets have been sent into freefall with WTI for May delivery diving to minus $40 on Monday.

Focus has turned to the June contract, which started Wednesday on fine form following news that top producers had held talks—but it plunged into the red in the afternoon, having lost almost half its value on Tuesday, when Brent collapsed by a fifth.

WTI surged 20 percent before changing course to sit more than four percent down later, while Brent was off more than 11 percent after earlier dropping 18 percent to $15.98–its lowest since 1999.

The crisis in the oil market caused by coronavirus was compounded by a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, but while they drew a line under the row and joined other key producers in slashing output by 10 million barrels a day, that has not been enough.

Crude’s rout “merely reflects the underlying theme that there is no demand for physical oil, and there is nowhere to store it”, said AxiCorp’s Stephen Innes.

“Disappointment following the new (oil cut) agreement continues to resonate, and responding to that outcry could be the one thing that turns the oil price around in the near term, absent evidence of demand recovery.”

Analysts said the morning bounce was driven by news that members of OPEC, as well as some allies in the OPEC+ grouping, held a teleconference Tuesday—but gloom soon returned. AFP

MPBL to finish Lakan Season THE Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Lakan Season will push through with its stalled division and national finals.

MPBL Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes gave this assurance Wednesday to quash speculations the league is going to cancel the remaining games of its third season in the wake of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

As to when will be the resumption of the division finals, Duremdes said it will depend on the national government’s decision on easing up restrictions on the staging of public gatherings, including sports events.

“We’re going to finish the season, said Duremdes, who is holed up in his hometown of Koronadal, South Cotabato. “We’re just waiting for the clearance of the national government.”

President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to announce whether the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), in effect until April 30, will be lifted, extended, or modified.

Though the consensus is a modified ECQ will be implemented, Duremdes said there are a lot of issues to be tackled before the MPBL can resume.

“First, we need to advice the four teams (San Juan Knights, Makati Super Crunch, Davao Occidental Tigers, Basilan Steel) involved since they are all coming from inactivity and the players need to get back in shape,” said Duremdes. “Then we need to consider the stand of the LGUs (local government units).

Other factors to be considered, according to Duremdes, are land travel, resumption of domestic flights, sea travel, and the availability of hotels, restaurants, and game venues.

“We can play as soon as the ECQ is lifted but behind closed doors,” said Duremdes. “Hopefully the situation brightens up.”

Both the South division finals between San Juan and Makati and the North division finals between Davao and Basilan are tied at 1-1, forging Game 3 deciders.

San Juan beat Makati, 76-60, in their series opener but Makati rebounded with a 91-88 victory in Game 2 held behind closed doors at FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Chess legend Kasparov plays in Nations Cup NEW DELHI—Chess legends including Russia’s Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik will next month take part in a new online world team tournament as the game makes moves to carry on despite the global coronavirus shutdown.

Six teams will compete in the Online Nations Cup from May 5-10 with former world champion Viswanathan Anand featuring for India.

“This epoch-making battle draws some similarities with golf’s Ryder Cup, or with the 1970 ‘USSR vs Rest of the World’ chess match-up that made headlines in Bobby Fischer’s heyday,” the game’s world governing body FIDE said, announcing the event.

“But the new ‘match of the century’ will be more global, entirely online, and also gender-inclusive, since the team line-ups must include at least one female player.”

Chess remains one of the few games continuing, albeit only online, after the coronavirus pandemic wrecked the 2020 global sports calendar, including the Tokyo Olympics which has been postponed until next year.

The Candidates tournament had to be halted midway in March while the Chess Olympiad, which was supposed to take place in Russia this summer, has been postponed to 2021.

“This is a unique event that will combine competitive chess at the highest level, with a top-notch online spectacle”, said FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich.

“The reasons why an official tournament like this has to be conducted online are very unfortunate. But we are happy to see that chess is providing solace to millions of people who are under a home lockdown.” AFP

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

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020

LIFE GOES ON. A man

B1

Sports

wearing a face mask amid concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus walks past Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games advertising in Tokyo. AFP

PSC considering financial assistance to PH athletes

By Peter Atencio

F

INANCIAL assistance will be provided to national athletes and coaches affected by the ongoing enhanced community quarantine.

A final decision will be known on Friday, when President Duterte has already decided if the present measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic will be lifted or extended.

The PSC board discussed details of the possibility of setting up an amelioration program for the athletes in a special board meeting.

The meeting on Tuesday was presided by Chairman William I. Ramirez via video conferencing.

Executive Director and Finance Bureau chief Atty. Guillermo Iroy has been tasked to do a feasibility study of the program against the budget of the agency.

Among the concerns of the PSC is

the plight of national athletes training here and abroad.

The agency is considering plans to help bring back national athletes training abroad for the Tokyo Olympics and other international competitions. This will be done once quarantine measures imposed by the government are over.

The agency is reviewing the status of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, pole vaulter EJ Obiena and gymnast Carlos Yulo, who have been staying put in Malaysia, Italy and Japan, respectively.

These athletes have been kept from travelling home following lockdowns implemented by the countries they are in to help check the pandemic.

Diaz has been training in Malaysia since January after travel restrictions were imposed following the initial threat of the pandemic that emerged in Wuhan. Her stay has been extended after the Malaysian stretched their lockdown till the end of April.

Obiena is currently doing fitness training in his dormitory in Formia, an Italian seaside town located between Rome and Naples.

Italy is among the hardest coronavirus-hit countries in Europe.

Yulo continues to train and study while in Tokyo, Japan, which is limiting travel to residents and foreigners alike.

More than 800 members of the national team are also being continuously monitored.

So far, they have remained healthy and free from any health issues related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

No signs of sickness and symptoms of having contracted COVID-19 have been detected from them.

Rosauro’s takeaways from COVID-19 pandemic OVER the last two months, life has drastically changed around the world. The coronavirus outbreak is not just an epidemic anymore, it is now a pandemic.

The virus has brought a wave of deaths, illness, and economical to the world, but it has provided us lessons on how to deal with such crises.

For ONE Championship’s Roel “Akiyama” Rosauro, the situation only pushed him to be even more prepared moving forward.

“What we’re facing is something that we haven’t seen before,” Rosauro said. “The number of cases and fatalities is rising. Even the lockdown that the government is imposing is new to us, and obviously it’s harder for the less fortunate, but we have to do it in order to stop the spread of the virus.”

“The virus has affected us not only in health but with the way we live every day. But for me, we have to look at the things that we could learn in the situation we’re facing.”

Rosauro took away quite a few lessons while under lockdown. First is the value of saving. Not knowing when disaster will strike once more, Rosauro realizes it is important to be ready for the next big calamity.

“Here we’ve seen the importance of being

ready financially in the time of crisis. In these times, the source of income is limited and work generally stops because of the lockdown,” Rosauro said.

“Now I am teaching my daughter the importance of saving because it’s such a big help in times of crisis. The importance of emergency funds can really be seen now.”

“Akiyama” also points out that people are more conscious about their health now, something that was taken for granted by some people before the crisis started.

The proud Cebuano urges everyone to boost their health by exercising regularly at home.

“Every day the number is rising, and people now are seeing the importance of having good health, because this is the only weapon that we have right now aside from staying in our homes,” Rosauro said.

“Now I encourage everyone to sweat it out and exercise. 30 minutes of exercise will be a big help in fighting the virus.”Catch all the ONE Championship action live and for free by downloading the ONE Super App.

Roel Rosauro

McIlroy against fan-less Ryder Cup LOS ANGELES—World number one Rory McIlroy on Tuesday added his voice to the chorus of players opposed to the idea of playing this year’s Ryder Cup without spectators.

With the global golf season in chaos due to the coronavirus pandemic, the game’s administrators are running through a range of possible scenarios as they attempt to plot a path back to competition.

For organizers of the Ryder Cup, which is due to take place at Whistling Straits, Wisconsin from September 25-27, that has included studying whether the tournament could be played without fans.

PGA chief executive Seth Waugh revealed earlier this week that officials had looked at the possibility of creating a “virtual fan experience” for the fiercely competitive team clash between Europe and the United States.

Waugh however acknowledged that a Ryder Cup without spectators was “hard to imagine,” noting they were an integral part of the raucous and often febrile golfing spectacle.

McIlroy, speaking during an Instagram live event for sponsors TaylorMade, said he would rather see this year’s event delayed for a year than played before empty galleries.

“I have a pretty strong view on this. I get the financial implications for everyone involved—there’s a lot that goes into putting on the Ryder Cup that people don’t probably know or appreciate—but having a Ryder Cup without fans is not a Ryder Cup,” McIlroy said.

“For me I would much rather they delay it until 2021 than play it at Whistling Straits without fans. And that’s from a European going to America, knowing that I’m going to get abuse! AFP

Relive the rivalry, rare sweep, championship games of Cool Smashers

Members of the Creamline Cool Smashers

WITH the sports world on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ABS-CBN S+A is here to fill the void as it airs the best games of three-time Premier Volleyball League champion Creamline Cool Smashers.

Fans of the Cool Smashers, which are coming off a historic 20-game sweep in the 2019 Open Conference, will get to relive the exciting wins against the league’s top squads behind stars Alyssa Valdez, Jia Morado, Michelle Gumabao, and Jema Galanza.

The action begins at 1:30 p.m. this Saturday (April 25), as Creamline faces Kathy Bersola and Banko Perlas Spikers in the 2017 Reinforced Conference Quarterfinals.

At 4 pm, it’s the Cool Smashers’ semifinals match-up versus the Balipure Purest Water Defenders led by Grethcel Soltones.

On April 26, watch how Creamline clinched the championship in Game 2 of the 2018 Reinforced Conference Finals versus Shelby Sullivan and the PayMaya High Flyers at 1:30 p.m. Scheduled for 4 p.m. is their showdown against Pocari Sweat-Air Force Lady Warriors bannered by Jeanette Panaga in the 2018 Open Conference.

Another exciting pair of matches are set to air on April 27 as Bea de Leon and the rest of the Ateneo-Motolite team clash with Creamline at 1:30 p.m. for the 2018 Open Conference, followed by their thrilling finals game at 4 p.m.

Moving on to the 2019 Open Conference, the Tai Bundit-led squad goes up against Kat Tolentino and the Choco Mucho Flying Titans on April 28 at 1:30 p.m. Meanwhile

at 4 p.m., Creamline faces Myla Pablo’s Motolite team in their semifinals match.

To wrap things up on April 29, the rivalry between the Cool Smashers and the PetroGazz Angels of Cherry Nunag, Jovielyn Prado, and Jonah Sabete continues as they face each other in the 2019 Open Conference. Game 1 is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. while Game 2 is at 4 p.m.

Tune in to ABS-CBN S+A from April 25 to April 29 for the Cool Smashers’ actionpacked games in the PVL. For more sports news, follow @ABSCBNSports on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram or visit sports.abs-cbn.com. For updates, follow @ABSCBNPR on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram or visit www.abscbnpr.com.

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

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THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020

Entertainment Mobile newscast marks first anniversary

‘Stand for Truth’ anchor Atom Araullo

GMA News and Public Affairs’ pioneering newscast Stand for Truth marks its first anniversary with record-breaking increase of views, making it one of the netizens’ preferred sources of news.

Anchored by award-winning broadcast journalist Atom Araullo with GMA resident political analyst Richard Heydarian, the mobile journalism newscast continues to gain traction since it premiered last April 2019.

Stand for Truth has become a training ground for future journalists as well with a pool of millennial reporters — Nico Waje, Manal Sugadol, Shai Lagarde, Izzy Lee, Eduard Faraon, Mj Geronimo, Bhea Docyogen, Jm Encinas, and Anthony Esguerra—producing their stories themselves.

These up and coming broadcast journalists are not daunted by the challenges of using only their mobile phones in coming up with reports.

In fact, most of SFT stories have been used by mainstream newscasts and paved the way for authorities to take actions on issue raised in some reports.

It is no surprise that more and more netizens turn to Stand for Truth as their source of news online. Last February, the digital

program recorded a total views of 55 million on GMA News’s Facebook page.

Leading the list with the highest number of views for February was MJ Geronimo’s “Mass Cremation in Wuhan,” which recorded 4.9 million views. This was followed by another story of MJ, “Chinese Palit Pastillas” about the alleged anomaly on Bureau of Immigration, which recorded 2.9 million views.

Meanwhile, Izzy Lee’s story on “Patay sa Gluta,” about a 33-year-old woman who died after allegedly receiving glutathione injections, gained 2.4 million views as of this writing. And as the entire Luzon continues to be in enhanced community quarantine, netizens also turned to Anthony Esguerra’s story on “Buhay Quarantine.” It already has 2.3 million views on Facebook.

Stand for Truth launched its own Facebook page last February and already has 31,000 followers and recorded 3 million total views to date.

“Nabanlian si Baby” by Nico Waje topped the story last March with 2.1 million views. This was followed by Shai Lagarde’s “Lockdown sa Italy” and Bhea Docyogen’s “Recovered from COVID-19” which both earned 1.5 million views.

On YouTube, Stand for Truth episodes continue to attract viewers. As of March, Stand for Truth gained a total of 4.3 million views on YouTube, with 3.1 million views coming from the Philippines, while the remaining number of views came from the United States, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and Japan.

Various segments of Stand for Truth also recorded high number of views on YouTube.

Last February, “The Mass Cremation in Wuhan” segment got 400, 000 views and “Inside Wuhan” with 208, 000 views. More segments attracted netizens in March topped

by Lagarde’s “Lockdown sa Italy” with 467,000 views and “Sugadol’s Malunggay vs NCOV” with 425,000 views.

For the past weeks, while most regular programming on television has been put on hold, Stand for Truth has been a source of credible and breaking news, most especially on topics concerning the COVID-19 pandemic through regular updates on its Facebook page.

Last March 30, Stand for Truth returned to live streaming. Catch it every night at 8:30 p.m. via its Facebook page, as well as GMA News’ and GMA Public Affairs’ YouTube channels.

Instrument

of compassion Gem Berin is among the country’s young, dynamic businessmen who go out of their way in distributing relief goods to communities in this difficult time.

‘Tawa Tawa Together’ host Alex Calleja with Raikko Mateo, Enzo Pelojero, Chunsa Jung, Sophia Reola, and Carlo Mendoza of ‘Goin Bulilit’

Bringing relief, laughter this quarantine season

STAY home, combat the blues, and share a laugh with loved ones this quarantine season by watching iWant’s new comedy show Tawa Tawa Together led by comedian Alex Calleja and is now streaming for free.

Shot via Zoom, the gag show brings together comedians such as Pokwang, Melai Cantiveros, the cast of Goin Bulilit, Vandolph Quizon, and many more to give a hilarious and relatable spin on situations many families find themselves in while staying at home. The next episodes will arrive on iWant on April 27 and on May 1.

In the pilot episode, Home Sweetie Home star Nonong Ballinan samples the hilarities of video chatting with someone’s crush and avoiding people who borrow money. Host Alex Calleja also shares his ludicrous experiences with being at home too long

with his antsy wife.

Vandolph comically demonstrates how he deals with his paranoid family, while child stars Raikko Mateo, Enzo Pelojero, Chunsa Jung, Sophia Reola, and Carlo Mendoza try to outwit Alex in his «bugtung-bugtungan» challenge with hysterically funny yet intelligently justified answers.

Crazy Duo’s Gedent and Diego play a wacky, translated interpretation of the It’s Showtime theme song all the way from Cebu, while YouTuber musician Rex Ricamara offers a spoof song about the dangers of going outside and the craziness of staying indoors.

The gang then modernizes “May Pulis Sa Ilalim Ng Tulay” and wittingly turns it into “May Tanod Sa Gilid ng Kanto” to sing about a series of laughable yet realistic anecdotes.

Little Mix’s lil break up song

F

OR millennial music man Gemmo Berin, an entrepreneur dealing with distributing first-rate musical instruments, the current global health crisis calls for him to play the kind of music he’s truly familiar with, whether there’s a pandemic or not. That is, by reaching out to communities and, by his caring hands, randomly distribute relief goods to residents in need.

Doing it as his way of giving back for blessings he receives, Gem has always been generous to people struggling to make ends meet. It’s something he’s used to.

The young man with a big heart, with full support of his wife Lax, has done it again this time with communities within his reach since Luzon went under the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). He is the man behind Solidchords Trading that thrives in importing and promoting good-quality

YUGEL LOSORATA brand of musical instruments.

“It feels good to give back. It is like playing some good chord progression,” expressed the businessman also known for championing local musicians.

A decade of hard work and trust has characterized his partnership with his spouse that enabled their company to take on the challenge naturally posed by their biggest competitors.

Among the brands under his distributorship are SQOE Guitars, Mavey Guitars, Slick Guitars, PDH Drums, Dr. Drums, Armada Cymbals, Stadd Guitars, Chord Guitars, Hundrums, and Blue Fire Drums.

Influential Filipino musicians have helped make SQOE Guitars his most popular product line for many years now. The classic Spanish brand SQOE (pronounced as S-Q) is hailed for its complex craftsmanship and sophistica-

tion tightly embracing the tonal quality of Filipino sound.

Gem’s sincerity is further reflected after he decided that P100 from each guitar item sold will go directly to funds he uses to buy goods for donation to families, especially those severely affected by COVID-19. This is on top of the fact he has put items under his distributorship on 15 percent sale.

He added, “It is my responsibility to help the underprivileged and those without voice loud enough to be heard.

This I do as promoter and distributor of good-sounding equipment that brings music valuable in the healing of our land and the world.”

Berin, himself a certified musician, has always rallied the spirits of deserving talents. He added, “It is my humble mission to always inspire and help musicians reach their potential so they may share their craft in great ways possible.”

Here’s a video clip of Berin’s effort to distribute relief goods to communities fortunate enough to be recipients of his kind of music: https://drive.google.com/ open?id=1K2q2ba4u3EypNguHqqzwB ZaDe-pJG2eH

BRITISH girl group Little Mix has recently announced that a new era was pending, creating a global frenzy amongst its fanbase.

And now this new era begins, as the world’s biggest girl group has just confirmed its releasing a brand new single.

Entitled “Break Up Song,” it’s written by Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock with Kamille, Frank Nobel and Linus Nordstrom. It is an anthem about getting over a relationship, featuring an indelible melody and swirling ’80s synths, all wrapped up in another of the band’s trademark stunning vocal performances.

Little Mix is back doing what its members do best; huge pop songs that take over the planet.

Perrie, Jesy, Leigh-Anne, and Jade have established themselves as the world’s biggest girl band - they have sold over 50 million records worldwide, collected over 17 million Spotify listeners, received over three billion Youtube views, and collated 12 billion streams worldwide.

2019 witnessed Little Mix win Little Mix is a British girl group formed in 2011 during the eighth series of the British version of ‘The X Factor.’

its second Brit Award – this time for Best British Video for “Woman Like Me,” and perform the same song live at the Brits. They also won two Global Awards for Best Group and Best Song, followed by their 4th EMA Award for Best UK and Ireland Act. This year Little Mix launch a brand new TV series for BBC One, Little Mix The Search. The series, made by ModestTV, will see the band creating bands and becoming mentors to a new wave of talent. The singers who make it into new bands will live together and gain access to Little Mix’s inner circle who have contributed to their phenomenal success, including vocal coaches, song writers, producers and stylists.

The TV series will be followed by a huge summer tour playing stadiums across the UK in June and July, including a massive headline show at L o n d o n ’s i c o n i c Hyde Park for British Summertime on July 6.

Life

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

HOUSEHOLD

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020

B3

Women protect communities DOMESTIC LIVING Washing clothes and other fabrics thoroughly is vital to kill coronavirus that survives in soft surfaces for at least two days.

Doing laundry in the time of COVID-19 THE coronavirus outbreak has added another step in doing laundry: sanitizing them. Some add disinfecting solution to their load, others do extra soaking and scrubbing.

Washing clothes and other fabrics thoroughly is important, especially since different kinds of microbes survive in them for a long period—coronavirus lasts two days on fabrics. With this, taking preventive measures is highly advised.

Familiarize yourself with the washing machine’s features Nowadays, washing machines do more than just simply washing and drying clothes. It’s great if a household has one with extra features that help in sanitizing and disinfecting clothes and other fabrics.

For example, Samsung Digital Appliances’ Front Load Washer has an Air Wash System that deodorizes and sanitizes clothes and bedding. With the help of hot air reaching up to 80-degree Celsius blown onto the clothes, 99.9 percent of bacteria and allergens, along with unpleasant odors, are removed without chemical use.

V

IDA Sario, 63, wife of a construction worker, makes reusable face masks for distribution and donation to densely populated areas in the Philippines.

Jocelyn Rodriguez, 47, mother of three and wife of a displaced construction worker, makes face masks everyday to help ensure public safety.

These women, two of the many, have taken on the leadership role in their families while helping in the fight against the spread of coronavirus in their communities and beyond.

“We sew reusable face masks all day to produce 500 pieces of face masks daily,” begins Sario. “We can’t go home because it is our job to provide for our families and to help out the Filipino people so they will be safe in adhering to the enhanced community quarantine to fight COVID-19.”

Sario is among the many Filipino women who heeded the call to produce masks and other personal protective equipment. She works with the Taguig Livelihood Shoppe which provides washable face masks to frontline workers through the LBC Foundation.

With the help of the business community and its foundation, LBC continues to mobilize its networks and economic resources to provide assistance across the board and give livelihood opportunities to women like Sario.

“We were given an opportunity by LBC Foundation to do something significant and continue our daily livelihood,” shares Sario.

With majority of Filipino households losing their main source of income, especially those whose husbands were forced to stay at home, women try their best to contribute to the household on top of their daily responsibilities.

Rodriguez welcomes the opportunity to be of service to the Filipino public through sewing face masks intended for communities and front liners.

“I first started working in Livelihood Shoppe in 2004 where we make novelty items. But since the ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) has been imposed by the government, it has stopped,” relates Rodriguez.

She continues, “My husband who is also a construction worker has been forced to stay at home with no pay. So, I am still grateful despite not being able to come home because I can earn to provide for my family’s daily needs. It’s very lonely to be away from one’s family during this time, but I do this to ensure public health safety.”

LBC Foundation is working with various nonprofit organizations such as the Taguig Livelihood Shoppe and Upskills Foundation Inc. to source, produce, and distribute P50-million worth of face masks to vulnerable communities.

“This initiative is set to assist in educating the public more on the vital function of masks to protect, not just themselves, but also others around them. We believe that masks can and

Wet market vendors in Taguig are provided free washable face masks to protect themselves from coronavirus.

will save lives,” says LBC Foundation executive director Nena Wuthrich.

LBC tapped Rica Tinga to spearhead the donation in Taguig. The donated masks were distributed to seniors, pregnant women, and wet market vendors who are the most vulnerable and exposed to the virus. Most of the 28 barangays of Taguig were beneficiaries of the free masks.

They also gave out masks to the front-liners of Comet Electric Vehicles that provide shuttle services for the nurses and doctors of Pasig City General Hospital and Philippine General Hospital.

Handle laundry with special care To be on the safer side, use gloves when doing the laundry and follow each of the item’s washing instructions. Wash newly purchased clothes before using them since they most likely have gone through many hands and tried on by a complete stranger.

However, it’s not best to wash clothes to the point of compromising their quality. Samsung Digital Appliances’ Eco Bubble technology cleans even at low temperatures. This feature turns detergent into bubbles to quickly penetrate fabric and remove dirt easily while protecting the fabric and saving energy.

TAKING CHARGE. Women of households, such as Taguig Livelihood Shoppe’s Vida Sario and Jocelyn Rodriguez, step up to provide for their families and help ensure public health safety.

Connectivity

heroes

Leave ample space inside the washer to allow detergent to circulate through the items.

Do not overload the washer Leave ample space inside the washer as the detergent needs room to circulate through the clothes. Overloading a washer can result in loads that aren’t thoroughly washed and sanitized.

Also, segregating clothes by color, fabric, and overall weight is key to a good wash cycle. Washing a heavy knitted cardigan along with a thin cotton t-shirt isn’t ideal as these two need different times in the washer.

Disinfect washer, baskets, and other surfaces Sanitize where the clothes, both dirty and clean, are being stored. If possible, opt to use a mat or liner that is either disposable or washable to limit the exposure of clothes to different surfaces.

Samsung’s digital washing machines also have EcoDrumClean+ feature which ensures 95 percent removal of the unit’s drum contamination.

Through a combination of powerful water jet streams and high-speed spinning, it keeps the buildup of mold, lint, dirt, and detergent residues at bay.

THEY go to work so you can work from home.

They leave their families to keep others connected with theirs.

They are the other frontline workers, unsung and unseen, in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

They are the field personnel of telecommunications firms. They are the tower riggers and field engineers who continue to monitor and repair cellular towers or install and fix broadband links to ensure continuous connectivity.

The work-from-home scheme is not an option for them; they have to be in the field to keep people connected with their work or school, their family and friends, and the rest of the world while at home.

“Our priority is to maintain the uninterrupted signal and fast connection especially now that most employees are working from home. Whenever there are concerns regarding slow connectivity and outages, we immediately respond to them,” said Alberto Ambil, network field services engineer for PLDT wireless arm, Smart Communications Inc. Despite challenges posed by COVID-19 and enhanced community quarantine, PLDT and Smart continue to provide vital communications services that enable people to pursue their lives and livelihood while protecting their health and safety.

Telco frontline workers, network field services engineers Alberto Ambil and Kevin Ng, continue to do their jobs to help connect people.

However, given the current circumstances, their jobs come with added risks.

“The alarming pandemic reports serve as reminders that we must stay healthy so that we can properly perform our daily tasks. We are grateful that the company supports us by providing us vitamins, protective gear, and hazard pay,” shared Kevin Ng, another engineer.

The risks are greater for tower riggers like Ramel Miñoza, whose job entails climbing high towers to install equipment, rain or shine.

“We try not to think about the risks, we have a job to do…Next to our families, we put our subscribers first,” he said.

Mindful of these challenges, the network teams of PLDT and Smart are carefully controlling the movements of their field personnel. Outdoor activities are focused on key facilities while di-

rect contact with customers and other people is limited. Field personnel are also provided personal protective gear.

To help its customers and the public stay connected, PLDT has provided a speed boost to its Fibr broadband customers while Smart has increased the data packages of its postpaid and prepaid subscribers.

The two companies have also provided free access to select government sites such as the official websites of the Department of Health, Philippine Information Agency, and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council; free calls to key government agency hotlines such as the COVID-19 hotline 1555; free Wi-Fi hotspots across the country; electronic load discounts on the Smart Online Store; and payment extension for all PLDT, Smart, and Sun postpaid subscribers.

B4

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020

Joel D. Lacsamana, Editor jdlacsamana@gmail.com

HOMEGROWN QUARANTINE FACILITIES REACH 22, AND SNOWBALLING

Architects, Megawide, AFP lead furious drive to clobber COVID-19

S

INCE kicking off a project to build emergency quarantine facilities (EQFs) for local government units (LGUs) and hospitals 30 days ago, a group of Filipino architects, engineering and construction conglomerate Megawide, and officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), have completed 22 EQFs, with 23 currently being built, and 14 poised to start construction.

“We are targeting 62 EQFs within and outside Metro Manila,” William Ti, principal architect of WTA Architecture and Design Studio (WTA), told the Manila Standard.

Ti is part of a group of Filipino architects, businessmen and officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who latched on to the idea last month to design and build emergency quarantine facilities to help hospitals accommodate more Covid 19 patients.

Megawide volunteers, including engineers, electricians, plumbers, and carpenters, are helping construct the EQFs, designed by Ti , at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) and the Fe Del Mundo Medical Center (FDMMC). Megawide is also building EQF units for Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital (DJNRMH) and Cardinal Santos Medical Center (CSMC).

With the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 rising in the Philippines, hospitals since March have raised the alarm of insufficient space to accommodate patients who tested positive for the virus.

Local government units, together with private sector donors, have also been exploring the use of hotels, open lots, and other public spaces as quarantine centers.

COMMUNITY CARE TO COMBAT COVID-19. Atimonan One Energy Inc (A1E), a subsidiary of Meralco PowerGen, recently teamed up with its technical partners to help fight the spread of coronavirus, or COVID-19, in various barangays in Atimonan, Quezon. A1E worked with Delta Earthmoving, Inc., Dinamico Construction, Beton Bau Construction, Inc. and Rexsun Development and Consulting Corporation to give financial assistance distribute food to residents of barangays Caridad Ilaya and Caridad Ibaba, as well as to volunteers manning the checkpoints in Atimonan.

The company supplied personal protective equipment (PPE) face masks, alcohol and surgical gloves to the municipality’s front-liners (Shown in photo). It likewise coordinated with the Philippine Coast Guard for special boat trips to allow residents of Barangay Villa Ibaba to buy basic necessities in the town proper. The 42 barangays in Atimonan have no confirmed COVID-19 cases so far, but A1E suspended just the same all site activities, and implemented a work-from-home arrangement, to protect its employees and contractors against COVID-19.

Construction at a fast clip “The EQFs are part of the company’s efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak,” said Eric Tan, Megawide deputy chief for construction.

“Our staff have committed to volunteer for a total of 12 days to build the EQFs, and we finished construction of the EQFS for FDMMC and NKTI on day 5,” Tan revealed to the Manila Standard. “We are targeting to complete construction for the DJNRMH and CSMC EQFs by day 10.”

To date, Ti said EQFs have been built at the Manila Naval hospital, Taguig City; Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo station hospital, Quezon City; PNP regional health service - NCR police office, Taguig City; Philippine Air Force general hospital, Pasay City; Quezon City general hospital; Cavite naval hospital, Cavite; Army general hospital, Fort Andres Bonifacio; Antipolo Institute of Technology, Rizal; Ospital ng Muntilupa; V. Luna general hospital, Quezon City; National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Quezon City; Fe Del Mundo Medical Center, Quezon City; Fernando Air Base Hospital, Batangas; Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Muntinlupa; Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Muntinlupa; Sacred Heart Hospital, Bulacan; Bulacan Medical Center, Bulacan; Pasig City Children’s Hospital; Ospital ng Parañaque; and Ospital ng Makati/Pembo.

Taking the pressure off hospitals Ti said the additional support from private sector donors has given the project added impetus, with many signing in to the concept of easy-tobuild facilities which can house persons under investigation (PUIs).

“As we have always advocated, we all need to pitch in to augment the capacities of the hospitals, as they become unable to accept more patients,” Ti said. “This would prevent people who are under quarantine from being forced to go home and infect their families and friends.”

Ti added that with a few modifications over the past two weeks, the design has remained essentially the same: a horizontal structure with a wooden frame wrapped in a protective plastic skin.

The facility, which can be used free of charge, can accommodate 15 beds, a testing box, sanitation and disinfection areas, and a nurse’s lounge.

Each facility can be built at a cost of around P350,000, within a period of five days.

“I think we’re on the right track, timeline-wise,” he said.

Giving frontliners a hand One private sector donor who declined to be identified, expressed pride over the project. “I have such a huge respect for the frontliners in the field right now. So I’m thinking to myself, how can I help them also and then this opportunity came up,” she said.

The said donor’s network has been instrumental in bringing materials for the construction of the EQFs, particularly in the neighboring provinces in Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.

“Anyone, no matter how small, can help through the project,” she added.

“Any amount will really be of value.

And if not through this, I hope more people will be aware of the situation and find ways to help our frontliners and the people affected.”

Currently, the EQF project is funded through donations from the private sector such as Megawide, including WTA Architecture and Design Studio, UAP Manila Metro Chapter, Anthology Festival Foundation, and volunteers and friends from both inside and outside the architecture community.

Donors can help out by visiting: fb.com/eqfacility

DAMOSA LAND SHORES UP MINDANAO FRONTLINERS.

Damosa Land Inc. (DLI), through its corporate social responsibility arm Damosa Land Cares, is boosting the immunity of Mindanao’s frontliners in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) health crisis, linking arms with mother company Anflo Management and Investment Corporation (ANFLOCOR), by donating agricultural products. The real estate developer is supplying the families of frontliners, and the community, with agricultural products rich in vitamins and minerals that boost the immune system, such as bananas and pomelos. DLI’s banana donations were sourced from one of its sister companies Tagum Agricultural Development Company Inc. (TADECO). Apart from the bananas from TADECO, the property developer is also giving out freshly harvested vegetables from Agriya Farm, located in their newly opened mixed-use property Agriya.

“Agriculture has always played a significant role in our company and the economy of the region,” explained Ricardo “Cary” Lagdameo, head of DLI. “But in this unfortunate time of crisis, we have come to realize how big the industry’s part is in the survival of those who were affected,”

JTI TO LAUNCH BPO SERVICES CENTER IN PH. Japan Tobacco International (JTI) recently announced that Manila will be the site of its latest Global Business Service (GBS) Center. The GBS Center will employ up to 350 people within the next three years, bringing the total number of JTI employees in the Philippines to 5,000 including those in a manufacturing plant in Batangas province. The Geneva-based company hopes the facility, like its factory in Batangas, can help soften the recessionary impact of the ongoing Covid-19 which will surely result in loss of thousands of jobs in the coming months. The center, to be located at Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig, will provide solutions, consulting and analytics to satisfy operational challenges in the areas of finance, marketing and sales, people and culture, procurement, global supply chain and information technology.