Manila Standard - 2020 April 27 - Monday

Global deaths exceed 200,000 THE global death toll in the novel coronavirus pandemic soared past the 200,000 milestone on Sunday, as the World Health Organization warned against “immunity passports” for recovered patients, seen as a possible tool for countries preparing to re-open their economies.

The WHO opposes such “passports” because recovery from the virus might

not protect a person from reinfection.

“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from #COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” the UN health body said in a statement.

The world remained in wait as companies and governments raced to develop treatments and, eventually, a Next page

VOL. XXXIV • NO. 67 • 2 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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NEW NORM. As if sticking to the “social distancing” norm, sheep graze beside the prehistoric monument at Stonehenge in southern England, on April 26, 2020, closed during the national lockdown due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Britain’s health ministry on Saturday said 813 more people had died after testing positive for COVID-19 in hospital, taking the death toll to 20,319. AFP

Treatment tests spark hope Health dep’t taps 20 hospitals to find cure for COVID-19

By Macon Ramos-Araneta, Rio N. Araja, Maricel V. Cruz and Willie Casas

T

WENTY Philippine hospitals may begin their clinical trials in search for an effective COVID-19 treatment, the Department of Health said Sunday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosa- pitals already have stock of the off-label rio Vergeire said the trials, which can drugs used in the World Health Organilast four months, may begin if the hos- zation multi-country clinical trials.

Among the drugs that will be included in the trial are 1) remdesivir, 2) lopinavir and ritonavir combined, 3) two drugs plus interferon beta, and 4) chloroquine.

Some 500 patients in the critical stage of the disease are expected to take part in the trial. She said the trial may be expanded to more patients if necessary.

Vergeire also said there should be informed consent from the patients and

the effects of using the drugs should be explained to them.

“What will happen to them while taking the medicines should be thoroughly explained,” she said.

Vergeire said that although some participating hospitals in the country may have the identified drugs in their current inventory, the WHO will still send shipments intended for the trial.

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COVID-19 PH

Lacson bares P989-b ‘idle’ budget for ‘19

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz SENATOR Panfilo Lacson said he wants an explanation on the need for a supplemental budget to address the COVID-19 crisis when there’s still an unused P989 billion from the 2019 budget during last year’s third quarter.

He said the unused budget of the legislative, judiciary and constitutional commissions are not yet included there.

He said the validity of some of the portions in the General Appropriations Act, such as maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlays, have been extended to Dec. 31.

Since Congress has given the President the authority to realign budget items, these unused appropriations could be used, Lacson said.

AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM APRIL 26)

7,579

NUMBER OF CASES

501 DEATHS

862

RECOVERIES

285

NEW CASES

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‘Martial law where Reds hold sway’

‘One Sea’ video flooded with adverse comments

By Rey E. Requejo

By Macon Ramos- Araneta

THE Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has released a controversial music video titled “Iisang Dagat (One Sea)” both in Mandarin and Filipino, purportedly depicting the Philippines and China’s partnership to help one another as friendly neighbors across the disputed South China Sea during the pandemic, which prompted a firestorm of negative reactions online.

The music video, which was posted on the China embassy social media accounts on Friday, showcased the assistance the Philippines received from the Chinese government to help the country in its response against the COVID- 19 pandemic.

Majority of netizens wrote scathing comments against the controversial Next page

LIKE IN THE MOVIES. Volunteers from Cebu dressed like Storm Troopers of the Star Wars movie fame gear up to fight the new coronavirus about the same time as the ‘Covid Busters’ get into theact in the Malate district of Manila. Right photo shows health workers preparing to test patients in Laguna.

SENATOR Panfilo Lacson said he would support President Rodrigo Duterte if he declared martial law, but only in areas where the communist New People’s Army operates with impunity and without regard for the ongoing public health crisis caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“In fact, I will encourage a nononsense military offensive against them,” said Lacson who was a former chief of the Philippine National Police.

But Senator Francis Pangilinan said martial law didn’t end the insurgency during the Marcos years, and would not do so now.

“Besides the immediate and pressing problem today, the enemy at the

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Oil price rollback: P1.70/liter DOLE hard-pressed to cope with OFW demand for aid

By Alena Mae S. Flores CONSUMERS can expect a hefty oil price rollback next week—April 28 to May 4—of as much as P1.70 per liter to reflect the movement of prices in the world market.

Diesel should go down by P1.60

to P1.70 per liter. Gasoline should go down by P0.20 - P0.30 per liter, Unioil Philippines said in its advisory.

Sources, however, said the oil firms would likely raise cooking gas prices on May 1.

Total year-to-date adjustments now Next page

By Vito Barcelo, Rey E. Requejo, set target of 150,000 beneficiaries for placed workers ballooned to over two the P1.5-billion AKAP aid fund, the million, leading to an extended comFrancisco Tuyay and Department of Labor and Employment munity quarantine to arrest the spread Macon Ramos-Araneta

said Sunday. of the virus, while the number of disThe DOLE said it would request sup- placed OFWs now approaches 100,000.

MORE than 230,000 overseas Filipino Based on reports by the Philippine workers affected by the pandemic cor- plemental budget to provide more OFWs Overseas Labor Offices in 40 posts onavirus are seeking cash assistance with the needed emergency assistance.

The department said locally disfrom the government, exceeding the Next page

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News

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Deport 44 Sino gamblers—mayor

By Joel E. Zurbano and Rey E. Requejo

P

ARAÑAQUE Mayor Edwin Olivarez on Sunday asked the Bureau of Immigration to deport 44 Chinese nationals who were arrested during a raid of an illegal gambling joint in his city.

He made the request after the Chinese were caught using Filipino dummies to operate the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGO when the government imposed the Enhanced Community Quarantine following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Authorities raided the rented apartment being used for the illegal operation along Mayuga Street in Tambo village, a few meters away from Entertainment City, last Friday.

Nine Filipinos were arrested along with the 44 Chinese, and they have

Lacson...

From A1

Treatment...

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He called on the country’s economic managers to explain why a supplemental budget is needed.

“We have savings--the unused funds from 2019. We can still use that since the validity was extended,” Lacson said in Filipino.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the government needs authorization from Congress to tap more funds for COVID-19 response.

In a radio interview, he said he was confident that lawmakers would grant such a request.

Congress passed the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, which gave President Rodrigo Duterte additional powers to effectively respond to the crisis, in a marathon special session on March 23.

Lawmakers then said that there are around P275 billion off-budget funds that can be used to help address the COVID-19 crisis on top of the funds from the 2020 General Appropriations Act that can also be tapped.

Government data showed that P352.7 billion out of the P397billion available funds have been spent already for COVID-19 response, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III earlier said the funding requirement to address the COVID-19 crisis has been raised by the government to P1.49 trillion.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III also questioned the need for a supplemental budget, however, saying the new Bayanihan to Heal as One Act already gave the President the power to realign the budget to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.

Also on Sunday, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano assailed what he called as the Department of Budget and Management’s “very untransparent” withholding of 35 percent of programmed appropriations under the P4.1-trillion national goveernment budget for 2020 .

The DBM, Cayetano said,” should be open about what items in the 2020 General Appropriations Act will be withheld supposedly to augment funds for the COVID-19 response.

“This should be done openly.

What are the programs that will be scrapped? What programs will be postponed? This cannot be done.

The DBM should not take it upon himself to determine which programs to scrap and then explain it to the Congress later in a hearing,” Cayetano told a radio interview.

Vergeire said the study is in line with WHO’s rapid global search for drugs that can treat the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 2.5 million globally. More than 100 countries joined the solidarity trials.

Some hospitals are also testing the use of other medications and regimens, including convalescent plasma therapy, in a bid to cure COVID-19 patients. This involves the transfusion of plasma, the liquid component of blood, from a recovered patient to a sick patient.

Philippine General Hospital spokesman Dr. Jonas del Rosario has been appealing to COVID-19 survivors for plasma donations.

He noted that the antibodies of recoveries from this highly-infectious disease may help save patients who are still battling the virus, especially the severe and critical cases.

Much like other organizations around the world, the PGH sees plasma therapy as a possible stop-gap to hold the virus at bay while more complex treatments are developed.

“A vaccine is a year out, but what if we can use the antibodies of those who have already survived to strengthen the immune system of those still battling the virus?” said Del Rosario.

Since beginning the experimental treatment very recently, PGH has received over 90 inquiries with more than 21 passing the criteria and at least 19 having already donated plasma. At least five COVID-19 patients were able to receive transfusions.

“Right now, we are taking care of over 100 COVID-19 patients in the PGH, and some of those are severe and critical cases who have exhausted all other treatment options with no success. For them, plasma therapy could be the last resort. That’s why we’re looking for more donors,” said Del Rosario.

He said plasma donation process for COVID-19 survivors is fairly straightforward.

Meanwhile, a group biotech and phar-

‘Martial law...

From A1 gates today is COVID-19,” he said.

During this time, he said the government should focus on helping millions of people in their communities who are hungry and not on the rebels in faraway mountains.

He pointed out that COVID-19 is the country’s most serious problem nowadays and not insurgency.

“Stop pushing your iron fists because

Global deaths...

From A1 vaccine for the virus, which first surfaced in China in late 2019.

The WHO warned on Saturday that people who test positive and survive infection cannot be certain they will not be hit again by the coronavirus.

The warning came as some governments study measures, such as “immunity passports”, for those who have recovered as one way to get people back to work after weeks of economic shutdown.

Smartphone app Australia has launched a smartphone app to trace people who come in contact with coronavirus patients despite pri-

case has been filed against them.

“Deportation proceedings may be initiated if they violated our Immigration laws. However, if a criminal case has been filed against them for violation of Philippine laws, they cannot as yet be deported,” Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said in a text message to reporters.

“The criminal proceedings against them must first be concluded and, if they are found guilty, they must first Chinese face prosecution serve their sentences.”

The 44 Chinese arrested for allegedPOGO operations were among the ly operating an illegal POGO will not first businesses ordered closed during be immediately deported if a criminal the extended coronavirus quarantine. been accused of being used as dummies of the gambling operator and serving as lookouts.

Police also seized five unlicensed firearms and ammunition, P1.3 million in cash, 255 Chinese yuan and 73 Chinese passports.

The authorities also seized internet modems, 400 mobile phones, 17 computer desktops and 36 laptops.

maceutical experts said they are trying to develop and introduce purified antibodies for the prevention and treatment of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) by the third quarter of 2020.

In a statement sent to the media, IG Biotech Group chairman Enrique Gonzales said they are working to develop the treatment and are on track to conduct clinical trials by mid-year.

With a vaccine for COVID-19 not likely to be commercially available for at least another year, IG Biotech Group, a joint venture between IP Biotech and fellow biotech company Secura International Corp., together with strategic partner VINS Bioproducts, “is working to fast-track development of an antibody-based prevention and treatment for COVID-19.”

Dr. Noel Miranda, former Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional coordinator for multi-sectoral pandemic preparedness and response and member of the scientific team of IG Biotech, said the treatment is intended to provide individuals, especially health care workers, front liners, and other high-risk individuals, a vital 30day window of passive immunity to the virus, and to prevent symptoms from worsening in critical cases.

On Sunday, the DOH logged its second largest number of recoveries at 70, bringing the total of those who have been cured to 862.

The DOH reported 102 new cases on Saturday and 285 on Sunday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 7,579. The department also reported seven new deaths on Saturday, and 17 on Sunday, bringing the total to 501.

Vergeire said it was difficult to say if the country has reached its peak because they continue to receive new case every day.

“Right now, the caseload hovers between 100 and 200 every day,” she said, “If we see a consistent decline in new virus cases everyday and there are more people who get well, then it’s much easier to say that, yes, we have peaked,” she added.

The Philippines had its biggest daily rise of COVID-19 infections on March 31 when it logged 538 cases. Since then,

new cases reported daily in the country have dropped.

The number of health care workers infected with COVID-19 has risen to 1,101.

The tally includes 434 doctors, 400 nurses, 55 nursing assistants, 32 medical technologists and 21 radio technologists.

To date, 20 doctors and six nurses have died from COVID-19, she added.

The WHO earlier sounded the alarm on the number of Filipino health care workers getting sick of COVID-19.

Dr. Abdi Mahamud, COVID-19 incident manager for Western Pacific, said the Philippines could be considered an “outlier,” with health care workers accounting for 13 percent of total infections, compared to the regional average of 2 percent to 3 percent.

He said WHO is working with the DOH to determine the reasons that the Philippines has such a high percentage.

A party-list lawmaker on Sunday assailed the DOH for saying health care workers are contracting the COVID-19 virus in their communities and not due to the shortage of personal protective equipment in hospitals.

Deputy Minority Leader France Castro said washing hands “is very good in the time of COVID but not figuratively, when DOH and the Duterte administration only want to rid themselves of accountability for [their] lags, failures, and lapses.”

“The Duterte administration failed to prioritize to test health care workers in the frontlines of the COVID-19 battle who showed symptoms and are probable COVID-19 cases. The government also failed to swiftly procure PPEs and immediately distribute them, causing many health care workers to use makeshift PPEs, depend on private donors, buy from their own pockets or opt not not use one and risking their own health,” Castro added.

Castro lamented the Department of Health only purchased one million PPE sets worth P1.8 billion on March 30, when the country was already well in the middle of the enhanced community quarantine. “As it is, the procurement was made and mistakes were made as proven by the purchase of substandard gloves,” Castro said.

stand at net decrease of P15.07 per liter for gasoline, P15.09 per liter for diesel and P19.75 per liter for kerosene, according to the Energy department.

According to the department, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries expects global oil demand to drop by 6.8 million barrels per day in

2020 to 92.82 MMB per day with April having the biggest contraction at about 20 MMB/D. It noted that the International Energy Agency projected global oil demand to fall by a record 9.3 MMB/D this year as governments implemented lockdowns keep the economy at a near standstill.

The IEA further projected that demand for crude would drop in April by 29 MMB/D, equivalent to 29 percent

of the world’s 100 MMB/D oil demand figure from 2019.

OPEC and its allies and G20 countries earlier agreed to an overall production cut of 9.7 MMB per day starting in May and June, down from the 10 MMB/D originally and gradually reducing the cuts through April 2022.

On April 21, the oil companies rolled back prices by P0.55 per liter for gasoline, P1.15 per liter for diesel and P0.60 per liter for kerosene.

they can’t kill the virus,” he said.

Instead, he said, a public health strategy like what Taiwan, South Korea and Vietnam did should be the solution, and not martial law.

Meanwhile, Solicitor General Jose Calida has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss a petition seeking the release of detained communist rebels.

Calida, on April 24, asked the court to dismiss a petition for lack of merit, saying «to grant the petition would result in grave injustice not only to the people of the Philippines but also to the surviving relatives

of petitioners› victims who are still waiting for justice to be finally served.”

The petition, he said, «is one that involves perception and deception», noting that while the petitioners in the suit claim to be political prisoners, they are actually under detention for non-bailable offenses.

«Contrary to their claim, there are no humanitarian considerations involved but merely opportunistic legalism to distort established judicial processes,» Calida said.

The petition filed on April 8 by the Public Interest Law Center and the National Union of People’s Lawyers was

on behalf of 22 prisoners.

It also asked the Court to compel the government to create a Prisoner Release Committee, similar to those set up in other countries, to urgently study and implement the release of all other prisoners in various congested prisons throughout the country, in view of the COVID-19 threat.

Also on Sunday, a military spokesman said the Army has deployed almost 13,000 personnel nationwide to help the Philippine National Police in enforcing the Enhanced Community Quarantine .

vacy concerns that authorities insisted Sunday were unwarranted.

The COVIDSafe app uses a phone’s Bluetooth wireless signal to store information about people’s interactions, and can be accessed by health officials if a person contracts coronavirus.

Australia’s chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said the app would speed up a “laborious process” for health authorities tracking down users who have been within 1.5 meters of someone who has the virus.

“What this will do is give a list of the mobile phone numbers of those people who have been in contact within that distance for 15 minutes or more,” Murphy said.

“That could lead to someone being contacted a day or two earlier than they otherwise may have been.”

Partial easing

Oil...

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Saudi Arabia on Sunday partially eased a 24-hour curfew in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic, except for in hot spots including the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

The curfew will be relaxed between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and malls and retailers will be allowed to reopen in all regions of the kingdom until May 13, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

But a round-the-clock lockdown will be maintained in some areas including Mecca, which has reported the kingdom’s highest number of infections recently despite being sealed off.

Many countries around the Middle East and North Africa have announced a similar easing of lockdown restrictions as Muslims mark the holy fasting month of Ramadan. AFP

‘One Sea’...

From A1 music video. Penned by Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian, the song was performed by Chinese diplomat Xia Wenxin, Camarines Sur Vice Governor Imelda Papin, Filipino-Chinese singer Jhonvid Bangayan and Chinese actor Yubin.

As of 3:00 p.m. Sunday, the video has been viewed by more than 340,586 times on You tube, where it was posted on April 23, and had already 1,400 likes and 113,000 dislikes.

Some netizens also criticized Papin for her participation in the video.

The release of the music video came after the Philippines fired two diplomatic protest against Beijing for vio-

NoKor leader’s whereabouts still a puzzle A TRAIN likely belonging to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been spotted at a resort town in the country’s east, satellite photos reviewed by a US-based think tank showed, as speculation persisted over his health.

The train was parked at a station reserved for the Kim family in Wonsan on April 21 and April 23, the respected 38North website said in a report published Saturday.

38North cautioned that the train’s presence “does not prove the whereabouts of the North Korean leader or indicate anything about his health”.

“But it does lend weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country’s eastern coast,” it said.

There has been growing conjecture about Kim’s health since his conspicuous absence from the April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather Kim Il Sung, the regime’s founder—the most important day on the North Korean political calendar.

Kim has not made a public appearance since presiding over a meeting of the Workers’ Party politburo on April 11 and inspecting drills by fighter jets at an air defense unit, which was reported by state media on April 12.

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

Citing an unidentified source inside the country, it said Kim, who is in his mid-30s, had needed urgent treatment due to heavy smoking, obesity and fatigue.

South Korea, which is still technically at war with the North, has played down the report.

CNN, quoting what it said was an anonymous US official, reported that Washington was “monitoring intelligence” that Kim was in “grave danger” after undergoing surgery. AFP

DOLE...

From A1 abroad, 89,436 OFWs were either displaced or on a no-work, no-pay status due to lockdowns and slowdown of businesses in host countries.

As of April 24, the POLOs and the local offices of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration already received 233,015 requests for assistance under the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program-AKAP emergency fund that provides a one-time P10,000 or $200 cash aid to qualified OFWs. DOLE said of the total requests, 118,134 were received by POLOs from workers onsite while the remainder were submitted by repatriated OFWs to OWWA and DOLE regional offices in the country.

Among those seeking assistance, 49,040 OFWs are already set to receive the cash aid after having met the requirements.

Both land- and sea-based workers, they were processed within 10 working days since the release of the AKAP funds on April 9, DOLE said.

Of those already getting the cash aid, close to 34,000 are onsite OFWs or those still staying in host countries despite the lockdowns, while more than 15,000 have been repatriated or those returning OFWs unable to depart to their country of destination.

DOLE also reported that OWWA and the POLOs had assisted 36,385 repatriated OFWs since the onset of the health crisis.

On local work displacement, meanwhile, DOLE said it had disbursed P1.7 billion of its regular funds to finance the one-time assistance of P5,000 under CAMP to 345,865 formal sector workers. With Butch Gunio lating international law, as well as the country’s sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea. Locsin stressed that the Philippines strongly protested a February incident where Chinese warship targeted a Philippine Navy ship and Beijing’s creation of two districts in Hainan province, which have territorial jurisdiction over the Kalayaan Island Group and Scarborough Shoal.

Experts have denounced Beijing for taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic, which started in Wuhan, China, to aggressively assert its claims in the heavily disputed South China Sea. The nearly four-minute music video also featured statements from President Rodrigo Duterte and other government officials thanking the Chinese government.

News IN BRIEF MMDA probes enforcer with female backrider THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is investigating reports that one of its traffic personnel openly disregards the Enhanced Community Quarantine protocol after he was caught riding with a woman on his service motorcycle.

The photo, taken along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue involving the motorcycleriding MMDA enforcer and the woman, went viral on social media, and was seen

by MMDA Chief of EDSA-Traffic Edison Nebrija Jr. He said the enforcer clearly violated the No Back Ride Policy being implemented during the time of ECQ which was imposed by the government in Luzon to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease.

“If we could get the cycle number we will let the enforcer involved to explain and face the consequences of his action,” said Nebrija in a statement posted Sunday on his social media account. Joel E. Zurbano

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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Ragos buried with full honors

By Francisco Tuyay ORMER Army Corporal Winston Ragos, who was shot dead by a policeman in Quezon City near a checkpoint during the coronavirus quarantine period was given full military honors when he was buried on Sunday at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery) in Taguig City.

F

According to Col. Ramon Zagala, Cpl. Ragos was “given military honors fitting for a former soldier who served his country.”

Ragos was also given a gun salute, a tribute by the Philippine Army in honor of his various contribution to his branch of service.

Present during the burial ceremony

were Ragos’ immediate family and a handful of personnel of the Philippine Army, led by Army Chief Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay and Col. Potenciano Camba, the organization’s chief for personnel.

Zagala said Ragos’ remains were brought from St. Eldridge Funeral, Quezon City to mortuary 3 at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

“Today we bring Cpl. Ragos to his final resting place. His death has raised awareness on the plight of our soldiers suffering from PTSD. The Philippine Army will revitalize programs on trauma, combat stress and PTSD to be able to sustain the wellness of our troops both active and retired,” said Gapay.

The 34-year-old Ragos was killed on Wednesday by Police Master Sgt. Daniel Florendo Jr. near a quarantine checkpoint in Barangay Pasong Putik after an altercation with police trainees.

A video clip that went viral on social media showed Florendo pointing his firearm at Ragos, as he ordered the former soldier to drop to the ground. Several witnesses were heard on the background telling the cops not to shoot the man who appeared to be unarmed.

During the investigation, police said Ragos was carrying a caliber .38 inside his bag, but witnesses said that Ragos, who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, was unarmed during the incident.

Florendo has been placed under the custody of the Quezon City police, as reported by Philippine National Police chief Dir. Archie Gamboa.

The National Police Commission has launched an investigation while the Philippine Army sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the fatal shooting.

“Sana magkaroon ng impartial investigation…hihintayin natin ang resulta sa dapat gawin,” Zagala said.(We hope for an impartial investigation. We will wait for the result.)

SALUTE. Retired Army Corporal Winston Ragos, who was shot dead by police at a checkpoint in Bgy. Pasong Putik,QC amid enhanced community quarantine, was laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on Sunday with a 21-gun salute. Philippine Army Photos

Tondo area hit again by fire; two injured A FIRE broke out again in a residential area in Tondo, Manila on Sunday morning.

According to authorities, the fire at the corner of Peñalosa Street and Juan Luna Street started at 6:16 a.m. and reached the second alarm before it was finally put out at 6:58 a.m.

Two people were reportedly injured, according to the Bureau of Fire Protection in Manila.

Some P300,000 worth of property was damaged.

As of press time, the incident was still under investigation.

On April 18, a residential area in Happyland, Tondo was hit by fire damaging around 200 houses and affecting 500 families.

On April 15, a residential area in Delpan, Tondo was also hit by fire. Willie Casas

Air pollution levels in Manila areas drop AIR pollution levels in some areas in the City of Manila continue to drop after the government ordered a strict stay-at-home policy among its residents, according to a report from Manila City Hall.

Based on air quality monitoring performed under the Asia Blue Skies Program – a partnership among 3M, the City Government of Manila and Clean Air Asia – average PM2.5 levels at Freedom Park at the Manila City Hall from April 13 to 17 dropped by 42 percent compared to measurements during the regular work/school weekdays (Jan 21 to March 6) before the quarantine.

Meanwhile, air quality monitoring at Rizal Park, Ermita for the same period last week showed that average PM2.5 was 2 percent higher compared to pre-quarantine pollution levels.

Likewise, in Mendiola corner Concepcion Aguila Street, air quality monitoring showed that PM2.5 levels are higher by 9 percent compared to levels before the start of the lockdown. Willie Casas

DAR provides vitamins, foods for Rizal farmers THE Department of Agrarian Reform has provided farmers from Rizal province with multivitamins and ready-to-use supplementary food to boost their immune system during the Enhanced Community Quarantine in the fight against coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19).

Secretary John Castriciones instructed Undersecretary Virginia Orogo to look after the welfare of the farmers belonging to 29 agrarian cooperatives from Rizal’s Jalajala, Tanay, Antipolo, Pililla, Rodriguez and Pinugay.

The agency partnered with the Lions Club of Marikina District 301 as donor and the Philippine Coast Guard to help deliver the goods.

Orogo recently turned over 35 boxes containing 500 bottles of multivitamins and 35 boxes of Plumy Sup (RUSF) to provincial agrarian reform officer Saturnino Bello.

At least 3,771 farmer-members would benefit from the provision. Rio N. Araja

Fake Chinese ‘virus’ doc nabbed in P’que

By Joel E. Zurbano AUTHORITIES raided a medical clinic in Paranaque City and arrested a 44-year-old Chinese woman practicing medical profession and engaged in treating patients reportedly infected with coronavirus disease.

Members of the city’s Business Permit and Licensing Office, and Health Office conducted the raid at the clinic located at 3985 Lt. Garcia Street corner Airport Road in Barangay Baclaran where they also confiscated several boxes of medicines allegedly used to treat COVID-19 patients.

Arrested was Yumei Liang, also known as Liza Wu, a resident of Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City. She is now detained.

Reports showed that the suspect’s Philippine driver’s license was altered.

A Filipino utility boy identified as Hinya Rodriguez, who was at the building during the raid, was also apprehended by authorities, while a relative of Yumei managed to escape.

The authorities seized from the establishment assorted medicines, allegedly used to treat patients with COVID-19, and being sold at P100,000 per box. Each box contains 400 packs of 24 capsules per pack.

PH supermarkets urged to embark on hiring spree

By Maricel V. Cruz A LEADER of the House of Representatives on Sunday challenged the Philippines’ top retailers to follow in the footsteps of America’s Walmart Inc., which has hired some 200,000 new temporary or part-time workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We would urge our leading supermarket and minimart chains – since they are the only ones thriving for now-to stay open for longer hours and start hiring on a temporary or part-time basis furloughed employees from other industries,” Deputy Speaker and Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said.

“This way, retailers can also help ease the economic pain of the crisis as they grapple with the surge in households stocking up on food and other basic necessities,” Pimentel said.

Pimentel addressed his challenge to SM Retail Inc., Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., Cosco Capital Inc., Philippine Seven Corp. and other big retailers.

SM Retail owns SM Supermarket, SM Hypermarket and the Savemore chains.

Robinsons Retail runs Robinsons Supermarket, The Marketplace, Rustan’s Supermarket, Shopwise, Ministop, Southstar Drug, and The Generics Pharmacy chains.

Cosco owns Puregold, S&R, NE Bodega, Budgetlane and Lawson chains, while Philippine Seven runs the 7-Eleven stores.

PAGCOR donates PPE to hospitals IN ITS effort to help thwart the high incidence of novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) infections among healthcare workers due to lack of personal protective equipment, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. distributed more essential gears to several public hospitals this week.

PAGCOR turned over this week 85,000 face masks to Rizal Medical Center, Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Tondo Medical Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, Philippine Heart Center and Philippine General Hospital. The agency also distributed N95 masks, face shields and protective clothing to the said hospitals.

The PPEs were donated by various Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.

Earlier, the state-run gaming firm also delivered over 47,000 POGO-donated food packs to communities in the National Capital Region, Benguet, Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac which direly need assistance due to the economic impact of the pandemic.

According to PAGCOR vice president for Corporate Social Responsibility Group Jimmy Bondoc, the agency is committed to deliver protective medical gears to more public hospitals in the coming days as they continue to receive requests for such.

“We have already reached out to many public hospitals during the past weeks, and we look forward to extending vital help to more healthcare institutions as we continue find our way out of this health crisis,” Bondoc said.

Meanwhile, the state-run gaming firm also delivered over 2,000 relief packs to the residents of the cities of San Pedro and San PAGCOR DONATION. A representative from the Lung Center of the Philippines Pablo in Laguna, who were among those affected by Enhanced Community Quarantine (right) personally receives from a PAGCOR volunteer the agency’s personal protective restrictions implemented by the government. equipment donations.

QC lending firms okayed to stay open

By Rio N. Araja

BACK TO MARKET. After a 48-hour lockdown due to rising cases of COVID-19 infection at Sampaloc district of Manila, where at least 157 persons were apprehended due to hard lockdown protocol violations, people are back on the streets of Trabajo market to buy their needs. Norman Cruz

QUEZON City Mayor Joy Belmonte has exempted establishments providing loans and credits to the poor from the Enhanced Community Quarantine.

She issued Executive Order 29 allowing establishments giving out microfinancing, loans or credits to operate.

She said the city government is duty bound to ensure the availability of sources of loans and credit to the poor and marginalized during the lockdown.

“Entities that are duly regulated by governmental authorities to offer loans and credit will be allowed to operate so they can provide assistance to our citizens in need,” she said.

“We believe that this addresses a gap in the rules, which is sorely needed by our less fortunate residents, and we hope the national government feels the same

way. The executive order is pro-poor and gives the poor access to loans that they can’t avail from common banks,” she added.

Those covered by Belmonte’s order are financial institutions being supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, such as banks, non-stock savings and loans associations, money exchange/remittance companies, e-money issuers, payment system operators and pawnshops.

Financial service cooperatives, credit cooperatives and multi-purpose cooperatives that provide savings and credit to their members as regulated by the Cooperative Development Authority are also be allowed to operate.

The order requires that those establishments must only deploy a skeletal workforce that would be allowed to travel to and from their place of operation.

A4

Opinion

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

Breakthroughs and more CROSSROADS

J.A. DE LA CRUZ WITH the ECQ extended up to May 15 in most parts of the country, people are asking whether this rolling lockdown will now become the new normal. The answer is clear: We will have to live with COVID-19 up to the end of the year or until a vaccine gets off the laboratories into general use. Until then, we will just have to work within the imposed medical protocols and bear with it.

Countless initiatives give us hope during these trying times.

Life as we know it is changing, but we take comfort in the fact that the most cherished of human values remain the same. With even more intensity in many cases. Like sharing and compassion. Caring and looking after one another. Being good neighbors.

Appreciating discovery, initiative and innovation.

The last virtue is not surprising at all.

After all, a lot of the medicines and even everyday materials now being used to make life a little better were products of discovery under stressful and grave circumstances. Unfortunately though, even "kill machines" and weapons of mass destruction were products of such circumstances.

But no matter. What is important is we are seeing these initiatives, breakthroughs and, yes, sharing between and among experts and scientists and even competing companies and countries as we navigate our way out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This makes us hopeful about the prospects of slowing down the pandemic and curing it in due time.

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

In Asia, Chinese, Taiwanese, and South Korean scientists are moving forward with working on possible vaccines and cures immediately after identifying the COVID-19 genome. There are strong indications that they may come out with candidate vaccines as early as September and a possible cure a year from now. Of course, these initiatives come with the usual protocols including, as they say, good habits such as social distancing, hand washing and wearing of face masks, which will most likely be the " lifestyle" of the new normal even beyond any of the discoveries. Sadly, we are being advised that one of the most advanced candidate cure—Redisivir—which is being test tested by the Chinese in cooperation with a US biotech company, Gilead, has had negative results so far. So, back to the drawing board for the partnership. The race goes on.

Now we learn that an Israeli biotech company has also gone forward with its own vaccine which, if the reports are correct, is about to undergo first-phase trials. There is also an ongoing laboratory testing by a team from the University of Pittsburg which is expected to be rolled out for trials next month. Another promising development is the ongoing efforts of a team of experts from Johnson and Johnson in partnership with the US government to roll out a vaccine which is now considered globally as the lead candidate among all others in experimentation. And, as we were writing this piece, news came out that Oxford University scientist Sara Gilbert and her team are rolling out their own vaccine called ChAdOx1nCov-19 which promises to overtake all others in rolling out. Already, Gilbert's team has put together a group of 510 volunteers for the test - considered the first of such scale on humans. This development, coming after Gilbert's earlier success in developing the Ebola vaccine, has raised not only people's hopes but the global population in prayers for its eventual realization.

Sanity in absurdity XTRAORDINARY challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic should prompt people to think out of the box. But there is a line that separates rational, objective, logical resort to science from plainly absurd, ridiculous pronouncements.

E

It’s especially cringe-worthy when the person who mouths them is a national leader.

Last week, during one of his briefings, United States President Donald Trump mused aloud about using ultraviolet light inside bodies, and injecting people with disinfectants to counter the virus.

In the hours that followed, health officials frantically warned people that ingesting bleach was lethal. Even the maker of Lysol issued a statement that under no circumstances should people use disinfectants internally.

The following day, Trump took a step back and claimed he was just being sarcastic, waiting to see how the media would react. An aide blamed the media for taking his statement out of context.

This is hardly Mr. Trump’s first controversial statement. In the past weeks, he has incited Americans to go out of their homes amid the quarantine, call-

ing for the “liberation” of states. He has claimed that only he can authorize governors to reopen their economies. He has praised an anti-malaria drug when tests have been inconclusive. He has announced the US would stop funding the World Health Organization at this critical time. He has considered having a two-hour daily radio show, junking the idea only when he realized he would be competing with a popular commentator.

Despite the antics of their leader, however, many Americans—citizens, companies, academics and other government officials alike—continue to do what they can to find ways to respond to the numerous challenges posed by the COVID-19.

They are shocked, aghast, enraged, and disheartened, but they step up to the challenge nonetheless. For example, some of the White House advisers renowned experts in their field, are sometimes visibly shocked by Trump’s words, themselves,

but they continue to serve, using their position to actually do some good for the cause while reversing the damage caused by their boss’ absurdities.

It’s a scenario that could easily happen elsewhere in the world. Some top officials have shown stellar leadership.

Alas, others have shown wrong priorities, incoherent thought patterns, a penchant for violence, laughable pettiness, political patronage, and a tendency to grab credit. They have revealed their inability to lead, much less inspire.

Despite these, we citizens should continue to do our part even from the safety of our homes. There is much help needed. We have no other choice but see past our leaders’ shortcomings and find a way to work together. In the end, a single outcome awaits us all, regardless of sentiment or political color.

It’s a scenario that could easily happen elsewhere in the world. Some top officials have shown stellar leadership.

Alas, others have shown wrong priorities, incoherent thought patterns, a penchant for violence, laughable pettiness, political patronage, and a tendency to grab credit. They have revealed their inability to lead, much less inspire.

Turn to A5

The wages of our inaction

THESE days, everybody seems to be in agreement that contact tracing as well as the distribution of food subsidies and cash assistance to the needy would have been facilitated if we had a national identification or referencing system.

I recall that I was then a consultant to Senator Ping Lacson during the time of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and one of Lacson’s pet bills was the one which provided a mandatory national reference card system, or a national ID. It was met by vociferous reaction from the strident left and so-called or selfstyled human rights activists who said such a system would be a violation of everyone’s right to privacy. Indeed, many western countries do not have a national ID also because of their state’s recognition of the value of human privacy. But almost all Asian countries do, whether in highly populous China and India, or in less populous countries like Singapore and Taiwan.

Lacson kept re-filing his bill, and it was only during the Duterte administration that the bill was finally passed into law in August of 2018. Yet to date, the Philippine Statistics Authority, an agency that was created by unifying many department-attached agencies into a single statistical management and coordination body, and unto whose tasking the implementation of the law was assigned, has failed to deliver.

Now everybody and his mother are decrying the absence of the national ID system. To borrow from the biblical injunction about the “wages of sin,” this is but one of the wages of our inaction. *** A more recent example is how we dilly-dallied on issuing a travel ban on visitors from China, where as early as December 2019, the mysterious viral disease was detected. Our gradually increasing visitor arrivals from China since the President instituted his apertura Sinica in 2016 normally peaks around the time of the Lunar New Year, which this year was during the last ten

days of January.

Despite knowledge that the viral contagion was wasting so many lives in Wuhan, and that its central government had already declared a lockdown, we did not institute a travel ban until Feb. 2. Even then, we allowed a planeload of passengers into Davao, a cruise vessel in Manila, and flights into Aklan. A week later, on the night of Feb. 10 for reasons more political than health-related, our DOH officials included Taiwan, which at the time had already instituted stiff policies and actions to ensure that the contagion would not infect the population, despite its proximity and affinity to the mainland.

In contrast, these show the seriousness with which the Taiwan government took the contagion.

However, the IATF reversed the DOH in the afternoon of Valentine’s Day, or less than four days from the illogical inclusion of Taiwan. I wrote an entire column on that episode.

As of this writing, Taiwan registered 429 COVID-19 cases with six deaths, the number having spiked over the last ten days because of navy sailors who disembarked in Kaohsiung and then started their R and R all over this island of 23.4 million inhabitants.

Incidentally, the sudden spike of cases made two admirals of the Taiwanese navy resign from their posts, and the President herself had to apologize publicly for what amounted to negligence on the part of the defense establishment.

The Minister of Defense likewise offered to resign.

Another incident shows the seriousness with which the Taiwan government took the contagion. Almost a month back, the son of a tourism bureau (Tourism is an agency under the Ministry of Transportation here) official arrived from a visit to the Philippines. The official asked a functionary at the Taoyuan International Airport to meet his son at the tube, and Turn to A5

Caution, still HAVING arrested the spread of the dreaded coronavirus in their respected areas, with some of them even registering zero infection since Day One of the pandemic, 57 provinces will have a relaxed or specifically, a general community quarantine starting the first day of May. As such, selected business establishment will be allowed to resume operations as workers will be allowed to go out and work in phases.

For those which will be under the GCQ, malls will be allowed to operate but limited to non-leisure shops. Mandatory temperature check, mandatory wearing of masks, mandatory alcohol use will still be imposed. Also, the number of people who will be allowed to go inside the malls will be strictly limited with only those aged 21 to 59, with identification cards or IDs and not looking sickly, to be admitted inside.

Priority and essential construction projects will likewise be allowed to resume, subject to minimum health standards, physical distancing, and barracks for workers.

Public transport modes will be allowed to operate at reduced capacity.

Local government units will enforce curfew at night for non-workers.

As added precautionary measure, young people, senior citizens and others facing high health risks will still be not

allowed to go out of their homes.

One of those provinces which will enjoy a relaxed quarantine will be Eastern Samar which had successfully avoided getting even a single constituent at the

This is the right way to do it. time the quarantine was put in place, infected. But even as of this early, Provincial Governor Ben Evardone has already made it clear they are not yet about to celebrate their “newfound freedom” when the clock strikes zero hour on May 1. In fact, he has even upped the ante, declaring the extension of President Rodrigo Duterte’s order of GCQ until May 30, by 15 more days.

“We welcome this decision of President Duterte because it is for the best interest of everybody if we do not let our guard down in this fight against COVID-19,” says Evardone.

While there is a noticeable improvement in the situation on COVID-19, the Eastern Samar governor says everyone, not only those in the newly-designated GCQ, have to make sure that there will be no resurgence of new infections, especially in Metro Manila.

Thus, on the part of Eastern Samar, Evardone says they will be extending their general community quarantine up to May 30 to enable them to prepare for the possible influx of their returning kababayans from Luzon after May 15.

“Since we cannot reject our kababayans from returning to our province, we will have to accommodate them but they will undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 in isolation areas in their respective municipalities,”Evardone avers.

That, according to him, will ensure early detection, isolation and treatment of possible COVID- positive persons.

At the same time, he assures that everyone who will be subjected to quarantine, isolation or treatment, will be properly monitored by provincial, municipal and barangay health personnel to see to it that health protocols are observed.

Actually, that’s the right move and should be adopted by everyone else. We cannot simply relax once we achieve zero infection. For the last one who got infected on the last day an infection was Turn to A5

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher can be accessed at: manilastandard.net Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial) 832-5554, (Advertising) 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandard.net

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Opinion Learning from Vietnam’s COVID-19 success story THE FIFTH GOSPEL JUDE ACIDRE VIETNAM was initially believed to be at high risk from the coronavirus. The country shares a border with China where the COVID-19 pandemic started. Its Chinese neighbor is also its top trading partner, with a significant 17 percent of its economy dependent on its trade with China. Without the resources of countries with aggressive but costly containment strategies such as South Korea’s mass testing and Taiwan’s digital tracking system, the limited healthcare system of this developing ASEAN economy was thought to be no match for the highly infectious coronavirus disease that threatened its population of 97 million.

But in the weeks that followed, Vietnam defied all expectations. On April 23, after no new COVID-19 cases were reported for seven straight days, it became the first ASEAN nation to ease lockdown measures set to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease, setting a new standard in this war against COVID-19—on how to do more with less.

What did Vietnam do right, where many stronger economies seemed to have failed?

One thing can be ascertained from the start—whatever it lacked in resources in responding to COVID-19, it certainly made up with proactive prevention.

Days after the first death from the virus was reported in China and even before any case surfaced in the country, Vietnam began working on a containment plan intended to create a headway over the virus. It immediately closed its 1,400-km border with China, and suspended nearly all but essential travel with its neighbor. Checkpoints were swiftly installed, quarantine measures implemented, contact tracing protocols ensured for potential infections and local production of medical supplies accelerated. The Vietnamese government did not hesitate to impose restrictions on movement of its citizens, enforce bans on gatherings of more than two people and mete out fines on social media users for spreading misinformation online.

Unlike other nations now struggling to “flatten the curve,” Vietnam did well to stay ahead of the curve by keeping the number of infections low and preventing it from overwhelming the country’s medical capability. With its proactive implementation of quarantine measures, Vietnam successfully kept pressure off its hospitals, and with meticulous and focused tracing, it quickly identified those who had contact with those infected especially those with pre-symptomatic and symptomatic cases.

Vietnam’s aggressive and proactive containment strategy did not disappoint.

As of April 26, Vietnam only had 270 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 225 successful recoveries and no fatalities.

The wages...

From A4

then escort him out of the airport. When higher government officials discovered the irregular “escort service,” something so common in the Philippines, the functionary and his supervisor were fired, and the head of the tourism bureau was demoted. Would such swift punishment for not following the rule of law ever happen in our country?

When we issued a travel ban on Taiwan, our DOH was proudly maintaining we only had three coronavirus-infected cases, with one death, a Chinese national at that. Taiwan had 14 cases, while mainland China had tens of thousands.

As of Saturday afternoon, our DOH admitted that we had 7,294 cases with 494 deaths.

That is what they officially registered, but many doubt the accuracy of the numbers because in the first two months of the contagion, very little testing was done, and hardly any contact tracking was made.

No one doubts the accuracy of Taiwan’s Ministry of Health, because swift

Caution,...

From A4

reported, could have infected another person, and that newly-infected person, could go around, infecting some more people without knowing it as it would take up to 14 days before the symptoms could show up.

And that could result to a disastrous second wave. We pray not. And we hope all those concerned could follow the Evardone program.

Yes, zero fatalities.

As the Philippines braces for another three weeks of Enhanced Community Quarantine, Vietnam’s success is a good model to learn from. Interestingly, our two countries share several socio-economic characteristics—both are developing economies, with almost the same population size. Both countries have also adopted similar response to address to COVID-19—strict quarantine measures have been imposed and social distancing rules have been enforced.

How did, then, Vietnam do better?

In addition to a proactive strategy, the Vietnamese government clearly set its priorities right—first, fast, efficient and affordable mass testing; second, strict and effective quarantine measures; and third, an open and responsive communication platform.

In a month, the Institute of Biotechnology under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology was able to develop its own rapid test kit, which is capable of returning results within two to three hours. More than 30 testing centers were immediately set up all thought the country. Initially, the country was able to produce 3,600 kits per day, and to date, it has a total daily production capacity of 10,000 kits. According to the recent data made available by the Ministry of Health, the country was able to conduct more than 180,067 tests. With 270 confirmed cases, this means 672 tests for every one detected case, which is by far the largest ratio of testing to confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world.

On top of travel restrictions, Vietnam strictly imposed a 14-day quarantine for all foreigners and locals traveling from especially COVID-19 epicenters. In addition, the Vietnamese government provided all those under quarantine with shelter, food and medical attention throughout the 14-day quarantine period. Instead of advising those with possible cases of COVID-19 to self-isolate, they were placed under centralized quarantine facilities, preventing them from spreading the infection to their families and friends. In fact, patients were required to install an app called SmartCity on their phones, which raises an alarm and sends notifications to the authorities if they are more 20 to 30 meters away from their quarantine areas.

Unusual for a country with a socialist political system, often criticized for its lack of transparency, Vietnam made sure that responsive communications system was in place to provide accurate and timely information about the COVID-19 situation. Every new case was reported on the online portal of the Ministry of Health and immediately communicated on the media outlets.

The government also introduced a mobile app dubbed, NCOVI, which allowed users to submit their daily health status and travel information, know the hotspots where new COVID-19 cases were reported and get updated information about the coronavirus disease.

With this extensive reporting and public service announcements, most people are generally well-informed about what COVID-19 is and what preventive measures they can take.

There is one more indispensable criteria for Vietnam’s success—the people’s strong sense of civic duty and patriotism, which the government successfully harnessed in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, compared to other ASEAN countries, the bailout package approved by the Vietnamese government amounted only to a relatively modest 62 trillion Vietnamese dong (equivalent to 3.7 billion US dollars), of which every Vietnamese worker with a suspended work contact will receive only about 1.8 million dong a month (equivalent to less than four thousand Philippine pesos). This nowhere near the P5,000 to P8,000 social amelioration released by the Philippine government to the country’s poorest of the poor families, or Thailand’s monthly support of 5,000 baht for those who have lost their jobs or Singapore’s 600 dollar handout to every adult during the pandemic. This sense of civic duty and social discipline has helped keep the people optimistic enough to weather the temporary financial pain and social restrictions caused by the outbreak.

Now, with the lifting of lockdown restrictions, the Vietnamese government has its eyes set on restarting the economy. All activities, including non-essential business and services, are allowed to return to normal on the condition they follow proper infection control measures. It is also preparing to welcome and place in quarantine thousands of Vietnamese citizens returning from overseas—whether they showed COVID-19 symptoms or not—many of them workers from China. In order to dampen the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, several incentives have been planned such as tax breaks and delayed tax payments up to five months for businesses impacted by the crisis.

But, despite its success, the fight against COVID-19 in Vietnam is far from over. Full social distancing measures will continue to be observed in parts of the capital city of Hanoi until April 30. While public transportation and even domestic flights are expected to resume by next week, people are expected to continue observing social distancing rules and wearing of masks in public will remain mandatory. Public gatherings of more than 20 persons will remain restricted and schools will remain closed for several more weeks.

With many parts of the world still infected, Vietnam is not taking chances and its government is too cautious to call it a success story too soon.

actions were taken, from travel restrictions, to adequate testing, to effective contact tracking, to proper isolation and treatment, all done with daily doses of transparent reportage.

Once again, we see the wages of our inaction.

Those wages include a continuing lockdown to last at least 60 days of virtual economic standstill that has taken a heavy toll on the livelihood of practically everyone, excepting the very rich who as usual, can afford, even if their bottom lines are bleeding. *** My good friend and political mentor, Congressman Ronny Zamora, has a very apt description of what ails our nation, something which he first told me when we were together in Malacañang. He was Executive Secretary and I was President Estrada’s political adviser.

“The problem of our country is we are never serious about anything,” said Ronny, repeated several times more since then.

We both served a president who held too much promise of greatness owing to massive popularity, but despite our counsel, never seemed to be “too serious”

about the responsibilities of running a country for whose “masa” his personal compassion was legend. *** I am deeply saddened by the death, as a victim of COVID-19, of Senator Heherson “Sonny” Alvarez. I join his legion of friends in condoling with the family and wishing Cecille, his better half, also once afflicted with the virus, a speedy recovery.

When I come to writing my memoirs which tentatively I intend to entitle “In and Out of the Corridors of Power,” Sonny Alvarez would be remembered as having fought courageously for the freedoms and democratic space we now enjoy.

I was privileged to have known him when he founded the Ninoy Aquino Movement in the United States where he was an exile. There is a long story about what we covertly did together, along with some political characters, one dead and others still alive. But that is for another article some other time.

After EDSA 1986, Sonny and I were not always on the same side of the political fence, but my admiration for his courage against great odds, always remained.

*** We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to a small group of doctors, nurses, paramedics and dentists who, aside from extending their services as frontliners, banded together to produce needed personal protective equipment.

Led by Dr. Marilou Sembrano of the University of the Philippines College of Dentistry Batch 1985, Dr. Candids Patrice Reyes, UP College of Dentistry Batch 2000; and Dr. Mary Haines Monjardin, Manila Central University

College of Dentistry Batch 2000, they engaged the services of Monjardin’s tailoring shop for free to produce PPE which was distributed to no less than 70 hospitals in Metro Manila, both government and private.

According to Sembrano’s post in her social media account, they were able to raise P532,233 from donations from their friends in the Philippines and the United States, which they used to procure materials which were sewn by Monjardin’s staff. Monjardin, incidentally, is also a visual artist.

The government clearly set its priorities right.

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

A5

We’re not there yet, so...

THE announcement last Friday of another two-week extension, up to May 15, of the Enhanced Community Quarantine came as no surprise as the latest data showed the National Capital Region leading the list of “High Risk Areas” along with Central Luzon (Region III), Calabarzon (Region IV-A) and all other high-risk areas.

The full operation of the manufacturing industry is important to keeping supply chains flowing.

Benguet (CAR), Pangasinan (Region I), Tarlac and Zambales (Region III), Antique, Iloilo, and Cebu (and Cebu City), Davao de Oro will be subject to re-evaluation by April 30 and may change status to a less stringent General Community Quarantine (GCQ) if conditions improve.

These are our most productive regions hosting the biggest industries that drive the economic prosperity of the country, until the global pandemic of the Wuhan virus forced hard restrictions to human activities, because for now, our best weapon to stop the onslaught of infection is by physical and distance barriers between each human body.

“Social Distancing,” a clever oxymoron, is a very counter-intuitive behavioral imposition that challenges our innate social nature as human beings. Compliance to this seemingly simple and doable prohibition is proving to be difficult for households in the overcrowded communities in Metro Manila. Small dwellings that were more like sleeping spaces barely bearable with the rotating work shifts of its occupants are now unnervingly choked in the hot and humid summer days and nights.

Millions of employees are made idle by shutdowns of industries that for centuries have designed their operations centered on efficient production outputs with little or no regard for fatally infectious outbreaks. Now all its employees are in lockdown limbo because their bodies are the perfect hosts of the contagious virus.

A quick look at the Department of Health’s official COVID-19 information tracking graphs still show the steep rising slope of cases. This is expected to continue as mass testing is just beginning to gain momentum revealing more infections with each batch of test results.

The recent launching of TASK FORCE T3 (Test, Trace and Treat), though a little late, is a welcome development that finally responds to so many calls from experts to do mass testing as a critical phase in flattening the pandemic’s curve. This new initiative is a public-private task force that aims to test 30,000 individuals per day by the end of May. The proven RT-PCR (Reverse Transmission—Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing method will be deployed in this project.

Healthcare industry players and pharmaceutical groups have been invited to participate. The initial members from the private sector are: AC Health/ Qualimed, Unilab, the MPIC Hospital Groups, The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation and the Philippine National Red Cross. Hopefully, the combined forces of these groups will successfully execute the volume of test that will be able to generate the data

needed for accurate tracking, management of new cases, and basis for when and how the ECQ restriction should be adjusted. As COVID-19 testing becomes more accessible, private companies can have their employees tested so that a clear mapping of the health of their people can guide their own post-lockdown strategies.

So, while we’re obviously not there yet, urgent modifications to guidelines and implementation are needed to prevent some serious food supply and financial services disruptions. The significance of these problems are at the national security level because of the destabilizing potential if these systems fail. This is a complicated problem because the smooth operation of a company, more so of an industry, relies on the steady delivery of services and products of interlinked supply chains.

An over simplified illustration is to look at the food sector, an “essential” industry that supplies the people’s daily sustenance. The meal served at your dining table, was grown, processed, transported to distribution networks, which then delivers to a network of wholesalers and/or retail outlets in each region or territory of the country, where it was purchased by your household’s quarantine pass holder, brought home before curfew and cooked in time for dinner.

It looks straightforward, but not quite. Each of these links have their own ecosystems of suppliers that are essential to keep their operations running. A major breakdown in this chain, whether transportation, supply, personnel, or financial, will cause a direct impact on the consumers which in this crisis, magnifies anxieties, creates more uncertainty, fear, discontent and eventually a less stable political environment.

Ensuring the uninterrupted food supply, healthcare, power, fuel, public utilities, and transportation will need the products and services of an army of allied industries to replenish consumables and restock inventories. This becomes an extraordinary governance challenge that requires the highest levels of skill, experience, practical thinking and openness to cross-sectoral and non-political collaboration.

For every criticism voiced out by observers on certain implementation missteps in the still developing ECQ guidelines, there are several well-meaning and practical recommendations inspired from direct observations by industry stakeholders and experts. All these can be done while complying with social distancing.

Important to keeping supply chains flowing is the full operation of the manufacturing industry. The production of products essential to the continuing operation of other industries or trades makes all manufacturing activities essential and will even contribute to increasing consumer demand from its employees going back to work.

Mentioned many times in interviews and in online discussions is to have longer shopping hours for public markets and grocery stores. Limiting the operating hours generates long lines and crowds that could have been spread out with longer shopping time.

Banks and remittance companies should operate more branches and have regular hours to ease transactions of their clients. Managing payrolls and sending funds to families in the provinces has become difficult especially for the unbanked population.

Our suffering and this economic disaster will worsen to unthinkable consequences if we don’t know who has the virus and who’s good to go back to work. The aggressive expansion of testing capacity under TASK FORCE T3 will be key to ending the lockdown. Let us all give our support and cooperation.

Test, Trace, Treat!

Breakthroughs...

From A4

We are not being left behind. Immediately after announcing the ECQ extension, President Duterte upped the reward to be given to our very own experts and scientists who can come out with a vaccine, maybe even a cure, for COVID-19 to P50 million from an initial P10 million. He even laughingly said that if he is so satisfied with the results, he can go as high as P100 million just to get our best minds going.

There is also an offer to the government submitted by a multinational group of medical experts and scientists convened out of Switzerland by a Fil-Am finance and technology whizkid, Rogelio " Vonz" Santos Jr., to undertake research on a COVID-19 vaccine and cure at no cost to the government. The group has been talking with the UP and DOST for possible collaboration on this effort.

The challenge, according to Sembrano, was on the effectiveness of the suit material and design, since the materials were locally sourced.

“It was not medical-grade—it just had to be water-repellant enough to provide some form of protection from aerosols. We were apprehensive as we submitted the suit for approval,” according to Sembrano.

Their apprehension turned to joy when the suits gained approval from their colleagues.

“We are touched beyond words as we realize this small act of kindness can

bring out so much happiness from the giver and the receiver. These past weeks will leave bittersweet memories for us.

May your participation in this cause leave you with the fondest thoughts of hope, gratitude, and love,” Sembrano wrote in her social media account.

Aside from the 2,155 coveralls and 300 isolation gowns, Sembrano’s group also donated 20 gallons of alcohol and 105 boxes of examination gloves.

In behalf of the people being protected and taken care of by the frontliners, thank you Dr. Sembrano and your group.

A6

World/Business

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

IN BRIEF China seizes 89m shoddy face masks CHINA has confiscated over 89 million poor quality face masks, a government official said Sunday, as Beijing faces a slew of complaints about faulty protective gear exported worldwide.

Demand for protective equipment has soared as nations across the globe battle the deadly coronavirus, which has infected nearly 2.9 million people.

But a number of countries have complained about faulty masks and other products exported by China, mostly for use by medical workers and vulnerable groups.

As of Friday, China’s market regulators had inspected nearly 16 million businesses and seized over 89 million masks and 418,000 pieces of protective gear, said Gan Lin, deputy director of the State Administration of Market Regulation, at a press conference.

Regulators had also seized ineffective disinfectants worth over 7.6 million yuan ($1.1 million), she said.

It is unclear how much of the confiscated goods were destined for markets abroad.

In a bid to eliminate poor-quality products, China released new rules Saturday saying even non-medical masks must meet both national and international quality standards.

Exporters must file a written declaration that their medical products meet the safety requirements of the destination country, the ministry of commerce said in a statement.

The tighter rules come after several countries including Spain, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Turkey were forced to recall hundreds of thousands of shoddy masks and pieces of protective gear imported from China.

The Canadian government last week said that about one million face masks purchased from China failed to meet proper standards for healthcare professionals. AFP

Nations prepare to ease lockdowns S

PANISh children were allowed outside on Sunday for the first time in six weeks as countries prepared to ease lockdown measures and reopen economies gutted by the coronavirus despite the worldwide death toll surpassing 200,000.

Governments from Belgium to the United States are gearing up for a partial reopening in an attempt to restore normality for nearly half of humanity forced into some form of confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus cases around the world rose to 2.86 million and deaths have doubled since April 10, with well over half of them in Europe, according to an AFP tally.

The daily toll in Western countries appeared to be levelling off and even falling, but fears abounded in many places of a second surge after restrictions on movement are lifted.

Rejecting the advice of top disease experts, the US state of Georgia allowed thousands of businesses to resume operations, from hairdressers to bowling alleys.

“How long are we supposed to imprison ourselves?” said 30-year-old Mackenzie Scharf, one of many in Georgia embracing the return to something resembling nor-

malcy.

“This is much safer than going grocery shopping,” she told AFP on the beach at Tybee Island, where her five-year-old son flew a kite under a cloudless sky.

The US remains the worst-hit single country with more than 53,000 fatalities.

It is followed by Italy with around 26,000, France and Spain with over 22,000 each, and the UK which has passed 20,000 deaths.

Spain has had one of the world’s strictest lockdowns since March 14, with healthy adults only allowed to leave home to buy food or medicine or briefly walk a dog, and children not allowed out under any circumstances until now.

But from Sunday minors can walk, run or play for up to an hour a day, accompanied by one parent, in an area no further than a kilometre from their home.

Fresh outbreak fears Hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world stayed out of mosques on the second day of Ramadan and avoided traditional, large family meals to break their day-time fasts under social distancing rules.

And Australians and New Zealanders marked Anzac Day without the normal parades and public ceremonies to commemorate fallen soldiers.

But as life under lockdown drags on, the pressure from broken economies and citizens frustrated by stay-at-home orders has people and officials in many countries pushing to open up.

German police arrested dozens of protesters in Berlin on Saturday for flouting the coronavirus lockdown measures they were demonstrating against. “’When will we return to work?’ is a question on many people’s minds these days,” said Jane Fraser, the number two official at banking giant Citigroup, as New York gingerly prepared to get back to business after more than a month of virus shutdown.

France is set to outline a broad lockdown exit plan on Tuesday, and from next weekend all Spaniards will be allowed out for exercise and to take walks. AFP

Mt. Rushmore drawing visitors THE steep and winding roads leading up to the iconic Mount Rushmore memorial are deserted these days.

This mecca of tourism in South Dakota, which ordinarily swarms with tourists, is now drawing only the occasional handful of visitors desperate to escape their extended confinement in the time of the coronavirus.

Linda and Stevie Easterling had grown weary and depressed by the steadily mounting toll of COVID-19 deaths in their hometown of Chicago. Longing for fresh air and a change of scenery, they piled into their car for the 14-hour drive west.

But they did first take a few precautions for the trip to South Dakota, one of the few US states not under virus-imposed lockdown.

“We have a car full of masks, gloves and disinfecting wipes,” said Linda Easterling.

“We’re probably safer being here in a place with very few people,” she said, adding that she was also happy to cross another destination off her bucket list of places to visit.

Behind her, looming near the summit of this part of the Black Hills, were the massive stone heads of four US presidents -- George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln -- carved into the granite cliff in the first half of the last century by a sculptor using dynamite, jackhammers and chisels.

At the park entrance, where gray-shirted rangers normally collect a $10 per-car entry fee, the usual barriers have been removed, allowing easy access to nearly empty parking lots. AFP

SEVENTEEN police officers in Peru have died after contracting novel coronavirus while enforcing the nation’s pandemic lockdown, officials and state media said.

Authorities admitted earlier this week that at least 1,300 officers had been infected by COVID-19.

On Saturday new interior minister Gaston Rodriguez, who was sworn in a day earlier after the sudden resignation of his predecessor when the infections tally emerged, said: “We have 17 deceased police officers nationwide, 11 of them in Lima.”

The high number is linked to “the exposure that police officers have when intervening with people who violate the measures issued to contain the spread of the coronavirus,” state news agency Andina said Saturday.

Peru has been on lockdown since March 16.

Rodriguez said his department had allocated 50 million soles ($15 million) “for the purchase of protection elements such as masks and gloves” for Peru’s police.

He added that roughly 220,000 COVID-19 tests for the force were due to arrive by the first week of May. “We have an obligation to take care of them,” said Rodriguez. “The police must be well equipped.”

Peru has recorded more than 25,000 infections and 700 deaths so far, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University in the United States. AFP

Yemen crisis deepens: Rebels declare self-rule

Pet adoptions skyrocketing ANIMALS shelters across the United States are emptying out thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, as people confined to their homes are adopting or fostering animals in droves.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, which partners with some 400 shelters nationwide.

“The fostering and adoptions have just been through the roof,” she told AFP. “Every shelter is reporting out the same thing.

It’s amazing to see how many lives have been saved.”

Block said as the COVID-19 outbreak took hold, shelters -- many of which were forced to close because of stay-at-home orders -- launched adoption appeals, and the response has been overwhelming.

Dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and even hens have found homes, as people all over the country look for pets to help them cope with confinement.

“We’ve always talked about having a dog, but it was never the right time until now,” said Jalene Hillery, a teacher who lives in San Diego, California, and who recently adopted Mason, an American pit bull, from the local shelter.

She said the fact that she and her husband, as well as their two young sons, are home has allowed for a smooth adoption, given that they have time to care for the dog and help him adjust to his new home.

“We get to connect with him, train him, and that’s really been fun,” she told AFP. Hillery said Mason has also proven a great companion for her boys, aged 9 and 11, who are missing their school friends and needed something to help ease anxiety.

“The dog is filling a need... and is able to provide comfort and love and play,” Hillery said. “He’s definitely filled the void in our home that we didn’t even know existed. AFP

17 cops in Peru die from virus

Beachgoers order drinks at a bar on Tybee Island, Georgia on April 25, 2020.

Self-isolation? Some in Georgia choose beach instead AFTER being locked down for weeks, many residents in Georgia are thumbing their noses at the deadly coronavirus and seeking sanctuary in the sun, sand and waves of the southern state’s beaches.

Under a cloudless blue sky with balmy temperatures and soft breezes rolling off the water, Tybee Island proved a powerful weekend lure Saturday for Georgians desperate for any return to normalcy -- and an escape from self-imposed isolation.

“How long are we supposed to imprison ourselves?” a bikini-clad Mackenzie Scharf, 30, said to AFP as her five-year-old son flew a Spider Man kite.

“This is much safer than going grocery shopping.”

One day after Georgia’s governor allowed

a limited reopening of thousands of businesses, several hundred people were enjoying Tybee Island’s sprawling South Beach.

“It feels great -- like it’s supposed to feel,” said 39-year-old mother and housewife Rachel Lilly, barely lifting her head from a watermelon-themed towel as she enjoyed her first beach trip of the year.

“I’m not concerned” about catching coronavirus, “as long as it’s not packed,” she said. “But if everyone does what we’re doing, that’s a problem.”

Locals said Saturday was the busiest beach day of the year so far for Tybee Island, a laid-back tourist destination on Georgia’s Atlantic coast. Several hundred people were on the sand strolling, jogging, throwing footballs or wading in the mild waves.

Social distancing was generally in effect.

But masks or other protective gear? Forget about it.

“It’s just nice to, you know, come up for a little air,” silver-haired attorney Brian Monroe, 49, said after throwing a Frisbee with his daughter.

“When the beach is sparsely populated like this it’s not too hard to social distance.”

Tybee Island authorities nevertheless were patrolling the sand on all-wheel drive vehicles, cautioning people about distancing.

One block off the sand, sun-splashed youths wearing sandals and long swim trunks scanned their phones and held red plastic cups as they rode cruiser bikes through quiet streets. AFP

Productivity during the Enhanced Community Quarantine ROBERT Holden, in his book “Success Intelligence,” described the “Manic Society” as a fast-paced society where “busyness” has become a way of life. For those of us required to stay home, the quarantine may provide an extra free time that we can utilize to improve our productivity.

A good place to start is slowing down to rest and recover. In their book “The Power of Full Engagement,” Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz suggested that the average individual needs seven to eight hours of sleep.

Insufficient sleep harms our physical and mental performance. Using the time to get enough sleep and improve our sleeping habits allow us to recover energy and be physically energized to face the challenges when we return to the workplace.

Improving our physical space also increases our productivity by making it easier to perform basic daily tasks. “5S” is a Japanese shopkeeping approach that helps identify and eliminate abnormalities that may cause errors and injuries.

In his book “The Toyota Way,” Jeffery Liker described each of the “5S” activities.

“Seiri,” sort items, keep only what is needed, and dispose of items that are not required.

“Seiton,” straighten and put things in order by assigning them a proper place. “Seiso,” shine and ensure cleanliness to achieve ideal operating conditions. “Seiketsu,” standardize by developing systems and rules to

maintain the first three S’s. “Shitsuke” sustains the first four S’s through self-discipline by following established systems and rules.

Clarifying our purpose and setting our goals help us identify our priorities in life and allocate resources to activities where we can make a significant contribution. In his article “How Will You Measure Your Life?”

Clayton Christensen recommended that our lives be guided by a clear sense of purpose and the right metrics. Peter Drucker, in his article “Managing Oneself,” identified five questions that would help create a deeper understanding of ourselves. A renewed appreciation of ourselves may help clarify our purpose in life and identify metrics that we could use to measure our growth.

The five questions are: What are my strengths? Take time to identify results that you can generate with relative ease. These may suggest a natural talent when performing certain activities. When evaluating opportunities, choose the ones that build on your strengths.

How do I work? Take time to understand the work style where you are most effective.

Make an effort to improve the way you do work and try not to assume work that is not compatible with your work style.

What are my values? Take time to clarify and reaffirm your values. Check if your values are aligned with those around you. If possible, choose organizations and people whose actions reflect your personal values.

Where do I belong? Take time to define your ideal work environment while taking into consideration your strengths, working style, and values.

What can I contribute? Take time to reflect on the value of your contribution to organizations and to other people.

With a clear purpose, you may also go further by setting or revising your goals.

Holden described several goals in his “Intelligent Goal System.” Spiritual Goals articulate your purpose and values. Character Goals help you become a better person, partner, friend, or employee. Achievement goals are about the things that you want to do in life. Acquisition goals cover your financial targets and things that you would like to purchase. Relationship goals focus on developing essential qualities for relationships like intimacy, communication, forgiveness, and love. Destination goals define what you want to achieve when you reach a certain age. Present time goals are about daily or short terms tasks and activities.

Acquiring knowledge and new skills increase our productivity by enabling us to do more things more effectively. If you would like to gain knowledge about a specific topic, you may search for articles and learning resources on the internet.

There are also numerous “How To” videos on the internet that help develop new skills and techniques. For those without

YEMENI separatists early Sunday declared self-rule of the country’s south as a peace deal with the government crumbled, complicating a long and separate conflict with Huthi rebels who control much of the north.

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) accused the government of failing to perform its duties and of “conspiring” against the southern cause, and said selfgovernance had begun at midnight.

The government condemned the move and said the separatists—who have long agitated for independence in the south— would be responsible for the “catastrophic and dangerous” outcome.

The breakdown between the one-time allies comes as a Saudi-led coalition, which backs the internationally recognised government in a battle against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, has extended a unilateral ceasefire aimed at fending off the coronavirus pandemic—a move rejected by the Huthis.

Yemen’s separatists signed a powersharing deal in Riyadh last November that quelled a battle—dubbed a “civil war within a civil war”—for the south that had in August seen them seize control of the second city of Aden.

The Riyadh pact quickly became defunct, failing to meet deadlines for key measures including the formation of a new cabinet with equal representation for southerners, and the reorganisation of military forces.

The STC announced in its statement that it was declaring “self-governance in the south starting midnight on Saturday April 25th, 2020.

“A self governing committee will start its work according to a list of tasks assigned by the council’s presidency,” it said.

AFP

PATRICK DAVID CENON

Green LiGht internet access, you may consider reading a book that covers a topic that interests you.

It is also an excellent time to learn basic household skills like cooking, washing and ironing clothes, gardening, or washing a car.

Aside from learning, it is also a source of physical activity, accomplishment and fulfillment during the quarantine period.

The quarantine is an unprecedented situation as it disrupts our daily life and productivity routines. It is understandable to feel unproductive when we are required to stay home. However, we should view the quarantine as a unique opportunity to work on things that would help us improve our performance and become more productive citizens when the quarantine is lifted.

Patrick David Cenon is an Assistant Professorial Lecturer at De La Salle University.

He teaches undergraduate and graduate subjects in the Behavioral Sciences Department, College of Liberal Arts and the Marketing and Advertising Department of the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business. Before joining DLSU, he worked for Toyota for over 13 years supporting various projects in the Philippines, Asia-Pacific, and Europe regions. He can be contacted at patrick.cenon@dlsu.edu.ph The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the position of De La Salle University, its faculty, and its administrators.

Business

A7

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market weighing extended ECQ S

By Jenniffer B. Austria

HARE prices are expected to continue trading sideways this week with a downward bias after President Rodrigo Duterte extended the lockdown on the capital region and nearby areas for another two weeks to May 15.

Regina Capital Development Corp. managing director Luis Limlingan said the investors were assessing the impact of the extended enhance community quarantine amid reports a closely followed experimental drug to treat the

new coronavirus delivered disappointing results in an clinical trial.

“The Gilead’s potential antiviral drug for coronavirus has flopped in its first randomized clinical trial,” Limlingan said, citing reports that from thr Financial Times.

Analysts said the extension of the ECQ would further hurt the domestic economy and affect employment “The week’s close at 5,464.98 may see more price action towards the retest of the 5,000 levels in the near-term. Immediate support and resistance is seen at 5,500 and 5,900 levels, respectively,” BDO Unibank chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week declined 5.6 percent to 5.464.98, while the broader All Shares Index dropped 4.1 percent to 3,350.73 as the government extended the implementation of the ECQ.

Except for the services index which inched up 04 percent, all other major sub-indices registered week-on-week declines.

Property index declined 8.4 percent, followed by holding firms which fell 6.5 percent while industrial dropped 4.7 percent. The financial index fell 3.8 percent while mining and oil decreased 2 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the week by P3.089 billion.

The average daily value traded declined to P5 billion from the previous week’s average of P7.65 billion.

Weekly stock price gainers were 2GO Group Inc., which rose 76.1 percent to P10.92, Metro Retail Stores Group Inc., which advanced 13.2 percent to P1.72, and AyalaLand Logistics Holdings Corp., which rose 10.9 percent to P1.83.

Weekly top price losers were Megawide Construction Corp., which de-

clined 25.2 percent to P6.65, JG Summit Holdings Inc., which dropped 8.9 percent to P49 and Ayala Land Inc., which shed 8.4 percent to P28.90.

Meanwhile, US oil prices ended a historically bad week on a positive note, extending gains Friday owing to rising Iran-US tensions, though equities edged down following a series of crushing economic data.

As the rates of infection and deaths linked to the coronavirus show signs of easing in some countries thanks to draconian lockdowns, a fuller picture of the extent of its economic impact was beginning to emerge.

Purchasing managers indexes―which gauge activity in countries’ factory and service sectors―came in at either lows not seen in decades or in history, highlighting the huge battle governments face in averting an extensive, painful depression. With AFP

Manila Standard BuSineSS Weekly StockS revieW STOCKS

APRIL 20-24, 2020 Close Volume

Value

APRIL 13-17, 2020 Close Volume

Value

Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI Bright Kindle Resources China Bank COL Financial Eastwest Bank Ferronoux Holding I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank Philippine trust Co. PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

48 100.00 59.50 0.88 19.84 16.4 7.85 2.84 0.9 600.00 0.290 39 0.65 8.5 18.00 23.50 41 115.8 163 17.52 102 1510.00 54.00 0.96

20,800 12,067,740 9,799,510 857,000 622,600 173,600 1,101,900 95,000 21,000 60 1,410,000 20,983,900 228,000 74,100 22,200 1,335,800 24,000 1,450 2,230 72,200 2,960,500 535 45,920 600,000

FINANCIAL 986,525.00 1,223,475,748.50 589,009,326.00 761,970.00 12,385,390.00 2,787,748.00 8,699,764.00 277,590.00 19,820.00 37,180.00 422,450.00 824,472,660.00 143,190.00 627,325.00 358,612.00 32,152,500.00 992,190.00 159,800.00 365,138.00 1,259,306.00 309,740,785.00 807,850.00 2,486,759.00 576,000.00

48.9 105.00 60.90 0.78 19.94 15.5 7.86 3.15 0.97 615.00 0.285 41.65 0.61 8.8 16.00 24.75 43.95 118 163 17.78 104.5 1600.00 54.00 0.96

24,700 27,946,560 15,998,890 309,000 1,462,200 2,165,700 2,558,300 96,000 20,000 260 960,000 41,845,400 365,000 77,400 5,200 5,402,500 5,000 190 2,940 234,100 6,083,620 165 62,080 4,000

1,197,280.00 2,887,299,477.00 977,075,525.50 214,690.00 29,095,156.00 33,130,428.00 20,033,833.00 272,990.00 19,050.00 161,335.00 272,850.00 1,654,966,890.00 231,090.00 677,455.00 83,224.00 126,319,050.00 216,965.00 21,212.00 483,903.00 4,169,182.00 639,818,912.00 268,590.00 3,342,918.00 4,100.00

Aboitiz Power Corp.

AC Energy Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Axelum Basic Energy Corp.

Bogo Medelin C. Azuc De Tarlac Cemex Holdings Century Food Chemphil Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ Conc. Aggr. ‘B’ Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Eagle Cement EEI Emperador Euro-Med Lab First Gen Corp.

First Holdings ‘A’ Fruitas Holdings Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Greenergy Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp.

LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide MG Holdings Mla. Elect. Co `A’ Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petroenergy Res. Corp.

Petron Corporation Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

Pilipinas Shell Pryce Corp. `A’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. Roxas Holdings SFA Semicon Shakeys Pizza SMC Food and Beverage SPC Power Corp.

Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vivant Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

26.55 2.31 8.31 0.53 0.93 2.67 0.180 75.45 13.96 1.04 14 140.3 8.4 50.5 69.8 24 1.79 5 3.52 5.500 8.45 5.08 7.90 2.9 18.48 55.5 1.4 33.15 1.2200 11.28 5.8 1.150 134.30 4.6 3.5 6.34 10.7 6.05 6.65 0.144 256.00 1.91 2.35 3.14 8.88 11.38 18.2 4.2 4.50 1.63 1.43 1.06 5.97 57.7 7.95 0.115 0.79 118.4 2.49 0.81 13.50 0.69

5,465,800 120,932,000 4,730,700 6,732,000 223,000 49,898,000 1,510,000 580 13,500 25,157,000 5,997,200 1,170 46,437,600 1,350 650 37,700 828,000 1,000 220,000 8,306,200 6,898,500 15,234,100 18,648,600 46,148,000 8,178,500 442,440 79,438,000 74,500 26,679,000 1,549,800 5,003,500 3,966,000 14,124,580 12,000 94,000 11,800 13,357,300 4,282,500 8,292,300 340,000 1,095,320 11,022,000 226,000 20,226,000 2,500 2,468,100 5,017,700 305,000 33,000 13,917,000 62,000 6,806,000 6,703,300 2,041,260 310,900 2,660,000 561,000 5,256,180 14,000 27,626,000 13,900 2,476,000

INDUSTRIAL 145,942,335.00 278,727,430.00 37,437,475.00 3,449,920.00 207,810.00 131,511,450.00 266,400.00 45,652.00 172,568.00 26,394,220.00 85,988,790.00 164,789.00 415,160,211.00 75,676.50 38,734.00 922,525.00 1,434,560.00 5,000.00 782,150.00 46,586,359.00 55,664,434.00 80,828,252.00 148,633,736.00 134,653,770.00 148,976,326.00 24,825,255.00 113,595,300.00 2,421,730.00 29,461,480.00 17,592,736.00 30,329,940.00 4,520,230.00 1,926,013,851.00 54,600.00 322,920.00 72,872.00 145,215,308.00 26,429,936.00 59,049,237.00 45,970.00 285,849,298.00 20,420,170.00 543,990.00 63,671,870.00 22,194.00 26,733,186.00 91,477,526.00 1,283,150.00 147,810.00 20,626,520.00 84,400.00 7,147,390.00 39,751,688.00 118,857,229.00 2,459,634.00 295,670.00 435,700.00 631,534,472.00 34,660.00 23,028,080.00 188,672.00 1,739,920.00

26.8 2.13 7.6 0.51 0.95 2.52 0.185 84 13.60 1.07 14.38 104 8.72 53 58 27.8 1.85 4.6 3.8 5.910 8 5.50 7.98 2.5 17.78 55.1 1.42 32.60 1.0000 11.98 6.5 1.070 145.00 4.7 3.32 6.00 11.08 6.56 8 0.140 269.00 1.78 2.35 3.21 8.95 10.86 19.1 4.23 4.51 1.44 1.3 1.11 6 58 8 0.105 0.76 126.8 2.49 0.82 14.40 0.71

9,977,600 73,298,000 3,335,100 11,754,000 998,000 7,604,000 1,330,000 580 7,400 30,531,000 2,421,400 120 40,743,100 2,250 600 7,700 62,000 55,000 311,000 13,743,900 2,616,700 10,595,100 26,130,900 27,110,000 9,044,400 115,310 69,557,000 410,400 14,440,000 2,155,600 7,951,000 5,674,000 17,270,800 9,000 74,000 31,300 24,573,300 26,927,600 11,187,840 60,000 1,961,310 2,997,000 335,000 26,326,000 3,700 1,375,600 5,918,000 41,000 106,000 7,889,000 320,000 12,908,000 39,187,500 2,414,930 385,900 1,570,000 1,105,000 9,411,550 83,000 49,225,000 2,400 6,653,000

271,518,525.00 150,036,410.00 23,983,121.00 6,032,300.00 956,150.00 19,038,890.00 228,300.00 47,888.00 99,352.00 33,247,970.00 35,084,124.00 12,480.00 338,653,182.00 113,150.00 34,700.00 211,740.00 115,410.00 250,500.00 1,162,180.00 79,413,756.00 20,469,585.00 58,734,400.00 208,295,262.00 61,911,340.00 163,486,242.00 6,285,793.00 97,917,880.00 13,548,025.00 13,233,610.00 25,520,168.00 48,268,969.00 5,956,650.00 2,473,681,542.00 41,500.00 237,850.00 177,682.00 277,537,490.00 165,447,788.00 83,192,469.00 8,400.00 522,997,060.00 5,355,850.00 792,850.00 79,834,210.00 32,990.00 14,538,120.00 109,258,136.00 187,740.00 475,800.00 11,177,860.00 433,690.00 13,383,260.00 228,729,712.00 139,509,513.50 3,098,480.00 168,010.00 790,500.00 1,184,225,217.00 195,650.00 40,589,310.00 34,506.00 4,501,180.00

Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `A’ Asiabest Group ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A’ Ayala Land Log Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘A’ Filinvest Dev. Corp.

GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Keppel Holdings `A’ Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

Lopez Holdings Corp.

LT Group Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Pacifica `A’ Prime Media Hldg San Miguel Corp `A’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. South China Res. Inc. Top Frontier Transgrid Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

0.590 40.65 6.36 0.56 5.97 7.01 0.530 0.540 563 1.830 4.79 4.18 2.91 8.60 443.4 3.94 49.00 6.27 5.06 0.47 2.69 7.69 0.510 2.59 3.1100 0.800 97.00 814.00 0.98 0.72 145.000 162.00 0.1900 0.160

27,331,000 4,758,500 45,209,090 262,000 112,800 80,800 22,224,000 1,594,000 1,677,780 21,023,000 7,035,000 24,619,000 8,000 76,800 1,195,710 28,000 6,826,030 7,400 3,300 374,000 4,472,000 5,378,700 2,520,000 147,091,000 78,000 2,636,000 1,618,730 1,375,620 41,000 54,000 38,290 1,760 1,870,000 42,130,000

HOLDING FIRMS 16,107,500.00 204,516,550.00 294,663,325.00 139,390.00 677,849.00 587,574.00 11,194,680.00 814,000.00 970,673,130.00 35,315,010.00 33,920,450.00 104,753,290.00 24,510.00 662,818.00 549,175,842.00 110,360.00 348,337,958.50 41,779.00 16,633.00 188,550.00 12,334,910.00 40,717,139.00 1,241,450.00 389,441,370.00 221,620.00 2,069,820.00 158,642,820.00 1,144,593,610.00 40,180.00 33,810.00 5,445,330.00 289,855.00 352,080.00 6,256,860.00

0.570 44.05 7.10 0.55 5.96 7.6 0.460 0.495 597 1.650 4.95 4.37 3.89 9.35 490 3.89 53.80 6.29 5 0.45 2.79 7.8 0.475 2.7 3.1900 0.750 100.00 860.00 0.95 0.72 144.200 161.10 0.2070 0.135

36,237,000 10,473,100 38,481,200 1,718,000 19,300 129,500 8,450,000 3,360,000 4,200,990 21,510,000 18,911,500 52,111,000 25,000 55,100 1,420,310 445,000 15,852,490 100 100 1,090,000 6,332,000 12,648,100 340,000 351,562,000 2,000 525,000 4,018,480 2,062,710 49,000 153,000 13,190 20,230 780,000 10,660,000

20,582,810.00 462,573,405.00 275,650,317.00 947,960.00 116,456.00 908,629.00 3,802,350.00 1,579,900.00 2,338,827,640.00 33,889,230.00 93,046,288.00 228,478,520.00 90,890.00 471,421.00 647,341,628.00 1,707,260.00 866,856,991.00 629.00 500.00 494,200.00 17,834,600.00 96,030,177.00 155,850.00 930,027,100.00 6,390.00 395,280.00 403,236,229.50 1,758,763,230.00 45,600.00 103,160.00 1,965,497.00 3,550,647.00 155,910.00 1,549,320.00

8990 HLDG A. Brown Co., Inc. Anchor Land Holdings Inc. Araneta Prop `A’ Arthaland Corp.

Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. `A’ CEB Landmasters Cebu Holdings Century Property City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. `A’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

DM Wenceslao Double Dragon Empire East Land Filinvest Land,Inc. Global-Estate Keppel Properties Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil Infradev Phil. Estates Corp.

Phil. Realty `A’ Primex Corp.

10.500 0.56 9.09 1.020 0.590 28.900 1.31 3.98 5.9 0.350 0.75 0.740 0.134 0.280 7.170 16.1 0.300 0.90 0.83 3.99 2.59 0.164 0.8200 0.3250 0.235 1.51

370,600 10,164,000 1,100 224,000 4,815,000 50,328,200 699,000 2,449,000 76,400 19,450,000 22,000 103,000 240,000 290,000 546,800 626,900 350,000 42,063,000 3,920,000 4,000 77,602,000 148,540,000 4,678,000 3,030,000 1,740,000 1,142,000

PROPERTY 4,281,736.00 5,505,090.00 9,954.00 235,260.00 2,704,810.00 1,525,981,620.00 926,710.00 9,756,250.00 456,652.00 6,966,600.00 15,850.00 75,930.00 30,760.00 81,200.00 3,858,210.00 10,017,988.00 102,500.00 38,877,120.00 3,138,640.00 15,960.00 209,524,440.00 23,972,000.00 3,810,090.00 968,050.00 405,560.00 1,766,650.00

11.800 0.55 8.21 1.040 0.550 31.550 1.38 4.03 6.04 0.365 0.72 0.750 0.122 0.270 6.970 16 0.300 0.96 0.80 3.99 2.8 0.143 0.8000 0.3300 0.248 1.73

767,600 8,029,000 4,600 445,000 7,566,000 81,225,100 704,000 8,486,000 10,100 25,630,000 25,000 193,000 3,310,000 310,000 333,700 1,324,300 1,210,000 69,304,000 3,066,000 6,000 205,216,000 32,230,000 5,115,000 2,400,000 1,820,000 148,000

8,985,304.00 4,537,000.00 40,256.00 471,270.00 4,253,060.00 2,613,347,355.00 979,070.00 32,099,420.00 61,003.00 9,458,150.00 18,020.00 140,450.00 414,070.00 82,700.00 2,352,111.00 21,445,200.00 363,900.00 65,936,910.00 2,511,650.00 23,540.00 581,190,760.00 4,620,130.00 4,067,540.00 799,700.00 450,760.00 253,310.00

STOCKS

APRIL 20-24, 2020 Close Volume

APRIL 13-17, 2020 Close Volume

Value

Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes Vistamalls

15.50 1.54 2.69 28.65 1.88 1.280 4.060 4.000

12,344,800 619,000 139,000 52,643,900 391,000 9,669,000 8,261,000 1,022,000

190,912,764.00 945,970.00 371,000.00 1,574,302,560.00 728,130.00 11,955,060.00 33,869,100.00 4,006,870.00

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel AllHome APC Group, Inc. Apollo Global Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ.

Chelsea DFNN Inc. Discovery World DITO CME Holdings Easy Call “Common” Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Golden Haven Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IPeople Inc. `A’ Island Info Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp.

Manila Broadcasting Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Metro Retail MetroAlliance A MetroAlliance B NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. Paxys Inc. PH Resorts Group Phil. Seven Corp.

Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp.

SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Waterfront Phils.

Wilcon Depot

10.92 16.6 1.11 5.75 0.320 0.039 16 2.49 5.50 0.0300 47.55 6.25 3.42 3.03 1.51 2.28 7.00 2208 4.93 320.00 0.91 78 1.45 8.4 0.079 1.78 13.4 1.50 0.79 5.09 10.68 0.360 2.2 1.72 2.64 2.51 1.880 1.69 7.30 2.1 2.99 130.00 2.45 1227.00 0.264 0.315 46.40 60.80 5.32 1.20 0.355 0.203 0.420 14.100

5,986,300 406,500 30,000 14,336,300 2,580,000 19,800,000 12,100 1,441,000 43,352,200 48,500,000 1,104,060 11,900 13,574,000 176,000 27,000 410,864,000 2,205,800 258,265 676,000 1,370 7,512,000 6,069,910 68,000 1,000 1,010,000 3,000 16,800 2,056,000 61,000 40,138,800 2,600 1,060,000 2,000 14,189,000 59,056,000 1,817,290 16,167,000 408,000 142,900 71,000 572,000 208,750 19,331,000 1,498,760 23,570,000 35,150,000 19,703,000 2,197,230 5,600 13,366,000 110,330,000 37,640,000 8,870,000 13,037,000

SERVICES 65,067,122.00 6,864,756.00 35,760.00 85,320,504.00 794,050.00 746,500.00 192,016.00 3,487,110.00 251,743,840.00 1,490,300.00 53,703,412.00 74,047.00 45,098,300.00 488,820.00 45,920.00 937,532,260.00 16,576,572.00 562,279,600.00 3,326,810.00 445,150.00 6,833,270.00 480,262,317.00 90,660.00 8,400.00 82,090.00 5,340.00 217,352.00 3,077,140.00 49,890.00 196,234,617.00 26,708.00 387,000.00 4,400.00 23,536,840.00 134,741,970.00 2,728,010.00 30,038,220.00 682,190.00 1,030,934.00 146,860.00 1,703,140.00 27,942,622.00 50,010,430.00 1,757,890,250.00 5,413,840.00 10,958,300.00 917,465,575.00 133,922,842.50 31,046.00 16,500,120.00 40,167,150.00 7,136,450.00 3,658,900.00 186,505,320.00

Abra Mining ACE Enexor Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Atok-Big Wedge `A’ Benguet Corp `A’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto `A’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. `A’ Oriental Pet. `B’ Philex `A’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. `A’ Semirara Corp.

United Paragon

0.0011 6.7500 1.02 1.90 10.70 1.0300 2.71 0.205 6.50 0.750 0.203 0.083 0.094 0.0066 0.0075 0.58 1.62 0.96 0.4800 0.0085 0.0095 2.32 4.46 0.0084 11.82 0.0040

289,000,000 1,818,500 12,761,000 38,000 90,600 60,000 1,592,000 2,580,000 13,800 15,189,000 1,750,000 32,340,000 5,140,000 193,000,000 9,000,000 7,700,000 35,275,000 245,000 1,287,000 3,008,500 38,000,000 2,141,000 15,062,000 35,000,000 6,188,600 130,000,000

MINING & OIL 298,200.00 12,496,179.00 12,539,420.00 71,690.00 963,500.00 63,860.00 4,306,670.00 523,640.00 92,025.00 11,357,820.00 348,840.00 2,586,800.00 426,980.00 1,189,100.00 65,900.00 12,126,370.00 58,586,710.00 234,150.00 636,470.00 26,100.00 342,000.00 4,902,720.00 66,775,360.00 291,600.00 74,899,046.00 521,000.00

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Alco Preferred B Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ CPG PREF A DD PREF First Gen G FPH Pref C GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B House Preferred MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred 3A PCOR-Preferred 3B PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred G SMC Preferred H SMPFC Preferred

15.9 100 497 504.5 99.5 100 103.2 460 500 4.89 954 1000 97.9 100 1000 1020 98.8 103 1010 76.4 74.9 74.2 75.5 75.05 74.1 75.5 1.7

567,200 1,480 2,050 2,790 10,440 1,776,540 4,420 2,000 510 56,000 320 21,150 950 88,350 21,650 1,805 7,380 2,800 50,610 60,430 45,840 32,470 148,510 27,490 222,190 400,010 1,000

LR Warrant

0.790

524,000

PREFERRED 8,994,532.00 148,000.00 1,019,000.00 1,383,205.00 1,037,850.00 177,271,745.50 455,330.00 920,004.00 254,950.00 273,760.00 306,140.00 21,127,650.00 92,337.00 8,835,028.00 21,673,045.00 1,826,295.00 732,971.00 288,400.00 50,580,530.00 4,601,879.00 3,401,331.50 2,429,806.00 11,201,605.00 2,054,913.50 16,643,680.00 30,032,045.00 1,700.00

WARRANTS & BONDS 419,220.00 SME 265,116,140.00 6,856,813.00 14,419,710.00

Value

15.26 1.47 2.66 31.95 1.95 1.230 4.070 3.610

23,442,600 2,108,000 901,000 63,857,100 592,000 15,564,000 10,028,000 367,000

360,662,096.00 3,115,040.00 2,455,180.00 1,955,306,040.00 1,135,500.00 19,367,430.00 40,858,750.00 1,310,100.00

6.2 17.4 1.28 5.8 0.305 0.039 15.92 2.37 5.92 0.0320 51.75 6.5 2.92 3.03 1.85 2.09 5.05 2230 4.97 330.00 0.92 80.5 1.47 8.4 0.083

371,800 1,278,700 7,000 19,949,300 5,010,000 25,800,000 7,500 350,000 36,738,600 42,900,000 1,631,930 3,900 6,200,000 419,000 28,000 313,793,000 86,700 476,495 1,464,400 3,430 5,987,000 13,602,060 20,000 700 2,940,000

2,259,011.00 22,570,056.00 8,960.00 111,060,947.00 1,568,350.00 1,025,400.00 122,700.00 807,660.00 217,765,051.00 1,277,200.00 84,434,941.50 25,392.00 17,451,770.00 1,288,370.00 51,760.00 604,531,730.00 447,039.00 1,043,086,740.00 7,280,167.00 1,148,166.00 5,030,060.00 1,078,229,616.00 29,400.00 5,880.00 251,850.00

12.5 1.41 0.68 4.90 11.10 0.390 2 1.52 1.77 1.77 1.700 1.69 7.19 2.08 3.30 130.10 2.38 1138.00 0.210 0.315 45.75 61.00 5.84 1.30 0.385 0.173 0.450 14.980

71,300 1,499,000 36,000 39,815,900 4,500 1,790,000 483,000 16,678,000 16,189,000 178,000 11,029,000 295,000 134,200 39,000 400,000 531,380 23,416,000 979,820 17,480,380 48,410,000 32,407,000 2,255,670 1,900 15,564,000 75,030,000 12,410,000 5,150,000 23,366,500

864,170.00 2,141,280.00 25,100.00 204,114,919.00 48,210.00 659,500.00 971,050.00 25,520,030.00 27,152,130.00 297,480.00 18,715,520.00 503,820.00 934,629.00 80,090.00 1,356,800.00 69,030,433.00 54,982,930.00 1,110,392,195.00 3,646,140.00 15,169,000.00 1,470,476,285.00 141,269,553.50 11,101.00 20,751,230.00 28,301,900.00 2,149,360.00 2,111,150.00 310,347,582.00

0.0010 6.4000 0.93 1.99 10.94 1.1500 2.74 0.204 7.07 0.740 0.195 0.079 0.086 0.0066 0.0071 0.57 1.69 0.95 0.5000 0.0087 0.0095 2.25 4.18 0.0083 12.60 0.0040

315,000,000 1,291,300 9,098,000 223,000 103,500 134,000 2,219,000 4,150,000 48,700 35,832,000 260,000 20,260,000 3,230,000 164,000,000 46,000,000 1,018,000 55,829,000 467,000 1,280,000 111,000,000 28,800,000 3,167,000 11,260,000 45,000,000 9,782,100 36,000,000

320,200.00 7,753,073.00 8,266,750.00 441,510.00 1,103,598.00 149,910.00 5,909,750.00 871,300.00 326,300.00 26,306,830.00 50,620.00 1,609,100.00 240,670.00 1,068,800.00 328,800.00 571,790.00 96,831,320.00 442,210.00 605,450.00 928,800.00 266,400.00 6,967,180.00 47,324,240.00 380,000.00 124,178,180.00 146,100.00

15.7 101 510 490 100 97.5 102.5

437,700 10 10,560 17,450 830 175,040 16,360

6,967,968.00 1,010.00 5,263,220.00 8,529,014.00 82,755.00 17,059,624.00 1,688,730.00

500 4.89 950 997 98.7 99.5 1010 1010 104 104 995.5 76.1 74.45 74.9 75 75 74 74

8,580 153,000 70 12,160 2,520 5,230 1,125 500 2,330 2,730 9,010 105,810 3,860 220 212,610 26,110 122,340 266,040

4,287,752.00 749,300.00 66,550.00 11,961,730.00 239,764.00 520,113.00 1,140,350.00 503,750.00 231,462.00 275,247.00 8,971,400.00 8,043,092.50 285,908.50 16,479.00 13,943,385.00 1,955,796.50 9,174,966.00 19,890,446.00

0.800

2,068,000

1,695,110.00

1.64 6.35 0.59

51,496,000 340,100 16,064,000

82,457,390.00 2,091,823.00 9,037,570.00

Italpinas Kepwealth Xurpas

2.18 7.15 0.64

127,165,000 976,600 23,125,000

First Metro ETF

83.5

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 116,100 9,937,434.00

87.5

185,020

16,270,700.50

9.6 9.7 0.84

DOLLAR DENONIMATED SEC. 12,050 118,163.00 4,560 44,032.00 1,900 1,612.00

9.85 9.6 0.85

1,100 4,940 23,800

10,607.50 47,855.00 20,870.00

USD DMPL A1 USD DMPL A2 USD TECH B2

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS DITO CME Holdings Abra Mining Manila Mining `A’ MRC Allied Ind. Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

United Paragon Italpinas AC Energy STI Holdings Fruitas Holdings

VOLUME 410,864,000 289,000,000 193,000,000 148,540,000 147,091,000 130,000,000 127,165,000 120,932,000 110,330,000 79,438,000

STOCKS Jollibee Foods Corp.

PLDT Common SM Prime Holdings Ayala Land `B’ Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. SM Investments Inc. Ayala Corp `A’ DITO CME Holdings Puregold Metrobank

VALUE 1,926,013,851.00 1,757,890,250.00 1,574,302,560.00 1,525,981,620.00 1,223,475,748.50 1,144,593,610.00 970,673,130.00 937,532,260.00 917,465,575.00 824,472,660.00

SEC moves deadline on governance statements

By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Securities and Exchange Commission extended the deadline on listed companies to file corporate governance and sustainability reports amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

The SEC in a notice dated April 22 announced the extension of the deadline for the submission of the Integrated Annual Corporate Governance Report (I-ACGR) until July 30, 2020.

The SEC, however, noted that publicly-listed companies may choose to submit the I-ACGR on the original deadline.

Under normal circumstances, publicly-listed companies are required to submit the I-ACGR every May 30 while they remain listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The SEC also extended the deadline for the submission of the sustainability report for publicly-listed companies whose fiscal year ended on December 31, 2019 or November 30, 2019.

The SEC on April 21 issued SEC Memorandum Circular No. 13, Series of 2020 to allow publicly-listed companies to submit the Sustainability Report, as an attachment to the Annual Report, until June 30, 2020, or 60 days from the lifting of travel restrictions, whichever comes later.

“The resilience of the business sector is integral to the recovery of our economy,” SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino said.

“The leeway in complying with the reportorial requirements should allow companies to focus their efforts on coping with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting our economy,” he added.

The new deadline aligns with the extension of the filing period for the annual report or audited financial statement, as earlier approved by the SEC. The SEC said an annual report filed without the sustainability report would not be considered incomplete, provided the latter is submitted by June 30, 2020.

Publicly-listed companies may avail of the extension without having to file a request.

However, they may still submit the sustainability report along with the annual report on the original deadline, which is 105 days after the end of the fiscal year or April 14, 2020.

Insular Life hiked net profit in 2019 by 62% to P4.85b

By Julito G. Rada INSULAR Life Assurance Co. Ltd., the largest and only mutual Filipino life insurance company in the country, posted a 62-percent increase in consolidated net income in 2019 to P4.85 billion from P3 billion a year ago, driven by earnings in strategic equities, rental income and other investments.

Executive chairman Nina Aguas said InLife’s growth underscored the company’s pursuit of disciplined investing and operational excellence aimed at sustained profitability.

Consolidated member’s equity or net worth also rose 8.4 percent to P43.92 billion from 40.51 billion in 2018.

Consolidated assets expanded 6 percent to P143.2 billion from P135.1 billion in 2018.

“Our sustained investments in technology and in our people, enabled us to keep our operating expenses in check, driving our net income up” Insular Life president and chief executive Mona Lisa de la Cruz said.

She added long-term view was a key investment strategy of the company.

“Our flagship Equity Fund and Balanced Fund both continued to outperform other VUL funds in terms of 10year performance as of end-2019. The Equity Fund posted a 10-year average return of 10.8 percent, beating even the barometer Philippine Stock Exchange Index’s 9.9 percent. Our Balanced Fund, meanwhile, recorded a 10-year return of 7.4 percent,” De la Cruz said.

The company in 2019 launched innovative products catering to the needs of different markets. SheCares, for one, is a 3-in-1 solution that addresses the unique health, protection, and investment needs of women.

The Basic Cover Plus and Solid products series address the protection from the most basic with features such as double insurance coverage, and money back, to the more sophisticated products that offer maximum protection and fund build-up to generate more living benefits.

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

A8

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

Business

Diokno sees ‘U-shaped’ recovery B

By Julito G. Rada

ANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno expects the economy to track a strong “U-shaped recovery” next year, with the expectation that the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic will be contained by the second half this year.

“The domestic economy could slow down in the first quarter 2020 and is projected to contract in the second and third quarters before gradually recovering in the fourth quarter 2020,” Diokno said in a statement.

He said the GDP on an annual basis was expected to shrink 0.2 percent in 2020 before bouncing back to about 7.7 percent

next year as the impact of the government policy support measures gained traction.

“The strong recovery is based on the assumption that the pandemic is contained in the second half of 2020,” he said.

He said the Philippine economy might not escape a recession this year, but unlike most emerging economies, the country was starting from a position

of strength and, thus, would not risk a debt default as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Philippines debt-to-GDP ratio was 40.5 percent in 2019. With the fiscal stimulus owing to the pandemic, and with the deficit-to-GDP ratio rising from 3.2 percent to 5.3 percent, the debt-to-GDP ratio might hit 47 percent, modest by international standards,” Diokno said.

Diokno said the Philippines was in a sound fiscal and monetary state when the pandemic hit the country. The budget deficit was modest and the revenue base was expanded with a series of new tax laws and improved revenue administration. The jobless rate was at its lowest ever, he said.

He said the peso remained stable and

is currently the second strongest currency---next to Japanese yen—among the 14 monitored Asian foreign currencies after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The strength of the peso might be attributed to the Philippines’ hefty gross international reserves and its strong economic fundamentals. The GIR is expected to hit more than $90 billion by end-2020,” Diokno said.

ING Bank Manila said the secondtime extension by the government of the enhanced community quarantine in major areas in Luzon would result in economic contraction in the second quarter and eventually bring down the full-year growth to -2.2 percent, a sharp turnaround from the actual 6-percent expansion in 2019.

IN BRIEF 10% of gas stations shut down, says Cusi ABOUT 10 percent of the country’s 9,400 gasoline stations were forced to shut down due to low demand amid the enhanced community quarantine.

“The retailers, at least 10 percent of them in areas where there are no people passing by because of the ECQ, they don’t fuel up and buy so it is better commercially that they shut down for now,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said over the weekend.

“Around 10 percent of retailers as reported by the players are on shutdown,” Cusi said.

Despite the shutdown, Cusi said the oil companies committed to serve their customers.

“The gas stations will continue to provide service. We will make sure that there is adequate supply,” the energy chief said.

Cusi said oil prices had gone down in the international market, even reaching negative levels.

“There is no more storage to put the oil and it would be more expensive to stop the oil wells. It’s like the generation companies, they have to continue operation because it would be hard to go offline and harder to shut down and restart,” Cusi said.

Alena Mae S. Flores

Solon urges retailers to extend mart hours

A LAWMAKER urged the retailing sector to continue hiring part-time workers to man and reopen stores and groceries for longer operating hours in this time of COVID-19 crisis.

“We would urge our leading supermarket and minimart chains–since they are the only ones thriving for now–to stay open for longer hours and start hiring on a temporary or parttime basis furloughed employees from other industries,” said Ho0use Deputy Speaker and Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel.

“This way, retailers can also help ease the economic pain of the crisis as they grapple with the surge in households stocking up on food and other basic necessities,” he added.

The call was directed to SM Retail Inc., Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., Cosco Capital Inc., Philippine Seven Corp. and other big retailers.

SM Retail owns SM Supermarket, SM Hypermarket and the Savemore chains, while Robinsons Retail runs Robinsons Supermarket, The Marketplace, Rustan’s Supermarket, Shopwise, Ministop, Southstar Drug and The Generics Pharmacy chains.

Othel V. Campos

DPWH completes Bocaue health hub THE Department of Public Works and Highways expects to compete the 300-bed capacity “We Heal As One” Center at the Philippine Arena Complex in Bocaue, Bulacan today.

Undersecretary Emil Sadain, head of DPWH Task Force on Augmentation of Local and National Health Facilities, said cubicles sized 3.05 square meters and six nurse stations were already assembled and painted at the three big tents at the Ciudad De Victoria estate of the Iglesia Ni Cristo in Bocaue, Bulacan.

Tent number 1 with floor space of 26 meters by 105 meters has 92 bed cubicles installed while tent numbers 2 and 3 with identical areas of 50 meters by 60 meters have 104 bed cubicles in each tent, said Sadain.

The quarantine facility installed three 40-footer container vans as toilet facility of health workers, medical personnel’s mess hall, disinfecting tents and supply storage area.

The DPWH Task Force plans to finish all civil works at the three mega tents today, or ahead of the April 29 schedule.

Darwin G. Amojelar

MEGA QUARANTINE CENTER. The Department of Public Works and Highways expects to finish all civil works of the 300-bed ‘We Heal As One’ Center at the Philippine Arena Complex in Bocaue, Bulacan today. Public Works Undersecretary Emil Sadain, head of DPWH Task Force on Augmentation of Local and National Health Facilities formed by Secretary Mark. Villar, says the cubicles measuring 3.05 square meters and six nurse stations were assembled and painted at three big tents. The project also involves the installation of three 40-footer container vans as toilet facility of health workers, medical personnel’s mess hall, disinfecting tents and supply storage area.

BIR tax collections fell by a third as of mid-April TAX collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue plummeted by a third and fell 45 percent short of the target as of mid-April amid the community quarantine measures that paralyzed economic activities in Luzon and other parts of the country.

Data showed total collections of the BIR from January to mid-April this year dived to P480.64 billion, P226.15 billion or 32 percent below of what it collected in the same period last year.

The BIR extended the deadlines for the filing and payment of income and other taxes to next month as a result of the community quarantine measures designed to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019.

Preliminary data submitted by the BIR to the Department of Finance also showed collections from Jan. 1 to April 17 was also P398.54 billion or 45.3 per-

cent short of the P879.18-billion target for the period.

The BIR, which accounts for 78 percent of the state’s tax collection capacity, said that the April figure represented less than 10 percent of its target for the month. It said that from April 1 to 17, tax collections amounted to only P25.01 billion, or just 8.66 percent of its P288.75-billion target for the entire month. It was also 89.5 percent lower than P237.93 billion it collected in the first 17 days of April 2019.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs said actual collections dipped to P160.98 billion from Jan. 1 to April 15.

This was P3.42 billion or 2.08 percent lower than P164.4 billion it collected in the same period last year.

The Jan. 1-April 15 collection of the BOC was also P32.91 billion or 17 percent short of the P193.89 -billion target

for the period.

Combined collection of the BIR and BOC from Jan. 1 to April 17 reached P641.62 billion, which was P431.45 billion or 40 percent short of the P1.073trillion target for that period.

The P641.62-billion collection was also P229.56 billion or 26.3 percent lower than the P871.19 billion the two agencies collected a year earlier.

The BIR earlier extended the filing and payment of income tax returns from the original extension date of May 15 to May 30. The submission of attachments to electronically filed ITRs was also extended to June 15.

The BIR also moved the deadline for the filing and payment of the monthly value-added tax returns for February and March to May 6 to 10 and May 21 to 25, depending on the category of the taxpayer.

NESTLÉ KITS.

Nestlé Philippines is upholding its 108year heritage as the Kasambuhay or ‘trusted companion in life’ of generations of Filipino families by implementing a P500-million program to assist one million families and thousands of frontliners, others in need of healthcare, its own employees and business partners.

Salceda wants LandBank, DBP to play ‘immense role’ in PH stimulus plan HOUSE Economic Stimulus Cluster co-chair Joey Sarte Salceda sees an “immense role” for state-run Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines in the country’s calibrated national economic stimulus plan.

Salceda, who represents the 2nd District of Albay and chairs the House ways and means committee, said he believes the “willingness, experience and scale of the government banks especially LBP in delivering socially-imbued but ultimately commercially viable programs and projects means we get our ‘bang-for-the-

buck’ in economic impact and in net fiscal costs.”

“LBP and DBP are both relatively wellrun government institutions, and both have been engaged in recent years in missionary expansion so their reach and the relationship with small and medium enterprises will be critical in delivering our stimulus loans,” he said.

Salceda said the cluster had consultations with the LBP, which expressed willingness to carry out stimulus loans.

“I got assurances from LBP that their stimulus loans will be off-balance sheet,

so they can be administered without the usual rigorous risk-based assessments that banks do. In terms of bank processes, that’s as good as it gets, so our committee is quite encouraged by the assurance,” he said.

The lawmaker proposed negative interest loans as a stimulus program to encourage companies with liquidity to invest, with the incentive of what he calls “government’s copay for their continued expansion.”

The NIL “essentially provides firms a little bit of free money so that they are encouraged to invest a lot of their own

money and retain employment,” he said.

Salceda said LBP and DBP would be crucial for the implementation of his proposed Credit Refinancing and Mediation Service which will allow firms to renegotiate or refinance their loans.

“It allows them to capitalize on their survival, transition and growth on terms that are easier than the loans they previous contracted. Nobody could have predicted the scale of this pandemic’s impact on businesses, so we’re allowing them to re-engineer their position, essentially,” he said.

SMC pledges to remit P11.7b to gov’t amid virus outbreak

By Jenniffer B. Austria CONGLOMERATE San Miguel Corp. committed to remit P11.67 billion to the national government as additional funds to effectively contain the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

San Miguel said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the amount would be in the form of tax, concession fees and contractual payments which the company would remit to the government throughout the quarantine.

It said of the total amount, it already paid the government P8.77 billion and pledged to remit the balance before the end of the enhanced community quarantine that was extended to May 15.

San Miguel also committed to grant full-time pay to all employees and extended workforce as the ECQ remains in effect, even as it works round the clock mobilizing resources to help address the larger social and economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

It has released full compensation with benefits amounting to over P3 billion to all 66,557 employees, consultants and contract workers.

“These are trying times and while we, as a company, are not immune to the challenges of this crisis, the safety and security of our workforce will always come first. We do not want them worrying about their jobs,” San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said.

Ang commended San Miguel employees who continued to deliver essential goods and services despite the ongoing health crisis.

“Please continue to adopt our ‘malasakit’ mindset and focus on what we, as individuals, can do to make a difference, because many are counting on us,” Ang said.

“We are also aware that we have a huge role to play across industries and we are lucky to be more equipped than the rest to navigate this crisis.

That said, we remain steadfast in our commitment to assist government and continue providing assistance where it’s most needed,” he said.

San Miguel has provided assistance of over P1 billion in the form of cash, food, flour, disinfectant alcohol, fuel, free toll and personal protective equipment donations to vulnerable communities and front liners since the ECQ began.

It also built emergency quarantine facilities together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to help ease the pressure on health facilities flooded by patients needing intensive medical treatment resulting from the pandemic.

MPTC reviewing ‘20 revenue goal with longer ECQ

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE tollway unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. said it will review its 2020 revenue target with the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon and its extension until May 15 to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

“We always review our targets. The ECQ is one major event that will require adjustments. Revenue drop will depend on length of ECQ,” said Rodrigo Franco, president and chief executive of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.

President Rodrigo Durterte extended the ECQ in Metro Manila until May 15, the third extension of the quarantine since it was imposed on March 15 to contain the spread of the virus.

Franco said the company was still operating the expressways while complying with the social distancing and other regulations required under the ECQ order.

MPTC reported a core net income of P5.3 billion in 2019, up 18 percent from P4.5 billon in 2018. Net toll revenues amounted to P18.50 billion last year, up from P15.48 billion in 2018.

MPTC’s system-wide vehicle entries, including both domestic and regional road networks, averaged 947,708 a day in 2019, an improvement from 913,101 in 2018.

Average daily vehicle entries on North Luzon Expressway, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and Manila Cavite Expressway increased 13 percent to 535,503 in 2019 from 474,529 in 2018.

MPTC opened three road developments in 2019, including the NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 in February; the first section of Cavitex C5 South Link, the 2.2-kilometer flyover crossing South Luzon Expressway traversing Taguig and Pasay City in July and the first 10.7 km of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway in October.

Sports

Ferguson banners UFC Florida card

By Reuel Vidal AFTER weeks of speculation and uncertainty the Ultimate Fighting Championship formally announced that UFC 249 will be held May 9 (May 10 Philippine time) at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

Tony Ferguson battles Justin Gaethje for the UFC Interim Lightweight title in the main event of the stacked card. Bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo takes on former titleholder Dominick Cruz in the co-main event.

The card will be the first of three events to be held in Florida with two more scheduled on May 13 and 16. All events will not have a live audience with only the fighters and essential personnel at the venue.

“I can’t wait to deliver some great fights for the fans. I want to give a big thanks to Mayor Curry, VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and Florida State Boxing Commission Executive Director Patrick Cunningham for getting this thing done and giving us a venue to put on these incredible cards, as well our media partners including ESPN and ESPN+, for bringing it to fans. My team is ready to go and the fighters are excited to get back in there with these back-to-back events,” said UFC President Dana White.

Additional bouts on the card include a welterweight clash between fan favorites Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone and No. 2 ranked heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou taking on No. 6 Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Featherweight contender Jeremy Stephens, ranked no. 7, takes on No. 9 Calvin Kattar. Greg Hardy faces undefeated Yorgan De Castro in what is expected to be an exciting heavyweight bout.

Holding the UFC events in Florida became possible after governor Ron DeSantis deemed professional sports events as “essential services” which could be held even during the Covid-19 pandemic. The UFC will enjoy the full backing of the Florida government.

“As we move step-by-step on the path toward economic recovery, we are proud to host these UFC events at the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena. The UFC organization is a renowned entertainment brand that’s presented a safe and sensible plan to use this Jacksonville location, and we are thrilled to have our city highlighted nationally on ESPN and ESPN+. With Jacksonville continuing to outpace other cities and regions, we are excited to continue to lead as host to these world-class, international sports entertainment organizations,” said Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.

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

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

Anthony Pettis (left) battles Nate Diaz during their match at UFC 241 held August 17, 2019 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California in this file photo.

Pettis takes on Donald Cerrone in the stacked UFC 249 to be held at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. AFP

Vargas says Marcial not yet turning pro

By Peter Atencio

T

OKYO Olympics qualifier Eumir Felix Marcial won’t be turning professional in the near future.

The 24-year-old Marcial gave this assurance to Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines president Ricky Vargas.

Marcial was earlier approached by boxing promotions in the United States to sign up for two professional fights.

“Eumir gave me his word that he will wait for such face-to-face meeting before he makes a final decision. And I know Eumir to be a man of his word,” said Vargas following a video confer-

ence call with Marcial.

Vargas had earlier made an appeal for promoters to leave Marcial alone, and not to distract him with monetary offers while getting ready for the Olympics.

“I issued the appeal for people to allow Marcial some peace and quiet in these times and to stop plying him with tempting monetary offers which could distract him from his preparations for the Olympics. Having said that, I will again attempt to state my thoughts on the matter and this will be the last I will say about it until concrete developments arise,” said Vargas.

This includes Manny Pacquiao’s promotional outfit, which has two Filipino fighters in its stable.

The 5-foot-8 middleweight Marcial has impressive credentials, including gold medal wins in Southeast Asian Games and a silver medal victory in the 2019

Spec launches online chess tournament

AIBA World Boxing Championships.

Last March, Marcial earned Olympic berth following his stint in the AsiaOceana Olympic qualifier.

“I think this is the best we can come up with at the present time and I again request everyone to refrain from speculation and making things more complicated than it already is. In conclusion, I want to make special mention of Senator Manny Pacquiao and thank him for being the voice of reason in all this,” said Vargas.

Marcial put away Abilkhan Amankul of Kazakhstan via a split decision victory during the qualifiers held in Amman, Jordan.

There are four Filipinos who will go to the Tokyo Olympics.

This includes fellow boxer Irish Magno, pole vaulter EJ Obiena and gymnast Carlos Yulo.

Transgender players kick down doors Acuña joins frontliners in battle against COVID-19 in Argentina LA PLATA, Argentina—Out on the pitch, they finally can feel like themselves.

In addition to the sheer joy that football brings them, Mara Gomez and Marcos Rojo have the extra satisfaction of knowing that after a long and difficult journey, they are blazing a trail for transgender players in Argentina.

Tall, slim and with her hair tied back in a ponytail, Gomez plays for the team of Villa San Carlos in La Plata, 60 kilometers (40 miles) south of Buenos Aires.

At 23, she aims to become the first transgender player in the new women’s professional league in her native country.

“I suffered a lot from discrimination, exclusion, verbal abuse in the street and in school. Football was like therapy for me,” Gomez told AFP. She started playing at 15, encouraged by neighbors.

In the women’s league in La Plata, Gomez distinguished herself as a leading goal scorer in the past two seasons.

That prompted Villa San Carlos, in last place in the women’s professional league, to seek to recruit her.

“She’s quick and is very good at kicking on target,” said trainer Juan Cruz Vitale.

“Unlike what people and the media were thinking, she isn’t that strong. I have a number of girls who are stronger and even though she’s fast, I have girls who are faster,” he noted.

But Vitale added: “She’s smart and learns quickly. And she gets goals, which is what we were lacking.”

The club is in the process of submitting its application to the Argentine Football Association to sign Gomez up, once the current coronavirus lockdown ends. AFP

B1

BACOOR City guard Eric Acuña has always been ready to lace up his sneakers whenever the Strikers needed him on the floor during the 2019-20 Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Season.

But when the country figured in a fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, Acuña laced up his army boots and heeded the call right away.

“Masaya na nakakatulong kahit malayo sa pamilya kasi eto yung trabaho namin e, pagsilbihan ang bayan. Yun ang sinumpaan namin kaya kahit anong crisis ang dumating handa kami para sa bayan,” said Private First Class Acuña, who enlisted in the Philippine Army five years ago.

The past few weeks have been tough for the 30-yearold Acuña.

He has been staying at Fort Bonifacio, serving as a frontliner ever since the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon took effect. Making things much harder for him is that he will miss son Ezhekiel’s fourth birthday on May 12.

Though it has been hard, Acuña is grateful that his wife Jhana always makes sure to call him up to give him an extra boost.

“Yung asawa ko lagi ako nun pinapaalalahanan na mag-ingat, ma-disinfect at laging uminom ng vitamints pati mag dasal parati,” said Acuña.

“Yung anak ko naman, nung ‘di na ako umuuwi, dun na siya nagtataka bakit daw ang tagal tagal ko umuwi. Miss na miss na daw niya ako nasanay kasi yun dati na kahit duty ako, umuuwi rin ako sa kanila after.”

With the war against the pandemic very much far from over, Acuña hopes that everyone follows the current protocol of staying at home at all costs.

“Sa ganitong panahon, tayo tayo ang dapat nagtutulungan.

Eric Acuña, right, stands at attention near his post at the frontline in Fort Bonifacio. At left, he dribbles the ball for the Bacoor Strikers.

Sumunod tayo sa kung anong sasabihin kasi para sa atin lahat ito. Lahat tayo gusto bumalik sa normal na buhay.

Ugaliin natin mag dasal at maniwala sa Diyos,” he said.

“Stay at home, kaya natin ‘to!”

SPEC Entertainment partners with CA’s Life to hold a Lichess online tournament on April 29.

The tournament’s goal is to support “United Queens Fundraising: We can conquer COVID-19” program to help give relief goods to the homeless and those families who are strongly affected amid this COVID 19 outbreak.

Frank Barendse is CEO and shareholder of Spec Entertainment one of the biggest management agencies in the Netherlands, representing a number of leading urban artists, influencers and TV celebs.

Barendse said online chess is an excellent game to stay mentally healthy, while keeping the social distance in these lock-down times.

“We are glad to sponsor this tournament, organized by my online coach WFM Cherry Ann Mejia. Let’s enjoy the game from both ends of the globe,” he said.

The tournament is open to participants from all countries.

Chess is arguably the oldest game being practiced in the world. But it has grown even more popular with people now able to access it via the internet.

Even the most seasoned players have embraced the internet as a playing platform.

Among the early entries are WGM Janelle Mae Frayna, FM Deniel Causo, GM Darwin Laylo, GM Mark Paragua, NM Noel Dela Cruz, IM Ronald Dableo and NM Marc Nazario Other participants are FM Alvin Alcala, FM Dino Ballecer, NM Giovanni Mejia, WIM Kylen Joy Mordido, WIM Shanie Mae Mendoza, WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego, WIM Bernadatte Galas, WFM Samantha Glo Revita and WFM Cherry Ann Mejia.

For inquiries, contact WFM Cherry Ann Mejia on Facebook or Text 09569106802.

Professional cyclist delivers pizza to stay fit

Vini Zabu—KTM rider Umberto Marengo picks a bag of meat at a butcher’s shop during a day of delivery on April 22, 2020 in Collegno, near Turin. AFP

COLLEGNO, Italy—He really should be training for the Giro d’Italia instead of making deliveries during the coronavirus pandemic. But how else is a professional Italian cyclist supposed to stay fit?

At least that is what Umberto Marengo was thinking when he decided to pull on his lycra and start hauling pasta and pizza across the suburbs of the northern Italian city of Turin.

Marengo and his little Italian team Vini Zabu-KTM are still trying to gain a measure of respectability on the professional tour circuit.

The KTM riders considered themselves lucky to have even

qualified for one of the three Grand Tours.

But the Giro will not be starting on May 9 because of the virus that has officially killed almost 26,000 across the Mediterranean country.

The 27-year-old had little to do but sit at home with his girlfriend.

The subject of ice cream came up and Marengo’s new career soon followed.

“We searched the internet and found this ice cream parlour making home deliveries,” Marengo recalls.

“So I began to wonder if I couldn’t find some people who needed someone to make their deliveries for them.”

Marengo got in touch with the

mayor and was soon speeding along abandoned city streets on his racing bike—a rucksack full of deli sandwiches strapped to his back.

“The customers are all amazed,” Marengo admits.

“Especially since I always try to go up by the stairs to stay that little bit fitter.”

‘Clear my head’ The pandemic has played as much havoc with the global sports schedule as it has with most other aspects of life.

The Giro has still not been rescheduled and the timeframe for the two other major cycling races— the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana—is unknown. AFP

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

B2

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

ARIAS

New Whitney Houston biopic

ALWIN IGNACIO

T

HESE four words are most apt this quarantine season.

Whitney Houston, seen here in Las Vegas in 2004, is seen as one of the greatest voices of the last 30 years.

THE Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind Bohemian Rhapsody and The Two Popes has been lined up to write and co-produce a new feature film on the life of Whitney Houston, US media reported Wednesday.

Anthony McCarten will join forces with the Whitney Houston estate and Grammy-award winner Clive Davis, the man who signed the star to her first recording contract, according to Deadline.

They are negotiating with Stella Meghie to direct the biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody, the website reported. Meghie retweeted the Deadline story.

McCarten, 58, has had a series of hits in recent years—all biopics. They include The Dark Hours (2017), Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), and The Two Popes (2019).

Director Meghie made a name for herself in 2016 with a critically acclaimed debut film, Jean of the Joneses (2016), a low-budget family comedy.

Since then, she has directed three other feature films, including "The Photograph", released in February in the United States.

Houston died in 2012 aged 48, drowning in her bathtub after ingesting a large amount of cocaine.

Despite a career marked by drug addiction, she remains one of the great voices of R'n'B and popular music in the last 30 years.

Two recent documentaries have lifted the veil on previously taboo aspects of the life of the woman who learned her scales in a gospel choir in Newark, New Jersey.

AFP

Telco’s homegrown talents come together for heartwarming tribute

Globe Voices@Work is Globe Cummications corporate choir

DISTANCE caused by the ongoing Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) did not stop talented employees to come together for a heartwarming tribute to today’s frontliners.

Through stitched videos, Globe’s corporate choir, Globe Voices@Work (GV@W) performed their rendition of “Isang Dugo, Isang Lahi, Isang Musika,” dedicated to the company’s very own #CovidHeroes—network engineers, installers, technicians and security personnel who are out in the field everyday, fulfilling the company’s mission to keep Filipinos connected.

As most people stay at home to protect themselves from the virus, connectivity has become a necessity with work from home set-ups and for keeping in touch with friends and family. Yet, despite mounting fears over the growing spread of COVID-19 in the country, hardworking field engineers and telecom technicians still relentlessly conduct maintenance, repair, and installation work to ensure that the

network is running smoothly and customers connectivity requirements are met.

Installers, repairmen, and other technicians working for Globe’s various contractors all over the country, for instance, visit as many as 10 homes a day. Globe, for its part, expressed gratitude and extended full support to the frontliners who make sure that telecom services are always available to the country and its citizens.

“Isang Dugo, Isang Lahi, Isang Musika” is an original composition

by Dodjie Simon, with musical arrangement and conducted by Lester Delgado. Delgado is also GV@W’s director, guiding the choral group through its many lauded performances in and out of the country. GV@W continues to foster musical bridges among music enthusiasts within the organization

GMA scores

2 MEDALS

at the New York fest MA Public Affairs has given the country new set GMA of recognitions after winning two world medals and scoring the most number of shortlisted entries from the Philippines at the prestigious 2020 New York Festivals “World’s Best TV and Films” Competition.

Earning the Silver World Medal in the Best Investigative Report category was the “Babies4Sale.

PH” episode of The Atom Araullo Specials. The winning documentary hosted by Atom Araullo investigated the alarming baby transactions that became prevalent in social media.

Taking home the Bronze World Medal in the ’s “Aeta History & Society category was Brigada’s Squadron/Female Spies”. The documentary featured the situation of Aeta Squadron 30, whose contribution in defending the country during World War II seemed to be unrecognized as they have yet to receive or enjoy any military pension.

Brigada is a news magazine program on GMA News TV hosted by Kara David.

A lot of people pretend to be busy with trivial pursuits, and nonsensical things. Yet, they’re still able to arouse the curiosity of netizens who are currently pre-occupied with what is being paraded on various social media platforms.

And what does flash in the pan mean? It is a phrase that pertains to a thing or person whose sudden but brief success is not repeated or repeatable. Hence, it is akin to the famous line of the late great visual artist and maverick Andy Warhol, “Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes” springing to life.

If you are in the curious case of being considered and labeled as flash in the pan, your choice then is to milk these precious minutes dry and maximize the situation with the hope that what you created had an enormous impact on many people.

On top of the flash in the pan movement nowadays are the men and women, of all shapes and sizes, sexual preferences and orientations, who show off their dance, lip sync and acting skills in their respective TikTok mini-performance videos.

To be fair to these TikTokers, some are skillful dancers with their antics not limited to flexing biceps, with arms raised to show off their armpit bushes or waxed underarms, as they parade lean and mean, if not buffed half-naked torsos.

Others, acting-wise, are convincingly good, as they show lip sync skills, in delivering memorable lines, particularly confrontation scenes and dramatic moments from movies and television shows, even commercials.

Of course, a handful, upsets your stomach, gives you migraine and are definite eyesores, most especially from political figures and esteemed officials who think that “cute” is an adjective that can be associated with their personas and to join in the TikTok bandwagon is the most natural thing that they must do.

Please don’t make me name the worst example in this handful batch, I beg you.

Rhemuel Lonio, who we all know as DJ Loonyo is without a doubt, the man of the hour and moment. His star is rising exponentially this Q season, With his swag (“lalaking-lalaki” manner of dancing), one cannot help but admire this relatively young man of twenty and seven summers.

He may not be eye candy compared to the former bad boy of the dance floor Mark Herras, who also had his flash in the pan reign, being the original StarStruck male victor opposite Jennylyn Mercado, but Loonyo’s charm grows in you. He has a magnetic personality that makes you want to dance with him.

His dance challenges, vlogs that are watched instantly and seen by millions, and the undeniable flirtation and chemistry he shared with millennial goddess Ivana Alawi in a boyfriend p r a n k video in the latter’s

China-based Filipino artist DJ Loonyo quickly rose to fame during the coronavirus pandemic.

FLASH IN THE

PAN

Miss Everything has captured netizens' attention with her funny videos online

YouTube channel has been viewed almost 10 million times as of this writing.

With two major endorsements and if the LooVana love team is embraced by all, Loonyo might be out of the pan and will be in Tinseltown for a longer haul and mightier reign.

Another flash in the pan, is the grammatically and politically incorrect Ms. Everything, or Eric or Ericka Camata in real life.

The flamboyant fairy from Calbayog, Samar obviously wanting to become a gay beauty queen. The many photos of Camata, in everyday dresses, swimsuits, and manner of speaking and murdering the King’s language, are outright silly and guffaw eliciting.

Ericka gives a new spin to the

“carabao English” of yore with her sunshiny confidence, outlandish outfits and styling, and her laughing at her own frolicsomeness, tickles the funny bones of his followers and seduces even the most cynical and jaded.

No guarantee and definite date as to when this quarantine season ends. As the days and nights go by, time ticks so fast even if we think it has slowed down. What is certain, somewhere on the social media stage and in real life, there will be more denizens and mischievousness that will come our way, to give us joy and kilig, laugh out loud occasions, even hope, and inspiration, in the maddening situation we are all experiencing.

Flash in the pan or flashes in many pans? I say, bring them all on!

During the 2019 New York Festivals, the The Atom Araullo Specials was also conferred a Silver World Medal in the Social Issues category for its “No Leftovers” episode. Meanwhile, “Babies4Sale.

PH” won the Best Documentary Programme (one-off) at the Asian Academy Creative Awards, and received a “highly commended” plaque from the Association of International Broadcasters (AIB) Awards held in London last year.

Over the years, GMA Network holds the distinction of being the most awarded Philippine organization at the New York Festivals “World’s Best TV and Films” competition.

This year, it once again earned the most number of shortlisted entries from the country and took home seven finalist certificates.

This year’s

finalists include eight-time New York Festival World Medalist Reporter’s Notebook (Social Issues category for its “Project Pilipinas: Medical Facility” episode); “Luzon Earthquake” coverage of GMA News TV’s flagship newscast State of the Nation (SONA) with Jessica Soho (Best Newscast category); The Atom Araullo Specials: The Patient is Out (Human Concerns category); Born To Be Wild’s twopart special “Big Catch” (Climate Change & Sustainability category); Investigative Documentaries’ “Tulaylay” episode (Social Issues category); and Stand for Truth’s reportage on the Hong Kong protests (Coverage of Continuing News Story category), which is the pioneering mobile journalism newscast’s firstever awards nomination.

Completing the list of GMA Network’s finalists this year is GMA Program Support Department’s TV spot for Bonifacio Day which took home a finalist certificate for Best Graphic Design under the Promotion/Open and IDs category.

The awarding ceremony for this year's winning entries was previously scheduled on April 21 in Las Vegas but was postponed because of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

‘Brigada’ host Kara David

Life

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

FOOD

CREATIVE CHEF. A few twists and a little creativity can turn any mundane dish using shelf-stable staples into an exciting meal anyone can do at home.

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

B3

Jazzing up pantry staples

By Steph Llarena

C

ANNED goods, instant noodles, frozen hot dogs are a godsend in times when going to the grocery takes a whole day. To make meals featuring shelf-stable staples much more exciting, many are becoming creative in the kitchen.

There are those who amuse themselves by assembling Culinary institution The Maya Kitchen offers simple the simplest meals fine dining-style, while others find suggestions on how to make the most of what we have new and exciting ways to serve pantry regulars. in stock.

Canned sardines

Garlic Pasta with Spanish Sardines

A popular shelf-stable staple, canned sardines is a versatile item that can be used as an ingredient in a variety of dishes.

Make tortang sardinas by adding eggs; whip up a quick tomato or oilbased pasta dish with sardines; throw in misua or sotanghon for a hearty noodle soup; or sauté canned sardines with preferred seasonings and serve on top of steaming bowl of rice or fried rice.

Ramen Nagi to-go box “WE HEAR you,” Ramen Nagi said in its April 23 announcement introducing its Ramen To Go take-out box.

Available on a first-come, first-served basis, each box, priced at P790, comes with over two servings of Ramen Nagi broth (variants include Butao, Red King, Black King, Green King), noodles, pork chashu, vegetables, minced garlic, green onions, and other toppings.

Customers within the Signa-Makati or TriNoma area may place their orders online from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m after. A link will be posted on Ramen Nagi social media pages. Each transaction is limited to three boxes. Once payment is settled, a shop representative will give the date of delivery or pick-up schedule.

SaladStop! salad bowls and wraps SSI Group food brand SaladStop! now accepts orders for takeout and delivery at select stores and pop-ups, including Burgos Circle, Central Square, Glorietta 2, Greenhills, Power Plant Mall, and Salcedo Village branches.

Delivery orders may be placed via GrabFood or Foodpanda.

Canned tuna Heart-friendly canned good, tuna is another versatile item that can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner.

Make a tuna spread using mayonnaise, onion, salt, and pepper and spread it on toasts or add to vegetable salad; turn it into patties by adding breadcrumbs and onions; or use it as a substitute to pork for a delicious but healthier version of sisig.

Chefs tip: Whip up a creamy tuna pasta bake using Spanish-style canned tuna, fettucine noodles, condensed cream of mushroom soup, and frozen mix vegetables. Top with saltine crackers and grated cheese, and pop in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Tuna Sesame Toast

Instant noodles There is more to instant noodles than what’s written in the packaging. In fact, this pantry staple is one of the easiest to upgrade—just add a fried egg on top of the cooked noodles and it’s a whole lot better meal.

Better still, add pork slices, eggs, nori, and miso paste to instant noodles to make a quick ramen; or do a Thai-inspired stir fry by using peanut butter for sauce. For a dish that’s closer to home, use instant noodles—preferably beef flavored—then add vegetables, sweet corn, and potatoes to make bulalo.

M&S Food cookies, more treats CRAVING chocolate chip cookies?

Marks & Spencer Food Hall has opened its Power Plant Mall and Eastwood Mall branches, as well as a pop-up store at BGC Central Square for pick-up and delivery. Email the preferred store to place an order and arrange delivery.

Food Hall branches: Eastwood (marksandspencer.eastwood@rgoc.com.ph / 0917-543-9040); Power Plant (marksandspencer.rockwell@rgoc.com.ph / 0917-807-8854); Central Square (marksandspencer.centralsquare@rgoc.com.ph / 0917-562-7549)

Shake Shack burgers BRANCHES of burger chain Shake Shack have resumed operations to accept orders for take-out and delivery. Customers within Foodpanda’s delivery coverage may place their orders from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

(Central Square) and 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Megamall).

For customers beyond Foodpanda’s coverage areas, other delivery services may be booked for pick-up. Simply call the branch to place order, pay via bank transfer, email proof of payment, and book either Grab or Lalamove for order pick-up. Central Square ((02) 255-3241) Megamall ((02) 8362-1450).

Bulalo Ramen

Hot dogs This kids’ favorite treat has long since established its place in the fridge. But aside from frying or steaming, it can be sautéed with onions and banana ketchup (add hot sauce for extra kick), or used as lumpiang shanghai filling (add cheese for extra flavor).

Create a Tex-Mex-inspired dish using hot dogs, canned or bottled corn, beans, salsa, and peppers. Or serve as corndog bites by dipping hot dogs in batter made with cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt and pepper for a fun afternoon snack.

Corndog Bites

Pancakes

Chicken Burrito

One of the items quickly cleared out grocery stores is pancake mix, perhaps many are trying their hands at making those trendy soufflé pancakes. But while pancakes are great on their own—as a sweet treat drizzled with honey, or topped with fruits, or covered in peanut butter and jam or chocolate spread—it can also be enjoyed as a savory dish.

Chef’s tip: Chop up some onions and cheese and mix in leftover shredded roasted chicken or chopped square ham bits. Use them as filling for pancake burrito.

Home-bound self-proclaimed chefs can check out more recipes at www.themayakitchen.com.

Jamaican Pattie beef pastry, more JAMAICAN Pattie Shop’s spicy Beef Pinatubo, tasty Cheesy Beef, and other baked meaty pastries are now available for delivery.

Orders can be made via Cocodelivery.ph’s hotline number #82626, or via GrabFood and Foodpanda (look for Fruitas Coco Delivery E. Rodriguez on the app).

Orders are accepted from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. No minimum order is required, but a delivery fee of P50 is added on top of the bill for delivery in Metro Manila.

Pets

Desiree Carlos, Editor daycarlos28@yahoo.com

B4

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

Sylvia with Covid.

LOCKDOWN HEROINES 2

Frontliner rescues kittens and a dog at checkpoint S

HE was on her way to the checkpoint to help as a health worker when she saw three kittens on a tree branch.

“I thought the old man near the tree put them there, “ she said.

But the old man said the kittens went up the tree when a dog ran after them.

They could not go down anymore.

The kittens were abandoned on the vacant lot, the old man said.

Since she loves cats, she decided to get them and bring them home even if she was already late for duty at the checkpoint. She fed them and kept them secure inside the house.

Sylvia P. Ongsing, 54, a health worker of Barangay Lawa in Meycauayan, Bulacan, is from a family of animal rescuers.

She and her husband and kids started rescuing in 2005.

Sylvia rescuing the kittens.

PET TALES

BY DESIREE CARLOS

“My kids Axl Renz and Renz Ulrich were still in elementary school in Manila then. My husband Ferdinand would bring home kittens who were abandoned on the streets,” she recalled.

“My husband would see the kittens on his way home from work. He would pick them up and bring them home. He said they eat very little naman so we can afford to take care of them,” Sylvia said.

Before they knew it, they already had so many cats in the house.

But that did not stop them from rescuing a dog from the creek near Malacanang in Manila.

“She was so thin and was suffering from a severe case of mange. Grabe ang galis

From the tree to a soft bed, the kittens are now safe.

niya. Naawa kami kaya inuwi namin. We named her Chinchin,” Sylvia said.

At that time, they already had Grimz, an asong Pinoy (aspin) who was given to them by aneighbor.

Grimz saved them from a fire by barking nonstop until they woke up.

“We are alive because of Grimz,” Sylvia said.

“Grimz was our bunso (youngest child) for 12 years,” Sylvia said.

Today, Sylvia is also a volunteer of Save Animals of Love and Light Inc. (Save ALL), a SEC-registered animal welfare group.

She helps in rescuing animals in need.

She was Save ALL’s rescuer in Batangas when Taal volcano erupted. Pets were abandoned by owners who were forced to evacuate and stray dogs were in danger in areas where earthquakes shook the ground at elast five times a day. She rescued with other animal lovers more than 50 dogs and cats then, and

Officer Vergara is also an animal lover. He feeds Covid and the other dogs at night.

The kittens on a tree.

fed hundreds of animals.

She also helps in organizing anti-rabies vaccination events in Bulacan, spay-neuter projects, and feeding stray dogs and cats in Metro Manila and Bulacan.

“This is my way of giving back to Save ALL. This is the group who saved my dog at a time we did not have funds to have her treated in the clinic. Yumi lived for several more years and was able spend more time with us because Save ALL did not hesitate to help us have Yumi treated,” Sylvia said.

“Because of this act of Save ALL, I promised that I will help dogs and cats in need as much as I can,“ Sylvia said.

Thus, while on duty at the checkpoint, Sylvia and her co-volunteers who happen to be animal lovers also, feed dogs who pass by.

One day, the dog they have been feeding and who they named Covid arrived with swollen balls.

Covid’s friends have joined the volunteers at the checkpoint. They practice social distancing also.

“Someone tied his balls for fun. The balls were swollen. I decided to give him antibiotics, an immune system booster, and supplements for the liver and kidneys every day, “Sylvia said, The meds were donated by Save ALL. Today, Covid is a healed dog who is spoiled by volunteers and policemen at the checkpoint.

After asking around, they found out Covid’s owner lives in the depressed area near the checkpoint.

After discovering this, the volunteers decided to take turns feeding him.

The funny part is Covid now brings along friends who are not only dogs. He has goats for friends too!

Covid has become the “dog volunteer” at the checkpoint.

“Nauna pa sya sa akin sa umaga mag duty!” Sylvia said, laughing.

And just the other day, guess what?

Covid followed Sylvia home.

Covid on duty at the checkpoint with human volunteers.

Covid’s goat friends

Bell pepper as a healthy alternative snack for dogs FURPARENTS always want to give the best to their dogs.

But it is also not easy to say NO when a dog asks for treats or begs for food when one is eating lunch or dinner.

So what can one give to a begging dog when most human food are bad for dogs?

Bell pepper, says Alexandra Annastasio in “Can Dogs Eat Bell Peppers?” in the online site of American Kennel Club.

Bell pepper is packed with vitamins, she adds.

“For pet owners, it can be difficult to keep track of which foods are harmful to dogs. For example, can dogs eat bell peppers? In this instance, the answer is yes. Bell peppers pack a punch when it comes to nutritional value for both you and your furry friend,” Annastasio says.

Annastasio notes that Dr. Cathy Fox, a staff doctor at New York City’s Animal Medical Center, said bell pepper is not toxic to dogs and is a healthy alternative snack.

What color is non-toxic and healthy for dogs?

Any color is good for dogs, says Annastasio.

“Any color contains the essential vi-

tamins and nutrients that are beneficial to a dog’s health, although the red type is the most nutritious,” she adds.

“Red bell peppers are the best to feed to your dog because they contain the highest amounts of vitamins and antioxidants,” says Bella Frakes, a dog trainer and breeder with Mikotusar Kennels and Aviary in Dallas, Texas.

But never give jalapeno or chili pepper.

What are the health benefits of bell pepper?

Peppers are packed with vitamins A, E, B6, and lutein.

They are a good sources of vitamin C and beta-carotene, which are antioxidants important for a dog’s healthy immune system, says Leasa Moltke, a pet nutritionist at holistic pet food brand Solid Gold Pet. “Beta carotene can be converted into vitamin A in the body and is important for skin, coat, and eye health,” she adds.

What is the recommended amount?

Bell peppers, just like with humans, should be introduced slowly and in moderation to your dogs to see how he/ she will respond.

“Some dogs will be fine with it, and some won’t,” says Dr. Fox.

Fox says a large dog eats less than one-half pepper and a small dog eats less than one-quarter pepper at a time.

Remove the seeds and stems, she says.

More than these amounts might lead to an upset stomach, vomiting, and/or diarrhea.

“As with other vegetable ingestion, you should take care not to overload your pet, because GI upset can occur,” says Dr. Danel Grimmett, a veterinarian with Sunset Veterinary Clinic in Edmond, Okla.

How do you give bell pepper?

Never add salt or pepper as these are not good for dogs, says Fox. Never put garlic or onions too, Fox adds.

“It’s also important to note that you should never give your pup the spicy varieties, such as jalapeños or Chili peppers, Fox says.

Because the outer skin of a bell pepper can be tough and difficult to chew, you can steam or puree the pepper to make it easier for your dog to consume and digest.

Remember to always consult your veterinarian before giving something new to your dog. DC

These lockdown fur babies are always begging for food and stay at the dining area: Lucas (with shirt on), Nacho (left, smiling), Summer (white, middle) and Shakti (brown). They are all senior dogs now.