Manila Standard - 2020 May 7 - Thursday

Duterte: Congress must do its job in reviving ABS-CBN

New normal: 3 to 4 hours for MRT ride

By Darwin G. Amojelar THIS is going to be part of the so-called “new normal”: Passengers using the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 should allot more time for their trip, an official said Wednesday.

MRT3 Director Michael Capat told GMA News that waiting time could last from

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said lawmakers should tackle the stalled franchise renewal of ABS-CBN Corp., a day after regulators forced the country's largest media network off air.

Congress, where bills to extend the franchise of ABS-CBN have languished for three years, has the primary and exclusive jurisdiction over media licenses, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said.

“The stand of our President there is that if Congress was able to pass a resolution asking the NTC to give ABS-CBN provisional authority to operate, why not just pass a law that would give ABS-CBN a franchise?”

Roque said in Filipino.

Lawmakers earlier urged the National Telecommunications Commission to allow ABS-CBN to operate provisionally after its 25-year license expired Monday.

Despite assurances that it would grant the network a provisional permit, the NTC on Tuesday issued it a case-and-desist order.

Palace says it won’t interfere The Palace Wednesday assured ABS-CBN that President Rodrigo Duterte will not interfere with the renewal of its franchise, which is now in the hands of Congress.

Palace spokesman Harry Roque also said the President will not hold a grudge and urge his allies in Congress to vote against the renewal.

“The President is neutral and wants to let all his allies know that he will not hold it against them. It will not endear him either way. They can vote as they wish,” Roque said.

Next page

Next page

DISTANCE MARKERS.

The Light Rail Transit-2 on Wednesday showed markers where passengers can sit in case the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila is lifted and the train operations resume (see story above).

Norman Cruz

VOL. XXXIV • NO. 76 • 2 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 THURSDAY, THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

DEFIANT. Workers of ABS-CBN and members of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines rally to show support for the broadcaster in Manila on Wednesday. AFP

Watchdogs: Cutting network off the air crosses danger zone THE shutting down of the Philippines' top broadcaster crosses a dangerous line in eroding the nation's democracy and sends a warning to those who risk angering President Rodrigo Duterte, watchdogs said.

Since rising to power in 2016, Duterte has steadily tightened his grip on the nation's key institutions and jailed or sidelined his loudest detractors, but until now his worst threats against critical media had not been fully realized.

Tuesday's halting of broadcasting giant ABSCBN's operations marks the first time a major, independent outlet was shut down since Duterte took office in a step that echoes the country's grim authoritarian past.

"This is a dark day for media freedom in the Philippines, reminiscent of martial law when the dictatorship seized control over news agencies," said Amnesty International's Butch Olano.

ABS-CBN's main channels fell silent hours after a surprise government shutdown order issued over a stalled operating license renewal.

Its 25-year franchise expired on Monday, but officials had previously given assurances the radio, TV and internet giant would be allowed to operate provisionally.

The outlet, which reaches tens of millions of Filipinos daily, ran afoul of Duterte in 2016 and since then the notoriously outspoken leader has repeatedly threatened it in speeches.

Early in his term, Duterte accused the media group of failing to broadcast his 2016 election campaign advertisements and not returning the payments made for them.

Next page

PH cases top 10,000, 2nd highest in SEA

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

T

HE Department of Health on Wednesday reported 320 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number so far in a day—bringing total cases of the dread coronavirus disease to 10,004.

In breaching the ten thousand mark, the Philippines became the nation with the second-highest number of infections in Southeast Asia, trailing only Indonesia's 12,438 cases as of May 6.

Still, the DOH said the Philippines is beginning to flatten the curve on COVID-19 infections, one-and-a-half months into a lockdown that has kept

millions of Filipinos home without work.

In an online press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reported 21 new deaths, bringing total fatalities to 658, while 98 new recoveries were recorded, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,506.

Although there is some flattening Next page

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM MAY 6)

10,004

NUMBER OF CASES

658 (21 new) DEATHS

1,506 (98 new) RECOVERIES

320

NEW CASES

DC, Virginia, Maryland new US hotspots

WASHINGTON—Despite more than a month of stay-at-home orders, the Washington region has become a coronavirus hotspot—and the AfricanAmerican and Latino populations of the US capital have been particularly hard hit.

Washington and the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia now have more than 50,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and there have been some 2,300 deaths.

It came as Britain became the country with the second most deaths in the world at 32,000, putting it above Italy in the grim ranking of national fatalities.

Elsewhere in Europe, hard-hit Spain and France reported a levelling off of figures, offering hope that life could slowly start returning to normal, but in Latin America the death toll passed 15,000.

President Donald Trump made his first major foray out of the White House since the coronavirus lockdown began in a push for economic reopening as the daily US death toll from the disease spiked.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan Next page

VADER VS VIRUS. Local youth representatives dressed as Stormtroopers and Darth Vader (in black)

from the Star Wars film franchise patrol in a wooden boat around a submerged village to remind residents to stay at home during the enhanced community quarantine in suburban Manila on Wednesday. AFP

Wuhan lab centerpiece of China-US spat over coronavirus origin VIRUS EPICENTER.

These file photos taken on February 23, 2017 shows a worker (inset) standing next to a cage with mice (right) inside the P4 laboratory (main photo) in Wuhan, China. The facility is among a handful of labs around the world cleared to handle Class 4 pathogens (P4) - dangerous viruses that pose a high risk of person-to-person transmission.

AFP

BEIJING—The Chinese laboratory accused by top American officials of being the source of the coronavirus pandemic conducts research on the world's most dangerous diseases.

US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have both claimed that there is evidence the pathogen came from the lab in Wuhan —the city where the disease was first detected late last year.

But the World Health Organization said Washington had offered no evidence to support the "speculative" claims, and scientists believe the coronavirus jumped from animals to humans, possibly at a Wuhan market selling wild animals.

The top US epidemiologist Anthony Fauci has echoed the WHO's statement, telling National Geographic that all evidence so far "strongly indicates" a Next page natural origin.

WEATHER Dagupan bakes at 51 degrees Celsius

By Rio N. Araja DAGUPAN City in Pangasinan has recorded this year's second highest heat index thus far in 2020 at 51 degrees Celsius. state weather forecasters said Wednesday.

The highest index in 2020 was at 58 degrees Celsius in San Jose City, Occidental Mindoro on April 20, forecasters in Manila said.

Next page

A2

News

THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

House: Probe P200b aid delay

By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

Rep. Mike Defensor of party-list group Anakalusugan said this Wednesday, noting that Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano had authorized an inquiry into this “at the right time.”

He said Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, Deputy Speaker Michael Romero and other House leaders and members had supported the planned investigation.

Defensor, also vice chairman of the House Committee on Health, said the inquiry was in response to complaints from lawmakers and local government officials about the delay in and the manner of distribution of the financial assistance.

“We did our job in expeditiously passing the Bayanihan law and President (Rodrigo) Duterte did his job in promptly downloading the necessary funds.

But problems were encountered in the implementation of the financial aid program,” Defensor said.

He said the House would allow the implementing agencies to finish their task before starting its investigation, which aims to prevent the occurrence of similar issues in the future.

“We have to have protocols for this. We cannot delay the support needed by our people. Other means such as electronic money transfer should be the standard to avoid contact,” Defensor said in reaction to the long lines and grouping of people seen all over Metro Manila.

Under the Bayanihan law, the 18 million household beneficiaries are to get P5,000 to P8,000 each last month and again this month, depending on the minimum wage in their regions. Those in Metro Manila are entitled to P8,000.

The 18 million include 4.4 million

PH...

Manila and its neighboring provinces, the doubling time has stretched toward seven days.

“Because of the transport network between the National Capital Regional (NCR) and its neighbors, we consider this as one unit. So you see, where maybe about 70 percent of the cases are focused or concentrated, the flattening is even more evident compared to the graph of the national level, especially for mortality,” Wong said.

He added that NCR listed only a few additional deaths and noted that most deaths are from outside of the region.

Generally, however, “deaths are approaching the seven-day level, so they're slowing down,” Wong continued.

Luzon has greatly improved during the ECQ. While it has a very slow outbreak to begin with, it has also exceeded the seven-day line for deaths.

“The biggest improvement was in Mindanao. Although it started with a very fast outbreak, they slowed down considerably by about three days,” he said.

He said the country generally has a case doubling time of 4.6 days, which indicates that cases double almost every four to five days.

Except Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces, the rest of the three regions placed under ECQ – Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao—all recorded at least seven days for mortality doubling

time.

Wong said another good indication of the readiness of the country to have the ECQ lifted is the country’s health capacity.

“Right now, we only have 25 percent utilization for mechanical ventilators and about 40 percent each for ICU beds and isolation beds. So, we still have a lot of reserve capacity,” he said.

Vergeire said properly categorizing positive cases—asymptomatic, mild, severe, and critical—has helped in the quick isolation and treatment of patients.

Wong added that the country has more asymptomatic and mild cases than severe or critical ones.

Vergeire also reported no new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in 41 provinces across the nation over the course of the last two weeks.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III inspected the first of four mega swabbing centers on Roxas Boulevard Wednesday.

“We are still putting together the manpower who will operate these swabbing booths, but the DOH has agreed to supply these mega swabbing centers with 400 [people],” Duque said.

The second mega swabbing center can accommodate 1,000 to 1,500 tests daily with its 56 testing booths manned by medical personnel from the Army and the Philippine National Police, taking two shifts daily.

In related developments: • The Lung Center of the Philippines is scaling down its coronavirus testing operations to address backlogs, the Department of Health said Wednesday.

Vergeire said the Lung Center had to reduce its COVID-19 tests after it caught the backlog of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine when the latter scaled down operations last month.

• Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on Wednesday cited the vital role of the members of the Philippine National Police in the fight against COVID-19, particularly when they donated a portion of their salaries worth over P228 million to be used for the pandemic response efforts of the government. Dominguez called this a "heroic act," saying donating a portion of their salaries was beyond the call of duty of the PNP, yet they gladly did their share to help those in need in this time of crisis.

• Senator Richard Gordon commended local government units (LGUs) that are already conducting tests on their constituents. Several LGUs in the National Capital Region (NCR) entered into an agreement with the Philippine Red Cross when the latter opened up COVID testing centers or molecular laboratories.

Under the agreement, trained LGU personnel will do the swabbing and the samples will be turned over to the Red Cross for the testing. With Julito G. Rada

stop ABS-CBN Corp.'s broadcast and a reversal of the ruling is unlikely, one of its three members said Wednesday.

To resume TV and radio operations, the broadcast network should secure a temporary restraining order from the Court of Appeals against the NTC or have lawmakers approve a new franchise, said Deputy Commissioner Edgardo Cabarios.

The broadcaster has 10 days to respond to the NTC's cease and desist order, Cabarios said. The regulator shuttered ABS-CBN despite a request from lawmakers to grant the company provisional authority to operate beyond the expiry of its franchise on May 4 as they need more time to deliberate on its renewal.

"It was a unanimous decision….It’s really a very difficult decision on our part but after reviewing all the possible options, only one option was available, the ceaseand-desist order,” Cabarios said.

TRO best remedy, Carpio says Retired Supreme Court Senior Justice Antonio Carpio on Wednesday stressed the importance of a free press in a democracy and said ABS-CBN Corp.'s only remedy was to seek a temporary restraining order against government's directive to stop its broadcast operations.

The network was forced to go off the air on Tuesday night due to a ceaseand-desist order from the National Telecommunications Commission, which went back on its commitment to give ABSCBN a provisional permit for continued operations Vito Barcelo, Maricel V. Cruz, Rey E. Requejo, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Willie Casas

Watchdogs:..

the Supreme Court against ABS-CBN filed in February 2020,” the press corps said, noting Calida’s petition followed several statements from the President that he would block the network's franchise renewal.

“The confluence of events shows us that this is an orchestrated attack in part against ABS-CBN, and on the whole, an attack against press freedom by agents of the government who are only too willing to please their master. They have done it before. They are doing it again.”

Provisional authority The Integrated Bar of the Philippines said Wednesday the National Telecommunications Commission could grant a provisional authority to operate to ABS-CBN while it awaits action from Congress on the bills seeking the renewal of its franchise.

IBP president Domingo Egon Cayosa urged the concerned government agencies and government officials to speedily act on ABS-CBN’s franchise.

“The IBP respectfully urges the concerned government officials and offices to do their sworn duty and without delay or recrimination,” Cayosa said in a statement.

Sympathy Former Vice President Jejomar Binay on Wednesday sympathized with the ABSCBN Network whose franchise expired Monday and whose application for renewal remains pending in Congress.

"We may argue on who bears greater responsibility for the closure of ABSCBN. But we cannot deny that the day the network went off the air 48 years ago was also the day democracy died," Binay said.

Rey E. Requejo, Joel Zurbano, Rio N. Araja, Vito Barcelo

out of their natural reservoirs into human communities.

Scientists think COVID-19 originated in bats and could have been transmitted to people via another mammal like a pangolin, but there is no definitive answer so far.

WHAT DOES IT HANDLE? The Wuhan institute houses the largest virus bank in Asia which preserves more than 1,500 strains.

The complex contains Asia's first maximum-security lab equipped to handle Class 4 pathogens (P4) such as Ebola.

The 300-million-yuan ($42 million) P4 lab opened in 2018. A P3 lab has been in operation since 2012.

While the US intelligence community said it had concluded the coronavirus was not human-made, it added that it would continue to investigate if the outbreak started from contact with infected animals or from "an accident" at the Wuhan lab.AFP

Dagupan...

T

HE House of Representatives will investigate the unwarranted delay in the distribution of the P200billion financial aid to 18 million poor and near-poor household beneficiaries targeted under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Law which Congress passed last March 23.

From A1

of the COVID-19 curve, Vergeire said there could be a resurgence if people start being complacent about social distancing.

She also said the DOH is pushing for behavioral changes to slow down any possible resurgence of infections, once the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is lifted and most of the country moves to a general community quarantine (GCQ).

Vergeire was joined in the press briefing by Dr. John Wong of Epimetrics Inc. and an associate professor at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health.

Wong, a member of the technical working group on data analytics of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), said the country is flatting the curve based on the doubling time—or the time it takes for cases or deaths to double.

The ECQ, he said, has significantly slowed down the speed of transmission, thus flattening the curve.

“When April 1 came around, when the ECQ took effect, you'll see that the curve has started to flatten. From doubling every less than three days, now it is doubling around four days,” Wong said.

He said for Luzon, except Metro

Duterte:...

From A1

Earlier, Solicitor General Jose Calida warned the National Telecommunications Commission not to issue a provisional authority to ABS-CBN that would allow it to keep operating while its application for a franchise renewal is pending in Congress.

Lawmaker sees provisional franchise The chairman of the House of Representatives committee on constitutional amendments on Wednesday asked Congress to grant shuttered radio-TV network ABSCBN a provisional franchise good up to June 30, 2022, or the life of the present Congress.

In filing a new joint congressional resolution granting the temporary franchise, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said: "I am hoping we can expedite the hearings on this measure amid the COVID-19 pandemic even if we have to hear all stakeholders through the new normal videoconferencing platform."

Rodriguez had authored a resolution extending the ABS-CBN franchise for one year. It was among at least 11 related proposals pending with the House committee on legislative franchises, most of which seek the extension of the network’s broadcasting privilege.

At the same time, Rodriguez filed a bill granting ABS-CBN a new franchise for 25 years.

NTC firm on ABS-CBN closure The National Telecommunications Commission decided unanimously to

Wuhan...

From A1

China has strongly denied the allegations, but speculation and conspiracy theories have persisted.

Here are some key questions about the Wuhan Institute of Virology: WHAT DO ITS RESEARCHERS DO? Work by the lab's scientists helped to shed light on the COVID-19 pathogen in the early days of the outbreak in Wuhan.

In February, they published work concluding that the new virus shared a 79.6 percent sequence identity to the SARS coronavirus, and that it was 96 percent identical at the whole-genome level to a coronavirus found in bats.

The lab's researchers had already conducted extensive investigations on the links between bats and disease outbreaks in China, and had highlighted the need to prepare for viruses potentially spreading

From A1

"All this stems from President Rodrigo Duterte's personal vendetta against the network," said the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.

Duterte arrived at the summit of Philippine politics as an outsider from the southern city of Davao and immediately set about consolidating his power.

His critics have been jailed, including Senator Leila de Lima, who has been behind bars for years on drug charges she insists were fabricated to silence her criticism of Duterte's deadly drug war.

Others have been pushed from highprofile posts like Maria Lourdes Sereno, who was kicked out of the nation's top court in a procedure that critics said pushed the limits of constitutionality.

Institutions such as the Supreme Court have shown little appetite to rule against Duterte on key issues, and the legislature is controlled by his allies or backers. AFP Palace reporters blast move The Malacañang Press Corps “strongly condemned” the National Telecommunications Commission’s (NTC) cease and desist order that shut down ABSCBN as a “shameless and blatant attack on press freedom.”

NTC’s decision, the group noted, came after a threat from Solicitor General Jose Calida that he would file graft charges against NTC officials if they grant a provisional authority to ABS-CBN. “Mr. Calida, lest we forget, is the same person behind a quo warranto petition before

families covered by the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps, who are receiving up to P2,500 in monthly cash grants, which are to be deducted from the P5,000-P8,000 Bayanihan assistance.

As of last week, Defensor said of the 18 million household targets, 10.3 million, including 3.8 million 4Ps families, had actually received the assistance.

This means that 7.7 million households were still awaiting their financial aid, he said.

In supporting the investigation, Romualdez said a lot of “inefficiencies” hampered aid delivery to the poor.

“We share Congressman Defensor’s concerns in making sure that the policies that had been made by President Duterte, that these all trickle down expediently and efficiency to the benefit of the Filipino people,” he said.

New...

From A1

From A1

This measures human discomfort based on the actual temperature felt by the body, the state weather bureau Pagasa (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) said Wednesday.

The city, 218 kilometers north of Manila, logged a heat index of 51 degrees Celsius at 2 p.m. Tuesday, said Jose Estrada Jr, chief weather observer of Pagasa-Dagupan.

Pagasa’s Science Garden in Quezon City itself recorded a heat index of 42 degrees Celsius with a maximum temperature of 37.2 degrees Celsius and relative humidity of 39 percent on May 5 at 3 pm.

Tuesday's high heat indexes were also felt in Sangley Point, Cavite at 49 degrees Celsius with maximum temperature of 35.9 and relative humidity of 69 percent;

two to three hours under the new system, compared to 30 minutes before.

Passengers will be required to undergo strict quarantine measures before being allowed entrance to stations. Only three passengers will be allowed to form a line per teller, while six will be allowed per turnstile, Capat added.

This developed as the Department of Transportation said rail operators are ready to serve commuters in a reduced capacity once the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is lifted in Metro Manila.

The MRT3 line runs the length of Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue from North EDSA in Quezon City to the Pasay Rotonda area in the south, and served 650,000 passengers daily at its peak before the lockdown.

Roque: Gov’t stopping OFWs ’perfectly legal’ THE government can stop the deployment of Filipino medical professionals abroad as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Wednesday.

He made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte asked the Justice department to study the legality of barring health care workers from going abroad so they could prevent being infected, and at the same time help fight the pandemic here.

“Perfectly legal,” Roque told ANC television.

“In fact, that’s pursuant to the general welfare clause [of the Constitution]. It is an exercise of police power because the primary basis for the President’s concern is that these people are going to the most dangerous places as far as COVID-19 is concerned.”

Roque made his statement even as the Justice department said it was studying the plan to stop the migration of health workers to the countries with a high incidence of COVID-10 infections.

Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said they would consider the health workers' right to earn a living outside the country as well as the need for them to stay here to help fight the pandemic.

"We are considering the medical professionals’ right to travel and earn a living and our hospitals’ great need for their services," Perete told reporters.

DC,...

From A1

predicted in early April that the area would see the next major outbreak and was about two weeks behind New York, the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States.

Despite the closure of schools and non-essential businesses and a lockdown since the end of March, the number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths has continued to rise in the region.

"We are a highly populated area with a high density," said Travis Gayles, chief of public health services in Maryland's Montgomery County, which borders Washington.

"We still have a high number of essential workers that have to go to work and are subject to exposure there," Gayles told AFP. With experts warning of a severe global recession, many governments have been easing stay-at-home measures to try to revive reeling economies.

"We can't keep our country closed for the next five years," Trump said on a trip to a mask-making factory in Arizona, conceding that some people would be "badly affected."

And in the latest sign his administration no longer considers the pandemic its top daily priority, the White House is set to disband the emergency task force handling the outbreak.

"I think we're starting to look at the Memorial Day (May 25) window, early June window" for shutting it down, Vice President Mike Pence said.

Trump urged US states to ease restrictions as he attempts to fire up the world's biggest economy before the November presidential election, when the high death toll and millions of lost jobs could cost him dearly.

At least 256,422 people have died of the novel coronavirus since the epidemic surfaced in China late last year, according to an AFP tally.

The United States is the worst-hit country, with more than 70,000 deaths, ahead of Britain where fatalities topped 32,000.

The new UK toll from the Office for National Statistics and regional health bodies has not yet been incorporated into the government's deaths figure of 29,427.

The US registered 2,333 more deaths over the 24 hours to Tuesday evening, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, more than twice as many as the day before.

Some scientific models suggest the figure will rise to 3,000 a day by June.

Countries across the world are balancing the need to revive stalled economies against the risk of a new wave of deadly infections.

In Germany, regional leaders pushed back against Chancellor Angela Merkel's pleas for caution, with the biggest state Bavaria saying it would reopen restaurants and hotels this month.

Hong Kong announced plans to reopen schools, cinemas, bars and beauty parlours from Friday, while Californian bookshops, florists and clothing stores will also be allowed to reopen at the end of the week.

Social distancing rules were eased in South Korea, where workers went back to offices on Wednesday, and museums and libraries were reopened. AFP

News ‘PH must adopt e-money transfer’

IN BRIEF

SC issues guidelines for 2019 bar passers THE Supreme Court through the Office of the Bar Confidant has released the guidelines for the passers of the 2019 Bar Examinations on how to secure clearance online due to the prevailing public health emergency.

“In view of the current public health emergency, clearance procedure for the 2019 Bar passers will be conducted completely online. No Bar passer shall be allowed to physically visit the OBC for this purpose,” the OBC said, in an advisory.

A total of 2,103 candidates passed last year’s Bar exams, representing 27.36% of the 7,685 examinees who completed the country’s most grueling state examinations.

Mae Diane Azores of the University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi, formerly Aquinas University, was the topnotcher with a rating of 91.0490%.

The SC has required Bar passers to email the OBC from May 11-22, stating their complete name in the subject line, contact numbers in the body, as well as a law school or government-issued ID bearing their photograph and a recent photo in which they are holding a paper containing their full name and signature as attached images with the prescribed format and dimensions. Rey E. Requejo

DOJ lauded for easing rules on paroles, clemency A LEGISLATOR on Monday lauded the Department of Justice for implementing the new rules governing applications for parole and executive clemency.

The department eased the requirements to facilitate the decongestion of prisons to stem the spread of Covid-19 in penal facilities that it supervise.

“I welcome the DOJ’s move, which speaks highly of its leaders’ compassion. It reassures us that the legal authorities are not deaf to pleas for humanity,” Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles, vice chairman of the House of Representatives’ committee on justice, said.

“I hope that this is only the first of many other steps the government takes to address the threat of infection in our congested prisons,” Nograles added.

The DOJ recently approved a resolution by the Board of Pardons and Parole on the Interim Rules on Parole and Executive Clemency, which widens the coverage of those eligible to apply for clemency and simplifies the process. Maricel V. Cruz

THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Cops raid illegal POGO hubs in Makati P

By Joel E. Zurbano

OLICE arrested 76 individuals, 63 of them Chinese nationals, engaged in illegal online gambling in Makati City on Tuesday.

A composite team from the National Capital Region Police Office, Makati City Police and Southern Police District raided room numbers 402, 403, 404, 405, 406 and 409 of a building situated at 8884 Obrero Street in Barangay Olympia.

NCRPO director Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas said they conducted the police operation following confidential information regarding an illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO) operated by a Chinese national named Xiao Bao. Sinas said the foreigners have no license and necessary permits from the Makati City government and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to establish and conduct gambling

operation in the area.

Arrested were 63 Chinese nationals and 13 Filipino employees. Xiao, who was the main target of the police operation, managed to escape.

Prior to the raid, the NCRPO coordinated with local government and police officials to validate the information and conducted a surveillance operation. Officials of the Business Permit Office of Makati City certified that the establishment was not registered.

Sinas said the establishment also violated Pagcor’s policy suspending all POGO operations and its service providers for the duration of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease.

Recovered during the police operation were 75 pieces of laptop computers, 13 pieces of keyboards and mouse, 414 pieces of mobile phones, 51 pieces of internet modems, 11 Chinese passports, 23 pieces of Identification Cards, P115,200 cash, six boxes of assorted computer cable and wires, 42 pieces of white adaptor, one check booklet, three small boxes containing globe cellphone load cards, two computer desktop monitors with one speaker, and 126 Chinese Yuan.

Those arrested were brought to the police custodial facility at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City for further investigation.

“We would like to reiterate our plea for cooperation from all the people in the Metro including our foreign friends who are staying here to please observe due compliance to all existing laws,” said Sinas.

The case was referred for inquest proceedings before the Department of Justice.

Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay had declared an indefinite moratorium on the issuance of new business licenses and

Adapt to new normal, PopCom urges youth CITY of San Fernando—With novel coronavirus plaguing the globe, the Commission on Population and Development urged youngsters to familiarize themselves with a new normal way of life and adopt with the situation to lessen the impact of COVID 19 pandemic and the Extended Enhanced Community Quarantine.

Central Luzon POPCOM director Vicky Barbea de la Torre also encouraged teenagers to optimize the use of social media and other e-learning platforms in population control awareness as part of the government advocacy to prevent population explosion.

The Philippines population is more than 108 million, according to 2019 statistics.

“We should familiarize ourselves with the new normal and try to optimize the use of social media and other online learning platforms to advocate the programs we have under the Philippine Population Management Program,” said De La Torre. Jess Malabanan

‘PH must adopt e-money transfer’ BALANGA City, Bataan—Bataan 2nd district Rep. Joet Garcia is pushing for the adoption of electronic money transfer in the the country.

“The Philippines has one of the highest percentages of people in Southeast Asia who do not have bank accounts and who transact in cash”, he pointed out in the bill he lodged in Congress.

“That while this could be attributed to the condition that only 37% of the 1,634 cities and municipalities across the country do not have banking offices, it is equally astonishing that 81.3% of households in Metro Manila do not own bank accounts”, he also said citing statistics from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

“Among Filipino consumers today, only 3% are carded; 25% have bank accounts but are underserved; and 75% (equivalent to 86% of households) are fully unbanked.

Without a banking account, Filipino consumers are mostly dealing with cash in their financial transactions”, Garcia pointed out.

Butch Gunio

No lockdown in all Parañaque barangays—Olivarez MAYOR Edwin Olivarez of Paranaque City assured his constituents that he will not declare any kind of lockdown until May 15 despite a confirmation from the Department of Health that one barangay in the city has one of the highest numbers of Covid-19 cases in Metro Manila.

Olivarez said that placing a community under a total or hard lockdown is not the proper solution to the pandemic as long as the patient is still staying in the area and was brought to an isolation facility.

The DOH has reported that National Capital Region accounted for 67 percent of confirmed cases of Covid-19 disease, the

highest in the country, as of May 3.

Three barangays in Metro Manila registered the most cases of Covid-19: Addition Hills in Mandaluyong City with 55, Tandang Sora in Quezon City with 52 and San Antonio, Paranaque with 50.

Barangay Addition Hills will be placed under a one-week total lockdown from May 7 to 14.

“Wuhan-style lock lockdown is not needed this time to fortify the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. What we need are random rapid testings of about 20,000 residents of Barangay San Antonio,“ Olivarez said.

“Residents of San Antonio will criticize

us and get mad on us if we implement a hard lockdown right now or on the last 10 days of enhance community quarantine. All we need to do is to isolate the positive patients in the barangay,” he explained.

As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases in Parañaque is 481 including 33 record of fatalities while 82 patients have been discharged from the hospitals and 88 recovered patients.

The number of suspect cases is 584 while the probable cases is now 590. On the other hand, the cleared suspect cases are 298 and cleared probable cases is 276 in the city’s 16 barangays. Joel E. Zurbano

Limit barangay residents to 15k—solon

By Maricel V. Cruz A LEADER of the House of Representatives on Wednesday sought an amendment to the Local Government Code limiting the population of every barangay to 15,000 inhabitants in all urban areas of the country as certified by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

In filing a bill, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers proposed that all existing barangay in urban areas with a population exceeding 15,000 inhabitants be reapportioned to create additional barangays to achieve fast and efficient delivery of essential services and orderly governance.

“This measure would bring great relief to both the local governments and the people, particularly in the management of people and resources during natural or man-made calamities, including times of pandemic like the Covid-19,” the chairman of the House dangerous drugs committee said.

Barbers said limiting a barangay’s population to a manageable figure would enable these grassroots officials to smoothly implement barangay peace

and order and anti-drug campaigns, and carry out fast and efficient delivery of essential services and orderly governance.

The bill proposes to amend section 386 of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 which imposes a minimum requirement of 2,000 inhabitants for the creation of a barangay and 5,000 population in Metro Manila and other metropolitan areas and highly-urbanized cities.

In the bill’s explanatory note, Barbers said as the population in the Philippines increases, the number of inhabitants in each barangay increases as well. “And the population disparity between barangays can go from under 1,000 to over 200,000, especially in urban areas.”

“Consequently, the number of inhabitants requiring barangay assistance varies significantly. In times of disasters and emergency situations, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, where barangay officials are expected to be the first responders, barangays with high population density experienced more difficulties in reaching out to their constituents,” Barbers said.

Group nixes mandatory online classes

By Rio N. Araja EDUCATION under the new normal “isn’t and shouldn’t” be confined to mandatory online classes, a group of college students on Wednesday said.

In a statement, the Student Solidarity Network to Survive COVID-19 said “the assumption, therefore, that our call to end online classes is rooted in indolence, that those who call for online classes to end do so out of laziness, is a corrosive assumption and should not be carried over to our new normal.”

It hit Commission on Higher Education chairperson Prospero de Vera’s defense of online classes as part of the flexible

learning arrangements under the new normal due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, saying they were not even consulted.

“It is not that we students are opposed to online classes. To a young generation that grew up with the Internet, the move online is expected, even considered an inevitability before school administrations abruptly began talking about it. This, however, does not excuse the haphazard imposition of online class schemes,” it said.

“We cannot afford to roll out new policies and new setups without considering all parties. Students are crucial stakeholders. Education and educational policies always

permits to service providers of POGO due to rising criminality and prostitution in southern Metro Manila.

The city chief executive cited the “overheating” market for residential and commercial space and the rising criminality and prostitution as major reasons for her decision to stop more POGOs from operating in the country’s financial district.

Last year, NCRPO operatives arrested eight Chinese nationals for illegal online gambling, also in Makati.

The raiding team recovered a number of high-end computers and internet routers believed used in the illegal activity.

Also confiscated during the search were laptops, modems, cellular phones and passports.

In October 2016, authorities raided an online gambling den along Ayala Avenue, also in Makati, where at least 40 people, most of them Chinese nationals, were apprehended, also for alleged possession of illegal drugs.

MIAA issues new guidelines for crew, air travelers

EXPIRED MEAT. Members of the Manila Veterinary Inspection Board conducted a raid and confiscated several expired Chinese meat products from Salgado Market in Sta. Cruz, Manila on Wednesday. The Manila City government previously ordered the closure of Salgado Market in November 2019 after inspectors seized more than 3,000 kilograms of smuggled meat from China. (Inset) Some 500 families affected by the Covid-19 virus in Barangay Cabuco in Trece Martires City in Cavite recieved relief goods from members of the anti-kidnapping group of the Philippine National Police. The group donated portion of their salaries to help those who at badly affected by pandemic. Norman Cruz and Jr. Josue

MMDA builds isolation facility for employees THE Metro Manila Development Authority has built an isolation facility to accommodate its asymptomatic employees exposed to persons infected with coronavirus disease.

The newly-constructed isolation facility, with a lot area of approximately 800 square meters, is located at the agency’s headquarters in Makati City.

The facility has been divided into two sections: one for those with negative rapid test result and the other for those with positive result and/or awaiting PCR (throat swab) result.

“We have built our own Covid-19 isolation facility for asymptomatic MMDA personnel.

This facility will serve as temporary holding area for our employees who need to undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine in accordance with the Department of Health’s protocols,” said MMDA chairman Danilo Lim. Each section of the isolation facility has a 24-bed capacity equipped with shower rooms, comfort rooms and lavatories. The rooms are fully-air conditioned, with wi-fi connection and will be regularly cleaned and sanitized. Joel E. Zurbano

A3

have students as their primary end. Student inputs are therefore invaluable to the formulation and implementation of a new normal educational environment,” it added.

Earlier, De Vera, in a radio interview, batted for online classes under the flexible learning arrangement, citing 20 percent of the state universities and colleges (SUCs) have already set up such system as a viable option.

“Commissioner De Vera’s position of giving school administrators a near-total free hand in aggressively pushing for and maintaining their online class schemes does not inspire confidence among learners,” the Student Solidarity Network said.

AIRPORT workers and air travelers will be required to wear a face mask, reach airports earlier than usual, be thermal scanned, and observe physical distancing.

These are some of the guidelines to be enforced at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport once air travel restrictions are lifted and the airport resumes operations after the enhanced community quarantine.

The guidelines, according to the Manila International Airport Authority, aim to prevent the further spread of Covid-19 in the country.

The MIAA management purchased a total of 2,675 boxes (133,750 pieces) of surgical face masks and 500 pieces of washable masks to ensure continuous protection of its workers.

“We have to stock up and be prudent in our distribution especially that wearing of masks will now become the new normal,” said MIAA general manager Eddie Monreal.

The MIAA also sought the assistance of the Bureau of Quarantine in determining what type of personal protective equipment is appropriate for its employees given their different work stations.

“We want to make sure that they have the right kind of protection as the nature of their jobs would require,” Monreal said.

MIAA service providers were also told to provide face masks for their employees and to ensure that they get the kind of protection needed for the kind of work that they do as recommended by the Bureau of Quarantine.

Everyone entering the airport complex must also submit themselves to mandatory body temperature check, which has already in place. Joel E. Zurbano

Manila

Republic of the Philippines Standard TODAY National Irrigation Administration (PAMBANSANG PANGASIWAAN NG PATUBIG) Northern Samar Irrigation Management Office Catarman, Northern Samar Office Address :

Capitol Site, Brgy. Dalakit Catarman, Northern Samar

Telefax No.: (055) 251-8274 Telephone No.:(055) 251-8274

INVITATION TO BID No. 02- 2020 The National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Northern Samar Irrigation Management Office (NSIMO), through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), hereby invites Domestic Contractors, registered with and classified by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB), to bid for the hereunder contracts. Bids received in excess of ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

ITEM/DESCRIPTION

Approved Budget for the Contract

Duration

Cost of Bidding Documents

1.Cajecsan SIP NSIMO # 02 – 2020 – Construction of Concrete Canals and Canal Structures

Php 16,004,983.38

330

Php 25,000

2.Sinimangan SIP NSIMO #07- 2020- Construction of Concrete Canals and Canal Structures

Php 7,471,691.48

210

Php 10,000

The Prospective Bidders should have completed, within five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project whose value must be at least fifty percent (50%) of the ABC. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of republic Act 9184 (R.A. 9184), otherwise known as the “Government procurement Reform Act”.

Prospective Bidders are not allowed to participate if they have negative slippage in their on-going contracts. Individuals with Special Power of Attorney (SPA) are not allowed to transact and participate in the procurement utilizing another construction firm. The pre-bid conference shall be open only for those who have purchased the Bid documents.

The schedule of BAC activities is listed as follows: PROJECT NAME

Issuance of Bid Documents (Date and Time Schedule)

Pre- bid Conference (Date and Time Schedule)

1.Cajecsan SIP NSIMO #02- 2020

Starting May 8, 2020 (8AM-5PM)

May 14, 2020 (10AM)

2.Sinimangan SIP NSIMO #07- 2020

Starting May 8, 2020 (8AM-5PM)

May 14, 2020 (10AM)

Receipt & Opening of Bids (Date and Time Schedule) May 26, 2020 (9AM) May 26, 2020 (9AM)

The BAC will issue a complete set of Bidding Documents from the address above and upon payment of its respective non-refundable amount to the cashier.

The NIA reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

(SGD) CESAR R. ECHANO BAC Chairman (MS-MAY 7, 2020)

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

A4

THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2020

PSE INDEX

Closing May 6, 2020 32.40 5,639.27

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

561,475,380 157,872 6,049,055,220.38 69 126 36

F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2020

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.00000

50.5440

Japan

Yen

0.009385

0.4744

UK

Pound

1.24450

62.9020

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128976

6.5190

Switzerland

Franc

1.027749

51.9465

Canada

Dollar

0.712099

35.9923

Singapore

Dollar

0.706414

35.7050

Australia

Dollar

0.642800

32.4897

Bahrain

Dinar

2.647604

133.820

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266383

13.4641

Brunei

Dollar

0.703928

35.5793

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000067

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.030878

1.5607

UAE

Dirham

0.272257

13.7610

Euro

Euro

1.084500

54.8150

Korea

Won

0.000819

0.0414

China

Yuan

0.141585

7.1563

India

Rupee

0.013212

0.6678

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.232504

11.7517

New Zealand

Dollar

0.604400

30.5488

Taiwan

Dollar

0.033503

1.6934 Source: BSP

Metro Pacific pares capital expenditures by nearly 50%

Business

Reopening of oil refinery not yet certain, says Shell

By Alena Mae S. Flores

P

ILIPINAS Shell Petroleum Corp. is weighing two factors that could lead to the resumption of operations of its Batangas oil refinery after opting to shut it down for one month starting mid-May.

“Two factors that will determine when the refinery process can be re-started are product demand and refinery economics,” Pilipinas Shell general manager Jan-Peter Groot Wassink said in an advisory to employees Wednesday.

The company on Tuesday informed the Philippine Stock Exchange of its plan to temporarily shut down refinery operations amid the coronavirus pandemic that forced the government to impose the enhanced community quarantine. Lockdown measures led to reduced economic activities and less mobility.

Groot Wassink said the demand for domestic products “must have bounced back to a level such that the refinery can run sustainably and the margins must recover sufficiently to make sense, economically for PSPC to restart the refinery.”

He said the refinery will be shut down in a controlled manner while critical systems will be kept running. The facility is capable of refining 110,000 barrels per day.

“During this economic shutdown, the site will operate in terminal/import mode to continue supporting the fuel requirements of the country,” Groot Wassink said.

Pilipinas Shell is the country’s second biggest oil firm, with the Batangas refinery supplying about 30 percent of local demand.

He said the refinery was running on “bare minimum throughput: and product volumes produced still exceed local demand.”

“Our supply chain is filled to the rim with products from the refinery going all the way up to the retail stations. As a result PSPC is exporting at high penalty because the market prices are very low due to the lack of demand in Asia,” Groot Wassink said.

He added refinery margins had declined further to “negative territory.”

“Whereas in previous months we were still able to find opportunities to lock in positive margins that allowed us to continue running, there is no such opportunity for succeeding months,” he said.

The official said running the refinery could no longer be economically justified amid negative margins and limited product outlets.

He said making the choice to run the refinery with negative margins versus an economic shutdown “was extremely painful.”

By Jenniffer B. Austria INFRASTRUCTURE conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. will reduce its planned capital expenditures this year by nearly 50 percent to P80 billion from an original estimate of P150 billion as it defers implementation of some discretionary projects to preserve cash.

Metro Pacific chief finance officer David Nicol said during an online press briefing Wednesday the group was postponing some expansion projects, especially in the logistics and hospitals businesses.

Nicol said the company was also temporarily suspending a previously announced share buyback program to preserve cash.

Metro Pacific in February announced a P5-billion share repurchase program. The company so far has spent P700 million to buy back company shares from the market.

Meanwhile, the company reported net income in the first quarter of the year declined 47 percent to P1.54 billion from P3.66 billion year-on-year primarily due to the provisioning in full of the carrying value of unit Manila Electric Co.’s investment in PacificLight Power PTE. Ltd., a gas-fired power plant operator in Singapore.

First-quarter core net income, which excludes one-off items, however, declined just by six percent to P3.4 billion from P3.7 billion recorded in the same period last year due largely to the economic contraction stemming from the government’s order to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic through an enhanced community quarantine launched in late March.

Metro Pacific said the ECQ reduced toll road traffic, suspended rail services and decreased commercial and industrial demand for water and power, resulting in a lower contribution of five percent.

IN BRIEF

Atencio sees 20% dip in condominium prices

JANUARIUS Holdings Inc., a private investment company, expects condominium prices to decline 15 percent to 20 percent due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Januarius Holdings chairman and chief executive Januario Jesus Atencio said the condominium segment was likely to be the most affected by the global virus outbreak as property developers attempt to recover lost market share.

Atencio, however, expects raw land and house and lot products to be robust and in demand.

“What is going to be sensitive are condominiums. I wouldn’t be surprise if there is a 15 to 20 percent decrease in sale prices or sales volumes, he said.

Atencio, former shareholder, president and CEO of publicly-listed mass housing developer 8990 Holdings Inc., said property developers would gear up to regain market share once the enhanced community quarantine is lifted.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Stock market retreats; GMA Network climbs

THE 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index on Wednesday succumbed to profit taking ahead of the release of the country’s firstquarter gross domestic product report today .

The PSEi fell 0.6 percent to close at 5,639.27.

“This morning agricultural output showed a contraction of a little over 1 percent, which is making analysts rethink the Philippine economic performance from January to March,” Luis Limlingan managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp said.

GMA Network Inc. emerged as one of the top gainers in Wednesday’s trading after the government shut down the operations of rival network ABS-CBN Corp.

Trading of ABS-CBN shares was suspended pending the submission of a disclosure on the impact of the cease-and-desist order issued by the National Telecommunications Commission on the business, financial condition, operations, and prospects of the company.

Jenniffer B. Austria

ERC orders longer bill payment extension

THE Energy Regulatory Commission directed distribution utilities and retail electricity suppliers operating under the enhanced community quarantine in the National Capital Region to further extend payment of consumers’ electricity bill until May. The ERC said in an advisory the payment extension would not carry interest, penalties and charges. It covers bills falling due within the ECQ period of March 16 to May 15.

“The directive on the amortization of payments in four equal monthly installments, payable in the four succeeding billing months following the end of the ECQ shall continue to be observed, but payments thereof by customers in areas covered by ECQ extension until 15 May 2020 shall commence no earlier than 30 May 2020,” the regulator said.

Alena Mae S. Flores

InLife introduces Prime Care product

BUDGET REALIGNMENT. Social Housing Finance Corp., the lead government agency that administers socialized housing programs for low-income families, is suspending some of its planned ancillary activities and events for the year worth over P21 million to free up funds to help in the government’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. SHFC president Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling (in photo) reassured stakeholders the cost-cutting measures will not compromise the delivery of the agency’s services that can help improve sanitation and living conditions in congested settlements where viruses spread fast.

Trade deficit declines on lower exports and imports

By Julito G. Rada THE country’s trade deficit shrank 28.6 percent in March to $2.38 billion from $3.33 billion a year ago, as imports and exports both declined amid the coronavirus disease 2019, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Wednesday.

The March figure brought the trade deficit in the first quarter to $7.540 billion, down from $10.340 billion in the same period last year.

Data showed exports in the threemonth period amounted to $11.44 billion, down 25.7 percent from $15.40 billion on year and the lowest level in two years.

Exports accounted for $4.53 billion (39.6 percent) of the total trade in March while imports contributed $6.91 billion (60.4 percent) .

Export sales in March fell 24.9 percent to $4.53 billion from $6.03 billion a year ago. Largely contributing to the down-

trend in March were nine of the top 10 major export commodities led by metal components (-40.9 percent); machinery and transport equipment (-33.1 percent); and electronic products (-24.0 percent).

Imported goods in March declined 26.2 percent to $6.91 billion from $9.37 billion a year ago. The drop was due to the decreases in the top 10 major import commodities led by industrial machinery and equipment (-39.4 percent); telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery (-37.1 percent); and miscellaneous manufactured articles (-32.9 percent).

Acting National Economic and Development Authority director-general and Economic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said in a statement the COVID-19 pandemic around the world and the resulting restrictions in production supply chains and global trade flow led to the decline in Philippine trade in March 2020.

“Merchandise trade may recover in 2021, but this will depend on how fast we can contain the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate its economic impact through government policies to support affected industries and workers,” Chua said.

“To improve the country’s trade performance, export manufacturers are encouraged to use digital technology and innovative approaches to continue operation and secure new markets. Firms will have to put in place alternative business processes that will become the new standards for engaging with clients, buyers, and suppliers,” he said.

Chua said the export industry must be more responsive to the changes in consumer spending and redesign their product lines accordingly. Companies should consider the needs and preferences of those working from home, such as in terms of garments, personal care, health equipment and household tools.

Lower inflation to restore growth—NEDA

COVID-19 PROTECTION. Holcim Philippines Inc. has installed additional hand washing stations in all its sites to further strengthen protections of workers against Covid-19. Holcim also shifted its corporate citizenship budget to provide medical supplies to hospitals treating coronavirus patients and food and hygiene products to communities hosting its facilities in La Union, Bulacan, Manila, Batangas, Iloilo, Misamis Oriental and Davao City.

THE economy is in a position to recover its losses and bounce back from the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019, with the inflation rate on a downward trajectory, Acting National Economic and Development Authority director-general and Economic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said Wednesday.

Consumer prices in April further slowed to a five-month low of 2.2 percent from 2.5 percent in March, pulled down by the decrease in the indices of transport, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco.

The rate was the slowest since 1.3 percent in November 2019. It was also slower than 3 percent in April a year ago, bringing the average inflation rate in the first four months to 2.6 percent, way below the midpoint of the target range of 2 to 4 percent.

“The steady inflation outlook over the past several months clearly demonstrates the tangible benefits of the Rice Tariffication Law, strong economic growth over the past three years, and improvements in logistics through the Build, Build, Build

program,” Chua said.

“This steady outlook will support our efforts to restore economic growth, and will keep essential goods affordable for our people,” he said.

Chua said continued deflation in the operation of personal transport equipment and electricity, gas, and other fuels helped keep prices down.

Chua also underscored the need to continue government efforts to keep the supply and price of essential commodities stable, especially with the extension of enhanced community quarantine in highrisk areas in the country.

“We need to ensure supply chains are not disrupted. We also need to beef up our efforts to boost agricultural production in the near term to ensure a sufficient supply of key food items in the domestic market.

This entails, among others, accelerating the implementation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) to help rice farmers improve productivity in the next planting season,” Chua said.

Julito G. Rada

THE good news: Technological advances in detection and treatment have improved the chances of survival. The bad news: treatment costs of various critical illnesses have also gone up.

It’s one thing to go through an illness, and another to prepare for it emotionally and most especially, financially. With Insular Life’s (InLife) Prime Care, one can focus on the treatment for better chances of recovery.

InLife’s Prime Care is a yearly renewable term insurance that gives a lump sum amount and pays a monthly cash allowance for 30 months if the insured is diagnosed with any of the covered critical illnesses.

In case of total and permanent disability, it gives an additional lump sum amount on top of the cash allowances. Should the insured pass away while receiving the monthly cash allowances, all unpaid cash allowances are given to the beneficiary.

Ayala and MPIC resume works on LRT 1 extension

By Darwin G. Amojelar LIGHT Rail Manila Corp. , a joint venture between Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., resumed works on the extension of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 to Cavite after receiving the green light from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and Department of Transportation (DOTr) amid the enhanced community quarantine.

“Rest assured that we are taking every opportunity during this time to come back better for Filipino commuters. We are taking great efforts to make sure our workers remain safe and healthy by following the proper guidelines and precautions set by the government,” Enrico Benipayo, chief operating officer of LRMC, said.

The scheduled test pit works (bridge and pipe inspection) required for the construction along the CAVITEX–Paranaque bridge is set to begin on May 07 until May 22, 2020.

As a result, there will be a temporary road closure of the innermost lane (northbound) along CAVITEX– Paranaque bridge to give way to the necessary activities in the area during the same period.

This was previously announced and rescheduled due to the government’s implementation of Enhanced Community Quarantine program on March 17.

LRMC also said preventive and corrective maintenance works, including the replacement of air-conditioning compressor units, were in progress to ensure the public of better service when LRMC resumes operations of LRT-1.

Public transport operations have been suspended since March 17 in line with the government’s enhanced community quarantine enforced in Luzon.