Manila Standard - 2020 August 22 - Saturday

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Congress OKs P165-b Bayanihan

By Maricel V. Cruz, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Othel V. Campos

CONGRESS has approved the Bayanihan 2 bill that earmarks P165 billion for a stimulus package to support the recovery of distressed micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from the financial losses caused by the coronavi-

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM AUGUST 21)

182,365 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

4,786 64,906 NEW

ACTIVE

2,940

59

115,519

616

DEATHS

RECOVERIES

NEW

NEW

rus pandemic.

The Senate has ratified the consolidated version of the bill approved by the bicameral conference committee, while the House is expected to ratify the same on Monday, Aug. 24.

“The swift approval of ‘Bayanihan to Recover as One’ in the bicameral committee has shown the joint Next page

VOL. XXXIV • NO. 169 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

P13 B UP IN SMOKE.

Rainshowers hardly put a damper to the zealous members of the anti-narcotics group who check out the P13.3-billion illegal drug haul before it is set on fire at an incineration site on Friday, Aug. 21 in Trece Martires, Cavite.

National Police chief Archie Gamboa and PDEA director general Wilkins Villanueva lead the destruction of the dangerous drugs.

JR Josue

New cases top 4,000 for 4th day in a row

By Willie Casas THE number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the country rose to 182,365 on Friday after the Department of Health (DOH) reported

‘PhilHealth papers destroyed’ Next page

Two senators say ‘roof leaks’ in agency’s Region 1 office intentional

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Willie Casas

T

WO senators raised a howl Friday over “roof leaks” that happened to destroy several documents and computers in the Region I office of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

(PhilHealth) in Pangasinan, which is under investigation for failing to act on at least 200 fraudulent claims.

“There is enough reason to suspect that the destruction of documents and records caused by the roof leaks in the PhilHealth’s regional office in Pangasinan was intentional,” said Senator Panfilo Lacson, who advised the Presidential Anti Crime Commission (PACC) investigator in the area to seek the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation.

He also urged the PACC to immediately conduct forensics on the damaged portion of the building to determine if the water leaks were deliberately done.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said the roof leaks seemed to be part of a cover-up to hamper ongoing investigations.

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PH protests China move off ‘Bajo’

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• ‘Mall shoppers must wear face shields, masks’ FACE shields and face masks are now required of people wishing to go to commercial establishments such as shopping malls, Malacañang said on Friday.

The Palace gave the order after the National Task Force against the COVID-19 pandemic decided to make the use of face shields mandatory not just in public vehicles and in the workplace but also in enclosed spaces, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.

“Face shields should also be worn in enclosed commercial establishments like malls,” Roque told the state-run PTV-4.

The Transport department earlier ordered all passengers to wear face shields and face masks as protection against COVID-19.

By Rey E. Requejo THE Philippines has filed a diplomatic protest against China for its illegal confiscation of fish-aggregating devices installed by Filipino fishermen in a shoal off Zambales.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it sent a diplomatic protest to China on Thursday over the incident that took place in May 2020 in the Philippine-claimed Bajo de Masinloc.

“The DFA lodged a diplomatic protest to China over the illegal confiscation by the Chinese Coast Guard of fish- aggregating devices or payaos

LOCAL ROUNDUP

10,000 seafarers sent home FREE TESTING . Health workers take blood samples from walk-in individuals for COVID-19 testing at a serology clinic at the Kartilya ng Katipunan Shrine in front of Manila City Hall on August 21, 2020, a national holiday. Manila Mayor Isko Moreno vows to continue to provide free testing to city and non-city residents for as long as the funds can allow. Norman Cruz

The Bureau of Immigration repatriated nearly 10,000 foreign seafarers to their respective countries after they were stranded for many weeks aboard Next page

Ex-SolGen joins the fray, pushes for anti-terror law

By Rey E. Requejo

declare the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 as unconstitutional, claiming those FORMER Solicitor General Estelito lacked “actual controversy.”

“The petitions do not sufficiently alMendoza has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the 29 petitions seeking to lege, much less show, that the petitioners

have committed any act in violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act, thereby creating an ‘actual controversy’ involving a legally demandable and enforceable right for Next page

Rody: Ninoy’s courage worth emulating

By Vito Barcelo

HOMAGE TO NINOY. As the nation marks the 37th death anniversary of Benigno

“Ninoy” Aquino Jr. on Friday, members of the August Twenty One Movement visit the Aquino Mausoleum at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City, paying homage to the late senator.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte urged the Filipino people to emulate the courage and patriotism of the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr in this time of pandemic as the nation marked his 37th death anniversary.

In his message, Duterte honored the late homecoming senator, assassinat-

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BUS LANE BARRIERS. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group goes to work and arranges the concrete barriers using a fork lifter at a new bus stop in the center island of Edsa near North Avenue MRT-3 station, Quezon City on Friday August 21, 202). The concrete barriers provide a specific lane for buses plying Edsa but some drivers say these barriers make the road narrower and thus prone to mishaps although the MMDA says driver error is to blame. Robert P. Alfiler

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Echanis tortured to death—CHR

By Rey E. Requejo and Ben Chavez

T

HE Commission on Human Rights said Friday a former peace consultant of the National Democratic Front was tortured to death, following a tractor pull between police and the slain activist’s family for his remains.

tivated killings or extrajudicial killings of members of civil society groups, political movements, people’s and non-government organizations, among others.

Last Aug. 10, Echanis was found dead, along with his neighbor inside his house in Quezon City.

Meanwhile, Perete revealed that the AO 35 Secretariat already recommended the inclusion of Zara Alvarez’ case in the docket of the task force.

Alvarez’ death came a few days after the death of Echanis.

Alvarez is a community health worker and paralegal for human rights group Karapatan.

“That recommendation is now under review, after which a Special investigating Team may also be formed to probe the case,” Perete stressed.

CHR Commissioner Leah TanodraArmamento said 12 of Echanis’ wounds were on his back and were incised, meaning they were longer than they were deep, and were meant to “cause pain.”

“The killing is not merely just to kill him, but to make him suffer before he eventually was killed,” Armamento told ANC in an interview.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun, who conducted an independent autopsy four days after Echanis’ death, said that contrary to the initial death certificate, the peasant leader did not die of a gunshot wound to the head. There was no gunshot wound to begin with.

What killed Echanis, said Fortun, was a long stab wound from the back that punctured his aorta, nicked his esophagus and a portion of his heart.

The activist, who died from a spiked weapon, was identified as Randall Echanis, 71, whose body was autopsied by the commission, which said it bore at least 15 wounds, including two on his head.

At the same time, the Department of Justice has said a composite team investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Echanis has one month to submit its findings.

“The investigation into the killing…is already underway. The composite team

tasked to conduct the investigation was given one month within which to submit a report on its findings,” Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said in a text message.

“They may ask for an extension. Then, a special oversight team will review and evaluate their report and recommend what action to take,” Perete added.

The composite team was constituted pursuant to Administrative Order 35 task force, a special unit of the DoJ that conducts an investigation into politically-mo-

Congress...

From A1

Worse yet to come for some Pinoys, SWS says

commitment of both houses of Congress to unite and help bring our nation back from the brink of public health and economic ruin brought about by this global pandemic,” Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said.

Under the approved measure, lowinterest loans will be made available to productive sectors of the economy, especially in the countryside, including self-employed individuals, cooperatives, and MSMEs. The measure also provides that lending institutions will not require collateral for loans not exceeding P3 million, with loans payable within three years.

Of the P140-billion appropriations provided under the measure, Bayanihan 2 seeks to infuse a total of P39.47 billion worth of capital to government financial institutions, broken down as follows: P10 billion to the Small Business Corporation (SBCorp) to strengthen its COVID-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) program to ensure additional access to working capital for MSMEs, cooperatives, hospitals, tourism industry players, and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs); P5 billion for the credit guarantee program of the Philippine Guarantee Corp. (Philguarantee); P18.47 billion for Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP); and P6 billion for Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

Another P15.52 billion has been included in the standby fund for the LBP and DBP to be made available once additional funds are generated from savings and unused amounts.

While only P140 billion is readily available, the overall stimulus funding under Bayanihan 2 has authorized the spending plan of up to a maximum of P165.5 billion, which includes a P25.5 billion standby fund.

Based on the approved bill, the combined regular appropriations and stand-by fund for the government financial institutions will total P55 billion, which is equivalent to one-third of the entire package.

Cayetano said MSMEs in the agrifishery, transport, health, and tourism sectors as well as cooperatives and OFWs can avail themselves of the various loan facilities to help them reboot their businesses and preserve more jobs.

He cited a June 20 report from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that showed more than 3,000 establishments nationwide permanently closing or cutting back their workforce due to the pandemic, leaving 90,000 people jobless.

Ex-SolGen...

From A1 the exercise of judicial power under… the Constitution,” Mendoza said.

He asked the 15-member bench to allow him to act as “amicus curiae” or “friend of the court” during the oral arguments and resolution of the petitions against the ACA or Republic Act 11479.

“This does not preclude the institu-

PH protest...

From A1 of Filipino fishermen in Bajo de Masinloc,” the department said in a statement.

The agency made its statement even as Malacañang on Friday expressed confidence the Philippines’ latest filing of a diplomatic protest against China would not affect the ties between the two countries.

“The filing of the diplomatic protest would not affect the very good relations between our country and China,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque told the state-run PTV-4.

The Philippines also “resolutely objected to China’s continuing illicit issu-

House bill wants PH EEZ, Sabah on passports

By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives committee on foreign affairs has approved a substitute bill requiring the printing of the country’s map, including its 200-mile exclusive economic zone and Sabah, on its passports.

The committee, chaired by Zamboanga Sibugay Rep. Ann Hofer, also approved granting millions of senior citizens a 32-percent passport discount.

This developed as Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, author of HB 6399, welcomed the bill’s approval.

In moving for the printing of the country’s map on the travel document, Rodriguez maintained that it “aims to emphasize and insist on our victory on the West Philippine Sea over China in the International Arbitral Tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands, and our legal and historical rights over Sabah.”

He added: “The inclusion of the map on our travel document is a strong statement that we are asserting our sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea and our EEZ.” As for the 32-percent passport discount, Rodriguez said it would apply not only on the cost of the passport but on processing fees as well.

“By law, senior citizens at present get a price reduction of 20 percent discount plus 12-percent value added tax exemption on medicines,” he said.

He added that another amendment to the Passport Law the committee approved was the online application by seniors for passport issuance and renewal.

“This will do away with personal appearance by seniors in Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) consular offices,” Rodriguez stressed.

terviewing of 4,010 Filipinos aged 15 years old and above.

Sampling error margin is at ±2 percent for national percentages, ±6 percent for Metro Manila, ±2 for Balance Luzon, ±3 percent Visayas, and ±3 percent in Mindanao.

The 36 percent Pessimists in July 2020 is the second highest proportion in the 37-year series.

Pessimists peaked at 43 percent in May 2020, breaking the previous record 34 percent in March 2005, the SWS said.

The previous record of Filipinos expecting worse life circumstances was 34 percent in March 2005—the same year as the Camp Bagong Diwa Siege, Hello Garci Scandal, and Valentine’s Day bomb-

ings—while the 24 percent “optimists” in May 2020 is but a small improvement over the record-low 20 percent in both October 2000 and March 2005.

Only 26 percent of Filipinos believe their lives would get better in the coming 12 months.

By area, optimists are highest in Mindanao and Balance Luzon, both at -5, followed by Metro Manila at -9, and the Visayas at -28, the SWS survey found.

Compared to May 2020, Net Optimism improved in all areas except in Balance Luzon where it hardly changed from -4 in May to -5 in July.

The biggest improvement happened in Mindanao where the score increased from -32 in May to -5 in July.

the “soulless” because he didn’t do anything in his capacity as ex-officio chairman of PhilHealth about the corrupt practices in the state-owned insurance agency.

“Billion peso question is why?” Lacson said.

During a Senate hearing this week, Duque was also grilled about the unabated increase of COVID-19 cases. He said he was doing his best to address the pandemic.

“There was never a time that I never tried my best but if my best is not enough, I just have to do some more reflection and soul searching and I will be the first to let everyone know that we need to learn,” Duque said.

The Cabinet official, whose resignation had been sought by senators, said his lapses in the pandemic response were not deliberate.

Duque was also tagged by a whistleblower as the “godfather” of the mafia within PhilHealth but he said the allegation was baseless and malicious.

Meanwhile, the dialysis center B. Braun Avitum denied on Friday it owned a bank account in Bataan province where PhilHealth allegedly deposited some P9.7 million as payment for the dialysis center’s services.

“B. Braun Avitum is in no way involved

in the PhilHealth credit of P9.7 million to a rural bank in Balanga, Bataan. We do not own a bank account in any bank in Balanga, Bataan,” the statement said.

Payments to B. Braun Avitum “have always been deposited online” to Deutsche Bank in Manila, the company said.

Senate hearings earlier showed that PhilHealth officials from Cagayan deposited P9.7 million to the account of “B. Braun Avitum” in the Balanga Rural Bank covering the “reimbursement of claims for 12 consecutive periods” from May 2 to 22, 2020.

B. Braun Avitum also denied that it was charging for the dialysis of nonexistent or “ghost” patients.

“B. Braun Avitum has absolutely no ghost machines in any of the centers we operate,” the company said.

They said that 25 dialysis centers in Luzon provide at least 27,000 treatments to 3,000 patients.

The company also denied allegations that it claimed to cater to COVID-19 patients to get advance deposits from PhilHealth through the interim reimbursement mechanism (IRM), which prepositions payments to health facilities affected by “fortuitous” or unforeseen calamities.

ed at the Manila International Airport, “whose life, work, and impact on governance have uplifted the lives of many, especially the oppressed and marginalized.”

Duterte said: “As this important occasion is remembered during this time that we are facing a global public health crisis, may we emulate Ninoy’s courage and patriotism so we may all be heroes

through acts of discipline, goodwill, and social responsibility.”

The Chief Executive also reiterated his call on the people to work with the government in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I call on everyone to cooperate and work with the government so that we may keep ourselves, our families and our communities safe,” Duterte said.

“May we also generously share our resources to those who have less in life during these trying times,” Du-

terte added.

Aquino, a staunch critic of the then incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos, was shot on his arrival at the airport on August 21, 1983, with the passport Marcial Bonifacio, from Taiwan, last leg of his circuitous route home from Boston, Massachusetts.

His death sparked the largely peaceful Catholic Church-backed people power and toppled Marcos from 20 years in power and put his wife, Corazon Aquino, to the presidency.

tion and consideration by the SC of an action questioning an act allegedly committed against the petitioners, in violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act on the ground that the act is in violation of the Constitution, or a provision thereof ‘as applied,’” Mendoza said.

Besides being a solicitor general during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, Mendoza also served as minister of Justice and governor of Pampanga.

As of Aug. 19, 29 petitions had been filed with the high court seeking to nullify the ATA, which became a law on July 3 and was implemented starting July 18.

The high court has required the respondents in the petitions, at least on 20 of them, to file their comments both on the main petitions and on the pleas for a temporary restraining order.

Solicitor General Jose Calida, acting as counsel for the respondents in the Executive department, has sought the

dismissal of the first eight petitions. He has yet to file comments on the other petitions as required by the high court.

The high court has decided to conduct oral arguments on the petitions “on the third week of September at the earliest, and proper notices will be issued once the date is finalized.”

Under the Rules of Court, an “amicus curiae” may be invited by the court to appear and help in the disposition of the issues submitted to it.

The government of New Zealand has extended about P64.25 million in assistance to support the Philippines’ response against COVID-19, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday.

The money, to be channeled through the International Organization for Migration, will give priority to the vulnerable communities affected by the pandemic in Mindanao, the department says.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. conveyed Manila’s appreciation during a meeting with Ambassador Peter Francis Tavita Kell in his office.

undergoing treatment or quarantine. Of these, 91.5 percent are mild, 6.5 percent are asymptomatic, 0.8 percent are severe, and 1.2 percent are in critical condition.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday said it has yet to receive any application from COVID-19 vaccine developers to even start a trial in the Philippines.

Dr. Jesusa Cirunay, director of FDA’s Center for Drug Regulation and Research, told GMA News that normally, it would take about 45 to 60 days to approve an application for a clinical trial but this would be expedited for COVID-19 vaccines.

The approval of the Phase 4 trial or the last stage, on the other hand, will

generally take about 70 to 90 more working days, she said.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has sought the standardization of compensation for people who take part both in the World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity Trial and independent clinical trials for COVID-19.

This developed after the IATF-EID approved Thursday the recommendations made by its sub-technical working group on vaccine development.

On Wednesday, Science and Technology Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevarra floated the possibility that a COVID-19 vaccine might be available in the Philippines by the second quarter of 2021.

By Vito Barcelo DESPITE government efforts to provide financial and job assistance to Filipinos due to the pandemic, at least 36 percent of Filipinos expect their quality of life to worsen in the next 12 months, according to the latest Social Weather Station Survey (SWS).

The survey, done July 3-6, found 36 percent of adult Filipinos claimed their quality-of-life would worsen (termed

by SWS as “Pessimists”), while 30 percent expected it to stay the same, and 26 percent expected it to improve (“Optimists”) in the next 12 months.

The poll survey used mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone in-

‘PhilHealth...

From A1 He called on the NBI to get to the bottom of the roof leaks.

“We urge the Executive and the Ombudsman to immediately implement the suspension orders and appoint trust worthy OICs so that the important documents can be protected,” he said.

Meanwhile, the PACC said it is already investigating the roof leaks, noting that PhilHealth Region I is under investigation over its alleged inaction on at least 200 alleged fraudulent claims, some of them involving “ghost patients.”

Earlier in the day, Lacson posted on his Twitter Account that took a shot at Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, chairman of PhilHealth, who had told a Senate hearing that he would do some soul searching if his efforts fell short of people’s expectations.

“Soul searching is only for people who have souls,” Lacson said on Twitter. “Corruption in PhilHealth to take advantage of a pandemic is worse than the deadly coronavirus itself because of its evil intent and purpose.”

Lacson said he counted Duque among

Rody:...

From A1

ance of radio challenges to Philippine aircraft conducting legitimate regular maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea,” Foreign Affairs said.

China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, including the waters within the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines.

The Scarborough shoal, locally known as Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc, is among the Philippine-claimed territories in the West Philippine Sea that are also being claimed by the Chinese under its nine-dash line map.

Philippine ships have long left the area, but maritime patrols continue to monitor the movement of Chinese vessels there.

New cases...

From A1 4,786 new infections.

This marks the fourth consecutive day where more than 4,000 cases were reported.

The regions with the most number of cases were Metro Manila (2,074 or 56 percent of the cases); Region 4A (670 or 18 percent) and Region 3 (259 or 7 percent).

The DOH reported 59 more deaths, bringing total fatalities due to COVID-19 to 2,940.

On the other hand, 616 new recoveries brought to 114,519 the number of patients who have recovered from the disease.

The country has 64,906 active cases

Local...

From A1 cruise ships in Manila Bay since April due to the pandemic.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said 9,854 alien seamen were processed and cleared by boarding inspectors to leave the country.

Immigration seaport operations chief Alnazib Decampong said the seafarers were escorted to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after they left their cruise ships.

Rapid antibody tests discouraged

The Department of Health on Thursday said it does not recommend the use of rapid antibody tests for COVID-19 in local government units for supposedly yielding inaccurate results.

In a virtual forum organized by the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told governors, mayors and local health officials that using antibody tests for screening, especially for stranded individuals, were a waste of resources.

She says the reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction test, which detects the genetic material of the virus, remains the gold standard in the diagnosis of COVID-19.

NZ sends P64.25M in assistance

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House, Senate clash over P10-b DOT fund

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

HANDWASHING AREA. Two women use the handwashing station provided by the Government Service Insurance System before entering the building on Thursday, August 20. The government is urging the public to practice regular handwashing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease. PNA Photo

SENATE Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Friday slammed some House members for pushing for the allocation of P10-billion for the tourism sector under the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act supposedly for the construction of toilets, roads and other infrastructures.

“I am just repeating that the House of Representatives wanted to put this (10 billion) for the construction of toilets and farm-to-market roads and other infrastructure under the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA),” said Drilon in a radio interview.

Drilon said he and his colleagues in the Senate are instead rallying behind the position of the Department of Tourism that the money should be used as soft loans for small companies severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the end of their lenghty discussions, the senators and congressmen agreed that the funds should be distributed as follows: P1 billion for DPWH tourism infrastructure; P3 billion for displaced workers in the tourism industry and P6 billion for loanable fund through the Small Business Corp. of the DTI. The P6 billion for loanable funds were to be given exclusively for the businesses in the tourism industry, although in the law, its generally worded – it included hospitals, cooperatives, MSMEs – but on record, the P6 billion is only for the tourism industry.

“We didn’t agree to use the P10 billion for the building of toilets in tourist areas because we don’t believe it will help the tourism enterprises and the workers in the tourism industry who lost their jobs,” said Drilon.

No more big shabu labs in PH—PDEA

By Maricel V. Cruz

T

HE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has not monitored any big illegal drug laboratory operating in the country lately.

PDEA Director General Wilkins VilVillanueva credited the government lanueva issued the statement on Friday multi-pronged effort against illegal drugs during the destruction of some P13 billion for the “disappearance” of big illegal worth of confiscated illegal and regulated drugs laboratories. drugs in Trece Martirez, Cavite.

“Wala na kaming namo-monitor na

malaking laboratory right now (We have not been able to monitor the existence of a big laboratory right now).”

“Lahat ng droga na nasa atin ngayon is galing sa labas (All drugs in the country came from outside. Ito ang effort natin (This is our effort)... ng PNP (Philippine National Police) at ng (Bureau of) Customs na talagang mahinto natin ito (that this should really be stopped),” Villanueva said.

President Duterte’s war on drugs, that has claimed the lives of thousands of alleged drug traffickers, most of whom are

smalltime street pushers has been criticized, both locally and internationally.

Administration critics and humanrights groups claim that the death toll could be as high as 27,000 but the police said that the number of documented killings of alleged drug traffickers is only about 6,000.

Together with suppressing the operations of drug syndicates, Villanueva said the government is also addressing the “demand side” of the narcotics problem by clearing barangays of illegal drugs. He

said illegal drugs would not be shipped to the Philippines if there would be no demand for them.

Solving the demand side of problem on illegal drugs, he said, is critical because kung walang demand (if there is no demand), definitely, hindi na magpapapasok ang mga iyan kasi di na (the syndicates will no longer bring in drugs because it is not longer) profitable,” he said. The local governments play a critical role in the demand side solution to the problem of illegal drugs, Villanueva added.

Legislator assails DepEd’s move to extend online classes to 8 hours

By Maricel V. Cruz A PARTY-LIST congressman who represents teachers on Friday slammed the reported plan of the Department of Education to extend online classes to up to eight hours per school day in order to make up for the lost number of school days during the lockdowns.

“Policies such as these will do more harm than good for the welfare and wellbeing of teachers, students and their parents. The education department should be reminded that both teachers and the students are not robots that should be subjected to 8 long hours of online classes amid this pandemic,” Assistant Minority Leader France Castro said.

“What percentage of the youth can attend online classes? How many among them have Internet connection? How

much will the parents and teachers spend in order to comply with eight hours of online instruction? These are few of the questions that DepEd should answer before issuing statements about policies to be imposed when classes open,” Castro, the nominee of the party-list group ACT Teachers said.

“Amid the pandemic, the Department of Education should be sensitive to plight of most families, especially now that the unemployment rate is at a record high of 45.5 percent,” Castro added.

“If even teachers have been having a hard time on the access to a quality and reliable Internet connection, then students from less fortunate backgrounds are worse off. The families of these students barely make enough for daily subsistence, how can they be expected to afford Internet access?”

TAXI RIDE. A man wearing a face shield and face mask boards a taxicab at a waiting shed on Timog Avenue, Quezon City on Friday, August

21). Commuters and public utility vehicle drivers are still required to strictly follow the existing health guidelines and safety protocols provided by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease. PNA Photo

Isko: Deport traders Pilmico, DAR join hands to help farmers over China province tag

By Willie Casas and Rey E. Requejo

GREEN RIDER. A biker dressed in green to match his green-colored bicycle drives along Mc Arthur bridge in Manila on August 21. Norman Cruz

Palace hits fake news on Du30 health MALACAÑANG on Friday slammed members of the opposition who continue to spread “fake news” about the health condition of President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a press statement, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque lamented that Duterte’s critics are persistent in propagating false information about the 75-year-old Chief Executive’s health.

“It is preposterous that certain quarters have continued to peddle the false narrative of the Singapore trip in relation to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s health,” Roque said.

Roque issued the statement when asked to react to claims that Senator Leila de Lima was behind the rumor that

Duterte went to Singapore for medical treatment.

Speculations that Duterte is sick floated anew when a certain Josef Leroi Garcia, who claimed to be De Lima’s consultant, posted on Facebook about a medical jet from Singapore landing in Davao City, the hometown of the President, over the weekend.

Netizens began speculating that Duterte was aboard the medical jet.

To dispel rumors, Senator Christopher Lawrence Go on Monday released a photo and went live on Facebook to assure the public that Duterte was just at his residence in Davao City.

MANILA Mayor Isko wants 2 Chinese deported for ‘Province of China’ tag Mayor Francisco “Isko” Domagoso has sought the deportation of two Chinese businessmen whose hair care product listed its address in Manila as a “province of China.”

Domagoso said the address in the label of Ashley keratin treatment of Elegant Fumes Beauty Product Inc. was “an affront to the sovereignty of the Philippines.”

Domagoso said the cosmetics company, whose two stores and two stalls in Manila were closed by local authorities on Thursday, also engaged in online selling without any permit.

The firm violated the Consumer Act and the Food and Drugs Administration Act, Domagoso said.

In a letter to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, Domagoso asked for deportation proceedings against the company’s incorporators, Shi Zhong Xing and Li Li. “Their utter disrespect to the country as shown by the violations of EFBPI should not be countenanced,” Domagoso said.

“We cannot let these foreign nationals insult our nation and our people,” he said.

PBA Party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles earlier asked the trade department to ban the Chinese beauty product.

PILMICO Foods Corporation, the integrated agribusiness and food company of Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc., has partnered with the Department of Agrarian Reform to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to 1,200 farmers amid the current health crisis.

Pilmico signed a Memorandum of Agreement with DAR in a virtual ceremony held last August 13, 2020 to provide livelihood and technical support services to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries.

Dubbed ‘The PaSSOver: ARBOld Move for Deliverance of our Farmers from the COVID-19 Pandemic’, the DAR-funded initiative will enable 1,200 women ARBs to engage in livelihood activities in the agribusiness sector. The

beneficiaries will be given starter kits for bakery training, egg layering and poultry or broiler production, hog fattening, and other similar livestock rearing businesses.

“We are living in unprecedented times, when we have seen the havoc that a global pandemic can wreak on the livelihoods of many people. This makes the meaning behind this initiative with DAR much more powerful, and the timing could not be better. We, in Pilmico, are excited to be involved in this project and commit to being your reliable partner in ensuring food security for Filipino families,” said Tristan Aboitiz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pilmico Philippines.

MRT-3 escalators’ repairs complete THE conveyance of passengers at the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 stations will now be easier as all escalators and elevators of the rail service are now operational.

In a statement on Friday, the MRT-3 said its maintenance and rehabilitation provider Sumitomo-MHI-TESP (Sumitomo) completed the rehabilitation works for all 46 escalators and 34 elevators in its 13 stations.

“To keep these station facilities in good working condition, and thus avoid frequent

breakdowns, the DOTr (Department of Transportation) also arranged for their regular preventive maintenance,” the MRT-3 said in a statement.

The completion of the rehabilitation project, it said, was finished ahead of its target completion date set in September.

“The project commenced in June last year,” it added.

It noted that on Jan. 2, 2019, there were only 14 escalators working in the MRT-3, while only five elevators were operations since May 4, 2016.

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

A4

11k ‘kalinga’ packs for Bulacan

By Jun David GIVING “kalinga” amid the coronavirus pandemic, SM Foundation Inc. boosted its COVID-19 response in the province by distributing 11,467 relief goods to the public transport sector in Bulacan.

Jeepney, tricycle and UV Express drivers whose work have been affected by the pandemic receive the relief goods or “kalinga packs” through the SM Bulacan Malls in Marilao, Baliwag, Pulilan, and San Jose Del Monte.

These packs contain five kilos of rice and other food essentials all packed in an eco-bag.

Recipients in Marilao were Marsajoda, Malolos-NLEX, PBM (PulilanBaliuag-Meyc), Prenzajoda, BOAT Cooperative, Royal Friends, Sta. Maria MarJoda, Nomar Transport, Dau Transport, Heritage Transport, SMibayoToda, DM. Trespicos, and LLIPStoda.

Cops bust drug ring, seize P1m shabu in Makati POLICE arrested three persons, including a minor, and seized more than P1 million worth of shabu during a drug entrapment operation Thursday night in Makati City.

The main target of the police operation, 30-year-old Kristina Taculod alias “Neng,” was arrested along with her cohorts Rodelio Ramos, 39, and a 15-year old girl.

Seized from the suspects were 150 grams of shabu, P70,000 boodle money used in the drug bust, and three mobile phones.

Operatives of the Southern Police District and Makati City Police Station coordinated with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Kamuning Police Station in the drug bust near Taculod’s residence at Block 317, Lot 10, Mockingbird Street in Barangay Rizal around 7:25 p.m.

Prior to the arrest, the authorities made a surveillance operation after a police informant reported to the Central Police District-Kamuning Police Station the illegal activities of alias “Neng,” who was said to be dealing drugs in Barangay Rizal.

The station’s officer in-charge immediately informed the Drug Enforcement Unit and coordinated with officials of the PDEA-National Capital Region office to verify the report.

PDEA-NCR confirmed that Taculod was among the persons in its drug watchlist. The police arranged the entrapment and one of their operatives disguised as a buyer, who able to negotiate with the suspects, resulting in their arrest.

The suspects are now detained at the Kamuning Police Station and will charged with violation of Sec. 5 and Sec 11 Article II of R.A. 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The arrest came a week after two bigtime drug dealers were apprehended, also in Makati City. Joel E. Zurbano

LGUs LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020

For Baliwag, Salida Joda, BPBTC (Baliwag-Dau route), Baliwag Federation Joda UV Express Coop and Pagala/Rambol Toda are the recipients of kalinga packs. While Pulilan beneficiaries are Calumpit-Pulilan Joda, SCESMM Toda and NSPC Toda (Sto. Cristo Route).

Apart from the transport sector, marginalized communities in Bulacan were likewise prioritized during the relief distribution. These communities are the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic as recommended by the DSWD. The kalinga packs distribution effort is a part of Operation Tulong Express (OPTE), a social program of SM Foundation in collaboration with SM Supermalls and SM Markets.

It aims to address the needs of communities during calamities and crisis.

Its implementation includes close coordination with SM City Mall Administration employees and volunteers.

FOR TRANSPORT SECTOR.

SM Foundation Inc. keeps the ‘bayanihan’ spirit alive as it distributes a total of 11,467 ‘kalinga’ packs through SM Malls in Marilao, Baliwag, Pulilan, and San Jose Del Monte. They were distributed to jeepney, tricycle, and UV Express drivers, whose work have been stopped by the pandemic.

Binay lauds ‘Makatulong’ vendor

By Joel E. Zurbano

M

AKATI City Mayor Abigail Binay on Friday praised a 42-year-old resident who used the city government’s P5,000 financial assistance to start a small fishball cart business amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Binay took to Twitter to express her admiration for Mario Lutang, a resident of Asuncion Street, Barangay Valenzuela, who built his fishball cart bearing a “Katas ng Makatulong” signage.

A welder by profession, Lutang was laid off from work at the start of the pandemic and had to take on odd jobs to survive. His luck turned after he and his wife Veronica received P5,000 each from the city’s Makatulong P5K program.

The P2.7-billion financial relief program which benefits 500,000 Makati residents and employees was launched

by Mayor Binay in May 2020.

“I am humbled and amazed by the determination and perseverance of Mr. Mario Lutang. He had the foresight to use the city’s cash assistance to generate sustainable income for him and his family. On behalf of the city government, we applaud you,” Binay said.

“Thank you for serving as an example of hope and resilience to all of us. You are truly a model #Proudmakatizen,” the city chief executive added as she posted photos of Lutang’s store on her twitter account.

What’s even more impressive is that Lutang built his fishball cart with his own two hands. Years ago, this hardworking father took up a vocational course in welding at the University of Makati. The program was also a project of Mayor Binay.

Lutang and his wife Veronica have been Makati residents since 2005 and are holders of the city’s all-in-one Makatizen Card. He narrated that after the program was announced, he and his wife received P5,000 which was credited to their GCash accounts in just three days.

Lutang said he decided to invest the money he received from the Makatulong P5K program to have a regular source of income for his family. According to him, it took more than five days to construct his small fishball cart.

PDEA dismantles ‘kitchen-type’ meth lab in Subic

By Jess Malabanan CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga—Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) demolished Thursday a “kitchen-type” laboratory of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu following a raid at a home in barangay Cawag, Subic, Zambales.

A caretaker—Joven Salvador, 36— who was present during the raid was arrested.

PDEA regional director Christian Frivaldo said the laboratory could produce one kilo of shabu finish product per day.

“Kaya nga ‘kitchen’ lang dahil maliitan lang ang nagagawang finished products (That’s why it’s called a ‘kitchen’ because it can only turn out small amounts of finished products),” he said.

The raiding team, Frivaldo said, found volumes of precursor chemicals and other laboratory equipment essential in manufacturing illegal drugs in one room of the residential unit. He said Chineselooking men have occupied the place for quite a long time.

‘KITCHEN’ BUSTED. A PDEA agent supervises the seized equipment found inside a house in Subic, Zambales Thursday. PDEA handout

Limasawa, not Masao, named first Easter site

By Ronald O. Reyes THE National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) settled the controversy over the official site of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass in the country by favoring Limasawa in Southern Leyte instead of Masao in Butuan City.

Dr. Rene Escalante, chairman of NHCP and executive director of the National Quincentennial Committee, said they revisited the issue surrounding the site of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass in the Philippines as part of its mandate to resolve historical controversies.

He cited Antonio Pigafetta, the chronicler of the Magellan-Elcano expedition, who wrote that the first mass happened on March 31, 1521 in a place he identified as Mazaua.

In a statement released on Wednesday, August 19, NHCP announced that it signed on July 15, 2020 Resolution No. 2, adopting the report submitted by the six-man panel of scholars led by historian and National Artist for Literature Dr. Resil Mojares who reviewed the issue surrounding the site of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass in the Philippines.

“The panel was convened in response to the requests from various institutions, including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), even as the anticipation of the Filipino Catholic faithful had just begun for the 500th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines,” the commission said.

Basilan shows way in distance learning

DISTANCE LEARNING. Basilan reaffirms its resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in education, as its schools recently conducted an orientation and writeshop on the use of CVIF-DLP Learning Activity Sheets.

ONCE a thriving trading center in Mindanao, Basilan has had a troubled history in the last half-century, marked by clashes between the military and Moro secessionists and attacks by terrorist groups. But while communities are constantly displaced, they brave hardship and strive to survive.

Now faced with yet another challenge, the COVID-19 pandemic, Basilan reaffirms its resilience, particularly in education.

As schools and teachers nationwide prepare for the shift to blended and distance learning, the Concepcion National High School (CNHS) in Basilan is simply building on lessons drawn from years of teaching in times of crisis.

Eight years ago, the school started implementing the CVIF-Dynamic Learning Program (CVIF-DLP), an innovative strategy supported by Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), PLDT Inc. (PLDT), and PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF).

The methodology trains students to learn independently, with minimal intervention from teachers. Over the years, CVIF-DLP proved to be an effective, costefficient, and crisis-resilient method.

In a place like Basilan, “where residents are affected by both natural and man-made

calamities, education is also likely to be disrupted. But CVIF-DLP has addressed the problem,” says Alawi Mojawid, CNHS principal. “I’m certain it can help more teachers and learners in the new normal.”

Ramon Magsaysay laureates Dr. Christopher Bernido and Dr. Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido, both theoretical physicists, developed DLP initially to do something about the poor academic performance in the Central Visayan Institute Foundation in their hometown, Jagna, Bohol, hence the name CVIF-DLP. In particular, they sought to strengthen student competencies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Mojawid says CNHS had similar problems as CVIF, such as low teacher-to-student ratio, as well as lack of equipment and learning resources, resulting in students’ poor academic performance.

“However, we noted significant improvements in their performance, and our mean percentage score in the National Achievement Test (NAT) gradually increased after we adopted DLP in 2012,” he says.

One of the key CVIF-DLP components that was critical to its success is the activity-based multi-domain learning. Students

are each given a Learning Activity Sheet (LAS), which contains the lesson that they need to copy, read, and learn, as well as questions and exercises to be answered and accomplished.

Indicated on the LAS are the topic and the simple, specific learning target, as well as reference materials and a summary of the lesson.

This trains students to be focused on the lesson and to develop analytical skills. According to a program primer, a CVIF-DLP student answers an average of 5,000 questions/activities per year.

Contrary to the general misconception associated with distance learning, there is no need for gadgets. Students are not even allowed to use calculators for math lessons.

To Mojawid, this ensures that CVIFDLP is inclusive, promoting education for all Filipino learners.

At the recent 2020 National Kick-off for School Readiness it organized, the Department of Education (DepEd) announced the deployment of CVIF-DLP as a supplemental learning resource for school year 2020-2021. The methodology’s Learning Activity Sheets will be available in DepEd Commons soon.

Opinion ELIZABETH ANGSIOCO

Conclusion LAST week, in commemoration of History Month, I wrote about the recent publication of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines the “Talang Buhay ng Supremo And. Bonifacio sa Kabite”. This book makes public the manuscript in the handwriting of General and first President Emilio Aguinaldo narrating his experience and perspectives on the days of Supremo Andres Bonifacio in Cavite.

Let us remember that in our blood run the greatness and valor of those who fought for our independence and the freedoms we now enjoy.

Thus, the book is a firsthand account of the events in Cavite from December 1897 when the Supremo arrived and until the last week of April in 1898 when the Supremo was arrested by Aguinaldo’s troops.

I extensively quoted the Foreword written by respected author and historian Dr. Rey Ileto, a known critic of Aguinaldo until recent years. Dr. Ileto mentioned how Aguinaldo was constantly in the forefront of the battles against the Spaniards. He explained some major differences between Bonifacio and Aguinaldo, especially as revolutionary leaders and strategists.

Last week’s piece ended with the death of Aguinaldo’s elder brother, Gen. Crispulo Aguinaldo, in the battlefields of Pasong Santol.

Ileto further said, “Crispulo Aguinaldo assumed the command of the frontlines as a replacement for his younger brother, Emilio, who had finally relented to appeals that he return to Tejeros to take up his office as elected president. (The election referred to is the Tejeros Convention where Gen. Aguinaldo was elected and won against the Supremo despite his being absent—ECA) If Crispulo hadn’t taken his place, Emilio would have been the one shot dead. And who was responsible for this? The Talang Buhay tells us that prior to the tragic debacle at Pasong Santol, Bonifacio and Ricarte had blocked Magdiwang contingents that were going to the aid of the Magdalo. The death of Crispulo Aguinaldo, and even that of Edilberto Evangelista before him, could have been avoided had Bonifacio not been so single-minded about refusing to send abuloy to the beleaguered Magdalo defenders” (underscoring mine).”

Dr. Ileto continued, “…My introductory comments are intended mainly to flag some key issues that might be missed, the most crucial being the wartime context of the political crisis. A preoccupation with political rivalry and social difference has overly focused our attention on the complicity of Aguinaldo in the deaths of Andres and Bonifacio. The

Talang Buhay, however, forces us to examine events from the military angle in which Bonifacio becomes complicit in the deaths of Edilberto Evangelista and Crispulo Aguinaldo. This is not a question of good versus evil, but the grave consequences of the decisions that leaders make in the fog of war (underscoring mine).”

In his foreword, Dr. Ileto tells students of history to not forget the CONTEXT within which things happened during the revolution. Without understanding the context at that time, it becomes easy to judge our heroes based on our own biases.

Ileto’s parting words were, “Only by returning to first-hand sources…, can we begin to reassess a century’s worth of writings on Aguinaldo that have tended to picture him in a negative light. By no means does the Talang Buhay present us with a definitive account of the Aguinaldo-Bonifacio controversy. It is, after all, Aguinaldo’s rendering of events that he had lived through and, like any historical document, it has its biases and blind spots. But after reading through the Talang Buhay… none but the most close-minded or partisan reader will continue to accept unquestioningly the Manichean portrayal of the main protagonists in Heneral Luna.” Dr. Ileto is referring to the movie.

Transcribing Gen. Aguinaldo’s handwritten manuscript was a roller-coaster ride for me. It struck me that he was most of the time at the forefront of the fighting, but would readily admit to feeling scared each time he and his troops would face the enemy. It is honestly very hard to imagine the kind of life that our revolutionaries led.

Aguinaldo was always preoccupied with the revolution and focused on the struggle for independence. He never went to battle without first strategizing with his officers. He was able to inspire our revolutionaries especially when they were to face big contingents of better-armed and better-trained Spanish forces.

He was not a proud man as portrayed by many. Despite being rejected, he humbled himself several times to ask help from the Supremo in facing Spanish forces because he believed that the revolution would be stronger if the Magdiwang and Magdalo were united.

I became teary-eyed at the part when he and Gen. Crispulo Aguinaldo said their last goodbyes. The younger Aguinaldo at last agreed to go back to Tejeros to accept the presidency as decided by the Convention.

Crispulo promised Emilio that the enemy would only win over his dead body, and this, sadly, happened.

Not a few of those who have read the book told me that it is an eye-opener. They said that their perspectives of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo changed and that they now have a better understanding of the important events that happened in Cavite when Supremo Bonifacio was there. Their desire to more seriously study our history is rekindled.

In the afterword of the book, Sen. Sonny Angara said, “Napakalaki ang magiging ambag ng talang ito para maunawaan nating mga Pilipino ang mga nangyari noong rebolusyon para sa ating kasarinlan… This publication is important for us Filipinos, as it gives insight into the challenges faced by one of Philippine history’s most consequential figures.”

As we celebrate History Month, let us remember that in our blood run the greatness and valor of those who fought for our independence and the freedoms we now enjoy.

Remember and give respect to our heroes.

We owe them big time. @bethangsioco on Twitter Elizabeth Angsioco on Facebook

MORE OPINION ONLINE (www.manilastandard.net) NAKED THOUGHT CHARLIE V. MANALO

First, a franchise

The rains of August EAGLE EYES

TONY LA VIÑA MANY of us remember August 21, 1983.

We remember the days following Ninoy Aquino’s murder at the airport: the long lines first in the Aquino residence, later at Sto. Domingo Church; the dignity of Cory, the wife, and Doña Aurora, the mother; the dictator, pale and shaken, trying to pacify an angry people; above all, the funeral march 10 days after the assassination.

During the press conference upon her arrival in Manila, on August 24, three days after her husband was killed, Cory was defiant: “Ninoy did not die in vain. He was right about coming back here. God will be the one to give me justice; He alone knows the truth. He alone will give me justice.”

Fifteen years later, in a speech during an August 21 commemoration, Cory recalled how she and her family was surprised upon

their return: “What happened to us after Ninoy's death was completely unexpected.

She said it was a surprise for her family to see on the night of their arrival the crowds that had lined up outside their house. “And to think it was even raining that night,” she added.

Cory described people lining up Mac Arthur highway from Tarlac (when Ninoy’s body was brought there) to Pampanga to Bulacan: “I knew that a great change was taking place. . . It took us more than ten hours from Tarlac to Santo Domingo, because eager crowds would stop us, as they wanted to touch the hearse carrying Ninoy's body...it took us 11 hours to reach Manila Memorial Park from Santo Domingo Church.”

I joined that funeral march, walking with Dr. Leovino Garcia, my mentor and chairman at the Philosophy Department of the Ateneo de Manila, after attending the funeral mass at 9AM officiated by the late Cardinal Jaime Sin. We walked from Santo Domingo to Roxas Boulevard for eight hours as the funeral hearse slowly wound

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020

B1

EDITORIAL

Aguinaldo on Bonifacio in Cavite POWER POINT

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

A revolting label

I

T IS only right that four stores which sold Chinese beauty products with labels that tagged Manila as a Province of China have been clumped by the authorities.

to the Philippines, Province of China”—after Manila won an arbitration case against Beijing in the Permanent Court Arbitration in The Hague in 2016.

Earlier on, President Rodrigo Duterte, in a display of his own levity when he quoted Chinese President Xi Jinping as assuring him the Chinese would not build any structure in Scarborough Shoal, suggested to The tough but legal action of a seething China to make the Philippines part of its terManila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Do- ritory, a line that quickly earned from many magoso chased the letter to the Department of Filipinos the yuck factor.

Trade and Industry of Rep. Jericho Nograles of the Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta party-list who recommended the blacklisting of Ashley We are as Shine Keratin Treatment Deep Repair.

The photos of the imported products went outraged as any viral earlier this week on social media, showing Filipino should be. the label that listed the firm’s manufacturing address as “707 Sto. Cristo St. San Nicolas, Manila Province, P.R. China. MADE IN P.R.C.” Never mind that Presidential Spokesman Nograles said: “The label clearly shows Harry Roque had brushed off the mislabeling Manila, as a province of China. This inciof the Philippine capital as “nonsense” and dent must be investigated at the very least, that it was not the first time the country was and the manufacturer and importer should associated with the tag “province of China.” be blacklisted, as soon as legally permitted.

The “Philippines province of China” geWe stress the obvious that this mislabeotag appeared on social media and earned ling cannot just be dismissed as a simple ertongue-lashing from Filipinos online earli- ror, high in the persuasion the Chinese maner this year, only two years after tarpaulins ufacturer might have done this could have screamed in foot bridges of Manila “Welcome been intentional.We agree with legal minds

that any act to sabotage Philippine sovereignty must be taken seriously post-haste.”

We note that Domagoso has also requested the National Bureau of Investigation to probe the operations of the business firm, Elegant Fumes Beauty Products Inc., which he ordered chained.

In a letter addressed to NBI director Eric Distor dated August 20, Moreno said, "We are requesting that an investigation be conducted on the business operations of EFPBI and if warranted, cause the filing of criminal complaints against the corporation and its officers and/or incorporation.”

"We are looking forward to your prompt response on this matter. We are willing to submit relevant documents in our possession which may aid your office in the investigation," Domagoso said.

We are rather distressed that there are hard as nails people in the capital, callous in the metaphorical sense for being unmoved by the sensitivities of majority of the 110 million people, who are irritated and angered, the presidential joke notwithstanding.

Domagoso was on the right track when he said the erroneous labels add up to misrepresentation and can be the basis for the establishments’ automatic closure.

We join the rest of our countrymen in being revolted by this loathsome misbranding.

US is the greatest threat to Fuga Island OUR country’s interest to build a naval base in Fuga Island is not to deter China. Rather, that decision is to keep the area open to international navigation, while converting the Cagayan Export Processing Zone to a shoppers’ paradise and tourist destination.

Fuga Island is one of several islets intersecting the Bashi Strait, an international waterway for ships traversing the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It is the waterway that divides the Philippines and Taiwan. Specifically, Fuga Island is located north of the Balintang Channel. The strait’s boundary was signed in the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898 between Spain and the US, encompassing all the territories of the Republic of the Philippines.

On the other hand, the area off the coast east of Cagayan is a shallow body of water.

It is part of the country’s continental shelf, being contiguous to the Philippine archipelago. This large body of water stretching off the coast of Cagayan south to the boundary of Quezon and Bicol provinces are mostly within the 200-mile limit demarcated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and partly within our territorial sea demarcated in the Treaty of Paris.

This area, east of the Philippine archipelago, is a continental shelf known as Philippine (Benham) Rise. The area is partly within the 200-kilometer coastline of the archipelago. A great portion of the Philippines Rise, and overlapping the boundary to the coastline is demarcated in the Treaty of Paris, and is recognized by international law as part of our territorial sea. The area within the 200-mile limit is our exclusive economic zone defined by UNCLOS and ratified by the Philippines in 1978. Although there could be no effective legal acquisition of the area as part of our territory, it being a submerged body of water, the Philippines nonetheless considers that area within its EEZ. For this reason, countries have been rac-

its way through España, Quiapo (the crowds there were the thickest), and Luneta. It was people from all walks of life, poor and rich, men, women, and children, more than two million of them. It would go on for another three hours, arriving only at 9PM at Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque.

I pray that it would wash away the evil in the hearts of men, comfort and heal the grieving and suffering, and make this nation kind and happy again.

Midway to Luneta from Sto. Domingo, it rained. Hard. Leo and I were soaked, wet from shoes up. But this did not make us run for cover. Nor did it scare or drive people away. The harder it rained, the bigger the multitudes grew.

It felt like the rain was sent by God who cried with us as we mourned the death of a hero. People were singing in the rain Bayan

BACKBENCHER

ROD P. KAPUNAN ing to conduct underwater exploration for mineral resources. Initial findings indicated that the area contains polymetallic sulfides and three or more metals of commercial quantities. Among such metals are gold, silver, copper, iron, zinc, and lead. As falling within our EEZ, no county can intrude and occupy to exploit the mineral resources in the area. The Philippines has already made strong declaration that Philippines Rise is partly within its territorial waters, and is considered off limits to any exploration for oil and natural gas.

The economic potential of Fuga Island is enormous.

On the other hand, Fuga Island is part of the Babuyan chain of islands. Despite its proximity to the province of Batanes, it is attached to the province of Cagayan. Fuga Island has an area of 70 square kilometres and a population of 2,015 inhabitants. The principal settlement is Naguilian village on the southern coast; has an elevation of 191 meters, and a maximum length of 35.4 km.

The neighboring islets are Barit and Mabag.

Being a part of the Philippine archipelago, the country has sovereign right over them.

Because of its strategic location, the US has been eyeing the island for future military use to serve as sentry base for ships traversing in and out of the South China Sea.

Ko and other hymns of struggle. We were all chanting: “Tama na! Sobra na! Palitan na!”

We shouted to Ninoy and his family and to each other: “Hindi ka nag-iisa!”

When we got to Roxas Boulevard, the rain stopped and I imagined seeing a rainbow (or it could have been the colors of the majestic Manila Bay sunset). That was a good omen, I thought.

Before the Aquino assassination, the resistance movement against the dictatorship was already growing. Aquino’s murder accelerated that process and the funeral saw organized and emergent groups come out of the shadows to join millions more who were unaffiliated, demanding: “Justice for Aquino, Justice for all” (embedded in an iconic streamer with images of Ninoy, Edgar Jopson, Macling Dulag, Juan Escandor, and Bobby de la Paz). That transformed the Aquino assassination as not about one man but about the many who were killed and tortured by the dictatorship.

Cory and the Aquino family personified a country oppressed and the dignity and courage they displayed became a mirror of what we could do with courage, faith, and unity.

We need this again today as darkness covers the land because a coronavirus pandemic is coinciding with a terrible authoritarianism,

The decision of President Duterte to convert a portion of the island to a naval base is to pre-empt the US from coveting the area, in light of the deteriorating relations between the US and China. The strategic value of Fuga Island is to choke Chinese warships and submarines moving out to the Pacific Ocean to possibly “attack” US bases in Australia, Guan and Hawaii in the event of war. Bashi Strait or alternately Balintang channel will serve to compress ships while navigating through the Strait.

The US can also use the Fuga Island to harass China’s extension of its maritime Silk Road to the South Pacific countries such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Marianas and onward to South America.

The US could use Fuga Island to block ships coming from China and exiting to the Pacific Ocean.

From a military standpoint, no country except the US needs Fuga Island as base.

Fuga Island is sufficient to convert a portion of it to an airfield and has a deep shoreline to accommodate naval ships. The sounding of US interest for Fuga Island is meant to pre-empt the “creeping invasion” by China much that it could see the inflow of Chinese investments which it could not otherwise compete.

This prompted President Duterte to order the establishment of a naval base as it appears it is the US that is coveting the area for its own use, especially after State Department secretary Mike Pompeo announced his determination to wage a Cold War with China.

Some US naval experts believe that for the US navy to pour in its entire fleet into the South China Sea is a very dangerous proposition. It is like being trapped in a lion’s den. Its warships could be hit with least time for them to intercept because of the development of hypersonic missiles.

Full version at www.manilastandard.net

both virulent diseases that kill.

August is a sad month for the nation.

Cory also died during this month, on August 1, 2009. On August 27, Senator Leila De Lima would have spent her fourth birthday in jail, unjustly detained. These past days alone, two great Filipinos, human rights and peace workers—Randy Echanis and Zara Alvarez—were killed by evil men who want the country and its poor permanently oppressed.

I echo Vice-President Leni Robredo’s words about the significance of August 21: “In Ninoy’s death, we began to realize how we are all bound together—even more tightly during times of oppression, suffering, and crisis. In this realization, we found solidarity; we found the strength to take the first steps towards a freer, fairer, more humane society; we found hope, and the courage to stake our lives on that hope, just as he did.”

I welcome the rains of August. I pray that it would wash away the evil in the hearts of men, comfort and heal the grieving and suffering, and make this nation kind and happy again. The rainbow of liberation always follows the rain.

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Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

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World

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020

CESAR BARRIQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

IN BRIEF Lebanese brace for lockdown

STILL reeling from a deadly port blast that ravaged their Beirut homes and businesses, Lebanese wearily braced themselves for a new coronavirus lockdown Friday.

“What now? On top of this disaster, a coronavirus catastrophe?” said 55-yearold Roxane Moukarzel, as she waved towards the devastated port from the balcony of her gutted home.

Lebanon is to partially close down for two weeks from Friday to stem a string of record daily infection rates that have brought the number of COVID-19 cases to 10,952, including 113 deaths.

Moukarzel said she supported the decision, especially after the massive blast at Beirut’s port on August 4 that killed 181 people, wounded thousands and laid waste to windows and doors across swathes of the city.

“Economically closing up the country is not good, as people want to sell, but let them lose out a little instead of getting sick and having to be carted off to hospital,” said the mother of one, who trained as an architect.

“There’s no more space in the hospitals. If people suddenly start burning up, where will they put them?” AFP

(From left) Jill Biden, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Senator from California and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris greet supporters outside the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, at the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention, held virtually amid the novel coronavirus pandemic on August 20, 2020. AFP

Biden vows to end US ‘darkness’

J

OE Biden promised to end the “darkness” of Donald Trump’s presidency in a speech accepting the Democratic nomination with an impassioned call for unity and a return to optimism.

“The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long.

Too much anger, too much fear, too much division,” Biden said Thursday.

“If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness,” he said.

“It’s time for us, for we the people, to come together.”

Speaking in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, but with an audience almost entirely online or on television, Biden’s acceptance speech reflected the enormity of the shutdown that has upended life across the United States in the battle against the deadly coronavirus.

And Biden, 77, urged Americans in blistering terms to punish Trump for the

chaos that has seen more than 170,000 deaths and economic calamity.

“We lead the world in deaths,” he said in the 22-minute speech, calling Trump’s performance “unforgivable.”

“On day one” of his own presidency, Biden said he would implement a national COVID-19 plan and mandate mask wearing.

Biden is on his third White House bid after failing to win the nomination in 1988 and 2008.

But after months of relentless mockery from Trump and other Republicans who claim Biden is senile, the veteran politician’s speech was markedly fluent and always full of passion.

Democrats hope the strong performance, as well as the vice presidential nomination of Kamala Harris – the first black woman ever to make it onto the White House ticket of a major party – will deflate those attacks.

Biden leads in almost every national opinion poll and also in the crucial swing states.

But Trump is fighting hard in what is shaping up to be an election of unprecedented ferocity and division.

Speaking to Fox News’s Sean Hannity as the Democratic convention was in full swing, Trump repeated his claim that increased mail-in voting – which Democrats say is needed due to coronavirus fears – will lead to fraud. AFP

Trump tells voters Biden ‘is your worst nightmare’ PRESIDENT Donald Trump told voters near his opponent Joe Biden’s Pennsylvania birthplace that the Democrat has sold out American workers and would be a “nightmare” if he got into power.

Biden is “your worst nightmare,” Trump told the crowd in an extraordinarily dark speech in Old Forge, just down the road from Biden’s old hometown of Scranton, in the heart of the key election battleground state on Thursday.

“He spent the last half century in Washington selling out our country and ripping off our jobs and letting other countries steal our jobs,” Trump said hours before Biden was to address the nation and accept the Democratic nomination for the White House.

Trump used his speech to snatch the limelight on Biden’s big day, blasting the Democrat as someone who would raise taxes, open borders to “let in violent mobs” and abandon American workers.

Indicating the flavor of his reelection campaign in the next two and a half months, Trump claimed that recent crime spikes in big cities and sometimes violent protests against police abuses would engulf the country under Biden.

“If you want a vision of your life under a Biden presidency, think of the smoldering ruins in Minneapolis, the violent anarchy of Portland, the bloodstained sidewalks of Chicago, and imagine the mayhem coming to your town,” he said.

Trump referenced everything from his walling off of part of the Mexican border to military funding and what he claimed was greater international respect for the United States.

Often, his speech veered into less standard territory, describing the Democrats as something like out of a dystopian novel.

They “turn your family against you for speaking your mind while they indoctrinate your children with twisted, twisted world views,” he said at one point.

“They’re coming to get you,” he said.

“Me, we, we’re the wall between the American dream and total insanity and destruction of the greatest country in the history of the world.” AFP

Ex-Trump aide Bannon arrested

FORMER top Trump strategist Steve Bannon was arrested and charged Thursday along with three others for defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors in a Mexico border wall fundraising campaign, in a blow to the Republican incumbent.

The man credited with orchestrating Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential bid denied one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and another of conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to US media. He was released on $5 million bail.

“This entire fiasco is to stop people who want to build the wall,” he told reporters outside court, smiling broadly as he removed his face mask and got into a waiting car.

The online crowdfunding campaign known as “We Build the Wall” raised more than $25 million, prosecutors said, which the defendants promised would go towards construction of a southern border barrier but which they instead siphoned off.

The arrest is the latest in a string of high-profile criminal probes into Trump’s inner circle, and comes just months before the November vote in which the Republican hopes to win re-election.AFP

Mosque shooter to face survivors

In this picture taken on August 20, 2020 an illuminated manhole cover of ‘Haruhi Suzumiya’ by Tanigawa Nagaru and Noizi Ito is seen in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. AFP

THE Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers in last year’s New Zealand mosque shootings will face survivors of his rampage during a sentencing hearing next week that is likely to see him jailed for life.

Far-right extremist Brenton Tarrant was convicted in March of 51 murder charges, 40 of attempted murder and one of terrorism, after dropping his previous not guilty plea.

Tarrant is expected to be present at the Christchurch courthouse for the four-day sentencing hearing that begins Monday amid tight security and unprecedented reporting restrictions for the media.

Some of the survivors and the families of his victims will be allowed in the courtroom for their first encounter with him since the shootings on March 15, 2019.

He has previously been screened into court via video link from a maximum security prison in Auckland, other than a brief appearance in the dock of a closed court the day after the shootings.

With wounds still raw from an atrocity that shocked New Zealand, presiding High Court judge Cameron Mander said the sentencing was an important milestone for victims. AFP

A hole new world: Japan city lights up humble sewer covers THE humble manhole cover might not seem like much of a blank canvas, but one Japanese city is reimagining the possibilities with illuminated versions featuring anime characters.

Tokorozawa, near Tokyo, is hoping the unusual additions will attract visitors, including enthusiasts of the painted decorated manhole covers that adorn some of Japan’s streets.

“They’re Japan’s first illuminated manhole covers,” city official Junichi Koike told AFP. Japan is no stranger to decorative manhole covers, boasting everything

from ornately engraved versions to ones painted with city mascots.

Cities have been sprucing them up for at least four decades, with the goal of improving the image of the sewerage system.

A subculture of manhole cover fans has sprung up, with enthusiasts swapping information on social media about their favourite versions under the hashtag #manhotalk. “’Manholers’ enjoy discovering different kinds of manhole covers,” Koike said.

“We hope the new illuminated ones

will further improve the dirty and smelly image of manholes and also revitalise the local economy by bringing in visitors.”

A total of 28 manhole covers were installed throughout the city on August 1, featuring anime characters like Gundam robot and from “Neon Genesis Evangelion” sci-fi animation series and “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” TV series.

The covers light up from 6 pm to 2 am using solar power, illuminating the pavements that lead from the city’s main train station to a new cultural complex,

Critic’s life at risk at Siberian hospital RUSSIAN doctors say Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny cannot be moved from the Siberian hospital where he is being treated for suspected poisoning, putting his life at risk, his spokeswoman said Friday.

“The chief doctor stated that Navalny is not transportable. Condition is unstable,” Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter.

“The ban on transporting Alexei is a direct threat to his life. It is deadly to remain in the Omsk hospital without equipment or a diagnosis.”

Yarmysh said an air ambulance dispatched to fly him to Germany for treatment was due to land shortly.

“The ban on the transportation of Navalny is an attempt on his life, which is being made right now by doctors and the deceitful authorities who sanctioned it.”

Navalny, a 44-year-old lawyer and anti-

corruption campaigner who is among President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, was hospitalized in Omsk after he lost consciousness while on a flight and his plane made an emergency landing.

Doctors said they were working to save his life after he went into a coma and was put on a ventilator in intensive care.

There has been no official diagnosis of his condition, but his supporters believe he was poisoned because of his political activities.

Germany and France have offered to help and German media reported that the air ambulance had left Nuremberg early Friday to collect Navalny.

Navalny’s team has said that the hospital in Omsk is ill-equipped and his doctor Anastasia Vasilyeva said she had asked for the Kremlin’s help to transfer him to a European clinic. AFP

featuring an anime museum.

They are part of the project in which the city collects revenue by allowing private companies – in this case major media group Kadokawa – to use manhole covers for advertising.

But while city officials say the extra street lighting could serve as a crime deterrent, security guards are having to expand their patrols to pass by the covers in case anyone tries to steal or damage them.

The covers have had a positive reception so far, from enthusiasts and local residents alike. AFP Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, walks toward the Omsk Emergency Hospital No. 1 where the opposition leader was admitted after he fell ill in what his spokeswoman said was a suspected poisoning on August 21, 2020. AFP

Business PSEi August 20, 2020 TOP GAINERS

Extreme poverty may rise by 100m, WB chief warns

By Heather Scott

W TOP LOSERS

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

ASHINTON― The coronavirus pandemic may have driven as many as 100 million people back into extreme poverty, World Bank President David Malpass warned Thursday.

The Washington-based development lender previously estimated that 60 million people would fall into extreme poverty due to COVID-19, but the new estimate puts the deterioration at 70 to 100 million, and he said “that number could go higher” if the pandemic worsens or drags on.

The situation makes it “imperative” that creditors reduce the amount of debt held by poor countries at risk, going beyond the commitment to suspend debt

payments, Malpass said in an interview with AFP. Even so, more countries will be obliged to restructure their debt.

“The debt vulnerabilities are high, and the imperative of getting light at the end of the tunnel so that new investors can come in is substantial,” Malpass said.

Advanced economies in the Group of 20 already have committed to suspending debt payments from the poorest nations through the end of the year, and there is growing support for extending that moratorium into next year amid a pandemic that’s killed nearly 800,000 people and sickened more than 25 million worldwide.

But Malpass said that will not be enough, since the economic downturn means those countries, which already are struggling to provide a safety net for their citizens, will not be in a better position to deal with the payments.

Recession or depression?

The amount of debt reduction need-

ed will depend on the situation in each country, he said, but the policy “makes a lot of sense.”

“So I think the awareness of this will be gradually, more and more apparent” especially “for the countries with the highest vulnerability to the debt situation.”

The World Bank has committed to deploying $160 billion in funding to 100 countries through June 2021 in an effort to addresses the immediate emergency, and about $21 billion had been released through the end of June.

But even so, extreme poverty, defined as earning less than $1.90 a day, continues to rise.

Malpass said the deterioration is due to a combination of the destruction of jobs during the pandemic as well as supply issues that make access to food more difficult.

“All of this contributes to pushing people back into extreme poverty the longer the economic crisis persists.” AFP

MOST ACTIVE

COLORFUL FACEMASKS. Facemasks, one themed in the colors of the Union flag, are displayed for sale in the window of a shop in Oldham, Greater Manchester, northwest England on August 20, 2020. Oldham, as of Thursday, has one of the highest rates of new COVID-19 infections, and could be subject to an imposed local lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. AFP

Airbnb imposes worldwide party ban amid virus NEW YORK―Citing public health concerns amid the coronavirus, homesharing company Airbnb on Thursday imposed a worldwide party ban at its rental properties and capped occupancy at larger homes to 16.

The ban on parties and events will be “in effect indefinitely until further notice,” the company said on its website, adding that guests “may be legally pursued by Airbnb if they violate our policy.”

Airbnb began cracking down last year as rowdy parties were causing problems with neighbors in some communities.

In November, the company banned “party houses” after a deadly shooting at a Halloween party with more than 100 guests at a California rental.

Airbnb said Thursday that 73 percent of its global listings already banned parties and unauthorized festivities were always prohibited. The company has historically allowed hosts to permit guests to host smaller gatherings such as birthday parties.

After the coronavirus was declared a global pandemic, Airbnb removed “event-friendly” from its search and required users to adhere to local restrictions on gatherings in light of social distancing protocols.

But as local officials have cracked down on bars and social clubs, some activities have migrated to Airbnb homes, the platform said.

“We think such conduct is incredibly irresponsible―we do not want that type of business and anyone engaged in or allowing that behavior does not belong on our platform,” the company said.

Airbnb recently said it had seen bookings begin to “bounce back” and unveiled an initiative to promote shortrange travel amid a broad slowdown in tourism.

Amid the signs of an uptick in demand, the company on Wednesday said it has confidentially filed with US regulators for an initial public stock offering. AFP

Vaccine hopes lift Asian stocks but new cases draw concerns HONG KONG, China—Hopes for a vaccine helped push Asian equities higher Friday following another techinspired record on Wall Street, with investors brushing off a surprisingly weak US jobs report, though optimism remains checked by the spreading virus and the US stimulus stalemate.

While vast central bank support has helped fan a surge in equities globally, titans such as Amazon and Apple have been major winners as the pandemic confines billions to their homes, pushing the Nasdaq to numerous records.

The advances came despite news that 1.1 million Americans made new claims for unemployment benefits last week, reinforcing concerns about the world’s biggest economy.

However, observers said the reading could give warring lawmakers in Washington the kick-start they need to agree a new rescue package, having failed to reach a consensus after two weeks.

But a tough week for regional markets looked set to end on a positive note, with optimism lifting after Pfizer and BioNTech SE said a vaccine they are working on could be up for regulatory review by October.

If all goes well, a treatment could be ready to roll out as soon as November.

While massive financial support from central banks and governments has been crucial to helping economies, a vaccine for a disease that has killed nearly 800,000 people and infected more than 22 million is seen as paramount.

The news “has raised some expectation... that life around the world could return to normal sooner than expected”, said AxiCorp’s Stephen Innes.

“This is not only good for market concerns, this is a world desperately anxious for a cure to put an end to the most severe global recession since the 1930s.

“From a stock market concern, it’s great for growth assets as planes will fly, the oil will flow, and laggard industries will emerge from the COVID-19 fog, and their stocks will soar. Indeed, with a vaccine cure, a trip to your local clinic could be the one-stop recession plugger before the year is out.” AFP

American Airlines bares plan to reduce service to 15 smaller airports in US NEW YORK―American Airlines announced Thursday it will eliminate service to 15 smaller US markets as cash-strapped carriers downsize their operations to cope with the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

The cuts, which will affect smaller airports in most regions of the United States, will take effect on October 7―after the expiration of requirements under legislation that provided US airlines with billions of dollars of federal support.

US carriers have already signaled potentially deep job cuts from October 1 once staffing requirements under the federal CARES Act expire.

American has said it could lay off as many as 25,000 workers.

The group of cities that will lose AA service includes New Haven, Connecticut; Springfield, Illinois; Florence, South Carolina; and Roswell, New Mexico.

Airports in Texas, Iowa, North Carolina, West Virginia, Missouri, Michigan, Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania are also affected by the move.

“The airline will continue to reassess plans for these and other markets as an extension of the Payroll Support Program remains under deliberation,” the company said.

Unions representing airline workers are campaigning for Congress to extend federal support for industry jobs.

While those efforts have garnered significant support on Capitol Hill, the prospects for additional aid remain clouded by partisan debate over a broader relief package.

Air travel has been one of the most battered sectors since the coronavirus crisis erupted earlier this year.

Americans seeking to travel abroad―or even within the US to certain states―face restrictions such as mandatory quarantines upon arrival.

Daily passenger visits to US airports are up from April lows of under 100,000 people nationwide, but remain exceptionally low.

Tuesday’s count of 773,319 voyagers was about 70 percent below the year-ago level.

Another large US carrier, Southwest Airlines, said this week it had experienced a “modest improvement in close-in leisure passenger demand” in August.

“However, year-over-year revenue declines remain significant, and passenger demand and booking trends remain inconsistent,” Southwest said in a securities filing. AFP

On burrowed time: hunting with Ireland’s last traditional rabbit catcher

By Joe Stenson CARNDONAGH, Ireland―Steven McGonigal crosses a pockmarked field in the north of Ireland with a box of unruly ferrets while his dog, Fudge, sniffs out rabbit warrens.

As the lurcher does his work, McGonigal covers the openings with nets before releasing a single ferret down the hole to flush out the occupants inside.

For five minutes, the ferret races around the underground tunnels, poking its head out of dotted holes like a whack-a-mole.

McGonigal looks on in twitchy anticipation.

Then, in a split-second blur of grey fur, a rabbit emerges tangled in a net.

McGonigal sprints over, grasps it by the legs and neck and dispatches it with a deft tug.

“It’s the traditional way,” the 37-year-old former accountant told AFP in a field outside Carndonagh at the northern edge of Ireland.

“We don’t damage the ground, we’re not laying poisons, we give the rabbits a quick and clean death―and that’s most important.”

Unique appeal McGonigal is said to be Ireland’s last traditional rabbit catcher, preferring ferrets, dogs, spades and nets instead of modern guns and poison.

Rabbits―fluffy, cute and doe-eyed

Professional rabbit catcher Steven McGonigal poses for a photograph with his dog Fudge, and a ‘dispatched’ or caught rabbit, as he hunts for rabbits in County Donegal, northwest Ireland, on August 18, 2020. McGonigal is said to be Ireland’s last traditional rabbit catcher, preferring ferrets, dogs, spades and nets instead of modern guns and poison. AFP

to many, and kept as household pets― are considered pests in the countryside.

They are greedy consumers of vegetation, their warrens compromise buildings, and their breeding rate can quickly inflate numbers.

As well as gardeners and farmers, McGonigal has built up a client list for his services including schools, golf courses and oil refineries.

Becoming the last rabbit catcher in Ireland’s emerald outdoors is a far cry

from his former accounting job.

“I was getting to where I was looking forward to going out, I was starting to dread going back in,” he said of his previous number-crunching profession.

After a childhood spent owning ferrets, fishing and shooting, taking the career leap to full-time rabbit catcher in 2013 was a natural step, he said.

But he admitted that the sometimes grisly demands of killing rabbits by hand is not for everyone.

“It doesn’t appeal to a lot of people,” he conceded.

Environmental impact The practice of rabbit catching with ferrets dates back centuries.

An illustration in the 14th-century manuscript, the Taymouth Hours, depicts a lady sending a dog or a ferret down a warren to drive a rabbit out into a net.

McGonigal believes that while the ancient hands-on method may be distasteful to some, it remains the best way to cull numbers.

“The problem is nowadays... people are building houses further and further and further, and they’re encroaching into the countryside every day,” he said.

As human and animal kingdoms become increasingly intertwined, less refined methods of hunting have become popular―and damaging.

Lead shot from guns can taint the soil and poisons can be indiscriminate, leaving animal corpses underground with no indication of how many have been killed.

McGonigal’s technique leaves no trace and allows him to precisely measure the number of rabbits he has removed from the landscape, which he believes keeps the ecosystem and food chain better calibrated.

“Nobody loves rabbits more than me,” he said. “But we have to keep the balance―the countryside is always about the balance.” AFP

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

B4

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020

Business

SMC plans 2,135-MW power plants IN BRIEF Firm deploys buses with left-side doors

THE Department of Transportation said Friday it deployed public utility buses with passenger doors located on the left side for trips along EDSA. The Mega Manila Consortium, one of the two consortiums operating the EDSA Busway route, deployed three units from HM Transport Inc., with both left-side and rightside passenger doors on Aug. 19.

Seven more units with the same configuration will be dispatched in September, according to DOTR. Transportation Assistant Secretary for road transport and infrastructure Steve Pastor said the arrangement between the agency and private bus companies for the use of the units aimed to ensure safe service for the commuting public.

“These bus units will better accommodate commuters who will now be using the new loading and unloading bus stops located in the innermost lane of EDSA. Aside from the installation of canopies and lighting fences, we have also placed concrete barriers and steel separators on EDSA’s median lanes to ensure utmost safety and comfort,” Pastor said. Darwin G. Amojelar

By Alena Mae S. Flores

S

MC Global Power Holdings Corp., the power unit of San Miguel Corp., is lining up four major greenfield plants with a combined capacity of 2,135 megawatts over the next four years.

SMC Global said in a report to Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. the projects included the 335-MW Masinloc power plant (Unit 3) in Zambales that would be completed by December.

It said the engineering, construction and procurement contract of the 350-MW Masinloc Unit 4 was being finalized in line with the target to complete it by 2024.

The company is also developing the 600-MW Mariveles circulating fluidized bed technology coal plant in Bataan province, with the first 300-MW unit eyed for completion by 2022 and the second 300MW unit by 2023.

SMC Global said it is expanding the 1,200-MW Ilijan combined cycle power plant in Batangas province by another 850

MW. This is expected to start commercial operations by 2023.

SMC Global short-listed six EPC contractors for the Ilijan power plant expansion, including Siemens, MHPS, Formosa Heavy Industries, B&V, POSCO Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. and Dailem.

“The company intends to use the capacity of its greenfield power plants to bid for the upcoming 1,800 MW Meralco bid and other capacities for CSP [competitive selection process],” the company said.

SMC Global said it would fund the projects through 30-percent equity and 70-percent debt.

The company is also talks with AG&P for the construction of a liquefied natural

gas terminal alongside the Ilijan power plant in Batangas.

“As of August 2020, the company is in advanced stages of executing a binding term sheet on the terminal use agreement with AG&P to provide LNG receiving, storage and regasification services to the Ilijan power plant and the Ilijan expansion,” SMC Global said.

Based on the TUA, SMC negotiated “priority status” for the Ilijan LNG terminal over all projects of AG&P. As the foundation customers, SMC’s power plants will be the priority terminal users for the terminal and its capacity.

The company’s supply of natural gas to the Ilijan power plant is set to expire by June 2022 to coincide with the end of its independent power producer agreement with the government. Upon expiration of the Ilijan IPPA, SMC Global subsidiary South Premiere Power Corp. will become the legal owner and operator of the Ilijan power plant.

The LNG terminal is expected to be commercially operational by June 2022, in time for the expiration of the Ilijan IPPA.

Sta. Lucia Land set to issue P8-b bonds

PROPERTY developer Sta. Lucia Land Inc. said it plans to issue up to P8 billion worth of fixed-rate retail bonds to finance capital expenditures.

SLI said in a disclosure to the stock exchange its board of directors approved the filing of registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the filing of application for registration and listing with Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp.

It tapped mandated China Bank Capital Corp. as the lead underwriter, issue manager and book runner for the fund-raising activity.

SLI said that aside from the P8-billion retail bond offering, its board of directors also approved the plan to secure P1-billion credit facility from China Bank and P300 million from Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. SLI has P2-billion five-year bonds maturing in March 2021.

SLI reported a net income of P757.5 million in the first half, down 14.2 percent from P883.7 million in the same period last year.

Jenniffer B. Austria

PPE manufacturers investing $36m more

LOCAL manufacturers of personal protective equipment, face masks and medicalgrade fabric plan to invest another $36 million to expand domestic capacity.

Confederation of Philippine Manufacturers of PPEs president Lawrence delos Santos said the investment would ramp up the production of face masks by another 30 million pieces monthly, 10 million/month of isolation gowns and coveralls and another 1,000 metric tons of medical fabrics. The new investments will also generate 4,000 jobs.

“We have already repurposed and initial capacities have been set up. To double that capacity is easier than starting but the key challenge is the demand. The biggest customer, at this time, for PPEs is the government. But we have concerns the way the government secures and procures PPEs,” delos Santos said during a virtual press briefing Friday.

He said the government was purchasing critical and essential products heavily from other countries, representing 90 percent to 98 percent of the local requirements.

Othel V. Campos

THE government said it will “redouble” efforts to protect gains over the past three years, bring the economy to a strong recovery path and drive the country back on the road to inclusive growth amid the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III gave the assurance to the institutional investors and fund managers as he expressed confidence the nation would eventually beat the pandemic and come out stronger from the unprecedented global health and economic crisis.

“The government continues to balance the reopening of the economy and efforts to restore consumer and business confidence with health and safety interventions so it can continue to protect lives in ways that do not prevent people from earning a living,” Dominguez said during the virtual session on the Philippine economy of Maybank’s Invest ASEAN Conference 2020 held via Zoom.

Dominguez said without continued and increased public-sector spending especially on infrastructure, public health and social protection, the Philippine

36.72 PTS.

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

6,005.40

1,500,785,310 72,419 4,045,807,857.00 64 131 46

F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

48.5610

Japan

Yen

0.009431

0.4580

UK

Pound

1.311500

63.6878

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129031

6.2659

Switzerland

Franc

1.093733

53.1128

Canada

Dollar

0.757117

36.7664

Singapore

Dollar

0.729714

35.4356

Australia

Dollar

0.718200

34.8765

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652731

128.819

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266638

12.9482

Brunei

Dollar

0.727061

35.3068

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000068

0.0033

Thailand

Baht

0.032020

1.5549

UAE

Dirham

0.272272

13.2218

Euro

Euro

1.184500

57.5205

Korea

Won

0.000846

0.0411

China

Yuan

0.144523

7.0182

India

Rupee

0.013361

0.6488

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.239808

11.6453

New Zealand

Dollar

0.655800

31.8463

Taiwan

Dollar

0.034016

1.6519 Source: BSP

Pepsi PH keeps entire workforce despite pandemic

By Jenniffer B. Austria PEPSI Cola Products Philippines Inc., the exclusive manufacturer of PepsiCo beverages in the country kept its entire workforce despite incurring a net loss in the first half amid the challenging business environment.

PCPPI president and chief executive Frederick Ong said during the recent virtual stockholders’ meeting that while the pandemic impacted the company’s operations and finances, it did not lay off any employee.

“I am proud to say that in PCPPI, no one was let go, no one had to suffer losing his job. Proudly we kept all our bravehearts, because it is with them and through them that our PCPPI will continue to succeed,” Ong said.

The company said it reduced its cost by seven percent and scaled back on its planned capital investments this year by 17 percent to remain liquid.

PCPPI said that despite these measures, it was able to fully support the demands of customers and consumers and kept its stock levels intact.

“Amidst the pandemic, we at PCCPI are steadfast in achieving our goals and are poised to reach bigger milestones as we started planning for the years ahead. As the new President and CEO, my first ever priority work was to put in place our strategic agenda and growth targets, with firm emphasis on healthy financials, complete portfolio management, people development, stronger delivery on quality, productivity, health and regulatory compliance,” Ong said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has put us all in a break, which I believe was necessary to gain introspection. And with introspection, we learned to see better. We at PCCPI are positive that we will see this pandemic through, and we will come out of it stronger with a united management, dedicated employees, and supportive partners. We know that with our resiliency as a nation, our business, the industry and our economy will eventually recover,” Ong said.

PCPPI reported a net loss of P429 million in the first half, a reversal of the P446-million net income in the same period last year.

First-half net sales also declined by 16.8 percent to P15.3 billion from P18.4 billion in the same period a year ago.

2 1600 ADB LOAN. The Asian Development Bank is supporting the Philippines’ efforts to boost inclusive growth by implementing reforms to expand Filipinos’ access to financial services across the country. It approved a $300-million policy-based loan to help strengthen the institutional and policy environment for financial inclusion, improve financial infrastructure and increase the capacity and reach of service providers, especially rural banks and non-bank financial institutions.

ADB extends $300-m loan for PH financial inclusion reforms THE Asian Development Bank said Friday it approved a $300-million policybased loan to support the Philippine government’s efforts to boost inclusive growth by implementing reforms to expand Filipinos’ access to financial services, especially in unserved and underserved areas across the country.

ADB’s Inclusive Finance Development Program, Subprogram 2, is supporting reforms to help the government reach targets linked to the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion. The measures will strengthen the institutional and policy environment for financial inclusion, improve financial infrastructure and increase the capacity and reach of service providers, especially rural banks and non-bank financial institutions.

“The Philippine government’s antipoverty strategy aims to equip Filipinos in the bottom 40 percent of the income strata with education, skills and liveli-

hood assistance so they can break away from a vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty. Ensuring all Filipinos are part of the financial system is important to this approach,” said ADB vice-president Ahmed Saeed.

“Through this loan, ADB is partnering with the Philippines to implement innovative initiatives around digital finance to significantly improve poor Filipinos’ access to financial services and products as a way to lift their incomes and wellbeing,” said ADB senior financial sector specialist for Southeast Asia Kelly Hattel.

According to the 2017 Global Findex Survey, the Philippines ranked among the lowest in Southeast Asia on almost all financial inclusion indicators. Only 34 percent of Filipino adults have an account at a formal financial institution, compared with 49 percent in Indonesia, 82 percent in Thailand and 85 percent

in Malaysia. The Philippines can expand financial access to poor Filipinos through credit, savings, insurance, pensions and remittances.

Reforms supported by the loan are being implemented by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Philippine Guarantee Corp., the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Department of Justice and the Insurance Commission.

These reforms, which focus on the poorest 40 percent of the population and rural residents, aim to more than double the number of Filipinos holding an account at a formal financial institution by 2023.

Key reforms include the rollout of the country’s National Identification System, which will benefit all Filipinos and help speed up the delivery of social assistance programs, the launch of pilots on agriculture value chain finance and public–private partnerships for crop insurance.

QMC DORMS.

Gov’t vows to ‘redouble’ efforts to put economy on recovery path

By Julito G. Rada

PSE INDEX

Thursday, August 20, 2020

economy would have performed much worse in the first semester because of the pandemic, with the gross domestic product shrinking by about 2.5 percentage points more than it did, or a total of 11.5 percent versus the actual 9 percent over the January-June period.

The economy contracted 16.5 percent in the second quarter, worse than the first-quarter drop of 0.7 percent, resulting in a first-semester GDP decline of 9 percent.

Dominguez said that given the uncertainties posed by the COVID-19 crisis, it would be difficult to make definitive pronouncements about the domestic economy’s longer-term prospects.

The Development Budget Coordination Committee projected a strong rebound in 2021 with a GDP growth rate seen to reach 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent.

“We will redouble our efforts to protect our economic gains over the past three years, prepare our economy for a strong recovery, strengthen our resilience, and solidify our return to the path of inclusive growth. I trust that you will continue to support us in these efforts,” Dominguez said.

The Department of Public Works and Highways turns over to the local government of Quezon City two cluster dormitories in the Quezon Memorial Circle as temporary staying place of medical personnel. Attending the ceremony are (front row, from left) National Action Plan Against COVID-19 chief implementor Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain.

BOI approves local production of ‘Weigen’ three-wheeled vehicles

By Othel V. Campos THE Board of Investment said Friday it approved the production of “Weigen,” a three-wheeled vehicle designed by Teraspan Inc. of China.

It said the three-wheeled vehicle was perfectly designed to provide easy and affordable mobility to individuals at a time of social distancing and limited public transportation. The agency made the decision amid a broader campaign

to help businesses keep their workers and goods moving unhindered through quarantined communities.

The BOI said non-essential travel for Filipinos is already allowed in areas without quarantine. It said that in quarantined areas, passage would be permitted to workers conducting work activities inside the area, such as transporting goods.

Minimal checks will be placed on vehicles crossing into quarantined areas, with

private vehicles required to show company ID when moving across checkpoints.

Passage will also be permitted to workers in informal sectors who are engaged in essential activities, provided they display either ID or proof of transaction such as receipt from a supplier.

“All of this will mean that motorcycle, car and shuttle buses alike will be allowed to pass across even quarantined communities with minimal friction or delay,” it said.

Sports

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

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020

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Striegl tests positive for COVID-19

By Jessica Luna

Crispin John “CJ” Cansino—from a Growling Tiger to a Fighting Maroon

British-Aussie new coach of United City Football Club BRITISH-AUSTRALIAN Trevor Morgan is the new head coach of the rebranded club, United City Football Club.

Co-owner Eric Gottschalk confirmed this yesterday, saying that Morgan’s credentials as a decorated football manager makes him a good choice.

“His exposure to various leagues: From the English Football League, the English Premiere League, the Indian Super League, Singapore S-League, Western Australian State League, Malaysia Super Liga, to name a few, has prepared him very well for his new role,” said Gottschalk in a statement.

Morgan recently headed the Bhutan National Team, which won a number of titles during his time with them in the Indian Super League.

He replaces Risto Vidakovic, who used to handle the team when it was still known as the CeresNegros FC Busmen.

“This suits very well the ambition that this club has,” added Gottschalk.

The new mentor will take over in coming Philippine Football League season and the resumption of the AFC Cup. Under Morgan’s watch, Bhutan won eight championships in the last three years, including the Calcutta Cup in 2012-2013 and the Calcutta League in 2011-2013 and 2016-2017.

With him around, the Indian club East Bengal reached the quarterfinals with an unbeaten record at the 2013 AFC Cup, the first Indian club to do so.

He also served as Head Coach for Sorrento Soccer Club, in Western Australia, from 1997-2001.

It was a memorable stint, with the team ending as league champions and cup winners. Peter Atencio

Cansino leaves Tigers, takes his talents to UP

By Peter Atencio

U

NIVERSITY of Santo Tomas skipper Crispin John “CJ” Cansino has left the Tigers’ camp and will be joining the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons.

Cansino, who dropped out of the Growling Tigers’ camp for personal reasons last Thursday, has committed to play for the University of the Philippines, Maroons’ head coach Bo Perasol confirmed on Friday.

Known for his speed, strength and sweet shooting, the 6’2” guard and incoming third year student-athlete will be eligible to play for the Maroons in University Athletic Association of the Philippines’ Season 84.

“Unang-una sa lahat, UST is my dream school kaya nalulungkot talaga ako sa nangyari. Hinding-hindi ko makakalimutan ang UST and thankful ako sa kanila na binigyan nila ako ng opportunity, pero I need to move on,” Cansino said.

“Noong natanggap ko na, na hindi na ako pwede sa UST, marami po akong kinausap and kinonsulta. Ang naging pakiramdam ko po ay mas bagay talaga

ako sa UP, mas comfortable ako sa UP,” he added.

Cansino met with UP Men’s Basketball Team manager Atty. Agaton Uvero and Perasol, expressing his interest to join the Diliman-based squad.

“CJ will be a great addition to ensuring the sustainability of the program, especially with possibly just one player left from last season playing for Season 84. I will personally help him make the transition to being a Fighting Maroon. CJ will definitely enjoy his stay in UP,” Perasol said.

Team manager Atty. Uvero said the UPMBT is happy to have the multi-talented former juniors star join the squad.

“We wanted him to play for UP when he graduated from UST high school two years ago, but his heart has always been with UST. We are happy and lucky that he chose to be part of the Fighting Maroons this time,” Uvero said.

UST coach Aldin Ayo confirmed Cansino’s departure from the team and did not elaborate.

“Bigyan lang nila ako ng isang rason para hindi lumipat kahit maraming rason para umalis, lalaro parin ako sa UST. Kaya lang tinanggal ako. Hindi mo naman kasi puwede ipagpilitan ‘yung sarili mo sa team na ayaw na sa ‘yo,” said Cansino in an online statement.

“Sa huli, gusto ko magpasalamat sa coaches sa dalawang taon na pagtuturo sa akin para mas mag-improve not just a player, pero kung paano rin maging mabuting tao. Sa teammates ko na naging pamilya ko na rin, hinding-hindi ko kayo makakalimutan,” said Cansino in his statement.

The Growling Tigers were isolated in a training camp in Sorsogon, when Cansino opted out of the team. The province was under a Modified General Community Quarantine at the time of the camp.

Cansino has two years remaining in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

Last season, the Growling Tigers made it to the Finals, with Cansino one of their vital cogs.

MARK Striegl’s debut at the Ultimate Fighting Championship will have to wait for a while.

The Filipino-American’s bout was called off after he tested positive for COVID-19 Friday.

The 32-year-old mixed martial artist was scheduled to fight Russian Timur Valiev in his debut on Sunday for the non-title bantamweight bout at the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sporting an 18-2 win-loss MMA career record, Striegl confirmed the development.

Trevin Jones will instead take the spot of Striegl against the Russian, who was heavily favored against the the 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist.

Known for his all-around grappling skills and striking prowess, Striegl won four out of his last five bouts under ONE Championship and Universal Reality Combat Championships.

Despite the cancelation, Striegl has still four fights left in his recently signed contract with the UFC. With the pandemic shutting down all MMA promotions except the UFC, the Baguio- Mark Striegl based Striegl, 32, flew to Las Vegas last July hoping to land a fight with the promotion.

Striegl fought three times under ONE Championship with all fights held at the Mall of Asia Arena. He then fought four times under local promotion URCC with the last fight being held last year.

Striegl won a gold medal in Sambo for the Philippines during the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. Sambo is a style of amateur wrestling included in World Wrestling Championships along with Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.

Striegl’s professional MMA debut was when he beat Andy Jewett through rear-naked choke at Total Combat 34 held July 25, 2009 at the Star Light Bowl at Balboa Park, San Diego.

The main event of UFC Fight Night features a Bantamweight battle between Pedro Munhoz and Frankie Edgar. The co-main event is a Light Heavyweight match between Ovince St. Preux and Alonzo Menifield.

PBA welcomes East Asia Super League participation THE Philippine Basketball Association welcomes the move to get involved in a super tournament that is set to start next year.

The PBA will be one of the top leagues in the East Asian region, which will join and send teams in a cagefest that will be organized by the East Asia Super League.

The PBA’s involvement was revealed following an announcement made by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) on Thursday.

The FIBA entered into a 10-year deal with the East Asia Super League, which will feature elite club teams coming from professional clubs from many countries in the region.

“Maganda ito. We are in good terms with the organizers of this tournament,” said PBA commissioner Willie Marcial.

Marcial said he will meet with the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas on the super tournament and discuss matter with the PBA board on this new development.

The EASL has been given recognition and support to run an annual league. It is set to launch its new premium competition in October 2021.

The staging of the EASL comes a month after the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, considered as the continent’s premier club competition taking place annually in September.

Aside from the Philippines, the other club teams will come from the Greater China region, Japan and Korea.

“The recognition of the East Asia Super League is based on a shown commitment to developing basketball in the region, and is in line with FIBA’s club competition strategy that is to shape international club competitions,” said FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis in an online statement.

The first two editions of the EASL are in 2021 and 2022, and will match up the region’s top eight teams in a home-and-away group stage.

It will culminate with a Final Four in February to determine the champion, runner-up and third-place finishers.

EASL plans to expand the competition to 16 teams by 2023.

“EASL is thrilled to receive FIBA’s support for the launch of our league. With top teams from the Greater China region, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines, we are confident it will become one of the top professional basketball competitions in the world by 2025,” said EASL CEO Matt Beyer.

Marcial said their ties with the EASL was made possible when they joined The Terrific 12 tournament held in Macao in September 2019. Peter Atencio

Willie Marcial

Djokovic comes to NY to chase Federer’s record

NEW YORK—World number one Novak Djokovic says he nearly skipped the US Open but plans to play the Grand Slam event despite COVID-19 concerns in part to chase tennis history.

Djokovic, a 17-time Grand Slam singles champion, told the New York Times that trying to catch Roger Federer’s men’s record 20 Slam crowns was “of course” a major factor in his decision to play the Flushing Meadows fortnight that begins August 31.

“One of the reasons why I keep on playing professional tennis on this level is because I want to reach more heights in the tennis world,” Djokovic told the newspaper.

The 33-year-old Serbian has won five of the past seven men’s singles Slam crowns but came to the New Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves the ball to Gael Monfils York hardcourts only after assurances from European of France during the semifinals of Dubai Duty Free Ten- officials that players returning from the US Open would not face a long quarantine before upcoming nis Championship in the Gulf emirate of Dubai. Novak Djokovic confirmed he will play at the US Open, ending European events such as the French Open. speculation about his presence at the first Grand Slam “I was very close to not coming,” said Djokovic, tournament since the coronavirus restart. AFP who made the final decision less than a week before

arriving. “There were a lot of uncertainties.”

Djokovic is staying at a rental house in New York while most players are in a hotel as part of protocols to combat the COVID-19 pandemic that wiped out many of the year’s events, including Wimbledon, and will prevent fans from attending the US Open.

“I want to play. I mean, that’s why I’m here,” Djokovic told the Times.

“I am personally not afraid of being in a risky, dangerous health situation for myself. If I felt that way, I most likely would not be here.”

Federer, 39, is injured and Spain’s Rafal Nadal, 34, is absent, the 2019 US Open champion and 19time Grand Slam singles winner focusing on the upcoming clay season and a potential 13th crown on the Paris red clay.

Djokovic, who has topped the world rankings for 282 weeks, could overtake Federer’s record of 310 weeks at number one by March and told the Times that is a major goal as well.

Having Djokovic chase a fourth US Open crown

adds some prestige to an Slam that lacks many of the sport’s biggest stars.

“I cannot say it’s the main reason why I’m here, but it’s one of the reasons,” Djokovic said. “First of all, I have to think about myself and my health and my fitness and whether my team is OK to be here.

“Then I, of course, also felt responsible as a top player to be here. It’s important for our sport to keep going.”

Djokovic defends Adria Tour Djokovic defended his decision to stage the Adria Tour charity series in June in Serbia and Croatia, which produced a cluster of coronavirus cases, including some among top players, with Djokovic positive and isolating, saying he only had mild symptoms.

“We tried to do something with the right intentions,” Djokovic said. “Yes, there were some steps that could have been done differently. But am I going to be then forever blamed for doing a mistake? AFP

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020

rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

Tech & Gadgets

Ways to reward yourself with work-from-home setup

T

HE COVID-19 pandemic has literally transformed the way we live. It has brought so much change, and everyone is working hard to ease into this ‘new normal.’

Because of these major shifts happening at an extremely fast rate, companies are forced to adopt work-fromhome arrangements for their lean teams.

Concerns for their livelihood and health have been driving anxiety levels for a huge part of the population. While having a positive disposition has helped people to cope, there are actually a few proven ways that can help you manage stress and the onset of cabin fever during this time of pandemic: 1. WATCH A GOOD MOVIE — Whether it’s a Koreanovela, a NETFLIX marathon or a reliable Hollywood blockbuster, there’s nothing like watching an entertaining movie in the comfort of your home with a bag of popcorn or chips then let the movie provide an escape for the next few hours.

2. EAT DELICIOUS, HEALTHY FOOD—While quarantine immobilized the country, people suddenly found time to prepare real healthy homemade meals. Nothing beats the welcoming aroma of a homecooked meal after a heavy workload.

3. GO ONLINE SHOPPING— With the advent of online shopping, it is easier now to search for your favorite apparel at your own pace. Looking and feeling good are some of the best ways to reward yourself after crunching numbers or sitting through long Zoom meetings.

4.

GET UNINTERRUPTED SLEEP—Getting a good night sleep is almost always a privilege rather than a necessity during the normal times.

Now that you are at the comfort of your homes 24/7 due to MECQ, the ECQ THE SM Store, in collaboration with PLDT, introduces its nationwide hotline number #14376 (I♥SM) to support the store’s Call to Deliver service, as part of continuous efforts to provide a better customer experience for shoppers.

The SM Store’s #MyNumber hotline is powered by PLDT’s expansive fixedline network that will allow customers to dial the hashtag sign (#) followed by five digits, 14376 (I♥SM), which will connect them to the nearest The SM Store branch.

Through the fortified partnership, the full-featured contact service solution of PLDT will make ordering and shopping from The SM Store more convenient for their customers throughout the country.

According to Teresita T. Sy-Coson, Vice Chairman of SM Investments Corporation, “We at SMIC have always endeavored to enhance our facilities and provide an outstanding experience for our valued customers. This hotline will improve our delivery service, especially during this time of COVID-19.”

The SM Store’s Call to Deliver service, available in all 64 branches of The SM Store, lets customers “shop” for much-needed items from the comforts of home. All they need to do is call #14376, provide their full name, contact details, and desired items, and wait for order con-

MOK—revolutionary device

and GCQ, you could get a quick shuteye practically anytime you want to as you’re just a few steps away from that comfy bed of yours.

5. NURTURE YOUR NEGLECTED RELATIONSHIPS—Be it your wife, your kids, your relatives, or friends whom you’ve forgotten when you were competing in the real-world rat race, reconnecting with people you love is priceless. The happiness that you get from simply bonding with them energizes and inspires you to win in life.

6. EXERCISE—Even a 10-minute stroll around your yard with your favorite Spotify playlist on will make you feel good and energized. Exercises using your body weight without elaborate gym equipment like push-ups, planking, squats, sit-ups, jogging can increase

less hazards in using HnBs than traditional smoking, I don’t feel worried at all. On the contrary, I feel a sense of freedom and satisfaction.”

MOK is a revolutionary HnB device that allows smokers to enjoy that same tobacco experience with reduced risks.

Since it simply heats tobacco rather than burning it, the harmful toxins & secondhand smoke associated with combustion are eliminated. Its proprietary heat-notburn stick called COO is 100% made of real tobacco leaves and comes in three flavors GOLDEN HUE (light blend), BLUE HUE (mentholated) & NEW WAVE (mentholated with capsule inside the filter). MOK & COO are available in LazMall and Shopee Mall. You can also visit their website mok.com.ph and physical stores in 4F Eastwood Mall and Lower Ground Floor SM North Edsa.

PLDT equips The SM Store with contact center service solution

firmation and payment and delivery details from a branch representative. Shoppers can then have the items sent to their home via The SM Store’s delivery service or a third-party app, or pick them up outside the store premises.

“The PLDT Group is fully committed

to being a partner of the SM Investments Corporation in delivering better customer experience. We are always ready to extend support and innovative solutions to enable our partners to rise above the challenges posed by the global pandemic,” said Manuel V. Pangilinan, PLDT

Chairman and CEO. PLDT’s Cloud Center as a Service (CCaaS) is a subscription-based full-featured contact center service that sustains the hotline. With CCaaS, customers can use ACD, IVR, CTI, e-mail, chat, social media, SMS, voice mail, and fax in one platform.

Shown here are (top row, from left) PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel Pangilinan, SM Investments Corp. Vice Chairman Tessie Sy-Coson, Smart President & CEO and PLDT Chief Revenue Officer Alfredo Panlilio, SM Mart Inc. President Consuelo Monasterio, with (bottom row, from left) ePLDT President & CEO and SVP & Head of PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups Jovy Hernandez, SM Mart Inc. SVPBusiness Development Dhinno Francis Tiu, PLDT Enterprise First Vice President Mitch Locsin, and SM Mart Inc. Vice President Manjie Yap.

MediaTek conducts world’s 1st 5G Satellite public test FUCINO SPACE CENTER, Italy—MediaTek is pushing the boundaries of advanced IoT 5G satellite communications with a successful field trial that transfers data through Inmarsat’s Alphasat L-band satellite, in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) 35,000 kilometers above the equator.

The results of MediaTek and Inmarsat’s IoT field test will be contributed to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)’s Rel-17 standardization work on Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN), which is part of its overarching initiative to establish 5G standards toward new use cases and services.

The new 5G satellite NB-IoT technology established a bi-directional link from MediaTek’s satellite-enabled standard NB-IoT device to a commercial GEO satellite, breaking new ground for a truly global IoT coverage. The successful test builds the foundation for hybrid satellite and cellular networks to enable new ubiquitous 5G IoT services at a global scale.

your happy hormone levels instantly.

For those allergic to working out, doing chores that increases your heart rate like walking the dog can be a way to clock in those steps in your fitness tracker.

7. DO ANYTHING THAT YOUR HEART DESIRES—You have been wanting to sing at the top of your lungs on that videoke machine, or anything that your heart desires, you can finally do it as a reward for yourself, for working really hard on a WFH arrangement.

For Peter, a BPO team leader, he just wants to relax using his MOK heat-not-burn (HnB) device after every successful call.

“Other than being a better alternative to smoking, this MOK gadget feels like a well-deserved break after achieving my tasks. And because I know there are

“MediaTek’s collaboration with Inmarsat will accelerate industry efforts to converge cellular and satellite networks in the 5G era.

MediaTek is a leading connectivity provider and contributor to 3GPP standards, and our ongoing work with Inmarsat GEO satellites will help drive 5G innovation across verticals like IoT,” said Dr. Ho-Chi Hwang, MediaTek General Manager of Communication System Design.

MediaTek is the world’s 4th largest fabless semiconductor company and Inmarsat is the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications. The two companies ran the test with a base station located at the Fucino Space Center in Italy and developed by Taiwan’s Institute for Information Industry (III). The test device, built with MediaTek’s satellite-enabled NB-IoT chipset, was located in Northern Italy. The prototype system successfully established a communication channel and data transfer with the GEO satellite ‘Alphasat’.

Globe, TM customers get free data access to TESDA courses GLOBE and TM subscribers may now sharpen their technical skills or learn more online while staying at home without worrying about data connectivity cost.

With the partnership between Globe and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), all Globe and TM subscribers are given free data access to the TESDA Online Program (TOP) at https:// www.e-tesda.gov.ph/. They can visit the site anytime they want using their Globe or TM—powered mobile device even without load and without incurring any data charges.

TOP is an open educational resource that aims to make technical vocational education and training (TVET) more accessible to Filipino citizens and widen their chances of employment or sources of livelihood. It offers free online courses such as Computer Systems Servicing National Certificate (NC) II, Food Processing NC II, Bread and Pastry NC II, Housekeeping NC II and other courses from sectors such as automotive, agriculture, entrepreneurship, healthcare, among others.

TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña expressed his gratitude to Globe for helping TESDA reach more Filipinos in need of the agency’s services. “We are glad to have this opportunity of serving more Filipinos in line with our guiding principle, “TESDA Abot Lahat”. Now, our services can reach even our kababayan without having to pay for data costs. Indeed, this is a very special milestone,” he said.

On the other hand, Yoly Crisanto, Globe Chief Sustainability Officer and SVP for Corporate Communications, said: “With the uncertainties that we are facing, we need to be prepared to take on new challenges, making it important to continuously learn and explore new ways of doing things. By making TESDA’s online courses more accessible through free data, our Globe and TM customers will have another opportunity to improve their skills.”

Earlier, Globe also provided free data access to the Department of Education’s (DepEd) online learning platform called DepEd Commons, to encourage educators and learners to take advantage of supplementary online instructional materials. It contains online review materials and Open Educational Resources authored by public school teachers who are subject matter experts. Teachers can retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute the content by blending it with a learning management system to deliver a distance learning modality.

Globe is a strong advocate of quality education which is one of the 10 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that the company has committed to support. In line with the new normal, Globe is pushing for digital learning by providing connectivity to learners and teachers.

• Free access does not cover the materials, courses and other resources that may be accessed through links outside the TOP website such as videos uploaded on video sharing platforms and courses and links by partners and other organizations.

To learn more about Globe’s sustainability efforts, visit https://www.globe. com.ph/about-us/sustainability.html

PH startups find opportunities in new normal COVID-19 has been a palpable disruptor to local enterprises, triggering job losses, supply-chain problems, travel restrictions and business continuity challenges en route to infecting over 140,000 Filipinos. Startups, which are typically seen as ‘industry disruptors,’ now find themselves in an unfamiliar position—as the disrupted.

A recent report by PwC Philippines revealed that almost 50% of tech startups are greatly concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on their operations.

Amid the pandemic, startups are faced with critical challenges—including capital shock and reduced consumer demand. Some are also struggling to survive as they experience movement challenges that are preventing growth and traction in building and scaling.

This according to Carlo Calimon, Director of Startup Village during a webinar series ‘Disruptors, Disrupted’ organized

by ON3. Calimon was joined by Diane Eustaquio, Executive Director of IdeaSpace, in the panel discussion.

While many businesses have scaled down, Calimon said that startups are busier than ever in the new normal.

According to PwC, 21% of startup founders say that the outbreak resulted in increased demand for their services and products while 49% started offering a new

product/service during the Enhanced Community Quarantine.

This is a testament to the consumer shift to more digital lifestyles and the critical role of startups in creating new possibilities, enhancing growth, and finding critical solutions to new issues brought on by COVI-19.

now pivot or perish.

“When you say be agile or be adaptive,” said Eustaquio. “It is really listening to the customer. Focus on the customer experience.

When you’re able to focus on the customer experience, you’ll always be developing a product that is relevant to your customers—to the people who pay for your product.”

Eustaquio also advised startups to “COVID-proof” their startups so that their business is not just sustainable, but also attractive to investors.

According to Eustaquio, sustainability is a critical component during this unpredictOver 50% of today’s Fortune 500 compa- able time. She posed the question, “Today, nies were founded during an economic con- you’re making money. When the pandemic traction and 50 of the fabled ‘tech unicorns’ is over, is this product still relevant?” were born during the last financial crisis. Crisis, While businesses will have their own Calimon points out, also “presented opportuni- unique issues, it has become astoundingly ties for a lot of startups to step up to the plate.” clear that innovation is and will continue to He cited Kumu, MyKuya, AIDE, and be very important during a crisis like COZagana as rising stars in the new normal, VID-19. And as innovation natives, the ability because “[…] people started looking at of startups to identify pockets of opportunity these startups and allowing them to take in crisis will be all but necessary in creating new advantage of the new attention to generate possibilities in this new normal. more traction and business for themselves.”

These ideas will be further explored Maintaining customer relevance in upcoming episodes of Disruptors, DisNow that essential products and services rupted, ON3’s three-part webinar series have become top of mind for many Filipino about the startup ecosystem in the Philipconsumers, non-essential startups are faced pines during COVID-19. Stream the full with a crisis of relevance. For them, it is webinar on demand at.

Tech & Gadgets

UnionBank, Mastercard, Lazada launch 1st e-commerce credit card in PH UNIONBANK of the Philippines and Lazada Philippines, together with Mastercard, have launched the all new UnionBank Lazada Credit Card, the country’s first ecommerce credit card that makes online shopping even more rewarding.

The new UnionBank Lazada Credit Card is the only credit card that allows cardholders to directly earn up to 6x Lazada wallet credits from their online spend at Lazada the highest earning rate among other credit cards in the market.

Every P200.00 spend at Lazada purchases earns cardholder with P6.00 Lazada credits.

Meanwhile, cardholder earns P1.00 for every P200.00 on all other purchases outside Lazada.

“As the country’s leading digital bank, we’re truly excited about this new partnership because we believe the new UnionBank Lazada Credit Card will enable us to serve the growing needs of Filipino shoppers in this rapidly changing digital economy,” said UnionBank president and CEO Edwin Bautista.

During these uncertain times, UnionBank Lazada Credit Card gives customers a new safe and secure payment option for their online transactions. As another testament to UnionBank’s digital banking technology, the UnionBank Lazada credit card also introduces a new virtual credit card - which cardholders can use for online transactions without waiting for the physical card to be issued.

The cardholder will receive the virtual card, activate and use it to make online purchases immediately once application is approved. The virtual card can be viewed safely through the UnionBank Online app, with security controls including biometrics and one-time-password (OTP).

A physical card will also be delivered to cardholders for their face-to-face, point-ofsale transactions.

“It is a privilege to collaborate with UnionBank as we work towards creating a secure and inclusive digital economy in the Philippines. With more people turning to the Lazada platform to meet their needs, the new UnionBank Lazada Credit Card will empower Filipino customers to get more value from their purchases as they embrace a cashless digital lifestyle,” said Ray Alimurung, Lazada Philippines’ Chief Executive Officer.

Sound worth sharing

EXTRA BASSTM Sound Enjoy deep, punchy bass wherever you are with these latest wireless speakers.

EXTRA BASSTM sound is achieved on the XB wireless speaker line up thanks to Sony’s renowned audio technology detailed below.

X-Balance Speaker Unit Sony’s newly developed X-Balanced Speaker Unit achieves high sound quality and powerful sound pressure for a richer, deeper and more rewarding listening experience. The unit’s non-circular shape maximizes the area of the speaker diaphragm, increasing sound pressure for more punchy bass. It also reduces driver excursion while maintaining the same sound pressure, resulting in less distortion. For example, the

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Galaxy Note20, Note20 Ultra hit stores M

OBILE devices and accessories now play an essential role in helping Filipinos stay in touch and give ways to work and play. As people face extraordinary challenges, life demands a new kind of device that will empower them in this Next Normal.

Samsung addresses this by introducing the Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra, which are now available in stores and through Samsung’s online store and partner merchants, starting yesterday, August 21, 2020.

The Galaxy Note20 is priced at P53,990 for the LTE version and P58,990 for the 5G variant, available through Globe and Smart. Customers can purchase the device in Mystic Bronze, Mystic Green, or Mystic Gray. On the other hand, the Galaxy Note20 Ultra retails at P67,990 for the LTE version and P72,990 for the 5G variant through Globe and Smart. It is available in Mystic Bronze and Mystic Black.

The devices to power work and play

Galaxy Note20 Series loyalists can now transform the way they work with the devices' productivity features. The Lifelike S Pen offers the ultimate writing experience as it gives the feel of a real pen and possesses gesture controls the device is known for. The air actions can now be used on more applications.

On the other hand, the much-improved Samsung Notes allows users to capture, edit, and share their ideas across their phone, tablet, or Windows 10 PC. Users can import their notes into PDF format

and write comments on it. Multitaskers can also benefit from the Audio Bookmark which allows them to record audio and take notes simultaneously. Their notes will be time-stamped to match the voice recording they are listening to, so they don’t miss important details gathered from meetings, interviews, or lectures.

Experience console-level gaming on the Galaxy Note20 Series. The devices are powered with Game Booster with an enhanced NPU that automatically adjusts phone settings for peak gaming experience. The Galaxy Note20 Ultra has a responsive 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2.0 display that makes users feel like they are part of the action.

With its 21:9 aspect ratio and 24fps recording, the Galaxy Note20 series’ pro-grade suite of cameras now gives users access to ultra-high resolution and professional-quality content. The Galaxy Note20 Ultra is equipped with a 108MP Wide-angle camera, 12MP Ultra Wide camera, 12MP Telephoto camera, and

the new Laser AF Sensor for more accurate focusing. It can zoom for up to 50x. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Note20 has a 64MP Telephoto camera, 12MP Ultra Wide camera, and 12MP Wide-angle camera. With the Space Zoom feature, the device can zoom up to 30x.

To further enhance productivity, Samsung DeX offers a new way to wirelessly set up a second screen that expands what they can do on an even bigger display.

This allows users to connect to a monitor or TV to watch videos while accessing the Gallery app from their phone.

Customers can enjoy a variety of promos starting today. Through Samsung's Opening weekend, those who purchase a Galaxy Note20 or Note20 Ultra from August 21 to 23, 2020 in Metro Manila and Luzon, and September 4 to 6, 2020 in Visayas and Mindanao, are entitled to P2,000 off on any Samsung Mobile product in the store and another P2,000 off on Samsung Care+ in participating stores.

Other offers include flexible payment terms with 0% interest for up to 24mos from participating banks, an outright cashback of P4,000 when they use their credit card for straight payments, a free first-month installment for PNB credit card users, or the “Trade in, Save up” program that allows customers to trade in their old premium smartphones and get additional discounts, which is available

A staff member gives a Samsung Galaxy Note20 to a reserved customer inside a car during a drive-thru launch event by SK Telecom for the Galaxy Note20 at an outdoor parking lot in Seoul, amid the ongoiang COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Samsung unveiled last week two versions of its oversized smartphone, the Galaxy Note20 and Galaxy Note20 Ultra. AFP

Enjoy superior sound with Sony’s new EXTRA BASS wireless speakers SONY recently refreshed its EXTRA BASSTM wireless speaker line-up with the addition of the SRS-XB43, SRS-XB33 and SRS-XB23.

Now available, this line up boosts superb sound quality, toughness, and usability at the forefront of the latest designs, you can enjoy superior sound wherever and whenever. The SRS-XB43 is retailing for P10,999.00, SRS-XB33 for P7,999.00 and the SRS-XB23 for P5,999.00.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020

Side Passive radiators The layout of the side passive radiators has also been optimized across all three models to reproduce clear bass sound.

LIVE SOUND mode LIVE SOUND mode brings your party to life with a 3-dimensional sound experience as if you were at a live venue. level of the sound pressure on the XB33 has Do more, worry less increased by approx. 30% and distortion SRS-XB33 rate is reduced by approx. 25% compared Waterproof, dust proof and rust proof to the predecessor model (SRS-XB32).

The new models have an IP67 rating, so SRS-XB43 you can take your speaker to the Unlike the circular diaphragm beach, the forest, the desert or in a conventional speaker unit, wherever you like—it will carry the X-Balanced Speaker Unit on playing no matter how dusty in the XB43 features an almost the surface. The speakers are rectangular diaphragm. Its 2-way even saltwater resistant so the speaker system combines a woofer fun can continue even in the sea! for low to mid frequencies with a Shockproof dedicated tweeter for the higher The speakersiv have underrange frequencies. The result is gone extensive shock testing and powerful sound, deep punchy bass thanks to the latest shock-proof and exceptional vocal clarity. durable design, can withstand SRS-XB33 the inevitable knocks, bumps and The X-Balanced speaker unit scrapes that come with everyday in the XB33 and XB23 features a use. Now even the clumsiest of newly developed non-circular diaccidents are no longer an isaphragm and off-center design. sue, even if you drop them, the This new design maximizes the speakers will keep working. speaker diaphragm, creating SRS-XB23 more sound pressure, but keeps Non-stop fun and new the speakers compact in size. form factor Lights Mica Reinforced cellular Add a music festival at(MRC) cone and dust cap mosphere with the speakers’ The rigid and lightweight fresh design which now feature MRC cone and dust cap conmulticolor line, tweeterviii and SRS-XB23 tributes to the sound quality. speaker lighting.

in participating stores only.

Aside from the Galaxy Note20 Series, the Galaxy Buds Live and Galaxy Watch3 will also be available beginning today.

The Galaxy Buds Live sports the newest shape of true wireless earbuds.

With a design that is a first-of-its-kind, it lets users tune in to every moment while elevating style.

Listen to sound with less fatigue as the new buds feature an ergonomic, tipless design that mimics the shape of an ear for all-day comfort. With Active Noise Cancellation and sound by AKG, the Galaxy Buds Live lets users tune in to immersive sound while keeping the background noise out. It also comes with a long-lasting battery life which allows for 6 hours of playback and up to 21 hours with the charging case so users can stay powered to work and play.

Meanwhile, the new Galaxy Watch3 lets the busy and health-conscious manage their life with state-of-the-art health technology and smartphone-level productivity in style. It features the popular rotating bezel for seamless app navigation, and a customizable watch face to match the user’s outfit. It even comes with a Running Analysis, Blood Oxygen monitoring feature, and Maximal Oxygen uptake (VO2 max) readings which allow users to get real-time insights after an intense workout or cardio so they can track their progress.

Fitness enthusiasts at home can also benefit from the smartwatch as it provides access to over 120 different video workout programs through the Samsung Health App. The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live is available starting today for a suggested retail price of P8,990 and comes in Mystic Bronze, Mystic White, and Mystic Black. The Galaxy Watch3 is available in 41mm and 45mm Bluetooth variants for a retail price of P18,990 and P20,990, respectively. The 41mm variant comes in Mystic Bronze and Mystic Silver, while the 45mm variant comes in Mystic Silver and Mystic Black.

Customers are up for exciting promos when they purchase the Galaxy Buds Live and Galaxy Watch3. Those who will avail the Galaxy Buds Live can enjoy 0% interest for up to 6 months. On the other hand, those who will purchase the Galaxy Watch3 are entitled to 0% interest for up to 24 months of installment using their credit cards from participating banks.

Now that the next-generation Galaxy devices are here, Filipinos can now achieve a new form of power to transform the way they work and play. Know more about the Galaxy Note20 Series, Galaxy Buds Live, and Galaxy Watch3.

Visit samsung.com/ph for more info.

ACCIONA brings expertise to P19B Malolos-Clark project ACCIONA, a Spanish global leader in providing sustainable solutions for infrastructure and renewable energy projects, and EEI, its local partner, will build one of the sections of the new railway line in the Philippines that will link the city of Malolos with Clark International Airport, 80 kilometers north of Manila, the capital. The ADB-financed contract, valued at around P19 billion, is estimated to be completed in three years.

The contract involves the construction of a 6.5-kilometer main railway line, which includes an elevated section, an underground section with cut and cover that will provide access to the Clark International Airport station, substation, and auxiliary facilities. The rail line will become a key transport infrastructure in the metropolitan region of Manila and is one of the priority projects identified by the Department of Transportation.

"The project will cut the travel time between Clark and Manila from two to three hours by bus to one hour by train while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60,000 tons annually,” Ruben Camba, ACCIONA Country Manager, said.

"The project is expected to create about 24,000 local construction jobs in the next three years and 14,000 more jobs related to the railway system’s operation. It will lead to larger, indirect employment, and economic benefits to local businesses, such as suppliers of raw materials, which in turn will create more jobs,” Mr. Camba added.

ACCIONA has considerable experience in executing this type of rail infrastructure. The group is currently constructing the Follo Line in Oslo, Norway for the Norwegian Railway Authority, which will become the longest railway tunnels in Scandinavia upon completion. ACCIONA is also responsible for the Legacy Way tunnels in Brisbane, Australia, a project that has since received numerous awards for both its technical execution and environmental protection measures.

Another noteworthy project is the company’s design and execution of the Dubai Metro Red Line expansion for Expo 2020.

In Latin America, the firm developed line 3 of the Santiago de Chile Metro and line 1 of the Quito Metro in Ecuador while in Spain, ACCIONA has built several metro lines in both Madrid and Barcelona.

Dare to do more with realme C15 LIFESTYLE partner of the youth realme Philippines dares to disrupt the entry-level price segment yet again, this time with a bona fide battery beast, the realme C15.

A trailblazer in the battery department, the realme C15 packs the world’s first power combo of a 6,000mAh battery and 18W Quick Charge. The large-capacity battery is ideal for heavy smartphone users such as online learners, sellers and content creators who rely on their device for digital-heavy interactions.

This latest smartphone from realme also features an eight-core processor, 6.5in LCD fullscreen with high screen-to-body ratio and ultra-wide quad cameras with a stylish geometric gradient design, making it another smartphone ready to deliver a Dare to Leap experience to young customers.

“Staying safe at home has pushed digital-

centric activities to the forefront of people’s daily lives even more: We stay connected, informed and entertained through online platforms. We launch the realme C15 today to accompany Filipinos—whether they be students taking online classes, online sellers reaching out to their market through livestreams or content creators sharing snippets of their daily lives. Let the realme C15 supply you with the power you need,” shares realme Philippines VP for Marketing Austine Huang.

The launch of the latest realme C-series device is also one of the highlights of the monthlong realme Fanfest. With the launch of the realme C15, realme reflects its continuous optimization of its C-series to provide more value-experience products to every Filipino.

The realme C15 further broadens realme Philippines’ growing lineup of smartphones with high quality, outstanding battery life, excellent

ultra-large display and colorful designs, fortifying its position as the best entry-level smartphone choice for young users.

Dare to do more with realme C15’s ultra-long battery life Do more with a smartphone that has the power to let users do more, whether these activities are for completing school work, meeting deadlines at work, attending to business online, or keeping in touch with family and friends. The realme C15 supports 46 hours of continuous calls, 28 hours of YouTube and a standby time of up to 57 days. In its most power-saving state —Super Power Saving Mode— the phone can be on standby for up to 2.9 days and support 1.73 hours of YouTube and 2.45 hours of call with only 5 percent battery.

The phone also features APP Quick Freeze, which can reduce idle background

realme C15 is PH’s first smartphone with 6,000mAh and 18W Quick Charge.

app power usage; Screen Battery Optimization, which lowers some display effects to increase the battery life; and Sleep Standby Optimization, which allows the phone to work in a lower battery-consuming mode.

All these give users the best smartphone battery life experience there is.

Besides allowing users to do more with a large-capacity battery, realme Philippines ensures the safety of the users with the realme C15’s fireproof back cover. The phone incor-

porates a power monitoring sensor and a temperature monitoring sensor to automatically check the thermal state of the smartphone, eliminating users’ worry about battery explosions or other accidents during extensive use.

The realme C15’s 18W Quick Charge feature charges the battery in full in just 2 hours or 1,500mAh power every 30 minutes. Even with only 25 percent battery left on Super Power Saving Mode, users can still watch YouTube for about 8 hours.

Motoring

RAMON L. TOMELDAN Editor

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020

Toyota Corolla crosses over to the world of HEVs T

By Ramon L. Tomeldan

IME and again, it is said that at Toyota, the only constant is change. This growing perception about Toyota appears to have been nurtured by innovative moves that the world’s top carmaker has taken in a short span of time amid the virus pandemic.

Just recently, Toyota’s Philippine unit staged one of the first virtual product launches in these parts, following it up with the opening of a digital showroom.

On Thursday, it marked another milepost by launching the hybrid version of the iconic Corolla which came as a fitting sequel to the series of Prius hybrid cars in the Toyota lineup.

With the rollout of the Corolla hybrid electric vehicle, Toyota just crossed over to a brave new world in defiance of a debilitating pandemic coupled with an economic slump.

Touted as a hyper-modern crossover car, the Toyota Corolla Cross HEV saw the light of day in this nation via a virtual launching held on Thursday, August 20, 2020. The upper crust of TMP executives led by Toyota president Atsuhiro Okamoto joined a video press conference in full force with dozens of motoring journalists taking part.

Explaining the choice of the iconic, 54-year-old brand as launching pad for the cross-over to the “new normal,” Okamoto said: “Guided by our philosophy of making even-better cars, Toyota took the best of a trusted model, the Toyota Corolla, and turned it into a sleek and modern crossover.”

The Corolla Cross is designed to move you in comfort and style, whether you’re seeking adventure, doing business, or simply spending time with people you love, Okamoto added.

A dazzling display of mobility featur-

ing the Corolla Cross in action preceded the video conference with TMP executives Elijah Marcial, Nadinne Capistrano and Elvin Luciano taking turns at extolling the beauty and wondrous features of the new HEV. A panel of high-echelon officers fielded questions from motoring journalists who until the launching hadn’t tested the Corolla in its hybrid glory.

First revealed in its global premiere last month, the Corolla Cross is the latest addition to Toyota’s global bestselling Corolla series. Since its launch in Japan in 1966, the Corolla series has sold a total of 48 million units or more, in more than 150 countries and regions.

So far, what we learned about the Corolla Cross emanated from the insights and answers shared by the panelists, who included Jing Atienza, Rommel Gutierrez and Sherwin Chualim.

• The hybrid variant is powered by a 1.8L engine with Atkinson Cycle and gets 1,798 cc displacement which exudes 142 max. torque @3,600 rpm, and an electric motor which helps in providing a 120hp total system maximum output.

Three driving modes (Eco, Power, and EV) are available.

The 1.8 G CVT variant gets 1,798cc displacement, 138hp total system maximum output, and 172Nm maximum torque @ 4,000 rpm with the 16-Valve DOHC, 4-Cylinder, In-line, Chain drive with Dual VVT-I engine.

• Exclusive to the hybrid variant are

Sonars are among the vital safety features of the new Corolla Cross.

LED Light Curtain Daytime Running Lights and a subtle blue accent to the bibeam LED headlamps which perfectly complements the blue Toyota logo.

Features include Smart Entry and Push Start System, power adjust with auto fold for the side mirrors, power windows, and speedsensing door locks, and for the 1.8 V hybrid variant, rain-sensing windshield wipers.

• Convenient steering wheel switches enable the driver to adjust Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) features and 7” multi-information display for the 1.8 V hybrid, and audio, and phone connectivity features for all variants. Apple Carplay and Android Auto compatible with the 1.8 V Hybrid’s display audio.

Similar to the Corolla Altis, the Corolla Cross has a MacPherson strut front sus-

Hybrid vehicles do not have to be plugged in as the battery self–charges while the vehicle is being driven. Every step on the brake allows the car to recharge.

pension optimized for its SUV structure.

The rear suspension features an all-new torsion beam design which helps improve the ride handling and reduce body roll.

Drivers’ and passengers’ safety features abound in the Corolla Cross.

• All variants are equipped with 7 SRS airbags, Anti-Lock Brake System with Brake Assist and Electronic Brake Force Distribution, Vehicle Stability Control with Traction Control, Hill Start Assist, and 3-point Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) seatbelts for the driver and all passengers. The hybrid variant has two front and four rear clearance sonars, while the G CVT variant has 2 rear sonars, and reverse camera is available for all variants.

• The 1.8 Hybrid variant also has several active safety features such as the Pre-

Collision System, Adaptive Cruise Control , Lane Departure Alert , Lane Tracing Assist, and Automatic High Beam.

• It also has Blind Spot Monitor and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. When turned on, this system detects vehicles approaching from the rear or vehicles which may not be fully visible through the side mirrors, and alerts the driver through visual and audio signals.

The New Corolla Cross with its 1.8 V Hybrid and 1.8 G CVT variants will be available at TMP dealerships nationwide from August 26, 2020 with prices ranging from P1.1M to P1.65M. The Corolla Cross is geared toward an urban, relatively young market but there’s nothing that can stop the “golden agers” from owning one.

HONDA HINTS

What it takes to be successful in your 30s SUCCESS is something most human beings strive for in their lifetime. But what it means to be successful is something that’s ever-changing. For children, success may mean being the best at video games. For teens, that may mean studying in a prestigious university with a certainty of graduating with flying colors. It might mean

possessions can’t buy happiness, but there are constant bills and expenses to pay for. And nowadays, a single source of income isn’t enough to sustain all the wants and needs of your family while securing a bountiful retirement. There are plenty of side hustles out there, some of which you can do online—very apt given the global

having a stable job with opportunities to grow for a 20-year-old.

But for a 30-year-old individual with a family and plenty of expectations and responsibilities, how can one achieve success? While it is a very subjective topic, there exists an unspoken profile of a successful 30-year-old. So how can you fit this portfolio to look and feel successful in your 30s? Here are some tips: Have multiple sources of income It’s true that money and material

situation.

Can’t explore side hustles because of a demanding work schedule? Try exploring passive income streams like investments where you rarely have to lift a finger. Expand your investment portfolio by investing in stocks, bonds, or high-yield savings accounts and you’ll feel secure and somewhat successful knowing that you have some money that will reap benefits in the future.

Own a well-established, but constantly polished skillset By the time you’re 30, you

should at least have an idea of what you’re good at and what you’re not so good at. Fully embrace these skills of yours and constantly sharpen them to be a prominent leader in your respective field.

Maintain a healthy work-life balance While it’s good that you’re working hard to satisfy yours and your family’s wants and needs, it’s always good to remember that we won’t live forever. Alongside having good streams of income, make sure to enjoy the best that life has to offer as well.

Own an elegant yet practical vehicle Some may disagree, but let’s face it: It’s difficult to go around the metro safely without a personal vehicle. But that doesn’t mean you have to purchase an extremely expensive car, nor one that simply gets you from point A to point B.

Lexus introduces remote guest experience LEXUS takes pride in the hospitality that it shows its customers at the Lexus Manila dealership. This spirit of Japanese hospitality--otherwise known as ‘Omotenashi’ is at the center of the Lexus brand after all. Taking care of the Lexus customer is paramount, so the necessary precautions (thorough disinfection, mandatory face mask use, social-distancing guidelines, and strict temperature checks) have already been put in place early on to elevate Lexus Manila’s safety standards amidst this global pandemic.

To further enhance the hospitality that Lexus extends to its custom-

ers, the brand is offering a unique way of showcasing its products.

Introducing the Lexus Remote Guest Experience, where customers who want to get to know the Lexus lineup of vehicles intimately can do so from the comfort and security of their own homes. It’s a series of guided 360-degree walkthrough videos which will make users feel the same experience as they would when in the Lexus Manila showroom, inside of the vehicle, and with a sales consultant by their side.

There’s a certain magic that comes from visiting the Lexus Manila showroom and seeing the

stable of vehicles up close; hearing their engines; sitting down in and feeling their masterfully crafted interiors; and examining the intricate details of the sculpted bodywork.

Chatting with knowledgeable sales consultants about the finer points of each model leaves visitors with a deeper appreciation of the craftsmanship and engineering behind every Lexus and is a highlight of every customer’s visit as well.

The Lexus Remote Guest Experience will deliver the same feeling to you--regardless of where you are. You may experience it yourself by visiting this link: https://fal. cn/39Nda

FASTLANE

Geely Holding exec wins lifetime achievement award LONDON—Peter Horbury, Executive Vice President of Design at Geely Holding, has been recognized with the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award by Autocar, the UK’s leading automotive magazine.

The award reflects Horbury’s contribution to the automotive industry with nearly five decades of design work, culminating at Geely Holding, China’s leading private-

ly-owned automotive and mobility services group. Horbury joined Geely from Volvo Cars, where he was head of design, and where he was instrumental in helping Volvo transition from the angular body styles of the 1980s-90s to a new generation of sleek vehicles that is still evident in Volvo’s current portfolio.

Horbury, who began his career

at Chrysler UK, returned to Volvo Cars from Ford’s Premium Auto Group in 2009 to help revitalize the brand ahead of its acquisition

by Geely Holding in 2010. He later transferred to a new role overseeing the growth of Geely Auto Group’s subsidiary brands including Geely Auto, Geometry, Lynk & Co, LEVC (former London Taxi) Lotus, and Proton Cars.

Horbury