Manila Standard - 2020 November 7 - Saturday

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Biden on verge of victory Pulls ahead in Pennsylvania; Trump: ‘Election is not over’

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EMOCRAT Joe Biden pulled ahead of President Donald Trump in the potentially decisive state of Pennsylvania on Friday, putting him on the brink of victory in an increasingly tense White House race.

Pennsylvania, and its 20 electoral votes, would be enough to put the 77-year-old Biden past the magic number of 270 votes in the Electoral College, which determines the presidency.

With tens of thousands of votes remaining to be counted, many of them from heavily Democratic areas, Biden opened up a 5,500-vote lead over the Republican incumbent, real-time state election results showed.

Biden currently has at least 253 electoral votes and is leading in three other states -- Arizona, Georgia and Nevada -where votes from Tuesday’s bitterly contested election continue to be counted.

With his reelection hopes fading, Trump is making it clear, however, that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden solidifies his lead over President Donald Trump after pulling ahead in the potentially decisive state of Pennsylvania on Friday. AFP

he is not ready to accept defeat, launching unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and claiming that he won.

“This election is not over,” his campaign said, after news of Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania broke.

In an extraordinary appearance at the White House on Thursday, Trump himself claimed that he had been cheated out of reelection.

“They are trying to steal the election,” Trump said.

With a Biden victory looking increasingly likely, the US Secret Service increased its protective bubble around the former vice president, The Washington Post reported Friday.

The Secret Service sent an extra squad of agents to Biden’s campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, the newspaper said.

The Secret Service, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security, Next page

Masked and gloved: US vote counters go about historic task IF IT were at another time, what they were doing could seem like nothing much, maybe office sorting of some kind.

But the stakes could not have been higher on Thursday as workers in masks and gloves stood over folding tables to verify and count, one by one,

the remaining ballots in the yet to be decided US presidential election.

The world was watching -- and so, of course, were the campaign teams for President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden along with Next page

VOL. XXXIV • NO. 246 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Siony, LPA spawn November rain after Rolly’s fury

By Rio N. Araja, Willie Casas, Alena Mae Flores and Rey E. Requejo

nyo” once it enters the Philippine area of responsibility.

As of 2 p.m. Friday, the low pressure area was estimated at 1,075 kilometers east of Mindanao.

Meanwhile, severe tropical storm “Siony” was moving A LOW pressure area that is expected to develop into a tropiNext page cal depression within the next 48 hours will be named “To-

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte presides over a meeting with Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and the core members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases prior to his talk to the people at the Malacañang Golf (Malago) Clubhouse in Malacañang Park. Presidential Photo

‘Skeletons’ in DPWH worse than ‘ghost’ projects – Ping

By Macon Ramos-Araneta, Rey E. Requejo and Vito Barcelo SENATOR Panfilo Lacson said Friday he would uncover some “skeleton projects” that are no better than ghost projects when he questions government officials about the proposed 2021 na-

tional budget.

“The President says he hates ‘ghost’ projects. ‘Skeleton’ projects couldn’t be any better. Will show some when I interpolate [sic] on the 2021 national budget,” he said in his Twitter account.

Lacson did not explain the difference between “skeleton” and ghost Next page

COLOR IT GRAY. 2018 Miss Universe Catriona Gray paints a miniature “Higantes” doll during her visit at the Art Capital and Home of the Higantes on Wednesday (Nov. 4, 2020) at the Angono Lakeside Ecopark in Barangay San Vicente, Angono, Rizal. Gray is also a National Commission for Culture and Arts Ambassador.

Mukhang pera? Gordon hits ‘wrong premise’ was not offended by President Rodrigo values money and riches.

By Willie Casas Duterte’s “mukhang pera” comment However, he said that the remark was PHILIPPINE Red Cross chairman Sen- – an idiomatic expression in Filipino “not really presidential.”

Next page ator Richard Gordon on Friday said he which is equivalent to a person who

LOCAL ROUNDUP

• Avigan trials snagged – DOH • Kits price cap

By Willie Casas THE clinical trial of the Japanese antiflu drug Avigan in the Philippines has hit a snag due to the absence of qualified COVID-19 patients classified as mild cases, the Department of Health Next page

A GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING. SM Supermalls gifts us the magic of Christmas as they light up their vibrant displays despite the challenges of 2020. Bringing hope, spreading cheers, reuniting families, and helping MSMEs bounce forward and recover are some of the things that Mr. Steven Tan, president of SM Supermalls, wishes to fulfill this Christmas season for the Filipinos. #SamaSamaTayoSaPaskoAtSM.

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM NOVEMBER 6)

391,809 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

2,092 34,374 NEW

ACTIVE

7,461

52

349,974

462

DEATHS

RECOVERIES

NEW

NEW

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Congress ‘era of cooperation’ seen

work together with our fellow lawmakers to come up with legislation to help overseas workers, farmers and fishermen,” he added.

Velasco said the House also requested the Senate to prioritize the proposed Magna Carta of Barangay Workers to support barangay frontliners, as well as the proposed Internet Transactions Act that seeks to protect consumers, especially with the increase in online transactions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Velasco leadership got off to a good start with its relationship with the Senate following the early transmittal of the House-approved 2021 General Appropriations Bill to the upper chamber.

Velasco expressed confidence the GAB would be passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by Duterte before the yearend to prevent a reenacted spending program that could slow economic growth and hamper the delivery of government services.

to gambling mecca Las Vegas.

One wild card that could upset these calculations: Arizona. Fox News and The Associated Press have already called the state’s race in Biden’s favor, but other networks including CNN and NBC have said it’s still too close to call.

Biden had a lead of about 47,000 votes with about 90 percent of the ballots counted. He holds 50.1 percent of the total compared to Trump’s 48.5. Arizona has 11 electoral votes.

In Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign moved to stop the counting of votes, which authorities were forbidden from processing before Election Day. Several major US television networks cut away from live coverage of Trump’s

White House event over concerns that he was spreading disinformation, and there were signs of cracks in support within his Republican Party.

Representative Will Hurd called Trump’s call to stop vote-counting “dangerous and wrong,” while Rupert Murdoch’s long supportive New York Post called Trump’s allegations “baseless.”

“There is no defense for the President’s comments tonight undermining our Democratic process,” said Maryland’s Republican Governor Larry Hogan.

“No election or person is more important than our Democracy.”

But several prominent Republicans rallied behind Trump and signalled that they could challenge the legitimacy of results if the president loses.

“I think everything should be on the table,” Senator Lindsey Graham said when asked by Fox News host and Trump loyalist Sean Hannity if Pennsylvania’s Republican-led legislature should refuse to certify results.

Powerful Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had a more nuanced statement.

“Here’s how this must work in our great country: Every legal vote should be counted,” McConnell said. “Any illegally-submitted ballots must not.”

“All sides must get to observe the process. And the courts are here to apply the laws & resolve disputes. That’s how Americans’ votes decide the result.”

Biden, who has promised to heal a country bruised by Trump’s polarizing four years in power, has appealed for “people to stay calm.”

The Trump campaign has filed a slew of lawsuits in battleground states challenging the results and the president’s supporters have staged protests outside several vote-counting centers. AFP

projects, however.

The senator posted his tweet after the President told a Cabinet meeting Thursday that “partial delivery” and “ghost projects” were among the most common practices hounding the infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

While the President told corrupt DPWH personnel to resign or face charges, he went out of his way to clear Secretary Mark Villar of wrongdoing.

On Friday, Villar said he blacklisted at least 25 contractors who are now barred from doing business with his department—the highest number in the past 20 years.

“Let this be a warning to our contractors that this administration of President Rodrigo Duterte is serious in its anti-corruption drive and will not tolerate those who bagged big amounts of civil works contracts but deliberately violate the law for personal gains,” Villar said.

Contractors who violate the terms and conditions of contracts may face blacklisting or be suspended from participating in any government project in accordance with existing laws and policies.

As an administrative sanction, the

blacklisted contractor is prevented from participating in all government projects for a period of one year based on the implementing rules and regulations of the Government Procurement Reform Act. On Jan. 31, 2020, Villar blacklisted St. Gerrard Construction General Contractor & Development, which has P8.861 billion worth of contracts for various projects,for the delay in implementation of a building project in Indang, Cavite.

Syndite Construction Corp., which had P5.58 billion in project contracts, was suspended Sept. 6, 2018, for a year for failing to deliver in the construction of a flood control system in Cagayan.

Although thousands of public works projects are being undertaken, systems are in place in the Department to ensure that these contracts are stringently monitored and safeguarded from any negligence, Villar said.

Villar introduced a monitoring system using drones and geographic-based status reports with the progress of the projects confirmed via satellite photography or geotagging to counter ghost projects.

On Friday, the Department of Justice-led Task Force Against Corruption said it has received about 10 complaints of corruption in government agencies since it activated its operating center on Thursday.

Justice Menardo Guevarra said task force would still need to sort them out and identify the agencies concerned.

Guevarra said member agencies of the task force are not exempt from investigation of misdeeds by their officials and employees.

He added that they are aware that the credibility of the task force hinges to a great extent on the ability of the member agencies to clean their own respective backyards.

The task force earlier said it has set parameters to determine which allegations would be considered.

A minimum threshold of P1 billion in public funds involved will be one of those parameters.

On the list are allegations of irregularities in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), Department of Public Works and Highways, Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the Land Registration Authority.

The group, headed by the Department of Justice, is composed of the National Bureau of Investigation, Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, Office of the Special Assistant to the President, National Prosecution Service, and the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

On Thursday night, Duterte urged officials and employees involved in ghost projects at the DPWH should resign now.

Duterte earlier said “mukhang pera” while Health Secretary Francisco Duque III was announcing that the PRC has resumed COVID-19 swab testing after the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) partially settled its P1.1-billion debt with the organization.

“I’m not offended. I think the President should really be careful. At times he is not aware the statements he makes are not really presidential,” Gordon told reporters in an online press conference.

The PRC chair said he harbored no ill feelings towards the President, but blamed Duque for possibly giving the chief executive a wrong impression about the largest COVID-19 testing organization in the Philippines.

“I think he (Duterte) was misled by the statement. The way the predicate was laid out by Sec. Duque was wrong... He said, ‘The one paid resumed testing,” the senator said.

Gordon said that this was not the first time Duterte insulted him in public.

Last year Duterte said Gordon was a “fart away from disaster” after the senator noted that the President had a penchant for appointing former military officials to his Cabinet.

Gordon said Duterte called to apologize for the comment.

“He called on my birthday and said, ‘Happy birthday, Dick. I just spoke in haste. Let’s forget that’.” Gordon said.

Meanwhile, Gordon said the PRC would continue to work with PhilHealth and the government despite Duterte’s remark.

and rehabilitation centers; three were local government unit hospitals; 15 were rural health units (RHUs) in Bicol and two were RHUs in Calabarzon; two were Barangay Health Stations (BHS) in Calabarzon, and 39 were BHS in Bicol Region, said Vergeire.

The DOH has granted P20 million worth of financial assistance to hospitals in areas devastated by Rolly, which left at least 22 people dead, 165 injured and P11 billion worth of damage.

The cost of damage to power distribution infrastructure due to Rolly rose to P327.909 million as of 6 a.m. Friday, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) said.

Meanwhile, electric co-ops have restored power to 54.73 percent, or 1,144,818 consumers, of the 2,091,796 households affected by the typhoon in the Bicol Region and parts of Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Eastern Visayas.

Efforts to restore electricity service in parts of Batangas are almost complete. Restoration levels now stand at 99.60 percent .

Power, too, has been restored to most parts of Eastern Visayas.

The Department of Energy (DOE) assured the public there was a sufficient supply of petroleum products in areas hit by typhoon Rolly, following earlier reports of supply disruptions, particularly in the island province of Catanduanes.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the DOE had been in constant communication with all downstream oil industry players ahead of the typhoon to ensure that they adhered to the prescribed minimum inventory requirements, as part of the energy family’s disaster preparedness measures.

Also on Friday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it has allotted more than P300 million for the emergency employment assistance of 15,000 informal sector workers in three regions that were affected by Rolly.

Labor Undersecretary Ana Dione said the funds have been released to the regional offices in the Bicol region,

Calabarzon, and Mimaropa.

The bulk of the funds was given to the Bicol region amounting to P200 million, while Calabarzon and Mimaropa received P33 million and P73 million, respectively.

Dione added that 5,000 workers will be hired under the DOLE’s emergency work program from each province affected by the super typhoon.

The United States Agency for International Development , meanwhile, provided P9.7 million ($200,000) in aid to assist the Philippine government’s efforts to help Filipino families hardest hit by Super Typhoon Rolly, over a million of whom are currently in evacuation centers.

S

PEAKER Lord Allan Velasco is hopeful a “new era of cooperation” between the House of Representatives and the Senate is at hand as the two chambers begin to craft a common legislative agenda for the remaining 20 months of the 18th Congress.

Velasco said in a statement: “We look forward to a very good working relationship between the House and the Senate as both chambers strive to ensure the remaining sessions of the 18th Congress will be fruitful and productive.”

Velasco and Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Thursday led an informal caucus of House and Senate leaders at a hotel in Mandaluyong City.

The meeting, initiated by the Speaker, was also attended by Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto; the Senate Finance Committee chairman, Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara; House Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin

Romualdez; the House Committee on Appropriations chairman, Rep. Eric Yap of the party-list group ACT-CIS, and House Minority Leader Joseph Stephen Paduano.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also joined the meeting via videoconferencing app Webex.

“We consider the senators as vital partners, allies and friends, and we thank the Senate leadership for this productive meeting,” Velasco said.

The leaders of both chambers agreed to come up with common legislative priority targets for the next five months

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COVID updates

The Philippines logged on Friday 2,092 new COVID-19 cases in the country, bringing the total to 391,809, while 7,461 have died after 52 were reported to have been killed, DOH reported.

The top cities and provinces with new cases are Davao City, 129; Quezon City, 100; Quezon Province, 83; Northern Province, 82; and Cavite Province, 80.

The DOH also said 34,374 or 8.8 percent of the total are active cases.

Of the active cases, 83.6 percent are mild; 9.8 percent are asymptomatic; 4.2 percent are critical; and 2.4 percent are severe.

The DOH also reported that 462 more persons have recovered, bringing the total to 349,974 recoveries. This is 89.3 percent of the total number of cases.

Price ceiling

DOH said Friday said it planned to release the price ceiling for coronavirus test kits by next week.

DOH, in a press briefing, said they already met with the Department of Trade and Industry twice this week to discuss the test kits’ recommended price range.

President Rodrigo Duterte, through Executive Order 118, on Wednesday directed DTI and DOH to set a price ceiling on COVID-19 tests after his Cabinet members and other officials reported some incidents of overpricing.

“DTI and DOH already met and we have agreed that we need to release our recommended price range for COVID-19 tests by next week.

We are still studying the price range for such tests.),” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.

DOLE CAMP

Workers in the private sector who have been displaced or affected by the pandemic can now start applying online in the Department of Labor and Employment’s second tranche of cash assistance via its COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP).

Siony,...

From A1 west-northwestward over the Bashi Channel along the Luzon Strait in the Pacific Ocean.

It was forecast to exit the Philippine area of responsibility Friday night.

The Department of Health, meanwhile, reported that super typhoon “Rolly” had damaged 67 health facilities in the Bicol region and Calabarzon.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said of the 67, six were Department of Health (DOH) retained hospitals, reference laboratory and treatment

their teams of lawyers.

Huge numbers of journalists from around the world were gathered, staking out space to record what will be a historic moment.

There was often not much to see -- just workers going about their task, sure and steady, dressed casually, sometimes with lanyards and IDs around their necks.

They made their way through a mountain of mailed ballots, the preferred method for many voters this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, checking their validity then sorting and running them through counting machines.

The number of mailed ballots was the reason there were repeated warnings ahead of Tuesday’s election that the process could take longer this year and will require patience -- a prediction that proved accurate.

In some cities, such as Philadelphia, protesters gathered outside counting centers and Trump’s team pressed for greater access, seeking, without evidence, to sow further doubt on the process as Biden moved to the cusp of gaining enough electoral votes for victory.

in accordance with the agenda set out

by President Rodrigo Duterte in his State of the Nation Address last July, with additional inputs from the House and the Senate.

Included in the President’s legislative agenda are the proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises or CREATE Act, Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer or FIST Act, Rural Agricultural and Fisheries Development Financing System Act, and the bill creating the Department of Overseas Filipinos.

“The President, in his remaining years as our Chief Executive, can rely on Congress to help him fulfill his promises to our people before his term ends,” Velasco said.

The leaders of both chambers met ahead of the scheduled resumption of session of the House on November 16.

“We take seriously his call to put an end to systemic corruption, and we will

By Maricel V. Cruz

said Friday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, DOH spokesperson, said only four of the 100 required COVID-19 were classified as mild cases for the Avigan trial as of November 5.

Under government protocol, mild cases of COVID-19 will be treated under temporary treatment and monitoring facilities supervised by the national and local governments so as not to overwhelm the hospitals and other health care facilities needed to treat severe and critical COVID-19 cases.

Vergeire said protocols on conducting clinical trials for Avigan were already being revised but conceded that the final output could take time.

The Avigan trial in the country is supposed to start in July, but it was repeatedly postponed until it was able to start this month.

Masked...

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North Carolina

is charge or protecting the White House and senior government officials, visiting high officials, and others.

Providing no evidence and taking no questions from reporters, Trump spent nearly 17 minutes making incendiary statements about the country’s democratic process -- of a sort never before heard from a US president.

According to Trump, Democrats were using “illegal votes” to “steal the election from us.”

“If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” he claimed. “They’re trying to rig an election. And we can’t let that happen.”

Trump repeated those claims in a tweet early on Friday.

Trump’s rhetoric came as his campaign aggressively challenged the integrity of the huge number of ballots mailed in rather than cast in person on Election Day. The big shift to postal ballots this year reflected the desire of voters to avoid risking exposure to Covid-19 in crowded polling stations during a pandemic that has already killed about 235,000 Americans.

Mail-in ballots have tilted heavily to Democrats.

Here is a look at the situation in the key states that are still up for grabs aside from Pennsylvania:

Nevada

Biden had been favored to win Nevada, and its six electoral votes could put him precisely at the number needed to win if he keeps Arizona. With more than 89 percent of the vote counted, Biden was leading by less than 11,500 votes in the Western state that is home

‘Skeletons’...

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In North Carolina, which has 15 electoral votes, Trump had a lead of around 77,000 votes with 95 percent of the ballots tabulated. He had around 50 percent of the total compared to Biden’s 48.6. Trump is favored to win the southeastern state, but mail-in ballots sent on or before election day in North Carolina can be counted until November 12.

Georgia

In Georgia, Trump’s initial lead over Biden steadily slipped away as vote counting continued in heavily Democratic areas, and the former vice president is now slightly ahead. Biden’s lead is just 1,096 votes, and he currently holds 49.4 percent of the total. Some 98 percent have been counted. Georgia has not chosen a Democrat for president since Bill Clinton in 1992. Its 16 electoral votes would put Biden just under 270 – or over the top if he holds Arizona.

Arizona

‘Feel that pressure’

There were a handful of protesters during the day on Thursday in Atlanta, Georgia, a major city in the American south and one with a proud history of African-American activism as the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. Georgia unexpectedly became an epicenter of attention after Biden performed surprisingly well in the Republican stronghold, making a serious run at its 16 electoral votes.

Should he overtake Trump in the remaining ballots, he would become the first Democratic nominee for president to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1992.

Nevertheless, there was a relaxed, almost mundane atmosphere as counters focused on the job at the arena that is usually the home of the Atlanta Hawks NBA basketball team.

Officials defended workers against attempts to cast a cloud over the process.

Gabriel Sterling of the Georgia secretary of state’s office, which oversees the organization of elections, spoke of the small margin between the two candidates in his state and said “we are aware of that fact.”

“And the county elections officials feel that pressure. They understand.

They are working hard,” he said at the state capitol. AFP

Mukhang pera?...

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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ASEAN inks deal on cooperation

By Rey E. Requejo CHIEF Justice Diosdado Peralta and other top magistrates of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Thursday signed a declaration aimed at further strengthening the cooperation among its member-states, as well as ensuring knowledge-sharing to best equip the judiciary of the respective ASEAN nations in handling cases of international interest, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the first ever-online and eighth meeting of the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices, the top magistrates signed the Hanoi Declaration. The Judiciary of Vietnam hosted this year’s CACJ meeting.

In his message, Peralta reaffirmed the Philippine judiciary’s commitment to advance the Rule of Law in the ASEAN region.

“I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the Judiciary of Vietnam for hosting this meeting in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global health emergency we are currently experiencing. We are gathered here today to continue our sworn obligation to unite and strengthen our judicial cooperation to advance the Rule of Law in the ASEAN region,” Peralta said.

“Thanks to the latest technology, it has made us realize that physical distance is not a hindrance for all of us to be together and share important milestones in our jurisdiction.”

Under the Declaration, the ASEAN chief justices agreed, among other things, “for Malaysia and the CACJ Secretariat in collaboration with the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on Private International Law to conduct the master class for ASEAN judges and judicial officers on The Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in civil or commercial matters, and The Hague Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil or commercial matters.”

The accord also says “the agreement for the working group on Facilitating Service of Civil Processes within ASEAN to study the current legal framework within each ASEAN jurisdiction governing the taking of evidence for foreign proceedings and on the basis of such study, to develop a Model Rule and thereafter submit a report of their findings and recommendations of the said Model Rule at the next CACJ Meeting for consideration by each ASEAN Judiciary.”

FIRE POWER. The Philippine National Police has added more police vehicles, watercraft, communications equipment and rifles through its modernization program. PNP Chief Camilo Pancratius Cascolan led the blessing and send-off of the new equipment in Camp Crame.

Binay: Give face masks F

ORMER Vice President Jejomar Binay urged the government on Friday to also give face masks or face shields to the victims of Super Typhoon “Rolly.”

Binay, who had served as Makati mayor, said efforts must be taken to prevent the spread of COVID 19 in the facilities being used to temporarily shelter typhoon victims and in their communities.

“We must make sure that our countrymen who were affected by the typhoon are safe. The last thing we need

is for the virus to infect our people who are already suffering from the damage caused by the super typhoon,” Binay said.

The face masks or face shields should be included among the relief items being distributed in the affected regions.

“It is important for national gov-

ernment agencies to ensure that our countrymen will get face masks or face shields and consciously promote its use,” Binay said.

He also said the local governments should not be expected to provide immediate aid to their residents because a sizable portion of their calamity funds were used to give relief and other assistance during the hard lockdown ordered by the government early this year. Some localities were also affected by Typhoon “Quinta” and their calamity funds had been se-

verely depleted.

“Our local officials and those affected by the typhoons are relying on the national government,” Binay said.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council had placed the number of people affected by the super typhoon at more than two million. Some 138,209 individuals had sought refuge in the evacuation centers, mostly in Bicol, as of the last count.

The national government said it had so far provided more than P26 million in relief to the typhoon victims.

Anti-drug campaigns kill 5,903

By Rio N. Araja AT least 5,903 people were killed during the anti-drug operations under the Duterte administration from July 1, 2016 to Sept.

30, 2020, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

The agency’s #RealNumbersPH Year 4 data showed 259,296 people were arrested and that 178,616 anti-illegal drug operations were conducted.

The high-value targets arrested totaled 10,488, of whom 356 were elected officials, 16 were celebrities and Professional Regulations Commission license holders, 102 were uniformed personnel, 438 were government

employees and 283 were foreigners.

The rest were 3,034 targets listed, 747 were drug group leaders and members, 66 were armed group members, 229 were in the wanted list and 4,213 personalities were arrested during high-impact operations.

PDEA said it seized illegal drugs worth P54.02 billion, including 7,088.58 kilograms of shabu worth P44.22 billion.

Its report showed 615 dens and 17 clandestine laboratories were dismantled.

Of the country’s 42,045 villages, PDEA was able to clear 20,289 of illegal drugs while 14,091 others had yet to be cleared.

NEW MACHINES. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno inspects the machines that will print the Philippine Identification System, commonly known as the National ID. The machines have the capacity to print about 154,000 cards per day.

Anti-armed-conflict budget pushed SSS follows new

By Maricel V. Cruz ALBAY Rep. Joey Salceda said Friday some P16 billion in projects under the National Task Force for Ending the Communist Local Armed Conflict had an approach similar to Bottom-Up Budgeting, and should be kept “perhaps with some adjustment towards areas hard-hit by recent natural calamities.”

Salceda, the chairman of the House ways and means committee, said the label “can mislead one into thinking that this is a direct national security budget when the items are actually for countryside development.

“The idea is that when you build roads in the countryside, you are creating opportunities for economic development and minimizing the incentives for joining armed conflict.

“Of course, I appreciate the concern for the Bicol region. Indeed, there should be

some space for realigning some non-urgent projects towards Albay, Catanduanes and other hard-hit areas. After all, if these provinces can recover faster and the infrastructure in the far-flung areas of these provinces is tended to, the rationale for insurgency is drastically reduced.

“I’ll bring the matter of adjustment up to the bicameral conference committee. In general, the idea of spending on programs towards economic development in the countryside is the most effective way to rid the armed conflict of breathing space, because it feeds on resentment. I support those countryside development programs.”

“I appreciate the framework that sees armed conflict as ultimately rooted in poverty and underdevelopment. So, the countryside development programs under the task force is an acknowledgment that some solutions are not military in nature.”

Agents confiscate US dollar bills CUSTOMS agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport intercepted two packages containing US dollars equivalent to more than P300,000, which were smuggled via air cargo.

The two packages came from Tennessee and arrived at the Federal Express warehouse on Oct. 23 and 29, and were consigned to a resident of Poblacion village in Muntinlupa City.

“The packages were both declared as “correspondence/no value,” said Customs NAIA port collector Carmelita Talusan.

“The first one was discovered containing 75 pieces of 100-dollar bills, while the

other contained 150 pieces of 20-dollar bills, 20 pieces of 50-dollar gills and 20 pieces of 100-dollar bills,” Talusan said.

Two months ago Talusan’s men intercepted another package with 8,000 dollars in 50- and 100-dollar bills concealed between the pages of a cooking magazine.

The package was also declared as “correspondence from New Jersey and consigned to a resident of San Pedro in Laguna.

The latest confiscation brings to more than P1.5 million the worth of the foreign currencies that were seized by the Port of NAIA this year. Joel Zurbano

pension payments SINCE October 2020, the Social Security System said, it had been following a new schedule for the disbursement of monthly pensions using the Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network or PESONet and other checkless disbursement channels.

The new schedule covers pensioners receiving their pensions through PESONet participating banks, e-wallets and the Development Bank of the Philippines-accredited Remittance Transfer Company/Cash Payout Outlet-M Lhuillier.

Under the new schedule, the pensioners with dates of contingency from the first to the 15th day of the month will receive their pensions on the 1st day of the pension month (first batch), while those with dates of contingency from the 16th to the last of the month will receive their pensions on the 16th day of the pension month.

If the credit date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a holiday, the pension will be credited to their accounts on the last working day before the Saturday, Sunday, or holiday.

The SSS said the pensions for September 2020 were already released to the banks in mid-August 2020. Those pensions were scheduled to be credited to their accounts on their dates of contingency-the old disbursement schedule.

After receiving the funds from the SSS, some banks are crediting them to their pensioner-client’s accounts ahead of the scheduled crediting date, which may be, but not limited to, the last week before or the first week of the pension month.

POWERFUL REMINDERS. Lahar and boulders brought by the flash floods during the onslaught of typhoon ‘Rolly’ settle while residents dig up their half-sunken houses in San Francisco in Guinobatan, Albay. Norman Cruz

‘Examine cashless payment system’ SENATOR Grace Poe on Friday urged the Department of Transportation to examine the cashless payment system on toll roads to avoid any miscalculations that could shortchange motorists.

She said motorists should not be made to suffer further in their efforts to comply with government regulations in shifting to a cashless toll system.

Poe, head of the Senate committee on public services, said the government must assess the entire system and look at the payments or settlements end of the process.

With toll operators already giving the radio frequency identification stickers for free, she said, the department now only needed to look into the required balance on the RFIDs and the possible charges on loading to ensure that citizens were not unduly burdened.

“Let us leave more money in their wal-

lets by not asking for unnecessary deposits or a higher maintaining balance than they would use. People are burdened enough,” Poe said.

Motorists taking the Cavitex, for instance, are required to keep a minimum balance of P100 on their RFID accounts, and the system does not allow debiting from the account even if the toll they need to pay is much less.

If a motorist enters Cavitex from Roxas Boulevard and takes the Zapote exit with a balance of P99, he or she will still need to load money in the account even if the toll costs only P25.

“Any additional, uncalled-for expense is no longer acceptable to our people. They have lost their jobs and earnings, with ballooning debts that they are struggling to pay,” Poe said. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020 lgu@manilastandard.net editor.lgustandard@gmail.com

LGUs LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

THIRD FACILITY. Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco, Rep. John Rey Tiangco, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Sec. Vince Dizon, and other officials lead the blessing and inauguration of Navotas Community Isolation Facility 3 at Navotas Centennial Park, Brgy. Bagumbayan North, Navotas City on Thursday. Andrew Rabulan

IN BRIEF New research center to rise in BPSU Abucay BALANGA—The University Research Extension and Development Innovation Center (UREDIC) will soon rise at the Bataan Peninsula State University (BPSU) Abucay Campus.

Dr. Hermogenes Paguia, BPSU Vice President for Research and Extension and Training Services, said the P116-million, three-story research building and facility is intended to become the premier innovation hub in Bataan and will conform to the international standards of research and innovation complexes.

“The center is designed to be comprised of laboratories with artistically designed working station suited to cater to clients from various sectors, stakeholders, and business entities,” Paguia said.

It will be a “green” architecturally inspired building, designed to be suited to the scenery at BPSU Abucay Campus, he added.

Construction of the center will start this coming January. Funding will come from national government and will be downloaded through the Department of Budget and Management, Paguia said.

Butch Gunio

Grow, buy local crops, DA urges CL farmers CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The regional office of the Department of Agriculture has embarked on a marketing strategy aimed at increasing the level of awareness among farmers in Central Luzon to cultivate local and buy local agricultural products to support the economy amidst pandemic.

DA3 Officer-in-Charge regional director Crispulo Bautista Jr., said the project is part of the National Rice Awareness Month, in which the objective is to improve rice production and abundant harvest by farmers in the region.

Bautista encouraged local government units (LGUs) to support the program by informing the public of the present DA thrust.

He said local executives must lead in promoting locally grown agricultural produce to help alleviate the lives of farmers.

“Grow local, buy local, eat local,” is not only a marketing strategy but also to improve the production and quality of rice produce by our farmers in Central Luzon.” said Bautista in a press statement.

Through this, Bautista said DA would like to solicit the support of local government units and other institutions to local farmers especially in buying their harvests as a reasonable price. ess Malabanan

Navotas opens 3rd community isolation facility

By Jun David

THE City Government of Navotas on Thursday opened its third community isolation facility (CIF) to shelter residents with suspected or confirmed coronavirus disease 2019.

The city government, in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), converted 50 40-footer container vans into a 200 bedcapacity isolation facility at the Navotas Centennial Park.

Navotas has two existing CIFs at the Navotas National High School and Navotas Polytechnic College, which can accommodate 210 patients.

Each unit at CIF3 is furnished with a bed, table and chair, toilet and bath, air conditioning unit, and NavoConnect wifi.

The facility also has CCTV cameras for easy monitoring of patients and to limit physical visits of medical staff.

According to Mayor Toby Tiangco, the CIF3 will house close contacts of COVID-positive patients who have undergone swab testing.

“The CIF3 will serve as temporary shelter of close contacts who are waiting for their test results. We want them to spend their quarantine in this facility to ensure the safety of their families or those they live with,” he explained.

“We also want to be prepared in case the Department of Education proceeds with its plan to resume face-to-face classes in January next year. Our first two CIFs are educational institutions and we are not sure up to when we can use them as isolation facilities,” he added.

P20m in shabu seized in Taguig

By Joel E. Zurbano

T

HE TAGUIG City government on Friday commended the local police force for its successful anti-narcotics operation that resulted in the seizure of over P20 million worth of shabu.

Mayor Lino Edgardo Cayetano also hailed the arrest of a notorious member of the Tinga Drug Syndicate during Wednesday’s buy-bust operation on Mariano Street in Barangay Ususan around 5:30 p.m.

Police identified the suspect as 24-year

old Patrick Ace Tinga.

Nine other individuals -- Tom Jovy Cruz, 30; Elmer Bautista, 34; Wenston Ray Lopez, 20; Jessie Aviles, 24; Jomari Lopez, 19; Chris Klein Lopena, 19; Adrian dela Cruz, 22; John Paul Esteban, 26; and John Christian Roxas, 34 -- were

also arrested, while two minors were rescued by the authorities.

Apart from the three kilograms of shabu worth P20.4 million, also seized from the group were 41.7 grams of marijuana worth P50,040; three digital weighing scales; two keypad cellphones; one eco bag; P8,000 in different denominations; and two P200 bills with dusting powder from the Southern Police District Crime Lab. The police also recovered a blue book of clients and buyers.

According to Mayor Cayetano, the arrest and seizure of the sizeable haul of illegal drugs are proof of Taguig’s commitment to the war on drugs even amid

the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We vowed to keep Taguigeños safe. That means we will do whatever is necessary that is allowed by the law to protect them not just from COVID-19 but from illegal drugs and criminality as well,” he said.

Cayetano said the city government would continue to support the local police, as they continue to enforce laws and arrest those violating them.

“There is, after all, no room for criminals in Taguig. We are a peace-loving people. Anyone who attempts to disrupt our peace is not welcome here,” he said.

Taguig has been overly aggressive in its campaign against illegal drugs.

Pampanga meth pusher collared

By Jess Malabanan PORAC, Pampanga—About 1.25 kilos of shabu with an estimated street value of P7.1 million was confiscated from a suspected illegal drug trafficker believed to be operating in Pampanga and in nearby areas in Central Luzon Thursday evening.

Police Col. Andres Simbajon Jr., acting director of the Pampanga Provincial Police Office, identified the suspect as Khalid Montealbo Monte, 29, of Bgy. Sta. Teresita, Angeles City.

The suspect did not resist arrest during the buy bust operation at Barangay Sta. Cruz.

The suspect was placed under surveillance by the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit following reports of his alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade in NABBED. Police Colonel Andres Simbajon Jr. (center), Acting Director of Pampanga Police Office, and the police poseur buyer (right) show the province. the seized illegal drugs and the arrested suspect (left) during buy-bust operations in Porac, Pampanga Thursday evening. Jess Malabanan Police Maj. Louie Gonzaga, chief of the PDEU, said the suspect negotiated the sale of 1.5 kilograms of shabu.

Gonzaga said Monte is a member of “Muslim Drug Group” responsible in dealing shabu and other kinds of illegal drugs in typhoon “Rolly,” will be asked periodiBy Rio N. Araja Pampanga and nearby Angeles City. cally within the next two weeks about He sold the shabu to a poseur buyer, who QUEZON City Mayor Joy Belmonte has their health status, and if they are expeagreed to meet him along the Angeles Cityinstructed a close monitoring of 6,000 riencing any flu-like or COVID-related Porac Road Thursday evening. evacuees from recent storms for coronavi- symptoms, such as cough, colds, and feOn board an old Toyota Corolla (TRA SAN SIMON, Pampanga—Barangay rus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms. ver, Cruz said.

403), Gonzaga said the suspect surfaced COVID Defense (BACOD), an initiative of She tasked the city’s health depart“We’ll exhaust all our means to conat the agreed place and alighted to give the Central Luzon Philippine National Poment to continue its strict supervision tact and monitor our evacuees, ensuring the item to the poseur but was instead lice in preventing the spread of coronavirus, and monitoring of the evacuees for any that everyone is covered,” he added. arrested. A further check yielded more was established in this farming town as a COVID-19 symptoms, especially after Cruz gave the assurance that the city has pilot project to protect the people from the shabu in his backpack.

QC watching 6k evacuees closely

Barangay COVID Defense pushed to flatten curve

they returned to their homes on Monday morning.

“We will make sure that any possible infection will be prevented from spreading further to the communities,” she said.

Dr. Rolando Cruz, head of the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CESU), said the city’s contact tracing team is keeping a close watch on the evacuees.

The evacuees, who were affected by

COVID 19 pandemic.

The program, intended as the first line of defense against the coronavirus, was conceptualized by former Central Luzon police director Bgen. Rhodel Sermonia during his short stint in Camp Olivas.

Sermonia is presently the chief of the Police Community Relations Division at the PNP National Headquarters in Camp Crame.

The BACOD concept, police said, will help residents in the community to motivate and organize themselves in promoting awareness on the health protocols and other noble undertakings among residents in a specific area.

Barangay San Juan in this town was the first community in Pampanga where the PNP established a BACOD center.

“BACOD shall be operational with the clustering of barangays that will perform specific functions such as assistance in preventing violation in minimum health standard protocols; provide security and patrol operations; encourage backyard farming; security visibility in coordination with barangay councils; assistance in contact-tracing efforts; promote livelihood programs like urban gardening, and skills development,” said Police Regional Office 3 Director BGen Valeriano De Leon.

sufficient contact tracers, along with QCitizens, to address all evacuees since CESU has received reinforcement from barangayenlisted individuals and those recently hired through the Department of Interior and Local Government’s initiative.

“We implore the cooperation of our citizens who were evacuated this weekend. We need your openness and honesty about your health status — symptoms or no symptoms,” Belmonte said.

106 Caloocan barangays free of virus ADOPTED SCHOOL. Toyota Motor Philippines Foundation (TMPF) assistant vice president and operations manager Ronald Gaspar (right) turns over 4,000 printed learning modules to its adopted school, Pulong Sta. Cruz Elementary School (PSCES) and principal Benjamin Ongtengco Jr. To support PSCES, Toyota donated 46 brand-new laptop computers for the individual use of teachers in preparing for and holding online classes.

CALOOCAN City now has 106 barangays free of COVID-19, based on the latest data released by the City Health Department.

Of the 188 total barangays in the city, only 82 barangays currently have active cases, CHD said. Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries from the coronavirus disease is estimated at 10,990.

Mayor Oscar “Oca” Malapitan thanked every citizen of the city for their

continued understanding and solidarity with the City Government’s measures to combat COVID-19.

Malapitan continues to encourage the people not to be complacent and continue to follow health and safety protocols.

“Our fight against COVID-19 is not over yet. We continue to remind everyone to be careful to completely eradicate this virus,” Mayor Oca said. Jun David

Opinion Why a Biden presidency matters I HAVE never been this invested in American elections until now. Sure, I have always rooted for the Democrats because of their being generally more liberal than the Republicans. Prior to this 2020 election, the Clinton-Trump contest was the most exciting for me because it involved the opportunity for a woman to become the president of the United States. But I did not really follow the vote count as I am doing now.

In fact, it is only recently that I studied the electoral system there.

The concept of electoral college is confusing, and in my opinion, undemocratic. This was shown by the 2016 elections when Hilary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the electoral votes to Trump. In the end, it is the electoral college votes that are counted.

Trump is not good for democracy in the world.

Under the system, a certain number of electoral votes are assigned per state. Some states have more than the others. Thus, a candidate may be elected by more voters but still lose because the states where the votes came from have less electoral college votes. This happened to Hilary and Trump occupied the White House.

As of this writing, the results of the Donald Trump – Joe Biden presidential race continues to be a cliffhanger with 264 electoral votes for Biden (Democrats) and 214 for Trump (Republicans). The magic number to win the majority of electoral votes is 270. This means that Biden is only six (6) votes away from the U.S. presidency.

Several states have yet to finish the count but if Biden gets Georgia (16 electoral votes) or Florida (29 electoral votes), the game is over and Biden becomes the new president. Both states have reported 99 percent votes counted. It is possible that by the time this piece comes out, Biden has garnered the 270 votes he needs to win.

However, it looks like Trump is not going to concede. First, he claimed victory even as the counting was far from over.

Then he made a call to stop the count when he started to see that he can lose the elections as mailed-in votes were showing big numbers for Biden. He threatened to go to the Supreme Court to ask for the absentee votes count to be stopped. Then he alleged that the Democrats cheated.

Reports have it that he has gone to Court to sue in three states.

Worse, Trump supporters have started to call for violence. Facebook had to ban the pro-Trump Stop the Steal

due to “worrying calls for violence from some members of the group.”

For his part, Biden has launched the Biden Fight Fund, a fundraiser to fight Trump’s moves to derail the electoral count, and thus, the results. From all indications, this US election can drag for a while. After all, the inauguration will happen in January 2021 yet.

Surely, the whole world is closely watching the events in the U.S. Why? Because as often said, when America sneezes, the world catches a cold. The US remains to be one of the most powerful countries and what happens there affects most, if not all countries—the Philippines definitely included.

A Trump presidency will not be good for democracy in the world. It is anathema to human rights. It is overly conservative, racist, and sexist. His xenophobic policies has broken thousands of families, abused children who were forcibly separated from their parents, and ignited racism in white Americans that resulted in the murder, violence, abuse, and harassment of people of color no matter if they were American citizens.

Trump’s four years in the White House showed that he is anti-human rights.

Women’s rights, especially sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), as well as those of LGBTQIA+ persons have been progressively disrespected and curtailed. In fact, there have been at least twenty-six (26) complaints of sexual abuse, ranging from sexual harassment, sexual assault, to rape against Trump.

These Trump policies are exported to the world as shown by US behavior in the United Nations and other international bodies. Naturally, they also affect the development programs done by the US in developing countries like the Philippines.

The past years have shown the rise of conservatism, populism, misogyny, and fascist tendencies in politics the world over. This includes the election of Trump and here, Duterte. A victory by the democrats in the US will be a welcome change. It will be good not only for democracy, but also for human rights. Hopefully, it can inspire other democratic groups and spark a wave of change toward more progressive governance in more countries.

It is also very important to note that a Biden presidency also means that the US will have its first woman vice-president in the person of Kamala Harris. This is huge for American women. The Biden-Harris tandem is expected to be more progressive.

They will need to undo many of Trump’s policies and this will not be easy especially if the senate remains republican.

I have no great expectations that a Biden presidency will take a huge interest in the Philippines but it will still be good for us especially as we approach the presidential elections in 2022. While it is not yet over, I am hoping that Joe Biden will be in the White House. @bethangsioco on Twitter Elizabeth Angsioco on Facebook

When the law isn’t fair starting to move slowly as the traffic light turned green, when all of a sudden, the motorcycle, coming from the left side, obviously trying to beat the red light, slammed the SUV, throwing the rider over the SUV.

NAKED THOUGHT CHARLIE V. MANALO LAST month, I ran across a post on social media regarding a vehicular accident involving a motorcycle and an SUV. The accident claimed the life of the female rider when her motorcycle rammed into the SUV, sending her flying metersTO above the ground, THE landing on the concrete pavement, POINT her protective fear failing to save her.

Automatically, the investigator EMIL P. of the case sent the poor driver of the SUV, who JURADO had voluntarily surrendered, to jail, since, according to police investigators themselves, it was standard operating procedure for them to send the driver of the vehicle who figures in a vehicular accident where the other party gets hurt.

And that’s where the law, which is supposed to protect the innocent, turns out to be unfair.

In that particular incident, as based on video clips picked up from the CCTV of the barangay which has jurisdiction where the accident happened, it appears the rider, who later turned out to be a school principal, was actually at fault.

The CCTV video showed a black SUV

Charges should be filed based on who is at fault, not on who has the superior vehicle.

This was actually the second vehicular accident involving a motorcycle that I have encountered on social media in recent weeks. The first one involved a driver who had his truck parked on one side of the street as he was having his lunch when a rider hit his truck hard from the rear, resulting in his death. The truck driver, who was not even behind the wheels when the accident happened, landed in jail.

The irony of it all is that the family of the riders in both instances, feel that they have been wronged as they had lost a loved one. But what about the lives of the other parties whom their loved ones have also endangered and who were forced to spend nights in jail for being in the most unfortunate situation when their reckless

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020

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EDITORIAL

Promoting children’s rights W E JOIN and support the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Council for the Welfare of Children and the National Youth Commission in celebrating National Children’s Month from November 1 to 30.

their expected roles and functions.

We note that the lead agencies have lined up activities on sharing the experiences of LGUs in protecting children and their rights during the pandemic, discussions on mental health, coping with the blended and distance education for young learners, story telling, a watch party for traditional and innovative indoor Filipino games, accented by instructional video with children.

Several online activities, including webinars, digital parenting, and advocacy videos on positive discipline are on the rung during the month-long celebration, the 28th anniversary of the NCM which focuses on upholding the rights of children during the pandemic like the COVID-19.

Timely is the theme “Sama-samang Itaguyod ang Karapatan ng Bawat Bata sa Panahon ng Pandemya”—aimed at promoting the protection of all children and their rights, providing practical support to parents and caregivers on how to care for children and themselves during the pandemic, empowering children to protect themselves and report the experience of abuse, and guiding Local Government Units in efficiently delivering

They must be protected at all times.

We find it appropriate to remind each one yet once more about the rights of children—any person under the age of 18—who should, under all circumstances, be protected whose rights cannot be taken away from them.

From Tawi Tawi up north to Batanes, we raise the flag for children, protected by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which explains who the children are, all their rights which are connected and the responsibilities of governments.

There are several rights, which include, but not limited to, no discrimination, family guidance as children develop, life survival and development, children sharing thoughts freely, freedom of thought and religion, setting up or joining groups, and protection of privacy.

Beyond doubt, all children have all these rights and more, no matter who they are, where they live, what language they speak, what their religion is, what they think, what they look like, if they are a boy or girl, if they have a disability, if they are rich or poor, and no matter who their parents or families are or what their parents or families believe or do.

Indeed, no child should be treated unfairly for any reason.

Governments have also the responsibility to stop children being taken out of the country when this is against the law – for example, being kidnapped by someone or held abroad by a parent when the other parent does not agree.

These are among the grains of this National Children’s Month, a legend to remind everyone that the children themselves have rights that cannot be taken away and must be protected at all times.

The Senate’s interpretation of ‘retirees’ cal and clinical care. This is why the term “retiree” is used—as a sort of come on.

The use of the technical term “retirement” is akin to enjoying one’s vacation using his own money, savings, retirement pay or an investment to buy properties while enjoying his twilight years in this country. He is entitled to the category of Special Resident Retiree’s Visa (SRRV), a special non-immigrant visa for foreign nationals.

THE Senate committee investigating the budget for the Department of Tourism has stumbled into its favorite subject of lambasting China for whatever fault their nationals may commit in this country. Now, they are making a howl that Chinese coming in are not really retirees but soldiers out to spy on us. Their presence therefore constitutes a threat to our national security.

This is no different from the US administration propaganda in seeing in every Chinese the ghost of the devil.

The law creating the Philippines Retirement Authority was created by virtue of Executive Order No. 1037, signed by former President Ferdinand E. Marcos on 04 July 1985. On 31 August 2001, through Executive Order No. 26, the control and supervision of PRA was transferred to the Board of Investments (BOI)—Department of Trade and Industry. On 12 May 2009, Republic Act No. 9593, otherwise known as Tourism Act of 2009, PRA became an attached agency of the Department of Tourism and placed under the supervision of the Secretary.

The PRA is not a retirement agency similar to the social security system where a retired employee/worker may draw his monthly pension from his own savings in a trust fund, usually a government agency, which contributes a counterpart fund. In this case, Philippine Retirement Authority is different. Although it deals with people and whimsically calls them retirees, these individuals actually purchase packages of benefits. The older ones are offered medi-

loved ones took the streets?

About three years ago, I asked a medico legal, who also happened to be a lawyer, who was then investigating the accident involving Pampanga congressman Juan Miguel Arroyo. Arroyo figured in a vehicular accident which claimed the life of the driver of a car who slammed their vehicle head-on when it ate into their lane.

Just like in the cases I have discussed earlier, Arroyo’s driver was sent behind bars even if the driver of the other vehicle was clearly at fault. According to the medico legal whom I talked to, the law provides the automatic filing of cases against the superior vehicle in case of accidents, no matter whose fault it is.

If a pedestrian is hit by a bicycle, it should be the biker slapped with a case. If a bicycle is hit by a motorcycle, the motorcycle rider would be charged. If a motorcycle is hit by a car, the driver of the car would be held responsible. And so on and so forth.

If an accident occurs and results in death, the driver who survives in the mishap would be charged. And that is what is being applied to Mikey’s driver.

Actually, one need not be directly involved in the death of someone to be

It does not help quell Sinophobia.

In May 2011, President Benigno Aquino III issued what he called SRRV Smile in May 2011 and an SRRV Expanded Courtesy in January 2013. Since the agency is extended to foreigners, those 50 years old and above can avail themselves of it if they have a monthly pension of $10,000.00, or $20,000.00 if they are35 to 49 years old. The amount can also be used to purchase property worth $50,000.00, and the pensioner must at least have the equivalent of $800 for single and $1,000 for couples.

For retirees aged 35 years old and above, who need and/or require medical/ clinical care, a monthly pension of at least $1,500.00, a health care policy that is accepted in the Philippines, and an SRR Visa deposit of $10,000 are required. Filipinos, 35 years old and above; foreign nationals, 50 years old and above, who are retired officers of international organizations recognized by the DFA, and a SRR Visa deposit of $50,000.00. For ailing retirees, 35 years old and above, who need/require medical/clinical care, a monthly pension included in a charge sheet in a vehicular accident. The medico legal explains that if someone commits suicide by jumping on the 15th floor of a building and lands on the street as a car is passing by, the driver of the car would have to be charged for the death of the suicide victim.

Someone has to be charged in a vehicular accident particularly in instances when someone dies, according to him.

And that was what happened to the poor driver whom I have discussed earlier.

That is not as simple as it looks. If it is simply for formality’s sake, fine. But for the inconvenience of the person who would be slapped with a barrage of charges arising from an accident of which he or she is not at fault, it would be so unfair.

First, the case reckless imprudence leading to homicide would entail a bail bond of no less than P30,000. Then the driver would have to hire a lawyer to defend him which cost him another few thousand pesos. And of course, he has to attend hearings which would force him to be absent from work, costing him a few thousand pesos more.

of at least $1,500.00, a health insurance policy acceptable in the Philippines and an SRR Visa deposit of $10,000.00 are required.

The benefits offered by the PRA are a form of investment to entice foreigners irrespective of the applicant’s nationality, provided they qualify for the special retiring resident’s visa (SRRV). Our senators totally failed to comprehend the objective and purpose of the law creating the PRA, which is to offer to “retired” people how they could spend their money in the Philippines.

It is not the kind of trust fund associated with retired employees where somehow the amount spent is limited not by their monthly contribution but on how much they are willing to spend.

It does not matter whether the applicant is actually a retiree, physically able, on leave, enjoying a long vacation or simply from the moneyed class.

Since the target of the PRA are mostly foreign clients and also Filipinos who abandoned their citizenship but now seek to avail of that shabby law called “dual citizenship,” the PRA cannot be selecting the nationalities for of its clients like examining whether they are Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Indians or Americans. Its primary duty is to generate income for the government. It does not make sense for the senators to say that there are around 27,000 Chinese, 14,000 Korean and 6,100 Indians, 4,850 Taiwanese, 4,000 Japanese, 3,700 Americans, 1,870 Hong Kong Chinese, 1,600 British, 800 Germans, 750 Australians and about 4,500 from other nationalities classified as retirees. Otherwise we will end up being accused of racial discrimination.

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5m young voters cast ballots in Myanmar F IVE million young voters will be able to cast their ballots for the first time in Myanmar’s election on Sunday—about 14 percent of the electorate.

INFECTED. A patient is seen at intensive care unit for patients infected with Covid-19 at the hospital of La-Chaux-de-Fonds on November 5, 2020. For several weeks now, Covid-19 has once again been hitting Switzerland and more particularly its western Cantons where hospital capacity is dangerously close to saturation. AFP Manila

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N OTICE Notice is hereby given that FLATWORLD SOLUTIONS (PHILIPPINES), INC. with office address at Lucita Building, Lapu-Lapu Corner, Sobrecarey Street, Davao City is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as an Expanding Services Exports Provider under Export Activities – Services Exports (Business Support and Data Entry Services – Buhangin Expansion) on a NonPioneer status, with project site located at 5th Floor KSS Building, Buhangin Road Corner Olive Street, Buhangin, Davao City.

Any person with valid objection/s on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Director Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (MS-NOV. 7, 2020)

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LEGAL NOTICE

Notice is hereby given to the public that a Deed of ExtraJudicial Settlement has been executed by the heirs of the late Spouses Custodio L. Baldonado and Luzviminda B. Baldonado, namely: Wilfredo B. Baldonado, Felino B. Baldonado, Custodio B. Baldonado, Jr., Israel B. Baldonado and Priscila B. Baldonado, all of legal age, over real properties, per deed executed on 03 August 2020 before Notary Public, ATTY. HENSON M. MONTALVO, per Doc. No. 260; Page No. 53; Book No. II; Series of 2020.

Notice is hereby given to the public that a Deed of Extra-Judicial Settlement has been executed by the heirs of the late Nimfa U. Sabacan, namely: Lea Mae S. Roa-Nacino and Edgar Allan S. Parungao, all of legal age, over personal and real properties, per deed executed on 13 October 2020 before Notary Public, ATTY. HENSON M. MONTALVO, per Doc. No. 504; Page No. 102; Book No. II; Series of 2020.

(MS-NOV. 7/14 & 21, 2020)

N OTICE

N OTICE Notice is hereby given that BRIA HOMES, INC. with office address at LGF Bldg. B, Evia Lifestyle Center, Daang Hari, Almanza Dos, Las Piñas City is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as an Expanding Developer of Economic and Low-Cost Housing Project (Lumina Tanza Phase 4) with a capacity of 322 economic and low-cost units on a Non-Pioneer status, with project site Brgy. Bagtas, Tanza, Cavite.

Any person with valid objection/s on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

Any person with valid objection/s on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Director Infrastructure and Services Industries Service

(SGD) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Director Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (MS-NOV. 7, 2020)

N OTICE

N OTICE

Notice is hereby given that BRIA HOMES, INC. (Formerly: CASA REGALIA, INCORPORATED) with office address at LGF Bldg. B, Evia Lifestyle Center, Daang Hari, Almanza Dos, Las Piñas City is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a New Developer of Economic and Low-Cost Housing Project (Bria Homes Paniqui) with a capacity of 918 economic and low-cost units on a Non-Pioneer status, with project site Brgy. Sampot, Paniqui, Tarlac.

Notice is hereby given that BRIA HOMES, INC. (Formerly: CASA REGALIA, INCORPORATED) with office address at LGF Bldg. B, Evia Lifestyle Center, Daang Hari, Almanza Dos, Las Piñas City is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a New Developer of Economic and Low-Cost Housing Project (Bria Homes Hermosa) with a capacity of 846 economic and low-cost units on a Non-Pioneer status, with project site Brgy. Pandatung, Hermosa, Bataan.

Any person with valid objection/s on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Director Infrastructure and Services Industries Service

Any person with valid objection/s on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Director Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (MS-NOV. 7, 2020)

(MS-NOV. 7, 2020)

N OTICE

N OTICE

Notice is hereby given that BRIA HOMES, INC. (Formerly: CASA REGALIA, INCORPORATED) with office address at LGF Bldg. B, Evia Lifestyle Center, Daang Hari, Almanza Dos, Las Piñas City is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as an Expanding Developer of Economic and LowCost Housing Project under the Preferred List-Mass Housing (Bria Homes General Trias) with a capacity of 427 economic and low-cost units on a NonPioneer status, with project site Brgy. Santiago & San Francisco, General Trias Cavite.

Notice is hereby given that BRIA HOMES, INC. with office address at LGF Bldg. B, Evia Lifestyle Center, Daang Hari, Almanza Dos, Las Piñas City is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a New Developer of Economic and Low-Cost Housing Project (Bria Homes Norzagaray Phase 2) with a capacity of 178 economic and low-cost units on a Non-Pioneer status, with project site Brgy. Minuyan & Bigte, Norzagaray, Bulacan.

Any person with valid objection/s on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Director Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (MS-NOV. 7, 2020)

Any person with valid objection/s on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Director Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (MS-NOV. 7, 2020)

N OTICE

N OTICE

Notice is hereby given that BRIA HOMES, INC. (Formerly: CASA REGALIA, INCORPORATED) with office address at LGF Bldg. B, Evia Lifestyle Center, Daang Hari, Almanza Dos, Las Piñas City is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a New Developer of Economic and Low-Cost Housing Project under the Preferred List-Mass Housing (Bria Homes Norzagaray) with a capacity of 708 economic and low-cost units on a Non-Pioneer status, with project site Brgy. Minuyan & Bigte, Norzagaray, Bulacan.

Notice is hereby given that BRIA HOMES, INC. with office address at LGF Bldg. B, Evia Lifestyle Center, Daang Hari, Almanza Dos, Las Piñas City is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a New Developer of Economic and Low-Cost Housing Project (Bria Homes Trece) with a capacity of 711 economic and low-cost units on a Non-Pioneer status, with project site Brgy. Inocencio Trece Martires, Cavite.

Any person with valid objection/s on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Director Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (MS-NOV. 7, 2020)

Any person with valid objection/s on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Director Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (MS-NOV. 7, 2020)

SAVE THE WHALES.

People look at a dead pilot whale on a beach in Panadura.

Rescuers and volunteers were racing since November 2 to save about 100 pilot whales stranded on Sri Lanka’s western coast in the island nation’s biggest-ever mass beaching.

AFP

(MS-NOV. 7/14 & 21, 2020)

Notice is hereby given that BRIA HOMES, INC. (Formerly: CASA REGALIA, INCORPORATED) with office address at LGF Bldg. B, Evia Lifestyle Center, Daang Hari, Almanza Dos, Las Piñas City is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a New Developer of Economic and Low-Cost Housing Project (Bria Homes Sta. Cruz) with a capacity of 750 economic and low-cost units on a Non-Pioneer status, with project site Brgy. San Jose, Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

(MS-NOV. 7, 2020)

In a country that emerged less than a decade ago from near total isolation under military rule, the nation’s youth defies easy classification.

AFP spoke to a number of Myanmar’s Generation Z about the challenges they face and what they hope the next government will bring.

History student Wai Wai Tun, 19, can vote because she lives in Rakhine state’s capital Sittwe, but her family in her home town will miss out.

Myanmar banned voting in a long list of areas for “security reasons”, leaving more than a million disenfranchised in Rakhine and hundreds of thousands more elsewhere.

“I just want the election to be fair and credible,” she says, adding the decision has raised already-high tensions.

A civil war between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army—militants fighting for more autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine—has killed and wounded hundreds and forced 200,000 from their homes.

“We, Rakhine, are citizens of Myanmar and want to live in safety with equal rights too.”

Naga tribesman Man Chen, 18, belongs to the Konyak, a Naga tribe on

the Indian border once feared for its head-hunting traditions.

The motorbike fanatic describes his identity as “Naga first, Konyak second”—and does not even mention Myanmar.

Isolated from the rest of the country by mountains and poor infrastructure, the Konyak are divided by the frontier and rely on markets on the Indian side for food.

“I don’t have enough money and I don’t have a regular job,” he says, adding that five of his 12 siblings have died.

He worries about the effect of the election on the long-running conflict between armed Naga groups and the Myanmar military.

“There was fighting in my village last time, so I’m worried this might happen again.”

Muslim in Myanmar Wai Yan Min Khin, 20, is Muslim and lives in the Bamar Buddhist heartlands of central Myanmar.

His hometown Meiktila descended into intercommunal violence between Muslims and Buddhists in 2013 and deep scars remain.

“PeopleCYAN often MAGENTA insult us,” heYELLOW says. “I see a lot of disBLACK crimination.”

He describes how he has been waiting for an ID card for four years, while Buddhist friends receive the document in weeks.

Myanmar’s Muslim minority—about four percent of the population—also faces systemic corruption.

Many Muslims plan to boycott Sunday’s vote, disillusioned by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party and seeing no worthy alternative. AFP

Rich nations fall short in ramping up funding for climate change WEALTHY countries are falling short on a decade-old promise come due to ramp up climate finance for the developing world, according to a semi-official report released Friday.

Even those numbers may be inflated, watchdog groups warned.

The 2009 UN climate summit in Copenhagen mandated that poorer nations -- historically blameless for global warming, but most at risk -- were to receive $100 billion (85 billion euros) annually starting from 2020 to help curb their carbon footprint and cope with future climate impacts.

But where the money was to come from and how it would be allocated were not spelt out, which has made tracking progress toward that goal both difficult and disputed.

As of 2018, the last year for which data is available, money from all sources earmarked for climate-related projects totalled $78.9 billion, up about 11 percent from the year before, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in a detailed report, its third since 2015.

Public climate finance from de-

veloped countries -- almost evenly split between bilateral and multilateral sources -- accounted for the lion’s share, some $62.2 billion, with another $2 billion is government-backed export credits.

The rest, some $14.6 billion, came from private investment.

How these figures align with the UN-back pledge, renewed in the 2015 Paris Agreement, is subject to interpretation, and the OECD makes a point of not drawing conclusions one way or the other.

If climate finance in 2019 and 2020 ramped up at the same pace as from 2017 to 2018, the $100 billion target would be within grasp this year.

But the rate at which money was mobilised had already slowed sharply going into 2018, and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is still unknown.

“Climate finance is a lifeline for communities facing record heatwaves, terrifying storms and devastating floods,” said Tracy Carty, co-author of an in-depth “shadow report” on climate finance compiled by experts at global NGO Oxfam. AFP

PROTEST. A supporter of US President Donald Trump holds a sign during a protest outside of the TCF Center where ballots are being counted, in Detroit, Michigan on November 5, 2020. President Donald Trump erupted on November 5 in a tirade of unsubstantiated claims that he has been cheated out of winning the US election as vote counting across battleground states showed Democrat Joe Biden steadily closing in on victory. AFP

German cops raid apartments in search of jihadists GERMAN police said Friday they are raiding apartments and offices over possible links to the Austrian Islamic State sympathiser who went on a deadly gun rampage in central Vienna.

The sites in Osnabrueck, Kassel as well as in the Pinneberg area that were searched belong to four people, who “are not believed to be involved in the attack,” said the federal criminal agency (BKA).

“But there may be links to the alleged assassin,” it added on Twitter.

The searches were carried out on a request from Austrian authorities, the BKA added.

The gunman, identified as 20-year-old dual AustrianMacedonian national Kujtim Fejzulai, was killed by police after going on a shooting spree in Vienna on Monday evening that left four people dead.

Austrian police detained 14 people in the wake of the shooting, the first major attack in the country for decades and the first blamed on a jihadist.

Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine had reported earlier this week that the Vienna attacker had made contact with German Islamists during an attempt to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group.

The investigation has also led to Switzerland, where prosecutors have confirmed that two Swiss men aged 18 and 24 who were arrested Wednesday had already been the targets of criminal cases over terrorism offences. AFP

Business

B3

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks extend rally; ICTSI rises PSEi November 6, 2020

TOP GAINERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

PA ALHI NOW HVN IS FAF RLT JAS LOTO PLC

LAST PRICE 3.95 8.29 4.42 388 0.102 0.64 0.265 1.7 1.99 0.375

CHANGE 0.48 0.77 0.34 28 0.007 0.04 0.016 0.1 0.11 0.02

% CHANGE 13.83% 10.24% 8.33% 7.78% 7.37% 6.67% 6.43% 6.25% 5.85% 5.63%

TOP LOSERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

WPI MAHB MHC SGI BSC PRIM DAVIN GSMI FPI CROWN

LAST PRICE 0.6 1.89 0.52 1.06 0.22 0.8 4.3 49.1 0.22 1.97

CHANGE -0.04 -0.11 -0.03 -0.05 -0.01 -0.03 -0.16 -1.8 -0.008 -0.07

% CHANGE -6.25% -5.50% -5.45% -4.50% -4.35% -3.61% -3.59% -3.54% -3.51% -3.43%

HE stock market rallied Friday for the fifth straight day on some encouraging data indicating that the economy is slowly recovering after a deep contraction in the second quarter of the year.

T

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 40.92 points, or 0.6 percent, to 6,685.69 on a value turnover of P10.1 billion. Gainers beat losers, 109 to 92, with 57 issues unchanged.

The government said inflation rate in October steadied at 2.5 percent from 2.3 percent in September, while exports climbed 2.2 percent in September to $6.22 billion from $6.08 billion in the same month last year, the first time they increased since the government declared a community lockdown in March to contain COVID-19.

International Container Terminal Services Inc., the biggest port operator owned by tycoon Enriquez Razon Jr. advanced 4.2 percent to P125, while Dito CME Holdings Corp., the third major mobile phone company, rose 3.7 percent to P6.11.

JG Summit Holdings Inc. of the Gokongwei Group climbed 3.3 percent to P71.85, while GT Capital Holdings Inc. of the Ty Group rallied 3.1 percent to P500.

Most Asian markets were mixed Friday after the week’s strong gains but traders remained upbeat as the chances of Joe Biden winning the US election increased and after the Federal Reserve indicated it could provide further economic support.

While Donald Trump again accused Democrats of committing voter fraud and his team launched a series of legal actions in various states, hopes a new stimulus package will eventually be passed were supporting sentiment.

Analysts said Tuesday’s election was good for equities as the expected Democratic sweep of Congress failed to materialize while Biden looked set to take the White House.

“The market reaction to the unfolding election news suggests that financial markets would prefer to see a constrained Biden presidency,” Paul O’Connor, at Janus Henderson Investors, said.

However, he added: “The economic backdrop to this election is one of an incomplete global recovery that remains

threatened by the continued spread of Covid-19 in many major economies as well as fast-fading fiscal support measures.”

Asia’s surge stuttered as profit-takers set in ahead of the weekend.

Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Taipei, Jakarta and Mumbai all rose but Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Bangkok slipped.

Still, Axi strategist Stephen Innes said the mood remained buoyant.

“Equity markets’ impressive ability to switch narratives and stay optimistic, almost regardless of the outcome, suggests continued high resilience,” he said in a note.

A Biden presidency and Republican Senate likely means Democrats will not be able to push ahead with regulatory changes and tax hikes, which observers said were both good for stocks.

Tech firms have fared particularly well as the sector had been considered vulnerable to more stringent political oversight.

And while lawmakers are expected to push through a new economic rescue package, it will not likely be as big as anything from a Democratic-led Congress, which National Australia Bank analysts said would put the onus on the Federal Reserve next year. With AFP

MOST ACTIVE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DITO BDO GTCAP TEL AC SM SMPH JFC ALI BPI

VOLUME 256,993,700 6,873,880 1,029,810 368,215 533,260 416,640 11,120,600 1,756,460 9,633,800 3,366,710

VALUE (PHP) 1,399,018,164.00 630,140,264.50 511,252,510.00 505,575,875.00 427,245,525.00 421,212,462.50 388,533,795.00 341,265,290.00 332,637,630.00 264,842,306.00

CHINA FAIR. A man tries out a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 smartphone at the 3rd China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai on November 6, 2020. AFP

More emergency spending needed to help US economy—Fed’s Powell WASHINGTON—The trajectory of Covid-19 remains key to the US recovery and until it is eradicated, more emergency spending will be “essential” to support the economy, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday.

But with America’s knife-edge election yet to be called, as state officials continue to tally ballots, the potential for a split government in Washington makes it less likely Congress will end months of gridlock and quickly approve another giant spending package to help workers and businesses.

Democratic challenger Joe Biden appears well-positioned to unseat President Donald Trump, but Republicans could retain control of the Senate—although the final outcome may not be known for weeks, until after at least one run-off election in Georgia.

Powell steered away from any discussion of politics, saying the economy— not the election—was the focus of the two-day meeting of the Fed’s policy-

setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

The recent spike in Covid-19 cases is “particularly concerning” for the US economy, Powell told reporters.

While the United States has done better than expected economically, the outlook “is extraordinarily uncertain,” he said.

The Fed chief warned that despite a jump in growth, “the pace of improvement has moderated” and spending has slowed, while the economy has regained just half the jobs lost in March and April.

“A full economic recovery is unlikely until people are confident that it’s safe to re-engage in a broad range of activities,” he said.

The support provided by the $2.2-trillion CARES Act “was absolutely essential in supporting the recovery that we’ve seen so far, which has generally exceeded expectations,” he said, but “further support is likely to be needed.” AFP

NY Times upbeat as subscribers top 7m NEW YORK—The New York Times said Thursday profits rose in the past quarter, lifted by gains in paying digital readers, as its total subscription base topped seven million.

The prestigious US daily said net profit rose to $35.5 million in the third quarter, more than double the level from a year earlier, while revenues rose 13 percent to $301 million.

The Times said that revenue from digital subscribers in the quarter— which rose to some six million—was for the first time higher than that from print subscribers.

“For the second quarter running, total digital revenue exceeded print revenue.

And for the first time, total digital-only subscription revenue exceeded print subscription revenue, making digitalonly subscriptions not just the central engine of the company’s growth,” said

Meredith Kopit Levien, who took over earlier this year as president and chief executive officer.

“We ended the quarter with approximately 6.9 million total subscriptions, and crossed the seven million mark in the month of October, an increase of two million digital-only subscriptions over the last year and 393,000 over the last quarter.”

The Times has seen gains in readership in recent years as it has bolstered its newsroom to cover President Donald Trump’s administration and the coronavirus pandemic while expanding its footprint.

“The news cycle certainly played a role, but as we are increasingly seeing with each passing quarter, so too did the breadth of our coverage and our improving ability to mean more to more people,” Levien said. AFP

Toyota hikes estimates as sales, output recover fast TOKYO, Japan—Toyota on Friday almost doubled its full-year forecasts, saying sales and production were recovering quickly from the coronavirus pandemic, which has shredded the global auto market this year.

Japan’s top car maker now projects net profit of 1.42 trillion yen ($137 billion) for the fiscal year to March 2021, up from an earlier estimate of 730 billion yen.

It said full-year sales are now expected to hit 26 trillion yen, against a previous estimate of 24 trillion yen.

Results for the first half appeared sluggish compared with the previous year, with net profit down 45.3 percent at 629.4 billion yen.

But the signs of recovery were clear in the second quarter, with bottomline profit at 470.5 billion yen against 158.8 billion yen in the previous quarter, when the pandemic was hitting hard.

Carmakers around the world have been battered by the coronavirus crisis, with many relying on government help, as it slammed the global economy into reverse and forced people to stay at home.

But Toyota last week reported both global production and sales hit record highs for September, marking the first gains in nine months.

“I think we were able to recover (in the second quarter),” chief operating officer Kenta Kon told reporters, saying “sales outlets and suppliers made efforts to deliver as many vehicles as possible.”

He said the firm also benefited from a “foundation of measures” put in place since the 2008 financial crisis.

“The impact of the pandemic has yet to be fully erased, but Toyota swiftly recovered in the July-September period,” said Satoru Takada, auto analyst at TIW, a Tokyo-based research and consulting firm.

“While we can’t be too optimistic, both sales and production are still on course to recovery,” Takada told AFP ahead of the results.

“Given the severe business environment, Toyota is outperforming its domestic rivals,” he added.

On Thursday, US giant General Motors reported a 72 percent increase in third-quarter profit as it cited strong recoveries in the US and China. AFP

As lockdown follows lockdown, frustration rife in UK firms

By Veronique Dupont LONDON—As England enters a new lockdown on Thursday with coronavirus deaths rising again, businesses that were already struggling to recover from the shutdown during the first wave are worried and frustrated.

“For us it is absolutely insane to go through this again just before Christmas,” said Faraj Faraj, the operational director of food hall Mercato Metropolitano.

This vast venue hosts dozens of takeaways and eat-in stands selling cuisine from around the world, as well as a grocery store that remained open during the first lockdown and will do so again.

“We will survive but we have to take another approach, with increased testing and making sure we have the right testing app,” he added, stressing that the food and drink sector was bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s economic cost.

His boss Andrea Rasca, founder of the Mercato, is more optimistic, telling AFP: “We were ready before, we are ready now.”

His sales jumped after the first lockdown, exceeding the turnover before the pandemic, but the enforced closure from March to July blew a hole in cash reserves that he and fellow shareholders had to top up.

“There’s going to be very little revenue and it will be important for us to, like the first time, reopen with a big bang,” he said, adding Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government “doesn’t know what they’re doing.”

His finance minister Rishi Sunak announced Thursday it would extend a furlough scheme, which pays up to 80 percent of the wages of those who are unable to keep work during lockdown, until March.

Hair salons Hairdressing is another sector badly impacted by the second shutdown.

The Visage salon in the residential London district of Belsize Park has

In this file photo taken on September 11, 2020 Bradley Thompson (left) and Simeon Aldred (right), co-founders and co-owners of Printworks nightclub and events venue, pose for a picture at Printworks club in south London. Printworks, a giant nightclub in South London used to hosting up to 5,000 clubbers in a night, has been plunged into darkness for the past six months. TOLGA AKMEN/AFP

been a hive of activity in recent days as customers rushed to get a trim before the new rules took force.

The masked staff have been working long days to clear the shaggy-haired backlog of customers from the first lockdown, but everything has now ground to a shuddering halt.

Estella Cicek, the salon’s co-owner, is anxious and thinks the government should have acted earlier to avoid a longer closure.

She added a two-week “shortcircuit” shutdown during the recent school holidays “might have been a bit more bearable.

“Now we are closing our doors and for a minimum of one month,” during the crucial holiday period, Cicek said.

She recalled that before the first lockdown, customers were afraid of catching the virus and “the salon was very quiet.”

“We were actually relieved when they told us ‘look, you do have to close your doors’ and then we did receive

the financial support” from the government.

“But this lockdown, we are a little bit disappointed and worried because we don’t know how long it’s going to be. If they open on December 2, I think we can do it,” she added.

Nightclubs The nightlife industry has also been ravaged by the social restrictions, and since March, London’s former nocturnal hotspot “Printworks” has again become a huge empty warehouse.

By September the situation was already becoming critical for the club, which usually welcomes up to 4,000 revelers per night.

Like it, many nightlife establishments have never been able to reopen since the first lockdown.

Simeon Aldred, co-founder of Printworks, tried not to fall into despair despite having to already lay off around 350 employees, not knowing that the government’s furlough scheme would be extended beyond October. AFP

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

B4

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020

Business

PSE INDEX

Friday, NOVEMBER 6, 2020

40.92 PTS. 6,685.69

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

4,075,051,225 173,289 10,078,566,794.83 109 92 57

F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2020

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

48.3500

Japan

Yen

0.009665

0.4673

UK

Pound

1.314800

63.5706

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128991

6.2367

Switzerland

Franc

1.106195

53.4845

Canada

Dollar

0.766460

37.0583

Singapore

Dollar

0.740960

35.8254

Australia

Dollar

0.728200

35.2085

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652238

128.2357

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266638

12.8919

Brunei

Dollar

0.738225

35.6932

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000070

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.032425

1.5677

UAE

Dirham

0.272272

13.1644

Euro

Euro

1.182500

57.1739

Korea

Won

0.000891

0.0431

China

Yuan

0.151286

7.3147

India

Rupee

0.013530

0.6542

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.241371

11.6703

New Zealand

Dollar

0.676300

32.6991

Taiwan

Dollar

0.035075

1.6959 Source: BSP

Gov’t expects ‘20 rice output to reach record 20.17m tons

By Othel V. Campos THE Department of Agriculture said Friday rice harvest may still hit a record production of 20.17 million metric tons in crop year 2020, despite the damage caused by recent typhoons.

“With a 2-percent loss in palay harvest, we could still realize a record output of about 20 million metric tons, which is seven percent more than our 2019 yield of 18.81 MMT,” said Agriculture Secretary William Dar. Third-quarter palay production is expected to reach 3.54 million MT, up by 16 percent from the same period last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The DA said based on harvest figures in the first three quarters, the rice sector might achieve the four-quarter production target, increasing the staple adequacy level to 91.5 percent based on rice per capita consumption of 118.6 kilograms. Last year’s rice adequacy level settled at 87 percent.

The DA said the early harvest done by farmers before the typhoons hit palay-producing regions was a crucial move to securing future inventory.

It said farmers were able save at least 1.6 million MT of palay or 7 percent of the DA’s total target production volume of 20.34 million MT before the onset of the strong typhoons that hit Luzon and the Visayas.

Combined palay production loss from the typhoons reached roughly 165,000 metric tons, representing just 2 percent of the projected fourthquarter harvest of 8.4 million MT, it said.

“We hope and pray that in the remaining eight weeks of the year, we will be spared from strong typhoons, and thus our full-year production estimate would be realized,” Dar said.

The early harvest advisory enabled farmers to save as much as P26.2 billion worth of palay, corn and highvalue crops from Typhoons Quinta and Rolly.

The DA said it was expecting to achieve a comfortable level of rice inventory, good for 90 days, in the fourth quarter.

Meralco eyes capex of P20.69b in 2021 POWER retailer Manila Electric Co. has asked the Energy Regulatory Commission to approve a capital expenditure budget of P20.697 billion in 2021 to ensure the reliable operation of its distribution network.

“Primarily, these capex projects are necessary to avert the foreseen emergency situations and ensure the reliable operation of its distribution network and connection to meet the growing needs of tis about 6.9 million customers,” Meralco said in a filing with the ERC. Meralco said its regulatory year 2021 capex program would cover projects for implementation on July 1, 2020 to June 31, 2021 that were geared towards providing reliable service to customers by maintaining an adequate, safe, efficient and viable distribution network while providing the needed capacity to address the forecasted load growth within its franchise area.

The company said the distribution network should be sufficient to meet its current and immediate requirements. It expects customer base to expand to around 7.3 million and peak demand to reach 7,801 megawatts next year. Alena Mae S. Flores

DOTr keeps schedule on RFID toll collection

NEW LANDBANK BRANCH. Land Bank of the Philippines inaugurates the Bataan Capitol Branch-Lite as it continues to expand its branch network to provide banking services to the public despite the COVID-19 pandemic. With the opening of LandBank Bataan Capitol Branch-Lite in Balanga City, the state-run bank now operates 411 branches and extension offices across the country’s 81 provinces. Leading the opening ceremony are (Bataan Governor Albert Garcia (third from left) and LandBank Central Luzon branches group head first vice president Sylvia Lim (fourth from left).

Peso strengthens to four-year high of 48.22 versus US dollar

By Julito G. Rada

T

HE peso on Friday strengthened to its highest level against the US dollar in more than four years on the back of more stable global financial markets as economies gradually reopen.

The local currency gained nine centavos to close at 48.22 per US dollar on Friday, up from 48.31 per dollar Thursday. It was its strongest finish in more than four years, or since it settled at 48.19 on Oct. 24, 2016. Foreign exchange volume reached $779 million, up from $661.87 million on Thursday.

Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance Inc., a fi-

nance and investment company based in Makati City, told Manila Standard that as global financial markets gained, inflows were directed into the country.

“These cause investments to come into the country,” he said, adding the gradual reopening of the economy also buoyed the strength of the local currency.

“The US elections also have positive impact to global financial markets rather than negative,” del Castillo said.

Local equities rose in line with regional markets over the week, following the US elections. The Philippine Stock Exchange index, closed at an eightmonth high of 6,685.69 on Nov. 6, representing a 44-percent climb from this year’s bottom of 4,623.42 registered on March 19 at the start of the community lockdown.

The peso pierced through the 49-adollar boundary on Aug. 11, 2020 when

it closed at 48.92 per dollar. It has stayed within that range since then.

Bank of the Philippine Islands lead economist Jun Neri said Thursday the local currency would likely depreciate near 49 per greenback in the coming months, taking into account the expected recovery of imports as the economy continues to relax border restrictions.

“With the economy slowly reopening, we expect imports to recover further in the coming months in line with the expected improvement in local demand.

Hence, dollar demand may pick up and the exchange rate may move closer to the P49 level,” Neri said in a report.

Imports in September contracted for the 17th straight month with -16.5 percent to $7.92 billion. The decline was higher at -21.3 percent in August.

He said a risk to this outlook would be government underspending, especially in the area of infrastructure.

FISHERMEN’S DOCK. San Miguel Corp.,

in cooperation with the local government of Sariaya and the Diocese of Lucena, inaugurates the Sariaya Fishermen’s Dock—a first-of-its-kind multipurpose facility that includes a fisherman’s hall in Sariaya, Quezon. It will help increase the resiliency of fishermen, particularly those residing at the San Miguel-Christian Gayeta Homes in Barangay Castanas. The inauguration coincided with the graduation of the first batch of 50 students who took livelihood and skills training programs funded by SMC in cooperation with the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority.

Ayala Land, Robinsons Land booked sharp drop in Q3 profits

By Jenniffer B. Austria PROPERTY developers Ayala Land Inc. and Robinsons Land Corp. posted lower third-quarter profits as their malls and residential businesses continued to be affected by the pandemic.

Ayala Land said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Friday third-quarter net profit fell 77 percent to P1.85 billion from P8.05 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Third-quarter revenues also declined 42.4 percent to P22.1 billion from P38.4 billion a year ago even as government restrictions started to ease.

“COVID-19 continues to significantly affect our operations and the

scind the foreign grants received by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration which cast a dark cloud on the agency’s role as an independent regulator and protector of public health,” said NCUP president Anton Israel.

The FDA admitted receiving grants from foreign groups when confronted by Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita Suansing during an online public consultation on e-cigarettes and HTPs. Thhe admission prompted Deputy Speaker and Ilocos Sur Rep. Deogracias Victor Savellano to move for the suspen-

THE Department of Transportation said the implementation of the contactless toll payment scheme will push through next month.

It said the primary purpose of Department Order No. 2020-012 requiring cashless or contactless transaction for all vehicles traveling on expressways was to prevent COVID-19 transmission.

“Interoperability will merely provide added convenience to motorists who no longer need to install two RFID tags. Thus, implementation of the cashless program should not wait for interoperability of the toll systems,” it said.

“Any delay in its implementation amid the COVID-19 pandemic will only make motorists, as well as the personnel manning the toll plazas, vulnerable to unwanted and unnecessary physical contact, and hence, exposure to the deadly coronavirus,” the DOTr said.

It said that with the issue of interoperability aside, the extension of the deadline to Dec. 1 would provide motorists using the expressways ample time to have their vehicles equipped with the needed RFID stickers from the toll operators.

Darwin G. Amojelar

SMIC among best managed firms in PH CONGLOMERATE SM Investments Corp. was cited among the best managed companies in the Philippines by Alpha Southeast Asia magazine based on its 10th annual corporate-institutional poll for 2020.

SMIC topped Best Senior Management Investor Relations Support for the sixth consecutive year. SMIC was also ranked first in the Best Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility category for the sixth straight year.

Other awards included Most Organized Investor Relations for the ninth year in a row and Most Consistent Dividend Policy for the fourth straight year. SMIC was also the only Philippine company to receive Best Annual Report for the second time.

“We thank Alpha Southeast Asia for this recognition and the investor community for its confidence. This gives us much encouragement as we endeavor to uphold good governance and sustainability across our businesses,” SMIC president Frederic Dy Buncio said.

Palace tells DENR to address alleged illicit Magat mining

performance of our company. We’ve seen, however, improvement in majority of our business lines in the third quarter as pandemic-related restrictions gradually eased,” Ayala Land president and chief executive Bernard Vincent Dy said.

“We anticipate favorable developments moving forward as the reopening of the economy gains traction and have started to introduce new product inventory in our estates,” Dy said.

Ayala Land said that as residential demand started to improve, it launched three projects with total sales value of P2.2 billion. Nine-month reservation sales amounted to P60.8 billion, 44 percent lower than the same period in 2019.

Third-quarter sales reached P22.5 billion, an indication of demand picking up amid the uncertain environment, it said.

Meanwhile, Robinsons Land booked a third-quarter net income of P717 million, down 78.3 percent from P3.3 billion in the same quarter last year. This pushed nine-month net income to P4.4 billion, lower by 39.7 percent from P7.3 billion in 2019.

The group’s development portfolio, which accounted for 49 percent of consolidated revenues, went up by 33 percent to P8.84 billion. However, revenues from investment portfolio which included rental sales from malls and office projects dropped 33 percent from the same period a year ago.

Consumer group asks Duterte to cut foreign money influencing FDA regulations FILIPINO consumers asked President Rodrigo Duterte to stop foreign vested interest groups from influencing the Food and Drug Administration, which is tasked to draft regulation on vape and heated tobacco products in the Philippines.

The Nicotine Consumers Union of the Philippines made the call after the Philippines FDA admitted to have received grants from foreign anti-tobacco advocacy groups The Union and Bloomberg Initiative.

“We appeal to President Duterte to re-

IN BRIEF

sion of the consultation, and call for a fullblown House probe on the matter citing conflict of interest.

“The FDA receiving money from foreign vested interest groups is a clear violation of the code of conduct for public officials which is a ground for the filing of anti-graft cases with the Ombudsman,” Israel reiterated his group’s earlier pronouncement.

They previously threatened to file an anti-graft case with the Ombudsman “if the FDA ignores the views of legitimate

and impacted stakeholders and proceeds with the adoption of an administrative order lifted from the playbook of their antitobacco patrons.”

Israel said stakeholders trust the president’s uncompromising stand against any form of graft and corruption. “He has many times called on government officials to faithfully serve the public without fear or favor. From the start, the FDA has shown favor to its foreign benefactors to the detriment of Filipino consumers and interests,” he said.

MALACAÑANG Palace ordered Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu to respond to a serious concern raised by a non-government organization over alleged illegal gold mining operations by a wholly-owned British corporation within the protected Magat Watershed in northern Luzon.

The Presidential Complaint Center, in a memorandum dated Oct. 2, 2020, directed Cimatu to reply directly to the complaining parties and furnish the agency with a copy of his rejoinder.

“Expeditious action is requested in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 11032, otherwise known as the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act as implemented and enforced by the Anti-Red Tape Authority,” the one-page memo stated.

PCC director Jaime LLaguno Mabilin said “failure to timely respond to the public’s concern shall be a ground for administrative sanctions under existing laws and regulations.”

Lawyer Arnel Victor Valeña earlier lauded President Rodrigo Duterte’s swift action on the environmental and social concerns raised by the Action for Consumerism and Transparency in NationBuilding.

Valeña, acting on behalf of ACTION, called the president’s attention on the Runruno Gold Project being pursued by FCF Minerals Corp. within the 234,824-hectare Magat River Forest Reserve which covers major portions of Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Isabela provinces.

Valeña also informed Mines and Geosciences Bureau acting director Wilfredo Moncano of the alleged violations of the country’s mining and environmental laws within the Magat Watershed.

“The documents prove that the Runruno Gold Project is clearly within the Magat Watershed where mining activities are expressly prohibited under the Mining Act of 1995 and the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992,” the ACTION lawyer said in a letter to the MGB chief.

Sports

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

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020

C1

6 karatekas seeking slots in Olympics

By Peter Atencio

FIRE POWER. Terrafirma Dyip guard CJ Perez (7) drives strong to the hoop against three Blackwater Elite defenders, from right: Roi Sumang, Ron Dennison and Frank Golla. PBA

Ravena endorses photo tilt CATCH the moment, shoot the drama, emotion and the spirit and win.

A Christmas season full of life awaits young and old photo enthusiasts as Cocolife launched a unique photo contest in the new normal of the Yuletide celebration.

Basketball superstar Keifer Ravena, Gilas team Captain and Cocolife Brand Ambassador, endorsed Cocolife’s ‘Acts of Kindness Contest and Win’, open to all Filipino amateur/professional photographers in the country.

All entries must be original materials and in digital format (JPEG).

The usage of DSLR point-andshoot and camera phones are allowed.

A bonanza of prizes, such as P10,0 0 0 cash, a Christmas N o c h e B u e n a Kiefer Ravena Gift Package and autographed RVNA ball will be awarded to 12 crafty photography winners, who will be announced on December 11, 2020.

The Cocolife social media team will notify winners the final result. They may claim their prizes at the nearest Cocolife branch.

Participants joining in the event supported by Cocolife President Atty.

Jose Martin Loon, SVP Joseph Ronquillo, VP Rowena Asnan and EVP Joie Franz Araque, must be 21 to 59 years old upon joining, must like the official Facebook page of Cocolife and comment on their photo entries ‘Acts of Kindness’ promo post that include the hashtags #ActsofKindness #Cocolife #BeleivinginTheFilipino.

Registration link will be sent to all qualified participants for full contact details.

There will be no limit for the number of entries per participant. Deadline of submission of entries will be on November 30, 2020.

For further details, see official Cocolife Facebook page and Cocolife website (www.cocolife.com)

Dyip whip Elite, secure st 1 victory in 13 months

By Reuel Vidal

Y

OU can’t lose them all.

Terrafirma Dyip finally ended its losing streak in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup by beating Blackwater Elite, 110-101, yesterday, Friday, November 6, 2020 at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena & Cultural Center Powered by Smart 5G. The Dyip almost lost a big lead with another third-quarter collapse but leaned on the hot hands of their young backcourt – in guards CJ Perez and Juami Tiongson, who delivered points in the clutch – to tow their team to the scrambling victory.

The Dyip actually ended almost 13 months of futility. It was the first time for the franchise to win a PBA game in over a year. The Dyip beat Phoenix, 106-104, during an elimination round game of the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup October 25, 2019.

Meanwhile, the Alaska Aces bounced back into the win column with a 102-94 victory over NorthPort Batang Pier.

The Aces exploded out of the gates with a blazing 11-0 start, had some anxious moments late in the game but hung on to

eventually post the win.

With the victory the Aces (6 wins, 4 losses) climbed to sixth place behind TNT Tropang Giga (6-2), Barangay Ginebra (62), Phoenix Super LPG (6-3), San Miguel Beermen (5-3) and Meralco Bolts (5-3).

The other teams include Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (4-3), Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok (4-4), NLEX Road Warriors (3-5), Blackwater (2-6), NorthPort (1-7) and Terrafirma (1-7).

Batang Pier hung on to the coattails of Christian Standhardinger to threaten in the fourth. But the Aces put up a 12-point, 94-82, advantage with three minutes left after free throws by Jeron Teng.

The Aces held on to that advantage to eventually prevail. The Aces thus earned

at least a playoff for a berth in the Quarterfinals and keep alive their hopes for a twice-to-beat advantage.

Standhardinger lit up his stats line with 39 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. His one-man show was not enough to tow his team to victory.

Terrafirma’s celebrated rookie Roosevelt Adams delivered a double-double of 20 points and 16 rebounds to finally live up to expectations and actually keep alive Dyip’s longshot hope of advancing to the Quarterfinals.

Coach Johnedel Cardel said he implored his players to go for the win to avoid going home winless.

“Credit to all the players. They kept on fighting even though we were 0-7. I told them I didn’t want to go home from here with 0-11. At least makapanalo tayo para mabawasan ang pagiging homesick,” said Cardel.

The Dyip can gain a tie for the eighth and final slot in the Quarterfinals if they win all their remaining games and either Rain or Shine or Magnolia lose all of theirs.

SIX members of the national karate team are still pursuing their dreams of making it to the Tokyo Olympic.

Led by former US national team member Joane Orbon, the six karatekas will soon be entering qualifiers once the schedules are available and the many restrictions set to the control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic have eased.

“All six are training. They train every day except Sundays,” said Karate Pilipinas Sports Federation, Inc. president Richard Lim. Orbon, who is based in California, is seeking a slot in the women’s 61kgs kumite, along with Jamie Lim (women’s +61 kgs) and Junna Tsukii (women’s 50kgs kumite).

Alwyn Batican (men’s -67kgs), Ivan Agustin (men’s -75kgs) and Sharief Afif (men’s +75kgs) are also getting ready in their respective categories in the men’s division.

For those in the Philippines, online training will have to do for now.

But this will change once the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases gives the green light for physical training to take place.

“They have online training as a group, and they have individual training with the strength and condition coaches,” added Lim. National coach Okay Arpa, who is from Turkey, is leading the training sessions, with strength and conditioning coach Sammy Montalvo helping keep all six in shape.

PCSO remittance to PSC continues DESPITE their operations and sales being badly hit by the pandemic, a total of P359, 672.07 was remitted by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) at the PCSO Main Office in Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City, Thursday.

The PSC was represented by Commissioner Celia Kiram and Cashier Maybelle Panis who formally received the check from PCSO Charity Assistance Department Officerin-Charge Jerusa Corpuz in simple ceremonies. This fifth remittance for 2020 brings this year’s PCSO total remittance to P1,816,527.03.

“PSC is so happy that despite the pandemic, PCSO generously gave their share for the development of sports” said Commissioner Kiram.

The PCSO has been at the forefront of the country’s sports development program. In February alone, the PSC received a PCSO Charity Assistance Department Officer-in-Charge Jerusa Corpuz (left) and PSC Commissioner total of P1,456,854.96 from PCSO, a month before the COVID-19 Celia Kiram lockdown in the country was effected.

In 2019, the PCSO released a total of P2.3 million to the This is a regular remittance of the charity proceeds of six (6) sweepstakes of lottery agency, the same year when the country hosted and clinched agency as provided for in Section 26 of R.A. draw per annum shall be given to the PSC to the overall championship of the 30th Southeast Asian Games 6847, which indicates that thirty percent help fund the country’s sports development held last November 30 to December 11.

(30%) representing the charity fund and programs.

Alsons Power scholars get assistance

“Power Scholars” under the Alsons Power Hidilyn Diaz Scholarship Program for Aspiring Weightlifters in Zamboanga City display their subsidy checks.

“POWER Scholars” under the Alsons Power Hidilyn Diaz Scholarship Program for Aspiring Weightlifters in Zamboanga City recently received their subsidy checks that will cover the provisions for school uniforms, shoes, bags, and school supplies, as well as a monthly stipend for transportation and food allowances for the school year.

The scholarship program was formed under a partnership between the Alsons Power Group – Mindanao’s first private sector power producer and 2016 Olympic silver medalist and 2018 Asian Games gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz.

The program is part of the company’s commitment to help provide more educational opportunities for young people in Zamboanga

City, where Alsons Power is the primary supplier of electricity thru its 100-megawatt) Western Mindanao Power Corporation power plant in the eastern portion of the city.

The partnership between Alsons and Diaz aims to produce world-class Filipino weightlifters and support the country’s efforts in eventually winning gold in the Olympics. To date ,15 power scholars have been inducted into the program.

The initial batch of five power scholars were named in 2017 and have gone on to participate and win medals in international competitions.

Alsons Power currently has a portfolio of four power facilities serving over eight million people in 14 cities and 11 provinces in Mindanao.

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Tech & Gadgets

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020

rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

Schneider Electric calls for East Asia to embrace digital technologies SCHNEIDER Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, held its Innovation Summit World Tour 2020 for East Asia, connecting thought leaders, visionaries, experts, change makers, partners and customers globally to discover the latest digital solutions for a more resilient and sustainable future.

Schneider’s flagship annual Innovation Summits are now in their fifth year. This year’s iteration is the first to take place purely online, with ten regional and interactive events in a span of eight weeks, which began last October 8 and will continue until November 26. The Innovation Summit World Tour will give attendees from around the globe the chance to learn more about the critical role that electrification, digitization, innovation, energy management and industrial automation can play in the transition towards a lower-carbon world to limit climate change to 1.5° C. In his virtual keynote address, Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Schneider Electric’s Chairman and CEO, urged attendees to accelerate their digital transformation to better position themselves for the upheaval caused by both the climate crisis and the global pandemic that has swept the world in 2020. He stated, “Across the globe, in just a few months, our lives have changed—and digitalization has helped us to adapt to the new normal. Digitized remote operations can maintain business continuity, strengthen resiliency, and offer insights to better anticipate and adapt with agility. Digital innovation and connectivity have changed how we work and live together, and will positively change our impact on the environment, and drive economic recovery and sustainability for us all.”

Sessions in the Innovation Summit also discussed sustainability and resilience in a post-COVID world, especially as the waves of recession and climate change are the next key challenges for the world to address.

“Southeast Asia will be the fourth largest economy in the world by 2030, and energy demand in the region will continue to increase significantly in the coming years. Supporting the recovery of economies and sustaining growth while adapting to the new normal will require digitization, new energy solutions, and new strategies. These are important questions for Philippine companies and Philippine society as a whole, and Schneider Electric is ready to be a partner of corporations and industries in realizing equitable and sustainable futures in a post-COVID world,” said Alexandre Vermot, Country President of Schneider Electric Philippines.

Consumers in Asia Pacific to benefit most from Industry 4.0

A

T THE center of the developing Asia is Industry 4.0, also known as the digitalization of industries.

Shifting businesses and enterprises into an intelligent and connected virtual space is no longer an option but a necessity to survive, primarily due to the added pressure brought about by the pandemic.

A fresh study by Deloitte proved this trend with a great majority (96%) of companies from Asia Pacific (APAC) revealing that they have conducted an audit to find opportunities for Industry 4.0, significantly higher compared with the global average of 51%.

“Asia Pacific’s level of digitalization is still in its early stages until the pandemic forced everyone to reconsider their operational practices. Contrary to popular belief that Industry 4.0 is a high-level topic confined in the four corners of a boardroom, this revolution has the consumer at its core. This, alongside breakthroughs like Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, are here to create a customized future,” comments Stephan Neumeier, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky.

Customized future means products and services are made based on a customer’s preference. It is also known as “personalization”, a trend introduced by the mobile ultrabroadband of 4G, which brought to human’s fingertips the power to call a cab when they need one, to stream the song or content they want to, and more.

With more advanced technologies rising, majority of consumers (s83%) values personalized experience that they are willing to give their data to make it possible. In fact, consumers are unknowingly giving more data than they have bargained for.

For instance, what seems like a simple song choice when made multiple times and then analyzed can allow music streaming companies to predict user’s mood at a

TOP 15 countries and territories by percentage of ICS computers on which ransomware was blocked by Kaspersky in H1 2020

certain time and location. Same goes with dating apps which can tell if one is in a sad and vulnerable state, and at which time of the day, based on the number of customer’s swipes from left to right.

In terms of location tracking, users have been sharing their locations realtime, even before the pandemic happened.

The way consumers use virtual maps to

find their way or to be aware of the live traffic situation also empowers these apps to amass a huge amount of data, allowing them to predict their behavioral and physical patterns. Such data are risky when held by the wrong hands.

With this amount of information, customized future is very possible as a lot of companies now know their consumers bet-

SAMSUNG Galaxy Z Fold2 5G’s multifaceted design SAMSUNG crafted the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G to empower users to be just as determined, flexible, and confident as the smartphone itself. The latest premium device unfolds more ways to juggle different roles now more than ever.

Built for Broadening Horizons The Galaxy Z Fold2 5G’s delicately refined UI elevates the overall user experience quality.

When folded, the display of Galaxy Z Fold2 5G’s 6.2-inch Infinity-O Super AMOLED Cover Screen makes it easy to do everything from viewing content to taking pictures or replying to messages. When unfolded, the device’s 7.6-inch Infinity Flex Dynamic AMOLED 2.0 Main Screen is handy for capturing and viewing photos and videos.

Combining the Cover Screen and the Main Screen makes the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G similar in size to a typical smartphone when folded and a small tablet when opened. When viewing content, the thinner bezels and notch-less display maximize immersion, offering the full benefits

Dell Technologies’ Project APEX makes businesses’ IT journey simple DELL Technologies (NYSE: DELL), the leader in cloud IT infrastructure, expands its as-a-Service capabilities with Project APEX to simplify how customers and partners access Dell technology on-demand—across storage, servers, networking, hyperconverged infrastructure, PCs and broader solutions.

Businesses will have a consistent as-a-Service experience wherever they run workloads including on-premises,

Percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked by regions of the world

ter than they know themselves.

Threats in APAC’s Manufacturing Industry Several start-ups across the world, aware of the demand, have since kicked off their mass customization practices. Consumers can now have their own names on the sole of their shoes, get bespoke necklace, as well as better-fitting body implants, personalized doses of medicines, and more.

While these are proofs of the power of technology when harnessed correctly, the flexible and highly-connected manufacturing process also opens a wider attack surface for cybercriminals. The latest report from Kaspersky for industrial automation systems showed that Asia and Africa are the least secure globally during the first six months of 2020.

Asian regions occupy four out of the top five positions in the regional rankings based on the percentage of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) computers which were almost infected in the first half of the year.

Southeast Asia recorded the highest percentages, leading in several ratings: • percentage of ICS computers where malicious activity was blocked – 49.8% • percentage of ICS computers where internet threats were blocked – 14.9% • percentage of ICS computers where malicious email attachments were blocked – 5.8% Africa comes second while Central, East, and South Asia follow closely at third, fourth, and fifth places respectively.

In terms of ransomware, regions in Asia still led with a noticeable margin in the regional rating. Over half of the countries in the top 15 ranking are from APAC. “It is not surprising that ICS computers in Asia Pacific were exposed to the highest number of cyber threats as the region is well on its way in building a customer-centric future. Smart systems and automated productions require in-depth, intelligent defenses to foil malicious disruptions, with possible aftermaths that can cross from the virtual to the physical realm. To avoid grave circumstances, a secure-by-design approach is necessary. Cyber immunity against attacks should be ingrained at the very fabric of the present and the future industrial systems,” adds Neumeier.

edge locations and public clouds.

“Project APEX will give our customers choice, simplicity and a consistent experience across PCs and IT infrastructure from one trusted partner—unmatched in the industry,” said Jeff Clarke, chief operating officer and vice chairman, Dell Technologies. “We’re building upon our long history of offering on-demand technology with this initiative. Our goal is to give customers the

that come with a bigger screen.

The Freedom of Flexibility Like its predecessor, the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G was designed with an emphasis on flexibility and versatility. It adjusts its form to suit the task at hand, perfectly complementing roles and tasks needed to be done.

The Galaxy Z Fold2 5G can be used at various angles to suit every need—opened wide, opened just enough for comfort, or folded partially. The key here is the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G’s convenient Flex mode, which automatically splits the Main Screen into two sections, giving a comfortable view of the content on the top half and controls on the bottom.

The smartphone can also be held upright when partially folded, freeing hands to handle other things. It offers complete freedom to multitask from displaying videos while folded to enabling video calls on one side of their screen while taking notes on the other.

The Confidence to be Different With its simple form, consisting of

freedom to scale resources in ways that work best for them, so they can quickly respond to changes and focus less on IT and more on their business needs.”

“By the end of 2021, the agility and adaptability that comes with as-aService consumption will drive a 3X increase in demand for on-premises infrastructure delivered via flexible consumption/as-a-Service solutions,” Rick Villars, group vice president, Worldwide Research at IDC. Dell Technologies as-a-Service and cloud advancements The new Dell Technologies Cloud Console will provide the foundation for Project APEX and will deliver a single, seamless experience for customers to manage their cloud and asa-Service journey. With a few clicks, customers can deploy workloads, manage their multi-cloud resources, monitor their costs in real-time and add capabilities.

Available in the first half of next year, Dell Technologies Storage as-aService (STaaS) is an on-premises, as-a-Service portfolio of scalable and elastic storage resources that will offer block and file data services and a broad range of enterprise-class features. STaaS is designed for OPEX transactions and allows customers to easily manage their STaaS resources via the Dell Technologies Cloud Console.

Galaxy Z Fold2 5G

straight lines, and colors that exemplify modern elegance, the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G exudes a sophisticated design that turns heads. The Mystic Bronze variant has a textured haze effect, while Mystic Black features an elegant hue designed to recall the city’s atmosphere.

The foldable device was carefully crafted to have a design that’s not only slim, sturdy, and appealing to the eye but also fits comfortably into the hands. It gives maximum usability to check email, look up directions, or watch content even with one-hand grip.

Promos for grabs!

With the availability of this device, cus-

tomers are up for various discount options when they buy the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G, priced at P109,990. Those who will purchase the device until December 31, 2020, using their credit cards from Banco De Oro (BDO), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Philippine National Bank (PNB), Metrobank, and Security Bank are entitled to 0% interest by paying P4,582.92 up to 24 months. They can also apply for Samsung’s “Trade Up, Save up” program where they can trade in their old premium smartphones for the new Galaxy Z Fold2 5G to get it at a discounted price, plus an additional P12,000 discount for straight payments.

PH internet speed increased dramatically under Duterte INTERNET speed in the Philippines has seen a dramatic improvement since 2016 when the Duterte Administration took over, increasing by 229.7 percent for fixed broadband and 127.06 percent for mobile connections, according to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

“Mayroon naman pong improvement simula nung umupo si President Duterte noong 2016 up to the present,” said NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba referring to the country’s download speed, during a public hearing at the House of Representatives on Thursday on the state of the telecommunications industry and internet speed.

Based on OOKLA’s latest Speedtest Global Index, download speed for fixed broadband reached 26.08 Mbps as of September 2020, from 7.91 Mbps recorded in July 2016. For mobile broadband, download speed was at 7.44 Mbps in July 2016, but rose to 16.89 Mbps in September this year.

The Philippines has been ranked 31st in Asia in terms of fixed broadband

speed and 36th for mobile broadband out of the 50 countries in the continent as per OOKLA. In the Southeast Asian region, the Philippines placed 5th out of nine countries for fixed broadband as of September 2020, while ranked only 8th for mobile broadband, based on the same report.

But with the massive investments in telecommunications infrastructures of industry giants Globe Telecoms and Smart Communications over the years and the entry of third telco DITO Telecommunity, the country is poised to see its internet speed and telco services making a headway in 2021.

To further boost internet coverage and mobile services especially at this time when many businesses and schools are heavily dependent on internet connectivity due to the pandemic, President Duterte has ordered the streamlining of the processes bogged down by bureaucratic red tape in a bid to hasten the construction of cell towers and other telco infrastructures.

Tech & Gadgets Free unli call, text from Globe in Catanduanes, Albay, CamSur GLOBE is giving free unlimited calls and texts to Globe/TM for three days to all its prepaid customers in Catanduanes, Albay and Camarines Sur to help them get in touch with their loved ones. The three provinces are among the hardest hit by Typhoon Rolly.

Globe Prepaid customers will also get 50MB for surfing while TM users can enjoy 50 texts to all networks. Likewise, Globe Prepaid/TM customers will have P30 worth of IDD credits with seven-day validity that will allow them to place calls to North America and Asia Pacific for P2.50 per minute; and to Middle East and Europe for P5 per minute.

Similar to Globe Prepaid, Globe Postpaid will extend the same amount of IDD credits to its customers so they can reach out to loved ones abroad. Globe Postpaid is also suspending credit actions and barring of calls from November 3 to 9 for those with unpaid bills so that its subscribers can continuously use their mobile service regardless of account payment status. In addition, those who want to temporarily suspend their assigned spending limit may text SL LIFT to 268201 on or before November 5.

For Broadband, Globe At Home Postpaid users will get free 20GB of data for 15 days seeded to their Globe mobile subscriptions while Globe Home Prepaid WiFi customers will have free 5GB of data for 3 days. Globe will also reverse charges in the bills of Postpaid customers corresponding to the days when they have experienced no connection.

Meanwhile, anyone who wants to assist the victims of the calamity may use their Globe Rewards points to donate to Ayala Foundation. All funds gathered will be used to support ongoing relief operations for affected families in Albay, Batangas, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Oriental Mindoro, Quezon and Sorsogon. Globe has already mobilized its disaster relief teams to extend assistance to Tiwi and Malinao in Albay; and Sagnay, Calabanga and Lagonoy in Camarines Sur. Donations are also accepted through the GCash App by tapping Pay Bills, Others, and selecting #RollyPHAid. Globe’s Jeepney WiFi which provides Libreng Tawag, Libreng Charging, and Libreng WiFi are already deployed in Camarines Sur. Globe will add more Libreng Tawag, Libreng Charging, and Libreng WiFI sites as the need arises.

For more information about Globe, visit www.globe.com.ph

Research suggests consumer preference for digital here to stay QUALTRICS, the global leader in customer experience management and creator of the experience management category, today launched new research outlining the extent to which COVID-19 has encouraged consumers to embrace digital channels.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, two-thirds (67%) of the respondents* said they have purchased more online and increased the frequency they use online banking (62%). Shopping for groceries online also increased (53%). In contrast, 55% of respondents said the frequency at which they visit retailers has decreased.

The move to online shows no signs of slowing with 76% of people saying it is likely they will continue online shipping over the next 6 months. In further proof of how COVID-19 is changing the behaviours and preferences of people in the Philippines, 47% said it is more likely they will pick up food from a restaurant rather than dining in.

There are hints of things returning to the previous normal in the coming months.

Although many respondents (94%) still say they are very concerned by the pandemic, 40% said it is likely they’ll choose to eat at a restaurant in the next six months. Respondents were also planning to take a family holiday (37%), use public transport (36%), and visit the mall (34%) over this same time frame. Not surprisingly, travelling by air is the least likely behaviour to return, with more than half saying it’s unlikely they’ll travel internationally (57%) or domestically (54%) by plane within the next 6 months.

Over the past 6 months, the number of people in the Philippines expecting COVID-19 to affect their day to day life for more than a year has increased by 5% (45% today, up from 40% in June 2020).

“After months of disruption, we are beginning to see new behaviours and preferences emerge that are likely to remain postpandemic. There is no doubt that there has been a massive shift towards digital, making it critical for brands to ensure they are able to optimise the experience they deliver on their digital channels including mobile applications. Simultaneously, even though consumers are beginning to go back to some previous habits, high levels of ambiguity remain, meaning businesses must be able to understand and quickly respond to changing environments. Businesses can deal with this ambiguity using tools like Qualtrics to get an “always-on” and integrated understanding of their customer experience across touchpoints, equipping them with end-to-end insights to continually deliver superior customer experience.” said Harish Argarwal, Head of CX Strategy for Southeast Asia.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020

C3

Swan song for PS5, Xbox Series X?

P

ARIS—The upcoming release of a ninth generation of video game consoles by Sony and Microsoft is set to be a sales slam dunk with consumers seeking entertainment during pandemic confinement, but could it also be their swansong as the habits of gamers change?

Both companies have been dripping out information for months about the PlayStation 5 (PS5) and the Xbox Series X to build excitement, and gamers will be able to start getting their hands on them next week.

In a sign of the keen anticipation of gamers, the alloted pre-orders for the consoles at major retailers were quickly snapped up and both companies expect high demand in the run-up to the end of the year.

Sony has said it expects to sell 7.6 million PS5 consoles through the end of March, beating the sales performance of the PS4.

And it will be a major upgrade in terms of hardware —the current generation of consoles were released back in 2013.

Both new consoles will offer much more powerful central and graphics processors, support 4K televisions, as well as offer ray tracing, which allows for better rendition of how light behaves.

"When one looks at the technical specifications of the new consoles, they are 10 times above the current generation. We're going to have games that are more beautiful, more realistic, more immersive. People are going to be blown away," said Charles-Louis Planade, a video game expert with Midcap Partners.

Dark cloud in the sky?

Sony sold 110 million PS4 consoles over the past seven years, more than double the number of its competitor the Xbox One. "For Microsoft, the challenge is to not let Sony get too far ahead—maybe even the game with them," Planade told AFP. Taking into account the growing number of players, the analyst believes they could even match their previous success.

Others aren't so sure given the changes in the industry, which is already beginning to move away from big expensive machines to cloud gaming.

"This generation could be the last physical consoles.

It'll be the last time we'll hear talk of teraflops," said Audrey Leprince, cofounder of the independent game studio The Game Bakers.

A teraflop refers to the capacity of a processor to calculate a trillion operations, and both Sony and Microsoft have been vaunting the speed and power of their new consoles.

Leprince said there haven't been any major innovations with game interfaces or with the games themselves.

But "the stone in the pond... is the shift to the subscription model" which means the console makers are becoming a "Netflix of video games", she said.

The subscriptions— Game Pass for Microsoft and PlayStation Plus for Sony "are going to com-

Japanese tech giant Sony and its US rival Microsoft are preparing to launch their latest consoles on November 10 and 12, 2020 respectively, competing in a 160 billion USD global market—bigger than film and music combined. AFP

pletely revolutionise the industry as was the case for films and music," said Leprince.

"The challenge for the console manufacturers is to hold onto their subscribers so as not to give an opening to challengers" such as Google or Amazon, said Planade.

‘A transition phase’ The two web giants are betting on cloud gaming which allows them to dispense with consoles. The games can run on a variety of devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Because the servers in the cloud do the heavy lifting in terms of processing, there is no need for powerful and costly consoles.

But both firms have also taken a step towards cloud gaming by offering lower priced versions of their new consoles without drives. Games have to be downloaded from the web or streamed, and have dedicated xCloud and PlayStation Now services.

"We're in a transition phase" said Laurent Michaud, an analyst specialising in the video game industry, who expects consoles and cloud gaming to coexist for a while.

The "trends indicate that this won't be the last generation of consoles," he believes.

Many gamers value playing on big, high resolution screens, and publishers are going to want to exploit 8K televisions which offer a much superior experience.

"Networks, even in a few years, won't be rapid enough to transport" images for 8K screens, noted Michaud.

With "technology putting all the manufacturers on the same level" it is the catalogue of games "that will be even more important than in the past for the success of this generation."

Both Sony and Microsoft have lined up a number of eagerly awaited games to launch with the consoles.

realme launches narzo 20 for gamers THE country’s top 2 smartphone brand realme Philippines seals its position yet again in the local gaming market by launching a new device which is a perfect addition to the arsenal of young aspiring Filipino gamers -- the realme narzo 20. Intended for aspiring gamers, the realme narzo 20 draws powerful performance from its gaming chipset MediaTek Helio G85 and supports prolonged hours of adventure through its 6,000mAh mega battery with 18W quick-charge technology.

A recent study by Newzoo, the world's most trusted source for games market insights and analytics, shows that the majority of gamers in the Philippines prefer mobile devices as platforms for their gaming spree. realme Philippines, in a bid to make more options available for Filipinos, officially brings to the country its narzo lineup with the introduction of the narzo 20. The narzo by realme line-up bridges the great divide between midrange and entry-level devices by bringing top-tier chipsets and other essential gaming features at affordable price points.

“We at realme have always been keen on empowering the youth to explore their many potentials. Mobile gaming in the country is indeed on the rise. This is why we hope we can inspire more young gamers to try their luck and skills in mobile gaming without them having to break the bank for high-tier devices. The realme narzo 20 is ready to be in the arsenal of every young Filipino gamer,” shares realme Philippines VP for Marketing Austine Huang.

Feel the power in performance Gamers use powerful devices in slaying enemies to achieve victory in every battle. The realme narzo 20 is a gaming device that is equipped with the powerful MediaTek Helio G85 octacore processor, which pumps its Arm Mali-G52 GPU up to a 2GHz peak, allowing great gaming for avid mobile gamers.

Users need not worry about lagging as the device ensures smooth performance even in heavy-loading game engines like Mobile Legends and PUBG. As a processor for gaming, Helio G85 reaches 200,000+ in Antutu Benchmark.

Feel the power with a mega battery The realme narzo 20 packs a hefty 6,000mAh mega battery, the biggest there is in the device’s price segment.

This massive battery is essential for gamers who are in gaming marathons as it could easily last all day even with intensive gaming usage or when used for entertainment, online classes or work. Complementing this mega battery is

realme narzo 20

an 18W quick-charge technology which allows the drained device to charge to 29 percent in just 30 minutes. realme Lab tests have shown that the realme narzo 20 could last for 45 days in standby mode which is far better than some flagships. With a special OTG reverse charge, narzo 20 can also serve as a battery life saver for other devices.

Feel the power of great snaps The realme narzo 20 features a 48MP AI Triple Camera that lets users capture a perfect shot with stunning clarity and a wider perspective. Its other two rear cameras are an 8MP Ultra-wide Angle Lens and a Macro Lens.

On the front, an 8MP selfie camera is available to take crystal clear selfies. The front camera also supports AI beautification function, HDR mode, portrait mode and a Panoselfie feature which lets users take wider selfies. This device is perfect for heavy smartphone users who rely on their mobile device for digital interactions like online schooling and content creation.

Feel the power of realme e-commerce Understanding the market’s pivot to e-commerce,

the narzo series by realme is aimed at strengthening the online presence of the brand, starting with the realme narzo 20’s exclusive availability on Lazada. The realme narzo 20 retails for only P7,990.00 and will be primarily available on LazMall starting November 11. realme fans may also snag an additional P500 discount on the newest realme smartphone at the Lazada 11.11 sale, lowering the device’s price to P7,490. If a customer uses their Lazada Wallet upon checkout, a special Lazada 11.11 voucher can further bring the price down by P400.

The realme Squad can expect discounts of up to 42 percent on realme devices at the 11.11 shopping festivals on Lazada and Shopee. The products to receive a price slash include the yet to be launched realme AIoT and smart lifestyle devices realme M1 Sonic Electric toothbrush, realme Smart Scale, realme Smart Cam 3600 and realme Adventurer Luggage.

These new realme products will be launched on November 09 at 6:00 p.m via livestream on realme Philippines’ official Facebook page and YouTube channel. realme Philippines will also be hosting the realme Mobile Legends Cup Season 3 finals on November 6, capping the seven-week event with a show game between CHoOx TV and Team Payaman’s Cong TV. The top Filipino YouTube vloggers and game streamers will be using the realme narzo 20 on the battlefield.

Interested spectators may tune in on realme Facebook page at 11:00 a.m. for the live stream gaming event.

Join the 50-million strong global realme family Counterpoint Research’s Q3 2020 report shows that realme has officially achieved 50 million smartphone sales around the globe, making it the fastest smartphone brand to hit the number. Imbibing the energy and vigor of the youth and young professionals, realme surpassed the expectations of analysts as it maintains its record of being the world’s fastest-growing smartphone brand in Q3 2020.

To celebrate these feats, realme Philippines is looking for its top fan in the country. If you think you are realme’s No. 1 Fan, then it is time to show your dedication and passion as a realme user! Get the chance to be recognized along with other top realme fans worldwide and win awesome realme products!

Check out realme Philippines’ official social media channels on Facebook and Instagram for more details.

Innovative solutions from Taiwan’s top hardware manufacturers featured in digital show

Sophia Cheng, Sales Representative of Shuter Ent. introducing their booth and quality products

TAIPEI—Six winners of the Taiwan Excellence Award unveiled their groundbreaking advancements for the hardware manufacturing industry at the Taiwan Excellence Hardware Showcase, a digital event held on recently in Taipei, Taiwan, and to industry professionals around the globe.

Hosted by TAITRA (Taiwan External Trade Development Council), this showcase is one of several online streamed conferences that introduced Taiwan’s innovations to the growing international hardware market during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the one-hour event, more than 700 visitors tuned in for a closer look at Taiwan’s latest, and most show-stopping innovations. Taiwan continues to be a key global player in the hardware market that exported nearly US$3.8 billion in 2019 that ranked the country third in the world.

The presenting companies and their products exemplify the highest quality, most innovative, and highest-performing hardware and pneumatic tools in the industry. Included in the line-up of companies who presented: 1. Kuani Gear Co., Ltd. Kuani announced their Gearless Angle Impact

Wrench that simplifies automobile/motorcycle maintenance with its fully adjustable, unique, 360-degree swivel feature that improves ease of access in engine bays or other confined spaces. Its low-recoil design also helps reduce operator fatigue.

2. Tien-I Industrial Co., Ltd. launched new spinning impact extensions that effectively solved the professional vehicle mechanic’s problem of losing their grip on traditional impact extensions. They help mechanics to efficiently and safely complete their jobs even in confined spaces under the hood or chassis.

3. Shuter Enterprise Co. Ltd. delivered the RC High-Efficiency Work Station. By providing industrial-strength load capacity and space-saving versatility, Shuter introduced a work station that applies its leading industrial technology to the residential market to help home owners efficiently set up Do-It-Yourself (DIY) workshops in their own garages.

4. Williams Tools Co., Ltd. The company’s internationally acclaimed “Screen Slipping T-handle Torque Screwdriver” protects both the user and the tool with patented torque adjustment to eliminate

over-tightening. Tested up to 30,000 cycles and manufactured from environment-friendly, silicon-chromoly steel, the screwdriver even has internal storage space for 12 hex bits.

5. Ferro-Carbon Ent. Co., Ltd. FerroCarbon introduced its ample and powerful, heavy-duty tile cutter. Designed to easily cut 800mm to 1200mm lengths of tile, the enhanced breaking system and tungsten scoring wheel produces a smoother, cleaner, and easier cut and is the tool favored by major tile manufacturers around the globe.

6. Medical Intubation Technology Corporation (MitCorp) unveiled the PRSL 300, an innovative pipe inspection videoscope system with a real-time display. It provides a fool-proof inspection tool, thanks to a unique probe with a self-leveling camera that retains an upright image as the probe maneuvers lithely through any pipe. The use of high-durability High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) fiberglass also allows the probe to smoothly rotate, expand, and retract while simultaneously protecting the drive circuit board for image signal and slip ring for a lightweight, wear-resistant, and waterproof unit.

Motoring

RAMON L. TOMELDAN Editor

C4

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020

Geely Holding launches electric-vehicle strategy

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Macau GP beckons with 3-day thriller

F

OR three days this month, Macau transforms itself into the epicentre of high-octane car racing with its staging of the 67th edition of the Macau Grand Prix.

The Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee has just unveiled a five-race, three-day format for the 67th edition of the iconic event, which will see the famous Guia Circuit reverberate with the roar of engines from November 20 to 22.

This year’s headliners are the Formula 4 Macau Grand Prix, for cars from the Chinese Formula 4 Championship and also counting as the series’ 2020 season finale; the Macau GT Cup, open to both GT3 and GT4 machinery for the first time; and the Macau Guia Race for Asian TCR drivers.

The Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix will not take place this year. Having successfully contained the COVID-19 outbreak in Macao, many riders subsequently reconsidered their willingness to compete in view of the prevailing prevention regulations, making running the Far East classic this year unworkable.

Nevertheless, the 67th Macau Grand Prix promises plenty of exceptional motorsport, and this year represents a showcase for China’s hottest talent.

The Formula 4 Macau Grand Prix will see the return of two of SAR’s youngest talents; Charles Leong Hon Chio and Andy Chang Wing Chung. Leong, 19,

was crowned Asian Formula Renault Series champion in 2017, and has since competed in Formula 3 at both international and regional level, contesting the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix in 2018 and 2019. Chang, 24, also contested Macao’s Formula 3 blue riband race, entering for three consecutive years from 2014.

Touring car expert Ma Qinghua is one of the country’s best-known names, and will be joined in the Macau Guia Race

by Briton Rob Huff. Huff must complete the mandatory 14-day quarantine period during which he will receive at least two nucleic acid tests, and can only be granted permission to compete if confirmed to be free of infection. Huff will be gunning for a record- breaking tenth win on the Guia Circuit this year. Local driver Rodolfo Ávila, who recently gave MG their first TCR China victory, has helped put Macao on the map across international junior single seater and sportscar competition, and is now making a name for himself at the pinnacle of the national and regional touring racing.

Among the hot prospects to take victory in the Macau GT Cup are winner of the inaugural race in 2008, Darryl O’Young,

who will be at the wheel of the MercedesAMG GT3 which Raffaele Marciello took to victory in the race last year and on the hunt for his fourth Guia Circuit win.

O’Young is joined by the likes of former Formula BMW Asia and Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup champion Marchy Lee, and Audi Sport Asia driver Chen Weian.

The MGPOC has received video messages of support from Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile President Jean Todt, FIM Asia President Stephan Carapiet and WTCR promoter, Francois Ribeiro.

All congratulate Macao on overcoming the challenges to ensure the continuation of the event’s distinguished heritage, with the FIA President voicing his believe that all three FIA world cup status competitions (FIA Formula 3 World Cup, FIA GT World Cup and FIA WTCR) will return to the Guia Circuit in 2021.

As its largest and most prestigious annual sporting event, the Macau SAR has gone to great lengths to stage this year’s Grand Prix. Not only is the event providing a welcome boost to the many local businesses which benefit from the yearly motorsport showcase, but the event is an ideal opportunity to show the world that Macao remains a safe, exciting and unique visitor destination. As a footnote, the first two-time winner of the Macau GP was a Filipino, Arsenio “Dodjie” Laurel, who bagged the crown in 1962 and 1963.

A workhorse for women PICKUP trucks have traditionally been seen as vehicles for men primarily because of their looks, use and purpose as a workhorse. But over the years, the need for a pickup truck has evolved, making it a mobility partner not just for work and utility, but also for personal interests and lifestyles, expanding its appeal to larger audiences.

Once the vehicle of choice for people whose business required heavy towing and loading, pickup trucks like the Ford Ranger have evolved into modern lifestyle vehicles that offer the same comfort and technologies as passenger cars, but with the versatility and toughness to function as a workhorse, business partner, family vehicle, and anything in-between. Work or play, the modern pickup truck has become the ultimate expression of personal independence and empowerment, increasing its appeal with urban families, youth and women.

Ranger for Her With this in mind and recognizing the growing segment of female pickup truck consumers across the region, Ford Philippines brought to life its new campaign ‘Ranger for Her’, which aims to bring its wide pickup portfolio closer to women customers and drivers.

With ‘Ranger for Her’, Ford engaged strong and empowered women to represent the ‘Built Ford Tough’ qualities of the Ford Ranger. Actress and advocate Iza Calzado was chosen to be the face of the ‘Superheroes’ campaign, an advocacy program that positions the Ford Ranger as an enabler of good and meaningful deeds, while beauty queen and entrepreneur Rachel Peters was selected as the face of the ‘Great Driving

Roads’ campaign that puts the Ranger as a partner in driving and reviving local tourism.

Recognizing everyday heroes Early in October, Iza took the Ranger Wildtrak to a Gawad Kalinga community in Dasmarinas, Cavite to recognize the hardworking women who are part of the Kusina ng Kalinga project. com The women community leaders of the project wake up at 3:00am to prepare and cook meals for over 300 individuals on a daily basis. In recognition of their heroic and tireless efforts to feed the community, Iza brought with her 200 sanitation kits and disinfection materials consisting of alcohol products, face masks, face shields, and sanitation wipesonboard the Ranger Wildtrak.

In her message to the community, Iza shares, “I am honored to be standing before you to recognize all the sacrifices you have been doing for your community over the past few months. During this pandemic, the only way to move forward is to help, love, and care for each other. As women, it is our role to nurture those around us because of our strong, tough and resilient nature. The mothers in this community are true frontliners in this regard, as they care for everyone around them everyday.”

Experiencing great driving roads “Life is a journey, not a destination” is a famous quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson that holds true with the Great Driving Roads campaign led by Rachel Peters. In this program, Rachel takes the Ranger Wildtrak to an adventure of a lifetime, showcasing the country’s scenic spots and driving routes and eventually meeting people whose life stories will enrich the road trip experience further. Rachel

Ford embarks on new campaign to broaden Ranger appeal

Rachel Peters

WITH the increasing demand for electrified vehicles and the need to reduce de development time of new models, modular manufacturing is fast becoming the new standard in the automotive industry. Re Recently, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding) announced the launch of its Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) which will become the cornerstone of the Group’s entire electric vehicle strat strategy.

The SEA is the world’s first opensource electric vehicle architecture.It was developed from the ground up to improve the users’ driving experience. It lays the foundation for a three- layered ecosystem around whole vehicles, automotive sys systems, and internet of vehicles. The SEA is the world’s most versatile vehicle archi architecture and the most efficient smart electric vehicle solution. With scientific and technological advances in six major areas, the SEA opens the door to a more intelligent, more convenient drive experience for users around the world.It is the world’s most versatile vehicle architecture, able to accommodate A through E-class vehicles including sedans, SUVs, MPVs, city cars, sports cars, trucks and other future vehicles. At the same time, the SEA architecture also offers the most efficient smart electric vehicle solution, revolutionizing the software development cycle for vehicles and shortening development time by more than 50%.

The SEA was developed from the ground up to bring users a smarter and

more convenient drive experience with continuous innovations in areas of interior space, electric power, smart connectivity, autonomous driving, safety, and performance.

The SEA is an important milestone in Geely’s transformation from being an automobile manufacturer to a mobility technology service provider. Developing the transformative electric vehicle architecture marks one of the biggest technological advances made by Geely in over a decade. Currently, more than 7 brands are developing 16 new models on the new architecture for different market segments. Mr. An Conghui, President of Geely Holding Group, CEO and President of Geely Automobile Group, said: “According to current plans, from 2021, a number of new vehicles based on SEA will be launched one after another. Starting from this year, we will see the rapid development of smart electric vehicles leading to the transformation of Geely.”

Space: Maximizing interior space utilization with full A through E-class segment coverage The SEA can support the development of models with a wheelbase ranging from 1800mm to 3300mm. A vehicle built on the SEA offers larger interior space than competitive models within the same segment. The SEA not only enables the development of vehicles with increased interior space, it also enables brands to better meet the users’ personalized demands by offering greater design freedom.

FASTLANE

3M taps LazMall for products’ sale THE global science company known for its cutting-edge automotive solutions has launched its latest range of auto care products for the Philippines market that will be exclusively sold at the 3M Auto Flagship Store in LazMall.

Through these products, 3M brings the latest innovation and scientific development in the automotive industry straight to the hands of auto enthusiasts to help them economically preserve the aesthetics of their vehicles with professional grade products.

“Many Filipinos are more inclined to prolonging the lifespan of many bigticket items like their vehicles, as a way of optimizing their investments. 3M understands this, and that is why we continue to develop products that allow owners to easily maintain the aesthetics of their vehicles while delivering exceptional results,” shared Martin Del Rosario of 3M Philippines’ Automotive Aftermarket Division.

Del Rosario also added that with the pandemic affecting many lives and businesses, it is the perfect time to bring

products that allow car owners to restore their own vehicles without visiting auto shops during the pandemic— allowing owners not only save time and money, but eases off the worry of contracting the virus along the way.

Simple and effective, 3M’s latest products demonstrate how the company applies science to recapture the excitement and value of one’s vehicles.

Not enough time for a thorough auto aftercare session? With 3MTM Wash & Wax 2-in-1 Formula, car owners can save time, money, and energy by combining washing and waxing in one easy step.

Get that instant shine every single time with 3MTM Spray Wax. This innovative formula enhances the car’s gloss in a snap and acts as barrier for soil and other stains making your next car washes so much easier.

The gentle formula of 3MTM Tire Dressing makes restoring one’s tires as easy as it can be. To achieve that black and shiny satin finish, all you have to do is spray and wipe.

Isuzu PH donates D-MAX to Caritas Manila

Iza Calzado

will star in a two-episode travel video series that will premier on her social media channels and on Ford Philippines’ social media channels in November.

“Traveling during the lockdown is quite difficult, but if you follow safety and health protocols, it is possible. The Ford Ranger is built for so many things and is perfect for adventure-driven women who love to escape the urban jungle. Roads are slowly opening up again and this is exciting news for us all. The opportunity to be immersive and spend quality time in the great outdoors once the pandemic is over is something I’m sure all of us will no longer take for granted,” Rachel shared.

ISUZU Philippines Corporation continues its steadfast support to Caritas Manila, one of the country’s most recognized and longest-running Catholic relief, development, and social service organizations.

In a simple ceremony held last October 29 in the Caritas Manila grounds in Pandacan, IPC officials, led by its president Hajime Koso turned over one unit of Isuzu D-MAX to representatives of Caritas Manila, led by Rev. Fr. Antonio Pascual. Also present during the event was Isuzu Gencars chairman D. Edgard A. Cabangon, whose family has been a constant supporter of the organization.

Apart from the donation of the Isuzu D-MAX, Caritas Manila has also been one of the chosen beneficiaries of IPC’s “Kasama Mo” campaign aimed to help the country stop the spread of the CoViD-19 pandemic. The organization had also received sets of personal protective equipment from IPC’s customers and stakeholders last July 10 and October 1. IPC’s efforts reflect the company’s true spirit of being “Your Responsible Partner”, as it continues to reach out and extend assistance to members of society who need it the most, especially during these challenging times.