Manila Standard - 2021 May 1 - Saturday

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(Story on A4) 6 IN 10 FAMILIES WENT HUNGRY AMID PANDEMIC—DOST SURVEY (Story on A4) This handout photo obtained from the Israeli Behadrei Haredim on April 30, 2021 shows security officials and rescuers gathering around the corpses of victims who died in a stampede overnight during a religious gathering in Meron in northern Israel near the reputed tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a secondcentury Talmudic sage, where mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews flock to mark the Lag BaOmer holiday. The massive stampede at the densely packed Jewish pilgrimage site killed at least 44 people. AFP

$18.-b foreign loans funding PH fight vs.

COVID-19

By Willie Casas, Maricel V. Cruz and Joel E. Zurbano

STAMPEDE KILLS 44 IN ISRAEL EVENT WORLD / B2

GLITCHES MAR NAT'L ID LAUNCH NEWS / A4

PH EASES TRAVEL BAN EXCEPT FOR INDIA ARRIVALS NEWS / A3

VOL. XXXV • NO. 75 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

THE government has secured $18.4 billion in foreign loans to deal with the crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Friday.

“As of April 28, 2021, we have borrowed a total of $18.4 billion from external sources,” Finance Undersecretary Mark Dennis Joven said in an interview with state-run PTV. Of this amount, Joven said, $16.26 billion is for budget support, while $2.14 is for project financing.

“When we say budget support, it is to augment the national budget to spend for all regular programs under the national budget,” he said.

“For project finance, it means we borrow money for a particular project,” he added.

The $16.26-billion budget support loan includes the $6.93 billion from multilateral sources such as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Some $1.32 billion, meanwhile, has come from bilateral sources, including countries such as Japan, Korea and France.

The government has also raised about Next page

‘Health system fragmented’

Duque blames devolution of services for weakened, delayed response to COVID

By Willie Casas

H

EALTH Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday blamed the delays in the country’s COVID-19 response on the fragmentation of the health system as a result of the Local Government Code, which has devolved health services to local government units.

“I would say that it has been a weak- some of the delays in the response.” ness,” Duque said in an interview on the “Before the Local Government Code, ANC news channel. “The fragmentation the health system was like the military. of the health system has contributed to Whatever the secretary of Health ordered,

they would follow all the way down the line,” he said in Filipino.

Duque said it was pointless to compare the Philippine government’s COVID-19 response to other countries because its health system was so fragmented.

Duque said comparing COVID-19 responses will just bring frustration as there will always be countries that are doing better or worse than the Philippines.

The Palace has repeatedly defended its COVID-19 response as well as Duque, who has been criticized for responding slowly to the pandemic.

At the same time, Duque warned that there was a big possibility that the Philippines would suffer the same fate as India if minimum health protocols are not followed and if the pandemic response is not intensified.

Situations in other countries are lessons that the Philippines must learn from as the COVID-19 problem is very dynamic, he said.

Duque said the success of the COVID-19 response depends on each Filipino, and appealed for solidarity and cooperation in complying with standard health protocols.

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COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM APRIL 30)

1,037,460 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

8,748 73,908 NEW

ACTIVE

17,234

89

DEATHS

‘Word war’ over WPS still raging

NEW

946,318 4,143 RECOVERIES NEW

10,000 cops to keep May 1 crowd in check

By Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta RETIRED Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio on Friday urged Filipinos to “shout out” to President Rodrigo Duterte to wake him from his slumber and prod him to correct the narrative that China is in possession of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea. “Shout out to President Duterte that China is not in possession of the West Philippine Sea. Shout out loud so that President Duterte will wake up from his sleep under the kulambo (mosquito net) and admit to the nation the truth — that China is not in possession of the West Philippine Sea,” Carpio said in an online

By Vito Barcelo, Macon Ramos-Araneta, Rio N. Araja and Maricel V. Cruz BAYANIHAN AT SEA.

Delivering their version of community pantry at sea, Coastguards use a rubber boat loaded with fresh vegetables, bags of rice, canned goods and other essential supplies to bring aid to 100 fishermen-residents of two coastal barangays in Bislig City, Surigao del Sur on April 30, 2021.

PCC photo

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THE National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) will deploy about 10,000 cops to secure the Labor Day celebration – themed “Mayo Uno sa Bagong Panahon: Manggagawa at Mamamayan Babangon, Susulong” -- in the metropolis today (May 1).

NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. said Friday they had activated the Reactionary Standby Support Force for deployment to augment local police Next page

Estrada’s cure FDA pries into ‘ivermectin medics’ for COVID-19 By Willie Casas, Rio N. Araja and Joel E. Zurbano pushed, probed

By Willie Casas THE anti-inflammatory drug leronlimab is now being pushed by a Filipino doctor as a possible treatment for seriously ill COVID-19 patients.

In an interview with ANC, Dr. Randy Nicolas, associate clinical professor for surgery at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital, said the investigational drug was used to treat Next page

DOCTORS who issued token prescriptions for ivermectin should be made accountable for any adverse effect, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III warned Friday, a day after lawmakers publicly distributed the drug.

The warning was raised as the Food and Drug Administration began investigating reports that prescriptions for ivermectin were written on a sheet of paper and not on a prescription pad during the distribution of the anti-parasitic drug in Quezon City on Thursday.

“Our regulatory enforcement unit is

looking into the situation,” FDA chief Eric Domingo told GMA News Online in a text message on Friday.

Duque said that while doctors could prescribe it for human use against the COVID-19 infection, they have to follow the protocol for which the compassionate permit was issued.

Taking the drug with prescriptions lacking details as prescribed by law is another story.

“The law is clear. All prescriptions must contain the name of the prescriber, office address, professional registration number…” Duque said during an ANC's Headstart interview.

“Moving forward, the way to deal

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PHARMA PANTRY. A pharmacist hands out free face masks, alcohol bottles and vitamins to people queuing up at a community pharmacy-pantry along Laon-Laan Street in Sampaloc, Manila on Friday, April 30, 2021. The phenomenal growth of community pantry that began in Maginhawa Street, Quezon City has given rise to over 700 sites and variations ranging from food packs to vegetables to animal pantries but the underlying factor remains— charity or bayanihan amid the raging virus pandemic. Norman Cruz

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News

SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Belmonte calls for job creation

‘Word...

From A1

Belmonte noted that 4.2 million Filipinos are now unemployed nationwide, with 1 million workers losing their jobs in the NCR Plus bubble alone.

“It is therefore imperative to further open up the economy to address the growing hunger among our people. But this has to go hand-in-hand with keep-

ing our people healthy and defeating the surge in COVID infections,” he said.

Belmonte backed the policy statement of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases that priority should now be given to the mass vaccination of all private and public sector frontline em-

ployees and workers.

“While we welcome the expansion by the IATF of the A1 vaccination priority listing to now include more workers, including our OFWs and seafarers, we believe that prioritizing all workers for mass vaccination is the formula to speed up efforts to defeat the current surge and simultaneously revive the economy,” he said.

“For far too long, the health versus economy priorities were treated as an 'either' and 'or' trade-off. Other countries have shown that you can knock down two birds with one stone, that there need not be a trade-off. The IATF needs to consider this approach if we are to strike

‘Health...

As a precaution, the Philippines has imposed a travel ban on travelers from India.

The ban, which covers Filipinos in India, started at 12:01 a.m. on April 29, 2021 and will last until May 14.

According to the DOH, the variant from India was first detected in October 2020.

However, experts have said the surge in India was largely driven by a new coronavirus variant described as a “double mutant” due to its mutations.

The DOH on Friday logged 8,748 new COVID-19 cases, bringing total infections to 1,037,460 since the pandemic began.

This is the 12th straight day that fresh infections were under 10,000, data showed. New cases in early April went to as high as 15,000— a record high since the pandemic hit the Philippines in 2020.

According to the DOH, this pushed the active cases in the country to 73,908.

Of these, 95.1 percent were mild, 1.7 percent were asymptomatic, 1 percent were in critical condition, 1.3 percent were severe, and 0.87 percent were moderate.

The DOH also reported 89 new fatalities, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 17,234.

Meanwhile, 4,143 more patients have recovered from the illness, bringing the total number of recoveries to 946,318.

The DOH said 64 percent of the country’s intensive care unit beds were in use while 43 percent of the mechanical ventilators were occupied.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), 71 percent of the ICU beds were being utilized by patients while 55 percent of the mechanical ventilators were in use.

Duque said he was hoping that Metro Manila can return to a more relaxed general community quarantine (GCQ) after two weeks if transmission of the coronavirus goes down.

“That’s why we have to really monitor very closely how the cases are trending,” Duque said.

The modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in the “NCR Plus” covering Metro Manila, Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Rizal was extended until May 14.

Earlier, NCR Plus was placed under a two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from March 29 until April 11.

This was later downgraded to an MECQ from April 12 to April 30.

“For NCR, there is incontrovertible evidence to show [infections are] going down,” Duque said.

“But whether this is going to be sustained is another thing, that’s why the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) has really egged the LGUs to really intensify the prevention, early detection, isolation, treatment measures or interventions,” Duque said.

“That was part of the discussions and instructions that whatever you have reserved for the second dose, you may use it as a first dose for the other constituents because we will be providing you with additional vaccines,” she told the mayors at the online forum.

“They can use those [doses] while waiting for the supplies that we will give them for replenishment of their stocks,” she said in Filipino.

Several vaccination sites in Metro Manila earlier had to pause operations due to dwindling vaccine supplies.

Mayors said the number of vaccine registrants in their cities had exceeded the number of doses available.

On Thursday, Sinovac completed the delivery of all 1.5 million doses purchased by the Philippine government for April.

Vergeire said the distribution of the newly delivered doses is ongoing.

A similar push to use all doses as the first jab was approved by President Rodrigo Duterte for 525,600 AstraZeneca doses last month.

The DOH expressed hope that the next AstraZeneca delivery, which will be used as the second dose on those who have already received their first, will arrive before the end of May as the schedule re-

mains uncertain.

The Philippines is still far from its target of vaccinating 70 million people this year.

The country has inoculated around 1.5 million people as of April 27.

In other developments: • The ambassador to Russia said the first batch of government-procured Sputnik V vaccines has been shipped from Moscow and should be arriving in Manila on May 1. Ambassador Carlos Sorreta said a total of 15,000 doses were sent from Russia on April 29, with "more to come" in the next weeks and months.

The delivery was supposed to arrive last April 28 but was postponed due to a lack of direct flight from Moscow to Manila.

The cold storage requirements also made it hard to transport the Russian vaccines since they must be stored with a temperature not exceeding -18 degrees Celsius.

• Quezon City Rep. Precious Hipolito Castelo urged the DOH to allow drivethru vaccination to speed up inoculation against COVID-19. Castelo made the appeal in a resolution in view of the expected arrival of millions of doses of vaccines in the next two months. Castelo, a deputy majority leader, said the alarming increase in Covid-19 cases calls for an aggressive

vaccination drive once more vaccines are available. “Having drive-thru vaccination sites will encourage those who are hesitant to go to existing congested inoculation centers due to fear of contracting the virus from other vaccinees or vaccinators.

It will also ease overcrowding and the problem of parking in these centers,” she said.

• Philippine Airlines has assured the public it will continue assisting the government in transporting COVID-19 vaccine shipments to various provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao. On Friday, PAL flight PR-1845 departed the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to deliver 56,400 Sinovac vaccine doses to Mactan Cebu International Airport. "In line with its continuing partnership with the Philippine government, flag carrier Philippine Airlines continues its domestic vaccine transport," said PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna. She said "23,480 vaccine doses will be airlifted to BacolodFriday and on May 1, more vaccines will be flown to Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Busuanga." Villaluna said PAL has already shipped a total of 2.4 million vaccine doses from Beijing to Manila and close to 600,000 vaccine doses from Manila to various parts of the Philippines from March 2021 to the present.

test pertains to the severity of the crisis.

If this was not this bad, if the economic situation was not this severe, maybe there would be other forms of protests but considering the state of [the country] like the lack of response, the growing number of people lining up everyday [at community pantries], the lack of government aid all these are factors which are considered of the holding of a physical protest,” Reyes told ABS-CBN News in an interview.

Danao noted that marshals would be assigned to ensure that participants will follow health protocols and physical distancing.

In a separate interview, Lt. Gen. Joselito Vera Cruz, Philippine National Police deputy chief for operations and commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, said police officials had been holding a staff conference on various matters, including security preparations, for Saturday's Labor Day observance.

Vera Cruz said mass gatherings remained prohibited under the guidelines of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) that is in effect in Metro Manila, the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Abra, Quirino, Ifugao, and the city of Santiago in Isabela from May 1 to 14.

In related developments, to maintain peace and order during the observance of Labor Day, the Quezon City Police District is deploying more police officers and traffic enforcers.

Brig. Gen. Antonio Yarra, QCPD chief, has ordered the deployment of 1,758 police personnel in several areas throughout the city to secure possible areas where there may be threats and civil disturbances, and to implement health and safety protocols, too.

"We will deploy additional police personnel to maintain peace and order in our city. We would also like to ask our residents to stay at home so we can avoid the spread of COVID-19," he said.

The city’s police district and QC Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office are also prepared to give medical and rescue assistance in an event of earthquake, fire and other natural and manmade disasters.

FDA...

mectin distribution, said Duque's issue was "petty."

“I cannot fully comprehend while in the middle of this war where 16,000 people are already dead and hundreds of thousands are sick, your highest ranking general is looking at prescriptions instead of pro- actively supporting a winning strategy that may win to save the lives of our people and emancipate us from this economic debacle," the lawmaker said.

"The issue is petty. You have four known doctors giving prescriptions to patients who collect ivermectin from a nearby table. The patients submitted their records beforehand and are recorded," he added.

Defensor, who is not a doctor, said he was confident ivermectin will eventually be proven effective against COVID-19.

Defensor and Sagip Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta distributed capsules of ivermectin to residents in Quezon City despite warnings from various health authorities and medical groups.

The FDA has so far granted five hospitals access to ivermectin as an investigational drug to treat COVID-19.

forum hosted by the Philippine Bar Association.

The retired magistrate said it is “grossly incorrect” for the President to repeatedly say that China is in possession of WPS. He noted that Duterte made these remarks in November 2018, during the State of the Nation Addresses in 2019 and 2020, and again in April this year.

Carpio said China is in possession of only eight geologic features in the Spratlys plus Scarborough Shoal, which constitute less than 7 percent of the total maritime area in the West Philippine Sea. He also noted that all the memberstates of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agree with the 2016 arbitral award in favor of the Philippines, and all outside naval powers support it. China is the only state that opposes the award, he said.

At the Senate, at least 15 senators signed a resolution condemning the continued presence of Chinese militia vessels in the country's exclusive economic zones.

On Friday, Senator Manny Pacquiao said he chose not to sign the resolution filed by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon as he already sent a letter to the Chinese embassy for the immediate removal of its vessels.

Pacquiao said he sent his letter to Chinese ambassador Huang Xilian on April 10, or about two weeks before the Drilon-led resolution made the rounds at the Senate.

“The continuing presence of Chinese ships at the said reef, which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, only creates tension and harbors divisiveness in our region and evidently destabilizing to the international rule of law. In line with this, we reiterate our call to your government to promptly withdraw these vessels from our territory. We demand nothing less than for your country to respect our sovereignty,” Pacquiao said in his letter.

On Wednesday, the President blamed Carpio and former Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario for the loss of Scarborough Shoal to China.

“If you’re bright, why did we lose the West Philippine Sea?” Duterte said.

Carpio lashed back at Duterte, saying he did nothing when China seized Sandy Cay from the Philippines in 2017.

Sandy Cay is just two nautical miles from Pagasa, the largest island in the Spratlys.

“China’s seizure of Sandy Cay has resulted in the loss of one-third of our territorial sea in Pagasa, a loss of a maritime area three times larger than the land area of Quezon City. Still President Duterte has declared ‘I simply love President Xi Jinping,’” Carpio said in a statement.

Carpio, who has been pressing the government to strongly assert the country’s sovereignty over disputed maritime territories in the West Philippine Sea, also clarified that in late 2012 when China seized Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines, he was in the Supreme Court.

He also reminded Duterte it was former President Benigno Aquino III who won the arbitral award only for Duterte to set it aside.

In his speech during the forum, Carpio considered Duterte as one of two challenges to the enforcement of the arbitral award, the other being China.

Carpio enumerated Duterte’s so-called “self-inflicted blows” that are detrimental for the enforcement of the arbitral award.

Among them, Carpio said, are Duterte’s statement shortly after taking office setting aside the arbitral award to secure $22 billion in loans and investments from China, of which less than 5 percent has so far materialized; the President's statement in September 2016 that the Philippine Navy will patrol only territorial seas, not the Philippines’ EEZ; the Chief Executive's decision in July 2019 to enter into a verbal fishing agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which Carpio said is a derogation of the exclusive sovereign right of Filipinos to fish in the West Philippine Sea; and Duterte's July 2019 State of the Nation Address where he admitted to being “inutile” or useless in defending the West Philippine Sea.

Leronlimab, which is being investigated for use in the treatment of coronavirus, is developed by US-based biotech company CytoDyn. The humanized monoclonal antibody , which was originally designed to treat HIV, has so far been studied in 11 clinical trials for HIV infection.

The former President and ex-mayor of Manila was discharged from the hospital on Monday after nearly a one-month fight against COVID-19.

"They had almost a thousand patients on this drug for five years with zero adverse effects. The safety record of this drug is absolutely astounding," Nicolas said.

For COVID-19 treatment, he said leronlimab targets the cytokine called CCR5 receptor found on T lymphocytes of the human immune system.

Nicolas explained that COVID-19 was a 2-phase disease - virus phase and immune phase.

"The virus phase is the constitutional symptom. The fever, cough, loss of taste and smell, and body aches. This is where we need to actively treat the patients before they go into the second stage," Nicolas said.

"The second stage is the stage that kills. This is the immune stage. The initiator of the immune phase is actually our own immune system, meaning to say our immune system forgets about the virus and starts attacking our own cells...Leronlimab is an antibody that blocks the cytokine that initiates the immune response. The immune phase is stopped by this drug,” he said.

Nicolas said it was Estrada's team of doctors who suggested the use of leronlimab, which came from the US. "When I look at the science, I was thoroughly convinced that leronlimab is truly the drug of choice for severe, critical COVID," he said.

A

S THE country marks Labor Day today amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the government should ensure existing jobs are preserved and new employment is created, former Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said in a statement yesterday.

From A1

“At the end of the day, the war against COVID is really on the shoulders of every person. So it cannot just be the work of the national government, local government, [or] private sector groups,” he said.

“But we’re not helpless. We are not without the power to fight this. Simple interventions. Face masks, face shields, physical distancing, proper ventilation, avoidance of people in super-spreader events,” Duque said.

India on Thursday recorded 3,645 COVID-19 deaths, a new record for the country, according to health ministry data.

India is experiencing a relentless wave of infections, with almost 380,000 registered in the last 24 hours, breaking another world record.

This month alone the country has added over 6 million new cases.

$18.-b...

From A1

$8 billion from the sale of foreign currency-denominated bonds.

He said that the payment period for the COVD-19-related foreign loans go “beyond a decade or two.”

Joven said that most of the budgetary support loans have been disbursed since last year to augment the government’s budget to respond to the pandemic.

He said the foreign loans were necessary as tax revenues have declined as a result of the economic slowdown brought about by strict lockdowns in response to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) on Friday advised local governments units (LGUs) in Metro Manila to use their reserved stocks of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine as the first dose while awaiting supply replenishments from the national government.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Metro Manila mayors, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the vaccine cluster with Secretary Carlito Galvez had agreed to keep inoculations continuous.

10,000...

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response in anticipation of simultaneous mass actions of various labor organizations.

He said they had placed the Civil Disturbance Management Team on standby.

Labor Day celebrations in the country are usually marked with mass actions and protests by labor organizations and progressive groups calling for better working conditions and benefits for workers.

The labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno is expected to launch a community pantry dubbed as “Tulong Obrero” in Manila on Saturday, aimed at helping workers affected by the pandemic.

"We are hoping that the commemoration of the 2021 Labor Day in Metro Manila would be quiet, peaceful, and safe. We are hoping for an orderly and organized celebration that complies with health standards to stem the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019, " Danao said in a phone interview.

Aside from enforcing security and health protocols, the NCRPO will also conduct an online job fair.

“Through our online job fair, we are hoping that our people would find jobs in government agencies that have responded and supported the NCRPO’s project. We are also giving the youth an opportunity to find employment instead of doing useless things,” he added.

Workers' groups will conduct a protest at Liwasang Bonifacio to highlight what they said was the need for government aid and immediate response to arrest the rise of coronavirus disease cases in the country.

Kilusang Mayo Uno Chairperson Bong Labog told ABS-CBN News that around 5,000 participants from the metro and other provinces are expected to join the protests.

Meanwhile, BAYAN secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. said the lack of action from the national government had pushed them to bring their action back to the streets.

“The significance of the [physical] pro-

From A1

with this immediately is that the patients who received it can call up FDA (Food and Drug Administration) anytime for adverse reaction if any, and further advise. The doctor who prescribed it will be held accountable in accordance with our statutes. The important thing is the doctor must be made accountable,” Duque said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Duque said the FDA had issued compassionate special permits to hospitals that have applied for it.

“There are conditions. There is an enumeration of what has to be done— patients name, everything, doses, side effects, positive effects. Number 2, FDA also authorized the compounding of the ivermectin by authorized pharmacies and that there has to be a doctor's prescription. If all these conditions have been met I don’t think there’s anything illegal about the actions,” said Duque.

Meanwhile, Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor, who led the iver-

Estrada’s...

From A1

former President Joseph Estrada after contracting COVID-19.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved Leronlimab for treatment of COVID-19 patients.

However, the agency has given two doctors compassionate special permits to use the drug against the respiratory illness.

"The biggest improvement was actually his respiration. His demand for oxygen was less. He was able to get off the ventilator. He continued to improve," Nicolas said.

"And after the second dose when he was admitted to the ICU, he again showed the same pattern of improvement, approximately 35 to 52 hours after the second dose. That's what we see in our patients as well," he said.

the right balance between keeping infection levels manageable while simultaneously reviving the economy.”

“The logic is simple: It is the worker in the office, factory, mall, or plantation and in all of the thousands of micro, small and medium enterprises, who are truly the most exposed daily to possible COVID infection. And yet all these workers are the ones we rely on to run the economy, man the machines, and physically manufacture vital goods and provide needed services,” Belmonte added.

DOH data will show that the majority of those infected with COVID are of working age, he said.

News Petron leads cooking gas price cut by P34.10/tank

MODULAR HOSPITAL.

Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar inspects the new modular hospital for hemodialysis patients at the National Kidney Transplant Institute Compound in Quezon City on April 30, 2120. Also present during the project’s final inspection in preparation for turnover this first week are DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain and Dr. Rose Marie Liquete of NKTI.

By Alena Mae S. Flores PETRON Corp. will implement a P3.20 per kilo rollback (VATinclusive) or a total of P34.10 for an 11-kilo tank of liquefied petroleum gas or LPG effective 12:01 am, May 1.

“AutoLPG prices will likewise decrease by P1.80 per liter at the same time. These reflect the international contract price of LPG for the month of May,” Petron said in its advisory.

The oil firms also rolled back the price of LPG or cooking gas by P3.30 per kilo in April. LPG prices are adjusted once a month.

On April 27, the oil firms increased the price of kerosene by P0.65 per liter, P0.45 per liter for gasoline and P0.35 per liter for gasoline to reflect the movement of prices in the world oil market.

Oil companies adjust pump prices every Tuesday. This is the second consecutive week of oil price hike.

On April 20, the oil firms raised the price of gasoline by P0.60 per liter, diesel by P0.70 per liter and kerosene by P0.85 per liter.

These resulted to the year-to-date adjustments to stand at total net increase of P7.15 per liter for gasoline, P5.35 per liter for diesel and P4.30 per liter for kerosene.

World oil prices went up last week due to the weaking of the dollar and the revised higher global demand forecast from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the US International Energy Agency.

SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021

PH relaxes travel ban; curbs on India remain

By Vito Barcelo

T

HE Philippines may allow the entry of foreign nationals starting May 1, 2021 except for those coming from India or with a history of travel to India, Malacanang said Friday.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque clarified that travelers coming from India—of Filipino citizenship or otherwise—will be denied entry until May 14.

Roque said strict guidelines would still be followed after the Inter-Agency

Task Force adopted Resolution 113, which provides that foreign nationals allowed under previous IATF resolutions can enter the country provided they should have the following conditions:, They must have a valid and existing visa, except for those under Balikbayan Program; they must have pre-booked accommodation for at least seven nights in an accredited quarantine hotel or facility; they must be subject to COVID-19 testing on the sixth day of arrival; they are subject to the maximum capacity of inbound passengers (1,500 per day) at the port and the date of entry.

The Philippines has barred the entry of travelers from India starting April 29 to May 14 amid the surge of COVID-19 cases in the South Asian nation due to a

double-mutant variant.

Meanwhile, the IATF-EID on Thursday allowed restaurants, eateries and other food preparation establishments to resume their indoor dine-in services in areas under MECQ at an initial 10-percent seating capacity to enable Filipinos cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The resumption of operations of beauty salons, beauty parlors, barbershops and nail spas at an initial 30 percent venue in MECQ zones has also been allowed, Roque said.

Roque said these establishments must comply with minimum health standards since the national and local government and the private sector have always been working together to ensure the safety of the public.

Taal eruption victims in Batangas assured of P30-m recovery grant

By Rio N. Araja THE Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development is giving the local government of Batangas a P30-million grant for families affected by the Taal Volcano eruption in January 2020.

Housing czar Eduardo del Rosario recently led the Taal rehabilitation and recovery program to reaffirm the govern-

ment’s commitment to assist Batanguenos recover from last year’s eruption.

He said the P30-million grant shall be distributed to 15 cities and municipalities severely affected by the eruption, and that the assistance would be used to identify and acquire suitable and sustainable resettlement sites for the affected families.

The endowment is intended to estab-

lish safer and more resilient resettlement communities to areas impacted by last year’s calamity.

“The budget is available anytime, ready for tapping once you have satisfied the processes,” Del Rosario said.

He cited the need for the establishment of safer and sustainable relocation sites in Batangas to keep away people from harm.

RETURNEES. San Jose del Monte City Mayor Arturo Robes (right) holds propaganda materials seized from members of Kadamay and Bayan Muna groups who have withdrawn their support from the CPP-NPA and pledged their allegiance to the government. Around 100 of them took their oath of allegiance before Robes and other government officials during oathtaking ceremony at the SJMD covered court. Lino Santos

Villar backs urban farming to feed people, needs of community pantries

By Macon Ramos-Araneta COMMUNITY gardens can sustain neighborhood and complement communtiy pantries, according to Senator Cynthia Villar.

The chairperson of the Senate Agriculture and Food committee said gardens are a more sustainable and cost-efficient way of providing daily supply of food or substance to community members, especially in poor neighborhoods.

“They only need vegetable seeds, seedlings of fruit-bearing trees, organic fertilizers and a small parcel of lot from a backyard or open spaces of subdivisions in a public place which some LGUs can even allocate for them,” Villar said.

The senator has been encouraging the public to engage in urban farming or vegetable gardening.

She has been distributing vegetable seeds and organic fertilizers, initially in her home

city of Las Pinas, and now all over the country.

Through Villar SIPAG, the Nacionalista senator also gives for free organic fertilizer to gardeners and farmers.

The fertilizers were made from kitchen and garden wastes collected from Las Pinas household and brought to composting facilities in the city.

Because of the significant role of community gardens especially during this pandemic, Villar renewed her call for people to grow their own food in their own backyard or in a community garden.

These vegetables grown in the comfort of their homes, can also complement the now popular community pantries which sprouted across the country. `Villar also authored and filed Senate Bill No. 141, which sought to institutionalize urban agriculture in the country to meet food sufficiency targets and address hunger.

“The ball is now in your hands to identify and acquire safe relocation sites,” he noted.

The Batangas local government recipients to receive P2 million each are Lipa City, Tanauan, Agoncillo, Alitagtag, Balete, Cuenca, Laurel, Lemery, Mataas na Kahoy, Malvar, San Jose, San Nicolas, Sta. Teresita, Talisay and Taal.

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IN BRIEF PhilHealth hastens hospitals payment

THE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation recently announced the implementation of the Debit-Credit Payment Method to speed up payments to its partner-hospitals.

Under DCPM, PhilHealth shall facilitate the settlement of accounts by paying 60% of the total amount of applicable HCF receivables minus withholding tax of 2%, while the remaining 40% (minus 2% withholding tax) of the total amount of good claims shall be paid following compliance to existing claims processing requirements and procedures, and full reconciliation of the 60% initially paid to the HCF. Lawyer Dante A. Gierran, PhilHealth President and CEO, said that, “The idea behind this [DCPM] is to immediately pay 60% of the total P7.01 billion of hospital claims in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus area.”

Reimbursements through the DCPM only apply to in-process claims filed from March 8, 2020 to April 7, 2021.

However, claims that were returned to hospitals, denied, and under further investigation shall not be paid under the DCPM. Claims approved for payment

by April 7, 2021 were excluded from the payment, he said.

The accelerated payment method will afford hospitals sufficient cash flow to continue providing the sick with quality health care during the pandemic, Philhealth said. In view of this, hospital funds are augmented to enable them to increase their capacity in managing more COVID-19 patients.

All PhilHealth-accredited hospitals in the NCR Plus bubble (NCR, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal) including Pampanga and Batangas treating COVID-19 patients may avail themselves of this payment method.

Caloocan dad sets ‘Tiktok’ challenge

MILLENNIAL Councilor Orvince Howard A. Hernandez of Caloocan City has launched a Tiktok challenge for mothers and grandmothers to celebrate Mother’s Day on May 9.

Dubbed as ‘Tiktoker si Mader,’ Hernandez announced that 10 winners will selected and will receive P5,000 each, flowers, and plaques of recognition.

Consolation prizes await those who will not be selected.

Mothers and even grandmothers are encouraged to join the Tiktok challenge, Hernandez said. Contestants together with their daughters may send in their entries consisting of 2-3 minute dance video through FB page of Vince Hernandez starting on May 2, 2021.

Deadline for submission of entries is on May 7. Winners will be made known on May 9, Mother’s Day. Criteria for judging include 50 percent for social media engagement, 20 percent for concept and creativity, and 30 percent for overall impact.

This is may way of paying tribute to all mothers, said Hernandez. Jun David

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News

SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021

PROACTIVE EFFORT. Members of the Bambang Masangkay Abad Santos Volunteer Fire Brigade conduct misting operations as part of efforts to disinfect the streets of Quiapo, Manila amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Norman Cruz

Courts in areas under MECQ to stay closed

By Rey E. Requejo THE Supreme Court on Friday said all courts in Metro Manila and in other areas under modified enhanced community quarantine will continue to be physically closed until May 14.

In a circular, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo said the physical closure order also covered all courts in the provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, Abra and Quirino, and Santiago City in Isabela.

“All physically closed courts and judicial offices under ECQ and MECQ may be reached through their respective hotlines and email addresses posted in the Supreme Court website – www.sc.judiciary.gov.ph,” he said.

“The time for filing of pleadings and motions during this period in these areas (ECQ and MECQ) is suspended and shall resume after seven calendar days counted from the first day of the physical reopening of the relevant court,” he added.

Justices and judges in the physically closed courts were directed to maximize the use of video conferencing “so as not to delay the trial of cases and court processes.”

On the other hand, courts and their judicial offices in areas under general community quarantine and those under modified GCQ should be physically open with a workforce of at least 25 percent, Gesmundo said.

AMID THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Gov’t survey: 6 in 10 families went hungry

By Vito Barcelo

S

IX in 10 families have suffered from moderate to severe food insecurity amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey of the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute showed.

In its rapid nutrition assessment survey conducted from November 3 to December 3 last year, DOST-FNRI said 62.1 percent of Filipino families have suffered from having little to nothing to eat amid the health crisis.

At least 71.8 percent of the respondents were forced to borrow money just to be able to buy food while 66.3 percent asked for food from their relatives,

neighbors and friends.

Some 21.1 percent of the respondents said they had to cut their food intake to be able to feed their children.

The survey showed that among the causes of food insecurity are lack of money (22.1 percent), limited public transportation (21.6 percent), lost of livelihood (19.5 percent), and lack of access to adequate food (10.8 percent).

Malacañang, for its part, said the administration is doing everything to address hunger amid the pandemic even as it acknowledged that more needs to be done.

“We are doing everything we can to address hunger amid the pandemic but we know that we need to do more,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.

The Palace official said that aside from cash aid and distribution of food packs for areas under localized lockdown, the government will continue to find ways to do more.

“We recognize that the absence of jobs will result in hunger, that is why extending these lockdown restrictions is a very tough decision to make,” Roque added.

By Maricel V. Cruz HOUSE Majority Leader Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Tingog partylist Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez on Friday hailed the launching of Malasakit Centers at the Leyte Provincial Hospital and Schistosomiasis Research Hospital in Palo, Leyte.

The Romualdez couple credited the opening of the Malasakit Center to the hard work and dedication of the Duterte administration and Congress leaders to improve the quality of the healthcare system in the countryside.

“As principal authors of Republic Act No. 11463 or the Malasakit Center Act, we congratulate President Duterte and Sen. Bong Go on the continued launching of Malasakit Centers, this time in Palo, Leyte. Definitely this ‘malasakit’ (compassionate) initiative is a huge boost to the health needs of our constituents. The growth of Malasakit Centers is impressive,” the Romualdez couple said.

Go graced the opening of two Malasakit Centers Friday afternoon.

“It rolls out the red carpet for the establishment of a one-stop shop across the country where indigent patients will have wider access to quality medical and primary health care services that would complement the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) program,” the Romualdezes said.

According to the Majority Leader, the law will “reduce, if not eliminate, out-of-pocket expenditures of poor patients and ensure that its benefits reach the grassroots.”

Rep. Yedda, for her part, said patients at the hospitals with Malasakit Center will enjoy easy and free access to financial assistance.

“The Malasakit Center exemplified government’s efforts in making the medical services, especially to the poorest of the poor responsive to their needs,” the Romualdez couple added.

Meanwhile, the lawmakers also thanked Go for providing assistance to the communities affected by Typhoon Bising in Northern Samar.

Pampanga mayors seek stricter MGCQ

By Jess Malabanan

PGH eyes 3 pandemic ready sites

By Willie Casas

THE University of the PhilippinesPhilippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) is planning to construct two to three buildings that are “pandemic-ready,” PGH director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi said.

“Currently, the concern of course is this pandemic and we looked at our masterplan and we are designing everything, all the new buildings, maybe two or three buildings, in the next five years, all of them to be pandemic-ready,” Legaspi said in a Senate hearing Thursday.

Legaspi said these buildings will “close its doors” to other patients and these will be used exclusively for diseases that cause pandemics such as COVID-19 or measles.

Legaspi added the UP-PGH is in the process of establishing the Institute for Emerging Infectious Disease and Responses.

It is likewise finishing the construction of its isolation complex with 44 beds.

“I think the combination of all of these would allow us to educate more trainees, students, and specialists as well. And we are hoping that we are able to do this by expanding our capability,” Legaspi said.

The PGH will need the government’s support in constructing these facilities even as it explores other modality to fund these projects such as through Public-Private Partnerships, he said.

House leaders hail launching of Malasakit Centers in Leyte

LONG HAIRED NO MORE. Customers wait for their turn to have a haircut in Dasmariñas, Cavite. Barber shops and beauty salons are now allowed to operate at 30 percent capacity in areas under modified enhanced community quarantine. JR Josue

Technical glitches mar opening of National ID online registration THE first day of the online registration for the National ID was marred by “technical difficulties” as over 40,000 requests swamped the website of the Philippine Statistics Authority within the first minutes of the launch.

“We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the downtime of the pilot launch of the PhilSys online Step 1 Registration website earlier today. This caused delays in the sending of the one time passwords (OTPs) necessary to proceed with the registration,” the PSA said in a statement.

“We will provide updates as soon as the website is up and running. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused,” it added.

The online system will collect the demographic information of applicants for the National ID. These include the name, gender, birthplace and birth date, blood type, address, citizenship, marital status, mobile phone number, and email address of targeted registrants.

Step 2, on the other hand, entails the capture of biometric information such as iris scan, fingerprints, and photograph at the PhilSys registration centers.

The last step is the issuance of the PhilSys number and the distribution of the physical ID. President Rodrigo Duterte signed National ID law in 2018 to harmonize and integrate government IDs.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The Pampanga Mayors’ League on Friday sought the extension of the household lockdown from May 1 to 15, citing the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in this capital town and nearby municipalities.

In a resolution, the league asked the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Diseases, headed by Gov. Dennis Pineda, for a stricter Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ).

Pineda said the mayors were alarmed by the sudden spike of coronavirus-related deaths as hospital utilization reached critical level.

The governor said there was a need to continue implementing stringent measures and health protocols to prevent a further surge in cases and to ease the critical level of the health care system in the province.

In the City of San Fernando, 86 new active COVID-19 cases brought to 1,047 the total number of residents who contracted the disease as of April 29.

Mayor Edwin Santiago reiterated his call for residents to practice minimum health protocols and to stay at home as much as possible.

Opinion Presidential rants DISCLOSURE: Sometime last year, I stopped waiting up for President Rodrigo Duterte’s late night addresses because he does not respect people’s time as he goes public at a time when people are supposed to be already asleep. He also mostly uses the platform to further vilify his perceived political enemies. Most importantly, there was nothing major from him that I cannot get elsewhere. His “addresses” left me sleepless and stressed out, so I stopped.

In truth, until the very last one, he was not addressing the Filipino people. Instead, what he does can be considered as “presidential rants.”

Filipinos are waking up to the reality that this administration is all bark while the country suffers.

Journalist Joseph Morong comes out with almost-transcriptions of Duterte’s words and makes these public. These are what I read to be updated complete with the flavor of the president’s acid tongue.

Over the past week, most local government units (LGUs) announced that they had run out of vaccines and thus, their inoculation program stopped; the number of COVID-19 cases breached the one million rank; the scheduled delivery of the Russian vaccine Sputnik was cancelled due to the absence of direct flights from Russia to Manila and lack of storage facilities; Chinese ships continued to occupy our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS); and, thousands of hungry Filipinos lined up to benefit from privately-initiated community pantries that brought the issue of hunger to the fore.

Duterte partially addressed these issues during his last public appearance with his key IATF leaders. However, most of what he said did not sit well with many Filipinos. Social media were again flooded by anti-Duterte criticisms.

On the COVID-19 vaccination program, according to @HerdimmunityPH, as of this week, of the target 70 million Filipinos, 1.41 percent have so far received their first dose, and 0.22 percent have been fully vaccinated.

If this does significantly improve, the country will attain herd immunity in December, 2029 or 8.6 years from now.

Per Morong’s account, Duterte said that the rise in COVID-19 cases is a never ending story until Filipinos are vaccinated. For his part, Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. said that steady vaccine supply is expected by June and once 3.3 million doses are available, the government can vaccinate 120,000 a day. He said that the target is to be able to vaccinate 500,000 per day. They plan to finish vaccinating all health care workers, senior citizens, and those with co-morbidities (A1 to A3) by June. Also by June, Galvez expects to start the vaccination of frontline economic workers

Elizabeth

Sustainable development EVERYMAN

By Melandrew Velasco IT IS now over a year since economic activity in the country slowed down because of the pandemic.

Many companies have adopted the waitand-see attitude, putting investments on hold.

But not San Miguel Corporation, one of the country’s top corporations. It is ramping up its investments in infrastructure, energy and food manufacturing, among others.

This reminds me of former President Fidel V. Ramos, who, during his incumbency, told members of the Rotary Tri-Districts 3050, 3860, and 3870 that in the game of development, there is nothing gained where nothing is ventured. This holds true to this day.

It is individual initiative and private enterprise that must provide the driving force for development.

In a published article, San Miguel Corporation President and COO Ramon S. Ang was quoted saying it is SMC’s vision to lead efforts to deliver on national goals and help set the pace of progress in the country. “Our corporate slogan is to make the world better for Filipinos. I believe both describe well our aspiration of making the Philippines succeed and improving the lives of our countrymen.

These are the things that inspire and drive us and make us passionate about our work,” he said.The investments of SMC are geared toward sustainable development—economic, environmental, social—not only in the National Capital Region but in every region across the country.

SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021

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EDITORIAL

(A4) and indigents (A5). General public vaccination is planned to start in August.

All these, however, are contingent on the arrival of a sufficient number of vaccines and the country’s readiness in terms of the logistics needed by these drugs.

Apparently, Duterte also said that “wala na tayong pera” as he verbally castigated Filipinos who do not follow IATF protocols.

These words elicited questions from people on where the billions of dollars of COVID-19 response loans incurred by, and grants given to the country, went. It should be noted that most of the vaccines that have arrived are donations. Meanwhile, for this year alone, the country was granted a loan by the World Bank (WB) of more than P50 billion for vaccines aside from other reported loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Korea, and Japan.

We are not even looking at the debt and grants from last year, the budgets from the General Appropriations Act (GAA), and Bayanihan 1 and 2. Thus, it seems natural for people to ask especially since it has become evident that more and more Filipinos are getting hungry as shown by the very long lines of those wanting to benefit from community pantries.

Maybe Duterte does not like this initiative because it has shown that Filipinos are getting hungry. He ranted against community pantries saying, “Start with puroks in barangays then sitios, ganun sana, wala lang isip yang mga yan. They just want to show to the people that they care but they don’t really care because ignorante.”

Because of these words, one initiator said that they are now scared for their safety. First, the Maginhawa CP initiator was red tagged.

Now, it is actually the president himself who has accused them of hypocrisy and ignorance.

If the CPs stopped now, it is the poor Filipinos who will lose, not the initiators. And this will be on Duterte.

On the WPS issue, Duterte castigated former Justice Antonio Carpio and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario. He accused them of being the ones who let China occupy Philippine territory. This elicited a long response from Carpio on the facts that the former administration filed a case against, and won over China, but the Duterte administration set the important ruling aside. Carpio accused Duterte of allowing China to occupy more territories and actually build military facilities on them, and harvesting our precious marine resources in exchange for promised loans which until now have not materialized.

Perhaps what angered Filipinos most was when Duterte said that, “… China is a good friend. Marami tayong utang na loob pati bakuna natin...” Despite China’s abuses and disrespect of Philippine sovereignty, the Philippine PRESIDENT remains subservient. Did he not joke that he would prefer for the Philippines to become a province of China?

As Duterte continues his rants, more and more Filipinos are waking up to the reality that this administration is all bark while the country suffers. Long after they are gone from office, these presidential rants will haunt him and his cohorts. These will be their legacy— their neglect of the people, and their betrayal of the country in favor of China. @bethangsioco on Twitter Angsioco on Facebook

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

After its construction of the Skyway Stage 3 project that has made travel from areas north to areas south of Metro Manila and vise versa a breeze, SMC is building the new Manila International Airport in Bulacan expected to be completed in 2025.

The new Manila International Airport project is the largest investment in infrastructure by a Philippine company at P740-billion.

It will ease traffic congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and is expected to spur tourism-related activities and investments in the region.

Individual initiative and private enterprise must provide the driving force for development.

Millions of jobs will be created during and after construction and local economies are expected to get the much-needed stimulus. Included in the development plan is an eight-kilometer airport toll road that will connect the airport to the NLEX and Skyway Stage 3 to the SLEX. SMC is also proposing rail and road networks to form part of a seamless transport system. These include the NMIA Airport Expressway, Integrated Airport Toll Expressway Network Northern Access Link, Integrated Airport Toll Expressway Network-Southern Access Link, Integrated Airport Toll Expressway Network- Central Access Link, East Metro Manila Expressway, Northeast Airport Expressway, Calamba-San Pedro Express-

Terrifyingly alarming W E EMPATHIZE beyond words with the people of India, with a population of 1.4 billion, the second most populous nation after China, given the unwelcome tragedy it is experiencing from the coronavirus pandemic.

been hitting record peaks for the past few days and the death toll has been on the rise.

But experts say the official death count does not tell the full story.

Events happening in the world’s most populous democracy suggest a strong reminder on the dangers of misplaced sense of security and contentment.

Thirteen months after the coronavirus pandemic swept through the 28 states and eight union territories, there are still people in the republic who say the virus is no more serious than the common flu, a popular line in the genesis of this health emergency raised by then US President Donald Trump and Brazil’s Jair Messias Bolsonaro.

Coronavirus infections in India have

For instance, during the week between April 18 and 25, India reported 2.24 million new coronavirus infections, the highest number recorded by any country in a seven-day period. It logged 16,257 deaths, almost double the 8,588 deaths recorded the previous week, according to its Health Ministry data.

Some 195,123 people have died while 17.3 million people have been infected with the virus in India, which has made Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “India First” mantra becoming a reality at least in one way: His

The official death count does not even tell the full story.

country is now first in COVID-19 infections.

While the United States has more cases, Modi’s India just grabbed the record nobody wanted: the biggest single-day increase in infections which is more than 314,000.

And it is no rarity. India is now averaging more than 200,000 new cases per day, three months after Modi declared victory over the pandemic.

The real number of COVID fatalities could be much higher than the deaths recorded by India’s health departments across the country.

Which brings us to the situation at home, where authorities have reported more than 1.028 million COVID-19 infections, with death toll now gasping near 17,200 as of Thursday this week.

With our own experience, we know how the people of India must be feeling —disturbingly helpless—which should remind us constantly that we should never be complacent in front of this invisible enemy.

The ivermectin challenge pensing ivermectin should come with a doctor’s prescription and that the drug should come from a licensed compounding laboratory and that the drug to be given should not be a veterinary-grade ivermectin (Again, is there a doctor who would be foolish enough to prescribe a vet-grade drug to his patient?). They have been compliant to this. They have doctors who will prescribe and they have the drug from a licensed compounding laboratory –Lifecore.

Defensor and Marcoleta had sought the assistance of doctors belonging to the CDC to check on the beneficiaries of the drug and to issue prescriptions in that regard.

However, as Idol Mike explains, the doctors failed to bring with them their prescription pads, they had to make do with scratch papers to prescribe the drugs and to claim them at the adjacent table.

DESPITE the repeated warnings from the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration against the use of ivermectin to treat Covid-19 patients and doctors from prescribing the so-called miracle drug, Anakalusugan Rep. Michael “Idol Mike” Defensor and Sagip Rep. Rodante Marcoleta greenlighted the launching of their Ivermectin Pan Three, aimed at providing access to the poor to avail of the ivermectin drug in the fight against the dreaded virus.

Partnering with Lifecore Bio-Integrative Inc., Concerned Doctors and Citizens-PH, Malayang Quezon City, Defensor and Marcoleta led the distribution of Ivermectin capsules at the Matandang Balara Barangay Hall park last Thursday with doctors prescribing ivermectin to the poor senior citizens of the said barangay.

The two lawmakers said they opted to launch their project in Matandang Balara as it has one of the highest cases of COVID-19, with many areas in the barangay belonging to the poorest of the poor who cannot afford the financial burden of hospitalization.

As of this writing, Quezon City has consistently been the Number 1 area with the most cases of COVID-19 having accumulated a total of 90,202 since last year, of which 5,982 are still active.

Originally, the two solons planned to distribute three capsules each, thus calling the event Pan-Three.

So, with the DoH and the FDA’s warning, which could mean the filing of cases against the two lawmakers and those who supported them, and the “defiance” of Defensor and Marcoleta, the question now is: Who blinks first?

Even before the event took place, there rumors charges would be brought upon the two for violating the directives on the prescription and dispensing of drugs.

However, Idol Mike stressed that both the DoH and the FDA had made it clear that disway, Bulacan-Tarlac Expressway (BTEX), Bataan-Bulacan Expressway (BBEX), Skyway Stage 3-R10 NMIA Expressway, MRT 7 Road, and NMIA Expressway MRT 7 (Road Spur Access). The proposed rail network are the MRT7 Katipunan Spur, MRT7 Airport Expressway-North Line, MRT7 Airport Expressway-West Line, MRT7 Extension Project, and MRT7 Airport Expressway Southeast Line.

“Taken together with the airport, travel and trade in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and outside the country will be easier and more efficient,” RSA said.

Chosen to undertake the land development works for the airport project is Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. through its subsidiary Boskalis Philippines, Inc. The company’s work plan and methodology include measures to prevent liquefaction in the area, a major concern of those who opposed the airport construction.

According to Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands J. Eduardo Malaya, the involvement of the Royal Boskalis, a Dutch company in the land development of the new airport underscores the dynamism of Philippine-Netherlands economic partnership.

Malaya made the statement during a courtesy call by representatives of the Royal Boskalis at the Philippine Embassy in The Hague recently.

During their visit, the Boskalis officials affirmed the company “will undertake its work on an environmentally-sound basis and protect the Manila Bay shoreline.” In an earlier

We just couldn’t wait to see these people held accountable for exploiting this pandemic.

Were the doctors avoiding responsibility over the dispensing of drugs? Absolutely not.

Their names and contact information were written all over the event’s record books as the names of the doctor-volunteers were repeatedly introduced many times by Defensor and the other members of the organizers, so each patient knew his or her doctor’s name.

In fact, Idol Mike says one patient who developed symptoms minutes after taking ivermectin went back to his doctor for advice, adding that one doctor even gave his mobile phone number to reassure the patients.

Also, a doctor, Dr. Raffy Castillo, claims that accountability was ensured, and patients’ welfare was safeguarded in the said event as only doctors who were well known to the organizers were invited to handle the charity medical mission. All the doctors who volunteered are duly licensed in the practice of medicine in the country.

The doctors were also tasked to assess the statement Boskalis CEO Peter Berdowski, said: “As Boskalis, we have a rich tradition in creating land all over the world to the highest technical and environmental standards.”

In the energy sector, SMC is spending over US$1 billion to build simultaneously 31 new battery energy storage facilities nationwide through SMC Global Power Holdings. With a total committed capacity of 1,000 megawatts, the facilities will be located in strategic sites from Luzon to Mindanao where power quality mitigations are required.

According to RSA, the ongoing investment into battery energy storage facilities will greatly benefit power consumers all over the country.

“Faraway provinces or areas, can have the same stable and good quality power supply as everywhere else,” he said. This will give those areas better and more opportunities for industrialization and economic growth.

“This can even support equal-opportunity industrialization in many provinces where historically, no industrial plants would locate because of poor power quality,” he added.

According to RSA the battery energy storage facilities can also facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources such as wind or solar into the grid.

It is the task of the company president to ensure that his organization runs well and fulfills its goals.

No doubt, RSA is doing his job exceptionally well.

individual’s suitability for ivermectin, so requests to give prescriptions to relatives who were not physically present were politely turned down.

The risk of exposure was also assessed to determine the most suitable dose frequency for ivermectin as Castillo said patient welfare was paramount in the minds of the medical volunteers.

Only three to five capsules were prescribed for most patients so they can come back for reevaluation of any possible adverse effects, and for any dose adjustments that may be required when the three to five capsules are consumed.

After issuing prescription and instructions for ivermectin were given, the drugs were dispensed at the adjacent table.

In summary, Defensor said that “the congressmen and staff organizers and medical volunteers, as well as other community healthcare workers involved in the event, made sure that all those who sought assistance were given the needed attention and advice they needed to determine their suitability for taking Ivermectin, ideal dosing frequency based on their risk of exposure and other advice that were deemed necessary in the prevention of COVID-19.”

So, will the DoH and the FDA push through with the filing of cases against Defensor and Marcoleta? I don’t think so. Actually, if there’s someone who should be preparing for some court litigations, it would be the heads of these two agencies, Francisco Duque and Eric Domingo.

Even before the two lawmakers proceeded with the distribution of ivermectin last Thursday, they have announced that lawyer Larry Gadon had accepted their request to handle the filing of the cases against the DoH and the FDA for the continued dispensing of a very expensive drug, Remdesivir to Covid-19 patients even if this goes against the recommendation of the World Health Organization.

Echoing Defensor’s declaration, Gadon says they “will help the victims of the wrong policies and guidelines of the DoH and the FDA on insisting the use of Remdesivir despite declaration of the World Health Organization that it is ineffective and must be discontinued,” According to Gadon, COVID-19 patients are charged bloated amounts of expenses “for Remdesivir while the drug does not even help.”

“We will file cases against those who took advantage of the covid victims and this could involve DoH and the FDA officials and hospitals,” Gadon swears.

We just couldn’t wait to see these people held accountable for exploiting this pandemic.

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India virus deaths climb again; global aid flown in

BURIED. This handout photo taken on April 30 and released by the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) shows rescuers searching for survivors after a rain-sparked landslide killed at least three people near a Chinese-backed power plant in Batang Toru in South Tapanuli, North Sumatra. AFP

Russia-Brazil spat erupts over Sputnik vaccine snub BRASILIA—Brazil’s health regulator said Thursday its decision to reject the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine was based on the developer’s own data, after the latter threatened to sue for defamation.

Brazilian regulators’ decision Monday to deny emergency use authorization for the vaccine has blown up into an all-out international row, with Sputnik V’s makers accusing them of “knowingly spreading false and inaccurate information” without testing the vaccine themselves.

The Brazilian agency, Anvisa, based the decision on evidence the vaccine carried a live version of adenovirus, a common cold-causing virus.

It fired back defensively in a press conference that it had drawn that conclusion from information “submitted by the Sputnik V vaccine developer itself.”

“Anvisa was accused of lying, of acting unethically, of disseminating fake news about replicating adenovirus,” said the agency’s director, Antonio Barra Torres.

“We refute this grave accusation.”

However, he said Brazil remained open to authorizing the vaccine, pending further data demonstrating its safety.

“We’re not closing the door whatsoever. The data presented can be revised, corrected and presented again,” he said, shortly before Brazil’s overall death toll in the pandemic surpassed 400,000, second only to the United States. AFP

Stampede kills at least 44 in Israel pilgrimage M

A spokesman for the Magen David ERON, Israel -- A massive stampede at a densely Adom, Israel’s rescue service, told AFP packed Jewish pilgrimage site killed at least 44 people “there were 38 dead at the scene but there were more at the hospital.” in northern Israel on Friday, with rescue workers A source at the northern Ziv hospital, one of several receiving casualties, told facing chaotic crowds while trying to evacuate the injured.

The disaster occurred in Meron at the site of the reputed tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a second-century Talmudic sage, where mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews flock to mark the Lag BaOmer holiday.

Closed last year due to coronavirus restrictions, this year’s pilgrimage was expected to be a celebratory event in a nation that has largely re-opened thanks

to a successful vaccination effort.

The pilgrimage was largest public gathering since the pandemic began, with reports that there were three times more people there than authorised.

Initial reports indicated that the carnage began when a section of stadium seating collapsed but rescue workers later linked the casualties to a stampede.

AFP it had recorded at least six deaths.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “heavy disaster” and said he was “praying for the injured”.

The army and emergency services deployed helicopters to evacuate the wounded.

Scenes from Meron hours after the accident showed an ultra-Orthodox Jewish crowd in distress, with debris scattered across the ground. AFP

FIERY FLOW.

Lava flows from Guatemala’s Pacaya Volcano is seen from Cerro Chino in San Vicente Pacaya municipality, about 55 km south of Guatemala City, on April 29.

Pacaya volcano was reactivated on Thursday, causing a new fissure in the massif from which a river of lava sprouted that could spread to nearby communities.

AFP

Kyrgyzstan: Toll in clashes with Tajikistan rises Biden marks 100th day at rally promoting big spending

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Kyrgyzstan said Friday that its death toll in armed clashes with Central Asian rival Tajikistan had reached 13, after the pair agreed a ceasefire following the worst fighting along their disputed border in years.

Kyrgyzstan’s health ministry said in a statement that it had suffered 134 casualties “including 13 fatalities”, with two of the injured in a serious condition.

A girl born in 2008 was among the casualties, it said.

Over ten thousand citizens had been evacuated from two districts bordering Tajikistan where the fighting had been most intense, Kyrgyzstan also said.

The government of Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region -- which borders Tajikistan -- said the citizens had been “placed in specially organized points” in its administrative centre, “or went to visit relatives”.

Military units from the two countries began exchanging fire on Thursday, but later that day a ceasefire was announced by Kyrgyzstan’s foreign ministry from 8:00 pm (1400 GMT), with armed forces returning to their bases.

Tajikistan acknowledged the ceasefire in a statement published by its state information service early on Friday, saying the two sides “came to a mutual agreement to end the armed conflict, to withdraw personnel and military equipment to places of permanent deployment”.

A representative of the police in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region told AFP by telephone that shooting had continued during the night “but not intensively”. AFP

DULUTH—President Joe Biden marked his 100th day in office Thursday with a trip to the crucial electoral state of Georgia to promote multi-trillion dollar spending plans that he says can transform the United States.

Addressing a drive-in rally at a Duluth, Georgia, car park, Biden praised the state for beating the odds last November and sending two Democrats -Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff -- to the Senate.

Those two upset wins secured the narrowest of congressional majorities for

Biden, allowing him to push through a $1.9 trillion stimulus package soon after taking office and begin planning for another $4 billion in spending on infrastructure, social safety nets and education.

“Your vote changed the world,” Biden told the socially distanced crowd to honks and cheers.

In the brief, upbeat speech, Biden echoed many of his themes from a major address on Wednesday to Congress in which he declared the United States is “ready for takeoff” after the success

of a mass Covid-19 vaccination program.

“I’ve never been more optimistic about America, America is on the move again,” he said in Georgia.

Biden ran through his three megaspending programs and said that getting them passed by Congress would result in “millions of good paying jobs” for ordinary Americans.

“Wall Street didn’t build this country.

You did. The middle class did and unions built the middle class,” Biden said, reprising one of his favorite lines. AFP

KOLKATA, India—India’s coronavirus disaster deepened on Thursday with the daily death toll climbing above 3,600 as dozens of countries sent urgent medical aid to help tackle the spiralling crisis.

Even with vaccine rollouts underway, fatalities are still speeding past major milestones across the globe, such as in Brazil where total deaths have now surpassed 400,000 people since the start of the pandemic.

However the United States and several European nations are starting to ease restrictions as their vaccination campaigns pick up.

In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city hopes to “fully reopen” on July 1.

And in France, cafes, cultural venues and business will reopen in several phases from next month, President Emmanuel Macron said.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin announced plans to lift lockdown restrictions starting May 10, including “vaccine bonus” perks for those who have had both jabs.

“Hope is returning,” Martin said.

Portugal said it would reopen its land border with Spain on Saturday.

But the World Health Organization issued a stark warning to European nations that relaxing Covid measures could spark a “perfect storm” allowing cases to spiral -- as in India.

“It is very important to realise that the situation in India can happen anywhere,” said WHO Europe chief Hans Kluge. AFP

IN BRIEF Indonesia landslide on Sumatra kills 3 MEDAN—Landslides have killed at least three people at a Chinese-backed power plant on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, the disaster agency said Friday, with fears that the toll would rise.

Heavy rains pounded the area in North Sumatra on Thursday evening, triggering the deadly torrent.

“There are three people dead,” agency spokesman Raditya Jati told AFP. “The rescue team is still searching for other victims,” he added, without specifying a figure.

A local disaster official said at least nine people were missing and feared buried beneath a mountain of mud and debris, including a Chinese employee of the Batang Toru hydropower facility.

Fatal landslides and flash floods are common across the Indonesian archipelago during the rainy season.

This month, more than 200 people were killed in a cluster of far-eastern islands and neighbouring East Timor as Tropical Cyclone Seroja turned small communities into wastelands of mud and uprooted trees. AFP

Insider attacks surge in Afghanistan army WASHINGTON — Deadly insider attacks against the Afghan army jumped in the first quarter of this year as Taliban rebels took advantage of the coming American and NATO troop withdrawal, according to a US government report Friday.

The quarterly report of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said attacks on the Afghan security forces, mainly by the Taliban rebel group, surged 37 percent over the JanuaryMarch period from a year earlier.

Notably, insider attacks -- when security forces are targeted by Taliban infiltrators within their ranks -- jumped 82 percent, and casualties from them doubled, according to the report. AFP

Nokor defectors defy South ban on leaflets SEOUL—A North Korea defector group this week twice defied a ban by Seoul on flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone dividing the peninsula, it said Friday.

The launches by the Fighters for a Free North Korea were the first since the law was passed in December.

The group “flew 500,000 leaflets, 500 books and $5,000 in cash bills distributed between a total of 10 large balloons over two occasions near the DMZ between April 25 and 29”, said its chairman Park Sang-hak.

Activist groups have long sent flyers critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over human rights abuses and his nuclear ambitions across the DMZ, either flying them by hot air balloon or floating them across rivers.

The leaflets have infuriated Pyongyang, which issued a series of vitriolic condemnations last year demanding Seoul take action and upped the pressure by blowing up an inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border.

The South Korean parliament rapidly passed a law criminalising sending leaflets and USB drives -- a favoured method of distributing information and entertainment.

Under the measure, those convicted of sending leaflets face a maximum penalty of three years in prison or a fine of 30 million won ($27,000).

The law has raised concerns over freedom of speech, with the US -- a treaty ally of the South -- describing it as a “significant human rights issue” in an annual report in March. AFP

COMBO CREW. In this photo courtesy of NASA released April 29, the

11-member crew aboard the International Space Station is actually a combination of three different crews. In the back row (from left), are the SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts Shane Kimbrough of NASA, Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, and Megan McArthur from NASA. In the center, are NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov. In the front row, are the SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, and Michael Hopkins, all from NASA, and Soichi Noguchi from JAXA. AFP

Business

B3

SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Credit Suisse director quits after financial catastrophes ZURICH, Switzerland—Credit Suisse announced Friday that one of its board members would step aside after shareholders called for his head following major losses linked to the collapses of the Archegos and Greensill financial firms.

The Swiss bank said in a brief statement that Andreas Gottschling, the head of the board’s risk committee, would not seek re-election at a general assembly later on Friday.

Credit Suisse has been hit hard by bankruptcies at Archegos, a US hedge fund, and British financial firm Greensill.

Shockwaves rippled through global financial markets and institutions last month when then little-known Archegos sold at least $20 billion in stocks as it sought to cover obligations to its lenders.

Losses at leading global banks have jumped past $10 billion, with Credit Suisse accounting for around half of the damage.

Credit Suisse had also invested heavily in Greensill, a firm specialized in short-term corporate loans via a complex and opaque business model, and was forced to suspend four funds after the firm declared insolvency last month.

One of Switzerland’s top shareholders associations, Actares, had opposed Gottschling’s re-election to the risk committee.

Actares called on Credit Suisse to change its corporate strategy and culture in the wake of the financial fiascos.

“The example of the Greensill case shows that Credit Suisse apparently hasn’t learned to manage complex risks for such an important client,” it said in a statement earlier this month.

The US firm Glass Lewis, which advises investors, had also urged Credit Suisse shareholders to vote against Gottschling’s re-election, saying a change would help restore investor confidence. AFP

PSEi April 30, 2021

TOP GAINERS

ALCOHOL BAN. A customer shops for alcoholic beverages at a supermarket ahead of a nationwide ban on alcohol sales as part of new lockdown restrictions over the COVID-19 pandemic, in Istanbul, on April 29, 2021. With the highest infection rate in Europe, Turkey enters a full lockdown until May 17, with all non-essential businesses to close and travel between regions restricted. Alcohol sales at groceries and chain stores will be banned to prevent unfair competition with closed small liquor stores. AFP

Stock market slumps; SM Prime leads losers

T

HE stock market tumbled Friday on profit taking, following a signal from the rest of Asia where investors struggled to take the lead from a record performance on Wall Street.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index slumped 116.64 points, or 1.8 percent, to 6,370.87 on a value turnover of P8.6 billion. Losers beat gainers, 110 to 91, with 47 issues unchanged.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. of the Sy Group, the biggest operator of shopping malls, fell 4 percent to P34.45, while JG Summit Holdings Inc. of the Gokongwei Group also declined 4 percent to P52.75.

Globe Telecom Inc., the second-largest telecommunications firm, dropped 2.8 percent to P1,833, but Philippine National Bank, the sixth-biggest lender in terms of assets, rose 8.5 percent to

P31.15.

The rest of Asian markets turned lower Friday following below-forecast Chinese factory data.

News that US growth had accelerated more than six percent in the first quarter and jobless claims continued to fall to new pandemic-era lows reinforced the view that the recovery in the world’s top economy was well on track.

That came after the head of the Federal Reserve had reiterated the bank’s commitment to keeping monetary policy ultra-loose until it is satisfied the economy is strong enough.

In response the S&P 500 hit another record, helped by a string of outsized earnings from tech heavyweights including Apple, Facebook and Google.

But after a broadly upbeat week, Asia was unable to build on the positive run, with most markets in negative territory.

Hong Kong led the losses, shedding two percent, with tech firms including JD.com, Meituan and Tencent taking a hit after China ramped up its crackdown on the sector by summoning 13 compa-

Europe oil firms post huge profits as crude rallies PARIS—European oil majors have posted strong quarterly profits as a recovery in crude prices fueled their rebound from the coronavirus crisis.

France’s Total, Britain’s BP, AngloDutch group Shell and Spain’s Repsol have this week posted $14.5 billion in first quarter profits between them.

At the same time, the companies renewed their commitments to investing in renewable energies.

It’s a huge turnaround from last year, when global lockdowns decimated economic activity and oil prices fell off a cliff, taking the energy giants’ balance sheets with them.

Royal Dutch Shell led the way posting a $5.7-billion (4.7 billion euros) net profit in the first quarter on Thursday following a loss in the same period last year.

BP also returned to the black, booking a $4.7-billion profit while Total added $3.3 billion, even outstripping pre-pandemic levels.

Repsol, browbeaten by two years of huge losses, scored a $783-million gain.

The results are a boon for the majors, who made tens of billions of cumulative losses last year as the health pandemic took hold and prices collapsed.

Prices have returned to pre-pandemic since them, exceeding $60 per barrel. Goldman Sachs analyst see prices rising to $80 in the next six months.

“These are profitable price levels and it is not a surprise that oil companies have published strong results,” said Michael Tamvakis, commodity economics professor at London’s Business School.

Oil prices should remain strong as the driving and flying season restarts later in May and June, Tamvakis said.

“So for now, oil companies have weathered the storm,” he said.

The profits are also a reflection that some companies are slimming down their staff levels.

Shell decided to ax more than 10 percent of its global workforce, or up to 9,000 jobs.

Shell, like some of its peers, has also been shedding assets. That gave it a $1.4-billion boost in the first quarter. AFP

nies to call for changes to their fintech operations. Shanghai also fell.

The group was told to heed the case of ecommerce titan Alibaba, which was hit with a record $2.78-billion fine by regulators for abusing its dominant market position.

Adding to the selling pressure was a report showing slowing growth in China’s factory activity owing to a global shortage of shipping containers, supply chain problems and rising freight rates.

There were also losses in Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Mumbai and Jakarta, though Singapore and Wellington edged up.

“The recovery in Asia remains on track, as it does in the US, but is uneven,” said OANDA’s Stephen Innes.

“COVID-19 remains a threat in Asia.

Logistical bottlenecks, and semi-conductor shortages, are now a global issue, making their presence felt everywhere.

“That may mollify the pace of global recovery in developed countries but will not derail it. The unintended side effect will be a rise in prices and thus inflation.” With AFP

A forklift operator works at Silly brewery on April 28, 2021 in Silly.

Belgium’s cafe terraces will not re-open to thirsty beer drinkers for another week, but the country’s renowned brewers are all hands to the pump.

AFP

Belgium races to get beer to bars for great reopening

By Dave Clark SILLY, Belgium—Belgium’s cafe terraces will not re-open to thirsty beer drinkers for another week but the country’s renowned brewers are already all hands to the pump.

Six months after the country went into a second coronavirus lockdown, proud bar owners and beer makers alike are keen to get back to business.

They are confident their countrymen and women have not lost their taste for Belgium’s world-famous brews, but the task of getting new barrels into cellars is huge.

And—with interior service still banned and social distancing in place— time is running out for some in an industry that has already been hit hard by the pandemic.

“It’s a whole machine that needs to be put back on the road,” explains Lionel Van Der Haegen, director of the Silly brewery, in the Belgian village of the same name.

The brewery is working hard, but Van Der Haegen fears for the bars that take his beer. “Some have gone bankrupt,” he told AFP. “Every day counts. We need to reopen as soon as possible.”

Halting Belgium’s draft beer cycle in October was a massive logistical exercise it its own right.

In normal times, heavy beer barrels are rolled into bar cellars full and pulled back out when they are empty and hence much lighter.

But after bars were ordered closed at the end of last October, stocks of beer meant to last for several weeks had to be laboriously hauled up and sent back.

Belgium’s beer culture is recognized

by UNESCO as a heritage of international standing and there was no question for Silly, which prides itself on freshness, of simply storing stale beer.

The unsold beers were disposed of carefully, and now an entirely new batch is under production ahead of May 8, Belgium’s reopening day.

Revolt brewing “It takes between a month and six weeks between the start of brewing and tasting a Silly beer,” said Van Der Haegen, showing AFP around his busy plant.

The Silly brewery dominates the village of just over 7,000. In normal times it produces two-and-a-half million liters per year—pale ales, saison, abbey beers, fruit beers, Pilseners, wheat beers and Scotch ale.

As AFP toured the plant a local farmer pulled up in a tractor to collect a trailer-load of distillers grains—dried barley mash left over by the brewing process— to feed his livestock.

The brewery has been in operation since 1850, employs 24 people at full strength, supplies bars across the region and exports bottled beer as far as the United States and China.

But it’s at 70 percent capacity now, and Van Der Haegen does not know how fast things will pick up.

“We’re prepared for it, we’re building up stock, and we’re calling in the teams to set up logistics and prepare orders, call clients, plan deliveries,” the director said.

The reopening will be a relief for beer drinkers, as well as bar owners and brewers, but much uncertainty remains.

To begin with, bars and restaurants will only open as outdoor terraces.

There will be pent-up demand and some drinkers will doubtless want to celebrate liberally—but others may be nervous of crowds as the pandemic continues.

A rebellious mood is building. Venues in the city of Liege threatened to break lockdown early, and police with water cannons and horses had to break up a mass gathering in a Brussels park.

But bar managers like Sebastien Weverbergh, who runs an independent cafe adjoining the Silly brewery, argue that no one is better placed than they are to manage a safe return to normal service. AFP

LAST PRICE

% CHANGE CHANGE

1 2

UPM TUGS

0.012 1.36

0.002 0.16

20.00% 13.33%

3

PNB

31.15

2.45

8.54%

4

OV

0.013

0.001

8.33%

5 6

EVER JAS

0.189 2.38

0.014 0.16

8.00% 7.21%

7

MA

0.015

0.001

7.14%

8 9

PX GEO

6.8 0.385

0.45 0.025

7.09% 6.94%

10

MAB

0.016

0.001

6.67%

TOP LOSERS LAST PRICE

% CHANGE CHANGE

1 2

OPMB PHES

0.012 0.61

-0.001 -0.04

-7.69% -6.15%

3

BHI

0.094

-0.006

-6.00%

4 5

MBC DELM

10.36 13.3

-0.64 -0.78

-5.82% -5.54%

6

LAND

1.8

-0.1

-5.26%

7

CDC

0.9

-0.05

-5.26%

8 9 10

GTPPA ACE SMPH

981 1.8 34.45

-47 -0.08 -1.45

-4.57% -4.26% -4.04%

MOST ACTIVE 1

ALI

VOLUME 23506900

VALUE (PHP) 765455320

2 3

SM SMPH

363380 8304800

350178785 288846025

4 5

BPI GLO

3230240 115730

267878716 212729615

6 7

BDO ICT

1946390 1432180

202219820 186027174

8 9

TEL ACEN

137310 25271300

175822880 171366273

10

AC

209990

157093825

Copper prices topped $10,000 per ton for the 1st time since 2011 LONDON—The price of a ton of copper exceeded $10,000 on Thursday for the first time since February 2011 thanks to strong demand in China and the weak dollar.

The industrial metal used in electronics and construction is called Dr Copper by many analysts as its performance is good at diagnosing the general health of the economy.

Its price has risen by more than a quarter since the start of the year as the global economy begins to shake off the COVID-19 pandemic.

A ton of copper was fetching $9,963 around 1315 GMT on the London Metal Exchange after slipping off its session high, having threatened to push past its February 15, 2011 high of $10,190 per ton.

Last March, the price bottomed out at $4,371 a ton as the pandemic dealt a massive blow to the world economy.

Since then it has shot above its precrisis level.

Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said that higher prices still could follow as copper would play a major role in countries’ long-term decarbonization strategies.

For Anna Stablum, analyst with Marex Spectron, the dollar-denominated metal is primarily being “supported by the weakness of the dollar.”

The greenback slid 2.5 percent against a basket of currencies in April, as buyers with other rising currencies against the greenback go on a spree.

Neil Wilson of Markets.com saw the rising price as being the result of a rise in demand, notably from China which swallows more than half of world production, and also supply problems from top global supplier Chile.

Chinese declared demand is estimated to have risen 13 percent last year alone, according to the intergovernmental International Copper Study Group (ICSG).

That trend is likely to continue with Beijing having earlier this month announced a record 18.3 percent jump in first quarter economic growth. AFP

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

B4

SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021

PSE INDEX CLOSING Friday, April 30, 2021

-116.64 PTS. 6,370.87

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

6,771,412,685 80,100 8,622,407,143.04 91 110 47

F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2021

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

48.3900

Japan

Yen

0.009182

0.4443

UK

Pound

1.394300

67.4702

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128813

6.2333

Switzerland

Franc

1.100837

53.2695

Canada

Dollar

0.814531

39.4152

Singapore

Dollar

0.754091

36.4905

Australia

Dollar

0.776800

37.5894

Bahrain

Dinar

2.655549

128.5020

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266681

12.9047

Brunei

Dollar

0.751258

36.3534

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000069

0.0033

Thailand

Baht

0.032051

1.5509

UAE

Dirham

0.272272

13.1752

Euro

Euro

1.212600

58.6777

Korea

Won

0.000903

0.0437

China

Yuan

0.154512

7.4768

India

Rupee

0.013497

0.6531

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.243902

11.8024

New Zealand

Dollar

0.724200

35.0440

Taiwan

Dollar

0.035908

1.7376 Source: BSP

BSP sees April PH inflation rate slowing to 4.2%

Business Rentals fall as office, mall, condo vacancy rates grow R

By Othel V. Campos

ENTALS declined as the vacancy rates in Metro Manila’s shopping malls, office buildings and residential condominium rose in the first quarter, a real estate consultancy firm said Friday.

JLL Philippines said in its first-quarter report shopping mall vacancy increased to 6.6 percent in the first quarter, trig triggered by store closures and pullouts by food and beverage and fashion brands.

JLL head of research and consultancy Janlo de los Reyes said office vacancy also hit 14.7 percent in the first quarter, with largest move-outs from Philippine offshore gaming operators and outsourcing and offshoring companies.

“For the retail market, we haven’t

seen again any new condition similar to office, and currently the pipeline is limited to around 554,000 square meters in the next three years. This is a trend that we’re seeing in the last couple of years when the pipeline for the retail market has been thin. Majority of the supply is coming from more expansions, with an exception of a new development in Quezon City by Ayala Land,” de los Reyes said in a briefing.

Shopping mall supply remained at 656,400 sq. m. which may be carried over to the second half of 2021. Office supply stood at 9.8 million sq. m., with projected or incoming supply deferred to the second semester.

Store net closures in the first quarter exceeded 22,000 sq. m., coming mostly from a mix of local and foreign which accounted for 38.5 percent; F&B, 23.5 percent; and footwear brands, 10.7 percent.

Net openings lagged behind at 11,800 sq. m., with F&B representing 18.6 percent; general merchandise, 15.9 per-

NUTRIASIA RECYCLE.

By Julito G. Rada BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said Friday inflation in April likely slowed to as low as 4.2 percent from 4.5 percent in March on lower food and petroleum prices.

Diokno said in a message to reporters the April inflation likely settled within a range of 4.2 percent to 5 percent.

“Lower prices of domestic petroleum products and key food items, such as fruits and vegetables due to improved supply conditions, are the main sources of downward price pressures during the month,” Diokno said.

These, however, could be partly offset by upward adjustment in Manila Electric Co.’s electricity rates, coupled with higher prices of pork, fish and rice.

Inflation in March eased to 4.5 percent from 4.7 percent in February after five consecutive months of acceleration, on lower annual increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages.

Despite the slight slowdown, the March inflation remained the second fastest in the last 27 months. This was also faster than 2.5 percent a year ago and brought the first-quarter average to 4.5 percent, above the government’s 2021 target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.

Diokno earlier said monetary authorities were ready to implement necessary actions to make sure that inflation rate would remain manageable in the coming months.

The BSP said in its first-quarter inflation report that the Monetary Board kept a close eye on rising inflationary pressures amid the continuing need for policy support to facilitate the recovery of the economy.

Inflation averaged 2.6 percent in 2020, within the government’s target range.

TEACHERS’ TRAINING.

Teachers look back at the innovative strategies that help them stay smart amid the new normal of education.

In partnership with social outreach arm PLDT-Smart Foundation, Smart Communications supports the Central Visayan Institute Foundation-Dynamic Learning Program for school year 2020-2021.

The crisis-resilient education strategy promotes independent student learning to improve learners’ academic performance, especially in science, innovative technology, engineering and mathematics.

cent; and sports and fitness brands, 12.6 percent.

“This office figure was higher quarteron-quarter and in terms of the year-onyear. We’re also seeing a lot of projects that have no completion dates yet, and this will impact supply pipeline in the next couple of years. Despite this lack of new supply in the market, vacancy continued to climb in the first quarter to 14.7 percent,” de los Reyes said.

The surge in vacancies is seen to sustain the downward trend in rents. Retail rents fell 16.4 percent to P1,730 per sqm per month from a year ago.

Meanwhile, office rents decreased 3 percent to P1.120 per sq. m. a month in the first quarter.

De los Reyes said occupiers continued to focus on cost optimization and put their real estate decisions regarding entry and expansion.

“So a lot of the demand that we’re seeing now are mainly renewals coming from the O&O firms, and this is to reposition their portfolio,” he said.

NutriAsia and Del Monte Philippines Inc. team up for Share-a-Chair—an advocacy program where plastic waste materials from offices and plants are collected and upcycled into school furnishings. Each school received 50 pieces armchairs and a teacher’s table with chair. NutriAsia and Del Monte collected 19.3 metric tons of plastic waste from their offices and plants for six months. They tapped Envirotech Waste Recycling Inc., a local company with ground-breaking technology to reuse the collected plastic waste into the furnishings.

Non-government organization welcomes cancellation of 600-MW Subic coal project

By Alena Mae S. Flores NON-GOVERNMENT organization Power for People Coalition on Wednesday welcomed the cancellation of the 600-megawatt coal-fired power project in Subic, Zambales.

P4P called the decision of the Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. joint venture project a triumph of communities at the forefront of the resistance against coal.

RP Energy is a joint venture between Manila Electric Co.’s generation unit Meralco PowerGen, Aboitiz Power Corp. and Taiwan Cogeneration Corp.

Several groups strongly opposed the project in the past, leading to the issuance of a Writ of Kalikasan, which was eventually resolved.

“While the cancellation of the Subic coal plant is a welcome development, we no longer find it surprising given the many triumphs that groups advocating for clean energy have won over it,” said Gerry Arances, convenor of P4P.

Arances expressed hope that Meralco and other power players will “finally starting to see sense and would soon have more coal cancellations to announce.”

According to P4P, the power supply agreement rejection at the Supreme Court and now the cancellation of the Subic coal plant were built on the decade-long resistance of local communities.

“With this news, we are able to face the youth and future generations of Subic residents with pride knowing we won the fight against this dirty energy project. We have seen the kind of destruction coal and other fossil fuels wreaked onto other communities in Zambales and across the country,” said Jen Velarmino Van der Heijde, president of Subic Bay Freeport Chamber for Health and Environment Conservation.

“The cancellation of RP Energy’s coal plant is an encouragement for us to continue working to free Subic from the threat of dirty energy,” said Van der Heijde.

Filinvest earmarks P21.2b for 2021 to finance expansion

By Jenniffer B. Austria FILINVEST Development Corp. earmarked P21.2 billion in capital expenditures for 2021 to pursue new ventures, including eco-sustainable space, and fund the expansion of the property business, a top executive said Friday.

FDC president and chief executive Lourdes Josephine Gotianun-Yap said during a virtual annual stockholders’ meeting the group’s recovery strategy was to build scale and leverage on strong foundation.

“It is worth noting that times of crisis are also times of opportunity for strong, forward thinking companies.

We know fully well that the path to recovery will be challenging and volatile, but we are also convinced that we have the right elements in place to come out stronger as we move forward in anticipation of the future,” Gotianun-Yap said.

The company said to implement the strategy, it was actively looking for new areas of growth. It is also keen on building an eco-sustainable platform via joint venture partnerships with international firms.

The group is looking to develop sustainable cities and communities within its projects, while also focusing on expanding recurring income base to include logistics warehouses and coworking and co-living products.

“Filinvest is aligning its investments and sustainability commitments with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Its current initiatives and partnerships already have business models that give special focus on priority goals.

FDC is harnessing synergies even more to consequently raise its socioeconomic impacts,” Gotianun-Yap said.

PAL mulls over nonstop flights between Manila and Tel Aviv

By Darwin G. Amojelar PHILIPPINE Airlines said Friday it plans to mount nonstop flights to and from Tel Aviv, the gateway to Jerusalem and Israel, by October 2021.

The flag carrier said it hopes to serve the growing demand for air linkages between the Philippines and the Holy Land to serve tourists and overseas Filipino workers alike.

PAL president and chief operating officer Gilbert Santa Maria and Israel Ministry of Tourism Director General Amir Halevi held exploratory talks on possible Manila-Tel Aviv-Manila flights.

Israel is gradually reopening its borders to international tourism, starting with vaccinated tour groups from May 23 and ultimately to individual tourist travelers by as early as July 2021, following the country’s success in controlling the pandemic.

PAL chief strategy and planning officer Dexter Lee said the Philippines is a strong source of potential travelers to Israel, which welcomes Filipinos without requiring a visa.

“Our countrymen have been longing for a direct flight to the Holy Land for spiritual pilgrimages or for a Mediterranean getaway when the travel climate allows,” PAL chief strategy and planning officer Dexter Lee said.

“We also look forward to inviting Israelis to visit the Philippines, so our direct flights will help us restart tourism here in our country,” he said.

“I am pleased to give this important first step to the tourism industry between Israel and the Philippines.

Direct flights between our two capitals will be a game-changer for tourism and business connectivity. This time Israel has unique advantage as a safe and healthy country. We hope to welcome you soon in Israel,” said Israel Ministry of Tourism Director General Halevi.

IN BRIEF

PNB properties seen to benefit shareholders

PHILIPPINE National Bank shareholders who received property dividends from the bank’s wholly-owned unit PNB Holdings Corp. will benefit from potential gains from the development of the bank’s major properties, a top executive said.

The bank earlier announced the issuance of property dividends from PNB Holdings to stockholders of the bank on record as of May 18, 2021 as part of a move to recognize and monetize the unrealized value of three major properties.

These properties are the PNB Financial Center in Pasay City, PNB Makati Center in Ayala’s central business district and the Prime Property at the corner of Buendia Avenue and Paseo de Roxas in Makati.

PNB president and chief executive Wick Veloso said during the annual stockholders’ meeting that all shareholders of PNB would become part owners of PNB Holdings, allowing them to benefit from future potential gains from the development of the properties.

He said shareholders could cash in on their dividends by selling their shares in the Philippine Stock Exchange once PNB Holdings is listed. Julito G. Rada

AllHome opens store in Bacolod

HOME improvement retailer AllHome Corp. opened a new store in Bacolod City as the company remains positive about the recovery of the domestic economy.

AllHome said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it launched its 53rd store at GM Cordova Ave-Buri Road, Honorato Manalo St. in Barangay Mandalagan, Bacolod City.

“AllHome remains upbeat as we enter another year in this challenging time. By aggressively pursuing expansion, we are hopeful that it will give the country’s economy a muchneeded push towards progress.” Said AllHome chairman Manuel Villar Jr. “AllHome’s ‘park and shop’ concept allows customers to directly shop at AllHome without the need to go around the mall, thereby minimizing COVID-19 exposure. This is on top of the personal shopper service that can be availed by chatting at AllHome’s Shop Online Viber community and AllHome’s online shopping store where customer can order from the safety of their home,” Villar said.

The new AllHome store will contain Villar Group’s retail stores including AllDay Supermarket, Coffee Project, Bake My Day, Chicken Deli and All American. Jenniffer B. Austria

Phoenix expects higher revenues in 1st quarter

PHOENIX Petroleum Philippines Inc. expects better financial performance in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter last year, a top executive said Friday.

“January was a slow start for the year, but we had very strong February, March results, such that our first quarter is looking much better than fourth quarter 2020. On a consolidated basis, we are doing much better and this is because of our overseas affiliates delivering very strong performance,” Phoenix Petroleum president Henry Albert Fadullon said during the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting.

He said the April financial performance was also close to pre-COVID levels. “I’m quite pleased with what we’re seeing in our April monthly performance. While the results are getting better and improving, your company continues to be confident, hopeful however cautious,” Fadullon said.

He said Phoenix would continue to be cautious in terms of deploying resources, particularly operating expenses and capital expenditures. Alena Mae S. Flores

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Randy M. Caluag, Assistant Editor

SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021

Tokyo games could be held without fans

Sen. Manny Pacquiao has begun training for a fight against ex-champ Mikey Garcia (inset).

Pacman battles Garcia in Dubai Alora eyes 2nd straight Olympic stint

By Peter Atencio KIRSTIE Elaine Alora will be seeking her second stint in the Olympics.

Three other teammates, who have never made it to the Olympiad, will join in her quest in the second week of May. Pauline Lopez, Kurt Barbosa and Arven Alcantara have been training with Alora and their sparring partners ever since they entered a bubble camp in Calamba, Laguna since February.

National training director Dindo Simpao said Alora and her teammates need to make it to the finals when they see action in the Asian qualifiers, set to be held on May 14 and 15 in Amman, Jordan.

“Apat lang sila. To make it to the Olympics, they just have to make it to the top 2 in the tournament. There will be no finals there,” said Simpao, who replaced Igor Mella last year.

Back in 2016, Alora made it to the Rio Olympics after bagging the silver medal at the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament in the middleweight division.

During the Olympiad, she reached the Round of 16 before she was defeated by Maria Espinoza of Mexico.

Lopez will try to make the cut to the Olympiad in the women’s 57 kgs. Four years ago, she missed the cut for the 2016 Summer Olympics after losing her match against Phannapa Harnsujin of Thailand at the 2016 Asian Taekwondo Olympic Qualification.

Barbosa and Alcantara are in their first Olympic qualifying stints.

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FTER two years of inactivity and countless botched negotiations, Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao will be fighting ex-world titleholder Mikey Garcia either in July or August in Dubai, United Arab Emirates after agreeing with his management group Paradigm Sports Management.

Pacquiao’s business manager Arnold Vegafria and the senator’s close associate Jayke Joson, who both represent PSM, confirmed that the eight-division world champion will be returning for the first time since winning by a split decision over Keith Thurman on July 20, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“The fight is going to happen 100 percent and it’s absolutely on, definitely,” said Vegafria, adding that the fight details and the final date will

soon be announced. “It is going to be a big fight. We have been working for this project since last year with Paradigm. Senator Pacquiao agreed to sign the contract,” Vegafria added.

Pacquiao’s legal adviser Atty. Brando Viernesto reviewed the contract, saying it’s a very lucrative deal, but didn’t divulge other details due to confidentiality.

Joson, who is assisting Pacquiao since day 1 in helping a lot of people around the archipelago particularly COVID-19

victims, expects the welterweight warrior to prepare seriously against the 33-year-old Garcia (40-1 win-loss record with 30 knockouts).

Pacquiao, 42, has started his training camp in General Santos City under chief trainer Buboy Fernandez and assistant coach Nonoy Neri two weeks ago, but stopped for a few days because of his hectic schedule.

He’ll be resuming his training next week.

Vegafria added that the original proposal for Pacquiao to have an ultimate showdown with Ultimate Fighting Championship superstar Conor McGregor remains on the table after his fight with Garcia.

Meanwhile, the reported Pacquiao-Terence Crawford showdown on June 5 also in the United Arab Emirates didn’t materialize.

Buntan now on course for world title JACKIE Buntan is finally getting used to three-round fights as a professional fighter.

Buntan had to take it slow this time when the 23-yearold defeated off Ekaterina “Barbie” Vandaryeva via majority decision in one of the undercards of “ONE on TNT

IV” on Thursday in Singapore.

Buntan was able to pick up the pace in the third round.

That was when she was able to press on and hurt her foe with a kick and three-punch combinations during their flyweight encounter.

“Yes, I feel like in all my fights, I started a bit slow, and I wanted to see what I was working with,” said Buntan after the fight.

During her amateur days, Buntan usually fights for two rounds. It was only in her last two bouts in ONE that she is finally getting used to fighting three-rounders.

It was in the final round that Buntan was able to unleash a mean combination, a jab-left hook-straight right salvo to hurt her rival.

“I was definitely slow this time around, trying to find my range. And she did a great job in keeping me up there,” added Buntan, who is on her third professional fight since her amateur days in muay thai as a strawweight.

Buntan’s fight record has gone up to 22-5, including her last two professional stints with ONE. She made her debut with a unanimous decision verdict last February over Wondergirl Fairtex.

With her winning streak, Buntan is now on course for a shot at the vacant ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Title.

Before she made to ONE, Buntan was a multi-titled junior muay thai fighter, who has earned successes in the International Federation of Muay Thai Associations Featherweight Championship and the California State Muay Thai Championship in the senior ranks.

Peter Atencio

TOKYO—This summer’s viruspostponed Olympics could be held behind closed doors, Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto told AFP on Friday, pledging to ensure the Games will be safe.

Former Olympian Hashimoto said the Games could only be a success if organisers “completely protect” athletes and people in Japan, and that she is hopeful people will “be glad” the event went ahead.

Overseas spectators have already been barred from the Games, and this week a decision on domestic fans was delayed until June, with organizers citing a new wave of infections in Japan.

“There might be a situation where we can’t allow any spectators to attend,” Hashimoto conceded in an interview.

“The only way that we can call the Games a success is if we completely protect the lives and health of athletes and the people of Japan.”

Most people in Japan back either a further delay of the Games or an outright cancellation, and a recent surge in virus cases has prompted a state of emergency in Tokyo and other parts of the country.

With the medical system already under pressure, Olympic organizers have been criticised for requesting volunteer medical staff for the Games.

Hashimoto said cutting spectators could ease pressure on the medical system.

“If the event itself does change, I think it will be with regard to spectators,” she said.

“That is one area where we might be able to reduce the anxiety of people who are worried about the medical system.”

‘Big responsibility’ The Games have never been cancelled outside of wartime and organisers have made it clear that they see no possibility of either further delay or a cancellation.

In a bid to win public confidence, they have released rulebooks mandating daily testing for athletes and limiting their movement.

But there will be no quarantine required for athletes, and vaccines will not be mandatory.

Hashimoto said the rules would continue to be refined, and she felt “a big responsibility to show the Games can be held safely”.

“I want to show that clearly as we work towards the Games,” she said.

When the Games were postponed last year, officials said the delayed event would be held as proof that humanity had triumphed over the virus.

But with the pandemic still raging, Hashimoto said the emphasis would be on hope and unity.

“It will show that the world can come together no matter how hard times are.

I think this is a time when we can show that we are united,” she said.

Japan has experienced a smaller virus outbreak than many countries, with just over 10,000 deaths despite avoiding the harsh lockdowns seen elsewhere.

But the recent spike in infections has played havoc with Olympic preparations, forcing changes to test events and qualifiers and prompting several regions to take the nationwide torch relay off public roads.

‘Clear the way for women’ Hashimoto said organisers accepted that the situation would continue to change, and that they were running simulations to adapt as necessary.

“The organizing committee is thinking about what needs to be done to make sure the event is not cancelled,” she said.AFP

Beach volley caps 3-day tryouts in Subic SISI RONDINA and Bernadeth Pons provided a glimpse of the chemistry last seen in 2019 on Friday at Subic’s sand court— the third and last day of the national volleyball and beach volleyball team tryouts organized by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation.

The Rondina-Pons tandem—along with Dzi Gervacio and Dij Rodriguez—last played together in the 31st Southeast Asian Games on the same court where they clinched a bronze medal.

That bronze ended the country’s 14-year SEA Games volleyball medal drought and as importantly inspired others to take to the sport as evidenced by the huge turnout on Friday.

The PNVF invited 20 athletes to the women’s beach volleyball tryouts but 21 came— not to mention two potential nationals who are on quarantine for getting in close contact with a a Covid-19 positive coach.

“This goes to show that volleyball—and sports in general, for that matter—is eager to make a comeback amid the pandemic,” PNVF Ramon “Tats” Suzara said. “ We completed three days of tryouts and the turnout of aspirants breached expectations.”

Twenty-one athletes also showed up in the men’s beach volleyball tryouts on Friday afternoon and adding the 16 women and 31 men in the volleyball tryouts on Wednesday and Thursday at the Subic Gym, a total of 89 answered the call for a chance to play for flag and country.

Besides Suzara, PNVF secretary general Don Caringal and board members Charo Soriano (beach volleyball commission head) and Carmela Gamboa (events council head) helped supervise the tryouts staged under a bubble environment drawn

by Dr. Jose Raul Canlas (medical commission) and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. “I’m very happy because we are

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all together again and at the same time it’s fun to be part of the tryouts,” Rondina, 25, said at the close of the tryouts made possible through the efforts of Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano of Taguig City, the federation’s local government unit “godfather.”

Jovelyn Gonzaga also played in her first official event after declaring that she will go full time in beach volleyball and completing a 90-day retooling course with the Philippine Army.

Ten other senior players joined the women’s tryouts—Alexa Polidario, Erjane Magdato, Babylove Barbon, Princess Robles, Honey Grace Cabansay, Jennifer Cosas, Tin Tiamzon Javen, Sabas, Gen Eslapor and Mer Jauculan.

Roma Mae Doromal, Grydelle Joanice Matibag, Khylem Harl Progella and Samantha Maranan also participated in the tryouts, hoping to land slots in the PNVF’s juniors program.

Beach volley standouts show off their skills.

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SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021

rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

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ARIS—The failure to halt climate change, the destruction of nature and other intertwined global crises poses an existential risk to humanity, ten Nobel laureates said Thursday following the first-ever Nobel Prize Summit.

Only profound changes in the way society produces, distributes and consumes almost everything—starting with energy—can forestall potentially catastrophic changes, they said in a joint statement, also signed by 20 other top thinkers.

"We need to reinvent our relationship with planet Earth," the statement said. "Without transformational action this decade, humanity is taking colossal risks with our common future."

The risks of pandemics, they noted, are now greater due to destruction of natural habitats, highly networked societies, and the spread of fake news on social networks.

The Nobel winners said societies must repair and restore the "global commons" that have allowed our species to flourish—the climate, ice, land, ocean, freshwater, forests, soils, and rich diversity of life that regulate the state of the planet.

"There is now an existential need to build economies and societies that support Earth system harmony rather than disrupt it," they warned.

"The next decade is crucial: global greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut by half and destruction of nature halted and reversed."

The amount of CO2 humanity can emit and still cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius—our "carbon budget" —will be exhausted before 2030, scientists have calculated.

Earth's average global temperature has already gone up 1.2C compared to preindustrial levels.

At the same time, energy needs are increasing: every week until 2050 Earth's urban population will increase by about 1.3 million.

The Nobel signatories included economists Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University and Oliver Hart from Harvard, biophysicists William Moerner from Stanford and Jacques Dubochet of Lausanne University, and astrophysicist Brian Schmidt of the

Tech & Gadgets

Nobels: Humanity taking ‘colossal risk’ with future

Mobile operators covering 50% of global mobile connections and 65% of industry revenues have now committed to sciencebased targets. This new report is the first comprehensive analysis of how the #mobile industry is doing against its ambition #climate target. Download the report to find out more—https://www.gsma.com/betterfuture/mobilenetzero In this file photo taken on May 10, 2011, a worker installs a canvas on the glacier of Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze (2.962 meters), near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany. Germany's glaciers are melting at a faster pace than feared and the country could lose its last ice caps in 10 years, an alarming report said on April 29, 2021. "The days of glaciers in Bavaria are numbered. And even sooner than expected," said Thorsten Glauber, environment minister of the southern region, home to Germany's ice-capped Alps.

Australian National University.

'Last generation that can act' There is no Nobel Prize for environmental or Earth science.

"What we are doing amounts to an uncontrolled experiment on Earth’s life-support system," said Earth system scientist Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and a signatory of the statement.

"We are the last generation with a reasonable chance of retaining long-term stability of critical parts of the Earth system."

The planet has sent up one red flag

after another of a climate system teetering on the edge of dangerous tipping points, the statement said.

Parts of the Antarctic ice sheet may have already crossed irreversible melting thresholds, and the circulation of North Atlantic currents that ensure temperate winters in Europe has slowed.

Rainforests, permafrost and coral reefs are similarly approaching tipping points.

Widening inequality and distortions in the distribution of information have also reached the level of global crises, the Nobels cautioned.

"These supranational crises are interlinked and threaten the enormous gains we have made in human progress," they wrote.

Humanity is only now "waking up late" to these challenges but still has time to act, the statement said, outlining seven critical areas.

Biologists Linda Buck at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Elizabeth H. Blackburn from the University of California at San Francisco, along with virologist Charles Rice from The Rockefeller University, also signed. AFP

Ohmyhome revamps web pages for better user experience MONTHS after property solutions platform Ohmyhome launched its application and website in the Philippines, scores of Filipino property seekers and sellers are benefiting from its practical, accessible, and efficient services. They now enjoy hassle-free housing transactions, two ways: through a DIY option where they can buy, sell, or rent on their own or with the assistance of well-trained professional Ohmyhome agents.

Still, Ohmyhome continues to upgrade and improve its provisions. After all, the proptech company’s endgame is to be the most trusted and reliable property platform in the country.

Recently, Ohmyhome revamped two of its main website pages: the Home Page and the Properties Page. Aside from going for a sleeker aesthetic, the company upgraded their features, making the search for their favored properties simple and easy for first- and long-time Ohmyhome site visitors.

Both the Home Page and the Properties Page now have a Search Bar, which gives buyers an option to search by project name, area, or developer. When clicked, the Search Bar also shows initial options of areas or developers that users can quickly select and sort through.

Property seekers or sellers who would like seamless and efficient housing transactions can check out the Ohmyhome website or download the Ohmyhome application for user-friendly features and reliable property-related services.

Ohmyhome’s Home Page also features a new section that organizes all the real estate projects available on the platform. Like in the Search Bar, users simply have to click the real estate developer in

order to view their chosen projects in locations all over the country.

Currently, Ohmyhome carries listings of projects from leading real estate developers such as Avida Land, SM Devel-

opment Corporation (SMDC), Suntrust, Honeycomb Builders, and the following Vista Bluechips Marketing brands: Vista Residences, Crown Asia, CoHo, Brittany, Lumina, Camella, and Lessandra.

Meanwhile, Ohmyhome’s new Properties Page now has curated categories that cater to various property preferences, according to research and customer-driven data.

In the Properties Page, property seekers will find the following categories: “Explore by Area,” “Ready for Occupancy,” “Preselling,” “Below P5 Million,” “Below P10 Million,” “Prime Properties,” “Made for Families,” and “For the Professionals”.

Ohmyhome users who choose a particular category in the Properties page will now be able to view all properties that correspond to their chosen preference or need.

For the convenience of platform users, the “Explore by Area” category in the Properties Page features the following areas: Manila, Quezon City, Taguig, Pasay, Pasig, Makati, Las Piñas, Mandaluyong, North Luzon, Central Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Crisis-resilient education strategy enables donation of portable classrooms TO complement Smart Communications Inc.’s donation of portable digital classrooms to learning communities, the PLDT wireless unit trained School-ina-Bag beneficiaries on the Central Visayan Institute Foundation - Dynamic Learning Program education strategy.

Supported by Smart and PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF), CVIF-DLP has been proven to improve the academic performance of students, especially in Science, Innovative Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. It was first established in 2002 at the CVIF in Jagna, Bohol by world-renowned Theoretical Physicists and Ramon Magsaysay awardees for education, Dr. Christopher Bernido, and Dr. Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido.

Smart’s education initiatives are among the key pillars of the company’s campaign to #LiveSmarter for a #BetterWorld. Under the movement, Smart aims to inspire people to commit to sustainable actions with lasting, positive impact to society.

Beneficiaries of Smart’s CVIFDLP training included teachers from Halang Elementary School in the east portion of Calamba, Laguna; Camflora Elementary School in the 4th class municipality of San Andres, Quezon Province; and Panglima Sugala Sailing School in the southernmost island province of Tawi-Tawi.

"As a teacher facing this pandemic without face-to-face interaction with students, the CVIF-DLP strategy of copying notes, while still being guided with necessary details of each topic, helps pupils retain lessons," Teacher Johrainne of Halang Elementary School says.

The elementary instructor also believes that the devices contained in the donated School-in-a-Bag packages can further complement CVIF-DLP. "The pre-loaded online learning resources can supplement DepEd's learning modules, and there are many extra virtual activities that can greatly develop learners' understanding of their lessons," Teacher Johrainne explains.

The School-in-a-Bag packages granted to these schools were donated

by Huawei Technologies Phils., Inc. through PSF. Each package includes a water-resistant backpack that contains a laptop for the teacher, 20 tablets to let students access interactive applications even while offline, and a Smart LTE pocket WiFi kit which teachers can use to connect to the internet and download additional content.

Aside from these School-in-a-Bag beneficiaries, educators from the Department of Education (DepEd) Division of Elementary and Secondary Schools in Laguna also tuned in to the CVIF-DLP workshop. The online training featured success stories and best practices of CVIF-DLP implementers from University of the East —Manila and the Schools Division of Basilan, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Business groups to aggressively expand green economy programs

Founding Chairman and Project Luntian Cavite President Prof. Julio Castillo (right)

Waste Management: Project Luntian visits Gentri Centro MRF FOUNDING Chairman and Project Luntian Cavite President Prof. Julio Castillo visits the General Trias City CENTRO Office to study and observe the best practices of waste management features of the city.

The CENRO head Dr. Renato Esculer articulates the efficient results of the MRF system.

Findings will be shared to the community around Cavite province at the symposium entitled, “Oriyentasyon: Kalinisan-Iwas sa Pandemya” on May 2, 2 p.m. at the Clubhouse, Belmont Hills Subdivision, General Trias City.

PHILIPPINE business groups will prioritize the expansion of “green” economy interventions to ensure environment friendly operations and sustainable economic recovery from the raging health and economic crisis.

“The interconnected challenges in public health, the economy, and the environment cannot be ignored. These have greatly disrupted global economic growth and punctuates the urgency to rebuild a more sustainable and resilient future,” said Prof. Dindo Manhit, President of Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute (ADRi) during their recently held virtual online forum on the theme “Moving Towards A Sustainable Future Through ESG” organized in partnership with environmental advocacy group Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship (PBEST).

“We believe that the private sector, through ESG, plays a vital role in advancing the country’s sustainable development,” Manhit said.

Metro Pacific Investments Corporation Chief Finance Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer Ms. June Cheryl Cabal-Revilla said, “We’ve put sustainability pillars across the businesses which include exceptional service, operational efficiency, environmental stewardship, human capital excellence, positive community impact, and governance and business ethics. We’ve also put our focus on progress by enabling genuine progress and development.

Ms. Cabal-Revilla reported that the MPIC group has maintained its carbon footprint flat at 460 metric tons because of Gabay Kalikasan programs on reforestation, waste management, re-

cycling, marine protection and community engagements.

Meralco Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer Raymond Ravelo said, “In the next five years we look to ‘greenify’ our supply portfolio by securing 1,500 megawatts (MW) of clean energy contracts. Through our company MGreen, which is our platform for investments in the renewable energy space, we will build 1,500 MW also in renewable energy projects through 2027.”

Top beverage company Coca-Cola Philippines represented by Country President Mr. Antonio del Rosario reported to have met 2020 commitment to replenish 100% of water used in production by consistently reducing water consumption.

“Our biggest project to date, which is building and pioneering a state-of-the-art end-to-end bottle recycling facility in Cavite, to be operational by the end of this year. We call it PETValue, a PHP 2.3 billion investment with Indorama Ventures, and we will collect and process PET through this plant, and the recycled PET can go back into producing new bottles, creating a circular economy.

This also enriches the lives of the people in the value chain,” del Rosario said.

Under their World Without Waste global commitment, 100% of the company’s bottles will be collected, recovered, and recycled by 2030.

Giant food company Mondelēz International Country Manager for Corporate and Government Affairs Atty. Joseph Fabul for his part said that their Parañaque plant has been using 100% Turn to C3 sustainable energy since 2019.

Tech & Gadgets

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SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021

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Ookla 1Q 2021: Globe most consistent network

LOBE remains the undisputed leader in mobile network consistency in the Philippines, according to Q1 2021 Speedtest® results from Ookla® data.

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Global analytics firm Ookla confirmed Globe as the Philippines’ most consistent network for Q1 2021, with a nationwide consistency score of 70.43, ahead of competition.

On a regional perspective, Ookla® data also showed highest mobile consistency scores in the following regions: Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Northern Mindanao, Ilocos Region, Eastern Visayas, Bicol, MIMAROPA, Cagayan Valley, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

Mobile consistency score is determined by the number of tests taken that are above a certain speed threshold.

In the same quarter, Ookla®, confirmed Globe as the leader in 10 out of 17 regions in terms of mobile median download speed - solidifying the Ayalaled telco’s lead over competition by a significant distance. These regions are: Bicol, Cagayan Valley, Caraga, CAR, Eastern Visayas, Ilocos Region, Northern Mindanao, Region XII, and Zamboanga Peninsula.

Globe being able to top 10 regions is a clear indication that the telco giant’s incessant efforts on network site improvements and service upgrades are

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Globe being able to top 10 regions is a clear indication that the telco giant’s incessant efforts on network site improvements and service upgrades are already being felt by its customers.

already being felt by its customers.

“We are happy that our relentless efforts to improve our network are now being experienced by our customers.

We expect our site builds and upgrades to continue despite the pandemic to pro-

vide more access and higher data capacity for our customers,” shared Ernest Cu, Globe President and Chief Executive Officer.

Aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, spe-

cifically UN SG No.9 which compels society to move forward with solutions to sustainably develop infrastructures, industries, innovations, Globe is driven to continuously ramp up its efforts for its customers.

Experience 3X the upgrade with new vivo Y12s for P6,499 TIRED of the long load times, three times a day charging and an outdated device? Users’ increased dependence on mobile phones is elevating the standards on performance and style.

This is why leading global smartphone brand vivo has launched a value-for-money device with a comprehensive user experience in the new vivo Y12s.

Learn more about the vivo Y12s: https://www.vivoglobal.ph/phone/vivoY12s/.

The vivo Y12s boasts three major upgrades: a long-lasting 5000mAh battery, enhanced performance with the Multi-Turbo 3.0 and FunTouch iOs 11, and a stylish side-mounted fingerprint unlock. The new smartphone is now available in vivo stores nationwide for only P6,499.

Available in vivo stores nationwide, here are the three massive upgrades that users can expect from the dynamic vivo Y12s.

The new vivo smartphone is now available in vivo stores nationwide.

This one is the Glacier Blue.

BUSINESS...

From C2

“We use a combination of geothermal, solar and other renewable energy to make our products and power our head office. We also have a biomass boiler which uses biodegradable sources of fuel, a rainwater treatment facility to lessen water waste, and this all contribute to the achievement of our sustainability goals,” Atty Fabul said.

“We aim to incubate, finance and build partnerships in the impact investment space through co-funded climate projects and a new social venture fund, alongside a modified corporate foundation focused on humanitarian aid. We aim to partner with like-minded investors, increase our impact on the world and support self-sustaining projects.”

Fabul said.

In support, DENR Undersecretary for Finance, Information Systems and Climate Change Usec. Analiza Teh said, “If you want to really pursue or really achieve a sustainable future, the solution is the promotion of transformational change to restore the balance between natural systems and human systems, which the human activities have destroyed.”

“We need to adapt the strategy which is long-lasting sustainable, inclusive, resilient, low-carbon lowpolluting, nature positive and circular economic-based pathway for the country,” Usec. Teh said.

port can bolster your all-day and allnight activities with prolonged run times. Power banks? You would definitely last a day without them.

Optimized, lag-free performance

Two features make the vivo Y12s ideal for both gamers and non-gamers.

For gamers, the Multi-Turbo 3.0 optimizes core scenes to reduce stuttering and lag in games. It shifts automatically to prioritizing internal storage resources to avoid delays when multiple apps are running simultaneously in the background.

Non-gamers, meanwhile, can benefit on the FunTouch OS 11 which runs on Android 10. It has a long list of extra features that make app management seamless like the iManager which automatically junks unused files to clean up space, the AI editor which makes it easy to edit and organize photos and videos, and the Gallery app which optimizes the High-performance battery performances of your phone’s downThere is no need to hang around loaded programs.

Stylish design and unlock power outlets with vivo Y12s’ Some budget smartphones would 5000mAh battery. This powerful sup-

need up to five taps to be accessible. The vivo Y12s significantly makes unlocking easier with its side-mounted fingerprint which will give access to the phone in 0.23 seconds.

Making the phone more stylish are its two trendy colors: Glacier Blue and Phantom Black. Its 6.51-inch Halo FullView Display completes the vivo Y12s’ sophisticated design.

Users can now enjoy these three huge upgrades with the new vivo Y12s now available in vivo stores nationwide. For more details, visit https:// www.vivoglobal.ph/phone/vivo-Y12s/ or visit vivo Philippines on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Y12s is also available for purchase at the following vivo online stores: Lazada: 64GB Memory Card Bundle: http:// bit.ly/vivo-Y12s-Bundle-LZD Non-bundle: http://bit.ly/vivoY12s-LZD Shopee: 64GB Memory Card Bundle: http:// bit.ly/Y12s-Bundle-SHP None-bundle: http://bit.ly/Y12s-SHP

HIT two birds with one stone with #AcerOnePlusJuan promo.

You surely wouldn’t want to miss the chance to get a free Acer One 8 T2 tablet when you buy an Acer Swift of Spin laptop from April 8 to May 9, 2021.

Working and learning from home will be a breeze with the Acer Swift or Spin laptop.

Staying at the highest level of your work or school productivity is made easy with its powerful specs and overall performance. And as an added bonus, you’ll get a free One 8 T2 Tablet worth P5,990 when you purchase one.

“With everything going digital from school to work, we came up with the idea of sharing an exclusive promo which can help individuals who work from home or study online. For every purchase of participating Acer Swift and Spin laptops, shoppers can get a free tablet.

With this, learning or working from home can be much more flexible and convenient,” said Acer Philippines General Manager Sue Ong-Lim. Participating Acer Swift and Spin models are as follows: Swift 3 SF13-53-50TE, SF314-5951GR, SF314-59-5934, SF31459-77ZC; Swift 3x SF314-510G58EW, SF314-510G-75FV, SF314-510G-77HY; Swift 5 SF514-55TA-54J7, SF51455TA-71C1; and Spin 5 SP51354N-53X8, SP513-54N-73ZX. Got your eyes set on this exciting bundle? Avail it at leading Acer stores, authorized retailers, and through Acer online store: https:// store.acer.com/en-ph/.

To know more about this promo, you may visit Acer’s Official online platforms: Facebook – @AcerPH, Instagram – @acerph, Twitter – @acerphils, www.acer.com.

Webinar on Taiwan digital health solutions calls for healthcare rethink THIS week, five medtech brands from Taiwan presented their latest digital health innovations in a webinar organized by TAITRA (Taiwan External Trade Development Council), Taiwan’s leading trade promotion organization, and Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs.

A year into the pandemic, “Taiwan still remains as one of the best-managed societies against COVID-19, having one of the lowest mortality rates and one of the lowest infection rates, partially based on Taiwan’s digital health development,” remarked Dr. Yu-Chuan Jack Li, a dermatologist, professor and President-Elect of the International Medical Informatics Association, during his opening remarks.

The International Medical Informatics Association is an independent world body that promotes and furthers the use of information science in the fields of healthcare, bioscience and medicine.

The hour-long webinar was held to spotlight the country’s strengths and to call for a healthcare rethink, highlighting the need to enable and improve the quality of healthcare through technology. Just like Taiwan’s globally recognized semiconductor industry and chip manufacturing capabilities, the country also has

The S100 Image System

a fully digitized healthcare system that interlinks all hospitals, clinics and related government administrations. According to Dr. Li, this technologically advanced environment has helped Taiwan develop the most cost-efficient and high-quality medical devices and software, ideal for the future of healthcare.

During the webinar, five companies, all of whom are winners of this

year’s Taiwan Excellence Awards, highlighted various smart medical solutions that are suitable for health facilities and communities. The product launch featured Leltek's handheld wireless ultrasound technology, Wincomm's Medical AI Panel PC, Acer Healthcare’s AI-assisted diagnostic software for diabetic retinopathy, MiiS’s medical image solution, and

Apollo Medical Optics’ OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) solution, a non-invasive skin analysis device.

Overall, the event attracted almost 300 registrants and attendees, and welcomed online viewers from over 10 countries including the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Italy, France, Iran, Germany and the UK. Aside from coming up with impressive digital health solutions, Taiwan believes effective communication should be at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19. The country came up with a dedicated website where it shared its experience and expertise in fighting COVID-19 and prevent its further spread. This website features some of Taiwan’s most advanced and state-of-the-art epidemic prevention measures and smart technologies to fight the virus and show how healthcare from Taiwan helps the world. Find more anti-epidemic product providers at https://www. anticovid19tw.org.

For more information: Event Website https://sites. google.com/taitra.org.tw/smartmedicalwebinar/ Taiwan Excellence Award https://www.taiwanexcellence. org/en

Motoring

Ramon L. Tomeldan Editor

C4

SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021

2021 TOYOTA GR GT CUP

Heart-racing prizes await circuit champs O

N TOP of the title and honor, up to P1 million worth of prizes are at stake in this year’s 2021 Toyota Gazoo Racing GT Cup as racers run through different stages to lead the circuit and accumulate points to reach the championship spot.

Waving from the checkered flag is a cash prize plus a brand-new Sony PlayStation 5 awaits the overall champion of the National Finals. While the 2nd and 3rd placers get heart-pumping gadgets and gears including a high-powered tablet and a much-loved gaming chair respectively.

Coming in the national rounds, finishers get to share gaming gears and coveted devices including gaming steering wheel, portable gaming console, a highdefinition gaming headset, top-tier gaming monitors. Tablets, smart home devices and portable action cameras are

III

also in the horizon for the techno freaks.

A gaming Headset, gaming mouse, gaming drive shifter, plus smart home devices are also up for grabs within the Junior and Special racing categories.

Racers are encouraged to accumulate as many points as possible by entering and re-qualifying for all rounds starting from April to June 2021. Interested players can still join for Round 2 with the Leaderboard race starting on May 28 and the Race Heat landing on May 29.

While Round 3 Leaderboard Race lights green on June 18, and the Final Heat

FASTLANE SGAP names new president

SOJITZ G Auto Philippines President & CEO Mikihisa Takayama will end his assignment this month to fulfill a new role in SGAP’s mother company, Sojitz Corporation in Tokyo, Japan.

Taking over his role as the new President and CEO is SGAP’s current Executive Vice President, Yosuke Nishi.

Geely was launched in the country last September 2019 under its local distributor SGAP. As the company’s President & CEO since 2019, Takayama led SGAP to aggressively move in making Geely’s presence known in the local car market consistently with its successful launches of the Geely Coolray as well as the Azkarra and Okavango in spite of the fragile state of the auto industry as a result of the pandemic.

During his term, Takayama has also directed the Geely brand into achieving its milestones as a young brand in the Philippine automotive market.

Geely has consistently logged high sales record with Coolray managing to be the top-selling model in its class in most months from 2020 to 2021.

Recently, SGAP announced that it

III

has maintained its top 10 industry ranking in March keeping number 9 position in total industry sales.

Nishi will take the helm as SGAP’s new President & CEO starting May 1, 2021. As SGAP’s Executive Vice President, he has been working alongside Takayama in steering SGAP in the right direction since 2019.

Nishi started his automotive stint in the Philippines as an executive from 2012-2018. He admitted that he learned to love the country and the Filipinos.

“Since I am really fascinated by the Filipino culture, I wanted to come back to the Philippines. And during my short stay in Japan, I had been visiting the Philippines for the preparation of the establishment of SGAP. I have worked on getting an approval from Sojitz to establish the Geely business,” SGAP’s incoming President & CEO Yosuke Nishi said.

Being hands-on with the rise of the Geely brand in the country, the incoming SGAP President & CEO has definitely built a deep connection with the business, even calling it his ‘baby’.

Breen takes the helm at Ford Philippines FORD Motor Company has appointed Michael “Mike” Breen as managing director, Ford Philippines, effective June 1. Breen is currently managing director, Ford Asia Pacific Direct Markets .

Breen will relocate to Manila and will report directly to Yukontorn ‘Vickie’ Wisadkosin, president, Ford ASEAN. In his new role, Breen will be responsible for continuing to drive Ford’s momentum in the Philippines, including sustaining the success of its vehicle lineup and further enhancing the ownership and aftersales experience for Ford customers.

“Mike brings with him a wealth of experience gained from close to three decades of working in Ford markets all over the world.

As APDM country lead complemented by his extensive expertise in dealer relations, marketing, and sales operations, I am confident that Mike’s leadership in the Philippines, together with our dealer partners, will help us improve customer experience to

further grow the Ford brand in the market,” said Wisadkosin.

In his present role which he assumed in 2019, Breen leads a team that supports distributors across 25 countries working around various product requirements and customer engagement initiatives. Under his leadership as managing director, he supported distributors to grow Ford’s presence in selected markets by introducing new products which led to a 15 percent increase in volume and 5.6 points improvement in market share.

He joined Ford in 1993 as a customer service representative in Ford North America, climbing up the ranks while performing various mar marketing and sales roles. As Brand Content and Alliance Manager, Breen led the launch and execu execution of a groundbreaking part partnership with Home Shopping Network which helped in increase leads and sales as well as improved overall per perception of the Ford brand.

Michael Breen

happens the next day, June 19, where we will find out who will dominate the digital circuit.

The more points earned, the more chances of winning bigger and more exciting prizes. Participants can register in eligible classes from Sporting (Professional), Promotional (Non-professional), and Junior (17 years old and below).

Organizing the Toyota GR GT Cup is a follow-up to Toyota Motor Philippines’ motorsports success and legacy.

After the years long achievement of the now famous Vios Cup, racers of any age can enjoy Waku Doki or the power of a thrill, even in the comforts of their own home. Both professional and novice driv-

ers can experience the same fun and excitement as the real one.

“We are eager to bring Waku Doki in the Filipino homes especially in the trying times where almost everyone is encouraged to stay safe at home. It is equally a wonderful time for emerging Filipino gamers and champions to hone their talent and win the GR GT Cup. We are excited to meet the fastest Filipino driver this year.” Toyota Motor Philippine Vice-President for Marketing Services Elijah Marcial shares.

The establishment of TOYOTA GA-

ZOO Racing is a testament to Toyota’s unyielding passion for auto racing. And the GR GT Cup serves as an expansion of their love of building ever-better cars and giving the experience of Waku Doki even for those who aren’t able to push their pedals against the real racing tracks. Even in the heat of speeding in circuits and beyond the limits of the pandemic, Toyota is committed in producing happiness for all.

Hyundai opens 41st dealership

By Othel V. Campos THE official Philippine distributor of Hyundai vehicles, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc., opened Friday its 41st dealership, Hyundai Silang.

“Today, we stand at the front lines of a new revolution in our struggle to overcome the devastating impact of COVID-19. We at Hyundai are one with the people of Silang in restoring and revitalizing local businesses,” said HARI president and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo at the virtual opening of the new HARI dealership located in Brgy. Lalaan, Aguinaldo Highway, Silang Cavite.

Hyundai Silang is the 6th Hyundai dealership under the helm of Hyundai Alabang, Inc., led by Dealer Principal, William Chiongbian II. Hyundai Alabang, Inc. has spanned almost two decades of strengthening Hyundai’s presence south of Metro Manila through Hyundai Alabang, Hyundai Las Piñas, and in southern Philippines with Hyundai San Pablo, Hyundai Naga City, and Hyundai Southern Mindanao.

Hyundai Silang is gearing up to revolutionize the automotive landscape of Silang and greater Cavite and ultimately contribute to the overall revival of one of the country’s major growth hubs.

Cavite is one of the Philippines’ most populated, industrialized, and fast-growing provinces. With its reliable road network, the province makes for a popular weekend get-away from the congestion and heat of the Metro.

While Silang, which is a thriving agricultural hub and a real estate and eco-tourism destination place on the rise is integral to development efforts south of NCR. reiterated his group’s commitment to provide the Silangeños Hyundai’s signature #BetterJourneys in Sales, After Sales, and Parts.

“We are here to help move people

The birth of a modern-day revolution. On its 20th year, Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) welcomes its newest brave member of the Hyundai dealership network in the country, Hyundai Silang.

Welcome to the family! At the marker unveiling of Hyundai Silang were from left: Evelyn Pilapil, Vice President for Corporate Services and Maxwell Quilat, Group Chief Operating Officer representing the Hyundai Alabang Group; and Victor Vela, Head of Sales Operations Division and Richard Gapasin, Vice President for After Sales Service and Parts Operations representing Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc.

and businesses and, ultimately, contribute to driving the much-needed economic recovery at the municipal, provincial and regional levels. We put our extensive portfolio of safe and reliable vehicles and the skills, hard work, and dedication of our employees to the service of the Silangeños in the New Normal,” he said.

The dealership is an elegant and convenient space designed for ecofriendly operations, meeting the global standards for Hyundai dealerships the world over.

Customers are assured of a safe and secure environment, through Hyundai’s

Guidelines for Protection and Safety (GPS). GPS, which now counts a year of implementation at all Hyundai dealerships in the country, is HARI’s pioneering program to COVID-proof its operations by establishing globally and locally-prescribed safety protocols to safeguard the wellbeing of customers and employees alike. Hyundai Silang is also pre-certified GREEEN (Geared for Resiliency and Energy Efficiency for the Environment) by the Philippine Green Building Initiative (PGBI), having received the “Molave” rating, or 75 percent compliant with PGBI’s GREEEN standards.

>> SPEED TO MARKET

Name of the game in new normal THE pandemic has definitely changed consumer behavior. Now that many people are stuck at home and are forced to embrace digital technology, people have significantly shorter attention span and much shorter patience. Instant gratification is now a norm and people expect the goods and services they have ordered to be delivered in the shortest possible time.

The same is true with the automotive industry, with truck body building in particular.

“Centro Manufacturing Corporation has risen to the call by developing spe-

cial systems that enable us to deliver our products faster than industry standard while not sacrificing quality. By fine tuning our manufacturing process and strengthening our supply chain, we were able to drastically cut our delivery commitment time”, says Vic Belisario, Centro Senior Sales Manager.

“It all started with our brand new wing vans, the product of our partnership with Nippon Fruehauf of Japan”, he says. “It is now the leading brand new wing van brand in the country. And this is because by using Japanese technol-

ogy, we are now able to assemble, install and deliver a brand new wing van body on retail basis in just five working days. But of course, for fleet or volume orders, a delivery timeline will be prepared with the first batch delivered after five working days”.

Belisario explains that five working days compared to the usual one month importation and fabrication of wing vans means three extra weeks of earlier profitability for the logistics provider.

“They make money sooner with less waiting time so everybody is happy”.