THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it is encouraging bond issuers to tap the social bond market to help support economic recovery efforts.

START-UPS struggled during the lockdown because of restrictions on movement and declining cash, and are now looking to companies to partner with and provide investment, QBO Innovation Hub President Rene S. Meily said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused economies to fall. To bounce back, the Philippines has adopted a whole-of-society approach in turn-around management. A basic advantage of the Philippines is its cohesive private sector that has taken the lead and has quickly channeled resources towards the most vulnerable communities. This softened the impact on the people especially during the early weeks of the lockdowns.

A comrade during my politically active EDSA Revolution days reminded me once to keep in mind that we Filipinos have such short memories. How right he was. Barely a generation has passed and already a bill has been filed in Congress by no less than the son of the President to nullify a gesture made by our country to honor a martyred hero on the very site of his assassination, our international airport.

PRICING a new medicine aimed at taming a pandemic is one of the touchiest scenarios imaginable for a drug company. Set the price too high, and the world will assail you for price gouging. Too low, and you risk bleeding money and investors. No decision will ever make everyone happy, but Gilead Sciences, Inc.’s price for its COVID-19 treatment remdesivir is a solid attempt.

HONG KONG/BEIJING — China’s parliament passed national security legislation for Hong Kong on Tuesday, setting the stage for the most radical changes to the former British colony’s way of life since it returned to Chinese rule almost exactly 23 years ago.

GILEAD SCIENCES, Inc. on Monday priced its COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) antiviral remdesivir at $2,340 per patient for wealthier nations and agreed to send nearly all of its supply of the drug to the United States over the next three months.

SHANGHAI — A new flu virus found in Chinese pigs has become more infectious to humans and needs to be watched closely in case it becomes a potential “pandemic virus,” a study said, although experts said there is no imminent threat.

THE COUNTRY is assured of at least two boxers competing in the rescheduled Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 but the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) is confident more could be added to that number once qualifying tournaments resume.

LONDON — Formula One starts its season in Austria this week, nearly four months later than planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic and against a very different backdrop even if Lewis Hamilton’s targets remain the same.

THE SAMAHANG BASKETBOL ng Pilipinas (SBP) welcomed the rescheduling of the FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament to May next year as it gives the team from the Philippines added time to prepare.

MANY business process outsourcing (BPO) companies expect flat growth or a contraction this year, while some big businesses still hope to grow by single-digits amid the pandemic, according to an informal poll conducted by the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).