Trump charged over efforts to cling to power

August 2, 2023 | 5:46 pm

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump was indicted on Tuesday for his wide-ranging attempts to overturn the 2020 election, the third time in four months that the former US president has been criminally charged even as he campaigns to regain the presidency next year.

The four-count, 45-page indictment charges Republican Mr. Trump with conspiring to defraud the US by preventing Congress from certifying Democrat Joseph R. Biden’s victory and to deprive voters of their right to a fair election.

Then-President Mr. Trump pushed fraud claims he knew to be untrue, pressured state and federal officials — including Vice President Mike Pence — to alter the results and finally incited a violent assault on the US Capitol in a desperate attempt to undermine American democracy and cling to power, prosecutors said.

Mr. Trump was ordered to make an initial appearance in federal court in Washington on Thursday. The case has been assigned to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who was appointed by Mr. Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama.

The charges stem from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s sprawling investigation into allegations Mr. Trump sought to reverse his loss to Mr. Biden. Despite a dizzying and growing array of legal troubles, Mr. Trump has solidified his status as the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, according to public opinion polls.

Weeks of assertions that the election had been stolen culminated in a fiery Trump speech on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress met to certify the results. Soon after, his supporters stormed the US Capitol in a bid to stop Congress from formalizing Mr. Biden’s victory.

In a brief statement to reporters, Mr. Smith placed the blame for the violence squarely on Mr. Trump’s shoulders.

“The attack on our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies — lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing the bedrock function of the US government,” Mr. Smith said.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the attack.

PHONY SLATE OF ELECTORS
Mr. Trump and others organized fraudulent slates of electors in seven states, all of which he lost, to be certified as official by Congress on Jan. 6, the indictment said.

The indictment lays out numerous examples of Mr. Trump’s election falsehoods and notes that close advisers, including senior intelligence officials, told him repeatedly that the results were legitimate.

“These claims were false, and the defendant knew that they were false,” prosecutors wrote.

When the push to certify the fake electors failed, Mr. Trump sought to pressure Vice President Mike Pence not to allow certification of the election to go forward, and took advantage of the chaos outside the Capitol to do so, according to prosecutors. During the violence, Mr. Trump rebuffed calls from his advisers to issue a calming message.

“The Defendant attempted to use a crowd of supporters that he had gathered in Washington, D.C. to pressure the Vice President to fraudulently alter the election results,” the indictment reads.

In a statement, the Trump campaign said he had always followed the law and characterized the indictment as a “persecution” reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

“President Trump will not be deterred by disgraceful and unprecedented political targeting!” it added. Later Tuesday, Mr. Trump’s campaign sent out a fundraising email referencing the indictment.

The indictment also includes six unnamed co-conspirators who have not been charged.

Based on the descriptions, they appear to include Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who called state lawmakers in the weeks following the 2020 election to pressure them not to certify their states’ results; former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, who tried to get himself installed as attorney general so he could launch voter fraud investigations in Georgia and other swing states; and attorney John Eastman, who advanced the erroneous legal theory that Pence could block the electoral certification.

“Every statement that Mayor Giuliani made was truthful and expressing his beliefs,” his attorney Robert Costello told Reuters. “He believed there was proof of election fraud, and I have seen the affidavits that back that up.”

Eastman lawyer Charles Burnham said in an email the indictment used a “misleading presentation of the record to contrive criminal charges against Presidential candidate Trump and to cast ominous aspersions on his close advisors.”

Mr. Clark did not respond to requests for comment.

The most serious charge against Mr. Trump carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, though sentencing is based on numerous factors and is subject to the judge’s discretion.

MOUNTING LEGAL WOES
Mr. Trump already had become the first former US president to face criminal charges. He has portrayed all of the prosecutions as part of a politically motivated witch hunt aimed at preventing his return to power.

Tuesday’s charges represent a second round of federal charges by Smith, who was appointed special counsel in November by US Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty after a federal grand jury in Miami convened by the special counsel charged him in June in a 37-count indictment over his unlawful retention of classified government documents after leaving office in 2021 and obstructing justice. Prosecutors accused him of risking some of the most sensitive US national security secrets.

Last Thursday, prosecutors added three more criminal counts against Mr. Trump, accusing him of ordering employees to delete security videos as he was under investigation for retaining the documents.

In March, a grand jury convened by Manhattan’s district attorney indicted him for falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she said she had with him. Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty and has denied the encounter.

TRUMP IS 2024 REPUBLICAN FRONT-RUNNER
Mr. Trump, 77, leads a crowded field of Republican presidential candidates as he seeks a rematch with Mr. Biden, 80, next year.

Mr. Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, has shown an ability to survive legal troubles, political controversies and personal behavior that might sink other politicians. Many Republicans — elected officials and voters — have rallied behind Mr. Trump, portraying the charges against him as selective prosecution and a Democratic plot to destroy him politically.

That pattern largely held on Tuesday, as most Republicans pivoted to attacks on Biden. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in Congress, said on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, that the indictment was an attempt to “attack the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Mr. Trump’s leading rival for the Republican nomination, said on X that he had yet to read the indictment. But he vowed to “end the weaponization of the federal government,” suggesting that the Biden administration was using the charges to target a political enemy.

Strategists said that while the indictments could help Trump solidify support within his base and win the Republican nomination, his ability to capitalize on them may be more limited in next year’s general election, when he will have to win over more skeptical moderate Republicans and independents.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump’s legal woes are growing. In addition to the three indictments, Mr. Trump faces a fourth criminal investigation by a county prosecutor in Georgia into accusations he sought to undo his 2020 election loss in that state.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has indicated she plans to bring charges in that case within the next three weeks.

Special counsels are sometimes appointed to investigate politically sensitive cases, and they do their jobs with a degree of independence from the Justice Department leadership.

Before being appointed by Garland to take over the two Trump-related investigations, Smith had served as the chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, assigned to prosecuting war crimes in Kosovo, oversaw the Justice Department’s public integrity section and worked as a federal and state prosecutor in New York. — Reuters

Point of no return: Australians fight for the right to work from home

August 2, 2023 | 5:45 pm

lockdown-WFH-computer-laptop — STOCK PHOTO | Image by Yasmina H from Unsplash

SYDNEY — Before COVID-19 sent one-third of the global workforce home, the Melbourne property surveyor that employs drone operator Nicholas Coomber called its 180-strong staff into the office every day at 9 a.m. to hand out assignments.

Now that they work from home (WFH), the surveyors travel straight to the field as early as 7.30 a.m., enabling Mr. Coomber to pick up his children from daycare earlier than before the pandemic.

“If they were to say ‘everyone back in the office’, I would probably be asking for a raise,” said Mr. Coomber, who still visits the office once or twice a week. “You get more family time. You can actually finish work at five, rather than finishing at five spending 45 minutes trying to get home.”

As corporate leaders from JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jamie Dimon to Tesla and Twitter boss Elon Musk call for an end to pandemic-era remote work arrangements, unions in Australia are setting a precedent and fighting back, taking to court the country’s biggest bank and wrangling with the federal government to demand WFH, as it is known, to become the norm.

“All the deep changes in the Australian labor market have come out of crises. When you have a jolt, you never return to the way the world was,” said John Buchanan, head of the University of Sydney’s Health and Work Research Network.

“We’re always ahead of the pack in the English-speaking world, say compared to the UK, US, New Zealand.”

Empowered by the lowest unemployment rate in half a century, staff at Commonwealth Bank of Australia took the A$170-billion ($114 billion) lender to the industrial tribunal to challenge a directive to work from the office half of the time.

In April, the CEO of Australia’s third-largest bank, National Australia Bank (NAB), ordered 500 senior managers back to the office full-time. In July, NAB agreed to a union deal that gives all employees, including the 500 managers, the right to request WFH, with limits on grounds of refusal.

That same week, the public sector union struck a deal the which lets Australia’s 120,000 federal employees request work-from-home an unlimited number of days.

By comparison, Canada’s federal workers ended a two-week strike in May with a wages agreement that came without the WFH protections they wanted. And in the European Union, lawmakers are still negotiating updates to decades-old “telework” protections to fit a post-lockdown economy, where actual office attendance is down on 2019 levels anywhere from a fifth in Tokyo to more than half in New York, according to global real estate company Jones Lang Lasalle.

“The genie’s out of the bottle: working from home is something that is staying well beyond COVID and the pandemic,” said Melissa Donnelly, the Community and Public Sector Union secretary who negotiated the Australian federal agreement.

“What was possible around working from home has absolutely been transformed,” she added. “This is what this deal achieves. It will have a flow on effect across different industries.”

CBA and NAB say that even before the union deals, their policies allowed flexible working arrangements, which were widely used.

‘HISTORIC CONFRONTATION’
Though the number of remote-work days sought by employees differs between country and industry, the gap between employee WFH demands and their bosses’ return-to-office orders is a global constant, said Mathias Dolls, deputy director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys in Hamburg which polled 35,000 workers and employers in 34 countries as part of a project with Stanford University.

Among employees with WFH experience, 19% wanted to return to the office full-time, the survey found. Workers wanted two days a week of WFH, double what bosses wanted, and “the gap is not shrinking,” said Mr. Dolls. “I don’t think we will see WFH levels going back to pre-pandemic levels.”

Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute, a think tank, said individual union deals would not necessarily end the stalemate since employers would get more bargaining power if unemployment rose, a widely expected by-product of rising interest rates.

“The overall weight of opinion among workers is strongly they’d like to keep doing it and I think an emerging majority of employers are thinking, no, they want people back to work,” Stanford said.

“That sets the stage for a historic confrontation.”

CHANGED WORKFORCE
The shift to remote work, from as little as 2% of Australian hours worked in 2019 to a standard of white-collar employment, has already disrupted the business model of office landlords who report declining building valuations amid concerns about reduced floorspace being rented by companies.

About one-sixth of Australian capital city office space is vacant, a multi-year high, industry data shows, as in-person attendance remains at least a third below pre-pandemic levels.

While WFH spells pain for investors in bricks and mortar, employees like drone operator Mr. Coomber can only see benefits: flexible work arrangements recently allowed him and his wife to keep working for two weeks when their children were too sick to attend childcare.

“It just helps get through life a little bit easier,” he said. — Reuters

Rice export prices rise further in Thailand, Vietnam — sources

August 2, 2023 | 5:44 pm

SINGAPORE — Rice exporters in Thailand and Vietnam are re-negotiating prices on sales contracts for around half a million metric tons for August shipments, two trade sources said, as India’s ban has tightened global supplies.

Exporters are rushing to cover rice supplies from farmers who have raised prices following a surge in the world market, putting millions of dollars’ worth of deals at risk.

Rice farmers and exporters who had bought shipments in advance are set to gain from tightening world supplies, while buyers are likely to lose despite booking cargoes before India’s announcement of ban as sellers renegotiate contracts to get higher prices.

Rice importers have no choice but to pay higher rates as sellers will default on contracts, given the substantial increase in prices of the staple, traders said.

India late last month banned white rice exports amid uncertainty over domestic production, heightening food supply worries among importers of the staple in Asia and Africa.

“Prices have gone up since India banned exports and it is difficult for suppliers to fulfil contracts signed at lower prices,” said one Singapore-based trader, with direct knowledge of talks.

Thailand and Vietnam, the world’s No. 2 and 3 exporters respectively, are estimated to ship more than one million metric tons of rice in August. India is the world’s biggest rice exporter accounting for around 40% of global supplies.

Global prices of key rice varieties shipped worldwide have climbed by about $80 per metric ton since India imposed the ban on July 20, they said.

Thailand’s 5% broken rice prices climbed to $625 per metric ton, versus $545 around two weeks ago, while similar variety from Vietnam has risen to $590 a metric ton as compared with $515-$525.

“The current prices are way higher than the contracted prices,” said one trader in Ho Chi Minh City. “The export price surge has resulted in a sharp rise in domestic paddy prices. Several traders are now rushing to sped up their purchases from farmers.”

While large exporting houses are likely to fulfil contracts, smaller trading companies are expected to default on shipments, traders said.

Importers, including the Philippines, are likely to seek direct deals with governments of exporting countries to ensure critical food supplies. — Reuters

Taiwan military to boost counter-espionage efforts after suspected infiltration by China

August 2, 2023 | 5:43 pm

TAIPEI — Taiwan’s military vowed on Wednesday to step up counter-espionage efforts as authorities investigated several serving and former military officers suspected of spying for China.

China, which is pressing the island to accept its sovereignty, has in recent years mounted a sustained espionage campaign to undermine democratically governed Taiwan’s military and civilian leadership, a Reuters investigation has found.

A lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsiao, based in the army’s Aviation and Special Forces Command, had been detained on suspicion of leaking defense secrets to “foreign forces including China” and “developing organizations” in Taiwan, the official Central News Agency (CNA) reported.

Investigators searched the Command headquarters in the northern city of Taoyuan this week, the CNA reported, adding that four retired military officers as well as a “middleman” surnamed Hsiao were also being investigated.

The defense ministry said in a statement that authorities have gathered “concrete evidence” of illegal activities.

“Facing infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party, the national forces will continue to boost counter-espionage education and raise awareness,” the ministry said, adding it was saddened by the crime of “selling out the country and people”.

Responding to a question about the reports at a press conference, Deputy Secretary-General to the Presidential Office Alex Huang said the incident was “shameless” and called for thorough investigations.

“Betraying your own fellow soldiers and country should be punished by law strictly,” he said, adding that authorities had been working hard to prevent such incidents happening again.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up military and political pressure over recent years to try to force the island to accept its sovereignty, which the government in Taipei rejects.

In the past decade or so, at least 21 serving or retired Taiwanese officers with the rank of captain or above have been convicted of spying for China, according to a Reuters review of court records and reports from Taiwan’s official news agencies. — Reuters

Armed robbers steal millions worth of jewelry from Piaget store in Paris

August 2, 2023 | 5:42 pm

PARIS — Armed robbers raided a store of the luxury Swiss watch brand Piaget in central Paris on Tuesday, escaping with between 10 million to 15 million euros ($11 million to $16.5 million) worth of jewelry, the Paris prosecutors office said.

The robbery took place around lunchtime at the store on the Rue de la Paix in the upscale Place Vendome area, home to several jewelers, watchmakers and luxury brands. The area has seen a spate of armed robberies in recent years.

An investigation is now underway and a source close to the matter said police were looking for three suspects.

In May last year, armed thieves robbed a Chanel watch and jewelry store in the area and then sped off on motorbikes. Bulgari and Chaumet stores have also been robbed in recent years.

Piaget is part of Swiss luxury goods group Richemont. — Reuters

Globe registers 54 million SIM users, remains ‘undisputed mobile leader’ in PHL

August 2, 2023 | 2:31 pm

Globe is the undisputed mobile leader in the Philippines, edging out competitors in its user count as it logged nearly 54 million registered SIMs as of July 30, the end of the 5-day grace period following seven months of registration.

Based on data released by the National Telecommunications Commission, Globe has logged 53,727,798 registered SIMs as of 11:59 p.m. on July 30, over 1.2 million higher than the nearest competition.

Globe earlier logged a last-minute surge in SIM registrations after as the deadline lapsed on July 25 and the grace period for reactivation started on July 26, recording nearly 4 million more registered and reactivated SIMs during the 5-day grace period. A survey found that many registered at the last minute as they were afraid to be victimized by identity theft while the others were extremely busy with other pressing matters.

“After seven months of our nationwide registration which brought us to the remote parts of the country, Globe was able to reach the most number of customers successfully. With close to 54 million subscribers registered, we retained our position as the country’s Mobile leader,” said Darius Delgado, Head of Globe’s Consumer Mobile Business.

“We thank our customers for taking part in this historic undertaking as we work together to beat spam, scam and other forms of online fraud,” he said.

Throughout the registration process, Globe rolled out several modes of registration for the convenience of its customers: its online portal https://new.globe.com.ph/simreg, the GlobeOne app, GCash, and the bulk registration portal for enterprise customers.

To reach as many customers as it could, Globe also deployed 1,572 SIM Registration Assistance Desks to help the elderly, PWDs, and those without internet access or are using basic or feature phones. Globe Stores and EasyHubs nationwide were also open for walk-in customers who may need help to register their SIMs.

With the lapse of the deadline and grace period, all unregistered SIMs have been permanently deactivated. Globe said those who missed the deadline may buy new SIMs and register for activation so they could access connectivity services.

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China denies reports it obstructed G20 climate discussions

August 2, 2023 | 2:12 pm

Reports that China obstructed discussions on tackling climate change at Group of 20 (G20) meetings last week in India are “completely inconsistent with the facts”, China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

After three days of discussions on issues like cutting emissions and fossil fuel use, as well as climate finance to support poorer nations, the group of major nations failed to issue a joint communique or deliver any new pledges.

The group acknowledged in a statement after their talks that measures to address climate change were “insufficient”.

Members of a European delegation said that China and oil-rich Saudi Arabia had backed away from making commitments at the meetings, but China rejected that.

The foreign ministry said in a statement it “regrets” the failure to reach an agreement at the meetings, which was caused by “geopolitical issues” brought up by other countries “for no reason”.

China, which accounts for more than half of global coal production, has bristled at calls to do more to cut greenhouse gases, saying its historical and per capita CO2 emissions are still lower than those of the United States.

The foreign ministry said the G20 should build political consensus among members and “fully respect the different development stages and national conditions of countries”.

Parts of China, including its capital, have been battered this week by the heaviest rain in 140 years, the Beijing Meteorological Service said, the latest bout of extreme weather from around the world to raise fears about the pace of global warming.

China has pledged to bring its emissions to a peak before the end of the decade and become carbon-neutral by 2060.

But despite building record levels of new clean energy capacity, its fossil fuel consumption has continued to rise, with no plans to start cutting coal use until 2026.

US climate envoy John Kerry visited Beijing last month in a bid to restore trust between the two sides and build momentum for the COP28 climate talks in Dubai at the end of the year. — Reuters

Trans people in India demand equal access to public toilets

August 2, 2023 | 2:08 pm

NEW DELHI — Like many transgender Indians, 32-year-old social worker Leela thinks twice before using a public toilet. After facing insults and hostility in the past, she often opts to put up with the discomfort until she gets home.

“Using a public toilet is perhaps the easiest thing for a non-LGBTQ person. But for a trans woman like me, it can be … a traumatic experience,” Leela told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in the capital, New Delhi, asking to use only her first name.

She recalled an incident several years ago when she was forced to leave a women’s toilet after other women objected to her presence.

“Since then I realized that I have no other option but to hold my pee,” she said.

Repeatedly holding in urine for long periods of time can cause abdominal pain and increase the risk of urinary infections.

“It’s really inhuman,” said Fred Rogers, an LGBTQ+ activist from the southern state of Tamil Nadu who filed a petition to Madras High Court earlier this year demanding at least one gender-neutral bathroom in all public spaces.

His is one of several such initiatives focused on boosting trans bathroom access across the country of 1.4 billion people, where awareness of transgender rights issues is slowly growing.

India’s Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that trans people should be recognized as the “third gender”, extending rights that allow them to self-identity as their chosen gender, but prejudice and social marginalization persists.

Many are rejected by their families and denied jobs, education and healthcare, driving many trans women – also known in India as hijras – to survive through begging at busy intersections and on trains, performing at social functions such as weddings or selling sex.

Under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, trans people should have equal access to public services and not face discrimination, but the bathroom issue shows that is often not the case in practice, said Rogers.

BATHROOM BILLS
Access to public toilets has become a flashpoint as fierce debate about trans rights takes place around the world, particularly in the United States.

Following other states, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a so-called “bathroom bill” earlier this year requiring all restrooms or locker rooms at public facilities to be used exclusively for people based on their gender assigned at birth.

LGBTQ+ rights campaigners say trans people should be able to access single-sex spaces according to their gender identity – from swimming pool changing rooms to hospital wards.

Most public hospitals in India, for example, do not have specific wards for trans people, or do not allow them to be accommodated in wards of the gender with which they identify.

But the bathroom issue is compounded in India by the lack of bathroom facilities in homes, many of which do not have their own toilet – especially in poorer neighborhoods or the slums. That means shared facilities are the only option for many.

In the eastern state of Assam, local LGBTQ+ group Drishti has launched a campaign called #NoMoreHoldingMyPee to highlight the problems faced by trans and non-binary people, who identify as neither male nor female.

“Being able to answer nature’s call is basic. Though there are facilities available for men and women, a trans person can feel threatened if they try to access them,” said Rituparna, a member of the group who goes by one name.

Like the Tamil Nadu campaigners, the group is calling for gender-neutral toilets that can be used by anyone regardless of their sex or gender identity.

‘SMALL STEP’
Five years since India legalized same-sex relations, there are signs of change on the issue, LGBTQ+ campaigners say.

In March, Delhi’s High Court ordered the city government to build public toilets for trans people within eight weeks, following a successful petition from LGBTQ+ rights groups.

Delhi authorities said in response that some 500 toilets initially meant for people with disabilities had been designated for the use of trans people, adding that the creation of separate bathrooms for the third gender was now a priority.

Other public institutions such as universities are also starting to take note.

Vaivab Das, a research scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi, who is non-binary, was behind the introduction of gender-inclusive restrooms at the college, which now has 12 such facilities.

More than 20 IIT campuses across the country have followed suit, Das said.

“Trans persons have been historically removed from public spaces and denied opportunities to access education, employment and other rights,” Das added.

“Making (toilets) accessible to gender minorities is a small step towards making amends for historical and systematic exclusions.” — Reuters

No winner for Mega Millions lottery drawing, jackpot mounts to $1.25 bln

August 2, 2023 | 2:03 pm

US dollar — ALEXANDER SCHIMMECK-UNSPLASH

An estimated $1.1 billion jackpot in the multistate Mega Millions lottery draw, one of the richest in its history, found no winners on Tuesday night, boosting the prize for the next draw later this week.

No one held the numbers 8, 24, 30, 45, 61, and the Mega Ball number 12 that were picked earlier in the night, Mega Millions said.

The next drawing for the lottery will take place on Friday, with the estimated jackpot now rising to $1.25 billion.

This was the 30th drawing since the last Mega Millions winner hit the jackpot in April. The winner or winners must match the correct six double-digit numbers on a $2 ticket.

If there is a single winner on Friday, the lucky ticket holder can have the estimated jackpot paid out over 30 years, or receive an estimated $625.3 million lump sum payment.

The odds of winning are minuscule: a buyer of a single Mega Millions lottery ticket has about a 1-in-300 million chance of containing all the correct numbers.

The jackpot is among the highest Mega Millions prizes ever, topped only by a $1.537 billion jackpot that a single ticket holder in South Carolina won in 2018.

But Tuesday’s purse was only about half the size of a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won by a single-ticket holder in California in November 2022. That ranks as the largest lottery prize total in US history. — Reuters

Fitch cuts US credit rating to AA+; Treasury calls it ‘arbitrary’

August 2, 2023 | 2:00 pm

REUTERS

Rating agency Fitch on Tuesday downgraded the US government’s top credit rating, a move that drew an angry response from the White House and surprised investors, coming despite the resolution of the debt ceiling crisis two months ago.

Fitch downgraded the United States to AA+ from AAA, citing fiscal deterioration over the next three years and repeated down-the-wire debt ceiling negotiations that threaten the government’s ability to pay its bills.

Fitch had first flagged the possibility of a downgrade in May, then maintained that position in June after the debt ceiling crisis was resolved, saying it intended to finalize the review in the third quarter of this year.

With the downgrade, it becomes the second major rating agency after Standard & Poor’s to strip the United States of its triple-A rating.

The dollar fell across a range of currencies, stock futures ticked down and Treasury futures rose after the announcement. But several investors and analysts said they expected the impact of the downgrade to be limited.

Fitch’s move came two months after Democratic President Joe Biden and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives reached a debt ceiling agreement that lifted the government’s $31.4 trillion borrowing limit, ending months of political brinkmanship.

“In Fitch’s view, there has been a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters, notwithstanding the June bipartisan agreement to suspend the debt limit until January 2025,” the rating agency said in a statement.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen disagreed with Fitch’s downgrade, in a statement that called it “arbitrary and based on outdated data.”

The White House had a similar view, saying it “strongly disagrees with this decision”.

“It defies reality to downgrade the United States at a moment when President Biden has delivered the strongest recovery of any major economy in the world,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

REPUTATIONAL DENT
Analysts said the move shows the depth of harm caused to the United States by repeated rounds of contentious debate over the debt ceiling, which pushed the nation to the brink of default in May.

“This basically tells you the US government’s spending is a problem,” said Steven Ricchiuto, US chief economist at Mizuho Securities USA.

Fitch said repeated political standoffs and last-minute resolutions over the debt limit have eroded confidence in fiscal management.

Michael Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors said the “US overall will be seen as strong but I think it’s a little chink in our armor.”

“It is a dent against the U.S. reputation and standing,” said Mr. Schulman.

Others expressed surprise at the timing, even though Fitch had flagged the possibility.

“I don’t understand how they (Fitch) have worse information now than before the debt ceiling crisis was resolved,” said Wendy Edelberg, director of The Hamilton Project At The Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.

Still, investors saw limited long-term impact.

“I don’t think you are going to see too many investors, especially those with a long-term investment strategy saying I should sell stocks because Fitch took us from AAA to AA+,” said Jason Ware, chief investment officer at Albion Financial Group.

Investors use credit ratings to assess the risk profile of companies and governments when they raise financing in debt capital markets. Generally, the lower a borrower’s rating, the higher its financing costs.

“This was unexpected, kind of came from left field,” said Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services in Atlanta. “As far as the market impact, it’s uncertain right now. The market is at a point where it’s somewhat vulnerable to bad news.”

LIMITED IMPACT
In a previous debt ceiling crisis in 2011, Standard & Poor’s cut the top “AAA” rating by one notch a few days after a debt ceiling deal, citing political polarization and insufficient steps to right the nation’s fiscal outlook. Its rating is still “AA-plus” – its second highest.

After that downgrade, US stocks tumbled and the impact of the rating cut was felt across global stock markets, which were at the time already in the throes of the euro zone financial meltdown. Paradoxically, US Treasuries prices rose because of a flight to quality from equities.

In May, Fitch had placed its “AAA” rating of US sovereign debt on watch for a possible downgrade, citing downside risks, including political brinkmanship and a growing debt burden.

A Moody’s Analytics report from May said a downgrade of Treasury debt would set off a cascade of credit implications and downgrades on the debt of many other institutions.

Other analysts had pointed to risks that another downgrade by a major rating agency could affect investment portfolios that hold top-rated securities.

Raymond James analyst Ed Mills, however, said on Tuesday he did not anticipate markets to react significantly to the news.

“My understanding has been that after the S&P downgrade a lot of these contracts were reworked to say ‘triple-A’ or ‘government-guaranteed’, and so the government guarantee is more important than the Fitch rating,” he said.

Others echoed that view.

“Overall, this announcement is much more likely to be dismissed than have a lasting disruptive impact on the US economy and markets,” Mohamed El-Erian, President at Queens’ College, said in a LinkedIn post. — Reuters

Empowering diversity: Philippine Business and Disability Network champions inclusive workplaces for persons with disabilities

August 2, 2023 | 2:00 pm

pbdn-1-OL — 2nd Annual Conference with the theme of “Working Beyond Barriers” at SMX Aura Convention Center

The Philippine Business and Disability Network (PBDN), a for-and-by business platform that provides barrier-free workplaces for persons with disability, recently held their annual conference entitled “Working Beyond Barriers” at SMX Aura last July 19.

It is estimated that there are over 650 million persons with disabilities in Asia according to the United Nations Population Fund. The Philippine Statistics Authority shared data stating that the unemployment rate for persons with disability increased to 7% in January 2022, highlighting the challenging environment that the PBDN Conference is attempting to address.

To serve as further context, there are 52 member-companies in PBDN; a mix of large multinational and local companies and leaders in their respective sectors. And yet of the 52 member companies, only 2 are on the top 100 publicly listed companies in the Philippines in terms of market capitalization (source: PSEi), illustrating the amount of progress workplace inclusivity has still yet to achieve in the local Philippine setting.

With the theme “Towards building a more accessible and equitable society for and with Persons with Disabilities,” the event was attended by over 170 different business and industry leaders who share the same goal: to work towards building inclusive workplaces for persons with disability.

The event included breakout sessions as well as panel discussions on relevant topics led by experts such as “How to Make the Case for Disability Inclusion in the Workplace,” “Building an ERG (Employee Resource Group) Within the Organization,” “Accessibility and Accommodations to Persons With Disabilities,” and more.

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When asked about whether building an inclusive workplace for persons with disabilities was possible for a large company, Mr. Ramil Dela Cruz of JP Morgan Chase & Co. stated, “We can be inclusive to Persons with Disability. Because that was the big question we had. Can we do it? So we’ve confirmed that as a whole organization with over 270,000 employees that we can do it. For the employees, we see that they can flourish in an organization like JP Morgan. That is a perfect marriage.”

Arch. Armand Michael R. Eustaquio shared government programs for Persons with Disability within the architectural industry, specifically Batas Pambansa (BP) 344 and Republic Act 7277. BP Blg. 344 is “An Act to Enhance the Mobility of Disabled Persons [Persons with Disability] by Requiring Certain Buildings, Institutions, Establishments, and Public Utilities to Install Facilities and Other Devices” (Source: ncda.gov.ph/).

“I Wish” Program segment panelists as they talked about their experiences and heartfelt wishes on how companies would be more inclusive to them. From left: Krissy Bisda, Dacki San Diego, Jennica Agustin and Host, Candy Pangilinan

The highlight of the day occurred during the “I Wish” segment, where persons with disabilities shared how they hope companies can be more inclusive to them. Jennica Agustin, who is diagnosed with Athetoid Cerebral Palsy, shared her struggle in her search for a job, having been rejected 40 times before finally landing a position at JP Morgan Chase & Co. Jennica’s plea to companies hesitant to hire a person with a disability is simple but powerful. “Give us a try. Don’t judge us by our disabilities. Try to hire us and doon niyo makikita ang kaya namin ibigay sa company. Sometimes mas better pa ung mga gawa namin…”

The PBDN team is targeting 80 members for 2023 and are thankful for their partners who have supported them since day 1. Their partners and sponsors include Austrian Embassy Manila, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Manulife Business Processing Services, Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, PayPal Philippines, Asian Development Bank, IBM Philippines, Bayer, B&M Global Services Manila, Nestlé, S&P Global, Visa, Reed Elsevier Philippines, TaskUs, BusinessWorld, CNN Philippines, Negosentro, SMX Convention Center Aura, PLDT, Smart Communications, Inc., Cebuana Lhuillier, The Northern Trust Company, Catch21, Concentrix, Global Care Medical Center of Canlubang, Asurion, and Aficionado.

The attendees of Philippine Business and Disability Network’s 2nd Annual Conference

Stay updated on their upcoming events and causes by following them on social media:

https://www.facebook.com/PBDNph

https://www.linkedin.com/company/31325151

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MGreen subsidiaries launch Basura-Palit-Gamit-Eskwela program

August 2, 2023 | 11:35 am

MGen Renewable Energy, Inc. (MGreen)—the renewable energy arm of Meralco PowerGen Corporation (MGen)—recently launched the Basura-Palit-Gamit-Eskwela program to its host communities to instill environmental awareness among Filipino students.

Anchored on One Meralco’s Race to Zero Waste program, MGreen introduced the said program through its subsidiaries BulacanSol, a 55MWac solar power plant in San Miguel, Bulacan, and PH Renewables, Inc. (PHRI), a 75Mwac solar power plant in Baras, Rizal.

Basura-Palit-Gamit-Eskwela program aims to promote environmental awareness, preservation, and sustainability. Through this program, students from BulacanSol and PHRI host communities have the chance to obtain various school supplies in exchange for recyclable materials such as newspapers, cardboard, plastic bottles and caps, papers, cans, and plastic food wrappers. It also supports the implementation of Republic Act 9003 otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act to prevent pollution.

In its initial run, a total of 175 kilos of recyclable materials were collected from more than 400 students from San Juan Elementary School in San Miguel, Bulacan and Pinugay Eementary School in Baras, Rizal. In exchange, they received various school supplies including pencils, crayons, notebooks, among others.

The collection and recycling of waste were done in partnership with GreenAntz Builders, Inc., an environmental solution company that provides eco-friendly practices and green technology solutions.

“By instilling environmental awareness at a young age, we aim to foster a generation of responsible individuals who make sustainable practices part of their lifestyle,” said Jaime T. Azurin, President and CEO, Meralco PowerGen Corporation-Global Business Power Corporation (MGen-GBP).

According to Engr. Wilfredo Santos, Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office Head of San Miguel, Bulacan, this program complements the local government unit’s efforts in promoting ecological solid waste management among the residents of San Miguel, Bulacan.

Meanwhile, School Principal Margie Mapa of Pinugay Elementary School expressed their appreciation for the program since it also helps augment their students’ school supplies, aside from promoting environmental stewardship.

More than delivering sustainable power to its stakeholders, MGreen is committed to Powering the Good Life of Filipinos through its social development programs, which are all anchored on One Meralco’s sustainability agenda.

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