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Joel Embiid returns, scores 33 to carry Sixers over Suns

JOEL EMBIID returned from a three-game absence with the flu to score 33 points and the host Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Phoenix Suns 100-88 on Monday.

Mr. Embiid hit all 16 of his free throws and added 10 rebounds.

Georges Niang tied his career high with seven 3-pointers and scored 21 points while Tobias Harris also added 21 for the Sixers, who snapped a two-game skid. Tyrese Maxey chipped in with 11 on four-of-18 shooting.

The Sixers played without James Harden, who’s sidelined with a strained tendon in his foot.

Devin Booker led the Suns with 28 points. Mikal Bridges scored 15, DeAndre Ayton and Cam Payne added 14 each and Damion Lee had 10. Chris Paul went to the locker room midway through the second quarter and didn’t return with right heel soreness. Mr. Paul had two points, two assists and two rebounds.

Cam Johnson (right knee) sat out for the Suns.

The Sixers, buoyed by the return of Mr. Embiid, led 56-47 at halftime. Mr. Embiid led the way with 18 points and hit all 10 of his free throws.

Mr. Booker paced the Suns with 14 on four-of-11 shooting.

When Mr. Booker dropped in a 3-pointer with 4:41 left in the third, the Suns eventually cut what was a 16-point deficit down to 68-58. After two empty Sixers possessions, Mr. Booker hit 3-of-4 free throws and the Suns trailed by seven.

Mr. Niang responded with a trey for the Sixers, who went back ahead by 10.

Philadelphia led 75-70 at the end of the third. Mr. Embiid hit a jumper, Mr. Niang added another trey and the Sixers pulled ahead 88-78 with 8:50 left in the fourth.

After the Suns scored four straight, Niang knocked down his seventh 3-pointer for a 91-82 advantage. Mr. Lee was called for a flagrant1 foul against Mr. Harris with 3:14 to go. After Mr. Harris made 1-of-2 free throws, the Sixers led 96-82.

The Sixers cruised from there. — Reuters

6,000 Argentine fans banned from entering Qatar stadiums

VIOLENT fans involved in illegal associations and even those in debt for food dues are part of a list of 6,000 Argentines who will not be allowed to enter World Cup stadiums in Qatar, the Buenos Aires city government said on Monday.

“The violent ones are here and in Qatar. We want to bring peace back to football and that the violent ones are outside the stadiums,” the city’s Justice and Security Minister Marcelo D’Alessandro said in an interview on a local radio station.

“They were included for belonging to the barras (violent fans), for participating in violent acts, for illicit associations such as trapitos (banned street businesses) and for owing maintenance payments (from divorced parents),” he added.

To carry out the controls in Qatar, the official said that “as always in the World Cups, delegations of different police bodies (of the country) will be sent to work together with the Qatari security authorities”.

In June, the national security ministry signed a cooperation agreement with the Qatari embassy to prevent Argentine hooligans, as violent fans are commonly known, from attending the World Cup.

Among the 6,000 Argentines banned from entering stadiums, Mr. D’Alessandro said that some 3,000 are barrabravas who are not allowed to attend local league matches. — Reuters

Numbers

Numbers don’t always tell the tale, and this applies even to universally acknowledged Greatest of All Time Tom Brady. The 22-year veteran owns just about every significant offensive record in the National Football League (NFL), and the seven Super Bowl titles to his name shows that he has made the most of his singular accomplishments. And, even at 45, he continues to rewrite the books; the other day, he became the only player in the sport to reach 100,000 passing yards, a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact that second-running Drew Brees is close to 15,000 yards behind. That said, there’s a reason the Buccaneers don’t have a winning record after Week Nine, and he’d be the first to admit he isn’t pulling his weight as much these days.

For the season, Brady has a pacesetting touchdown-to-interception ratio of 10:1, which is good. He also happens to preside over an attack that cannot produce enough points to win with consistency, which is bad. The Buccaneers’ total yardage is closer to the bottom of the NFL than the top, and their 18 points-per-game norm is eighth worst in the league. True, it’s hard to pin all the blame on him when he isn’t being given every chance to succeed. For one thing, he’s under center of a quick-passing style that doesn’t play to their strengths. For another, he has to toil through poor playcalling from the get-go, and especially down the stretch.

It’s fair to argue that the Buccaneers did extremely well to engineer a 60-yard game-winning drive with 44 seconds left on the clock and no timeouts at their disposal. Unfortunately, it’s the exception to the rule this season, and executed against the equally underperforming Rams. Which was probably why Brady could not help but celebrate in the aftermath. “That was awesome,” he exclaimed in his post-mortem at the podium. “That was f—ing awesome!” And it was, in large measure because he avoided having his first four-contest losing streak in two decades.

The Buccaneers should thank their lucky stars they’re in the NFL’s weakest division. They could conceivably end up with a losing slate and yet make the playoffs. If they want another deep run, however, they need to get their acts together — from head coach Todd Bowles to offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich to, yes, Brady himself. From design to execution, they simply have to be better. And whether they can improve to the point of exceeding themselves will determine their fate.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications,  and business development.

[B-SIDE Podcast] Transforming business through digitalization and innovation

(This B-Side episode is sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services Philippines.)

Showing how digitalization has transformed from an “interesting option” to a “must have,” PricewaterhouseCooper’s latest global survey revealed that 60% of executives worldwide believe enterprise digital transformation is their most critical growth driver this year.

Digitalization is a heavy task that cannot be undertaken by organizations alone. Partners that have the experience and expertise in maximizing digital technology are now becoming more essential in enabling companies to serve customers better and more efficiently, especially in this now normal.

In this sponsored B-Side episode, a collaboration between BusinessWorld and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), former digital platform editor Santiago J. Arnaiz speaks with telco service provider Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. (Converge) Chief Information Officer Ulysses Naguit and TCS HOBS Partner Rajat Garg about the principles that ground their approach to digital transformation. 

TAKEAWAYS

Digitalization should improve experiences.

“Digital is not about the technology. It is about leveraging technology to transform interactions and engagements that the company has with its customers, employees, partners, and stakeholders,” Mr. Garg said.

In real terms, he continued, digitalization boils down to simplification, contextualization, and automation of processes.

Through its transformation journey, Converge aimed to improve customer engagement. “All those sales channels, payment channels, and customer touchpoints — we are trying to digitize all of it so that we can create the new experience for our customers,” Mr. Naguit said.

No perfect partners, but find one that works.

While there is no such thing as a perfect partner when it comes to digitalization, there is such a thing as a compatible partner.

“There should be a good balance of engagement in terms of defining what will be there in terms of capabilities of the partner and what should be required from us,” Mr. Naguit said.

As in marriage, he added, partnering for digital transformation will have its share of problems along the journey, but once commitments are sealed, they should make it work.

“You cannot divorce, because there’s no going back. You have to make it work and do everything,” he said. — Adrian Paul B. Conoza

Recorded remotely in October 2022. Produced by Joseph Emmanuel L. Garcia and Sam L. Marcelo.

Follow us on Spotify BusinessWorld B-Side

IT-BPM drives inclusive economic growth: A timeline

STOCK PHOTO | Image by Hack Capital from Unsplash

(Part 4)

Acceleration Level 2.2 suggested in the Everest Study has to do with enhancing the focus on creating awareness through marketing efforts to scale up the outreach of educational programs and initiatives.

Many parents and their children are still unfamiliar with the BPO-IT (business process outsourcing-information technology) sector. The awareness of this sector as a profession can be enhanced through job fairs/webinars, industry interaction, and social media branding to encourage/attract students to pursue relevant academic degrees or Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)-related skills training programs. More people from the industry should be involved in career advocacy and employment coaching. There should be proactive positioning of the information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry as an attractive profession and career option with high growth potential amongst the talent community. There should be collaboration with foreign universities and governments for training and exchange programs, with special preference given to East Asian universities, such as those in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. At the level of technical skills training, close ties with the governments and private foundations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland should be fostered because these countries were the pioneers in dualvoc training programs that combine classroom work with on-the-job practice. The industry should send to university campuses and technical schools ambassadors who will spread awareness of employment opportunities in the sector.

In these interventions, close coordination and cooperation among private organizations and public agencies will be critical. The IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) together with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and TESDA should take up the marking initiatives and social media branding for promoting the sector. Periodic job fairs and career coaching programs should be organized by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) in various parts of the country, especially in cities with a concentration of universities and technical schools outside of Metro Manila and Cebu, such as Iloilo, Tuguegarao, Dumaguete, Bacolod, Davao, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, and others. CHED should focus on international tie-ups and set up exchange programs with top universities, not only in North America and Europe, but also in the Indo-Pacific region, such as India, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. IBPAP can coordinate social media branding and campus ambassador programs together with DepEd and CHED.

To achieve the ambitious goal of increasing employment in the sector from 1.45 million to 2.5 million in 2028 (implying an annual growth rate of 8%), there should be at least one roadshow every quarter across the next-wave cities. Annual job fairs have to be organized in as many regions and provinces as possible. It should be the responsibility of the DICT to expand the reach and update (e.g., more leverage of social media) the existing IT-BPM Career and Industry Awareness Fairs and IT-BPM Industry Ambassador programs.

As already mentioned, the focus should be on skills and competencies instead of academic degrees. Both CHED and TESDA should closely cooperate with the industry associations to develop a variety of both short and long courses, whether degree-oriented or not, that provide workers with the necessary skills and competencies in actual demand from the industry. Here, the work-study program will be crucial so that there will be a real match between what the industry needs and the human resources that the training programs are producing.

We cannot overemphasize the importance of improving the job-readiness of the products of the schools and training institutes through employability enhancement programs. There should be sustained efforts to revise curriculum and course delivery methods at various levels of education (primary school, junior-high, senior-high, and tertiary education) to build a talent pipeline following the Philippine Skills Framework (PSF) initiative for various sectors. Among other requirements are:

• Set up stepping stones to fulfilling the demand of the future by recalibrating the nature of courses at all levels of education, e.g., enhancing digital literacy and the soft skills for which Filipino workers are famous abroad.

• Enhancement of existing programs to include relevant subjects such as the Service Management Program (SMP) Specialization Track and Language Skills Institute (LSI).

• eLearning methods to be offered through online classes and recorded videos and promoted to expand the reach of such programs. These programs should be made available to those who are already in the workforce, whether employed, underemployed, or unemployed.

The key stakeholders have to be clearly identified and made responsible for their respective tasks. The Department of Education should be responsible for the effective implementation of Basic Education Development Plan (BEDP) 2030. Changes in the curriculum should be in line with PSFs and the respective organizations should ensure proper training is imparted to course developers and faculty of academic institutions on how to create courses. Academic planning and assessment are necessary to understand the learning outcomes of graduates (senior high, bachelors) and to review the career paths the various products of the training programs follow after their graduation. There should be continuing refinement of policies, standards, and guidelines (PSGs) to address the wants and needs of the industry. DICT should ensure ease of access to digital medium/learning platforms through tie-ups with online training programs such as Coursera, edX, MS Learn, LinkedIn learning, GitHub, etc.

For the more sophisticated skills needed by the top talents required in the industry (entrepreneurs, managers, research personnel, engineers) there should be strong government support to enhance high-quality research in higher education (masters, Ph.Ds, etc.) by upgrading available digital infrastructure and building government-funded labs. Here, it is important for the Government to refrain from multiplying state universities and colleges. A greater role in higher education should be assigned to the private sector. There should be more subsidies and financial aid given to the quality private universities that can complement the teaching, research, and innovation done by the University of the Philippines and a few other outstanding state universities and colleges. To save on government resources, which are never enough to comply with the constitutional requirement of providing free quality education to all the Filipino youth at the K to 12 level, the Government should work closely with the leading private universities and colleges in producing the top talents needed by the various industry sectors.

The target outcomes and timelines to achieve these goals are as follows:

• Establish an internal committee by 2023 to review the gaps in existing programs with the view of strengthening them.

• Roll out multiple pilot programs related to curriculum changes with some selected schools and colleges, both public and private, by 2024.

• Make basic computer education compulsory in mid-school by the year 2025.

• Introduce electives for digital/coding in senior high school by the year 2025.

• SMP tracks to be extended to at least 20 more schools/colleges/universities by 2025.

• The number of LSI institutes to be increased to 50 from 35 by 2025.

• Enroll at least 150,000 senior-high/bachelors graduates per year for industry-wide training programs relevant to IT-BPM.

• Establish a baseline of workforce with relevant skills such as technical know-how, digital literacy, and language capability by 2024 through the tracer study.

Create a centralized governance mechanism to bring efforts (e.g., skill surveys, PSF development) from all the agencies (currently more than 10 agencies/institutions are involved) which are leading talent reform initiatives.

All these will not be achievable unless there is political will from the leaders in the public sector, private business, and academe to put their efforts together to make sure that the supply of skills and talents coming from the academe and other training institutions is aligned with the demand from the employers in all the sectors.

The next six years will be critical for this alignment to happen. It is hoped that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. will also assign a high priority to this most important sector as he has given to the objective of food security. The Philippines may never catch up with our East Asian neighbors in manufacturing and agribusiness excellence. The Philippines, though, together with India have all the competitive advantages of a young, growing and English-speaking population to be one of the top countries in the world in the BPO-IT sector.

 

Bernardo M. Villegas has a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard, is professor emeritus at the University of Asia and the Pacific, and a visiting professor at the IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. He was a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission.

bernardo.villegas@uap.asia

Internet connectivity: A real utility, a basic need, a human right

FREEPIK

Can you imagine buying a piece of property without provisions for electricity or water?

These days it is unthinkable that residential or commercial spaces would not automatically have power or water. It is a given that using a specific area would entail the use of these utilities. Spaces would be useless and the most sophisticated architectural designs on the best locations would mean nothing without them.

We should think of internet connectivity the same way. It is no longer a cool or nice thing to have the way it was decades ago, before the dawn of the Information Age.

Over the years, the internet has become an indispensable tool not just for work and commerce, but also our personal lives. When the pandemic forced people to stay indoors and limit their mobility, the internet helped provide a sense of normality, as it allowed us to continue working, thus keeping the economy running albeit at a scaled-down rate. It made possible our children’s education from the relative safety of our homes. It enabled us to perform the chores we used to do by physically going out — buying food and groceries, doing our banking errands, and staying in touch with friends and family.

As we now pursue economic recovery and development, the question is no longer whether the internet would be part of it, but what connectivity quality is required to function well and achieve our goals.

This is the reason property developers and managers have to change the way they look at provisions for digital connectivity in their projects, whether these are vertical or horizontal developments. After all, they do not charge for electricity and water equipment; why should they charge telco providers for lease space for the radio equipment needed to provide signal in their area?

In fact, developers should help telcos install their last-mile equipment like cell sites and fiber cables because their owners/ tenants stand to benefit from better connectivity. It would also make the property more attractive to prospective buyers or lessors.

No less than the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is supporting legislation seeking to provide better internet services for Filipinos, aligned with the administration’s push for universal connectivity and digital transformation.

DICT Secretary John Ivan Uy, said they are supporting the Housing Development Digital Connectivity Bill (House Bill No. 4472) that seeks to provide network infrastructure space, both in subdivisions and high-rise buildings. He also wants the National Building Code amended because it only requires the provision of electricity, water, and sewerage, but not telecommunications.

At the Senate, Senator Grace Poe has filed Senate Bill 329 or the Better Internet Act, which requires service providers to adhere to minimum standards for connection, reception, pricing, and billing practices.

The bill also requires telco providers to comply with a minimum download speed — not an advertised maximum speed — to make sure consumers get what they pay for.

Senator Poe believes that the internet is a necessity that is as indispensable as electricity and water, because people rely on it for health, education, business, governance, and more.

Integrating the necessary digital infrastructure in all property developments should be a new standard that government should impose to align with a national broadband strategy.

Indeed, only digitally ready communities will empower our people to prosper in this global transition into a highly digital economic system. Thus, developers should make it their business to provide fast and reliable internet connections in their respective developments, instead of refusing to allow cell sites and restricting access to fiber cable installations. As early as the planning stages, they should make room for telecommunication infrastructure in the same way that electrical and water, as well as electromechanical, plumbing, sanitation, and other aspects are considered.

Real estate developers and telcos must see themselves as partners who must work together to ensure that residents enjoy reliable, fast, and inexpensive internet services.

Internet connectivity is a basic human right. In her December 2020 essay for World Human Rights Day published on the United Nations website, Anne-Marie Grey, executive director and CEO of USA for UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said digital connectivity should be a human right because it enables access to information, education, and opportunity.

And according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG 9), “Investment in infrastructure and innovation are crucial drivers of economic growth and development.” Essential to sustainable development is technological progress which is key to long-term solutions to address environmental challenges, in providing new jobs, energy efficiency, sustainable industries, scientific research and innovation.

We always say nobody should be left behind in our economic recovery and development. Thus, our digital journey must start in our backyard. To strengthen a nation, we must first empower our communities. Our quest to become a truly digital nation begins with all Filipinos having access to reliable internet service in the very places where they live and work. This is essential to our sustained recovery of our industries and the economic empowerment of our people.

 

Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit is the president of the Stratbase ADR Institute.

RA 11765: The Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act

TOWFIQU BARBHUIYA-UNSPLASH

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought forth the unprecedented expansion of digital financial systems. At the height of the pandemic, quarantine measures were at their strictest. The average Filipino could not help but rely on delivery services booked online and, more often than not, likewise paid online.

The advent of the nascent digital financial landscape, however, became fertile ground for unscrupulous individuals to take advantage of. Notable are online investment scams, such as the so-called Repa Paluwagan scam1 and many more. Phishing scams have also become commonplace, especially with the recurring spam text messages that Filipinos are currently hounded with that has led one of the largest telecom companies to block mobile text messages with internet website links. The increased exposure of the average Filipino to the digital financial landscape has increased his/her vulnerability to such fraudulent schemes.

It is against this backdrop that Congress eventually enacted Republic Act No. 11765 (RA 11765), or the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act, in order to protect the average financial product and service consumer from these unscrupulous practices and to provide victims thereof a convenient means to seek redress.

FINANCIAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
The law seeks to reinforce the confidence of financial products and service consumers in the financial system by strengthening the regulatory powers of financial regulators. Under RA 11765, these financial regulators refer to the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Insurance Commission (IC), and the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).2 The financial products or services covered by the law and within the respective jurisdictions of these financial regulators include, but are not limited to: savings, deposits, credit, insurance, pre-need and health maintenance organization (HMO) products, securities, investments, payments, remittances and other similar products and services, including those financial products and services accessed and delivered through digital channels.3

FINANCIAL REGULATORS
Pursuant to the purpose of the law, financial regulators are granted the following powers, among others:4

• Market Conduct Surveillance and Examination — Financial regulators are authorized to conduct surveillance and examination on their respective supervised financial service providers to ascertain whether these providers are compliant with Rep. Act No. 11765.

• Market Monitoring — Financial regulators have the authority to require their respective supervised financial providers to submit reports or documents. The regulators may also obtain relevant financial data from government agencies. Under the draft implementing rules of the BSP, market monitoring may include analysis of complaints statistics, identifying market conduct risks, industry consultations, and social listening or media monitoring for relevant news and consumer sentiments.

• Enforcement — Financial regulators are given a host of enforcement powers under the law, such as 1.) authority to restrict a financial provider’s collection of excessive or unreasonable interests, fees, or charges; 2.) disqualification and/or suspension of corporate officers; 3.) imposition of fines and penalties; 4.) issuance of a cease-and-desist order without the need of prior hearing to restrain acts amounting to fraud or in violation of the law; 5.) or) order the suspension of operations of any supervised financial provider; and, 6.) issue orders for disgorgement of profits obtained or of losses avoided by violating the law.

FINANCIAL CONSUMERS’ REMEDIES
At times, it becomes unavoidable that disputes may arise concerning the financial products or services offered by financial providers. In fact, then BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno revealed during the Senate deliberations of the law that the BSP had received 42,456 complaints from 2020 to 2021 alone. From 2019 to 2021, the amounts involved in the complaints reached P2 billion. Further, the IC itself had received 2,992 complaints against insurance and pre-need companies, and the SEC had received hundreds of investment scam complaints.5

Hence, financial product/service providers are obliged to establish a single consumer assistance mechanism to assist their financial consumers on financial transaction concerns, including complaints, inquiries, and requests.6 The providers must be transparent with the consumers regarding the actions they take on such complaints, inquiries, or requests. In case the financial consumer is unsatisfied with the provider’s assistance, they may elevate their complaint, inquiry, or request with the financial regulator having jurisdiction over the financial product/service provider.

Particularly, the law expressly granted the BSP and the SEC adjudicatory powers over financial transactions purely civil in nature where the claim or relief prayed for by the financial consumer does not exceed P10 million. For the IC and CDA, RA 11765 affirmed their authority to adjudicate all actions under existing laws.7

The decisions of the financial regulators are final and executory. Hence, instead of going to court, financial consumers are provided with this alternative and speedy avenue to redress their grievances against financial product and service providers. Incidentally, this will also decongest the already clogged dockets of Philippine courts.

DUTIES OF FINANCIAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES PROVIDERS
RA 11765 also imposes duties on financial service providers themselves. These providers are mandated to ensure that their financial products or services are appropriately targeted to the needs, understanding, and capacity of their clients. They must actively ensure that a financial product or service is suitable and affordable for their particular client.

They are likewise mandated to provide financial consumers a cooling-off period for their financial products and services as may be necessary and as determined by the rules and regulations issued by their respective regulators. This period will allow the financial consumer time to consider the costs and risks of a financial product or service to himself/herself. During this period, the financial consumer is allowed to return or cancel the financial contract without penalty. This is particularly significant for long-term financial transactions.

RA 11765 also grants borrowers the right to prepay a loan or other credit transaction, without prejudice to fees for such pre-payment. These fees must, however, be disclosed to the financial consumer in the interest of transparency.

Finally, the law declares unlawful a provision in any financial product or service where a financial consumer waives or is deprived of a legal right to sue the financial service provider, receive information, have their complaints addressed and resolved, or have their non-public data protected.8

Indeed, under the law, financial consumers are aptly protected through the respective financial regulators. They are likewise provided with an expeditious remedy that promises to provide definite remedies. RA 11765 now forms part of the many consumer protection laws in the Philippines, such as RA 3765 (Truth in Lending Act) and RA 7394 (Consumer Act), that implement the Constitution’s policy of ensuring the protection of Filipino consumers.9

This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not offered and does not constitute legal advice or legal opinion.

1 https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/409993/repa-paluwagan-scam-8-victims-lost-p2-million-to-online-investment-fraud

2 Rep. Act No. 11765, Sec. 3(d).

3 Rep. Act No. 11765, Sec. 3(c).

4 Rep. Act No. 11765, Sec. 6.

5 https://malaya.com.ph/news_business/duterte-signs-law-on-financial-consumer-protection/

6 Rep. Act No. 11765, Sec. 8(f).

7 Rep. Act No. 10607 for the Insurance Commission and Rep. Act No. 11364 for the Cooperative Development Authority.

8 Rep. Act No. 11765, Sec. 12.

9 Philippine Constitution Art. XVI, Sec. 9.

 

Paolo O. Hernandez is an associate of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department (LDRD) of the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices or ACCRALAW

(632) 8830-8000

pohernandez@accralaw.com

It’s our fault if some climate protesters go too far

HANDOUT photo released by climate movement Last Generation (Letzte Generation) shows activists of the group being glued underneath the painting Les Meules by French artist Claude Monet after pouring mashed potatoes on the artwork in the Barberini museum in Potsdam, Germany on Oct. 23. — REUTERS/ LETZTE GENERATION VIA ABACAPRESS.COM

‘TIS the season for environmental protests, as this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference — better known as COP27 — gets underway in Egypt. That raises an age-old question: Even when the cause is righteous, how far are protesters allowed to go?

This week, demonstrators belonging to the group Letzte Generation (Last Generation) glued themselves to a highway in Berlin, blocking traffic. Among those stuck in the jam was a specialized rescue vehicle on the way to help save a cyclist who’d been rolled over by a truck. The woman is now dead — it’s unclear what difference the delays made.

The activists at Last Generation have also been soiling and splashing famous art works. Protesters in the UK, Netherlands, and elsewhere are pulling similar stunts. In the Hague, a member of the group Just Stop Oil glued his head to Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, while an accomplice glued his hand to the wall. Elsewhere, demonstrators have splattered mashed potatoes on a Monet and tomato soup on a Van Gogh.

Even more extreme than vandalism against art or property, of course, is vandalism against bodies, including the protesters’ own. On Earth day this year, Wynn Bruce, an American Buddhist, protested against climate change by setting himself on fire on the marble plaza in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC. He died in the hospital the following day.

Bruce was the latest in a long line of self-immolators. In 1965, Norman Morrison, a Quaker, burned himself to death in front of the Pentagon to protest the Vietnam War. He was probably inspired by Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk in Saigon, who self-immolated to draw attention to repression by the South Vietnamese regime.

If we had to describe protests on a spectrum, it might look as follows: At one end, there is completely peaceful civil disobedience that nonetheless breaks some laws to make a larger point. A good example is Mohandas Gandhi’s Salt March in 1930, when he and a growing crowd of followers went to the sea to boil water and extract salt, which was illegal for Indians under British rule. Gandhi went to prison for that, but always stayed true to his concept of satyagraha. Literally “holding on to truth,” the word came to mean non-violent resistance.

In the opposite corner, there is what those not believing in a given cause would call terrorism. Any number of people and groups in history have been all too willing to blow up themselves and innocent others for the sake of national liberation, religion, or what have you.

The best response to protests in a free society is therefore proportionate. We must outlaw and punish all forms of violence but tolerate satyagraha. In practice, the categories are rarely that clear. The reality is that protest is always about drawing the attention of otherwise apathetic masses. And that’s best done by shocking.

The suffragettes of the early 20th century are an example. They clearly had history and justice on their side. And yet they had to keep up their marches, hunger strikes, and other stunts for years before women could vote. During that time, the suffragette who probably did more to change hearts and minds than anybody else killed herself for the cause.

Emily Davison probably didn’t mean to take her own life when she went to the Derby in 1913 and stepped in front of Anmer, the horse of King George V, as it galloped around a bend at the speed of a car driving on a country road. Maybe she was only trying to affix a suffragette flag to Anmer’s reins. But she was hit, and died a couple of days later in the hospital. The jockey was injured too.

The King called the incident “scandalous,” the Queen found Davison “horrid.” But who can say what role Davison played in making people in Britain and elsewhere reconsider their inherited biases and become open to an idea we nowadays consider self-evident?

The truth is that progress doesn’t always come about in response to patient and polite expositions at seminars and orderly petitions. Giving women the franchise, freeing Indians from British colonialism or Black Americans from Jim Crow also took the courage of some individuals to get in the faces of people in the indifferent majority.

The activists blocking the highway in Berlin were in the wrong for gambling with the lives of innocent people. The vandals sullying art also need a good talking to. Leave Van Gogh alone, and have some manners.

And yet the rest of us also have an obligation to listen to what drove those protesters to extremes. The folks at Letzte Generation say they’ve been watching the Fridays for Future rallies of recent years, and how those have failed to cause a U-turn in energy policy or the personal behavior of most people.

“How do you feel when you see something beautiful and priceless being apparently destroyed before your eyes?” one of the two men vandalizing the Vermeer taunted the gasping crowd in the museum. “Do you feel outraged? Good. Where is that feeling when you see the planet being destroyed before our very eyes?”

These activists committed a kind of crime and must pay a price. But the rest of us are committing another kind, by doing nothing meaningful about climate change. Eventually, we too will have to pay a price, and it’ll be infinitely bigger.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Biden warns on risk to democracy, Trump hints at White House bid

REUTERS

BOWIE, Md. — In a stark closing argument ahead of the US midterm elections, President Joseph R. Biden on Monday warned that a Republican victory could weaken the country’s democratic institutions, while former President Donald Trump hinted he could announce another White House bid as soon as next week.

Mr. Biden’s comments reflected the deep political divide in the United States ahead of Nov. 8 elections that could see Republicans win control of one or both chambers of Congress.

“Today we face an inflection point. We know in our bones that our democracy’s at risk and we know that this is your moment to defend it,” Mr. Biden told a cheering crowd at Bowie State University, a historically Black college outside Washington.

Non-partisan election forecasters predict that Republicans are likely to pick up roughly 25 seats in the 435-seat House of Representatives, more than enough to win a majority. Analysts said Republicans also could pick up the one seat they need to win control of the Senate.

Republicans have blamed Mr. Biden’s administration for rising prices and crime, two top voter concerns. But dozens of candidates also have echoed Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in his 2020 election defeat. Some of them could end up as governors or election administrators in battleground states and play a central role in the 2024 presidential race.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly hinted that he may run for president again. At a rally to boost Republican candidates in Ohio, Trump said he would make an announcement a week after the election at his Florida estate.

“I’m going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida,” he said.

Despite delivering on campaign promises to boost infrastructure and clean energy, many Americans have soured on Mr. Biden’s leadership. Only 39% approve of his job performance, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Monday.

Mr. Biden’s unpopularity has made him an unwelcome guest in the most competitive races. On Monday, he spoke in reliably Democratic Maryland, where the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Wes Moore, is widely expected to win back the Republican-held governorship.

If Republicans win the House or the Senate, that would spell the end of Mr. Biden’s efforts to get abortion protections and other Democratic priorities through Congress. It also would open the door to Republican-led investigations that could potentially damage the White House. A Republican-led Senate could also block Mr. Biden’s nominations for judicial or administrative posts.

Billionaire Elon Musk, whose purchase of Twitter and vows to loosen the reins on who can say what on the platform has led to some speculation that it could unleash a wave of disinformation, tweeted on Monday that “independent-minded voters” should vote for a Republican Congress.

If Republicans secure a House majority, they plan to use the federal debt ceiling as leverage to demand deep spending cuts. They would also seek to make Mr. Trump’s 2017 individual tax cuts permanent and protect corporate tax cuts that Democrats have unsuccessfully tried to reverse over the past two years.

Control of Capitol Hill would give Republicans the power to block aid to Ukraine, but they are more likely to slow or pare back the flow of weapons and economic assistance to Kyiv than stop it.

FEARS OF ELECTION VIOLENCE
Trump supporters, spurred by his false election claims, have threatened and harassed election workers and voters.

An attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Oct. 28 has further raised fears of political violence. Mr. Trump called her an “animal” at Monday’s Ohio rally.

But the White House said on Monday that law enforcement had not reported any specific, credible election-related threats. The US Justice Department said it would monitor voting in 64 locations across the country.

Republicans say Mr. Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-relief package and clean-energy efforts have pushed prices higher.

Democrats campaigned heavily on abortion rights, counting on a backlash to a June decision by the US Supreme Court that ended nationwide abortion protections. Voters in five states will consider abortion-related initiatives on Tuesday.

“I think it should be a person’s own decision of what to do,” said Chris Gunston, 60, who voted for a proposal to protect abortion rights in Michigan, along with Democratic candidates on the ballot there.

More than 43 million Americans have already cast their ballots, either in person or through the mail, according to the US Elections Project, which tracks early voting.

Experts say it might be days or weeks before the outcome of some close races — and control of Congress — is clear.

Thus far, polling problems have not been widely reported.

In Georgia, where one of the nation’s most closely contested Senate races is unfolding, election officials in Cobb County agreed to extend the voting deadline until Nov. 14 for 716 people who had requested mail ballots but did not receive them.

Some of those who had not received their requested ballots opted to vote in person.

“I’ve had to miss a lot of classes to make sure I could come in person,” said Alyse Martin, 20, who said she traveled six hours from Washington back to Cobb County after her absentee ballot never arrived. “But I think it will all be worth it in the end.” — Reuters

Germany, Belgium pledge funds to tackle damage caused by climate change

REUTERS

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — Germany and Belgium on Monday joined a small number of wealthy countries to commit funding to help developing nations facing damage and losses caused by climate change, committing 170 million euros and 2.5 million euros respectively.

While relatively small in size, the funds were symbolically significant in being announced as over 100 leaders gather in Egypt for the U.N.’s COP27 climate summit — where the urgent need for funding to support developing countries facing climate change-fuelled disasters is set to dominate the talks.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany would provide 170 million euros for a “Global Shield” from the Group of Seven rich countries for the V20 group of 58 vulnerable nations, aimed at strengthening insurance and disaster protection finance.

“We will also support those countries hit hardest by climate change in a targeted way in dealing with loss and damage,” Mr. Scholz told the COP27 summit in the Egyptian seaside resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Belgium pledged to allocate 2.5 million euros to combat climate change “loss and damage” out of a new 25-million-euro package of climate-related support for the southern African country of Mozambique from 2023 to 2028.

The Belgian government said its funding would focus on preventing and limiting loss and damage, for example by mapping areas vulnerable to storm surges, and rolling out early warning systems.

Loss-and-damage funding is less politically contentious than explicit offers of compensation for climate-linked losses after disasters have struck — which can be perceived as rich nations paying reparations for causing climate change.

“There is, I think, a moral imperative to call it what it is,” Matthew Samuda, a minister in Jamaica’s economic growth ministry, said of the link between loss and damage funding and historical responsibility.

“But beyond that, there is also the practical need of being able to access funds,” Mr. Samuda said.

Previously only Scotland and Denmark had pledged funding for climate-linked loss and damage, as well as the Belgian region of Wallonia.

The United States and European Union have blocked poorer countries’ past attempts to secure loss and damage funding, fearing acknowledging liability for their historic contribution to the greenhouse gas emissions heating the planet.

Daniel Ribeiro of Mozambican environmental advocacy group Justiça Ambiental said Belgium’s pledge was “a single act floating in a sea of inaction by the global north”.

“Mozambique is just one of many countries facing this reality. This time we were the chosen, hand-picked recipients, but what about the broader systemic solution?” he said.

Mr. Scholz did not specify what the German funding would cover.

Dozens of developing countries have called for a deal at COP27 on a funding facility where rich nations would provide loss and damage cash to vulnerable states.

Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world and among the most vulnerable to extreme weather events.

Cyclone Idai, which struck Mozambique in 2019, caused about $1.4 billion in total damage and $1.39 billion in losses, according to an International Labour Organization assessment. — Reuters

Super-rich see their fortunes plunge as China economy slows

CARLOS DE SOUZA-UNSPLASH

CHINA’S super-rich saw their wealth tumble by the most in over two decades this year, as the Russia-Ukraine war, Beijing’s zero-COVID-19 measures and falling mainland and Hong Kong stock markets pummelled fortunes, an annual rich list said on Tuesday.

The Hurun Rich list, which ranks China’s wealthiest people with a minimum net worth of 5 billion yuan ($692 million), said only 1,305 people made the mark this year, down 11% from last year. Their total wealth was $3.5 trillion, down 18%.

Meanwhile, the number of individuals with $10 billion fell by 29 to 56, and the number of dollar billionaires dropped by 239 to 946 this year, it added.

“This year has seen the biggest fall in the Hurun China Rich List of the last 24 years,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of research firm Hurun Report which compiles the list.The global economic outlook has this year been heavily impacted by the war in Ukraine and slowing economic growth in China that has in turn been exacerbated by the country’s ultra-strict COVID-19 policies and a prolonged property slump.

A two-year regulatory crackdown that has hit China’s biggest tech names such as Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings and concerns that President Xi Jinping will sacrifice growth for ideology in his third term, have also weighed on investor confidence, with Hong Kong and mainland stock markets tumbling in recent weeks.

Yang Huiyan, the businesswoman behind Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd. 2007.HK, which like many other Chinese developers has been battling debt issues, saw her wealth fall by $15.7 billion, the biggest drop on the 2022 list.

Zhong Shanshan, whose listed companies are water bottler Nongfu Spring 9633.HK and vaccine developer Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise, took first place on the list for the second year running, with a fortune that grew 17% to $65 billion.

The founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, Zhang Yiming, took second place, but saw his wealth fall 28% to $35 billion due to a drop in ByteDance’s valuation. In third place was Zeng Yuqun, chairman of battery giant CATL.

Tencent founder Pony Ma posted the second largest drop in wealth of $14.6 billion amid sliding tech stock prices, to take fifth place on the list. Alibaba founder Jack Ma and his family tumbled four places to be ranked No. 9. — Reuters

Sustainable fashion brands seek to improve transparency, supply chain traceability

ANTHILLFABRICS.COM

By Brontë H. Lacsamana, Reporter

With the popularity of fast fashion and the digitization of the fashion industry, consumers have become more aware about the textile waste, microfiber pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions involved in the mass production of cheap clothing. 

Fashion brands that claim to be sustainable are now challenged to be upfront about the socioeconomic and environmental impact of their supply chain processes. 

“Consumers feel invested and part of the solution. Sometimes they don’t even question the high prices because they understand the value in a sustainable supply chain and the value it creates for them,” said Joy Anya T. Lim, co-founder and managing director of the Cebu-based social and cultural fashion enterprise ANTHILL Fabric Gallery. 

ANTHILL, which stands for Alternative Nest and Trading/Training Hub for Indigenous/Ingenious Little Livelihood seekers, aims to elevating Filipino culture through contemporary and circular design, Ms. Lim said. 

“We’ve been asked for the breakdown of our prices and we provide diagrams that illustrate how much goes to our programs, to the artisans, and to overhead costs and margins,” she said at a Nov. 7 panel discussion on sustainable and digital fashion. 

Being transparent gives consumers a deep appreciation of the purchase. “For example, we use deadstock or production end cuts, which is textile waste that would otherwise be dumped, sourced from hotels’ discarded linens and towels,” Ms. Lim added. 

Sustainable fashion, which can mean many things to different people, is at heart a movement of rethinking humans’ relationship with stuff and consumption.  

Susannah Jaffer, founder of Zerrin, an e-commerce platform that supports independent sustainable fashion, said that sellers and brands alike should promote responsible consumption and analyze their supply chain processes.  

“At the end of the day, it comes down to doing research and that can feel daunting when you’re used to shopping online and just adding to cart. It has to become more natural to look deeper into the practices of brands and what they say and don’t say,” she said. 

In 2021, the European Commission found that up to 42% of green online claims from garments, cosmetics, and household equipment businesses were likely to be exaggerated, false, or deceptive.  

Ms. Jaffer added that information such as where a business sources their materials and who makes their clothing can now be obtained. Brands can’t ignore messages anymore because it would hurt their online reputation not to be transparent. 

Sustainability in fashion is often a journey as well, according to lifestyle publishing house Indonesian Femina Group president and director Svida Alisjahbana. 

“For Jakarta Fashion Week, I’m working with a lot of sustainable designers and I see that many work differently. It can be through circularity, through staying true to heritage and tradition, or through passing on the craftsmanship to the next generation,” she said. 

She shared that research and development initiatives on organic practices in communities can be two-pronged — to preserve heritage, but also to understand how to cultivate it so it will make more sense for more people, possibly on an industrial level.

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