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Surveys and the changing means of reaching voters

FREEPIK

In mid-March 2022, there was an uproar of disbelief and incredulity across social media over survey results showing presidential candidate Marcos Jr. leading with a 60% preference rating. How can that be, they asked, when the real predominant voting preference can be seen in the high turnouts, remarkable energy, and spirited volunteerism in the “pink” rallies? The Digital Public Pulse — conducted by UP Diliman researchers — may have some answers. Findings of the project’s first phase, done from May to October 2021, have already been released. Second phase results will be released later in April, according to Assistant Professor Fatima Gaw of UP Diliman’s Department of Communication Research.

The research, warn the authors, is not representative of the population and is “not a dipstick of public opinion.” They monitored a diverse set of actors — candidates, leaders, parties, civic organizations, political influencers, and individuals — and how they are shaping the election’s digital landscape through YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. They found that:

• The political groundwork for the 2022 Philippine elections has been operating since 2016 and has now matured to run massive but insidious campaigns, with “below-the-radar” anti-democratic actors hijacking the political discourse on social media.

• From May-October 2021, Marcos Jr. rose in influence and expanded reach across audiences through the algorithmic cultivation of YouTube communities, i.e., the rise of hyper-partisan political channels that guised their content as “news,” launched “attack” campaigns, and distorted political popularity.

• On Twitter, obscure accounts are most influential in being popular and noisy while news media have become only secondary in influence. Marcos Jr.’s Twitter interaction network grew from having no distinct cluster in the first quarter to overtaking Leni Robredo’s in the second quarter.

• On Facebook, Robredo-related groups are circulating more content and information, but it is the Marcos- and Duterte-related accounts that have expanded in reach and engaged more diverse communities.

FURTHER EXPLANATIONS
Tsek.ph, a fact-checking collaboration of 34 agencies using Facebook’s Crowdtangle software, corroborates the findings. One claim examined was a post that “no critics of Marcos were arrested during martial law.” Obviously false and a historical distortion, this claim was viewed an astounding 187 million times, indicating that it may have been drilled down by troll armies from inside and outside the country to 66 million Filipinos voters repeatedly. Bundled together with other similar claims and fake news actively projected across social media platforms, it is not difficult to imagine what the typical voter absorbs, particularly those 61% of Filipinos with Facebook accounts who spend on average six hours a day on their smart phones to socialize, get news, or read online chats.

A conclusion that emerges from all this is that the mechanisms of intermediation between candidates and voters have radically changed. Before, candidates reached voters primarily through local politicians, party “machines,” or gatekeepers of so-called “bloc votes” on one hand, and the mainstream media on the other. Today, social media is embedding new channels for direct engagement.

This may be both good and bad for democracy. While these social media-induced changes of the public sphere enable direct participation of the voting public, it can be manipulated too by politicians building massive online infrastructure — like algorithmic networks and hyper-partisan channels on YouTube; noisy interaction networks on Twitter; and extensive sharing networks on Facebook — to spread fake news and disinformation quickly and effectively.

POROUS BOUNDARIES? POLITICAL INTERLOPERS NEEDED
With a little more than 30 days remaining in the campaign, what else could be done to level the playing field?

In a Facebook post in the third week of March, Fatima Gaw said that while the Marcos-Duterte camp has built an “alternative information ecosystem” with its stockpile of “news” websites, YouTube content, Tiktok trivia videos, and thousands of commenters who corroborate their narratives, “the boundaries between social spaces online are more porous than you think.” Filter bubbles and echo chambers, she said, are not empirically proven.

What this means is that even if various social media platforms have been “weaponized” for particular candidates, those same spaces can still be “infiltrated” or nudged in certain ways by political interlopers. For example, there are actors with non-political identities who bridge political and non-political audiences, like Manny Pacquiao. He has a predominantly sports-oriented following by the millions, so his one-liner, “ang totoong bobo ay ’yung boboto sa magnanakaw” will reverberate across the 60%. The interventions of Darna celebrities, like Sharon Cuneta and Angel Locsin, will ripple across their millions of followers and do much to turn the tide against fake news (which is why they are viciously attacked by trolls).

The research explains that “affordances” — what people notice or experience to change their views — can be brought into digital and media spaces. Therefore, diverse perspectives and uncongenial information are still possible in that alternative information ecosystem of fake news and disinformation.

But this requires deliberate and conscious action from users. The porousness of digital communities can be exploited by purposely entering networks, blending in with that ecosystem, and then providing comment and content that will raise facts, or at least raise doubts about the claims and fake news circulated. The goal should not necessarily be conversion, but rather, to plant facts and “seeds of doubt” that should open up critical thinking towards more informed choices.

Perhaps the election playing field can still be leveled if that massive turnout at the “pink” rallies, where nearly each participant is seemingly in possession of a smart phone, can be mobilized as well into a digital army that breaks into social media’s porous boundaries to reach more diverse communities en masse to “raise facts not fake news” or to carpet-bomb Marcos-Duterte supporters with messages like: “Hindi kayo ang kalaban. Kasama kayo sa ipinaglalaban!”

That “pink” army has now been asked by no less than Robredo’s daughters, Aika and Tricia, to spend quality time doing house-to-house and face-to-face engagement with voters — emphasizing that relationship-building and honest conversations matter. Could that army then turn both ground and digital “offensives” into complementary drives that reinforce each other to dismantle the disinformation, nudge opinion, and open up people’s choices? We may see that in the next few days.

 

Eric D U Gutierrez is a registered Filipino voter based in Germany. He received his PhD in Development Studies from Erasmus University Rotterdam and has written extensively on Philippine politics.

Geopolitics and the Philippine economy

KATEMANGOSTAR/ NATANAELGINTING/FREEPIK

The Philippines may be islands in the Pacific, but it’s not isolated from geopolitics. Geopolitical events have affected the Philippine economy and have helped shaped our history.

The fall of Cuba to Castro in 1957, for example, caused the United States to increase its sugar quota for the Philippines and reinforced domestic rent-seeking. More significantly, the oil crises in 1973 and in 1979 affected the nature, duration, and fate of former President Marcos’ martial law in the Philippines. How?

The Yom Kipppur war, where Israel engaged in a short war against a coalition of Arab states, prompted the Organization of Arab Oil Exporting countries, led by Saudi Arabia, to declare an oil embargo against those who supported Israel. Oil prices jumped 300%, from $3 a barrel to $12 a barrel. The world experienced its first oil shock.

However, the dramatic increase in oil prices, which were sustained after the war, made the oil exporting countries flush with dollars, which were then deposited by oil exporting countries in money center banks, principally in New York. These money center banks then recycled the petrodollars into loans to developing countries, especially those oil-importing countries, like the Philippines, which were suffering from trade deficits.

Those loans impacted the Philippines in two ways: First, it enabled the Marcos regime to essentially keep intact the protectionist, inward-looking, statist economy. The push for structural reform reversed, and enabled crony capitalism. Second, it allowed the martial law economy to grow at least in its initial years. This was the era of “debt-driven growth.”

However, because the protected, inward-looking structure was essentially unchanged, those loans went into unproductive and inefficient uses, corruption or no corruption. Therefore, when the second oil shock occurred in 1979 with the fall of the Shah of Iran, the economy slid into crisis, which culminated with the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in 1983 and the People Power revolution thereafter.

Today, because of the ongoing Ukraine war, the world is experiencing another oil shock, and secondarily, a food shock, because Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of wheat and fertilizer. It’s too soon to tell its long-term impact on the Philippine economy because we don’t know yet the duration and end state of this war.

What I do know is that geopolitics will affect the Philippine economy. Economic planning must, therefore, consider geopolitics.

However, geopolitics will increasingly favor the Philippines. Even the Ukraine war has a silver lining for the Philippines.

First, deglobalization is accelerating and the Philippines could be a winner. Before the Ukraine war, the United States had been trying to decouple itself from China as the former sees the latter as a strategic rival.

The trend of deglobalization will only accelerate because of the Ukraine war with the West cutting off or reducing its links to Russia and to China, which is increasingly seen by the West as Russia’s ally.

Therefore, the West will try to strengthen its investment and trade links with countries outside of Russia and China.

The Philippines is in a more favorable position than most because it’s a frontline state in the US struggle with China. It shares democratic values with the US and Europe. It has a young, large English-speaking population.

Therefore, the passage of the Public Service Act Amendment is timely. Opening the telecommunications, shipping, airlines, airports, tollways, railways, subways, and TNVs (Transport Network Vehicles) to 100% foreign investment will lead to a boom in foreign investments by companies encouraged by their respective governments. Foreign governments will probably shower the Philippines with concessional loans, grants, or official development assistance to provide the infrastructure for increased trade and supply chain resiliency. (A Western version of “Belt and Road.”)

Second, another geopolitical event favoring the Philippines is the rise of mining as the industry of the present and of the future.

Mining is already a strategic industry and will become more so in the future. Two factors are driving up the global demand for metals and minerals: One is the shift toward EVs (electric vehicles) from internal combustion engines. The heart of EVs is batteries, which require nickel, lithium, manganese, and cobalt to run. The other factor is the acceleration of digitalization caused by the pandemic. Demand for electronic goods increased during the pandemic and will be sustained even with the end of the pandemic as companies and consumers have seen the advantages of digitalization. All these electronic goods require minerals like copper and nickel.

The problem for the West is that some of these key minerals lie with Russia, China, Congo, and other authoritarian regimes. (Russia is a major exporter of nickel and nickel products.) Therefore, they will seek to increase supply from friendlier countries like the Philippines.

The Philippines is the fifth most mineralized country in the world. It has plenty of nickel, copper, gold, silver, and even cobalt. Global companies will therefore come knocking on our door. If we let them in, governance and sustainability standards in mining will improve. (This is what Tesla is doing in New Caledonia where it has contracted most of the nickel output.) The government just needs to give the mining industry stability of policy.

Finally, the Philippines has a young, large population in a region where there’s rapid demographic decline. China is heading into negative population growth. South Korea is the fastest ageing country in the world. Japan’s labor shortage is worsening because it doesn’t have enough young people. Even Thailand is ageing fast. Its average age is 40 and its working age population will shrink from 71% of the population to just 56% by 2060.

Therefore, if the Philippines plays its cards right, it could be a production base for companies seeking to relocate their factories outside of China and Russia. If our labor laws are amended and modernized, the country could even have an edge over Vietnam. Vietnam is, after all, like China, communist and authoritarian.

Although these geopolitical factors represent the tailwinds to Philippine economic growth, the country could further optimize the opportunities offered by geopolitics.

First, it can improve its institutions and adherence to the rule of law. There’s no reason why we can’t improve our institutions. We did it with the Central Bank.

We should also burnish our international reputation for respect for human rights without compromising the campaign for internal security and peace and order.

Second, we should remove the foreign ownership restrictions in the Constitution and the Filipino First policy in our procurement and other laws.

We could attract a lot of media companies fleeing Hong Kong and even internet companies to relocate here because we have freedom of the press. Unfortunately, the 100% Filipino ownership of mass media has driven foreign media and internet companies away.

Because of the Ukraine war, Western governments are also amping up their military and security spending. However, because they can’t manufacture all their components within their own countries, they must rely on low-cost countries for these. We can build our own state-owned defense industries to export these military components and goods. However, a big barrier is a Filipino First provision in the procurement law, where even higher costing and lower quality “Filipino” products are given preference.

Third, we could negotiate bilateral free trade agreements and Generalized System of Preferences or GSP plus privileges with the EU, US, and Canada, as well as ratifying the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) and joining the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership). Opening these foreign markets to local production will boost exports as well as bring investors relocating here to sell to these markets.

If the next administration does these reforms, the magnitude of foreign investments can become a flood.

Economic management is more than just monetary policy and fiscal management. It’s also recognizing threats and opportunities offered by geopolitics and leveraging our position. It’s about getting the Big Picture right and formulating a strategy around it.

 

Calixto V. Chikiamco is a member of the board of IDEA (Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis).

totivchiki@yahoo.com

More bureaucracy at the Philippine Ports Authority

TAWATCHAI07-FREEPIK

Last September, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) issued an administrative order entitled “Container Tagging and Tracking System” (later on changed to “Container Registry Monitoring System” or CRMS). In that administrative order, the PPA expressed its need to install a system that monitors the movement of shipping containers from the time they enter PPA ports to the time they are exported. The purpose is to prevent the diversion of bonded cargo into the open market. In other words, to prevent smuggling of goods while in transit.

The plan may sound sensible at face value but is problematic on at least five levels. In fact, the Alliance of Philippine Customs Brokers and Trucking Association as well as numerous importers and exporters have filed a complaint about the matter to the PPA itself. Industry stakeholders argue that the PPA plan is unnecessary and only partially effective. It will exacerbate port congestion, is scandalously expensive, and that the bidding processes gives us reason to suspect graft. Let me explain.

Why is it unnecessary? It is unnecessary because the Bureau of Customs (BoC) has its own container identification and tracking system called the Cargo Targeting System. This is the same system used by members of the World Customs Organization. In addition, the BoC has also adopted a system called eTRACC. The latter utilizes GPS seals to secure and track containers to and from the port to bonded warehouses and PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) zones. With these systems in place, the PPA’s CRMS system is redundant.

Moreover, with the implementation of the CRMS system, the PPA effectively encroaches on the mandate of the BoC. Bear in mind that it is the BoC that is mandated to protect against customs tax fraud and one of the ways it does this is by monitoring the movement of containers while in transit. The PPA’s mandate, on the other hand, is confined to port administration, operation, and development. Nothing in its charter gives PPA dominion over anti-smuggling operations. In short, it has no business pursuing the CRMS project.

Why is the CRMS only partially effective? Unlike the monitoring systems of the Bureau of Customs which cover all the ports in the country, the PPA’s CRMS system applies only to containers passing through PPA ports. It lacks the mechanism to monitor containers that transit through ports and ecozones outside PPA jurisdiction such as SBMA (Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority), Clark, PEZA, Customs Bonded Warehouses, Off-Dock Container Depots, and others.

Why will the CRMS system exacerbate port congestion? At present, about 4,000 containers flow out of the Manila International Container Terminal and the South Harbor daily. Under the CRMS’s system, each container will have to be rigged with a tracking device. Assuming it takes five to 10 minutes to install the device, one can imagine the traffic this will cause at the exit gates.

There is also the added procedure of detaching the tracking devise upon re-export of the containers. This will have to be done at a site outside the port. This means shippers must make an extra land trip and an extra stop before they can export the containers, costing extra time and money. Note too that the extra trip to the detaching site will worsen vehicular traffic on our roads.

How expensive is the CRMS system? The project’s budget is P980 million but this is only for the pilot run that covers 200,000 containers. As taxpayers, I think we can all agree that to spend nearly a billion pesos of public funds for a mere pilot run (of a redundant project) is imprudent.

When the project is fully implemented, the program will affect at least 1.2 million containers a year. At P4,900 per container, PPA will have to spend about P6 billion annually on this. It is not clear whether the PPA will bear the cost or if it will be passed to the shippers. Either way, the cost will be borne by the Filipino people through the use of taxpayers’ money or by way of higher prices of imported goods.

Why does this deal give us reason to suspect graft? Because the bidding terms of references severely limit competition. First, the bidding documents specifies that the bidder must possess a 10-hectare property, accessible by major roads within a 50-kilometer radius of PPA ports. Given the scarcity of free land in Metro Manila, there is probably only one entity that can fulfill this requirement.

Second, one of the requirements of the PPA is not even relevant to the scope of work of the project. It is for the bidder to have an operable ID system. Curiously, one of the prospective bidders has a National ID contract under the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Third, some of the items in the terms of reference allude to specific suppliers. The person who drafted the terms of reference probably forgot to delete the name, giving away the identity of a favored supplier.

Fourth, the terms of reference are so vague in some parts that quantities are not even specified.

The bids were opened on March 15. True enough, only one company submitted and qualified.

Through an e-mail last March 19, I reached out to PPA General Manager, Jay Daniel Santiago, to get his side of the story. I received no response.

At a time when the country is drowning in debt, the last thing we need is a project that is redundant and unreasonably expensive. As the business sector struggles with bureaucratic red tape, the last thing we need are multiple steps and added costs to the import and export process.

Given the adverse effect on industry stakeholders and on the public in general, we hope that the higher ups of the Department of Transportation and the Anti Red Tape Authority will look into this matter.

 

Andrew J. Masigan is an economist

andrew_rs6@yahoo.com

Facebook@AndrewJ. Masigan

Twitter @aj_masigan

Bangsamoro women at the helm of peacebuilding and community resilience in BARMM

FREEPIK

THROUGHOUT the history of the Bangsamoro, the harsh realities of poverty, underdevelopment, and violence amid armed conflict have disproportionately impacted Bangsamoro women. For years, societal narratives seemed to highlight how Bangsamoro women have been negatively affected by violent conflicts. At times, these narratives failed to consider the critical role played by women as agents of change for peace and development in their respective communities.

During the transition period, we witnessed the transformation of these narratives, underpinned by the significant contributions of women in the implementation of the peace agreement, both in the Political Transition and Normalization tracks. We witnessed more women become empowered to play crucial roles in peacebuilding and governance in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. We also heard of stories of hope, agency and resilience among Bangsamoro women in the face of multiple risks and vulnerabilities arising from natural disasters, violent conflicts, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Since women experience more the impact of conflict, it is necessary that they are on-board and meaningfully participating in conflict resolution and peace processes to ensure a gender-sensitive and gender-responsive process and outcome.

In the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), women constitute 51% of the total population. Thus, there can be no genuine peace without the meaningful inclusion and participation of women in building the Bangsamoro. The history of the Bangsamoro peace process is full of stories of women taking on crucial roles as advocates, facilitators, mediators, and peacebuilders. For instance, in 2018, thousands of Bangsamoro women, some of whom walked barefoot under the heat of the sun, lobbied and rallied for the passage and ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL). They wanted peace and actively claimed their positions to be participants of peace and nation-building.

The eventual passing of the BOL, which paved the way for the establishment of the BARMM, created a positive environment for women’s participation and leadership in the region. Several provisions in the BOL sought to recognize the important role of women in peacebuilding and development in the region, such as the inclusion of reserved seats for women, youth, and indigenous communities in the Bangsamoro Parliament, the appointment of at least one woman to the Bangsamoro Cabinet, and the consideration of women’s need in rehabilitation and development programs. The BOL also put forth the promotion of gender-responsiveness in all aspects of security and peacebuilding, including in ensuring the meaningful participation of women in decision-making in all levels of governance. More concretely, the BOL also provided for the establishment of the Bangsamoro Women Commission (BWC).

In 2020, with the support of development partners, including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the BWC launched the Bangsamoro Regional Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (RAP-WPS) 2020-2022, which sought to enhance the role of Bangsamoro women in the implementation of the peace agreement, in conflict transformation and in the protection of their human rights in conflict and post-conflict settings.

Furthermore, in support of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in the BARMM, the BWC and UNDP supported the establishment of the Women Insider Mediators-Rapid Action and Mobilization Platform (WIM-RAMP), a group of community-based women mediators and peacebuilders. Composed of women leaders representing their own respective organizations, the WIM-RAMP members have committed to actively work towards building community. A year after its creation in 2021, WIM-RAMP members continue to reach out to marginalized and vulnerable groups in their efforts to build resilience and peace in their respective communities. The WPS program of BWC and UNDP is being supported by various development partners, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, and the European Union.

The path forward is clear: if we are to strengthen community resilience and build sustainable peace in the region, we must continue to invest in women in the Bangsamoro.

Truly, the Bangsamoro region has come a long way in understanding the importance of gender-sensitive and gender-responsive approaches to peacebuilding and development. Still, so much more must be done for both Bangsamoro women and men to equally benefit from the gains of the peace process. It is every Bangsamoro woman’s right to be actively included and involved, especially in this period of transition where peace and development efforts are geared towards rebuilding communities, addressing injustices, and regaining trust and social cohesion.

This past Women’s Month, the UNDP was one with the BWC in shining the spotlight on Bangsamoro women who serve as active contributors and claimholders to peace and development in Bangsamoro communities. We give recognition to their stories of struggle, hope, resilience, and empowerment as they work and advocate for their aspirations for an inclusive and peaceful society for all. “We stand together with them in making CHANGE work for Bangsamoro women” and commit to encourage and accompany Bangsamoro women in claiming their stakes and assuming their roles as peacebuilders and leaders in their respective fields.”

 

Dr. Selva Ramachandran, is the UNDP Philippines resident representative, and MP Hadja Bainon G. Karon is the Bangsamoro Women Commission chairperson.

Ukraine claims control over Kyiv

UKRAINE and Russian flags are seen through broken glass in this illustration taken March 1, 2022. — REUTERS
Ukraine and Russian flags are seen through broken glass in this illustration taken March 1, 2022. — REUTERS

BUCHA, Ukraine — As Ukraine claimed its forces had retaken all areas around Kyiv, the mayor of a liberated town said 300 residents had been killed during a month-long occupation by the Russian army, and victims were seen in a mass grave and still lying on the streets.

Ukraine’s troops have retaken more than 30 towns and villages around Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since Russia launched its invasion.

At Bucha, a town neighboring Irpen, just 37 km (23 miles) northwest of the capital, Reuters journalists saw bodies lying in the streets, and the hands and feet of multiple corpses poking out of a still open grave at a church ground.

After five weeks of fighting, Russia has pulled back forces that had threatened Kyiv from the north to regroup for battles in eastern Ukraine.

“The whole Kyiv region is liberated from the invader,” Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on Facebook. There was no Russian comment on the claim, which Reuters could not immediately verify.

President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in a video address: “They are mining all this territory. Houses are mined, equipment is mined, even the bodies of dead people.” He did not cite evidence.

Ukraine’s emergencies service said over 1,500 explosives had been found in one day during a search of the village of Dmytrivka, west of the capital.

Russia’s defense ministry did not reply to a request for comment on the mining allegations. Reuters could not independently verify them.

Russia denies targeting civilians and rejects war crimes allegations.

But in Bucha, Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said more than 300 residents had been killed. Many residents tearfully recalled brushes with death and cursed the departed Russians.

“The bastards!” Vasily, a grizzled 66-year-old man said, weeping with rage as he looked at more than a dozen bodies lying in the road outside his house. “I’m sorry. The tank behind me was shooting. Dogs!”

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she was appalled by atrocities in Bucha and voiced support for the International Criminal Court’s inquiry into potential war crimes.

PUTIN-ZELENSKY TALKS?
Since the launch on Feb. 24 of what President Vladimir Putin called a “special military operation” to demilitarize Ukraine, Russia has failed to capture a single major city and has instead laid siege to urban areas, uprooting a quarter of the country’s population.

Russia has depicted its drawdown of forces near Kyiv as a goodwill gesture in peace talks. Ukraine and its allies say Russia was forced to shift its focus to east Ukraine after suffering heavy losses.

Both sides described talks held this week in Istanbul and by video link as “difficult.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday the “main thing is that the talks continue, either in Istanbul or somewhere else.”

A new round of talks has not yet been announced. But Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said on Saturday that enough progress had been made to allow direct talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mr. Zelensky.

“The Russian side confirmed our thesis that the draft documents have been sufficiently developed to allow direct consultations between the two countries’ leaders,” Arakhamia said. Russia has not commented on the possibility.

MARIUPOL WAITS
Among those killed near Kyiv was Maksim Levin, a Ukrainian photographer and videographer who was working for a news website and was a long-time contributor to Reuters.

His body was found in a village north of Kyiv on April 1, the news website LB.ua where he worked said on Saturday.

In the east, the Red Cross was hoping a convoy to evacuate civilians would reach the besieged port of Mariupol on Sunday, having abandoned earlier attempts due to security concerns. Russia blamed the ICRC for the delays.

Mariupol is Russia’s main target in Ukraine’s southeastern region of Donbas, and tens of thousands of civilians there are trapped with scant access to food and water. 

Ukraine’s armed forces reported diminished Russian air and missile strikes, though in the early hours of Sunday missiles struck the southern port city of Odesa, the city council said.

Russia’s defense ministry said its missiles had disabled military airfields in Poltava, in central Ukraine, and Dnipro, further south. It later said its forces had hit 28 Ukrainian military facilities across the country, including two weapons depots.

The Ukrainian military also reported Russian air strikes on the cities of Severodonetsk and Rubizhne in Luhansk, one of two southeastern regions where pro-Russian separatists declared breakaway states days before the invasion. The Ukrainian military said it had repulsed six enemy attacks in Luhansk and Donetsk, the other breakway region, on Saturday. — Reuters

China finds new virus subtype as daily cases exceed 13,000

CHINA added more than 13,000 new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections with state media reporting a case infected with a new subtype of the omicron variant.

The new iteration of the virus, isolated from a mild COVID-19 patient in a city less than 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Shanghai, evolves from the BA.1.1 branch of the Omicron variant, Global Times reported, citing sequencing data from local health authorities. The report said the subtype doesn’t match other coronavirus that’s causing COVID in China nor those submitted to GISAID, where scientists around the world share the coronavirus, they sequenced as a way to monitor mutations.

Almost 12,000 of the cases reported nationwide on Saturday were asymptomatic.

Vice Premier Sun Chunlan arrived in the country’s virus hotspot of Shanghai to oversee prevention efforts, as she ordered officials to curtail the outbreak “as soon as possible,” according to Xinhua. Cases in the financial hub exceeded 8,000 on Saturday including 7,788 asymptomatic infections. Shanghai will start a new round of mass testing on Monday, authorities said.

Ms. Sun, who previously went to Jilin to oversee lockdown measures in the northeast province, ordered Shanghai officials to “resolutely” conduct measures to stop the outbreak. All of the metropolis’ 25 million residents are currently under some form of quarantine.

In the city of Sanya in Hainan province, authorities suspended all transportation to stymie the spread of COVID, according to a post on an official WeChat account. — Bloomberg

Sri Lanka throttles social media, protests amid increasing unrest

SRI LANKAN military officer lowers the national flag at the flag square in Colombo, Sri Lanka, March 23, 2021. — REUTERS
SRI LANKAN military officer lowers the national flag at the flag square in Colombo, Sri Lanka, March 23, 2021. — REUTERS

SRI LANKAN President Gotabaya Rajapaksa barred gatherings and ordered internet service providers to restrict social media access, tightening curbs amid demonstrations calling for his ouster over soaring living costs and a foreign exchange crisis.

Several dozen opposition lawmakers had set off on a march toward Independence Square in Colombo, AFP reported, defying a weekend curfew although they were stopped by armed troops. Access to several social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and WhatsApp have been restricted, according to notices issued by telcos including Dialog Axiata.

Calls made by Bloomberg to the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Department went unanswered.

The tightening of restrictions came as Sri Lankans had taken to social media to call people to gather in Colombo and surrounding areas on Sunday afternoon to peacefully protest against the economic crisis.

The government declared a public emergency late on Friday after citizens protesting spiraling inflation and widespread power cuts clashed with police outside the Rajapaksa’s private residence. The declaration now gives Mr. Rajapaksa sweeping powers to suspend laws, detain people and seize property, which he said was essential for the protection of public order.

The slew of restrictions from Mr. Rajapaksa drew criticism from diplomats in the country. Germany’s envoy to Sri Lanka Holger Seubert said in a tweet that “people demonstrating for their rights are no emergency. It’s the emergency that brings them to the streets.”

British High Commissioner Sarah Hulton said she was concerned by reports of the use of force against journalists and protesters.

Police said they had arrested 664 people who had violated curfew in the Western province where the capital is situated, between 10 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday.

The island nation is undergoing a severe shortage of food and fuel as it runs out of dollars to pay for imports. Inflation has accelerated to almost 19%, the highest in Asia and has played a major part in people taking to the streets to call for Mr. Rajapaksa and his family to resign from government.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s elder brother Mahinda serves as prime minister and Basil, the youngest, holds the finance portfolio, while the eldest Chamal controls the agriculture ministry and nephew Namal is the sports minister. In a possible sign of friction within the clan, Namal openly criticized the latest curbs involving social media.

The Rajapaksa family still enjoys two-thirds majority support in parliament. National elections will be held in 2023 at the earliest.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s administration in recent weeks has devalued the rupee, raised interest rates, placed curbs on non-essential imports, and reduced stock-trading hours to preserve electricity and foreign currency. He has also dropped resistance to seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and is simultaneously in talks with nations including India and China for bilateral aid.

The IMF last month said Sri Lanka faces a “clear solvency problem” due to unsustainable debt levels, as well as persistent fiscal and balance-of-payments shortages. — Bloomberg

Still fearing COVID, Filipinos are mobile out of necessity — survey

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

Although working Filipinos still fear coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), they are now more willing to go out, a recent study showed.

A 2021 survey of the Filipino workforce by health maintenance organization PhilhealthCare, Inc. (PhilCare) found that a majority of 1,500 respondents “strongly agree” that the thought of being exposed to the virus still causes stress.

Despite this anxiety, they also said that they are now capable of going out in public. The 2021 survey saw more neutral answers in relation to being comfortable with going to the hospital, compared to the 2020 survey in which there was no consensus.

The same question about going to supermarkets elicited more agreeable responses, compared to last year’s neutral sentiments.

With the Philippines logging among the lowest daily cases in Southeast Asia, the presidential palace recently announced that Metro Manila and nearby cities will remain under Alert Level 1, the lowest coronavirus alert level, until April 15.

Meanwhile, business owners and corporate leaders should try to gauge employees’ sentiments when it comes to company policies during the pandemic, noted PhilCare president and chief executive officer Joseph Agustin “Jaeger” L. Tanco.

“We understand that we cannot maintain the same level of restriction that we implemented during the onset of the pandemic. However, it doesn’t mean that we could also drop our vigilance regarding keeping ourselves and our families safe from the coronavirus,” Mr. Tanco said.

QUARANTINE FATIGUE

To fight quarantine fatigue resulting from following health mandates for so long, workplaces must take an active role in easing into the new normal, he added.

This fatigue was detected by PhilCare’s 2021 survey, which saw a drop in agreement to washing hands and disinfecting items bought outside compared to results from the same study a year before.

The Department of Health warned on Tuesday that a decline in people’s compliance with the minimum health standards could cause infections to rise to 670 a day by the end of April. The Philippines recorded an average of 389 daily infections in the past week, 24% lower than the previous week.

Mr. Tanco explained that the culture promoted at work “highly influences the beliefs, sentiments, and decision making of workers.”

Initiatives that can ease health and safety concerns include encouraging employees to get vaccinated and boosted, involving them in crafting pandemic-related policies, and being open to accommodate flexible work arrangements, according to PhilCare.

“At this point, we understand that following strict health and safety protocols out of fear could really lead to quarantine fatigue and burnout. We don’t want that to happen. To be able to journey into the new normal, we have to recognize that we need to have something to look forward to,” added Mr. Tanco.

The PhilCare Wellness Index was conducted via a nationwide telephone survey in September 2021, covering Metro Manila and 65 provinces. Most respondents are employees, with 64.5% working for private firms. — Brontë H. Lacsamana

JCI announces 10 TOYM awardees

The Junior Chamber International (JCI) Philippines announced the 10 winners of the 2021 The Outstanding Young Men and Women (TOYM) awards, who were recognized for “willingly taking the extra mile of selfless service to others.”

“The ultimate test of efficiency of corporations lies beyond its ability to make profits for its shareholders, but in its ability to uplift the lives of people,” said Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation and PLDT, Inc., in his message.

“If you’re able to say you did that, then you did a good job,” he added.

Held April 1, the hybrid event carried the theme “Everyday Leaders Enabling Extraordinary Impact.”

The awardees are:

  • Ariestelo A. Asilo, a coffee entrepreneur who also co-organized the non-governmental organization Rise Against Hunger, for Social Entrepreneurship;
  • Iloisa Romaraog-Diga, who connects farmers to consumers through her app Session Groceries, for Agricultural Entrepreneurship;
  • Eleazar Abraham “Abe” L. Orobio, head facilitator of Art Workshops for Indigenous People (IP) Elementary teachers, for Education and Culture;
  • Anna R. Oposa, executive director of marine conservation organization Save Philippine Seas, for Environment Marine Conservation;
  • Jayeel S. Cornelio, associate professor and director of the Development Studies Program at the Ateneo de Manila University, for Education/Sociology;
  • Maria Yzabell Angel V. Palma, inventor of AirDisc Cooling Technologies, for Science and Technology;
  • Dr. Jaime Alfonso M. Aherrera, whose research has been used to develop pathways for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) management at the Philippine General Hospital, for Medicine/Cardiology;
  • Lou Sabrina S. Ongkiko, who heads learning continuity plan and blended learning initiatives, for Education/Academe;
  • Jaemark S. Tordecilla, head of digital media at GMA News and Public Affairs, for Digital Journalism;
  • and Dr. Melvin J. Sanicas, an internationally recognized Filipino COVID-19 expert, for Science/Medicine.

In his opening remarks, Bienvenido “Donnie” V. Tantoco III, TOYM Foundation Inc. chairman and Rustan’s president, included a few thoughts from his father:

“‘Do not treat the skills, intelligence, freedom, and life you have as a possession or entitlement,’ my father said. ‘Treat all of those as a gift. Having received those gifts, be a gift. Ironically, when you share your gift, your original gift increases,’” he said, explaining that these sentiments reminded him of the spirit of the awards.

“[These] four women and six men prioritized others above themselves,” he added.

Nominations were screened by a panel composed of past TOYM honorees chaired by Ma. Anthonette Velasco-Allones, 2009 TOYM honoree for Human Resource Development and the chief executive officer of Tourism Promotions Board Phils.

A board of judges, chaired by retired Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, also vetted the nominees.

The awards were conceived by the Manila Jaycees as a chapter project on April 6, 1959. The project was then adopted on a national scale by the Philippine Jaycees on October 15, 1959, during their 11th National Convention in Baguio City.

Women have been part of the search since 1984.

JCI Philippines will hold the TOYM awards ceremony on April 8.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Patricia B. Mirasol

Hong Kong govt ‘strongly opposes’ UK, US report on city’s diminishing freedoms

Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. -- Photograph courtesy of Hong Kong Architectural Services Department.

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s government said on Friday it rejected “unfounded and ridiculous” allegations made in policy reports from Britain and the United States of a deteriorating political and legal situation due to the city’s sweeping national security law.

The United States and Britain released strongly-worded reports on Thursday detailing concerns about an erosion of freedoms in the global financial hub and the stifling of dissent in the city’s legislature, civil society and media.

The reports come after two senior British judges resigned from Hong Kong’s highest court on Wednesday because of the national security law which punishes offenses such as subversion with up to life imprisonment.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam called the resignations “politically motivated,” while China blamed it on “British pressure.”

“We strongly oppose the unfounded and ridiculous allegations against the Hong Kong special administrative region’s government made by foreign countries through various reports,” Hong Kong’s government said in a statement.

“The government urges foreign countries to stop interfering into the internal affairs of China through Hong Kong affairs.”

The UK report said it was no longer tenable for serving UK judges to sit on Hong Kong’s top court, citing that the city’s political and legal situation “has now deteriorated beyond the point where it is acceptable for serving UK judges to take part.”

British judges have long served among the foreign jurists appointed to the Court of Final Appeal (CFA), an arrangement put in place prior to Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997 to maintain confidence in a separate legal system widely seen as the bedrock of the city’s social and commercial freedoms.

Ten other foreign judges are still serving the Hong Kong court, six of whom are retired British jurists, one Canadian and three Australians.

Business people and diplomats are watching particularly closely, given the importance of legal independence to Hong Kong’s status as a global financial hub.

The differences between Hong Kong and cities in mainland China are “shrinking due to ongoing repression from the People’s Republic of China,” Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said in the report.

Hong Kong’s government said it was proud of its “unwavering commitment” to the rule of law and an independent judiciary.

It said it was firmly committed to safeguarding press and speech freedoms, with the media able to monitor the government’s work and criticize policies as long as it was not “in violation of the law.” — Reuters

Taiwan puppeteers look to NFTs to keep their art alive

VeVe Digital Collectibles

YUNLIN, Taiwan — A group of Taiwanese puppeteers are looking to use non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, to help bring their traditional art form into the modern era and keep it relevant for a new audience. 

NFTs are crypto assets representing a digital item such as an image, video, or even land in virtual worlds, with prices of some rising so fast last year that speculators around the world sometimes “flipped” them within days for a profit. 

Pili International Multimedia, which makes Taiwan’s longest-running television show featuring the puppets at its studio in central Taiwan’s Yunlin County, says it wants to use NFTs as another source of revenue. 

“The sort of imagination everyone nowadays has for the online world is developing so fast that we are almost unable to grasp it,” said Seika Huang, Pili’s brand director. 

“Instead of sitting on the sidelines, the best approach is to go ahead and understand fully what’s going on. This is the fastest way to catch up.” 

Pili has thousands of glove puppet characters, a traditional part of Taiwanese street entertainment culture spinning colorful and highly stylized stories of heroic courage and romance, often with martial arts. 

The puppets are painstakingly created, and expertly maneuvered during the filming of the shows, with costumes that are sewn on and strands of hair meticulously put in place. 

Pili said four of their puppet characters were made into digital versions and 30,000 sets have been sold as NFTs. 

The company declined to reveal the profit-sharing with the market platform, but said prices for each set started at $40, translating to generated revenue of at least $1.2 million, since their listing in early February. 

Marketing technology company VeVe, which is in charge of selling the NFTs, said the stories of the puppet heroes resonates with a younger crowd and could draw in foreign fans of superhero films, such as those based on characters from Marvel Comics. 

“Westerners actually really like our martial arts heroes and kung-fu,” said VeVe’s brand manager Raymond Chou. 

Huang, who said their initial listings had sold out seconds after launching on VeVe, is now working on transforming up to 50 other puppet characters into NFTs, potentially adding another million-dollar revenue stream for the studio. — Ann Wang/Reuters

Don’t throw Russia out of G20, aid group says, with eye on food crisis

Russian President Vladimir Putin

WASHINGTON — Excluding Russia from the Group of 20 (G20) major economies and other international institutions could slow efforts to address a worsening global food crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, the head of German aid group Welthungerhilfe (WHH) told Reuters.

Mathias Mogge, chief executive of the group, which serves 14.3 million people with projects in 35 countries, said it was critical to maintain communication with Russia, one of the world’s largest producers of wheat, in tackling the crisis.

“Of course, Russia is the aggressor here, and there needs to be sanctions and everything. But in a humanitarian situation as we have it today, there must be open lines of communication,” Mr. Mogge said in an interview this week.

Mr. Mogge’s comments come days after US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., said he thinks Russia should be removed from the G20, although experts say that is unlikely to happen given lack of support from India, China and several other G20 members.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February is driving food prices sharply higher across the world and triggering shortages of staple crops in parts of central Asia, the Middle East and north Africa, according to United Nations officials.

The war, which Russia calls a “special military operation,” has slashed shipments from the two countries, which together account for 25% of world wheat exports and 16% of corn exports, driving prices sharply higher on international markets.

Mr. Mogge said he expected Group of Seven leaders to address the issue during their upcoming meetings.

Russia was still part of what was then the Group of Eight during the last food crisis of 2007 and 2008, and played a constructive role in reducing hunger worldwide, Mr. Mogge said. — Andrea Shalal/Reuters

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