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Are Registered Business Enterprise transactions VAT zero-rated or not?

Last year, new value-added tax (VAT) rules were introduced by Republic Act (RA) No. 11534 or the CREATE Act. The CREATE Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), and Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 21-2021 soon followed, which did not put a stop to the questions surrounding the law. Not least among them are: What is the proper VAT treatment of transactions with registered business enterprises (RBEs)? What type of BIR documentation is required in addition to the endorsement of the Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs)? What does endorsement from IPAs mean? What rules apply when availing of VAT incentives?

To clarify issues regarding VAT zero-rating, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 24-2022.

Summarized below are some of the highlights of the RMC, particularly on the VAT treatment of transactions with RBEs under CREATE.

SALES TO REGISTERED EXPORT ENTERPRISES
RMC No. 24-2022 reiterated that sales are to be classified as VAT zero-rated provided that (a) the buyer is a registered export enterprise, (b) the seller is a VAT taxpayer, and (c) the purchased goods and services will be used directly and exclusively in the registered project or activity of the enterprise.

The RMC defined a registered export enterprise as any individual, partnership, corporation, Philippine branch or any entity organized and existing under Philippine laws and registered with an IPA to engage in manufacturing, assembling, or processing activity, and services such as information technology (IT) activities and business process outsourcing (BPO), resulting in the direct export and/or sale of its manufactured, assembled, or processed product or IT/BPO services to another registered export enterprise that will form part of the final export product or service of the latter, for at least 70% of its total production output. However, the export enterprise is also a registered business enterprise as defined in Section 4(W) of the CREATE IRR.

The RMC stressed that only the portion of expense directly and exclusively used in the registered project or activity qualifies as a registered export enterprise for VAT zero-rating. Hence, those used for administrative purposes do not qualify such enterprise for zero-rating. Taxpayers are now advised to adopt an allocation method (e.g., use of separate water and power meters for utilities or use of financial ratios) to determine the purchases relating to the registered project or activity and administration purposes. In case the proper allocation cannot be determined, the purchase is subject to 12% VAT.

The RMC explicitly states that services for administrative expenses, such as legal, accounting, and other similar services, are not considered directly and exclusively used in the registered project or activity.

In case the sale to the registered export enterprise is made by another RBE under the 5% Gross Income Tax (GIT) or Special Corporate Income Tax (SCIT) regime, the sale is VAT exempt. The VAT passed on to the seller by its VAT-registered local suppliers forms part of its costs or expenses.

SALES TO REGISTERED DOMESTIC MARKET ENTERPRISES (DMEs) AND OTHER SERVICE ENTERPRISES
As provided in the RMC, DMEs or registered non-export enterprises are not entitled to VAT zero-rating on local purchases. Rather, these are subject to 12% VAT.

Similarly, service enterprises such as those engaged in customs brokerage, trucking or forwarding services, janitorial services, security services, insurance, banking, and other financial services, consumers’ cooperatives, credit unions, consultancy services, retail enterprises, restaurants, or such other similar services, as may be determined by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB), though duly accredited or licensed by any of the IPAs, are subject to 12% VAT on their local purchases.

SALES MADE BY RBEs
The applicable VAT rules for the sales transactions by RBEs may vary depending on the tax regime of the RBE and on the taxability of the purchaser.

Sales by RBEs, whether an export enterprise or a DME, under the 5% GIT are VAT exempt, in general. Meanwhile, sales of VAT-registered RBE-sellers enjoying Income Tax Holiday (ITH) to registered export enterprises are treated as VAT zero-rated, subject to the condition that the sold goods and services are directly and exclusively used in the latter’s registered project or activity.

In addition, the RMC also provided clarification on the RBE’s sale, transfer, or disposition of previously VAT-exempt imported capital equipment, raw materials, spare parts, or accessories. Such subsequent sales may be VAT zero-rated if the purchaser is a registered export enterprise and if the “direct and exclusive use” rule is applied.

If the subsequent sale is made by a DME, the transaction may either be VAT-exempt (if the DME is under 5% GIT), or VATable. The VAT shall be imposed on the net book value of the item/s sold. If the buyer is a registered export enterprise, then the rules on zero-rating apply.

For registered export enterprises having multiple incentives regimes (i.e., the enterprise has registered activities under ITH and GIT), the sales under the 5% GIT regime must be reported as VAT-exempt while sales under ITH are VAT zero-rated.

APPLICATION FOR VAT ZERO-RATING
The CREATE IRR emphasized that VAT zero-rating on qualified purchases only applies upon the endorsement of the IPA concerned, in addition to the documentary requirements of the BIR. Many taxpayers were earlier confused as to what “endorsement of the concerned IPAs” means. Under the RMC, IPAs may now provide VAT Certification only to qualified registered export enterprises. The Certification specifies: (a) the registered export activity, (b) the tax incentives and validity period, and (c) the applicable goods and services, e.g., raw materials, equipment, etc.

Taxpayers must take note that prior approval from the BIR must be secured by the local VAT-registered suppliers following the guidelines of Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 7-2006. Relative hereto, registered export enterprises must provide their suppliers a photocopy of their BIR – Certificate of Registration (BIR Form No. 2303), Certificate of Registration and VAT Certification issued by the IPA concerned, and a Sworn Affidavit stating that the goods and/or services being purchased are for use directly and exclusively in the registered project.

Additionally, supporting documents such as but not limited to purchase orders, job orders, service agreements, sales invoices and/or official receipts, or other similar documents may also be attached to the application to prove the existence and legitimacy of transactions.

Since the application may take a while, processing this ahead of time is necessary as the absence of prior approval from the BIR may result in the disallowance of the VAT zero-rated sale of the supplier.

Certainly, unanswered questions often result in confusion and disparities, especially at times when there are no clear-cut rules. For businesses, a prolonged period of uncertainty may paralyze decision-making and deprive them of better opportunities. With the guidance provided by RMC No. 24-2022, taxpayers are now relieved of the stress and time spent debating what rules apply to them. Needless to say, better compliance from taxpayers is now also anticipated.

Let’s Talk Tax is a weekly newspaper column of P&A Grant Thornton that aims to keep the public informed of various developments in taxation. This article is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional advice.

 

Iris Mae P. Uri is a senior in charge from the Tax Advisory & Compliance division of P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.

pagrantthornton@ph.gt.com

Oil’s not at $200. But it’s pricey enough for Asia

MACROVECTOR-FREEPIK

THE SELLOFF in the global oil market might bring a sense of relief to Asia’s policy makers: So this isn’t 1973, after all.

Back then, prices almost quadrupled in three months and then just kept rising. This time around, Brent crude zoomed to about $128 a barrel, but fell equally dramatically. Speculative bets on a renewed surge are unwinding — as prices bob around the $100-a-barrel range. Yet, policy makers and investors shouldn’t be too complacent. Even if the benchmark this year doesn’t hit the $200 mark that commodities trader Pierre Andurand sees as possible, oil can be a potent instrument of stagflation.

For starters, as economists at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ) point out, government budgets in Southeast Asia and India have assumed an average oil price of between $65 to $75 a barrel for the year, a lot lower than where the market is now. Malaysia and Indonesia, which are net energy exporters, will find it relatively easier to subsidize pump prices. Net importers, however, may struggle to be as generous, for they may need to cut back on developmental spending.

It makes sense to protect household consumption because domestic demand is still short of pre-pandemic levels. It is particularly weak in tourism-dependent Thailand. But then, the virus has also pushed up public debt: Consumers can’t be spared entirely. At their recent highs, passing through a $40-a-barrel increase in crude prices to the local economy would have meant a pickup in inflation: from 1.75 percentage points in Thailand to about 1.25 percentage points in the Philippines and India, according to ANZ.

However, somewhat cooler global energy prices may not necessarily take away the inflationary pressure. The reason is China.

Traders are worried about global oil demand because of the recent omicron outbreak in the People’s Republic. But the lockdown in the cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan in Guangdong province, which accounts for a quarter of the country’s outbound trade, could also mean broader supply-side snarls. For Asia, which has a high dependence on Chinese-made parts and components, “Any prolonged or broader lockdowns in China would add further headaches, potentially resulting in reduced production pipeline for factories elsewhere,” says a report by Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Thus, instead of containing the inflation threat, oil at $100 might yet end up compounding it.

Then again, oil isn’t the only commodity to worry about; food, too, has a high weight in Asia’s inflation equation. Russia and Ukraine together command a share of 15%-plus of global exports of wheat, corn, fertilizers and seed oil. The longer the war stretches on, the higher the risks of a squeeze. While a food exporter like Thailand might realize some benefit from higher prices, trade deficits across the region may widen because of the combined shock from energy and agricultural commodities.

India appears particularly vulnerable to what Observatory Group analyst Ananth Narayan calls the “policy maker’s nightmare.” If current trends sustain, the current account deficit for the fiscal year that starts in April could exceed 3% of GDP, he says, adding that the Reserve Bank of India may need to sell a record amount of foreign currency to keep the rupee stable.

The saving grace is that at 22% of gross domestic product, India’s foreign-exchange war chest is robust. Still, “consumer-price inflation could exceed 6%, and India’s already weak fiscal balance, growth, and job creation could be hit further,” Narayan says.

At the same time, oil could have an impact on Asia’s growth prospects by crimping demand for the region’s exports. “History suggests that higher oil prices and the associated rise in transportation costs do not bode well for trade flows,” write ANZ economists Sanjay Mathur and Krystal Tan. “A slowdown in global growth will hurt the non-energy exports of Indonesia and Malaysia as well.” The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development expects the war in Ukraine to shave off one percentage point from global growth this year, but because it also anticipates a 2.5 percentage point pickup in inflation, the OECD is advising central banks to focus on fighting price pressures.   

In Asia, though, such clear-cut institutional boundaries — governments enabling growth, monetary authorities dealing with inflation — got blurred with the onset of the pandemic; the task of re-establishing them will probably now get postponed until after the end of the war. That means that central banks will prioritize output by keeping interest rates lower, while governments try to manage inflation with energy subsidies. The outcomes could get messy for investors, especially with the US Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening campaign already under way.

The 1970s stagflation in the West coincided with the rise of Asia. With the oil shock worsening their terms of trade, South Korea and Thailand pumped up exports to overcome their handicap. Indonesia took advantage of higher commodity prices. Investment boomed. Tiny Sri Lanka saw an 18 percentage point jump in the ratio of its capital formation to GDP between 1977 and 1982. Conditions are very different now because of, among other things, the scarring from the pandemic. The Thai bond market is getting no love from global investors, while Sri Lanka is seeking a rescue by the International Monetary Fund. Brent crude sustained at $128 a barrel would have dealt a big blow to Asia, but even $100 oil won’t bring it much cheer.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

SEC’s power to investigate criminal offenses

One of the issues that arises from the criminal penalty provisions of the Revised Corporation Code (RCC) is whether private complainants, especially those within the intra-corporate relations, may, on the basis of their criminal complaint, commence a preliminary investigation with the prosecutor’s office without going through the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Unlike the Philippine Competition Act which provides expressly that the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has “sole and exclusive authority to initiate and conduct a fact-finding or preliminary inquiry for the enforcement of this Act,” and, if the evidence so warrants, to “file before the DoJ (Department of Justice) criminal complaints for violations of this Act or relevant laws for preliminary investigation and prosecution before the proper court,” no such “sole and exclusive authority to prosecute” is expressly granted to the SEC under the terms of the RCC.

Prior to the passage of the Securities Regulation Code that transferred the original and exclusive jurisdiction over the corporate cases under Section 5 of P.D. 902-A to the RTC Special Commercial Courts, the SEC, through its Prosecution and Enforcement Department (PED), was granted under Section 8 of the decree “the exclusive authority to investigate, on complaint or motu proprio any act or omission of the Board of Directors/Trustees … of their stockholders, officer … including any fraudulent devices, schemes or representations in violation of any law or rules and regulations administered and enforced by the SEC, to file and prosecute in accordance with law and rules and regulations issued by the [SEC] and in appropriate cases, the corresponding criminal or civil case before the SEC or the property court or body upon prima facie finding of violation of any laws or rules and regulations administered and enforced by the SEC.”

Mobilia Products, Inc. v. Umezawa, interpreted Section 8 of P.D. 902-A to the effect that “the filing of the civil/intra-corporate case before the SEC does not preclude the simultaneous and concomitant filing of a criminal action before the regular courts; such that a fraudulent act may give rise to liability for violation of the rules and regulations of the SEC cognizable by the SEC itself, as well as criminal liability for violation of the Revised Penal Code cognizable by the regular courts, both charges to be filed and proceeded independently, and may be simultaneously with the other.”

Section 8 of P.D. 902-A has been expressly repealed by Section 76 of the Securities Regulation Code, so that Morato v. Court of Appeals, ruled that “Thus, under the new law, the PED ceased to exist,” but that nonetheless the investigative proceedings of the SEC could continue on the ground that the SEC had not lost its prosecutorial or criminal investigative powers under the laws that its administers, pursuant to paragraphs (d) and (l) of Section 5 of the Securities Regulation Code, thus:

(d) Regulate, investigate or supervise the activities of persons to ensure compliance;

x x x

(l) Issue subpoena duces tecum and summon witnesses to appear in any proceedings of the Commission and in appropriate cases, order the examination, search and seizure of all documents, papers, files and records, tax returns, and books of accounts of any entity or person under investigation as may be necessary for the proper disposition of the cases before it, subject to the provisions of existing laws.

In addition, Morato held that SEC’s power to investigate securities fraud cases has been re-enacted in Section 53 of the Securities Regulation Code.

SEC v. Interport Resources Corp., confirmed that “Section 53 of the Securities Regulations Code clearly provides that criminal complaints for violations of rules and regulations enforced or administered by the SEC shall be referred to the Department of Justice (DoJ) for preliminary investigation, while the SEC nevertheless retains limited investigatory powers.” The Court affirmed that the prevailing rule is that a criminal complaint for violation of the Securities Regulation Code, or any of its implementing rules and regulations, must first be filed with the SEC, which determines the existence of probable cause, before a preliminary investigation can be commenced by the Department of Justice (DoJ). It is only when the SEC finds that there is probable cause, that the case is referred to the DoJ, under the following doctrine enunciated in Interport Resources Corp., thus: “A criminal charge for violation of the Securities Regulation Code is a specialized dispute. Hence, it must first be referred to an administrative agency of special competence, i.e., the SEC. Under the doctrine of primary jurisdiction, courts will not determine a controversy involving a question within the jurisdiction of the administrative tribunal, where the question demands the exercise of sound administrative discretion requiring the specialized knowledge and expertise of said administrative tribunal to determine technical and intricate matters of fact.”

The RCC retains the same administrative set-up to allow the application of Interport Resources Corp. ruling, and come to the reasonable conclusion that the SEC has sole investigative powers for violations of the Code to find probable cause before a criminal complaint can proceed to preliminary investigation stage with either the DoJ or the public prosecutors, thus:

(a) SECTION 154: The SEC “may investigate an alleged violation of this Code, or of a rule, regulation, or order of the SEC”;

(b) SECTION 155: The SEC “may administer oaths and affirmations, issue subpoena and subpoena duces tecum, take testimony in any inquiry or investigation, and may perform other acts necessary to the proceedings or to the investigation”;

(c) SECTION 156: The SEC “may issue a cease and desist order ex parte to enjoin an act or practice which is fraudulent or can be reasonably expected to cause significant, imminent, and irreparable danger or injury to public safety or welfare,” and thereafter, the SEC “may proceed administratively against such person in accordance with Section 158 of this Code, and/or transmit evidence to the Department of Justice for preliminary investigation or criminal prosecution and/or initiate criminal prosecution for any violation of this Code, rule, or regulation”;

(d) SECTION 179: SEC shall have the power and authority to:

(i) “Issue cease and desist orders ex parte to prevent imminent fraud or injury to the public”;

(ii) “Issue subpoena duces tecum and summon witnesses to appear in proceedings before the SEC”; and,

(iii) “In appropriate cases, order the examination, search and seizure of documents, papers, files and records, and books of accounts of any entity or person under investigation as may be necessary for the proper disposition of the cases, subject to the provisions of existing laws.”

VETTING SECTION 170 OF THE REVISED CORPORATION CODE
Although Section 170 of the RCC is a reproduction of Section 144 of the old Corporation Code, nonetheless it has the following features that may lead to a different treatment, thus:

(a) Section 170 appears after several new provisions in the RCC providing for criminal penalties for specific violations of the Code; and that its title has been changed from “Violations of this Code” to “Other Violations of the Code; Separate Liability”;

(b) Section 170 has deleted the penalty of imprisonment found in the old Section 144 and increased the range of fines that can be imposed for violations of any other provisions of the RCC which are not specifically penalized: a fine of not less than P10,000 but not more than P1 million;

(c) Section 170 provides for a new paragraph: “Liability for any of the foregoing offenses shall be separate from any other administrative, civil, or criminal liability under this Code and other laws.”

It is also significant to note that the RCC has expressly granted to the SEC the power to investigate and prosecute offenses for alleged violation of the Code under Section 154; contempt power to impose a fine in Section 157 against any person who, without justifiable cause, fails or refuses to comply with any lawful order or decision by the SEC; and power to impose administrative sanctions in Section 158 in the form of specified ranges of fines when it “finds that any provision of this Code, rules or regulations, or any of the SEC’s order has been violated.”

The milieu of “criminalization of corporate practice” in which Section 170 of the RCC finds itself may arguably give rise to the need for the Supreme Court to revisit the legislative purpose of the still all-encompassing provision that seeks to impose the criminal penalty of fine for “Violations of any of the other provisions of this Code … not otherwise specifically penalized therein.”

For the reasons discussed below, we posit that even when it is clear that the intent of Congress under Section 170 is to provide a basis for penalizing violations of any other provisions of the RCC which are not specifically punished therein, it will be difficult for the SEC, or for complaining shareholders or members, to obtain criminal conviction under Section 170 for violations of the RCC which are not specifically punished therein.

SECTION 170 VERSUS SECTION 158 ON ADMINISTRATIVE SANCTIONS
Section 170 retains the first proviso of the old Section 144 covering instances when violations of the RCC are committed by a corporation, providing for the penalty of dissolution, thus:

SEC. 170. Other Violations of the Code; Separate Liability. — … If the violation is committed by a corporation, the same may, after notice and hearing, be dissolved in appropriate proceedings before the Commission: Provided, That such dissolution shall not preclude the institution of appropriate action against the director, trustee, or officer of the corporation responsible for said violation: Provided, further, That nothing in this section shall be construed to repeal the other causes for dissolution of a corporation provided in this Code.

When Section 170 refers to a situation “If the violation is committed by a corporation,” it can only refer to the offenses defined under Sections 165 to 167 of the RCC that are the only sections that expressly make a corporation criminally liable. Ironically though, Section 170 covers only criminal offenses that are committed by a corporation for violation of any other provision of the RCC “not otherwise specifically penalized therein.” This would have the rather ridiculous effect that the dissolution provision of Section 170 cannot be effected against a corporation that has committed an offense specifically penalized under the RCC, namely under Sections 165 to 167 thereof.

In contrast, Section 158 of the RCC empowers the SEC to impose the administrative sanction of “suspension or revocation of the certificate of incorporation,” or “dissolution of the corporation and forfeiture of its assets” in instances where the SEC, after due notice and hearing, finds that “any provision of this Code, rules or regulations, or any of the [SEC’s] orders has been violated.”

Section 170 as it seeks to define criminal offenses for “Other Violations of the RCC,” should be clearly distinguished from Section 158 which grants to the SEC the power to impose administrative sanctions when it “finds that any provision of this Code, rules or regulations, or any of the [SEC’s] orders has been violated.” Section 170 imposes the penalties pursuant to a criminal case, where the evidence of guilt must be beyond reasonable doubt; whereas, Section 158 imposes penalties pursuant to an administrative proceeding where the evidence of violation need only be based on substantial evidence. It seems clear that with the grant under Section 158 of the power to impose the administrative sanction of dissolution against erring corporations, the first proviso under Section 170 (which was taken from Section 144 of the old Code) should have been entirely deleted.

The immediately foregoing discussions demonstrate how the language used under Section 170 of the RCC is rather confusing as failing to indicate the true intent of Congress in the matter covered therein.

This article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines or MAP.

 

Atty. Cesar L. Villanueva is Co-Chair for Governance in the MAP Committee on ESG, Chair of Institute of Corporate Directors, the first Chair of Governance Commission for GOCCs, a former Dean of the Ateneo Law School, and Founding Partner of Villanueva Gabionza & Dy Law Offices.

map@map.org.ph

cvillanueva@vgslaw.com

http://map.org.ph

A campaign of disinformation

Among the claims made in support of the Bongbong Marcos (BBM) and Sara Duterte tandem, candidates for President and Vice-President of UniTeam, is that the Philippines under former President Ferdinand Marcos was the “golden age” of peace and prosperity, and that the Philippines under the current administration of President Rodrigo Duterte is doing well. True or false?

False. And here are the facts and numbers.

One, the average annual GDP growth in the 1970s of the Philippines was only 5.8%. In contrast, our neighbors in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) had higher growth over the same period: Indonesia’s growth was 7.2%, Thailand was 7.5%, Malaysia was 8.2%, and Singapore was 9.2%.

Then from 1980-1985, the last six years of the Marcos administration, the Philippines’ average annual GDP growth was -0.1%, a contraction. In contrast, our ASEAN neighbors performed better. Even Vietnam which had emerged from a brutal civil war and US invasion in the 1970s, managed to grow at 3.8%.

Two, the fast growth during the Benigno Aquino III administration of 6.2% a year decelerated under Duterte in 2017-2019, capped by a huge contraction of -9.6% in 2020, the worst in Asia even though the same COVID-19 virus affected all countries. So, in percentage points change, the Philippines under Duterte administration has had the largest, or the worst reduction among the ASEAN-6 or the major economies of the region.

Three, the increase in the gross national income (GNI) per capita from 1970 to 1985 was lowest in the Philippines, only $300 over 15 years, while our neighbors had $420 and up.

Four, the increase in GDP per capita from 2016 to 2020 was lowest in the Philippines, again, at only $214 while that of our neighbors ranged from $316 to nearly $3,000 (see Table 1).

Five, when considering foreign direct investment (FDI) in 1980-1985, the Philippines had very low FDI net inflows of only $35 million/year while Indonesia attracted $227 M/year, Thailand got $264 M/year, and Malaysia and Singapore got more than $1 billion/year. Foreign investors and their local partners were uncertain or scared of the business environment under Marcos then.

Six, when considering FDI inward stock (inflows less outflows through the years), the Philippines got an increase of $39 billion from 2016 to 2020. While this is better than Indonesia’s -$9 billion, it was lower than the rest of the ASEAN-6 which got $52 billion and up.

Seven, looking at external debt stock, the Philippines’ foreign borrowings expanded quickly, from $2.2 billion in 1970 ($0.60 billion in 1966) to $27 billion in 1985. A lot of the big infrastructure projects during Marcos period — the CCP complex, NLEx, the good roads to Ilocos Norte, etc. — were funded not via domestic revenues but via heavy foreign borrowings.

Eight, external borrowings mellowed after Marcos was gone, increasing only $48.7 billion over 31 years (from $27 billion in 1985 to $74.7 billion in 2016). But Duterte restarted heavy borrowings in 2018-2019, and much bigger loans in 2020, with external debt reaching $98.5 billion that year (Table 2). More borrowings today mean higher taxes tomorrow.

Nine, the “golden age” of peace during the Marcos Martial Law period would likely refer to the peace of the dead. The average life expectancy of Filipinos in 1970 was 63.2 years, which marginally increased to 64.7 years in 1985, or an increase of only 1.5 years over a 15-year period. During that same period, Indonesians had an increase of 7.7 years, Thais 8.5 years, and Vietnamese 9.4 years.

This very low increase in life expectancy of Filipinos under Ferdinand Marcos may mean that either many people were poor and sickly and died young, or that many adults were murdered. Or perhaps fewer babies were born because many fathers disappeared or had been killed.

During the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia in the 1970s, life expectancy went from 41.6 years in 1970, down to 18.9 years in 1977. He murdered millions of his own people, affecting the overall life expectancy downwards. Ferdinand Marcos’s regime did not reach Pol Pot’s barbarity but his political and military path was trying to approximate it.

Under post-Marcos governments life expectancy rose quicker, hitting 66.4 years in 1990, a 1.7-year increase in five years.

And 10, considering crude death rate per 1,000 people, the Philippines under Marcos had one of the highest rates in the ASEAN with eight in 1970, declining marginally to 7.1 in 1985, or a decrease of only 0.9 deaths per 1,000 people over 15 years. In contrast, Thailand experienced a decrease of four, Vietnam of 4.6, Indonesia had a decrease of five, Cambodia 5.7. (Cambodia had a remarkable improvement after Pol Pot was toppled in 1978. Its life expectancy rose from 27.5 years in 1980 to 50.6 in 1985, and its crude death rate improved from 43.9 per 1,000 in 1980 to 14.2 per 1,000 in 1985)

Things improved only when the next administration came to power (Table 3).

Overall, the claims that the Philippines had a “golden age” of peace and prosperity during Ferdinand Marcos’ presidency, and that things have greatly improved under the Duterte administration, are false, dishonest, and deceptive.

The economy was bad, the average Filipinos were living less healthy lives compared to their many neighbors in the ASEAN. So many people died during the Martial Law years that life expectancy was generally flat and the crude death rates hardly declined.

There is a campaign to change people’s perception of the reality of the past and present by pushing myths of a “golden age.” That Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte refuse to participate in live debates suggests to many members of the public that it is because they cannot truthfully support the myths if confronted with them in these forums. The actuations, or the lack thereof, of the candidates in the face of untruths can be considered a foreshadowing of the future. Therefore, they and their other candidates should not win.

 

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers.

minimalgovernment@gmail.com

Devin Booker leads Suns to overtime win over Kings

PHOENIX Suns guard Devin Booker (1) dribbles next to Sacramento Kings guard Davion Mitchell (15) in the fourth quarter at the Golden 1 Center. — REUTERS

DEVIN Booker scored 31 points as the visiting Phoenix Suns rallied for their fifth straight win, beating the Sacramento Kings 127-124 in overtime on Sunday.

Mikal Bridges scored 27 points and Landry Shamet added 21 for Phoenix, which trailed by as many as 14 early in the third quarter. JaVale McGee had 14 points while Deandre Ayton had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Rookie Davion Mitchell paced Sacramento with career highs in points (28) and assists (nine). Harrison Barnes scored 21 points while Domantas Sabonis had 18 points and 12 rebounds before exiting late in the fourth quarter with a left knee injury.

Booker hit a 19-foot jumper with 8.3 seconds left in regulation to put the Suns ahead 110-108 before Mitchell’s layup tied the game with 2.8 seconds remaining.

The teams headed to overtime after Booker’s 3-point attempt missed the mark at the buzzer.

Phoenix took a 123-121 lead in the extra period after Shamet hit one of his five 3-pointers with 31.1 seconds left. Torrey Craig’s dunk with 5.7 seconds left put the Suns ahead 126-122 and sealed the comeback victory.

Donte DiVincenzo and Damian Jones scored 13 points apiece while Trey Lyles added 11 and Justin Holiday had 10 for Sacramento, which has lost three straight and 12 of its last 15.

The Kings opened the contest by scoring seven straight points and carried a 26-22 lead into the second quarter.

Sabonis and Barnes scored 10 points apiece in the first half for Sacramento, which held a 59-49 advantage at the break after shooting 11 of 19 from 3-point range.

Booker scored 10 straight points during a 17-6 run to help the Suns cut the deficit to 77-75 with 3:18 left in the third quarter. He wound up with 19 points in the frame as Phoenix pulled within 87-83 at the start of the final period.

Phoenix played without Chris Paul (right thumb avulsion fracture), Cam Johnson (right quad contusion) and Cameron Payne (non-COVID illness). — Reuters

Manchester City outclasses Southampton to reach FA Cup semi-finals

SOUTHAMPTON, England — Manchester City produced a decisive late surge to crush Southampton 4-1 in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday and stay in the hunt for three major trophies.

After going in level at the break, City scored three times in the second half at St Mary’s to book a semi-final against the winner of Sunday’s late game between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

City drew first blood through a Raheem Sterling strike in the 12th minute with Southampton defender Jack Stephens at fault, giving away the ball inside the box to Gabriel Jesus, who squared for Sterling to score past goalkeeper Fraser Forster.

Despite conceding early, Southampton continued to threaten. They created a string of opportunities and their pressure told just before halftime.

Stuart Armstrong played a superb through ball to Mohamed Elyounoussi, whose low cross was turned into City’s net by defender Aymeric Laporte for an own goal.

But Southampton’s efforts were undone by Mohammed Salisu, who needlessly brought down Jesus to concede a penalty in the 61st minute.

Kevin de Bruyne stepped up to convert from the spot, with his tame effort creeping under Forster’s outstretched arm.

Che Adams had a great opportunity to level, shooting straight at goalkeeper Zack Steffen, and Southampton were punished two minutes later when Phil Foden lashed home a thumping strike from the edge of the area to increase City’s advantage.

Riyad Mahrez completed the rout in the 79th minute, turning in a Joao Cancelo cross to cap off a free-flowing attacking move from City.

“They push you with incredible intensity but the goal we conceded was a consequence of us forgetting to play,” City boss Pep Guardiola told BBC.

City, who won a domestic treble in 2018-19, lead the Premier League by one point and play Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. — Reuters

Swiatek blows away Sakkari to win windswept Indian Wells

POLAND’S Iga Swiatek blew away Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-1 to win a windswept Indian Wells final on Sunday and move up to number two in the world rankings.

Another windy day in the California desert made life miserable for both players, the gusts contributing to an uneven contest littered with nine breaks of serve.

The 20-year-old Swiatek claimed six of those breaks including two in a one-sided second set, clinching a second consecutive WTA 1000 title with a thundering forehand winner.

The title is the fifth of 2020 French Open champion Swiatek’s career.

“It’s pretty crazy because I wasn’t expecting to be in that place (final) especially after playing so well in the previous tournament; I didn’t know it was possible for me to play that well for that long,” said Swiatek, winner of the WTA 1000 event in Doha in February. “It was a different match, for sure, because of the conditions.

“You always want to see the best final that’s possible, but in these conditions it was pretty hard to, as I said, play tactically as I wanted, so in the end I was just focusing on playing in.”

After losing her first three meetings with the Greek, Swiatek has now come out on top in the last two, with Sunday’s victory extending her WTA match-win streak to 11.

Sakkari earned a spot in the final by dispatching defending champion Paula Badosa but had no answers for the windy conditions and a focused Swiatek.

With the win Swiatek will wake up on Monday as the new world number two and while she said that seems surreal she is already targeting Ash Barty and number one.

“Right now it’s too surreal to describe it, honestly,” said Swiatek. “But for sure I want to go higher because I feel like getting the number one is closer and closer.

“For sure, Ash is one of the players that I want to look at.”

Despite the loss, Sakkari will jump to number three in the world rankings on Monday, matching Stefanos Tsitsipas for the highest position achieved by a Greek player.

The final got off to a scrappy start with four straight breaks of serve but Swiatek got to grips with the tricky conditions first, holding to go 3-2 up and breaking Sakkari to take a one-set lead.

Sakkari never settled into the contest. She held serve to start the second set but after that it was one-way traffic as Swiatek swept five consecutive games.

“Obviously it wasn’t my day,” said Sakkari. “There’s not much I can say about the way I played.

“Clearly it was windy. We were both struggling with our serves in the beginning of the match. (But the) wind is never an excuse because wind is for both of us.” — Reuters

Injured Fritz ends Nadal win streak to lift Indian Wells title

TAYLOR Fritz battled through excruciating pain to bring Rafa Nadal’s 20-match winning run to an end with a 6-3 7-6(5) victory in the Indian Wells final on Sunday, becoming the first American to lift the title since Andre Agassi over two decades ago.

Home favorite Fritz gave fans what they came to see — an heroic effort and an American winner, denying Nadal what would have been his fourth title of the season and a record-equalling 37 ATP Masters 1000 championships.

Struggling with an injured ankle, Fritz said after collecting his second career title he had had doubts he could even take to the court and had never before experienced such pain prior to a match.

But the 24-year-old American decided to gut it out and was rewarded with the biggest win of his career, fighting off the 21-time Grand Slam winner.

“This is just one of those childhood dreams you just think would never come true,” said Fritz. “I can’t even describe how ridiculous it is how I could play today.

“I have never experienced worse pain in my life before a match.

“If I knew it was going to be that bad, I wouldn’t have come out here. I took a couple of change-of-direction steps and screamed and honestly I was trying to act tough because I had cameras on me.

“We did a lot of work leading up to the match and I went through a rollercoaster of emotions before the match thinking there’s no way I could possibly play today.”

Both players had fitness concerns coming into the final.

While Fritz was struggling with an ankle problem, Nadal was dealing with a chest issue he picked up during an epic three-set semi-final battle with 18-year-old compatriot Carlos Alcaraz.

“When I’m breathing, when I’m moving, it’s like a needle all the time inside. I get dizzy a little bit because it’s painful,” Nadal said.

“It’s a kind of pain that limits me a lot. It’s not only about pain, I don’t feel very well because it affects my breathing.

“More than sadness for the loss, (it’s) something that I accepted immediately and even before the match ended… I’m suffering a little bit, honestly.”

Nadal said last week he would not compete at the Miami Open, which immediately follows the Indian Wells tournament.

The 35-year-old Spaniard was clearly out of sorts to start the match, with Fritz breaking him twice on the way to a 4-0 lead.

But as he has so many times before, Nadal refused to wave the white flag, twice holding the serve and breaking the American to get to 5-3, sending a buzz through the packed stadium.

Fritz would regroup and halted Nadal’s rally with a third break to grab a one-set lead.

At the end of the opening set, Nadal called for a medical timeout and returned to the court with renewed purpose.

One of the game’s great battlers, Nadal forced the second set to a tie-break, but in the end the big-serving American proved too strong. — Reuters

Recycling line turns plastic sachets into eco-boards

The Plastic Flamingo's eco-boards are made from upcycled single-use sachets.

By Brontë H. Lacsamana, Reporter

The Plastic Flamingo (The Plaf) — a social enterprise that collects plastics from companies, restaurants, and junk shops and turns them into eco-boards — launched on Friday a new recycling line that upcycles single-use sachets into plywood-like panels called eco-boards.  

“The new recycling line translates into value for waste pickers to collect the plastic wrappers to be recycled at our factory in Muntinlupa. We shall also involve our network of collection points and volunteers in collecting plastic sachets along with other recyclable plastics,” said François Lesage, chief executive officer of The Plaf. 

The technology will help mitigate the worsening levels of marine plastic pollution in a country that, according to the World Bank, consumes around 163 million sachets each day.

“What was considered hard-to-recycle plastic can now be turned into panels the exact dimensions of plywood, used to build shelters,” Mr. Lesage said at the launch.

He added that the recycling line is the first of its kind in the Philippines and can set an example for incentivizing plastic collection. 

The Plaf chief operating officer Erica Reyes shared with BusinessWorld that their extrusion machine is able to heat and pressurize these plastics into blocks, eco-boards, chairs, coasters, and other materials. These are sold directly to companies. 

They are now looking into rolling out more products to “stimulate a market for recycled plastic products and enhance the circular plastic economy.” 

THE PLASTIC PROBLEM
Shipping logistics firm CMA CGM, which is funding the machinery and the employment of 12 factory staff, is partnering with The Plaf to curb the entry of 120 tons of plastic into the ocean. As of September 2021, 75 tons have been collected in Metro Manila. 

Because the Philippines is one of the biggest plastic polluters in the world, initiatives aside from The Plaf have emerged to address the problem. 

Yeya Berjaoui, general manager of CMA CGM Philippines, emphasized the importance of everyone working together to protect the environment. 

“This June, we shall stop transporting plastic waste to curb their flows to destinations where sorting and recycling are not guaranteed,” he said.

On a global scale, resolutions to end plastic pollution via a legally binding instrument have been adopted, during the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, that took place on March 2. 

In the meantime, the Philippines must work on its own roadmap for reducing plastic waste, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which urged the national and local governments to align with the plastic ban. 

House Bill No. 9147 or the Single-Use Plastic Products Regulation Act that the House of Representatives approved last year should stop the production of single-use plastics. The Senate counterpart measure is currently pending.

Biden administration rules Myanmar army committed genocide against Rohingya

FLOWERS hang during a nationwide flower campaign against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, April 2, 2021. — REUTERS

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has formally determined that violence committed against the Rohingya minority by Myanmar’s military amounts to genocide and crimes against humanity, US officials told Reuters, a move that advocates say should bolster efforts to hold the junta that now runs Myanmar accountable. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will announce the decision on Monday at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, US officials said, which currently features an exhibit on the plight of the Rohingya. It comes nearly 14 months after he took office and pledged to conduct a new review of the violence. 

Myanmar’s armed forces launched a military operation in 2017 that forced at least 730,000 of the mainly Muslim Rohingya from their homes and into neighboring Bangladesh, where they recounted killings, mass rape and arson. In 2021, Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup. 

US officials and an outside law firm gathered evidence in an effort to acknowledge quickly the seriousness of the atrocities, but then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined to make a determination. 

Mr. Blinken ordered his own “legal and factual analysis,” the US officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The analysis concluded the Myanmar army is committing genocide and Washington believes the formal determination will increase international pressure to hold the junta accountable. 

“It’s going to make it harder for them to commit further abuses,” said one senior State Department official. 

Officials in Myanmar’s embassy in Washington and a junta spokesperson did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment on Sunday. 

Myanmar’s military has denied committing genocide against the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship in Myanmar, and said it was conducting an operation against terrorists in 2017. 

A UN fact-finding mission concluded in 2018 that the military’s campaign included “genocidal acts,” but Washington referred at the time to the atrocities as “ethnic cleansing,” a term that has no legal definition under international criminal law. 

“It’s really signaling to the world and especially to victims and survivors within the Rohingya community and more broadly that the United States recognizes the gravity of what’s happening,” a second senior State Department official said of Mr. Blinken’s announcement on Monday. 

A genocide determination does not automatically unleash punitive US action. 

Since the Cold War, the State Department has formally used the term six times to describe massacres in Bosnia, Rwanda, Iraq, and Darfur, the Islamic State’s attacks on Yazidis and other minorities, and most recently last year, over China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslims. China denies the genocide claims. 

Mr. Blinken will also announce $1 million of additional funding for the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), a United Nations body based in Geneva that is gathering evidence for potential future prosecutions. 

“It’s going to enhance our position as we try to build international support to try to prevent further atrocities and hold those accountable,” the first US official said. 

US Senator Jeff Merkley, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who led a congressional delegation to Myanmar and Bangladesh in 2017, welcomed the move. 

“While this determination is long overdue, it is nevertheless a powerful and critically important step in holding this brutal regime to account,” Mr. Merkley said in a statement. 

FOCUS ON MILITARY
Days after US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., took office, Myanmar generals led by Commander in Chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power on Feb. 1, 2021, after complaining of fraud in a November 2020 general election won by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi’s party. Election monitoring groups found no evidence of mass fraud. 

The armed forces crushed an uprising against their coup, killing more than 1,600 people and detaining nearly 10,000, including civilian leaders such as Suu Kyi, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a campaign group, and setting off an insurgency. 

Reuters was unable to independently verify the figures from the AAPP. The junta has said the group’s figures are exaggerated and that members of the security forces have also been killed in clashes with those opposing the coup. The junta has not provided its own figures. 

In response to the coup, the United States and Western allies sanctioned the junta and its business interests, but have been unable to convince the generals to restore civilian rule after they received military and diplomatic support from Russia and China. 

Mr. Blinken’s recognition of genocide and crimes against humanity refers mainly to events in 2017, before last year’s coup. The step comes after two State Department examinations — one initiated in 2018 and the other in 2020 – failed to produce a determination. 

Some former US officials told Reuters those were missed opportunities to send a firm message to the Myanmar generals who later seized power. 

Activists believe a clear statement by the United States that genocide was committed could bolster efforts to hold the generals accountable, such as a case in the International Court of Justice where The Gambia has accused Myanmar of genocide, citing Myanmar’s atrocities against the Rohingya in Rakhine state. 

Myanmar has rejected the charge of genocide and urged the court’s judges to drop the case. The junta says The Gambia is acting as a proxy for others and had no legal standing to file a case. 

The International Criminal Court (ICC), a separate court at The Hague, is also investigating the deportation of Rohingya from Myanmar, and the IIMM in Geneva is gathering evidence that could be used in future trials. 

Myanmar opposes the investigations and has refused to cooperate, asserting the ICC does not have jurisdiction and that its decision to launch a probe was swayed by “charged narratives of harrowing personal tragedies which have nothing to do with the legal arguments in question.” 

John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said Myanmar’s military has faced “few real consequences for its atrocities, whether against Rohingya or other ethnic minority groups in Myanmar.” 

As well as imposing more economic sanctions on the junta, the United States should press for a UN Security Council resolution that would refer all the military’s alleged crimes to the International Criminal Court, Sifton said. If Russia and China veto a resolution, as is likely, Washington should lead action in the UN General Assembly, he said. 

“Condemnations of Myanmar should be coupled with concrete actions,” he said. 

Before Mr. Blinken made the decision this month, officials debated whether blaming Myanmar’s government — rather than specifically its military — for the atrocities could complicate US support for the country’s deposed democratic forces, according to a source familiar with the matter. 

The State Department opted to pin the blame on the military, said the second senior department official. 

“It’s not clear to what degree the civilian leadership had control over actions that were happening in Rakhine State and so that’s where the determination ends at this point,” said that official, who did not comment on the internal deliberation. 

Ms. Suu Kyi, forced to share power with the generals, traveled to the International Court of Justice in 2019 to reject the genocide charges brought by The Gambia. 

She said the country would itself prosecute any soldiers found to have committed abuses, but maintained the alleged violations did not rise to the level of genocide, for which the specific intent to destroy a group has to be proven. 

When they seized power, the generals put Ms. Suu Kyi on trial in nearly a dozen cases that could see her sentenced to more than 100 years in prison. She remains in detention. — Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis/Reuters

EU to mull Russian oil embargo with Biden set to join talks

REUTERS

BRUSSELS — European Union (EU) governments will consider whether to impose an oil embargo on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine as they gather this week with US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., for a series of summits designed to harden the West’s response to Moscow. 

Seeking to force a military withdrawal from Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the EU — along with Western allies — has already imposed a panoply of punishing sanctions including a freezing of the assets of the Russian central bank. 

“We are working on a fifth round of sanctions and many new names are being proposed,” a senior EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity because the discussions are not public. 

EU governments will take up the discussion among foreign ministers on Monday, before Mr. Biden arrives in Brussels on Thursday for summits with NATO’s 30 allies, as well as the EU and in a Group of Seven (G7) format including Japan. 

The Kremlin has so far not been moved to change course in Ukraine by four rounds of EU sanctions imposed over the past three weeks, including on 685 Russians and Belarusians and on Russian finance and trade. 

That leaves the bloc with the economically toughest choice of whether to target Russian oil, as the United States and Britain have done but not the 27-nation EU, given its dependence on Russian gas for energy. 

Diplomats told Reuters that Baltic countries including Lithuania are pushing for an embargo as the next logical step, while Germany is warning against acting too quickly because of already high energy prices in Europe. 

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Putin has called Russia’s actions a “special operation” meant to demilitarize Ukraine and purge it of what he sees as dangerous nationalists. Ukraine and the West say Putin launched an aggressive war of choice. 

FRANCE SAYS ‘NO TABOOS’ ON SANCTIONS
Moscow has warned that EU sanctions on Russian oil could prompt it to close a major gas pipeline to Europe. The EU relies on Russia for 40% of its gas, with Germany among the most dependent of the EU’s large economies. 

Germany is also the largest EU buyer of Russian crude. 

Bulgaria, which is almost completely dependent on gas supplies from Russia’s Gazprom, has said it might seek an opt-out. Bulgaria’s sole oil refinery is owned by Russia’s LUKOIL and provides over 60% of the fuel used in the Balkan country. 

All EU sanctions decisions require consensus. France, which heads the EU’s six-month presidency, will likely prove crucial. 

President Emmanuel Macron has said that if the situation worsens in Ukraine — where thousands have been killed, over 5 million people have been displaced and some cities devastated by shelling — there should be no “taboos” in terms of sanctions. 

“These sanctions are meant to force President Putin into a new calculation,” a French presidency official said. “Among our partners and among the countries trading with Russia, there are some who are more sensitive on the issue of oil and gas. Nevertheless, the president [has] said, there is no taboo.” 

Diplomats said a Russian chemical weapons attack in Ukraine, or a heavy bombardment of the capital Kyiv, could be a trigger for an energy embargo. — Robin Emmott and John Irish/Reuters

Hong Kong’s COVID sports ban hits residents, young athletes

TIM DURGAN/UNSPLASH

HONG KONG — Competitive swimmer Jody Lee’s goal is to compete at the Paris Olympics in 2024, but with only two years left to qualify, Hong Kong’s months-long shutdown of swimming pools is making achieving his dream tougher. 

Pools and all other sports facilities, including tennis courts, golf courses and gyms, have been shut since January — and for more than 13 months total since the start of the pandemic in 2020. 

Mr. Lee, 15, has been trying to keep fit by training in the ocean, braving red tides and currents, but the city closed beaches on Thursday, making it even harder to swim. 

“I have no idea where my swimming level is … Things will get especially hard for me in terms of trying to qualify for the Olympics.” 

The global financial hub’s blanket ban on sports to curb the coronavirus is hitting thousands of athletes, residents, and businesses who depend on the sports and leisure industry for competitive glory, recreation, wellbeing or profit. 

Residents and athletes alike are increasingly frustrated at what they see as inconsistent policy-making from the Chinese-ruled territory’s government, which allowed hairdressers to reopen in March but closed public beaches a week later. 

Leader Carrie Lam said there was a “need” for people to get their hair cut, and then defended beach closures as necessary to prevent gatherings. Many residents had flocked to beaches and coastal parks for leisure activities with playgrounds, schools and most public venues shut. 

Hong Kong has officially stuck to a “dynamic zero” coronavirus policy, similar to mainland China, which seeks to curb all outbreaks as soon as they occur. 

Authorities this year have implemented the city’s most draconian measures since the pandemic started in 2020. Still infections and deaths have skyrocketed, and Ms. Lam has given no clear roadmap how Hong Kong can resume normality. 

Tens of thousands have been affected financially by the broad closures, with coaches and clubs losing millions of dollars in revenue, sports associations said. 

Around 10% of Hong Kong’s 1,800 fitness centers won’t be able to continue operating, said Sam Wong, executive director of the city’s Physical Fitness Association. 

Gym operator Fitness First said this week it was closing its Hong Kong gyms due to the lengthy coronavirus shutdowns. 

The city’s Tennis Association said stakeholders from umpires and linesmen to equipment makers were losing significant revenue from the closures. It has urged the government to reopen courts as tennis can “naturally” implement social distancing measures. 

At Repulse Bay beach, on Hong Kong’s southern tip, residents looked in frustration at makeshift blockades preventing them from accessing the shore. 

“Unscientific and reactive again,” said a resident called Michael who did not want to give his last name. 

Many of the city’s young athletes were enthused after Hong Kong’s strongest-ever Olympics performance in Tokyo last year. Ms. Lam said after the Games she would deploy large resources to support the sports industry, but the reality has been much different, residents said. 

“While Hong Kong’s politicians are quick to take photos with the swim school’s famous and successful Olympians, they don’t seem to care at all about the financial hardship we have to endure due to poorly-thought-through facility closures,” said Michael Fasching, head coach at swim club Harry Wright International, which trained Olympian Siobhan Haughey. — Farah Master and Joyce Zhou/Reuters

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