Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
Home Blog Page 5390

Rafa smashes Opelka, Kecmanović shocks Berrettini at Indian Wells

RAFA Nadal toppled big-serving American Reilly Opelka (7-6(3), 7-6(5)) to remain perfect on the year while unseeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanović stunned world number six Matteo Berrettini (6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4) in the fourth round of Indian Wells on Wednesday.

Despite Opelka’s serve reaching speeds as high as 147 miles per hour, the Spaniard was the better in their rallies, dictating points and eliciting errors from the baseline.

After a high-level first set, Nadal wobbled in the second, playing a sloppy service game to go down a break at 3-2 and he tapped his head in frustration during the changeover.

But he regained his focus, breaking back to level at 4-4 and remaining perfect on serve in the second tiebreaker. He sealed the victory with a beautifully constructed point that pushed Opelka off the court.

“He is a very difficult player to play against with his huge serve and huge forehand, but I think I played my best match of the tournament so far,” Nadal said in an on-court interview.

Nadal stood as far back off the baseline as the court would allow on his returns and often had to hit them at head height or higher.

“It’s not only about the speed. The spin is also difficult to read. Sometimes it’s coming with topspin, sometimes with slice.

“It’s a great victory for me against one of the toughest opponents I can play and I’m very happy. I can’t thank you enough for all the positive energy that I receive every single day here.”

Nadal is now 18-0 to start the season and if he can win his fourth title in the California desert, he will move into a tie with Novak Djokovic for the most Masters 1000 titles with 37.

To do so, the 21-time Grand Slam champion will need to defeat another huge server in Australian Nick Kyrgios, who advanced by walkover after Italian Jannik Sinner withdrew from the tournament due to illness.

Nadal holds a 5-3 lead over Kyrgios in their previous meetings.

Earlier in the day Kecmanović absorbed Berrettini’s power serve in the first set, converting on a break point chance in the fourth game, as a frustrated Berrettini won just eight return points.

But Kecmanović, 22, was unable to close out the match as a break point opportunity slipped through his fingers late in the second set, in which Berrettini, who reached his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon last year, struck 21 winners and won a tense tie-break to level.

Berrettini saved two breaks in the eighth game in a tightly fought final set to stay alive but Kecmanović pounced to break the Italian’s serve to love in the final game.

He will next play Taylor Fritz who outlasted Australian Alex de Minaur 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5). A break down in the third, it was the second consecutive match Fritz won in a third-set tiebreaker.

Elsewhere, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov beat American John Isner 6-3, 7-6(6) and will face Andrey Rublev in the quarters after the Russian won a tight opening set before easing past Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(5), 6-4.

Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest Indian Wells men’s quarterfinalist since 17-year-old Michael Chang in 1989, as the 18-year-old Spaniard beat Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-1.

Up next for Alcaraz in his first Masters quarterfinal is 12th seed Cameron Norrie or Jenson Brooksby. — Reuters

Wolves cruise past Lakers for third straight win

KARL-Anthony Towns scored 30 points and Anthony Edwards added 27 as the Minnesota Timberwolves never trailed in a 124-104 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday in Minneapolis.

Patrick Beverley contributed 18 points while Taurean Prince added 13 and Jaylen Nowell had 10 for Minnesota, which led by as many as 25 in the second quarter. The Wolves have won three straight and nine of their past 10.

LeBron James paced Los Angeles with 19 points while Carmelo Anthony scored 16 and Russell Westbrook added 15. The Lakers have lost 12 of their past 15 games, and they have dropped each of their past 11 road contests.

Los Angeles outscored the Wolves 31-19 in the third quarter and pulled within 86-77 when D.J. Augustin closed the period with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Augustin scored with 10:12 remaining left to cut the gap to 89-85 before Minnesota answered with a 25-9 run to squelch the Lakers’ comeback attempt.

Malik Monk finished with 13 points for Los Angeles, which shot 10 of 45 (22.2%) from 3-point range.

The Lakers trailed by at least 14 points after the first quarter for the third straight game, falling behind 31-17 after shooting 28.6% from the field and missing all 10 3-point attempts.

Minnesota stretched its lead to 51-26 after opening the second quarter on a 20-9 run, and the hosts held a 67-46 advantage at the break.

Edwards scored 24 points in the first half for the Wolves, who have held a double-digit lead in 10 straight games.

One game after scoring a franchise-record 60 points in a 149-139 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, Towns was limited to 12 points in the first half while battling foul trouble.

Towns picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter and Los Angeles scored 10 straight points to cut the deficit to 69-56 with 8:34 left.

Edwards wound up with six 3-pointers and six rebounds for Minnesota, which won the season series against the Lakers 3-1.

Lakers guard Talen Horton-Tucker exited the game in the second quarter after aggravating his left ankle injury. He did not return. — Reuters

LIV Golf

Considering how Phil Mickelson’s attacks on the PGA Tour backfired spectacularly, not a few quarters believed LIV Golf Investments would want to let the controversy die down first before pushing through with its launch of a breakaway campaign. Not so. Yesterday, CEO Greg Norman announced the conduct of an eight-tournament series to be held between June and October. And, in the process, he made sure to underscore that the endeavor is “truly additive to the world of golf. We have done our best to create a schedule that allows players to play elsewhere, while still participating in our events. I believe players will increasingly make progress in achieving their right to play where they want. We will help in any way possible and will provide golfers with opportunities to achieve their full potential.”

Interesting choice of words. Indeed, the fact that LIV Golf exists points to a void in the offerings of the PGA Tour. That said, Norman went out of his way to indicate that he doesn’t see any conflict from the players’ standpoint. Forget that the longtime incumbent clearly feels threatened to the point where sanctions — suspension and even expulsion — have been conveyed to await those who join the events. And never mind that the schedule of the upstart league, while steering away from major championships, eats into the existing one.

It bears nothing that LIV Golf has done its homework. It used studies to address what it perceives to be flaws in the current game from the fans’ standpoint. At the same time, it went about addressing prevailing concerns of the players themselves. From the shotgun start to the shorter schedule to guaranteed weekend play to the three-round limit, measures have evidently been instituted to make participation easy and viewership frustration-free. And that’s saying nothing of the eye-popping payouts lined up — a whopping $255 million all told.

To be sure, Norman’s big bang did not come with names, said to be in the cards prior to Mickelson’s monumental miscue. Whether those rumored to be initially joining LIV Golf will make the leap despite the specter of bans remains to be seen. In any case, two things are apparent: 1) the Saudi Arabia-backed disruptor of the status quo will not be going anywhere; and 2) the PGA Tour has already stepped up its game, which is to say it’s dangling both carrot and stick. If nothing else, the development proves yet again that competition is good.

 

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

Their own worst enemies

FREEPIK

The electoral watchdog Kontra Daya (literally, Against Cheating) has found that seven out of 10 groups running for party-list seats in the House of Representatives are in the hands of far from marginalized and far from voiceless sectors and interests.

Their findings have revived demands to amend the 1994 Party-List Act (Republic Act 7941) because they validate the observation of most election watch groups that the Party-List system has become yet another means through which political dynasties and traditional politicians are perpetrating their dominance in Congress. It has morphed into the very antithesis of the 1987 Constitution’s intent to assure “proportional representation” in the House of Representatives.

Kontra Daya said in a March 3 statement that “at least 120 out of 177 party-list groups [are] identified with political clans and big businesses [and have] incumbent local officials, connections with the government and military, unknown or unclear representations, and pending court cases and criminal charges…”

Those groups are among the organizations certified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as qualified to run for the seats reserved in Congress for party-list list formations. Kontra Daya has therefore asked the Comelec to explain why it is allowing them, with their political connections and their presumably ample campaign funds, to contest Congressional seats against those groups that can legitimately speak for the unrepresented sectors of Philippine society.

Three years ago, the Comelec did consider asking Congress to amend RA 7941 to plug the loopholes in it that allow even billionaires and dynasts to pretend that they represent the poor, the marginalized, and the voiceless legions who account for at least 20% of the Philippines’ 100 million-plus population. But not only has it since reneged on that intent — that was in 2019 — the current Lower Chamber is also  unlikely to do so. The dynastic interests of its majority members are contrary to making that body truly serve the voiceless and marginalized sectors of Philippine society.

The 1987 Constitution specifies that the party-list seats in the House of Representatives “shall be filled by the labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and such other sectors as may be provided by law, except the religious sector.”

In the awareness that such communities have historically been denied a voice in the legislative process, the drafters of the People Power Constitution wanted to assure them some participation in this country’s governance, and to somewhat correct the disproportional representation in Congress of a handful of political dynasties.

The social and economic reforms their participation could make possible, it was hoped, would help put a stop to the rebellions and uprisings — the “insurgencies” — that have been fueled by the poverty and inequality that have haunted this country for centuries.

The Constitutional provision on the Party-List system is an implicit acknowledgement that despite the Philippines’ supposedly democratic character, its legislature has for decades since 1946 been dominated by political dynasties and/or their surrogates, agents, and allies whose economic and political interests are antithetical to the making of a just society.

The Party-List System was supposed to correct that anomaly.

But through a series of decisions, the Supreme Court made it possible for the over-represented political parties as well as those who claim to represent such sectors as tricycle drivers and security guards, but who are neither, to seek party-list seats.

Billionaires were thus among the nominees of certain victorious party-list groups in 2019, as well as government officials and oligarchs from various dynasties. A system intended to represent the marginalized has fallen into the hands of the most corrupt and most self-aggrandizing political elite in Southeast Asia and its minions whose monopoly over power has made reforms impossible through legislative means — and made rebellions and armed social movements inevitable.

Like the passage of an anti-dynasty law, any amendment to RA 7941, as is now being demanded so as to make representation in the House at least partly proportional, is doomed to fail. What could prosper are changes in it that will make the system even more pliable to the manipulation of the creatures who claim to be this country’s leaders. Their primary reason would be the failure of past and present regimes to prevent the election of the party-list groups that truly represent marginalized sectors.

Despite police and military harassment, threats, and even the murder by supposedly unknown assailants of some of their leaders, these groups nevertheless again won seats in the House in 2019 and could once again do so this May. Their numbers were reduced, but even that is unacceptable to the present regime on the argument that they’re no more than “fronts,” allies, and part of the “legal infrastructure” of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Any similarity between the programs of those groups and those of the CPP does not prove that allegation. But their detractors “red-tagged” them in 2019 and are doing the same today, despite the fact that what is at issue is whether their presence in Congress has been and could continue to be of any value to the democratic imperative of giving the marginalized a voice in governance so they can be part of the discourse on how to address the country’s problems.

The Party-List system is a sophisticated attempt to make government responsive to the plight of the poor, the underprivileged, and the powerless, which ignoring fed and continues to feed social unrest and rebellion.

That level of sophistication is totally absent in the Duterte regime and its police and military loyalists, for whom State violence is the sole solution to any problem. Oddly enough, it was the Fidel Ramos Presidency that supported and supplemented the Party-List system’s potential to make government open to reforms.

The same administration resumed peace talks with both the CPP and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), while its allies in the then Congress repealed the Anti-Subversion Law (RA 1700) in 1992. The idea was to endow reformists and even revolutionaries the opportunity to legally work for their programs, and even get elected to public office. It could convince the dispossessed and discontented that they need not take up arms because the political system works well enough to heed the demand for reforms and even radical change.

But that clever approach at preserving the ruling system has met only limited success. It is failing, among other reasons, because dynastic dominance over government institutions has made running for public office an exclusive billionaire and warlord game, and because of police and military allegiance to their local and foreign patrons and the unjust order that has so enriched and empowered them.

The perversion of the Party-List system into its opposite, and the exclusion of the powerless and voiceless from participation in their own governance partly explain why rebellions and so-called “insurgencies” have been, and could always be, part of the Philippine landscape.

But it could also help end the oligarchy’s decades-long monopoly over the political power it has so steadfastly denied the marginalized millions in this rumored democracy. More than the supposed “fronts” of the CPP, what the demise of the Party-List system as it was originally conceived is telling the poor and the powerless is that reforms can only be achieved through armed means. The political clans and dynasties still in total control of governance are thereby undermining the very social order that has benefitted and served them so well; they are their own worst enemies.

 

Luis V. Teodoro is on Facebook and Twitter (@luisteodoro).

www.luisteodoro.com

What Marcos Jr. can do for fiscal policy and the Filipino people

FREEPIK

The buzzword today is inflation. And also discussed is what Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has set off to inflate fuel prices to breach the decade-high $120 per barrel, and dim the prospects of quick economic recovery of oil-dependent emerging markets including the Philippines. If it comes to pass, Singapore’s Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s “perfect long storm” scenario must be a nightmare to our current public policymakers who have barely three months and a half to make a difference.

The Duterte administration cannot afford to allow things to fall apart because this easily could prick the electoral balloons of those allied with Malacañang. If this is the inevitable outcome at the polls this May, the cracks are definitely beginning to show. The exodus has begun. Some broadsheets have reported a number of incumbent local government officials have switched loyalty, some declaring it to have been blessed by no less than President Duterte himself.

But we must all be pleased that some adults in the Duterte cabinet chose to transcend politics and put together a “transition plan to help the next administration manage the country’s debt.” At the least, managing the country’s serious debt problem should keep the new President busy for most of the next six years. This plan consists of a combination of improvements in tax administration to plug existing leaks, and updated tax proposals leveraging on previous reforms.

Just knowing how big is the Philippines’ debt problem should be enough to deter presidential aspirants from offering themselves to lead this Republic. The National Government (NG) debt, both external and internal, as of the end of January 2022 stood at $12 trillion or more than 60% of 2021 GDP. One can look at this level as more than twice the annual national budget. In the last two years alone, the Duterte government had to borrow P1.15 trillion to fund the pandemic response.

Definitely, it is costly to service the NG debt. For 2021, the NG paid nearly P430 billion in interest and almost P330 billion in principal obligation. Interest payments alone stood at 2.2% of GDP. The fiscal deficit ballooned from P660 billion or 3.4% of GDP before the pandemic to P1.7 trillion, more than two and a half times, or 8.6%, of GDP.

These obligations actually exclude those incurred by non-financial public corporations and financial public corporations, net of intra-debt holdings among them. In addition, contingent liabilities of government pension agencies have to be recognized as well because they are huge at nearly P10 trillion, should they become actual liabilities.

We cannot even take comfort in the argument made by some that such debt statistics are nowhere near those we faced during the debt moratorium in the 1980s. There is contrary evidence. In an article in the IMF’s Finance and Development in March 2022, the Fund’s Ceyla Pazarbasioglu and World Bank’s Carmen Reinhart reported that “many emerging markets and developing economies have encountered crises at lower debt levels than those prevailing in 2021” at the height of the pandemic.

The situation is not expected to improve soon because central banks in advanced economies are likely to begin monetary tightening. Already, the US Fed the other day lifted its key rate by a quarter of a percentage point, which to Bloomberg, “is an opening bid to curb inflation.” Six more hikes may be expected this year. On top of this plan, the US Fed also announced it would begin shrinking its $8.9 trillion balance sheet.

With higher interest rates, debt servicing becomes more acutely difficult for emerging markets like the Philippines.

The new occupant of the Palace and economic managers will have to grapple with the question of debt sustainability. In the same publication, former IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard addressed this issue by saying that “debt becomes unsafe when there is a non-negligible risk that, under existing and likely future policies, the ratio of debt to GDP will steadily increase, leading to default at some point.”

Abstracting from Blanchard’s suggested approach, a strong economy with a good track record in revenue collection will find little incentive to expose itself to the credit markets for too much and for too long. It will have more favorable debt metrics. Blanchard puts a higher premium to debt service to GDP ratio rather than debt level to GDP ratio. This means the size of the debt service also matters, the rate of interest, and the maturity. Longer maturities can stretch out debt service payments and reduce annual allocation for debt service.

Precisely, these debt sustainability considerations make us averse to the fuel tax suspension following the unprecedented rise in petroleum prices globally. Lower public revenues will force the hand of the NG to borrow some more and bust the traditional debt metrics, reduce market confidence in our ability to manage our economy and, finally, push up even more our cost of borrowing. Equity considerations also dictate the better alternative of allowing everyone to share in the burden posed by higher fuel prices but part of the fuel tax could very well be assigned to subsidizing the marginal sectors in society including public transport. To his credit, President Duterte decided to keep the fuel tax.

In the same vein, we are expectant of two possible sources of public funds, both made possible by the rulings of our own Supreme Court. One is the NG collectible from the ill-gotten Marcos wealth. As of 2020, 34 years since the Marcoses were deposed and sent on exile to Hawaii, the Philippine government has recovered some P174.2 billion which was earmarked for the farmers through the agrarian reform program, the coco levy trust fund, and the indemnification of the human rights victims during the military dictatorship.

We have yet to recover P125.98 billion from the Marcoses, whose only son Bongbong is running for President of the Republic. Some 942 items of real properties worth P29.1 billion are still under court litigation. We are also running after 914 items of personal properties like corporations, aircraft, and paintings worth P96.9 billion. All in, P125.98 billion is 2.5% of our annual budget. Before the pandemic, that amount was some 20% of the fiscal deficit.

The next head of state should be more serious and forthright in ensuring all obstacles to full recovery are hurdled. Each day of delay puts us in debt’s way.

The next item to consider is the Marcoses’ estate tax liabilities to the NG of P203.819 billion. This should not sound impossible considering that the former First Lady Imelda Marcos has actually disclosed that many big companies are owned by their family. Since Bongbong Marcos is the administrator of the estate, and as a former public official who swore his allegiance to the flag and the Constitution, he should be the first person to settle his family’s tax liabilities.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has clarified that as early as 1993, 29 years ago, it had “already executed its final assessment” on the subject properties. Equally important is the clarification that “as early as 1997, the judgment on the tax case had bec              ome final and executory.” Hence, Marcos Jr. and his spokesman’s reasoning that the tax obligation could not be settled all these years because the amount is yet to be settled between the BIR and the Presidential Commission on Good Government, does not hold water. If Marcos Jr. cares enough for this country, all he needed to do is simply to admit the facts and pay their tax obligations to the government.

This collection case is live. No less than BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay confirmed that “the BIR did send a written demand to the Marcos heirs on Dec. 2, 2021, regarding their tax liabilities.”

We cannot capture in clearer terms how far this P203.819 billion, plus the P125.98 billion in unrecovered ill-gotten Marcos’ wealth, could go in easing the fiscal stress. More important, so much could go a long way in delivering social services to our people and mitigating their poverty.

The next President of this Republic can truly demonstrate a serious pursuit of people-oriented, good governance policy if the gorilla in the room is no longer ignored. It has been choosing where to sit all these years.

 

Diwa C. Guinigundo is the former deputy governor for the Monetary and Economics Sector, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). He served the BSP for 41 years. In 2001-2003, he was alternate executive director at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC. He is the senior pastor of the Fullness of Christ International Ministries in Mandaluyong.

Southeast Asia’s road to recovery

BEFORE the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Southeast Asia had been a global success story in fostering growth and reducing poverty. The pandemic abruptly reversed those gains, casting 4.7 million more people into dire poverty in 2021 and leading to 9.3 million fewer jobs created in the same year, compared with a no-COVID scenario. While green shoots of recovery are starting to appear, the region’s aggregate output this year is projected to remain at least 10% below what would be expected in the absence of COVID-19.

At this crucial juncture, it is imperative for countries to address rising income inequality, and ensure this trend does not become the region’s “new normal.” Rising inequality is a bane to growth and erodes the backbone of society. It creates disincentives for lower-skill workers, diminishing labor productivity. It impedes education and skills development for those lacking sufficient income or credit. Rising inequality also undermines social cohesion.

As the region continues laying the groundwork for recovery, a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) study, “Southeast Asia: Rising from the Pandemic,” advises leaders to adopt a series of important policy measures that can spur recovery, and better ensure that Southeast Asia’s rejuvenation in the wake of COVID-19 benefits all.

Countries need to significantly bolster investment in national health systems to improve core healthcare capacities, improve surveillance, ensure continued availability of adequate medical supplies, and enhance preparedness for future pandemics. The ADB study shows that an increase in countries’ health investment to about 4.8% of gross domestic product, up from the 2021 average of 3% of GDP, would deliver a 1.5% percentage point uptick in economic growth. Stronger healthcare investment would reduce disease burdens, and lead to higher labor participation rates and enhanced productivity in the workplace. Countries should also consider putting universal healthcare frameworks in place to ensure that no one is left behind.

In parallel, countries should aggressively pursue structural reforms that can improve productivity and competitiveness, including increased investment in human capital. In the wake of the pandemic, accelerated digitalization, a massive reallocation of jobs across sectors, and a growing number of jobs requiring workers with technical skills have resulted in large skills gaps. A recent APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) survey on digital skills gaps reveals that 75% of employers are seeing significant skills mismatches for those entering the workforce. Greater investments are needed to create a future workforce that is better equipped to support a modern economy. This involves substantial improvements in education systems, programs supporting workplace apprenticeship and training, and incentives for reskilling and upskilling. To enhance competitiveness, countries can remove trade barriers to improve efficiency and productivity, reduce red tape, improve logistics, and support the modernization of small enterprises through technology adoption and incubation.

Policymakers in the region also need to strengthen macroeconomic fundamentals, and maintain fiscal prudence in managing debts as they finance recovery. Large COVID-19 response packages have dramatically enlarged fiscal deficits and debt levels in Asia. In 2020, developing Asia’s pandemic response amounted to $3.8 trillion, almost doubling the fiscal deficit-to-GDP ratio in the region from 5% in 2019 to 9.8% in 2020. As Southeast Asia emerges from the pandemic, countries need to correct existing economic and financial imbalances, and help cushion possible future shocks by maintaining sufficient international reserves and policy space.

Finally, as countries focus on accelerating economic recovery, it is essential that they don’t simply return to business as usual. This crisis presents an opportunity to expand green investments and lay the groundwork for a greener economy. Policies should be redesigned to protect rivers and oceans and to support countries’ switch to cleaner fuels. The public and private sectors should more closely collaborate on minimizing the environmental impacts of industry through more active recycling and reuse of materials. Tax policies should incentivize carbon emissions reduction. Recovery plans should also promote green infrastructure investments, which are good for the environment and a major creator of growth and jobs. To support the region’s climate goals, ADB is working with regional and international partners to cut back on coal power through the innovative Energy Transition Mechanism and Green Recovery Platform.

In tandem, this people-centered approach to recovery can help create more productive jobs, particularly in hard-hit sectors like transport, hospitality, and tourism. It can help restore productivity trends in Southeast Asia, which were reversed due to COVID-19.

Two years after the start of the pandemic, Southeast Asia is beginning to recover with more buoyant growth, and countries are intensifying their push to build back better. While strong headwinds remain, there is reason for hope. If countries increase investments in health, structural reforms, and a green economy, while maintaining fiscal prudence, they can return Southeast Asia to prosperity, and usher in a new era of revitalization for the region.

 

Ramesh Subramaniam is the director general of the Southeast Asia Department of the Asian Development Bank.

Brevity and verbosity

FREEPIK

“When he gets started his tongue is like a racehorse; it runs fastest the less weight it carries.” — Franklin Pierce Adams, US writer

The glib tongue of an official spokesperson often confuses the impressionable audience. It is worse when there are several spokespersons giving vague statements. They use words and statistics that are excessive but mean nothing. (High fallutin’ nonsense to be polite.)

The French have a phrase: “Revenons à nos moutons” (Let us come back to our sheep.) Its interpretation is “Let’s get back to the main point.”

Observe how verbose grandstanding politicians and civic leaders are when the TV cameras are whirring. Suddenly, they project and emote as though they were acting in a TV show or a stage play. (Not that they could all be considered credible.)

The orators project their well-modulated voices and dramatize their long-winded sentences with exclamation points!!!

A few speakers are entertaining and witty. Others are boring, bland characters who have a captive (albeit reluctant) audience (Ho hum.) They wear themselves thin while their listeners tune out. Some hyperventilate and gesticulate madly.

At plenary sessions, the non-verbal ones tend to keep quiet, pretend to listen, scribble notes or fantasize. The verbosity of their colleagues put them to sleep.

Sir Winston Churchill once described Lord Charles Beresford thus: “He is one of those orators of whom is well said, ‘Before they get up, they know what they are going to say; when they are speaking, they do not know what they are saying; and when they have sat down, they do not know what they have said.’”

A few OTT (over the top) caricatures have exaggerated facial quirks — raising eyebrows, flaring nostrils, twitching ears, or jutting lips. When they speak, they grin. It is a poor camouflage for the smirk, sneer, and the snobbish sniff.

Turn off the volume and watch the circus on TV. It is entertaining without all the noise.

Most political animals master the art of saying a lot that does not mean anything. Everything is calculated for the right effect and response. Loquacious speakers — at a town fiesta, a campaign sortie, and a wake or a funeral service are always so boring. Eulogies are delivered with overextended pages of long paragraphs.

They could be condensed into two sentences. The same recycled speech extolling the virtues of the departed sound like broken records from a past era. “Mr. Z was an honorable man… He was my best friend.” (Even if the speaker had a long history of unpaid personal loans with the deceased.)

Abraham Lincoln once commented about a talkative politician. “He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas better than any man I ever met.” A witty, subtle but withering remark.

“Thomas Macaulay is like a book in breeches. He has occasional flashes of silence, that make his conversation perfectly delightful,” a British clergyman Sydney Smith, once wrote.

We just look around the office, family gathering, church or institution. (Social events and fundraisers are good places.) We can recognize these composite characters immediately.

The boss who holds court at the office and regales his underling with the same stories ad infinitum.

The lecturer and religious evangelist whose lengthy speeches and homilies lull people to sleep. Inflicting others with so many details is so tedious.

The well-meaning zealot who tries to convert everyone to his religious sect or cult.

At a party, the parent who praises his own superior offspring. (Even with bragging rights, there is a limit to praise.)

The tycoon “wannabe” or the “has been” who talks about himself. The Ivy League degrees, exotic safaris, mansions, art collections, estate jewelry…

The condescending self-made professional who basks in his achievements but disparages his less successful colleagues. His speeches are peppered with “I, me, myself.” At panel discussions, he holds the microphone and gabs — to the dismay of the other panelists and the moderator.

The professor-scientist-teacher who enumerates his inventions, and expounds his ideas and philosophical theories. As the saying goes, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”

The sportsman with expensive toys and trophies — fancy golf and tennis equipment, polo ponies, yacht, helicopter, and cars. Conspicuous consumption is tasteless. Bragging about it with descriptions and hefty price tags is worse.

At a symphonic concert, the music critic Henry Taylor Parker, known by his initials “HTP” (“Hell to Pay”), was so irritated by the windbags seated near him. He turned to his noisy neighbors and hissed, “Those people onstage are making such a noise, I cannot hear a word you are saying!”

Tallulah Bankhead was legendary for her volubility. She was described as “…more of an act than an actress.” After an interview, magician Fred Keating commented, “I’ve just spent an hour talking to Tallulah for a few minutes.”

At the end of a very long lecture, one might wonder: what the whole thing was about. What was the point?

To the confused and bewildered, one should remember an old quote, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

 

Maria Victoria Rufino is an artist, writer and businesswoman. She is president and executive producer of Maverick Productions.

mavrufino@gmail.com

Accountability for vaccine-related injuries or deaths

FREEPIK

“Iatrogenesis” is a term everyone should get to know. It is an illness caused by medical treatment. Oxford Languages describe it as “relating to illness caused by medical examination or treatment.” Wikipedia helpfully adds that it is “the causation of a disease, a harmful complication, or other ill effect by any medical activity, including diagnosis, intervention, error, or negligence” and may include “mental suffering via medical beliefs or a practitioner’s statements.”

Iatrogenesis is something usually not discussed in medical circles, perhaps understandably so considering it is the fifth leading cause of death globally (see “Iatrogenesis: A review on nature, extent, and distribution of healthcare hazards,” Rafia Farooq Peer and Nadeem Shabir, 2018, http://bit.ly/NCBI_Iatrogenesis). A 2013 Global Burden of Disease research piece pegged it at 20 million negative effects arising from medical treatment. In the US alone, a 2016 study “calculated that more than 250,000 deaths per year are due to medical error” (“Study Suggests Medical Errors Now Third Leading Cause of Death in the US,” John Hopkins, 2016, http://bit.ly/Hopkins_MedError).

And a primary reason for those injuries and deaths arising from medical treatment or iatrogenesis? Peer and Shabir point to “adverse drug reactions” (ADRs) through:

• “Medical error or negligence”;

• “A practice of defensive medicine,” whereby “doctors recommend medical examinations and medications to their patients recklessly”;

• “No prior warnings about possible Adverse Drug Reactions”;

• “Over medicalization of ill health,” by which “the autonomy of patients dealing with their own illness with regard to modern medicine is compromised” and “natural healing of a disease is questioned by the medical sciences”; and, finally,

• “Commercialization of medicine,” which “is one of the primary reasons for increased ADRs. There is a strong lobby between pharma industry and the medical institutions. Even studies are been funded by the pharma companies and it is most likely that they declare their drugs as effective.”

Iatrogenesis gained greater significance today in light of accumulating information regarding adverse effects from COVID-19 vaccines, including injury or death. The Epoch Times reported (“The Alarming Trends in COVID Vaccine Side Effects,” March 6, 2022, citing Israeli data) that of “2,068 boosted individuals”:

• 0.3% required hospitalization for an adverse event;

• 4.5% experienced one or more neurological problems (2.1% of men and 6.9% of women), such as tingling or itching sensation, Bell’s palsy, vision damage, memory deterioration, hearing damage, convulsions, loss of consciousness and more;

• 9.6% of women under the age of 54 experienced menstrual irregularities. Of those, “39% suffered from similar side-effects after prior COVID-19 vaccinations”;

• 6.4% of those with preexisting anxiety disorder or depression experienced a worsening of their symptoms; and,

• 24.2% of those with preexisting autoimmune disorders experienced exacerbation of disease.

And “between 6.3% and 9.3% of those with preexisting high blood pressure, lung disease, diabetes and heart disease alsoa reported that their condition was exacerbated after the third booster.”

Informed Choice Australia also came out with a paper, “1,000 Peer Reviewed Studies Questioning COVID-19 Vaccine Safety,” which consists of “peer reviewed medical papers submitted to various medical journals, evidencing a multitude of adverse events in COVID-19 vaccine recipients” (see http://bit.ly/ICA_VaccineSafety).

Then there’s this utterly disturbing report (based on US Center For Disease Control data): “Of the 11,505 US deaths reported as of March 4, 17% occurred within 24 hours of vaccination, 22% occurred within 48 hours of vaccination, and 60% occurred in people who experienced an onset of symptoms within 48 hours of being vaccinated.” (“7-Year-Old Died of Cardiac Arrest 13 Days After Pfizer Shot, VAERS Data Show,” The Defender, Children’s Health Defense News and Views, March 11, 2022, https://bit.ly/3thXPwx).

It is no surprise then that compensations are starting to be awarded (albeit discreetly) to those damaged by COVID vaccination: “Norway agreed to pay out 25 COVID-19 vaccine-injury claims as of early February,” and that “of around 400 claims received so far, more than 300 are still being considered”; meanwhile “the UK’s National Health Service has received more than 720 claims requesting COVID-19 vaccine-related compensation,” with “a projected 1,500 to 1,800 new claims this year” (“COVID-19 Vaccines Were Deadly in Rare Cases. Governments Are Now Weighing Compensation,” Wall Street Journal, Jan. 19, 2022).

With regard to the Philippines, RA 11525 provides compensation for any person “inoculated through the COVID-19 Vaccination Program” and because of it suffered “severe adverse effects” including “death, permanent disability or hospital confinement.” The law set aside P500 million for this purpose.

Furthermore, it is not true (as is widely reported in media) that “public officials and employees, contractors, manufacturers, volunteers, and representatives of duly authorized private entities” are free from liability and cannot be sued for actions in relation to the “administration or use of a COVID-19 vaccine.” RA 11525 actually provides that they can be sued and be held liable if proven that they acted with “willful misconduct and gross negligence” in using or administering COVID vaccines.

And considering that many of those that pushed for vaccines were the same people that had been so tragically wrong on lockdowns and masks, and even could have avoided deaths had they not been hysterically against the use of ivermectin (see “Treatment with Ivermectin Is Associated with Decreased Mortality in COVID-19 Patients: Analysis of a National Federated Database,” Efimenko, Nackeeran, et al., International Journal of Infectious Disease, March 2022), then proof of “willful misconduct and gross negligence” in relation to vaccine use may be just around the corner.

Filipinos (or their family members) that suffered serious adverse effects arising from COVID vaccination should document their experiences and claim government compensation, or (as provided by law) prosecute and hold accountable those that forced or misled people into taking vaccines.

 

Jemy Gatdula is a senior fellow of the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations and a Philippine Judicial Academy law lecturer for constitutional philosophy and jurisprudence

https://www.facebook.com/jigatdula/

Twitter@jemygatdula

Biden calls Putin a war criminal

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin. — REUTERS

KYIV/LVIV, Ukraine — International outrage over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grew on Thursday as US and Ukrainian officials said civilians waiting in line for bread and sheltering in a theater had been killed by Russian forces.

US President Joseph R. Biden called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a war criminal in comments the Kremlin said were “unforgivable” as it insisted the war in Ukraine was “going to plan” amid talk of compromise at peace talks.

Moscow has yet to capture any of Ukraine’s biggest cities despite the largest assault on a European state since World War II. More than 3 million Ukrainians have fled and thousands have died as the war enters its fourth week.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry said Russian forces dropped a powerful bomb on a theatre in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, leaving many civilians trapped and an unknown number of casualties. Reuters could not independently verify the information.

Maxar Technologies, a private US company, distributed satellite imagery it said was collected on March 14 and showed the word “children” in large Russian script painted on the ground outside the red-roofed building.

The theater had been housing at least 500 civilians, according to Human Rights Watch.

“This raises serious concerns about what the intended target was in a city where civilians have already been under siege for days and telecommunications, power, water, and heating have been almost completely cut off,” Belkis Wille from the rights group said.

Moscow denies targeting civilians and Russia’s defense ministry said its forces had not struck the building, RIA news agency said.

Thirteen buses carrying around 300 refugees from Mariupol have arrived in Russia’s Rostov region, Russia’s Interfax news agency cited the Russian defense ministry as saying on Thursday.

The US Embassy in Kyiv said Russian forces had shot dead 10 people waiting in line for bread in Chernihiv, northeast of Kyiv. Russia denied the attack and said the incident was a hoax.

The United Nations’ top court for disputes between states ordered Russia on Wednesday to immediately halt its military operations in Ukraine, saying it was “profoundly concerned” by Moscow’s use of force.

‘NEUTRAL STATUS’
Ukraine’s armed forces are conducting small-scale counter attacks on several fronts and Russian troops have not been able to gain ground because of a lack of resources, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Wednesday.

There were signs of compromise and progress at ongoing talks between Russia and Ukraine.

The Kremlin said negotiators were discussing a status for Ukraine similar to that of Austria or Sweden, both members of the European Union that are outside the NATO military alliance.

“Neutral status is now being seriously discussed along, of course, with security guarantees,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “There are absolutely specific formulations which in my view are close to agreement.”

Vladimir Medinsky, Russia’s chief negotiator, told state TV: “Ukraine is offering an Austrian or Swedish version of a neutral demilitarized state, but at the same time a state with its own army and navy.”

Austria and Sweden, the biggest of six EU members outside NATO, both have small militaries that cooperate with the alliance.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine could accept international security guarantees that stopped short of its longstanding aim to join NATO. That prospect has been one of Russia’s primary concerns.

“My priorities during the negotiations are absolutely clear: the end of the war, guarantees of security, sovereignty, restoration of territorial integrity, real guarantees for our country, real protection for our country,” Mr. Zelensky said in a video address released early on Thursday.

In a speech on Wednesday to the US Congress by video link, Mr. Zelensky repeated a request for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, something the West won’t introduce.

“In the darkest time for our country, for the whole of Europe, I call on you to do more,” he said.

The United States announced an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine to fight Russia, with the new package including drones, anti-armor and anti-aircraft systems.

“More will be coming as we source additional stocks of equipment that … we are ready to transfer,” Mr. Biden said, later condemning Mr. Putin.

“He is a war criminal,” he told reporters.

NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels also pledged more arms supplies to help Ukraine.

The U.N. Security Council is due to vote on Friday on a Russian-drafted call for aid access and civilian protection, but diplomats say the measure is set to fail because it does not push for an end to the fighting or withdrawal of troops. — Reuters

Thousands of Japan homes without power after quake kills four

A DAMAGED BUILDING following a strong earthquake is pictured in Soma, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo on March 17. — REUTERS

TOKYO — Tens of thousands of Japanese households remained without power on Thursday morning after a magnitude 7.4 quake struck shortly before midnight, throwing a swathe of northeastern Japan into darkness, severing key transportation links and killing four.

Companies including Toyota Motor Corp. and chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp. raced to assess the impact, with any supply chain disruption likely to add pressure to strained global output of smartphones, electronics and automobiles.

The temblor revived memories of Japan’s biggest quake, of magnitude 9.1, which struck on March 11, 2011 in the same area and which includes Fukushima prefecture and a nuclear power plant crippled by a tsunami and meltdown. It left a Shinkansen bullet train service indefinitely suspended, and at least one major highway to the region closed for safety checks.

“This one felt different (to the 2011 quake), it was huge. I had to hang on to something to stay upright,” said Aoi Hoshino, who owns a bar in Fukushima and had customers when the quake struck.

One of her customers shrugged off the initial tremors, but when the biggest one hit, he stood up and shouted, “This is a big one!” she recalled.

The damage was minimal, save a few framed pictures and cups that fell, thanks to rails Ms. Hoshino had added to shelves to stop bottles from falling in the event of an earthquake.

“For a while my hands wouldn’t stop shaking,” she said.

Parts of building facades tumbled into streets in some areas. Television footage showed a steep tiled roof crumpled over a parked, crushed car and workers examining cracked highways.

About 300 km (186 miles) south of Fukushima, areas of the capital Tokyo lost power immediately after the quake, though most regained it within three hours.

But some 5,775 households serviced by Tohoku Electric Power Co, Inc. in the northeast remained without electricity as of noon local time (0300 GMT) on Thursday, though the firm said it expected most will have supply restored later in the day.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said four people had died and that the government would be on high alert for the possibility of further strong tremors over the next two to three days.

At least 107 people were reported injured, several seriously, with 4,300 households also still without water by mid-morning. Residents of one Fukushima city formed a long queue to fill up plastic tanks with water for use at home.

Renesas, a major supplier of automotive chips, said it had suspended production at two semiconductor plants and partially stopped output at a third.

Among them is its Naka plant in Ibaraki prefecture just north of Tokyo, which supplies semiconductors to auto companies worldwide that have already had to curb output because of chip shortages resulting from COVID-19-related disruption.

The quake, initially measured at magnitude 7.3 but later revised to 7.4 by the Japan Meteorological Agency, hit at 11:36 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) just off the coast of Fukushima prefecture at a depth of 60 kilometers. The 29 km deep 2011 quake and tsunami off Fukushima — commemorated across the country less than a week ago — left some 18,000 dead.

A tsunami warning was issued but canceled early on Thursday morning. Some areas reported a rise in the sea level but no serious damage was immediately reported.

The 2011 disaster also set off meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. No abnormalities were reported at any nuclear power plants after the latest quake, though authorities earlier said a fire alarm had been triggered at a turbine building at the crippled plant.

Manufacturers said they were trying to gauge the potential damage to their facilities in the region.

Toyota canceled the day shift at two factories after workers evacuated during their evening shift on Wednesday. The automaker said it will decide on Thursday’s evening shift later.

To cover the area affected by the Shinkansen outage, ANA Holdings, Inc. and Japan Airlines Co, Ltd. added extra flights to northern cities. There were no forecasts of when regular rail service might be restored. — Reuters

Handbags at dawn: Chanel duels South Korean resellers in luxury boom

REUTERS
People queue to enter the Chanel boutique at a department store in Seoul, South Korea, May 13, 2020. — REUTERS/MINWOO PARK

SEOUL — As COVID curbs cut travel and duty-free shopping, South Koreans are driving a luxury goods boom at home that has left Chanel barring nearly a third of would-be shoppers to stop bulk buyers snagging $10,000 bags for resale with markups of 20% or more.

The storied French fashion and luxury company told Reuters it has seen traffic to its boutiques in South Korea skid since it began screening for customers it believed might be stocking up purely to flip to others in the resale market.

“We were able to identify them (bulk buyers) after having analyzed their buying patterns. Since this policy was implemented, the traffic in our boutiques has decreased by 30%,” Chanel told Reuters in a statement. It didn’t disclose exactly how it deemed those customers to be potential bulk buyers, and the privately owned business doesn’t disclose sales numbers by country.

Chanel’s strategy, implemented since July last year, came as global demand for luxury goods was picking up after the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. South Korea is the world’s seventh-biggest luxury goods market according to Euromonitor, and the research firm estimates it was one of only two of the top seven markets by revenue — the other being China — to see sales grow last year from 2019 levels.

Supply at brands like Chanel, though, is tightly controlled, preserving exclusivity and boosting appeal with no online shopping option beyond cosmetics, perfumes and some small accessories. Such is the appetite in downtown Seoul that long queues form before dawn outside department stores as shoppers brace for what’s known as an ‘open run’ — a sprint to Chanel’s doors at opening time.

“I arrived … at 5.30 a.m. for an open run and I was notified that there were more than 30 people in front of me,” a shopper told Reuters in front of a Chanel boutique in Seoul. Speaking on condition of anonymity because of privacy concerns, he said by the time he entered the store — nearly 10 hours later — the item he wanted was sold out.

Reflecting such red-hot demand in the resale market, a Chanel medium classic flap bag was sold at 13.5 million won ($11,031) — 20% more than its standard retail price — in January on KREAM, a platform offering everything from sneakers to tech and luxury goods that is an affiliate of tech giant Naver Corp.

KREAM, an acronym for ‘Kicks Rule Everything Around Me’, was launched in 2020. It told Reuters its monthly transactions exceeded 100 billion won in December, and said South Korea’s resale market is worth more than 1 trillion won — nearly $820 million — even at the most conservative estimates.

‘QUEUE MANAGEMENT’
While resale platforms like KREAM offer a range of brands, Chanel, like Swiss watchmaker Rolex, is a particularly sought-after brand because of its status among couples in South Korea as one of the most popular wedding gifts, and frequent price increases of its most iconic handbags.

Chanel increased prices of some handbags, accessories and seasonal ready-to-wear earlier this month in Asia and Europe, including by 5% in South Korea — where prices have just been raised for the fifth time in nine months, according to Chanel Korea.

In tandem with its screening for bulk buyers, Chanel said it has implemented a “queue management system”: Clients are asked to give their contact number and reason for visiting the store so that they can be informed via text messages when they will be able to enter the boutique.

Brand experts and consumers are divided on the impact of the new buying pattern on Chanel.

“Consumers are voluntarily doing free ads for Chanel — camping outside (boutiques), doing open runs, posting their experiences on social media,” said Lee Eun Hee, a professor of consumer science at Inha University.

“I think all those phenomena have helped Chanel draw younger customers and make a big chunk of money off it.”

Still, some consumers say long queues and waiting lists have put them off.

“I just gave up buying a Chanel product long ago,” said a Seoul resident in her 30s, declining to be named due to privacy concerns.

“It’s too difficult to buy one, with some 300 people usually on a waiting list, and by the time it’s my turn, there is no product left. This really puts me off and I don’t want to be at the center of this craziness.”

Not giving up any time soon are the bulk buyer-resellers.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, some resellers told Reuters they’re hiring “line standers” for a fee of up to $125 a day to stand in queues or enter stores on their behalf.

One reseller in his 30s told Reuters he’s been reselling his purchases at usually more than 20% profit — and it can be far more profitable when inventory level is low.

He said he sold a Chanel flap card holder recently on secondhand marketplace app Karrot for nearly 1 million won, 40% above its retail price — five minutes after it went up for sale. — Reuters

BayaniPay reduces remittance costs for Fil-Ams

BAYANIPAY.COM

BayaniPay Inc., a California-based neobank launched March 17, reduces cross-border remittance costs for Filipino-Americans and other migrant professionals sending funds home by doing away with transaction fees.  

Through a partnership, clients of the digital-only bank will also be able to transact at any of the branches of East West Bank (EWB), the largest Asian-American bank in the US. 

“We call it omniservice, where any customer can walk into [our bank] and get the same exact service as anyone else” said Parker Shi, East West Bank executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We are looking at not only doing business in the US, but also serving Filipinos from the Philippines.”  

Mr. Damarillo said serving immigrants is “one of the most underappreciated opportunities there is.”  

“If you land the immigrants, it’s a very interesting opportunity moving forward,” he said at the hybrid launch.  

The neobank reduces 30% of the friction cost of sending funds home by removing the transaction fee for the service, and only earning a margin on its “market-leading” exchange rates. Other remittance firms charge for both. 

Apart from cross-border remittance payments, BayaniPay offers direct digital cash payments and EWB-powered debit cards. An emergency credit line is also in the pipeline.  

“We co-designed this with merchant partners,” added Mr. Damarillo, describing the neobank’s direct pay function that it “copied” from Philippine e-wallets like GCash and PayMaya:  

“You take your Bayani wallet, go to a grocery like Seafood City, present your QR code to the cash register, and do a regular transfer of funds. Merchants don’t have to pay fees to Visa and Mastercard.” 

Seafood City, the largest Filipino-owned supermarket chain in the US, and BDO Unibank are among BayaniPay’s partners.  

Mr. Damarillo, a Filipino-American and Silicon Valley veteran with three successful exits, moved to the US two decades ago to follow his now-wife, as well as to realize the American Dream.   

“My parents put together all their dollars, sent me off to the airport, and wished me good luck,” he said. “[Mine] is not an uncommon story… The US delivered. I’m among the four million Pinoys in the US who have become an important part of the economy.” 

Money sent home by Filipino migrants rose to $2.668 billion in January from $2.603 billion a year earlier, reflecting improving employment prospects abroad despite recent surges in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections.  

The Filipino-American community is the third-largest Asian-American group in the US It accounted for $146 billion or 14.4 percent of the Asian-American market in 2019. — Patricia B. Mirasol

1...5,3895,3905,391...12,964Page 5,390 of 12,964
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube