THE AVERAGE consumption of well-milled rice in the top income tier in 2018 was more than six times the total of the poorest consumers, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a report.
Per capita consumption of well-milled rice for the year was estimated 10.46 kilograms (kg) for the first decile, or the lowest-income group and 65.53 kg for the 10th decile, or the highest-income group, according to the Family Income and Expenditure Survey by the PSA.
The national average for consuming well-milled rice was 32.60 kg, with residents of Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) posting the highest tally of 53.80 kg per capita. The National Capital Region (NCR) came in at 46.25 kg, and the Cordillera Administrative Region 41.05 kg. Bicol and Eastern Visayas were the lowest on the scale with 8.67 kg and 11.77 kg, respectively.
Per capita consumption of corn was higher in the lower-income deciles, with the first and third deciles consuming 24.34 kg and 12.84 kg respectively. On the other end of the scale, the ninth decile averaged 2.72 kg.
Per capita consumption of corn was 9.14 kg, with Zamboanga Peninsula leading at 48.16 kg, followed by Northern Mindanao at 36.64 kg, and Central Visayas 35.18 kg. Ilocos Region was bottom of the table with 0.20 kg per person.
For regular-milled rice, average per capita consumption in 2018 was 66.52 kg, with Eastern Visayas coming in at 104.03 kg per person. Consumption of regular-milled rice was highest in the third income decile at 74.57 kg.
Consumption of subsidized rice sold via the National Food Authority (NFA) averaged 4.13 kg per capita for the year, with Bicol Region the most dependent on the NFA at 7.65 kg per person. The first income decile posted a per-capita average of 7.21 kg.
The average per capita consumption of pork was 6.35 kg. Residents of the NCR averaged 8.83 kg, followed by Calabarzon with 8.62 kg and Central Luzon 7.66 kg.
The national average for chicken was 6.89 kg, with the NCR posting a per capita tally of 12.94 kg. Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) came in at 9.85 kg, and Calabarzon 9.18 kg.
On average, per capita consumption of galunggong (round scad) was 3.90 kg, with Zamboanga Peninsula and the NCR the top consumers at 6.22 kg and 4.74 kg, respectively. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
With Christmas just around the corner, company Christmas parties, family reunions, and other gatherings fill our calendars left and right. Even though this year many of these celebrations will be virtual due to the pandemic, we always find a way to make them memorable. The upcoming holiday season also brings the highly anticipated year-end break that every employee looks forward to for much-needed R&R before welcoming the new year.
For accountants, however, the end of the year signals the upcoming busy season, including keeping tabs on the things to be done before the year ends. For instance, they must ensure that expenses up to the last day of the year are well-documented and recognized in the companies’ books in preparation for the finalization of the audited financial statements and the income tax return in the next year. These procedures may involve calling the company’s suppliers to inquire about the amount that would be payable on its year-end purchases even before they receive the actual billing, which normally happens only in the following year.
Why is it so important for businesses to account for expenses at year-end? Is it not more efficient to claim the expenses in the following year when these are paid? If you claim expenses only when they are paid, would such treatment give rise to any potential tax issues in future tax audits by the BIR?
WHAT DOES THE TAX CODE SAY? Under Section 34 of the National Internal Revenue Code, otherwise known as the Tax Code, to be considered deductible, a business expense must be ordinary and necessary, and must have been paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on the trade or business of the taxpayer; and must be substantiated with sufficient evidence. Additionally, taxes required to be withheld from expenses should have been remitted to the BIR in accordance with the current withholding tax rules.
As mentioned, one of the requirements for deductibility of an expense is its having been paid or incurred during a specific taxable year.
Do bear in mind that during a tax investigation, it is standard procedure for the BIR to request supporting documents for expenses claimed for the year. If such documents indicate that the taxpayer claimed a deduction for goods and services purchased in the prior year, the BIR may potentially disallow such prior period expenses claimed in the current audited year.
WITHHOLDING TAX COMPLIANCE Another area with potential tax implications is year-end expenses, the issue being whether withholding taxes on accrued expenses were withheld and remitted during the period. This situation often happens when the taxpayer’s withholding tax policy is based on actual payment rather than when it is recorded in its books as an accrued expense.
Under Revenue Regulations No. 2-98, otherwise known as the Withholding Tax Regulations, the obligation to deduct and withhold the tax arises at the time an income is paid or becomes payable, or when it is accrued or recorded as an expense or asset in the payor’s books, whichever comes first.
Notably, the proper timing for withholding taxes on expenses arises not only upon actual payment of such expense. The inclusion of the line, “whichever comes first,” triggers the taxpayer’s obligation to remit withholding taxes to the BIR even upon recording such transactions as an expense or asset (e.g., prepaid expenses) in the books.
While withholding taxes are remitted, albeit belatedly by taxpayers who only withhold upon payment, the imposition of administrative penalties (i.e., 25% surcharge, 12% interest, and compromise penalties) for failure to withhold taxes on time is unavoidable if the late withholding is raised as an issue during a tax audit.
WHAT IF THESE WERE MERE ESTIMATES? One contention that taxpayers may have against the requirement of withholding upon booking the expense is that, at year-end, they merely estimated the amount for recording purposes. The amounts recorded are still subject to change once billed by the supplier or paid the following year.
This contention may be raised during a tax audit, provided the books reflect the expenses as such. For the book-entry of expenses, taxpayers have the option of recording them as accruals or provisions. But what’s the difference?
Under the accrual method of accounting, the determinative question is, when do the facts present themselves in such a manner that the taxpayer must recognize income or expense? As held in a Supreme Court case (G.R. No. 172231), the accrual of income and expense is permitted when the “all-events test” has been met. This test requires (1) fixing of a right to income or liability to pay; and (2) the availability of reasonably accurate determination of such income or liability.
The all-events test requires that the right to income or liability be fixed and determined with reasonable accuracy. However, the test does not demand that the amount be known absolutely, only that it must be determined with “reasonable accuracy,” which implies something less than an exact or completely accurate amount. Thus, estimates not supported by bills, contracts, or facts to establish the amount of liability with reasonable accuracy may not be deductible yet. They can instead be considered provisions.
A provision is an existing liability of uncertain timing or amount. It is not yet an incurred expense, hence, not deductible for income tax purposes, and the company has no obligation yet to withhold taxes in the year the provision was recognized.
Thus, recording a provision properly may help avoid withholding tax and deduction issues during tax audits. Be that as it may, given the thin line between an accrual and a provision, companies still often record accrued expenses in their books instead of provision accounts. It may be also due to the limitation of adding new accounts into the system or other factors.
I hope the above reminders and explanations will help suppliers empathize and support accountants/finance personnel who request for the amount of their payables at year-end. This will probably help grant their accountant’s wish to spend the holidays with a clear and relaxed mind, optimistically ending 2021 on a high note.
The views or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Isla Lipana & Co. The content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for specific advice.
Steven Lloyd Co is an assistant manager at the Tax Services Department of Isla Lipana & Co., the Philippine member firm of the PwC network.
OVERALL DAMAGE to infrastructure and the agricultural sector has reached more than P3.56 billion while 554,316 people have been displaced by typhoon Rai, locally named Odette, based on the government’s running assessment of the trail of destruction left the by strongest storm to hit the country this year.
The number of deaths verified by the national disaster management agency stood at 177 as of Wednesday, but the police on Monday said it had so far logged 373 reports of people who died. Another 38 people are missing and 275 injured.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said on Wednesday that the damage caused by Odette to public infrastructure hit P585.8 million.
Broken down, a P231.9-million damage was recorded in Region 4-B or Mimaropa, composed of the provinces of Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan.
Damage in Western Visayas was P35.5 million, Eastern Visayas had P173.4 million, and P145 million in Region 13 or Caraga, which includes Surigao City and Siargao.
“Other regions have yet to submit report on estimated damage to roads, bridges, and flood-control structures,” DPWH noted.
The department’s top official estimated on Tuesday that the damage caused by typhoon Odette to infrastructure and agriculture in Southern Leyte, located in Eastern Visayas, could reach P3 billion.
“Damage here could reach P3 billion,” DPWH Acting Secretary and Southern Leyte Rep. Roger G. Mercado told DZMM TeleRadyo in an interview.
He said the estimate covers “infrastructure [such as] public buildings, private buildings, and houses,” as well as “agriculture and fisheries.”
The department has so far reopened 34 roads in the typhoon-hit areas.
Twelve roads were still closed to traffic, including Puerto Princesa North Road, Tagbilaran North Road, and Cebu-Toledo Wharf Road.
“An immediate response fund of P100 million was released for the clearing and response operations,” the department said.
TELECOM AND POWER Meanwhile, PLDT, Inc. and its wireless arm Smart Communications, Inc. said they had already reconnected Surigao City.
“The group is also first to restore wireless services in other municipalities in Surigao del Norte including Tubod, Bad-as, and Taganito in Claver,” the companies said in an e-mailed statement.
Globe Telecom, Inc. said the provinces of Antique, Biliran, Guimaras, and all of Samar are the latest areas where it had successfully restored services.
“Globe is also the first to restore network services in Del Carmen, Siargao Island, San Jose in Dinagat Islands, Lipata Seaport, Surigao City and Surigao Airport,” it said in a statement.
In the power sector, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) said it has estimated an initial P373.12 million worth of damage based on reports from 10 electric cooperatives.
The cost is expected to increase when all affected cooperatives submit their reports.
There were at least 79 cooperatives affected by the typhoon, of which 46 are now under normal operations, 12 have partial power interruption, and seven still have total power loss. The rest have yet to submit an update.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has ordered the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and distribution utilities in affected areas to expedite power restoration and to ease electricity bill collection.
“The directive will also be applied to NGCP, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), generation companies, and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM),” ERC Chairperson and Chief Executive Agnes Vicenta T. Devanadera said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Petron Corp., a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp., assured the public that it has sufficient fuel inventory in the Visayas and Mindanao.
“Our biggest challenge however is quickly and safely reopening damaged service stations. Despite limitations, all our teams are working hard to address this,” Petron President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang said.
AGRICULTURE Agricultural damage hit P2.6 billion, affecting 34,747 farmers and fishermen, and over 60,451-hectares of farmland, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
The volume of production loss was estimated 87,640 metric tons.
These losses were reported in 10 regions — Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, and Caraga.
The provinces of Batangas, Palawan, and Surigao del Sur were also reported to be experiencing problems in food transport and distribution.
Depending on the extent of damage, it will take a while for the agricultural sector to recover, according to Roehlano M. Briones, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
“There’s no amount of quick turnaround that you can do within the quarter. I would say it will take a quarter to a year to recover,” he said.
“What takes long is the replacement of tree crops, and the restoration of infrastructure and irrigation damage,” he added in Filipino.
However, Mr. Briones said Odette’s damage will likely not impact the Agriculture department’s production growth target of 2% for the year.
“Considering the whole of agriculture, P2-billion damage is still not big enough to cause a big change in growth targets. There’s no need to change the growth target at the national level if your range of damage is just a few billion pesos,” he said.
The DA will provide at least P1.75 billion to assist farmers and fishermen, along with the distribution of seeds for various crops, fingerlings, and drugs and medicine for livestock.
INSURANCE Meanwhile, insurance companies have been instructed to speed up processing claims related to typhoon Odette, the Insurance Commission said.
The commission in a circular signed Monday said all insurance and reinsurance companies, pre-need companies, mutual benefit associations, and health maintenance organizations must streamline company procedures to quickly process claims related to the calamity.
The organizations were also ordered to relax the timeline for completing claim requirements and improve services for customer claims.
The commission said there may be more claims against insurance companies and other organizations it regulates as the death toll and damage assessment increase.
Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa in a press release on Wednesday said the guidelines will help facilitate immediate processing of these claims.
“It is our hope that the circular letter will aid our fellow kababayans to ease the burden of recovering from the devastating typhoon and that, in the truly Filipino spirit of bayanihan, our regulated entities will follow the direction provided by this commission,” Mr. Funa said.
SPECIAL CUSTOMS LANE As international assistance pour in, the Customs bureau has ordered ports nationwide to set up one-stop shops that will facilitate the speedy processing of goods intended for typhoon survivors.
“The OSS shall be available 24 hours and seven days a week. It shall be responsible for coordinating with other concerned government agencies in the processing of donated relief goods to facilitate its immediate release,” the bureau said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Foreign Affairs department has also organized a national OSS to handle all concerns relating to donations.
Among those that have recently delivered or pledged relief and recovery assistance include the European Union (EU), which allocated €1.7 million (P95.99 million) in humanitarian funding to cover provisions of food, water, shelter, and other urgently needed household items, as well as cash grants to victims.
The EU said its partner humanitarian organizations will also strengthen healthcare services, including hygiene promotion to mitigate the spread of waterborne diseases.
The United States, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), provided P10 million to support communities devastated by the typhoon.
“The United States is providing P10 million in immediate support, including food and shelter for communities affected by Typhoon Odette,” US Embassy in the Philippines Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Heather Variava said in a statement.
USAID is partnering with Action Against Hunger to provide food, water, hygiene supplies, and other relief items to Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Islands.
Korean Ambassador Kim Inchul, who met with Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. to discuss assistance to typhoon-hit areas, said his government will provide $2 million (P100.27 million) for humanitarian assistance and $50,000 (P2.5 million) worth of in-kind donation.
Other pledges came from: New Zealand, $500,000 (P16.9 million); Hungary €54,000 (P3.05 million); Ireland, €250,000 (P14.12 million) through World Food Programme Philippines and United Nations Philippines; and Singapore, $60,000 (P3 million) as seed money to support the Singapore Red Cross’ public fundraising
Other countries that have earlier announced assistance include Japan, China, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
GOVERNMENT FUND Meanwhile, Philippine senators on Wednesday refuted the claim of President Rodrigo R. Duterte that government funds have been depleted due to the pandemic, citing sources that can be tapped for the typhoon emergency response.
“I am saddened by the President’s statement that the government has no money to assist the typhoon victims,” said Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon in a Viber message.
He said the Finance department can do a “cash sweep” of released but undisbursed funds parked in the bank accounts of national government agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations.
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, Sr. suggested that the NDRRMC be immediately convened so its Cabinet members can mobilize Quick Response Funds from different agencies and other appropriations.
Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, who chairs the Senate finance committee, said that while it may be true that this year’s calamity funds have already been used up, next year’s budget may be tapped by the national government as soon as the President signs the 2022 expenditure program, which is expected next week.
“Over P20 billion may be used to help victims (of the typhoon) and those who lost their homes and livelihood,” he said in a Viber message in Filipino.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that as of Dec. 21, there were 139,000 damaged houses across central and southern Philippines. — Arjay L. Balinbin, Marielle C. Lucenio, Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson, Jenina P. Ibañez, and Alyssa Nicole O. Tan
THE PHILIPPINES on Monday reported 261 coronavirus infections, bringing the total to 2.84 million.
The death toll from the coronavirus hit 50,916 after 122 more patients died, while recoveries increased by 395 to 2.78 million, the Department of Health (DoH) said in a bulletin.
There were 9,238 active cases, 507 of which did not show symptoms, 3,153 were mild, 3,400 were moderate, 1,801 were severe, and 377 were critical.
The agency said 95% of the reported cases occurred from Dec. 9 to 22. The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were Metro Manila with 74, Calabarzon with 32, and Central Luzon with 20.
It said 12% of the reported deaths occurred in December, 14% in November, 32% in October, 22% in September, 8% in August, and 4% in July, 2% in June, 1% in May, 2% in April, 1% in August 2020, 2% in July 2020, and 1% in April 2020.
The Health department said four duplicates, which were recoveries, were removed from the tally. The agency said 192 patients had tested negative and were removed from the tally. Of these, 189 were recoveries.
It added that 113 recoveries were relisted as deaths. Two laboratories did not operate on Dec. 20, while 12 laboratories did not submit data.
The government aims to vaccinate at least 54 million Filipinos by yearend, as it seeks to prevent an outbreak of the highly contagious Omicron variant.
Health authorities have already shortened the interval for booster shots against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Adults can get a booster shot three months after the second shot of a two-dose vaccine, the Health department said in a press release. Recipients of a single-dose vaccine can receive a top-up shot after two months, it added.
“We are exploring all possible options to safely mitigate the effects of more transmissible variants of COVID-19,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III was quoted as saying. “The approval came at an opportune time as several countries also re-strategized in light of the Omicron and other COVID-19 variants that may emerge.”
The Health chief said those who are yet to receive their primary vaccine doses should be prioritized.
The Health department separately said in a Viber message that there are around 19.37 million people eligible for boosters. Of these, around 1.2 million already received their top-up shots, it added.
More than 45.28 million people or 58.71% of the target population have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Dec. 21, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles said at a televised news briefing.
The country has injected 1.2 million booster or additional doses, he added.
At the same briefing, Kezia Lorraine Rosario of the government’s vaccination operations center said at least five million doses of vaccines were injected during the country’s vaccination drive from Dec. 15 to 21.
However, the government suspended the inoculation drive in some areas due to the threat of typhoon Rai, locally named Odette, the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
THE LATE dictator’s son Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr., through his lawyer, presented on Wednesday a government document proving that the presidential candidate settled the deficiencies and fines relating to the unpaid taxes for which he was convicted.
In a press conference, lawyer Victor Rodriguez showed a certification issued by a local office of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Dec. 9, 2021 indicating that he paid penalties worth P67,137 in 2001. The amount was the same with what was stated in a decision by the Court of Appeals, which upheld his tax evasion conviction in 1997.
The document refutes a certification from the Quezon City trial court, which stated that Mr. Marcos had not settled a fine that it had slapped on him in 1995 for failing to pay his taxes.
The court document, which was requested by a lawyer for a group seeking to have Mr. Marcos disqualified from the presidential race, certified that “there is no record on file of compliance of payment or satisfaction of the decision of the regional trial court dated July 27, 1995 or the Court of Appeals dated Oct. 31, 1997.”
“The BIR already answered the tax issue. There is no greater authority when it comes to income tax return at payment of taxes than BIR,” Mr. Rodriguez said in mixed English and Filipino when asked why there was no court record of his client’s tax deficiencies payment.
“Tell me what agency or authority is more superior than the BIR when it comes to enforcement of tax?” he said.
Mr. Rodriguez said their camp did not immediately release the proof “because those who are filing charges against him should be the one to provide evidence” of their accusation.
SURVEY Meanwhile, Mr. Marcos led by a wide margin in a presidential preference survey this month by pollster Pulse Asia Research Inc.
Mr. Marcos was chosen by 53% of the 2,400 respondents as their preferred successor to President Rodrigo R. Duterte, Pulse Asia said on Wednesday. Vice President Leni G. Robredo, the opposition leader, came in second with 20%.
The survey was conducted Dec. 1-6, with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2%.
Mr. Marcos’ running mate and the president’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, led the vice-presidential race, picked by 45% of the respondents. Senate President Vicente “Tito” C. Sotto ranked second with 31%.
Amid the upsurge in popularity, Mr. Marcos is facing several petitions before the elections commission to disqualify him or cancel his presidential bid, mostly citing his tax conviction in 1997.
National elections will be held on May 9, where some 8,000 government positions are up for grabs. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Bloomberg
A COALITION of civil society groups and other sectors has appealed to three social media platforms to set up systems that will help counter the spread of fake news online, particularly those relating to the Philippines’ 2022 elections.
The Movement Against Misinformation (MAD) sent open letters to TikTok, Google and Youtube to advocate for transparency, accountability, and increase resources to counter false information connected to the national and local polls in May.
In the letter to TikTok, MAD requested the short video streaming platform to have an in-app guide to the 2022 elections in the country, work with reliable and independent fact-checking groups, and publish their standards for flagging content as electoral misinformation.
In a separate letter to Google and YouTube, the group urged the online platforms to tap content moderators and fact-checkers who are fluent in Filipino to stop people who spread fake news.
They also asked the social media firms to reveal their criteria for marking content as wrong election information and inform users about political or issue-based content.
MAD Chairman Antonio La Viña, in an online conference on Wednesday, said they intend to put pressure on these platforms to take down malicious content as soon as possible.
“We will not rule out legal action, but we will be in a cooperative mode with the social media platforms to get them to implement and execute their policies,” Mr. La Viña said.
Philippine Bar Association President Rico V. Domingo noted that people are inclined to go to court since there are platforms that do not comply with their legal commitment.
“What we would like to do right now, when we chronicle the responses of the major platforms, is to have a forceful and assertive monitoring of their responses,” the lawyer said.
MAD previously wrote an open letter about countering fake news during the past elections to Facebook, now rebranded as Meta.
Meta replied acknowledging their role in the electoral process and listed initiatives taken, including coordinating with the Commission on Elections. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan
THE CEBU provincial government will provide banks with fuel under a loan arrangement to help run generators at maximum daily capacity while power supply restoration is still ongoing in the aftermath of typhoon Odette that struck on Dec. 16.
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn F. Garcia called a special meeting Tuesday to address long queues outside banks as residents scrambled to get cash from automatic teller machines, the provincial government said in a statement.
Among those who attended the meeting were representatives from the Philippine Veterans Memorial Bank, Landbank of the Philippines (LANDBANK), BDO Unibank, Inc., and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. along with Mayor Michael L. Rama of Cebu City, which serves as the province’s commercial center.
The bank representatives said one branch needs at least 60 liters of diesel fuel daily to run a generator set for a maximum of six hours only to avoid overheating.
Bank branches also need to keep the aircondition units running to keep doors closed for security reasons, the provincial government said.
Apart from banks, there have also been long queues at fuel stations in Cebu City and other parts of the province.
The governor has earlier ordered restrictions on fuel purchase and rates to avoid hoarding and a spike in prices, especially in areas outside the urban centers.
The fuel that will be provided to banks will be included in the provincial government’s daily purchase order. — MSJ
THE PHILIPPINE Army has set up satellite communication systems in some areas struck by typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) to help speed up the government’s disaster response operations.
Army Chief Maj. Gen. Romeo Brawner, Jr. said they have deployed satellite phones and VSAT (very small apperture terminal) at their headquarters in Puerto Princesa in Palawan, at the Visayas Command, and the Mactan Air Base in Cebu. Two more VSATs would be installed in Tacloban City and in Lahug.
“In this time of crisis, communication is vital for our Commanders and leaders to address the needs of our people better,” Mr. Brawner said in a statement posted on the Navy’s Facebook page.
Typhoon Odette, the 15th and strongest storm to hit the country this year, struck down trees, electric poles and communication lines across central and southern Philippines.
Power and telecommunication companies have yet to fully restore services in various areas. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan
CONSULAR Offices in the Visayas and Mindanao have resumed operations after temporary closure due to last week’s typhoon, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced on Wednesday.
However, affected offices will cater first to those scheduled from Dec. 21, while passport applicants with appointments last Friday are advised to wait for a new schedule.
The affected Consular Offices are those in: Bacolod, Butuan, Cagayan De Oro, Clarin, Davao, Dumaguete, General Santos, Iloilo, Puerto Princesa, Tacloban, Tagum, and Zamboanga.
The Consular Office and temporary off-site passport processing centers in Cebu will remain closed this week as telecommunication and power supply services have yet to be fully restored. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan
AS THE WORLD observed the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we honored the leadership of persons with disabilities and their tireless efforts to build a more inclusive, accessible and sustainable world. At the same time, we resolve to work harder to ensure a society that is open and accommodating of all.
An estimated 690 million persons with disabilities, around 15% of the total population, live in the Asia-Pacific region. Many of them continue to be excluded from socio-economic and political participation. Available data suggests that persons with disabilities are almost half as likely to be employed as persons without disabilities. They are also half as likely to have voted in an election and are underrepresented in government decision-making bodies. Just about 0.5% of parliamentarians in the region are persons with disabilities. Women with disabilities are even less likely to be employed and hold only 0.1% of national parliament positions.
One of the main reasons behind these exclusions is a lack of accessibility. Public transportation and the built environment in general — including public offices, polling stations, workplaces, markets, and other essential structures — lack ramps, walkways, and basic accessibility features. Accessibility, however, goes beyond the commonly thought of physical structures. Barriers to access to services and information and communication technology must also be removed, to allow for the participation of persons with diverse types of disabilities, including persons with intellectual disabilities and hearing and vision impairments.
The COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns has exacerbated existing inequalities. Many persons with disabilities face increased health concerns due to comorbidities and were left without access to their personal assistants and essential goods and services. As much of society moved online during lockdowns, inaccessible digital infrastructure meant persons with disabilities could not access public health information or online employment opportunities.
Despite these challenges, persons with disabilities and their organizations were among the first to respond to the immediate needs of their communities for food and supplies during lockdowns in addition to continuing their long-term work to support vulnerable groups.
The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) partnered with several of these organizations to support their work during the pandemic. Samarthyam, a civil society organization in India led by a woman with disabilities, has trained many men and women with disabilities to conduct accessibility audits in their home districts. With these skills, they are becoming leaders and advocates in their communities, working towards improving the accessibility of essential buildings everywhere.
Another ESCAP partner, the National Council for the Blind of Malaysia (NCBM), is working to improve digital accessibility by training a group with diverse disabilities in web access auditing, accessible e-publishing, and strategic advocacy. NCBM hopes to support participants in forming a social enterprise for web auditing and accessible publishing, creating employment opportunities and enabling persons with disabilities to lead efforts to improve online accessibility.
Women and men with disabilities have been leaders and champions to break barriers to make a difference in Asia and the Pacific. ESCAP launched the report “Disability at a Glance 2021: The Shaping of Disability-inclusive Employment in Asia and the Pacific” on Dec. 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The report highlights some innovative approaches to making employment more inclusive, as well as recommendations on how to further reduce employment gaps.
Adjusting to a post-COVID-19 world presents an opportunity for governments to reassess and implement policies to increase the inclusion of persons with disabilities in employment, decision making bodies, and all aspects of society. Accessibility issues impact not only persons with disabilities but also other people in need of assistance, including older persons, pregnant women, or those with injuries. Implementing policies with universal design, which creates environments and services that are useable by all people, benefits the whole of society. Governments should mainstream universal design principles into national development plans, not only in disability-specific laws and policies.
As a global leader in disability-inclusive development for over 30 years, the Asia-Pacific region has set an example by adopting the world’s first set of disability-specific development goals in the Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real.” Meeting the Incheon Strategy goals will require governments to intensify their efforts to reduce barriers to education, employment and political participation.
At ESCAP, we know that achieving an inclusive and sustainable post-COVID-19 world will only be possible with increased leadership and participation of persons with disabilities. To build back better — and fairer — we will continue to strengthen partnerships with all stakeholders so together we can “Make the Right Real” for all persons with disabilities.
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is under-secretary-general of the United Nations and executive secretary of ESCAP.
Meta, née Facebook, had a rough year in 2021, in public opinion if not financially. Revelations from whistleblower Frances Haugen, first detailed in a Wall Street Journal investigative series and then presented in congressional testimony, show that the company was aware of the harm it was causing.
Growing concerns about misinformation, emotional manipulation and psychological harm came to a head this year when Haugen released internal company documents showing that the company’s own research confirmed the societal and individual harm its Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp platforms cause.
The Conversation gathered four articles from our archives that delve into research that explains Meta’s problematic behavior.
1. ADDICTED TO ENGAGEMENT At the root of Meta’s harmfulness is its set of algorithms, the rules the company uses to choose what content you see. The algorithms are designed to boost the company’s profits, but they also allow misinformation to thrive.
The algorithms work by increasing engagement — in other words, by provoking a response from the company’s users. Indiana University’s Filippo Menczer, who studies the spread of information and misinformation in social networks, explains that engagement plays into people’s tendency to favor posts that seem popular. “When social media tells people an item is going viral, their cognitive biases kick in and translate into the irresistible urge to pay attention to it and share it,” he wrote.
One result is that low-quality information that gets an initial boost can garner more attention than it otherwise deserves. Worse, this dynamic can be gamed by people aiming to spread misinformation.
“People aiming to manipulate the information market have created fake accounts, like trolls and social bots, and organized fake networks,” Menczer wrote. “They have flooded the network to create the appearance that a conspiracy theory or a political candidate is popular, tricking both platform algorithms and people’s cognitive biases at once.”
2. KNEECAPPING TEEN GIRLS’ SELF-ESTEEM Some of the most disturbing revelations concern the harm Meta’s Instagram social media platform causes adolescents, particularly teen girls. University of Kentucky psychologist Christia Spears Brown explains that Instagram can lead teens to objectify themselves by focusing on how their bodies appear to others. It also can lead them to make unrealistic comparisons of themselves with celebrities and filtered and retouched images of their peers.
Even when teens know the comparisons are unrealistic, they end up feeling worse about themselves. “Even in studies in which participants knew the photos they were shown on Instagram were retouched and reshaped, adolescent girls still felt worse about their bodies after viewing them,” she wrote.
The problem is widespread because Instagram is where teens tend to hang out online. “Teens are more likely to log on to Instagram than any other social media site. It is a ubiquitous part of adolescent life,” Brown writes. “Yet studies consistently show that the more often teens use Instagram, the worse their overall well-being, self-esteem, life satisfaction, mood and body image.”
3. FUDGING THE NUMBERS ON HARM Meta has, not surprisingly, pushed back against claims of harm despite the revelations in the leaked internal documents. The company has provided research that shows that its platforms do not cause harm in the way many researchers describe, and claims that the overall picture from all research on harm is unclear.
University of Washington computational social scientist Joseph Bak-Coleman explains that Meta’s research can be both accurate and misleading. The explanation lies in averages. Meta’s studies look at effects on the average user. Given that Meta’s social media platforms have billions of users, harm to many thousands of people can be lost when all of the users’ experiences are averaged together.
“The inability of this type of research to capture the smaller but still significant numbers of people at risk — the tail of the distribution — is made worse by the need to measure a range of human experiences in discrete increments,” he wrote.
4. HIDING THE NUMBERS ON MISINFORMATION Just as evidence of emotional and psychological harm can be lost in averages, evidence of the spread of misinformation can be lost without the context of another type of math: fractions. Despite substantial efforts to track misinformation on social media, it’s impossible to know the scope of the problem without knowing the number of overall posts social media users see each day. And that’s information Meta doesn’t make available to researchers.
The overall number of posts is the denominator to the misinformation numerator in the fraction that tells you how bad the misinformation problem is, explains UMass Amherst’s Ethan Zuckerman, who studies social and civic media.
The denominator problem is compounded by the distribution problem, which is the need to figure out where misinformation is concentrated. “Simply counting instances of misinformation found on a social media platform leaves two key questions unanswered: How likely are users to encounter misinformation, and are certain users especially likely to be affected by misinformation?” he wrote.
This lack of information isn’t unique to Meta. “No social media platform makes it possible for researchers to accurately calculate how prominent a particular piece of content is across its platform,” Zuckerman wrote.
IF YOU’RE EVER on Twitter or Facebook, there’s a chance you’ve seen prompts like: Date yourself with a picture ofyour first celebrity crush. Tell me your hilarious porn-star name with the name of your first pet and the street you grew up on. Or: Find your medieval name using the date and month of your birth.
Harmless fun, right? Except you’ve possibly given away passwords, answers to security questions, and clues to your age, where you live, and maybe some of your interests — all great leads for fraudsters trawling the web for information to help them crack credit card accounts or fool people into handing over money.
Fraud targeting consumers and transactions online is rising everywhere, and we all need to be smarter about not getting caught out. Banks are running fast to keep up with risks, but they need help from telecoms as well as from internet and social media companies. And legislation may be the only way to encourage their cooperation amid concerns over data privacy and commercial interests.
The UK seems to be one of the biggest targets for crooks, according to experts, in large part because it’s a wealthy country with high adoption of digital services, and English is one of the world’s most commonly spoken languages. More than £750 million ($992 million) was lost to fraud in the first half of 2021 in Britain, up from £582 million in the same period last year, according to UK Finance, a trade body.
This kind of theft was already growing as consumers did more shopping and banking online, but it’s been turbocharged during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to booming digital transactions and people using more services with which they weren’t familiar. In addition to finding clues in chain-tweets (like the examples above), fraudsters usemass text-messaging (aka smishing), adverts for fake investments or money-mules, impersonation by e-mail and romance scams. There has even been a lockdown boom in fake puppy scams.
Most people think they’re savvy enough to avoid mistakes, but it only takes one second of inattention to create an opening.
Some of the largest losses are suffered when criminals intercept e-mail traffic between companies and suppliers, or between homebuyers and their solicitors. At the last minute, fraudsters will e-mail the buyer from a fake address and give new or corrected bank details. Without keeping a constantly sharp eye in the middle of one of the most stressful transactions of your life, hundreds of thousands of dollars can be gone in a flash.
But even smaller frauds, such as fake offers to buy sought-after sneakers or trick texts saying you’ve missed a parcel delivery, can be the start of your card details being captured and other criminals trying to take you for greater sums, says Jon Shilland, the fraud threat lead for Britain’s National Economic Crime Centre. “That can feed into a recovery-room scam where someone calls you up to say they can help you get your money back, which can lead to the kind of losses that ruin someone’s life,” he says.
Authorities are struggling to combat such scams. Bankers say they need more help from social-media platforms and telecoms to help spot dodgy activity earlier in the process. “We only see the bit where the [money] transfer happens, we don’t see the bit where the customer gets snared,” says Jim Winters, head of fraud at Barclays UK.
What needs to happen is much more cooperation and information sharing among banks themselves but also between banks and all the technology and communications firms involved. In Britain, a new Online Safety law going through parliament has provisions to make companies responsible for policing investment scams and romance scams, but not fraudulent advertising.
The Financial Conduct Authority has been putting pressure on internet companies to better vet their advertisers, but progress has been slow and beefing up the law would help. For instance, Google at least requires any investment company buying search advertising in the UK to prove they are on the regulator’s financial register. But this policy only started in September 2021.
The UK could also do more to promote its e-mail and text reporting services. The more data it collects on scam types and the e-mail addresses and phone numbers used, the more law enforcement will be able to profile threats and thwart them. The Federal Reserve in the US is also trying to get the word out on social media and elsewhere.
Some things are harder, like tracking stolen money, which typically jumps quickly from bank to bank via unwitting money mules. For example, lots of people will respond to some ad, post or Whatsapp or Telegram message offering them a chance to earn cash for just receiving and sending some amount of funds. But doing so can turn them into both money launderers and fraud victims.
To be fair, banks are taking these issues seriously. They’re analyzing reams of data and customer behavior to spot and stop suspicious payments before they happen — everything from payments for unusual goods or in unlikely places, to how you hold your phone or navigate your bank’s website. Out of thousands of alerts a day, among hundreds of thousands of transactions, some customers will get a phone call from a specialist trained to make sure they know where their money is going. People often accept this as a moderate inconvenience and don’t need more than a minute or two’s thought to change their minds, says Elizabeth Ziegler, head of fraud prevention at Lloyds Banking Group.
But getting through to customers can be tougher when there’s emotion involved, such as when someone’s convinced they’re going to make big money, or if they’ve been pressured by criminals impersonating, say, tax authorities or the police, or if they’ve been seduced in a romance scam.
“Customers can be quite irate: ‘I know what I want, who are you to tell me what to do with my money?’ And it is their money,” Ziegler says. “We’re not amateur detectives, or there to provide investment advice. We just need to make sure you are well equipped for this decision.” Despite the checks, some people will still lose their money.
Still, prevention is better than cure: You can’t arrest your way out of a fraud epidemic. There’s too much of it and the criminals can be anywhere in the world. Better data and analytics are key to spotting patterns and sources of attack, but both will involve addressing challenges with data protection and content moderation.
Meanwhile, technology and communication companies will likely prefer to maximize revenue and limit costs when fraud is a small part of what happens on their networks and they’re typically not the ones getting blamed by consumers for scams. But these companies need to do more.
For us, the users of all these things, we’ll need to find the right balance between having slick, easy-to-use digital tools and minimizing the risks that such convenience brings.
Stronger legislation and rules to promote cross-industry cooperation would help. More public digital safety education would, too. But mostly, we all need to stay sharp and stop tweeting whatever song was No. 1 when we were born.
