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Man City stays ahead of Liverpool; Brentford stun Chelsea

LONDON — Manchester City maintained their slim advantage at the top of the Premier League with a routine 2-0 win at Burnley on Saturday as Liverpool eased past Watford 2-0 to keep their title ambitions very much alive.

Brentford pulled off a stunning 4-1 victory at Chelsea with Christian Eriksen among the scorers and Manchester United were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by Leicester City at Old Trafford.

Kevin De Bruyne put Manchester City ahead after five minutes when he found the top corner from a Raheem Sterling pass and Ilkay Gundogan added another before half time to keep City one point clear of Liverpool ahead of their seismic clash next Sunday.

“We came here to win the game and we did it. You never know what’s going to happen after an international break,” said City boss Pep Guardiola. “It was made more complicated by the fact we couldn’t score the third goal.”

Earlier, Diogo Jota put Liverpool ahead against Watford after 22 minutes in manager Jürgen Klopp’s 250th game in charge before a late Fabinho penalty secured the points.

A Vitaly Janelt double and strikes from Eriksen and Yoane Wissa helped Brentford to a famous win over local rivals Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger broke the deadlock three minutes into the second half with a stunning long-range effort but Brentford responded almost instantly through Janelt, who rifled home from the edge of the box.

Eriksen, whose career was in doubt after suffering a near-fatal cardiac arrest during the European Championship last year, gave Brentford the lead in the 54th minute before Janelt grabbed a second and Wissa completed the rout.

“Nobody saw it coming, especially after going 1-0 ahead. It was very untypical of us,” said Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, whose side remained third on 59 points, 14 behind leaders City.

“We stopped defending. We were not aware of enough of the danger, were sloppy with the defending and got punished… they were lucky and clinical enough to get three goals.”

UNITED STRUGGLES
Manchester United’s struggles under interim manager Ralf Rangnick continued as they were outplayed by Leicester in front of their own fans.

Kelechi Iheanacho put the visitors in front in the 63rd minute after nodding home a James Maddison cross but United responded three minutes later when Fred scored from a rebound following Bruno Fernandes’ initial effort.

“We all know we need points. Today, it was not enough. We created some chances but the last option was not the best. We have to look forward and win our own games,” Fernandes said.

The draw left United in sixth place, three points behind fourth-placed Arsenal who has two games in hand. Leicester is ninth with 37 points.

Wolverhampton Wanderers kept their European hopes alive after goals from Jonny and Ashley Young clinched a 2-1 win over Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. Wolves climbed to seventh, while Villa are 10th following a third straight loss.

James Ward-Prowse scored an excellent free kick as Southampton grabbed a point in a 1-1 draw at Leeds United and Brighton & Hove Albion were held to a goalless home draw by bottom club Norwich City to end a six-game losing streak for both teams. — Reuters

Jennifer Kupcho opens six-shot lead at Chevron Championship

JENNIFER Kupcho fired an 8-under-par 64 to open a six-shot lead on Saturday in the third round of The Chevron Championship in Rancho Mirage, CA.

Second-round leader Hinako Shibuno of Japan struggled mightily, shooting 77 to fall into a tie for 21st.

Kupcho, who is looking for her first win on the LPGA Tour, shared the lead after Thursday’s first round and was tied for second after 36 holes. But she came out blazing on Saturday, with birdies on eight of her first 12 holes. After her only bogey of the day — on No. 13 — she birdied No. 17 to finish at 64.

“It was a really fun round out there. It was nice to see the putts start falling,” Kupcho said. “After yesterday, I wasn’t so sure. It was really fun, and I’m excited.”

Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand, the defending champion who also was among the players tied for second beginning the day, fired a 2-under 70 and is alone in second place at 10-under 206. Another stroke back in third is Jessica Korda, who shot 67.

Despite Kupcho’s big lead, Korda wasn’t conceding the tournament to her.

“It’s a major so you know the girls up front are going to be nervous, and we’re kind of chasing them down and they know that. You always just kind of got to think that you have a chance no matter, and that’s kind of the mentality you got to go in there with,” Korda said.

Annie Park finished with more bogeys (3) than birdies (2) en route to a 73. She is alone in fourth place at 7 under.

Australia’s Minjee Lee shot 73 for the second straight day to tumble to 4 under for the tournament and tied for 21st.

Faring even worse was second-round leader Shibuno. Her struggles included two double-bogeys and two bogeys in a span of eight holes, and the round included two birdies.

Kupcho said she didn’t worry about the other players on Saturday and doesn’t intend to do so Sunday either.

“I didn’t really look at scoreboards out there. The first time I looked was on 13 to see who was in second, and it was Patty. Other than that, I’m just out there playing my game… I can’t control what anybody else does (on Sunday). Someone can go out and do what I did today. Props to them if they do, and I’m just going to go out and play my own game.” — Reuters

Świątek demolishes Osaka in Miami final, completes ‘Sunshine Double’

POLAND’S Iga Świątek will take over the world number one ranking in style as she kept her remarkable winning run intact with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Japan’s Naomi Osaka in the Miami Open final on Saturday.

The Polish second seed, who will take over the world number one ranking next week, did not drop a set in Miami and has now won 17 consecutive matches dating back to her championship run at the Qatar Open in February.

With the victory, the 20-year-old Świątek becomes only the fourth woman to win the Indian Wells and Miami tournaments back to back, a feat known as the “Sunshine Double” given the tournaments’ respective locations in California and Florida.

“These weeks were so intense, I didn’t really know if I would able to keep up with the streak that I have,” said Świątek, who also became the first woman to win the opening three WTA 1000 tournaments in a season.

“It’s amazing for me that I could show mental toughness because my whole life, I thought I could do more and sometimes I was losing and I didn’t even know why.

“This season I feel like everything clicked so it’s great and I am really happy.”

The two players wasted no time getting into the heat of the battle as the match began with a wild seven-deuce opening game during which four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka saved two break points and fired down four aces to hold serve.

The match remained on serve until Świątek broke Osaka when she ripped a brilliant crosscourt backhand winner to go ahead 3-2 and then went on to close out the first set without facing a break point despite serving under 40%.

The former French Open champion raised her level in the second where she broke Osaka three times to race out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back as she sealed the 79-minute match on her first championship point when Osaka sent a forehand wide.

Świątek is the first women to complete the “Sunshine Double” since Victoria Azarenka in 2016. Kim Clijsters (2005) and Steffi Graf (1994, 1996) are the other women to accomplish the feat.

Osaka arrived in Florida following a second-round loss at Indian Wells where she was reduced to tears after being heckled during the match but she proved resilient as she would only drop one set en route to the Miami final.

In the final, Osaka did well to hold serve in a tricky 10-minute game to start the match and while she was not able to do much against a determined Świątek after that she still held her head high.

“I haven’t been in this position for a little minute,” said the 24-year-old Osaka, who took a break from the sport last year to prioritize her mental health.

“I know this isn’t the outcome that you guys wanted, but I am having a lot of fun out here so I hope that I can keep working hard and get more opportunities to be in a situation like this again.”

Świątek will take over the top ranking from Ash Barty, who stunned the sporting world last month when she announced her retirement from tennis aged 25. — Reuters

Heat complete sweep of Bulls to stay in first in the East

JIMMY Butler scored 22 points, and Kyle Lowry added 19 points and a game-high 10 assists as the Miami Heat defeated the host Chicago Bulls 127-109 on Saturday night.

Zach LaVine led the Bulls (45-33) with a game-high 33 points on 11-for-21 shooting, including 5-for-12 on 3-pointers. The Bulls, who had their two-game win streak broken, also got 26 points from DeMar DeRozan, who had 50 in his previous contest.

Miami (50-28), which leads the Eastern Conference and swept all four games from Chicago this season, also got 19 points off the bench from Tyler Herro. Butler had a well-rounded game with seven rebounds and six assists as the Heat improved to 23-15 on the road.

Heat center Bam Adebayo had 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting, and he added seven rebounds and three assists.

Chicago’s excellent home record fell to 27-11.

The Heat shot the ball well all night, hitting on 53.7% from the floor, including 17-for-34 on 3-pointers.

Chicago shot 43.0% from the floor, including 9-for-34 on 3-pointers (26.5%).

Miami got off to a 27-25 start by shooting a superb 80%.

They cooled off slightly but still led 31-30 at the end of the first quarter, shooting 63.6 percent as compared to 42.9% for Chicago. The Bulls stayed in the game due to their zero turnovers and 11 points from LaVine.

The Heat extended their halftime lead to 66-57. For the first half, Miami shot 57.5% from the floor, including 6-for-12 on 3-pointers, and 14-of-15 on free throws (93.3%). Chicago shot 42.9%, although the Bulls had a first-half-high 18 points from LaVine.

Miami stretched its advantage to 98-79 by the end of the third quarter. The Heat’s shooting through three quarters remained hot — 58.1% from the floor and 12-for-22 on 3-pointers (54.5).

In the fourth quarter, Chicago went on a 7-0 run, cutting its deficit to 111-97. But a Herro 3-pointer ended Chicago’s momentum, and Miami cruised from there. — Reuters

Pushing forward

“The big picture is that it was pretty much a must-win for us, and we didn’t get the job done,” LeBron James noted in the aftermath of a disappointing homestand against the Pelicans. The Lakers most certainly tried to go for the win, with the National Basketball Association’s leading scorer and Anthony Davis, his eight-time All-Star teammate, suiting up despite ailments that would have otherwise kept them sidelined. Unfortunately, they ran out of gas in the crunch. Up by five with five minutes and change left to play in the fourth quarter, they managed to score only seven points the rest of the way; worse, they spread the welcome mat for the visitors, who put up 15 in the same period.

Creditably, James and Davis gamely answered queries as they sat side by side in their post-game presser. Just as they did on the floor, they gave their all until there was no more to give. And as on the floor, their best wasn’t good enough. Considering the tenor of their replies, they might as well have seen fit to record themselves in early January for future use; the same old, same old came out of their mouths, emanating from the same old, same old outcomes. There was a time when their combined stat line of 61 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists would have been more than enough to carry the Lakers to victory. Not anymore.

Because the 10th-running Spurs carry the tie-break, the Lakers will need to all but sweep their last five regular-season contests merely to get in the play-in tournament. Considering that they had title aspirations prior to the start of their 2021-22 campaign, the development underscores the extent to which they have fallen. And while injuries have admittedly handicapped them, their concerns are fundamental in nature and attributable in large measure to their uneven roster. In hindsight, it’s fair to argue that they doomed themselves in the off-season by gambling on the Russell Westbrook experiment even in the face of ample proof that it would pay out poorly.

And so the Lakers are now left with nothing but hope to cling to. Davis argued that it was something else. “I don’t think it’s hope. We don’t play off hope and ‘let’s hope we win this game.’ We have belief, and I believe,” he contended. “We’ve got to go out and get it done. It’s that simple.“ Except that it’s not, as they’ve proven over and over and over again. That said, James stuck to the same mindset, pointing out that “until [our standing] says we’re eliminated, it doesn’t. Until that moment, we’ll know what our destiny is. But right now, we don’t. So [we] keep pushing forward.” To what, and for what purpose, however, all and sundry already know too well.

 

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.

Surveys and the changing means of reaching voters

FREEPIK

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Geopolitics and the Philippine economy

KATEMANGOSTAR/ NATANAELGINTING/FREEPIK

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

totivchiki@yahoo.com

More bureaucracy at the Philippine Ports Authority

TAWATCHAI07-FREEPIK

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Andrew J. Masigan is an economist

andrew_rs6@yahoo.com

Facebook@AndrewJ. Masigan

Twitter @aj_masigan

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

FREEPIK

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Ukraine claims control over Kyiv

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Russia denies targeting civilians and rejects war crimes allegations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sri Lanka throttles social media, protests amid increasing unrest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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