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A personal farewell to fully online education

COMPARE FIBRE-UNSPLASH

Two years ago, I was given the opportunity to teach management subjects again at De La Salle University. Half a year later, I received a similar offer from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. Armed with an adequate internet connection, I accepted both offers on the condition that everything would be done purely online. I made clear that as soon as face-to-face instruction would be required, I would stop teaching again. I was not yet willing to deal with the risk of exposure to COVID-19 and, as was true when I stopped teaching back in 2018, I was no longer willing to deal with the transportation-related costs. I was fortunate to have been given the chance to teach again under the more workable conditions of the fully online set-up, but the challenges that came with it became evident right away.

One of the challenges that stood out was how difficult it was to get to know my students individually. I believe my reduced ability to individualize my teaching style and to personalize interactional and motivational approaches significantly affected my effectiveness as a learning facilitator. It is quite difficult to know a person, much more so to know how to effectively interact with and motivate a student, based solely on how the person uses chat boxes. This is often a limitation that teachers need to work with because chat boxes are what many students, including those who claim to have internet connection problems, end up using as their primary medium for class participation.

This brings us to the next challenge: the tedious process of reading through these chat boxes. I have had class discussions where I was only able to read answers to questions half an hour after they had been asked. This was not due to a lack of attention to the chat box. If anything, I probably paid too much attention to it. It often happened that several answers and comments needed to be addressed first, and it took that much time to get through all the implications and relevant side discussions that each chat message brought forth. Sometimes, I felt like I was talking to myself for hours when no other voice was willing to be heard. I tried disallowing chat box participation, but ended up allowing it again after the deafening silence that followed. Knowing that the sessions are recorded and that their classmates would eventually have access to their sound bites, many students shy away from using their mics. In too many instances, I asked a question that I would never ask in a face-to-face set-up: “Are you there?”

Another significant challenge that comes with the fully online set-up is the difficulty of detecting whether a student is physically and mentally present or not. Early on, I conceded that I simply could not confirm their presence in synchronous sessions. It was too easy for students to park their names on online meetings while doing other things. Even when they failed to respond when called upon, many plausible excuses were ready for their choosing. Despite this, students could choose to pay attention while watching the recording instead. In contrast, the same cannot be said about scatterbrained students in face-to-face set-ups who nod at everything the teacher says without listening to a single word.

Also, there are several subjects for which there is no adequate substitute for experiential learning and face-to-face interaction. Fortunately, my subjects were not of the type that suffered from the lack of such opportunities. Things worked out quite well despite everything, and I believe that fully online classes should continue to be provided to students and teachers who prefer them.

Last month, I finally attended my first in-person academic activity of this decade when our department had an in-person meeting. A week later, I finally met one of my pandemic students in person. However, he just happened to be a neighbor who joined our basketball session that day. It seems crazy to think that it took two years to meet a single student out of the hundreds that I had taught online. Such is the world that we live in now.

As my current teaching stint comes to an end, I would like to thank everyone who made these wonderful opportunities possible. Also, best of health and luck to all face-to-face teachers in all your future endeavors!

 

Engr. Rafael Gerardo S. Tensuan is a lecturer at the Department of Management and Organization of the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business of De La Salle University.

rstensuan@gmail.com

Myanmar junta extends emergency rule

REUTERS

THE HEAD of Myanmar’s junta on Monday blamed instability for stalling efforts to implement a peace plan agreed with other Southeast Asian countries as he extended emergency rule for another six months.

The junta first declared a state of emergency after seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup in February last year.

Myanmar has been in chaos since then, with conflict spreading after the army crushed mostly peaceful protests in towns and cities.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed a five-point “consensus” to end hostilities last year, but there has been little sign of the junta implementing the five-point plan, which includes an end to violence and dialogue.

Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech aired on state media that Myanmar had been striving to overcome the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic while facing internal violence.

“So it was difficult to implement the ASEAN consensus due to the lack of stability,” said Min Aung Hlaing, adding that only when the situation was “normal” could progress be made.

Western governments denounced the coup and the detention on various charges of Nobel laureate Ms. Suu Kyi and numerous members of her party and supporters.

Some members of ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a member and which has a tradition of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, also criticized the generals.

While the junta has failed to implement the ASEAN plan, it has never rejected it.

“Our country is an ASEAN state so we value the conventions of ASEAN,” Min Aung Hlaing said.

While Min Aung Hlaing did not mention the extension of the emergency in his speech, state media reported that a military government defense and security council had unanimously approved his request for six more months.

The junta said it had to take power last year because of voting fraud in a November 2020 general election that Ms. Suu Kyi’s party easily won. Election monitoring groups found no evidence of mass fraud.

The military has pledged to hold new elections in August 2023 though the timetable has already slipped and opponents do not believe it would be free and fair.

Security forces have killed more than 2,100 people since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for political prisoners, an activist group. The junta has said such tolls are exaggerated.

The true picture of the violence has become more difficult to assess since lightly armed People’s Defence Forces have sprung up to take on the army, often in more remote areas where ethnic minority insurgents are also fighting the military.

In his speech, Min Aung Hlaing blamed “terrorists” for inflicting casualties. The military has branded as “terrorists” its armed opponents and a rival shadow National Unity Government set up by pro-democracy politicians.

The junta has faced sanctions from many Western countries and last week saw further condemnation after the execution of four democracy activists it accused of “terror acts”.

Min Aung Hlaing also brought up the economy, which has slumped since the pandemic and as the coup ended a decade of reform.

“I think progress can be seen within six months,” he said, citing the prospect of more jobs and a focus on farming.

The World Bank projects Myanmar’s economy will grow 3% this fiscal year following an 18% contraction last year and warned that a return to pre-pandemic levels was unlikely in the near term. — Reuters

S.Korea teachers, parents protest plan to lower school entry age

STUDENTS wearing masks rest in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 25, 2020. — REUTERS

SEOUL — South Korean parents and teachers’ groups protested on Monday against a plan to bring forward school enrollment by one year to age five, saying such young kids were intellectually unprepared and the change would increase difficulty in finding childcare.

The education ministry said last week it would lower the age in stages, beginning as early as 2025, if it gained consensus public support.

The plan was aimed at expanding the labor force by completing people’s education earlier, it said. The labor force is shrinking, because South Korea’s fertility rate is so low.

A coalition of 36 teachers and parents’ groups staged a rally in front of the presidential office on Monday, calling for the plan to be dropped.

Many parents have opposed it because of the difficulty of finding ways of looking after the children following the early-afternoon end of the school day. In most families, both parents work, and childcare centres generally offer only full-day care.

Parents already face the problem, but not until children go to school at age six.

The teachers’ objections are that five-year-olds are too young to go to school and that the earlier start for schooling will mean even more use of private tutoring as parents compete to get their children ahead.

“Considering cognitive and emotional development, early entry to school is inappropriate, and it is likely to cause side effects, such as intensifying private education and competition for college entrance exams,” the coalition said in a statement.

“It would only increase the burden on parents at a time when many are giving up their jobs to support their children as they enter elementary school.”

In 2019, children began education at age six in 26 of the 38 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and at age five in three — Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.

The education ministry said it expected to have enough public feedback on its plan by the end of this year and would devise measures to expand childcare and other support before launching a pilot program.

A mother of two infants, who gave only her surname, Oh, said the government should help schools secure more teachers to better take care of children.

“This means schools would play a dual role of education and childcare,” she said. — Reuters

Macau to reopen city as no COVID cases detected for 9 days

BRENDEN BRAIN/CC BY-SA 3.0/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

HONG KONG — Macau will reopen public services and entertainment facilities, and allow dining-in at restaurants from Tuesday, authorities said, as the world’s biggest gambling hub seeks a return to normalcy after finding no coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases for nine straight days.

Beauty salons, fitness centers, and bars too will be allowed to resume operations, the government said in a statement on Monday.

Health authorities will require residents to wear masks when they go out and must show a negative coronavirus test within three days to enter most venues.

“There have been no community infection cases in Macau for nine consecutive days … and the risk of the spread of the coronavirus has been greatly reduced,” it said.

The former Portuguese colony has reported around 1,800 infections since mid-June when it was hit with its worst coronavirus outbreak that forced the closure of casinos and locked down most of the city.

Macau reopened its casinos on July 23, as authorities began unwinding stringent measures which required most businesses and premises to shut.

This is the first time Macau has had to grapple with the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

More than 90% of Macau’s residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 but authorities have closely followed China’s zero-COVID mandate which seeks to curb all outbreaks at almost any cost, contrary to the rest of the world which is already living with the virus.

The city only has one public hospital which was already overburdened even before the pandemic.

While Macau’s casinos are open, there is likely to be no business for at least a few weeks, analysts said, due to strict restrictions still in place.

Sands China, Wynn Macau, MGM China, Galaxy Entertainment, SJM Holdings and Melco Resorts are the current six casino license holders in Macau. Their licenses will expire by the end of the year.

They are soaking up losses as they prepare to bid for new licenses in a business that generated $36 billion in revenue in 2019, the last year before COVID curbs slammed the sector. — Reuters

Hot dogs – and cats – get wearable fans to beat Japan’s scorching summer

TOKYO – A Tokyo clothing maker has teamed up with veterinarians to create a wearable fan for pets, hoping to attract the anxious owners of dogs – or cats – that can’t shed their fur coats in Japan’s blistering summer weather.

The device consists of a battery-operated, 80-gramme (3-ounce) fan that is attached to a mesh outfit and blows air around an animal’s body.

Rei Uzawa, president of maternity clothing maker Sweet Mommy, says she was motivated to create it after seeing her own pet chihuahua exhausted every time it was taken out for a walk in the scorching summer heat.

“There was almost no rainy season this year, so the hot days came early, and in that sense, I think we developed a product that is right for the market,” she said.

After the rainy season in Tokyo ended in late June, the Japanese capital suffered the longest heatwave on record with temperatures up to 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) for nine days.

“I usually use dry ice packs (to keep the dog cool). But I think it’s easier to walk my dog if we have this fan,” said Mami Kumamoto, 48, owner of a miniature poodle named Pudding and a terrier named Maco.

The device debuted in early July and Sweet Mommy has received around 100 orders for the product, Uzawa said. It comes in five different sizes and is priced at 9,900 yen ($74). – Reuters

Russian strikes kill Ukrainian grain tycoon; drone hits Russian naval base

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

KYIV – Russian missiles pounded the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv on Sunday, killing the owner of a major grain exporter, while a drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea naval base in Sevastopol was launched from within the city in a “terrorist attack,” a Russian lawmaker said.

Oleksiy Vadatursky, founder and owner of agriculture company Nibulon, and his wife were killed in their home, Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

Headquartered in Mykolaiv, a strategically important city that borders the mostly Russian-occupied Kherson region, Nibulon specializes in the production and export of wheat, barley and corn, and has its own fleet and shipyard.

Mykolaiv’s Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych described the more than 12 missile strikes as “probably the most powerful on the city in five months of war, hitting homes and schools, with at least three others wounded. On Sunday evening he reported that strikes had resumed, but no information on casualties or damage was available.

In Russian-occupied Sevastopol, five Russian navy staff members were injured by an explosion after a presumed drone flew into the courtyard of Russia’s Black Sea fleet , the Crimean port city’s governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev told Russian media.

He blamed the attack on Ukraine, saying it had decided to “spoil Navy Day for us.” Read full story

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.

But Olga Kovitidi, a member of Russia’s upper house of parliament, told the Russian RIA news agency that the attack was “undoubtedly carried out not from outside, but from the territory of Sevastopol.”

“Urgent search operations are being conducted in the city to track down the organiZers of this terrorist act. They will be found by the evening,” Kovitidi was quoted as saying.

The Sevastopol attack coincided with Russia’s Navy Day, which President Vladimir Putin marked by announcing that the navy would receive what he called “formidable” hypersonic Zircon cruise missiles in coming months. The missiles can travel at nine times the speed of sound, outrunning air defenses. Read full story

Putin did not mention the conflict in Ukraine during a speech after signing a new naval doctrine which cast the United States as Russia’s main rival and set out Russia’s global maritime ambitions for crucial areas such as the Arctic and in the Black Sea.

 

GRAIN TYCOON ‘GREAT LOSS’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the death of grain tycoon Vadatursky, as “a great loss for all of Ukraine”. Zelenskiy added that the businessman — one of Ukraine’s richest with Forbes estimating his 2021 net worth at $430 million — had been building a modern grain market with a network of transhipment terminals and elevators.

“It is these people, these companies, precisely the south of Ukraine, which has guaranteed the world’s food security,” Mr. Zelenskiy said in his nightly address. “This was always so. And it will be so once again.”

He added that Ukraine’s social and industrial potential, “our people, our capabilities, are surely more powerful than any Russian missiles or shells.”

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian forces shelled the Sumy northern border seven times, with more than 90 individual strikes, the Sumy Governor Dmytro Zhyvjtsky said on his Telegram channel. A farm was damaged and 25 hectares (61.8 acres) of wheatfields were destroyed, he said.

Up to 50 Grad rockets hit residential areas in the southern city of Nikopol on Sunday morning, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram. One person was wounded.

Putin sent tens of thousands of troops over the border on Feb. 24, setting off a conflict that has killed thousands, uprooted millions and deeply strained relations between Russia and the West.

The biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two has also stoked an energy and food crisis that is shaking the global economy. Both Ukraine and Russia are leading suppliers of grain.

 

HARVEST COULD BE HALVED

Mr. Zelenskiy also said on Sunday the country may harvest only half its usual amount this year due to the invasion.

“Ukrainian harvest this year is under the threat to be twice less,” suggesting half as much as usual, Mr. Mr. Zelenskiy wrote in English on Twitter. “Our main goal — to prevent global food crisis caused by Russian invasion. Still grains find a way to be delivered alternatively,” he added.

Ukraine has struggled to get its product to buyers via its Black Sea ports because of the war.

But an agreement signed under the stewardship of the United Nations and Turkey on July 22 provides for safe passage for ships carrying grain out of three southern Ukrainian ports.

There is a high possibility that the first grain-exporting ship will leave Ukraine’s ports on Monday, a spokesperson for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday. Read full story

 

EASTERN DANGER

Mr. Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Russia has been transferring some forces from the eastern Donbas region to the southern Kherson and Zaporizhizhya regions.

“But that won’t help them there. None of the Russian strikes will go unanswered by our military and intelligence officers,” he added.

But Mr. Zelenskiy said on Saturday that hundreds of thousands of people were still exposed to fierce fighting in the Donbas region, which contains Donetsk and Luhansk provinces and which Russia seeks to control completely. Swathes of the Donbas were held before the invasion by Russian-backed separatists.

Russia said on Sunday it had invited U.N. and Red Cross experts to probe the deaths of dozens of Ukrainian prisoners held by Moscow-backed separatists.

Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations over a missile strike or explosion early on Friday that appeared to have killed the Ukrainian prisoners of war in the front-line town of Olenivka in eastern Donetsk.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Sunday condemned the attack and said it had not yet received permission to visit the site, while adding it was not its mandate to publicly investigate alleged war crimes. Read full story – Reuters

Shenzhen accelerates China’s driverless car dreams

STOCK PHOTO | Image by tookapic from Pixabay

SHENZHEN, China – On a busy downtown street three delivery bikes suddenly dart over the pedestrian crossing ahead of the car. On the car‘s dashboard they look like small 3D blue blocks from a 1990s video game.

The steering wheel turns itself a notch and the vehicle slows to a gentle halt, while the safety driver looks on from the passenger seat.

The vehicle is one of a hundred sensor-laden robotaxis belonging to start up DeepRoute.ai cruising the dense central Futian business district in China’s southern tech hub Shenzhen, giving 50,000 trial rides to passengers in the last year.

While the United States is regarded as taking an early lead in testing autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, in Shenzhen the industry appears to be changing gears, with trial robotaxis fast becoming a common sight.

Baidu Inc’s Apollo unit, Toyota Motor Corp-backed Pony, Nissan-backed Weride, Alibaba-backed Auto X and Deeproute have all been running trials navigating the city’s difficult environment, with frequent jaywalkers and ubiquitous e-scooters.

Shenzhen, a city of 18 million, has now brought in China’s clearest AV regulations. From Monday registered AVs will be allowed to operate without a driver in the driving seat across a broad swath of the city, but a driver must still be present in the vehicle.

So far, Chinese cities have allowed robotaxis to operate on a more limited basis with permission of local authorities, but Shenzhen‘s regulations for the first time provide a crucial framework for liability in the event of an accident.

If the AV has a driver behind the wheel, the driver will be liable in an accident. If the car is completely driverless, the owner of the vehicle will be responsible. If a defect causes an accident, the car owner can seek compensation from the manufacturer.

“If you want more cars, eventually there will be accidents, so these regulations are very important for mass deployment,” said Maxwell Zhou, DeepRoute’s CEO, speaking at the company’s offices in a tech park near the Hong Kong border.

“This is not true driverless but it’s a big milestone.”

 

GEAR SHIFT

So far the United States has raced ahead in AV trials, with California greenlighting public-road tests from 2014, allowing Alphabet Inc’s Waymo LLC, Cruise and Tesla to rack up millions of miles in road testing.

But China has its foot on the accelerator, with Beijing making AV a key area in its latest five year plan. Shenzhen wants its smart vehicle industry to reach revenues of 200 billion yuan by 2025.

In May last year Cruise Chief Executive Dan Amann warned President Joe Biden that U.S. safety regulations risked the country’s AV industry falling behind China, with the latter’s “top down, centrally directed approach”.

Deeproute aims to have 1,000 robotaxis with safety drivers on Shenzhen‘s roads in the next few years, when more detailed regulations are expected.

But in a city with a state-owned fleet of 22,000 electric taxis from Shenzhen-based BYD, where a 20-km (12-mile) trip costs about 60 yuan ($9), production costs for AVs will need to come down before robotaxis are commercially viable, Zhou said.

Deeproute and other robotaxi companies are banking on mass production to lower costs and gather data. Deeproute sells its driving solutions to carmakers for around $3,000.

Zhou looks to Shenzhen‘s DJI Technology Co as a role model, with the company utilizing lower hardware costs and integrated supply chains to make it the dominant player in the commercial drone space worldwide.

On July 21 Baidu announced a new AV with a detachable steering wheel it will use for robotaxis next year, at 250,000 yuan a unit, almost half the price of its previous generation.

“We are moving towards a future where taking a robotaxi will be half the cost of taking a taxi today,” Baidu’s chief executive Robin Li said at the Baidu World conference.

 

FROGS IN A WELL

Shenzhen‘s supply chain and lower costs give it a major production advantage over Silicon Valley, but AV solution maker David Chang does not want to be constrained to one market.

“In Shenzhen the capital cost is one third to California, because we have the battery suppliers, we have the sensors, we have most of the integration,” said the CEO and founder of Shenzhen-based Whale Dynamic.

“But the revenue is one twelfth to California, so it might not be a fancy business to do,” he said.

Deeproute, Weride and Pony.ai also have offices in Silicon Valley, with R&D teams and testing in both locations.

“We don’t want to shrink ourselves into a well and fight with other frogs. We want to jump out of that well,” said Chang. – Reuters

UK brings in ownership register for property held by foreign companies

PIXABAY

LONDON – Britain will now require foreign companies holding UK property to identify their true owners in an official register, the government said on Monday, as part of a crackdown on Russian oligarchs and corrupt elites laundering illicit wealth.

The “Register of Overseas Entities”, which becomes active from Monday, is part of a wider economic crime law enacted this year in an effort to stop the flow of illicit Russian cash into London following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

It will seek to ensure criminals cannot hide behind secretive chains of shell companies, and support government efforts to root out Russian oligarchs using property in Britain to hide dirty money, the business ministry said in a statement.

“To ensure we are free of corrupt elites with suspicious wealth, we need to know who owns what,” junior business minister Martin Callanan said.

“We are lifting the curtain and cracking down on those criminals attempting to hide their illicitly obtained wealth.”

Foreign entities that already own land in the UK that is within the scope of the register will have six months to comply by identifying their beneficial owner to Companies House.

The register will apply to property bought since January 1999 in England and Wales, and since December 2014 in Scotland.

Those not complying with the new rules could face sanctions including fines of up to 2,500 pounds ($3,043) per day or five years in prison.

The register has been described as a significant provision of the economic crime law, with a Transparency International official in March calling the step a “seismic change” that will force foreign property ownership into the open. Read full story

The law was brought in in March as the government faced calls to do more to make it harder for those close to Russian President Vladimir Putin to launder dirty money through property in London, long dubbed by some as “Londongrad”. – Reuters

Lufthansa pilots vote for industrial action over pay

REUTERS

BERLIN – Pilots at German flagship carrier Lufthansa voted on Sunday by a margin of 97.6% in favor of industrial action, threatening further disruption during the busy summer travel season.

Strikes and staff shortages have already forced airlines including Lufthansa to cancel thousands of flights and caused hours-long queues at major airports, frustrating holidaymakers keen to travel after COVID-19 lockdowns. Read full story

The vote does not necessarily mean a strike will be held, but it was a signal to the employer that constructive steps needed to be taken, pilot’s union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) board member Marcel Groels said.

“We are showing we are ready to talk,” he added.

A spokesperson for Lufthansa said they respected the results of the vote and hoped for a constructive solution at the negotiating table.

Pilots‘ union VC is demanding a 5.5% pay rise this year for its pilots and automatic inflation compensation thereafter.

It also wants a uniform pay structure for all staff at the Lufthansa group’s airlines, which include flagship carrier Lufthansa as well as budget unit Eurowings.

Lufthansa has already been rocked by strike action by its ground staff on Wednesday, which forced the carrier to cancel more than 1,000 flights. Read full story

Separately, pilots at Lufthansa‘s Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) unit rejected by an 80% margin a contract proposal, their Aeropers labor union said on Sunday, adding that it aimed to resume negotiations with SWISS management as soon as possible.

“If management continues not to recognize the signs of the times and does not immediately offer adequate solutions, then the pilots must show the management even more clearly how dissatisfied they are,” it said without elaborating.

The current contract expired in April after management rejected a tentative deal from initial talks, Aeropers said. – Reuters

[B-SIDE Podcast] Democratizing ICT solutions in the PHL

Follow us on Spotify BusinessWorld B-Side

(This B-Side episode is sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services Philippines.)

Data analytics and consulting company GlobalData recently projected that the Philippine cloud market will reach $2.8 billion by 2025 from $1.8 billion in 2020, as more enterprises migrate their workload online.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Philippines Country Head Shiju Varghese and Eastern Communications Product and Innovation Head Edsel Paglinawan speak with BusinessWorld contributor Santiago J. Arnaiz about ICT (information and communications technology) solutions and the consequences of falling behind the competition.

“Digital transformation is not just a matter of capital investment. It’s also about developing strategies, executing, and addressing the challenges and opportunities associated with it,” said Mr. Varghese.

Recorded remotely in June 2022. Produced by Earl R. Lagundino and Sam L. Marcelo.

Follow us on Spotify BusinessWorld B-Side

DoST PCIEERD helps Philippine startups to succeed and expand

By Adrian Paul B. Conoza, Special Features Assistant Editor

Driven by the Innovative Startup Act of 2019, the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) under the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) has been bringing a much-needed boost to the Philippine startup ecosystem. While its programs and incubators have been running for around two years, however, the council still seeks to support startups that offer fresh solutions to the market.

PCIEERD, one of the three sectoral planning councils of DoST, has been backing up the country’s startups, in fulfillment of its mandate to support technology transfer and commercialization.

DoST, together with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, is assigned by the Innovative Startup Act of 2019 to assess, monitor, develop, and expand the Philippine Startup Development Program.

“We want [startups] to be out there and succeed through some kind of expansion. But in order to do that, they need to develop the product and penetrate into the market; and for the development of the product, services, and technologies, they have to undergo R&D (research and development). That’s where we come in essentially through the programs that we have,” Dr. Enrico C. Paringit, executive director of PCIEERD, told BusinessWorld in an online interview.

The council currently holds two main programs. The Startup Grant Fund (SGF) Program, which is also in line with the Innovative Startup Act, is a fund assistance program that aims to help startups overcome their R&D roadblocks, strengthen their intellectual property, establish initial traction in the market, refine their business models, and prepare their respective business continuity plans.

The program has been seeking to fund startups in the areas of supply chain and logistics, education and learning, remote work and productivity tools, content and talent development, sustainable industries, and digital tools for public service.

Women-Helping-Women: Innovating Social Enterprises (WHWise), meanwhile, supports women social enterprises who need to access technology, early-stage funding, and customized gender-focused support. “We’re trying to merge the pursuits of social entrepreneurs with that of the technologies that could help them make it,” Dr. Paringit said of WHWise.

PCIEERD also operates Technology Business Incubators (TBI) that provides business development services to technology entrepreneurs and startups.

Dr. Paringit shared that in the previous rounds of the annual SGF program, 27 proposals were approved among the 120 proposals received, while the approved funding amounted to P89 million.

For this year, PCIEERD targets to fund 40 startups — 30 under SGF and 10 under WHWise — as well as around P200 million worth of funding.

Dr. Paringit hopes this year and in future cycles that they will find startups proposing novel and diverse ideas.

“Despite the numerous applications in the last two rounds of calls, we’ve noticed that the quality of submissions has tapered,” the executive director said. “It seems like there has been a saturation in terms of key ideas; the ideas are almost similar and no longer that fresh.”

He observed that most of the ideas they have reviewed have concentrated on the “marketplace type of startups,” with only the products offered setting them apart.

“We really wanted to move them out of that basic paradigm. We want them to be creative. We want them to be bold. We want them to be a little bit resourceful,” he continued.

Dr. Paringit attributed such tapering in quality to the lack of exposure and stimulus that could inspire new ideas.

“[Y]ou could perhaps draw some inspiration from the lockdown and reflect about what the needs are, but that could only bring you so much; because the other source of inspiration is really where you have the opportunity to go and reach out, be exposed, and explore the greater environment,” he explained.

In the meantime, PCIEERD held mentoring and training for aspiring grantees to help them shape their proposals better. “What we actually did was to come up with mentoring and training sessions with the startups so that they could fully develop their ideas and so that [when] they submit their proposals they would be able to pass the hurdles that were limiting them,” Dr. Paringit shared.

The executive director also stressed that PCIEERD is very keen to support creative industries that will make creative services more accessible even for certain occasions and communities; climate entrepreneurs who will help deal with the impacts of climate change; and energy ‘technopreneurs’ who will help bring better ways of managing energy and power resources even at the home level.

“The challenge of environment and climate is such that there are not too many willing to take it as a business and enterprise. But… it needs to be proactively supported so that many more will be inspired to put out solutions that would help us adapt or mitigate some of the effects of climate change,” he said about supporting climate-oriented solutions.

building up entrepreneurs

Dr. Paringit shared that as of 2021, the SGF program raised P68.2 million in capital, generated P202.7 million in revenues, acquired 565 clients, and created 356 jobs since the program kickstarted with initial fund support worth P64 million.

Among the startups backed up by the SGF are Futuristic Aviation and Maritime Enterprise, Inc. (FAME), which builds transponders that can track aircraft and boats without having to rely on a satellite or telco tower; The Green Table, which delivers farm-fresh, natural, and locally-grown farm products to consumers; and Oh My Genie!, a Cebu-based business solutions provider that aims to disrupt what it considers a currently centralized fulfillment and shipping model.

Augusto Martinez III, co-chief executive officer (CEO) of FAME, said that working with PCIEERD has greatly helped them from the start of their business, right until the present. “We don’t know where we would be without them. It was difficult at the start,” he said. “They will work with you; they will support you; and they will guide you, especially with the documentation.”

Oh My Genie! Co-Founder and CEO Karl Frederick Kesner noted that SGF helps startups get everything in their business accounted for, as well as make sure their products make an impact to the market. “It’s not just an investment. They really make sure that your business will contribute to the progress of the Philippines,” he said.

For Neil Clyde Kho, founder and CEO of The Green Table, PCIEERD has brought an innovative and learning culture that the whole ecosystem can benefit from. “One thing I really appreciate [from them] is the culture. [They are] people with really great minds but a humble heart,” he said.

Among social enterprises boosted by WHWise, Empath offers mental healthcare services such as counseling, workshops and webinars, and wellness classes. Founder Stephanie Angelica Naval considers PCIEERD’s program for women entrepreneurs, and DoST’s support overall, a gamechanger for their business.

“It’s really not just about [having] the grant, but really making sure you have steps to succeed,” Ms. Naval said of the program, adding that the department’s support enables the Philippine startup community to get closer to becoming a more competitive sector in the Southeast Asian region.

“I previously came from a mindset that it’s very difficult for the Philippines to thrive and be one of the leaders in the Southeast Asian region,” she added. “But, honestly, initiatives like this make me very hopeful that it is something that we could achieve.”

QBO Innovation Hub empowers community of women leaders to keep sharing their stories

For QBO Innovation Hub, a pioneering force in the Philippine startup industry, celebrating women’s achievements is a year-long celebration.

The Philippines’ first public-private partnership platform for startups has always had women empowerment at the core of its mission, especially in an industry as male-saturated as the tech and startup industry. From major milestones such as key partnerships with organizations like Investing in Women and the establishment of the Startup Pinay initiative, to smaller but equally important events such as QBO’s monthly QLITANS, WORQSHOPS, and Startup Pinay BOOTQAMPS wherein the organization shines the spotlight on women-led startups and give them the platform and tools they need to succeed, QBO makes sure that they create a safe space for their community.

In line with this year’s theme of “Break the Bias”, the Women’s Month QLITAN utilized the engaging and unique pecha kucha format. Select speakers from the Startup Pinay community — industry leaders, startup newcomers, and enablers — were given 400 seconds and 20 images to share their own stories of how they broke and continue to break biases.

“My life has been a story of avoidance. Somehow, I managed to navigate to avoid biases — not because they don’t exist, but because I know that they do,” began Connected Women Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Gina Romero, who opened the floor with her highly-engaging and deeply personal story. As a daughter of a domestic overseas Filipino worker and a British driver, whose life started in the UK before returning to the Philippines with her parents to start their agri-preneur business, she talked about her struggle to find her personal balance — between privilege and humility, luck and misfortune, failure or success — and her own place in the world despite her unconventional life. She went on to explain how this personal struggle eventually translated into her professional life. “I know what it’s like to not be able to fit in and to be underestimated. I’ve had to hide the fact that I was married to my co-founder when we set up our company, keep my pregnancies a secret, and avoid letting people know that I am not a degree holder.”

Nicole Medavillo, an undergraduate student, and Product Design intern at Swarm, faced another internal struggle that feels all too familiar for many Filipino women — internal misogyny and self-deprecation.

“As early as my pre-college days, I’ve experienced both misogyny and internal misogyny in what seemed to be even the smallest details, which in hindsight, has led me to believe that I’m not good enough and that I need to push myself harder to earn even a speck of recognition,” said Ms. Medavillo. At her young age, she already had to spread herself too thinly, had to constantly prove herself at school and at home, downplay her own achievements, all under the guise for self-improvement and for the assurance of a secure future.

“As women, we have to hustle twice as hard because we don’t want to get left behind. We know the system is against us. Too many times, I’ve had to stop myself and ask if this is all worth it. Honestly, I still don’t have the answer to that, but I know that it’s a process that starts with self-acknowledgement.”

Women across different fields and backgrounds have always felt that they had to deal with their experiences on their own, as well as learn to navigate their industries differently from their male counterparts — especially for male-dominated ones such as the startup industry.

“Being a woman in a startup is no joke. We’re here because we yearn to be part of the bigger mission to add value to our industry and contribute in a meaningful way. However, this yearning is countered by the demands of the startup life,” said Celine Veloso, Draper Startup House general manager. She delved into the ups and downs — the continuous restructuring, employee turnovers, revenue and metric demands, generally longer hours, and ultimately, the challenge of being a woman. “It’s an added layer. I take extra time to plan what to wear, how to speak and present myself, all because I am a woman in a startup.”

Biases against women coupled with the rigorous demands of the workplace can take a toll on a person’s overall health and wellness. Which poses the question: until when will women have to live with this additional weight on their shoulders?

“In an unbiased world, we can be our authentic selves without any judgment. But to achieve this, we need to put in the work,” concluded Ms. Romero. “Let’s do our part to break the bias — starting with ourselves at home, until we can eventually take it to the workplace where we can empower our community to be intolerant against ignorance, discrimination, and disinformation.”

For a little over two hours, the pecha kucha format allowed people to be vulnerable within the safe space that QBO has created for its community. In just the six minutes assigned to them, audiences listened to the speakers’ innermost thoughts and personal struggles, and deeply resonated with them.

“At the end of the day, biases will continue to exist — affecting how women are perceived as leaders and fueling the persistent problem of women-led startups getting much less funding than men, among other issues. However, simply having a platform to shine a light on the issue can spark solutions.t’s through these moments of personal breakthroughs and shared experiences that we become aware of our prejudices, and can start to work towards a more empowered future for all,” said Katrina Rausa Chan, QBO Innovation Hub executive director.

Even as Women’s Month has ended, the fight against biases and the mission to empower women, not only in tech but across all industries, continues.

“We hope that through these events, our community is inspired to be proud and make their stories known because we believe they are shared experiences and can resonate with many Filipino women,” said Ms. Chan.

With QBO Innovation Hub and Startup Pinay, this is just the beginning as they plan to continue rolling out more initiatives, events, and programs geared towards their community of Filipino tech heroes, female leaders, newcomers, enablers, and allies.

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