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Shares dip on US growth outlook, typhoon setback

COURTESY OF PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE, INC.

PHILIPPINE stocks declined on Tuesday as investors retreated to the sidelines amid weak US economic growth outlook for next year and the expected economic setback from the damage caused by Typhoon Odette.

The bellwether Philippine Stocks Exchange index (PSEi) on Tuesday slid 70.55 points or 0.97% on Tuesday to close at 7,167.06, while the broader all shares index dropped by 22.71 points or 0.59% to 3,805.67.

“Local market negatively reacted to the weaker US gross domestic product (GDP) growth outlook in 2022 amid Omicron spread and threat of the so-called ‘policy-induced’ US growth slowdown given recent US Federal Reserve policy hawkish pivot,” First Metro Investment Corp. Head of Research Cristina S. Ulang said in a Viber message.

“US growth outlook has historically influenced Philippine GDP growth outlook and equity market outcomes,” Ms. Ulang added.

The annualized rate of gross domestic product growth was expected to drop to 4% in the first quarter of 2022 from an expected 6% in the final three months of this year, according to a Reuters poll of economists published on Dec. 8.

Growth for all of 2022 was seen decelerating to 3.9% — still well above pre-pandemic trends — from 5.6% this year, Reuters reported.

“Investors also priced in the local economic setbacks caused by Typhoon Odette in Tuesday’s session,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in an initial report on Monday that Typhoon Odette caused at least P118 million in damage to agriculture and P225 million in damage to infrastruc-ture.

The Department of Public Works and Highways estimated damage to national roads, bridges, and flood-control structures at P448.9 million as of 12 noon on Tuesday.

At the stock market, all sectoral indices tumbled on Tuesday.

Financials decreased 25.24 points or 1.54% to 1,604.54; services declined 17.40 points or 0.87% to 1,980.07; property contracted 27.03 points or 0.84% to 3,176.51; industrials plunged 75.46 points or 0.73% to 10,192.98; hold-ing firms lost 47.61 points or 0.67% to 7,004.34; and mining and oil went down 4.79 points or 0.05% to 8,999.16.

Value turnover inched up to P6.86 billion on Tuesday with 955.83 million shares switching hands from the P6.70 billion on Monday with 1.09 billion shares traded.

Decliners beat advancers, 106 against 75, while 56 names closed unchanged.

Foreign net selling rose on Monday with P372.02 million in net outflows from the P237.48 million recorded the previous trading day.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan pegged the resistance at 7,300, and support at 7,120. — M.C. Lucenio

Supplies running low for survivors of typhoon

CHILDREN sit amid the destruction in Dinagat Island, where typhoon Odette made its second of nine landfalls on Dec. 16. -- DINAGAT GOV. KAKA BAG-AO

PHILIPPINE officials and residents of areas that bore the brunt of typhoon Rai, locally named Odette, pleaded for food, water, and shelter on Tuesday as damaged roads, flooding, and severed power and communication lines hampered relief efforts.

Rai struck last Thursday, the strongest typhoon to hit the archipelago this year, killing nearly 400 people and affecting 1.8 million, displacing 630,000 of them, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

“Our food supply is running low. Maybe, in a few days, we will totally run out,” said Fely Pedrablanca, mayor of Tubajon town on Dinagat Island.

The area, facing the Pacific Ocean, was devastated by the typhoon and she said only nine out of more than 2,000 homes in her town were left standing.

The coast guard has deployed vessels to help in relief work and in trying to reach areas still cut-off, including Dinagat.

In the province of Southern Leyte, evacuation centers were also destroyed, said Roger Mercado, acting chief of the public works agency, as he appealed for tents and construction material.

Damage to infrastructure in Southern Leyte, where residents were also in desperate need of food and water, could reach P3 billion, Mr. Mercado told DZMM radio.

“The damage is very extensive similar to Yolanda,” Mr. Mercado said referring to typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, which killed 6,300 people in the Philippines in Dec. 2013.

At least 375 people were killed and 56 are missing. More than 500 were injured, police said on Tuesday.

“The government prepositioned food and non-food items but they are not enough because many are in need,” Danilo Atienza, Southern Leyte’s disaster chief, told Reuters.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte has ordered state agencies to immediately restore power and communication services.

Mr. Duterte has vowed to raise P10 billion for the rehabilitation and recovery of typhoon-hit areas, his spokesman said on Tuesday.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said a $500-million World Bank disaster response loan can be tapped to help fund rehabilitation efforts as soon as the country announces a state of national calamity.

Quoting Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, he said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has recommended to the President the declaration of a state of calamity in response to the typhoon, which brought heavy rains and destructive winds over central and southern Philippines.

“World Bank has been put on notice,” Mr. Dominguez said in a Viber message to reporters on Monday.

“(The) amount to be drawn will be determined as soon as the respective agencies provide the figures to the Department of Budget and Management/Department of Finance and approved by the Office of the President.”

FOREIGN ASSISTANCE

Foreign aid has also started to arrive, while the United Nations said it was working with partners to help in the areas of shelter, health, food, protection and other life-saving responses.

The Japanese government said that relief goods are on their way to the Philippines, including generators, camping tents, sleeping pads, portable water containers and plastic sheets that could serve as temporary roofing.

“My heart and prayers go out to everyone in large parts of Visayas and Mindanao hit by Typhoon Odette. My deepest respect to the brave first responders of the ongoing disaster relief and recovery operations in the area. I hope for everyone’s safety,” Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko said in a tweet.

Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian said in a Facebook post that relief goods are now being sent to areas devastated by the typhoon. “China will do its utmost to continue its firm support to disaster relief efforts to the Philippine government and the Filipino people.”

China will be distributing 20,000 food packages worth P8 million and 4.72 million kilograms of rice in cooperation with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and local Filipino-Chinese communities.

The United States will also be providing emergency shelter assistance to 3,000 families. Its embassy said in a tweet that 10,000 family food packs are on the way to Butuan City for distribution.

United Kingdom Minister for Asia Amanda Milling said in a tweet that they have committed £750,000 (P49.4 million) to the Philippine Red Cross to support its relief operations.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a tweet that financial assistance will be provided, also through the Philippine Red Cross, to “help address immediate needs on the ground, such as water and sanitation.”

Several local government units across the country that were not affected by the typhoon as well as private groups and corporations have also been mobilizing relief efforts.

Among the Philippine companies that have been delivering assistance include the Aboitiz group, San Miguel Corp., Jollibee Foods Corp., and McDonald’s.

Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III urged the Palace to order a price freeze on basic commodities in worst-hit areas.

“The government should work fast to stop unscrupulous business owners from taking advantage of the calamity and raising the prices of basic commodities amid a shortage in food and water supplies,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. — Reuters, Alyssa Nicole O. Tan, and Jenina P. Ibañez

Philippines reports another record low in COVID cases at 168

PHILSTARFILE -- EDDGUMBAN

THE HEALTH department reported 168 coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the lowest one-day tally since May 22 last year when 163 cases were recorded, although 20 laboratories failed to submit data in the aftermath of typhoon Rai, locally known as Odette.

Four laboratories did not operate on Dec. 19.

The Philippines now has a total 2.84 million coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

The death toll hit 50,794 after 10 more patients died, while recoveries increased by 372 to 2.78 million, the Department of Health (DoH) said in a bulletin.

There were 9,384 active cases, 508 of which did not show symptoms, 3,289 were mild, 3,406 were moderate, 1,804 were severe and 377 were critical.

The agency said 95% of the reported cases occurred from Dec. 8 to 21. The top regions with cases in the past two weeks were Metro Manila with 47, Calabarzon with 27, and Western Visayas with 16.

It added that 60% of the reported deaths occurred in December, 20% in November, 10% in August, and 10% in May.

DoH said 179 cases had been removed from the tally, which were reclassified as recoveries, while six cases previously tagged as recoveries were relisted as deaths.

The agency said 22% of intensive care units in the Philippines were occupied, while the rate for Metro Manila was 21%.

Meanwhile, inoculation activities are continuing and the DoH said on Tuesday that it has reached half of its seven-million target under the second round of the national vaccination drive against COVID-19.

The Bayanihan, Bakunahan 2 program was originally set on Dec. 15 to 17, but areas in the path of typhoon Odette moved their schedule to Dec. 20 to 22.

From Dec. 15 to 20, there were 3.76 million jabs administered, Health Undersecretary Myrna C. Cabotaje said in a news briefing on Tuesday.

Of these, about 2.1 million were for second dose, 1.1 million first dose, and 289,000 booster shots.

About 10 million jabs are still needed before the government hits its 54 million target by the end of the year.

Ms. Cabotaje said they are still optimistic that the goal will be reached despite challenges in carrying on with the vaccinations in typhoon-hit areas.

We have increased the vaccination target for areas that are currently able to vaccinate, she said, and lowered the number for those struggling due to the typhoon.

CHILD IMMUNIZATION

The DoH also announced that it has stepped-up its programs to increase the coverage rate of fully-immunized children.

Government data show immunization coverage in 2020 among infants and children was 3.9% lower than in 2019 as many parents were hesitant to bring their children to health centers for fear of exposing them to COVID-19.

“DOH is committed to protecting every child against vaccine-preventable diseases,” Beverly Lorraine Ho, director of the DoH-Health Promotion Bureau, said in a statement.

She said they are coordinating with the National Vaccine Operations Center to dedicate days to catch up with immunization activities for children. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

Preliminary conference for 3 Marcos disqualification cases set Jan. 7

PHILIPPINE STAR/ BOY SANTOS

THREE petitions seeking the disqualification of Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., son and namesake of the late Philippine dictator, from running for president in the May 2022 elections have been set for preliminary conference on Jan. 7.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena V. Guanzon, who is part of the division handling the three cases, made the announcement in a Twitter post on Tuesday.

She said in a separate Facebook post that the summons have been sent to Mr. Marcos, who has five days from receiving these to file a response.

Ms. Guanzon also said that people should not blame the Comelec for the delay in the proceedings because one petitioner has not given a copy of their petition to respondent Marcos.

The Comelec was aiming to have the cases resolved within December.

The three cases were filed by Bonifacio Ilagan, Abubakar Mangelen, and progressive group Akbayan.

“The Akbayan petition looks better than others,” Ms. Guanzon said.

There are seven cases filed against Mr. Marcos, including four for disqualification, two for cancellation, and one to declare him as a nuisance candidate, which has already been junked by the Comelec.

Most of the remaining petitions cite that Mr. Marcos is not qualified to run for president as he has been convicted for tax evasion, a crime that permanently bars the perpetrator from public office. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan

Robredo to push for underground power, communication lines following typhoon Odette’s impact

VICE-PRESIDENT Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo, who is running for the country’s top post in next year’s elections, said on Tuesday that her infrastructure development agenda will include a push for setting up underground power and communication lines, which are more costly to install than overhead facilities.

“One realization from the series of very strong typhoons which hit our country is that our next priority infrastructure development agenda should be putting electric and communication lines underground, particularly in typhoon-prone areas,” Ms. Robredo said in a Facebook post.

If elected president in 2022, she said her government will aim to ensure “every affected area’s resilience even after a destructive typhoon such as Odette (international name: Rai).”

She said underground lines would be more cost-effective since there will no longer be additional spending to restore toppled down posts.

“We have, on average, 20 typhoons a year. It would be better to spend now and make them underground instead of repeatedly spending whenever a post falls down,” she added in a mix of English and Filipino.

She also said that cut-off power and communication lines add to the burden during disaster situations. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

Supreme Court issues restraining order vs Comelec in favor of senior citizen’s party-list

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

THE PHILIPPINE Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Commission on Elections (Comelec) after it disqualified a senior citizen party-list group from participating in the May 2022 national and local elections.

The Ang Tinig ng Senior Citizens sa Filipinas, Inc., also known as Ang Tinig ng Seniors, filed the petition before the High Court through its president Rogelio D. Evasco after their registration as a party-list group was dismissed by the poll body and later denied for reconsideration.

The Supreme Court, in its TRO order dated Dec. 17 under the authority of Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, deemed the party’s petition “sufficient in form and substance.”

The Comelec was also ordered to submit its comment to the court within a non-extendable period of 10 days from notice.

The High Court earlier issued similar rulings in favor of the groups Igorot Warriors International, Inc., and Alliance for Resilience, Sustainability and Empowerment. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

Human-centered approach to work

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(Last of a series)

Let me end this series of articles on the “Human-Centered Approach to Work” by reflecting on the content of a recently published book by Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation, entitled Human Work in the Age of Smart Machines. He wrote that in this time of upheaval and social unrest, with increasing threats to global health (consider the COVID-19 pandemic), democratic institutions (consider the rise of totalitarian or authoritarian governments), and the world’s economies, we must rise to the challenge of workers being transformed — and often rendered obsolete — by automation and artificial intelligence. We must be able to work alongside smart machines, doing that which only humans can: thinking critically, reasoning ethically, interacting interpersonally, and serving others with empathy.

The main theme of this book brought me back to the time I was graduating from De La Salle High School on Taft Avenue and was deciding what course to take in college. Having decided to continue my education at the same college (La Salle was not yet a university), I considered the undergraduate offerings then of my alma mater. There were the usual majors in business, such as accounting and business administration, as well as the offerings in the college of engineering such as chemical, mechanical and civil engineering. Fortunately, two towering figures in the liberal arts — Dr. Ariston Estrada and Dr. Waldo Perfecto — convinced a small group of high school graduates in 1954 to enroll in a newly crafted college curriculum called Liberal Arts-Commerce (LIA-COM) that combined a strong humanities program with a specialization in one of the fields of management, such as accounting, marketing, or finance. It was supposed to be a five-year program (as compared to the four-year purely commerce specialization). By overloading subjects over four years of the program, I was able to finish the course ahead of time. I never regretted making that decision of taking the LIA-COM. I am now ready for the new occupations of human work enumerated by Jamie Merisotis in his book under the chapter “The Work Only Humans Can Do.”

According to Merisotis, there are four kinds of occupations that are emerging that embody human work — the work of the future. The first category is that of “Helpers.” These are the people in occupations involving deep personal interaction with other people. Since the service sector accounts for a larger component of GDP in developed economies, these jobs are proliferating, as many industries have transformed to become focused on customers. The most notable example is in the financial services (I am glad I never considered myself an accountant even if I majored in accounting in the “COM” portion of LIA-COM). As technology (especially automation) has taken over most of the repetitive tasks that professionals such as bankers and accountants used to do, their jobs have become focused on understanding client needs and responding to them. As retail banking has become the key driver of profits in that industry, recognition of the importance of customer service has become widespread. One survey found the top investment priority of banking executives, even in emerging markets like the Philippines, was to enhance customer service, with implementing new technology far behind. The same survey also reported that bank executives view talent as the primary constraint they face in pursuing their customer-centric business model.

The second category of human work that is emerging can be referred to as “Bridgers.” Workers in these occupations interact with others, perform technical tasks, and help run systems. Bridgers literally create connections — to other people, and to other forms of work. Sales managers, automotive repair managers, and many supervisors fall into this category. The vast field of Information Technology contains many of these jobs. No longer is an IT professional a “computer geek.” He must be a “bridger,” combining technical expertise with strong people skills such as communication and empathy in order to be effective. I see these qualities in the IT personnel in my own university. They have a deep understanding of the nature of each of the various disciplines of the component schools of our University (e.g., management, economics, political science, education, engineering, etc.) so that they can effectively cater to the needs for IT services of these schools and their respective professors. The term “bridgers” is truly appropriate for the type of work they do.

The third category has been labeled “Integrators.” These people are in occupations that integrate knowledge and skills from a range of fields and apply them in a highly personal way. Examples given are social workers and elementary school teachers. Social workers have to keep constantly abreast of knowledge in fields as diverse as psychology, economics, medicine, and nutrition. In addition, they must also understand the implications of emerging research and be able to integrate it into their practices. In fact, they themselves are field researchers— testing new approaches, innovating, and constantly seeking new ways to better meet the needs of their clients. All of their work is done within a social, cultural, and economic context, and under constraints of laws and regulations that also are constantly changing.

Finally, the fourth category comprises the “Creators.” These are people who possess highly technical skills and pure creativity. Many of these occupations involve the creative use of technology. For example, computer gaming is now a $135-billion global industry, and it is growing at the rate of 11% per year. Just the sales of one game — Red Dead Redemption II — totaled $725 million in its first three days off the market. Video game development employs more than 220,000 people in the United States, at an average salary of $97,000 annually. A study commissioned by the BPO-IT Industry Association of the Philippines identifies computer gaming as one of the knowledge-intensive industries that Filipino young people can excel in as AI and robotization increasingly make contact center agents redundant.

Reflecting on these insights from Mr. Merisotis’ book, I have the following recommendations to the human resource strategy that we have to follow in the coming years as we try to be at the forefront of Industrial Revolution 4.0, even if we have not completed the first three stages of the industrial revolution that started in England during the last decades of the 18th century. The very first thing we have to do in order to prepare Filipino workers for the age of smart machines is to increase the public budget we spend on education from the low of 3% prevailing to 6% which is the average among our peers in the Southeast Asian region. This larger amount should be mostly invested in improving the quality of public education so that our elementary and secondary school pupils can improve their performances in international tests in reading comprehension, arithmetic, and science. To attain this goal, we must increase significantly the salaries of our elementary school teachers who are “integrators” and must be able to teach many subjects to their pupils, being versatile enough to go from arithmetic to science to history to geography to social sciences, etc., etc., especially in the more remote areas of the country where there is a shortage of teaching personnel. The elementary school teacher should be a jack of all trades and a master of as many disciplines that are taught to students at the basic education level.

We must also pay handsomely teachers at the senior high level (Grades 11 and 12) because they are the ones who should make sure that a graduate of senior high school is already steeped in critical thinking, effective communication, inter-personal skills, and multi-disciplinary analysis by having been exposed to the liberal arts and the humanities. It must recalled that what we should offer in the last two years of high school in the K to 12 curriculum now in force are the academic subjects that used to be taught in the first two years of college when basic education was delivered in 10 years. We have to upgrade the quality of basic education to the extent that everyone who has completed the two years of senior high school must already have been exposed to the Great Books, philosophy, history, arts, and sciences: in a word, the liberal arts which prepare every person to live a fully human existence, independently of his specialization which he needs to earn a living.

If we are able to introduce these reforms in our educational system, we will prepare our present and future generations for what is truly human work that can never be replaced by machines. As Mr. Merisotis wrote in his book: “Human work doesn’t fit into the neat categories of the industrial age. Rather than mastering a single body of knowledge or set of technical skills, to do human work, people must develop a wide range of abilities and apply them to solving complex problems in dynamic settings… if a job can be defined by a single body of knowledge, no matter how arcane, or a single set of skills, no matter how specialized, there is a high likelihood artificial intelligence can do it.”

I am glad that I took the LIA-COM program instead of just specializing in accounting. I am sure that a robot will never make me redundant!

 

BERNARDO M. VILLEGAS has a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard, is professor emeritus at the University of Asia and the Pacific, and a visiting professor at the IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. He was a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission.
bernardo.villegas@uap.asia

Lacson wants juvenile justice law revised to include parents’ accountability

PARENTS SHOULD be held partly accountable for crimes committed by juvenile delinquents, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, Sr. said as he proposed a review of the law on justice for young offenders.

“I think a shared responsibility must be administered to the parents,” said Mr. Lacson, Sr., who is running for president in the May 2022 elections.

He said parents must also face penalties if proven beyond reasonable doubt that there was negligence which contributed to the criminal behavior of the child.

“After all, while they are still minors, they are under the custody of their parents, who raise and shape the minds of the children,” said Mr. Lacson, a former national police chief.

He said Republic Act No. 9344, the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, “already went through what we call the test of time and there were issues, problems encountered.”

It must be revisited to address some of its defects, he said. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

 A strategic national agenda to move forward

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The May 2022 national elections are revealing themselves to be a political quagmire. The outcome and aftermath will have deep impact on every Filipino.

Realities on the ground present sobering and multi-faceted challenges for the next administration. These challenges must be met accordingly with responsive reforms to raise the country from the current economic doldrums towards recovery.

Early into the pandemic, the Stratbase ADR Institute endeavored to continually monitor the risks of the pandemic. After 21 months and on to the pre-election period, Stratbase also commissioned 12 special studies that provided analyses and recommended strategic policy reforms based on sound data. These studies  delved deep into the issues on health, education, inequality, digitalization, climate action, national security, and democratic governance.

Addressing corruption is top of mind. As the health-cum-economic crisis persists, corruption corrodes our democratic way of life and institutions and every strand of our social fabric. The resulting hardships are aggravated by fragmented healthcare and social protection systems and the government’s ineffectual pandemic management.

In his study, Dr. Francisco Magno said that “democratic backsliding and weak governance contributed to the country’s poor pandemic performance. The declining percentile rank of the Philippines in the WGI (World Governance Indicators) can be arrested through improvements in controlling corruption, voice and accountability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and political stability.”

It is thus “important that the pursuit of reforms and innovation are anchored on building strong institutions for citizen deliberation, participation, and oversight in the exercise of authority and the disbursement of public resources,” he said.

Key to the health challenge is a people-centered healthcare system. According to Magdalena A. Barcelon, M.D., Katharina Anne D. Berza, and Eleanor A. Jara, M.D., this system includes “shifts in policy direction and structural changes taking into consideration resource distribution, and people’s participation in health-related decision making at the national and community level.”

These social, political, and economic factors have all the more raised the urgency of addressing inequality and have compounded generational disparities and existing social cleavages. Dr. Ronald Mendoza said, “For these reasons, the challenge of our generation is no longer simply about reducing poverty. Reducing inequality is the key to political stability, crisis resilience and sustained economic development.”

Digital transformation and e-commerce, which the pandemic accelerated, demonstrates another challenge and opportunity as another pillar of economic recovery. In this sense, digital transformation, readiness, and infrastructure need to be prioritized in response to the digital divide or lack of access to digital services.

According to Dr. Sherwin Ona, “In times of crisis, people expect their government and its institutions to provide clarity of direction, stability, and hope. This means that future national leaders must be cognizant of its potentials and dangers of digitalization to be able to navigate its complexity and provide a clear path for a resilient Philippines.”

The rise of the digital economy, in turn, has brought the issue of bringing the consumer economy of the country to a new level. The digital landscape is the new arena in dealing with trade, investments, and supply chain issues, where the Philippines must find its niche in the global supply chains. This is where the role of the private sector becomes crucial. Moving forward, the situation necessitates a shift to investment-driven growth anchored on the principles of stakeholder capitalism.

In regional and international affairs, the growing global democratic convergence provides legitimacy to the promotion of multilateralism and rules-based order. The involvement of the international community in the Indo-Pacific amid China’s expansionist agenda in the West Philippine Sea has thus far been a deterrent against any escalation given the brewing tensions between littoral states, China, and international actors.

Richard Heydarian said that “as a US treaty ally, and a strategic partner of key regional powers such as Australia and Japan, the Philippines should leverage these new regional alignments to uphold its sovereign rights and defend its territorial integrity.” Further, he emphasized that the next administration should “respond to China’s strategic opportunism and leverage the broader shifts in geopolitical alignments in the Indo-Pacific.”

For Dr. Rene de Castro, “the key challenge for the 17th Philippine president is to transform the current administration’s unplanned and makeshift policy of limited hard balancing into a well-thought, comprehensive, and formal grand strategy that will guide the Philippines in the next six years.”

In a non-traditional security (NTS) outlook, Dr. Mely Caballero-Anthony observed that NTS is “Non-military in nature, they include climate change, pandemics, environmental degradation, and resource scarcity threatening food and energy security.” For Toby Melissa C. Monsod, Sara Jane Ahmed, and Golda P. Hilario, the Philippine contribution to the Paris Agreement should be strengthened where climate change adaptation and resilience serves as the anchor and sustainable development as the context.

Climate change poses a direct threat to livelihoods and human capital, as recently demonstrated anew by the devastation caused by typhoon Rai/Odette in the Visayas and Mindanao areas. Climate action, together with the other challenges mentioned, necessitates a multi-sectoral or a holistic collaboration among governmental and nongovernmental actors.

These evidence-based policy recommendations are a comprehensive set of developmental solutions of top thought leaders and movers from the country’s academe, private industries, civil society, and government. The objective is to help the next administration with a strategic national agenda that will be responsive to the daunting challenges towards recovery.

This coming election, we must choose leaders that have the competence, track record and who are deserving of our trust to lead us out of these hard times.

 

Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit is the president of the Stratbase ADR Institute.

Solon appeals for generators for typhoon-affected Cebu residents

A PARTY-LIST representative appealed for power generators to areas in Cebu where electricity supply has yet to be restored following the onslaught of typhoon Odette, with international name Rai, on Dec. 16.

The people in Cebu are struggling because they do not have electricity, water, and telecommunication signal, Ako’y Pilipino party-list Rep. Ronnie L. Ong said after an aerial survey and visit of the province.

He also noted that some gas stations in affected areas were taking advantage of the situation by selling overpriced fuel.

“They charged P100 to P200 per liter,” Mr. Ong said in Filipino.

The coastal towns were the hardest hit, he said.

Mr. Ong also said some vaccines against the coronavirus were wasted in typhoon-struck areas as there was not enough fuel to sustain the operation of storage facilities.

On Monday, the Health department reported that 100 vials of Pfizer vaccines were wasted in the Western Visayas region, which does not cover Cebu.

“The National Vaccines Operations Cluster shall replenish (the) stocks of Region 6 in the future,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire told reporters via Zoom.

She added that teams were still assessing the condition of other vaccines and storage facilities in areas with reported blackouts due to the typhoon. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan

What’s the point of holiday gifts?

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Whether it’s the dread of a trip to an overcrowded shopping mall, the challenge of picking out the right gifts, the frustration over delivery delays or the hit to the wallet, shopping for holiday gifts can be stressful.

What’s the point of it all? Shouldn’t the holiday season simply be about family, friends, and food? And wouldn’t everyone just be better off spending their own money on things they know they want?

Gift exchanges may seem wasteful and impractical. But as social scientific research reveals, the costs and benefits of gift-giving aren’t what they seem.

During his fieldwork in Papua New Guinea, anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski documented an elaborate tradition practiced by the Massim people. These island communities maintained a complex ceremonial exchange system that revolved around the gifting of shell necklaces and shell armbands. Each gift first passed between individuals and then traveled between islands in a circle that became known as the “Kula ring.”

These artifacts had no practical utility or commercial value. In fact, selling them was strictly forbidden by custom. And since the objects were always on the move, their owners rarely wore them. Nonetheless, the Massim took long journeys to exchange them, risking life and limb as they navigated the treacherous waters of the Pacific Ocean in their wobbly canoes.

This hardly seems like an efficient use of time and resources. But anthropologists realized that the Kula was instrumental in cultivating human connection.

Individually, these gifts were not really free; they came with the expectation of repayment in the future. But on the whole, they served to create a cycle of mutual responsibilities, resulting in a network of reciprocal relationships encompassing the entire community.

Similar exchanges exist in societies around the world. In many parts of Asia, gift-giving is an integral part of corporate culture. Just like for the Massim, those symbolic gifts facilitate business relations.

In much of the Western world, one of the most familiar contexts is the custom of exchanging holiday presents. On occasions such as Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, many families spend considerable time, effort, and money on buying presents for their loved ones.

Looking at it through the lens of cold logic, the practice seems wasteful. Everyone has to pay for someone else’s stuff. Some gifts end up going unused or returned. If no one gave presents, everyone might be better off spending their money and time according to their own needs and desires.

However, psychological research suggests otherwise.

Studies show that spending money on others feels better than splurging on ourselves. In fact, neuroscientists have found that making a donation makes the brain’s reward circuitry light up more than receiving a gift. Moreover, the joy of giving a gift lasts longer than the fleeting pleasure of accepting it.

By exchanging presents, we can double-dip, spreading feelings of gratitude all around. Besides, as families and friends know one another’s tastes, preferences, and needs, chances are that most people will end up receiving what they wanted in the first place, with the added bonus of bringing everyone closer together.

Ritualized sharing occurs not only within but also between families. Think of birthday parties, weddings, or baby showers. Guests are expected to bring a present, often of significant value. Both they and their hosts often keep track of the value of those presents, and receivers are expected to reciprocate with a gift of similar value when the opportunity presents itself in the future.

This exchange serves multiple functions. For the hosts, it provides material support, often during challenging transitional periods such as starting a new family. And for guests, it is like investing money into a fund, to be used when their time comes to become hosts. Moreover, the gifts help raise the symbolic status of the givers along with that of the receiver, who is in position to organize a lavish ceremony partly or wholly funded by the guests. Most importantly, these exchanges help build a network of ritual bonds between families.

Similar practices even extend to politics: When diplomats or leaders visit a foreign country, it is customary to exchange presents. French officials often hand out bottles of wine, while Italian leaders are known to give fashionable ties.

Other diplomatic gifts may be more unusual. When President Richard Nixon visited China in 1972, Chairman Mao Zedong sent two giant pandas, named Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, to the National Zoo in Washington, DC. The US government reciprocated by sending two oxen to China.

From the shells exchanged by Pacific islanders to the toys and sweaters placed under Christmas trees, sharing has always been at the center of many ritual traditions. This is fundamentally different from other forms of material exchange, like trade or barter.

For the Massim, exchanging a shell necklace for a shell armband is not the same as trading yam for fish, just as giving a birthday present is not the same as handing a cashier money to purchase groceries.

This speaks to a more general rule of ceremonial actions: they are not what they appear to be. Unlike ordinary behaviors, ritual actions are nonutilitarian. It is this very lack of obvious utility that makes them special.

 

Dimitris Xygalatas is associate professor of Anthropology and Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut.

The fine line between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees

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Early in 2020, the entire country was caught unawares by the COVID-19 virus, and it seemed as if everything had to be put on hold to curb its spread. Unfortunately, businesses were not exempted from such a turn of events.

Relief came in the form of COVID-19 vaccines, which were deemed crucial in controlling the spread of the virus. Countries, including the Philippines, began vaccination efforts for their citizens. Thus, our President signed into law Republic Act No. 11525 or the “COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021.”

This did not mean, however, that all citizens in the Philippines were required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. At the time when vaccine supplies were quite scarce, while government officials highly recommended COVID-19 vaccination for the eligible population, they also reiterated that vaccination was not mandatory.

Relevantly, on March 12, 2021, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) issued Labor Advisory No. 3, Series of 2021 (LA No 3-21), which put forth that, while employers shall “endeavor to encourage their employees to get vaccinated,” there shall be no discrimination in the workplace between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees. The DoLE also made clear that a “[n]o vaccine, no work policy shall not be allowed.”

At the time, therefore, absent any law or regulation mandating employees to be vaccinated, and with the clear policy set out in the LA No. 3-21, employers found themselves stuck in a dilemma — to what extent may they encourage employees to get vaccinated such that they cannot be deemed to be discriminating against non-vaccinated employees?

LA No. 3-21 had been encompassing, such that there can be no discrimination in “terms of tenure, promotion, training, pay, and others benefits, among others, or termina[tion] from employment.” In other words, it seemed that LA No. 3-21 intended employers to treat unvaccinated employees as they would their vaccinated employees. This had been the ongoing policy for quite some time.

However, with the trend of going back and forth between stricter and more lenient quarantine measures, and in the country’s efforts to take further its battle against COVID-19, we can now see a gradual shift in the policy on “non-mandatory” vaccination in the workplace.

The distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees was initially put to light due to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ (IATF’s) implementation of the “Alert Levels System” in pilot areas. Specifically, the IATF’s Guidelines on the same (IATF Guidelines) imposed a requirement for certain establishments to have a fully vaccinated workforce as a prerequisite for their operations.

Noticeably, under the said IATF Guidelines, the task force limited the list of establishments requiring a fully vaccinated workforce. These include, among others, venues for meetings, tourist attractions, amusement parks, cinemas, food preparation establishments, personal care establishments, and the like. In other words, under the IATF Guidelines, by way of exception rather than the general rule, these specific employers may require only fully vaccinated employees to report for work on-site.

Taking matters further, however, the task force recently issued IATF Resolution No. 148-B, Series of 2021 (IATF Resolution 148-B, S. 2021), which now seems to have more boldly distinguished between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees. IATF Resolution 148-B, S. 2021 provides:

“in areas where there are sufficient supplies of COVID-19 vaccines as determined by the National Vaccines Operation Center (NVOC), all establishments and employers in the public and private sector shall require their eligible employees who are tasked to do on-site work to be vaccinated against COVID-19.”

There can be no doubt as to the intended policy behind such a Resolution — a covered employer may now require eligible employees, who will perform on-site work, to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Understandably, the IATF likewise clarified that unvaccinated employees cannot be terminated from employment solely by reason of their vaccination status. However, the IATF imposed a requirement for unvaccinated employees to regularly undergo RT-PCR or antigen tests, at their own expense, in case unvaccinated employees must perform on-site work. Further, under IATF Resolution No. 149, Series of 2021, the task force clarified that the frequency of RT-PCR tests for unvaccinated employees required to work on-site shall be determined by the employer, but should be at least once every two weeks. It is well to recall that under previous DoLE issuances, the cost of COVID-19 testing must be shouldered by the employer. With IATF Resolution No. 148-B, S. 2021, it seems that the employer is relieved of such a burden when it comes to unvaccinated employees who must perform work on-site.

IATF Resolution No. 148-B, S. 2021 took effect on Dec. 1, 2021. However, its implementation remains controversial, with push back from numerous groups questioning, among others, the seeming requirement of a “mandatory” vaccination and/or the act of passing the burden of RT-PCR tests to unvaccinated employees. Hopefully, the relevant agencies such as the DoLE would issue further guidelines to serve as guidance for both employers and employees in implementing this IATF Resolution.

Ultimately, with more aggressive strategies in favor of vaccination, it is perhaps likely that we may soon see the end of the country’s ongoing struggles against the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not offered and does not constitute legal advice or legal opinion.

Karenina Isabel A. Lampa is an associate of the Labor and Employment Department (LDRD) of the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices or ACCRALAW.
(632) 8830-8000
kalampa@accralaw.com