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PHL outbound investment decline largest in Asia-Pacific

PHILIPPINE OUTBOUND investment in greenfield projects declined at a pace outstripping those of other Asia-Pacific economies in the first nine months, the United Nations said in a report.

The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Trends 2021/2022 report released Wednesday said outbound greenfield investment in the region has been falling since 2018.

In the report, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) said outbound greenfield investment from Asia and the Pacific peaked at $282 billion in 2018, then declined by 58% to their 2020 level.

Investment declined further by 15% year on year in the first nine months of 2021.

“The largest declines in outbound investments were registered in the Philippines (95%), Malaysia (88%), and New Zealand (72%).”

Globally, greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) started to improve in the first nine months of this year, but lockdowns declared to curb COVID-19 surges in the Asia-Pacific made investments vulnerable.

“Greenfield investments, which are an important indicator for future FDI trends, have globally and regionally been on a steep decline since 2018, and remain the most vulnerable type of FDI amid continued outbreaks of the COVID-19 pandemic,” UNESCAP said.

“Developing countries in the region have been disproportionately affected because sectors that have been severely affected by the pandemic, including the primary and manufacturing sectors, account for a larger share of their FDI than developed economies.”

However, the Philippines posted strong growth in attracting greenfield investment this year, the report said.

“The Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and the Russian Federation all saw strong growth in greenfield investments in 2021.”

But these gains were offset by significant declines in other economies, including in Australia, Cambodia, Nepal, and Vietnam. — Jenina P. Ibañez

BCDA seeks developers, locators for 36 hectares in New Clark City

THE Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said it is offering a 36 hectares within New Clark City for long-term lease and development.

“The BCDA invites interested real estate developers, industrial park builders, solar power plant developer, and other market players to be part of the development of the selected ‘buffer zones’ on an ‘as-is, where-is’ basis within our premier development — New Clark City — in Central Luzon, Philippines,” it said in an announcement published in newspapers on Wednesday.

It said developers and locators can apply for some investment incentives, including the 20% to 25% levy on domestic corporations under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.

They can also apply for tax and duty-free imports of raw materials and capital equipment under the CREATE Act.

BCDA said it aims to introduce development within the so-called “buffer zones” to maximize their use through 25-year leases, renewable for a further 25 years.

“Prospective proponents may submit their expression of interest to BCDA on or before Jan. 14, 2022,” it added.

The BCDA holds office at Bonifacio Technology Center, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.

New Clark City, which is being positioned as the first smart, green, sustainable, and disaster-resilient metropolis in the Philippines, is a 9,450-hectare master planned property within the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga and Tarlac. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Unwrapping year-end accounting reminders

Just as everyone is busy observing Christmas traditions like wrapping up presents for loved ones, including Santa who must also be knee-deep finalizing his list, accountants are busy completing their accounting checklists and hustling to wrap up year-end requirements to close the books.

With barely a couple of weeks before the end of the year, accountants are occupied preparing their books of account and other documents for financial and tax reporting purposes. To manage the myriad of accounting activities at year-end, I’ve decided to share my own little list of guidelines to help ensure the punctual completion of tasks.

1. PREPARE A YEAR-END CLOSING CALENDAR

Accountants must define the timelines and activities for completion at year-end. For instance, the timelines should include data gathering, processing, review, reconciliations, and financial report deadlines. Then, the target dates should be marked on a calendar to ensure the timely completion of all required year-end accounting activities.

2. MAKE A LIST OF PERIOD-END ENTRIES

Period-end entries comprise transactions not usually taken up during regular processing. These include entries covering non-cash transactions, such as the conversion of foreign currency-denominated account balances, accrual of completed transactions without billings/sales invoices, depreciation of property, plant, and equipment, amortization of prepayments, adjustments to comply with accounting standards, and other period-end entries.

Accountants must list down all period-end entries as a guide in closing the books of account.

3. COLLECT ALL REMAINING DOCUMENTS

To facilitate the closing of books, accountants should gather all accounting documents, such as sales invoices, billings, statement of account, official receipts, purchase orders, delivery receipts, contracts, and others. All transactions transpiring up to the end of the fiscal year must be fully, accurately, and appropriately recorded in the books. Otherwise, unrecorded transactions may result in either understatement or overstatement of account balances, give rise to questions by regulatory bodies [e.g., Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)] during the financial statements/books of account review.

4. REVIEW DETAILS OF ACCOUNT BALANCES

Transactions comprising the account balances must be sufficiently reviewed. Accountants must assess if all transactions are consistent with the applicable accounting framework: Philippine Financial Reporting Standards (PFRS), PFRS for Small- and Medium-sized Entities (SMEs) and PFRS for Small Entities (SEs).

Under the Revised Securities Regulation Code (SRC) Rule 68 of the SEC, PFRS applies to large and/or public interest entities. Large entities are those with total assets of more than P350 million or total liabilities of more than P250 million, while public interest entities are those that meet any of the following criteria:

i. are holders of secondary licensees issued by the regulatory agencies;

ii. are required to file financial statements under Part II of SRC Rule 68;

iii. are in the process of filing their financial statements for the purpose of issuing any class of instruments in a public market; and

iv. such other corporations that the SEC may consider in the future as imbued with public interest regardless of the lack of a requirement to obtain a secondary licensee from the SEC.

PFRS for SMEs must be used by medium-sized entities, which have total assets of more than P100 million but not more than P350 million or total liabilities of more than P100 million but not more than P250 million, while PFRS for SEs shall apply to small entities, which have total assets or total liabilities of between P3 million to P100 million. Further, they should not fall within the criteria under Items (i) to (iv) as mentioned above.

5. PERFORM RECONCILIATION OF ACCOUNTS

Account balances must reconcile with schedules and supporting documents. Some examples include: (i) bank reconciliation to match the cash book balance with the bank statements; (ii) accounts receivable reconciliation to match the book balance with the aging analysis; (iii) property, plant, and equipment reconciliation to match with the lapsing schedule; and (iv) reconciliations of other account balances. All reconciling items must be properly supported and adjusted, as necessary, in the books of account.

6. ORGANIZE THE BOOKS OF ACCOUNT FOR SUBMISSION TO THE BIR

There are three types of books: manual, loose-leaf, and computerized. Businesses using loose-leaf books of account as approved by the BIR are required to submit bound books for the taxable year within 15 days from the close of each fiscal year (on or before the 15th of January for taxpayers operating on a calendar year). On the other hand, businesses using computerized books of account as approved by the BIR are to submit their books for the taxable year within 30 days from the close of each fiscal year (on or before the 30th of January for calendar year taxpayers). For businesses using manual books, annual submission is not necessary. However, a new set of books must be registered when there are no remaining pages to write on.

7. READY THE BOOKS OF ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR-END FINANCIAL AUDIT

For BIR purposes, under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, books of all businesses with gross receipts of at least P3 million in a taxable year must be audited by an external auditor.

For SEC purposes, the following are the thresholds for the audit of books of account defined under the Revised SRC Rule 68:

i. Stock and nonstock corporations with total assets or total liabilities of at least P600 thousand;

ii. Branch/representative offices of stock foreign corporations with assigned capital of at least P1 million;

iii. Branch/representative offices of nonstock foreign corporations with total assets of at least P1 million; and

iv. Regional operating headquarters of foreign corporations with total revenues of at least P1 million.

Corporations with a fiscal year-end of Dec. 31 must submit their annual audited financial statements (AFS) with the SEC consistent with the annual schedule of AFS filing. For those with a fiscal year-end other than Dec. 31, the AFS is due within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year. Also, the AFS must be submitted with the BIR within 15 days from the deadline of annual income tax return electronic filing.

With proper planning, accountants can complete their financial reports on time, fully compliant with regulatory requirements. Having worked through a hectic schedule, accountants may finally wrap up the year by closing the books and start unwrapping holidays presents.

The views or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Isla Lipana & Co. The content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for specific advice.

 

Jane R. Alcause-Fabro is a director at the Client Accounting Services Department of Isla Lipana & Co., the Philippine member firm of the PwC network.

jane.r.alcause@pwc.com

Philippines reports first two cases of Omicron virus

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

By Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

THE PHILIPPINES on Wednesday reported its first two cases of the highly mutated Omicron coronavirus variant, which the World Health Organization (WHO) said was spreading faster globally than any previous strain.

One was a returning migrant Filipino worker from Japan who arrived on Dec. 1 via Philippine Airlines, the Department of Health (DoH) said in a statement. The other was a Nigerian who arrived on Nov. 30 via Oman Air.

Both were currently not showing symptoms, but the Filipino had a cold and cough when he arrived.

The agency said it was tracing people who might have had close contact with the two travelers, who both had been quarantined.

“We assure our people that we will closely monitor developments of the two cases in light of existing protocols, as we continue to remind the public not to let their guard down,” acting presidential spokesman Karlo Alexei B. Nograles said in a separate statement.

He added that people should observe health protocols and get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect them from the coronavirus.

The two samples came from 48 that the Philippine Genome Center had sequenced on Tuesday, DoH said.

The Health department reported 237 coronavirus infections on Wednesday, bringing the total to 2.84 million.

The death toll hit 50,449 after 100 more patients died, while recoveries increased by 565 to 2.78 million, it said in a bulletin.

There were 10,193 active cases, 567 of which did not show symptoms, 3,876 were mild, 3,492 were moderate, 1,867 were severe and 391 were critical.

The agency said 91% of the reported cases occurred from Dec. 2 to 15. The top regions with cases in the past two weeks were Metro Manila with 43 cases, Northern Mindanao with 25 and Western Visayas with 22.

It added that 14% of the reported deaths occurred in December, 32% in November, 36% in October and 6% in September.

DoH said nine duplicates had been removed from the tally, six of which were reclassified as recoveries, while two recoveries were relisted as deaths.

It added that 181 patients had tested negative and were removed from the tally. Four laboratories did not operate on Dec. 13, while three failed to submit data.

The agency said 22% of intensive care units in the Philippines were occupied, while the rate for Metro Manila was 24%.

Meanwhile, the Philippines will remain under Alert Level 2 until the end of the year, the presidential palace said on Wednesday, amid the threat of a highly mutated Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

An inter-agency task force also announced a travel ban on eight territories — Andorra, France, Monaco, Northern Mariana Islands, Reunion, San Marino, South Africa and Switzerland.

Effective Dec. 16 to 31, vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers from these “high-risk” areas that are part of the so-called red list will be banned from entering the Philippines, Mr. Nograles said.

Only Filipinos who are being repatriated from these countries will be allowed entry.

Several countries were also written down under the green list to “release some pressure” on the number of days a person will be under a facility-based quarantine, as spaces are quickly being filled with the increasing number of migrant workers returning for the Christmas holiday, he said.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration last week said at least 100,000 migrant Filipino workers have come home for the holiday.

Airline passengers may only board a plane once they test negative three days before departure. Children aged three years and younger are exempted from the requirement.

Passengers from countries classified as safe must be quarantined until RT-PCR results taken on the third day upon arrival come out. Unvaccinated and partially vaccinated travelers will go through the same restrictions except that they should be tested on the seventh day.

For passengers coming from yellow list or moderate risk countries, the protocols are the same except that the test for the vaccinated will be done on the fifth day, while home quarantine will end on the 14th day.

Vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers from red list countries will undergo similar tests on the seventh day, but the latter must stay until the 10th day regardless of the test results. Both must also do home quarantine until the 14th day.

“We humbly request your patience as we and the Inter-Agency Task Force continue to make modifications to our protocols,” Mr. Nograles said. “These are all being done in response to evolving situations around the world.”

“At the end of the day, we want to keep our people safe and we will do what is necessary to achieve that,” he added.

Google vows to help gov’t boost efforts on cyber-protection

UNSPLASH

GOOGLE LLC on Wednesday said it would help the government boost cyber-protection initiatives as Philippine elections near.

During a Senate hearing, Jean-Jacques Sahel, Asia-Pacific Information policy lead at Google, said the company had tweaked its policies to handle cyber-security risks.

“We have a number of teams and people at Google who are starting to work together to prepare for this,” he told senators. “We’re also working to organize to interact with the various stakeholders in the Philippines and doing some training in the lead-up to the elections.”

The Senate is holding hearings as part of a plan to amend the country’s cyber-crime law to address the proliferation of illegal activities online.

Mr. Sahel said Google is working with the Department of Information and Communications Technology, National Privacy Commission, Commission on Elections and other nongovernment groups on cyber-security.

Senator Francis “Kiko” N. Pangilinan, who filed the resolution with Senator Franklin M. Drilon, said Google and the government should work together to address security threats to the country’s democracy.

There had been instances when Google’s platforms were used to “undermine and influence electoral outcomes, and that’s why the partnership and stakeholder intervention is critical,” he said.

To fight against disinformation, Google has been working with experts on literacy training and support fact-checking initiatives, Mr. Sahel said. The company is also helping journalists and researchers by tailoring programs and providing funding and free tools such the Google Trends API.

Algorithms and automation are also being used to help enforce policies and sift through content to ensure Google is universally useful, accessible and trustworthy, he added.

Mr. Pangilinan urged Google to reconsider its ban on election advertisements in the Philippines.

“We hope you might consider reviewing the ban because in effect, the money that should have gone to political advertisements will now go to anonymous accounts and therefore even more difficult to monitor and difficult to hold accountability in terms of campaign funds going to these advertising platforms,” he said.

“We respect everyone’s position on the policy, but we would also note that the Commission on Elections has acknowledged that this policy will be, and I quote, ‘a big help for everyone,’” said Mr. Sahel.

He said Google would focus its efforts and resources on election-related initiatives that will help people access information through product features, media literacy programs and in promoting participation in the voting process.

Google’s election ad ban will cover ads bought through Google Ads, Display and Video 360, and shopping platforms for placement on Google, YouTube and partner properties from Feb. 8 to May 7 next year.

“This includes advertisements that promote or oppose any political party or the candidacy of any person or party for public office,” Mr. Sahel said.

The move comes amid pressure on social media platforms over their handling of political advertising during the US presidential election last year.

Social media have become political battlegrounds in the Philippines. Filipinos have topped global rankings for time spent on Facebook and other social media.

Social media platforms such as Facebook have helped boost President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s support base. Political analysts have seen them as having helped him win the 2016 elections. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

Surigao placed under typhoon signal No. 2 

THE LOCAL weather bureau placed parts of Surigao provinces under tropical cyclone wind signal No. 2 as Rai, locally named Odette, intensified into a typhoon on Wednesday. 

The center of Odette was last spotted 590 kilometers east of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur at 10 a.m., according to an 11 p.m. bulletin posted on its website. 

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of 150 kph. It was moving westward at 20 kph, the agency said. 

Meanwhile, fishermen in Eastern Visayas and Mindanao will have to halt their fishing activities as the government enforced evacuation in coastal areas and a no sailing policy on fishermen due to the typhoon. 

The typhoon was expected to make landfall by Thursday in either the Caraga region or Eastern Visayas in central Philippines. 

In a statement, the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas sought government aid amid the typhoon. 

“Fishing families will be forced to vacate their communities to seek shelter in evacuation areas,” it said. “The government must be prepared in providing assistance to these families whose livelihood would be adversely affected by the approaching natural calamity,” group Chairman Fernando L. Hicap said. 

“We demand a prompt government response in the form of economic assistance and livelihood subsidy,” he added. 

Mr. Hicap urged Agriculture department to mobilize calamity funds for the potential damage on agriculture and fisheries, and subsidize and compensate affected farmers and fishers. 

Aside from relief goods, the fisherfolk also sought health services and personal protective equipment for evacuees to protect them from the coronavirus. 

“Health safety measures must be observed as fisherfolk evacuees would be exposed to risky and crowded evacuations areas,” Mr. Hicap said. “They should be protected not only against the tropical storm but also from any possible virus disease that could worsen their situation.” — Norman P. Aquino and Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

Manila mayor vows to develop countryside 

PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN

A FORMER matinee idol who is running for Philippine president on Wednesday promised to develop the countryside as part of his economic plan, while vowing to continue the Duterte government’s infrastructure program. 

Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” M. Domagoso during a campaign sortie in Iloilo said he would build more irrigation and farm-to-market roads in the provinces, while making his administration’s infrastructure projects more people-oriented.  

“A peso spent in Manila will never give us much economic growth because of the law of diminishing returns,” he said in a speech streamed live on Facebook. “The same peso spent in the provinces will give us more in terms of returns.” 

Development has mostly been concentrated in so-called imperial Manila, even during the reign of Mr. Duterte, the first Philippine president from Mindanao. 

The Ilonggos welcomed Mr. Domagoso, a former sexy star who is running under the Aksyon Demokratiko party, at the La Paz Public Market and took turns taking pictures and getting his autograph. 

He traced the warm welcome to his father being from Panay. He urged them to think hard about their votes since it has been a long time since the country had an Ilonggo president, referring to the late Manuel Roxas. 

Mr. Domagoso, whose rags-to-riches story has captivated many Filipinos, earlier said he would form the “broadest form of government” and hire millennials if he becomes President.  

Among the top presidential bets in recent opinion polls, he used to be a scavenger and pedicab driver in a Manila slum before he was discovered by a talent scout in the 1990s. 

He is also famous for having beaten ex-President Joseph E. Estrada in the 2019 local elections for Manila mayor. 

Before becoming mayor, Mr. Domagoso served as the city’s vice mayor from 2007 to 2016. He grew up in Tondo and represented the district when he was elected to the Manila City Council in 1998. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan

Candidates’ YouTube accounts must be verified 

PALACIO del Gobernador, where the Comelec holds office — PATRICK ROQUE

CANDIDATES in the 2022 elections may post an unlimited number of ads on social media as long as their accounts are verified, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec). 

Unlike on TV and in print where candidates have limited space and airtime, there is no limit on videos that they can post on YouTube or Facebook, Comelec spokesman James B. Jimenez told the ABS-CBN News Channel on Wednesday. 

But they must use verified accounts “On social media what we are watching out for is first, verification and second, the expenses,” he said in Filipino. “We will know that at the end of the campaign period.” 

He said social media platforms must give the Comelec a summary of all political ads so they can track their election spending. 

Facebook has a political ad library with an archive that they can check, he added. 

Mr. Jimenez also said candidates don’t need 100,000 subscribers to be verified on YouTube since the Comelec has deal with the streaming platform to allow official candidates with fewer than 100,000 subscribers to be given a verified badge. 

The Comelec requires both national and local candidates to have their accounts verified so that they will be accountable to whatever they post. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan

House adopts Senate OFW bill 

PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN

A BILL that seeks to create a Department of Migrant Workers skipped the bicameral conference committee after congressmen adopted the Senate version on Wednesday. 

The House of Representatives adopted Senate Bill 2234 as amendments to House Bill 5832, allowing for the measure to be sent to the presidential palace for President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s signature. 

Under the measure, the agency will absorb the functions of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and will be tasked to protect the rights of migrant workers. 

The department will create and enforce policies while regulating overseas employment and the reintegration of Filipino workers. 

The measure also creates offices in Philippine embassies around the world within three years that will absorb the existing powers of the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices and Office of the Social Welfare Attaché. 

Mr. Duterte has certified the measure as urgent. 

Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite said he had opposed the adoption of the Senate measure because it won’t solve the problems of migrant Filipino workers. 

“We are sending the message that instead of overseas employment as a stop-gap measure, by establishing a department, we are essentially saying that the ‘labor export policy’ is now a long-term program,” he said in a speech. — Russell Louis C. Ku

Bill to set up job centers in high schools 

PHILSTAR

A BILL that will mandate job placement offices in public high schools has been filed at the House of Representatives. 

Manila Rep. John Martin C. Nieto filed House Bill 10577, which seeks to match students’ skills with a particular job early on. 

The offices will be supervised by coordinators from division offices of the Department of Education. 

Under the bill, these people should coordinate with local governments, public employment service offices and parent-teacher associations in creating career planning tools for their jurisdiction. 

Job centers should also have at least one career advocate in charge of keeping an updated database of job vacancies, organize career enhancement seminars for young job seekers and develop and administer testing and evaluation for effective job selection. 

Career and employment advocates who are not registered and licensed guidance counselors may conduct career advocacy activities for students as long as they undergo training and hold a nonteaching position. 

Mr. Nieto said job centers would help cut unemployment and underemployment by boosting relations between industries and schools. 

“There are neither steps nor arrangements for a structure or system in place and readily available to ensure that senior high school graduates will be able to find employment,” he said in the bill’s explanatory note. — Russell Louis C. Ku 

What the Modi Twitter breach tells us about hackers

RAWPIXEL.COM-FREEPIK

LAST WEEKEND some smart alecks managed to breach the defenses of one of the most ubiquitous media platforms, access the mouthpiece of the leader of one of the world’s most populous countries, and grab the opportunity to broadcast whatever they wanted to 73 million followers. And they used it to pump cryptocurrency.

It’s almost laughable that yet another Twitter, Inc. hack — this time on the account of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — should once again become the vehicle for spruiking Bitcoin. “India has officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender,” the tweet sent by hackers from his account read. “The government has officially bought 500 BTC and is distributing them to all residents of the country.”

As implausible as that message sounds, the entire incident — from exploit to outcome — tells us a lot about hacking culture and the variety of actors out there trying to break into computer systems.

What’s immediately obvious about this specific event is that the perpetrators were more mischievous than malicious. Pitching Bitcoin has become the Rick Roll of the hacking community — a funny prank rather than a nasty attack.

It’s not the first time.

In July 2020 more than 100 famous accounts were breached including those of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Kanye West, and Apple, Inc. Once they got access, the attackers went on to promote a Bitcoin scam to millions of these victims’ followers.

The details of that incident are dripping with delicious irony. First up, the hackers’ use of Bitcoin was in fact their undoing — US law enforcement officers tracked down the cryptocurrency accounts and found that they’d used their driver’s licenses for authentication. And, the breach was conducted through old-fashioned social engineering — tricking Twitter staff into giving login credentials, which allowed access to the target accounts.

Finally, true to hacker form, two of them were teenagers, one of whom was underage. Youngsters pulling off epic hacks is a time-honored tradition. Kevin Mitnick, the most infamous of them all, was just 16 when he broke into Digital Equipment Corp.’s systems in 1979 and stole software. Jonathan James, purportedly the first juvenile imprisoned for cybercrime, was 15 when he got going and added the Department of Defense to his list of victims.

Yet since Mitnick and James rose to fame decades ago, the goal of network penetration has gone from scamming cheap long-distance calls to shutting pipelines and destroying centrifuges used in weapons production. And it’s likely that more hacks go unnoticed or unreported than those we hear about.

So even though this was a prank — a somewhat well-trodden one at that — there is a serious side to it. It should be of grave concern that one of the most powerful outlets in the world was once again breached, allowing unauthorized access to the media equivalent of the nuclear codes. Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla, Inc., has made cryptocurrency and equity markets swing by billions of dollars with a few choice words.

One can only image what might have happened if the Twitter account of the democratically elected leader of an increasingly authoritarian government decided to declare a second demonetization or an escalation of its conflicts with China or Pakistan. We should be thankful that the attackers chose Bitcoin as the subject of their tweets, not economic or military destruction.

The world might not be so lucky next time. A few hacks of Twitter have proven to the rest of the community that this is a target with vulnerabilities, and others — possibly with state backing or terrorist links — will think of better ways to abuse that weakness than promoting crypto scams. And clearly Twitter itself continues to drop the ball on the fundamental task of keeping its system robust as it balances usability with security.

May we laugh and appreciate the prankster nature of the best hackers around. But let’s keep in mind that breaching social media is all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Just a step ahead

STARLINE-FREEPIK

At the rate COVID mutations are outpacing medical advances intended to eliminate the virus, being always just a step ahead of the next surge may no longer be enough. Mutations can result in greater transmission, and greater resistance to present vaccines and medicines. COVID-19 is far from over, and the situation can still worsen. And the only things in the arsenal now are lockdowns, mandatory use of plastic face shields, and more restrictions on people’s movement.

The Philippine Star reported a week ago that Quezon City, the largest locality in Metro Manila in terms of land area and population, had been registering less than 30 new cases of COVID-19 per day, citing data from the OCTA Research Group. But OCTA also said, “The challenge now for Quezon City is to sustain the low number of COVID cases through better pandemic management using bio-surveillance, testing, contact tracing, localized lockdowns and the cooperation of residents.”

On Sept. 9, a little over three months ago, the Makati City government recorded a peak of 3,298 active cases in the city. This eventually dropped to a low of only 18 cases by Dec. 10. As of this writing, however, the report for Dec. 14 indicated 24 active cases, up six cases in four days. In absolute terms, six is a small number. But in terms of percentage, the case count was up 30% in four days. To me, this is a cause for concern.

At the national level, the case count continues to go down. Only 235 cases were reported on Dec. 14, the lowest count in nearly 19 months of the pandemic. The total number of active cases nationwide is more than 10,500. While this is relatively low, the worry is Omicron’s transmission rate. Some studies indicate one Omicron case can infect up to 10 people. Delta, which caused the last surge, can infect up to eight.

The World Health Organization (WHO) had warned that Omicron was spreading at an unprecedented rate and urged countries to act. Early data suggests Omicron can be resistant to vaccines and is more transmissible than the Delta variant. The Philippine Star report quoted WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as saying that the strain had been reported in 77 countries and had “probably” spread to most nations undetected “at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant.”

In The Netherlands, primary schools will close earlier than previously scheduled given the surge in infections and hospital admissions. Britain, meanwhile, was reported to have confirmed what was thought to be the world’s first Omicron death. Countries have been urged to act swiftly to rein in transmission and to protect their health systems. Complacency is seen as the enemy.

If cases continue to trend up again, like in Makati City for instance, I am unsure what else the government is prepared to do other than the usual lockdowns, restrictions, and the mandatory use of plastic face shields while in public. The mandatory use of face masks is still in force to date, even while restrictions on people’s movement have been eased. How should we further improve our pandemic management?

Europe has reportedly recorded 62% of the world’s total COVID cases in the week, while the five countries with the world’s highest infection rates were all European. As a consequence, The Netherlands followed other European nations in reintroducing restrictions. France on Tuesday was reported to have registered 63,405 new coronavirus cases — its highest daily total since April — while scientists have predicted the true number already infected with Omicron in Britain could be as high as 200,000 a day.

In his column last week in the Philippine Star, economist Gerardo P. Sicat noted that “the Omicron variant presents a new obstacle in the complicated pathway toward the conquest of the pandemic.” He also noted that the present decline in the number of new cases in the Philippines was “not a guarantee that a reversal [would] not happen.”

“The worst impact of the pandemic might have taken already a heavy cost to the economy. Such costs can be tracked by noting the decline in the GDP, the extent of unemployment, and the growth in the size of the fiscal deficit… All these can be observed by the presence of widening poverty in our midst. The improvement of the overall picture in the struggle against the pandemic cannot hide the enormous challenge to efforts to get the economic recovery to move forward,” he said. “The focus on the future certainly calls for pushing the possibilities of economic recovery,” he added.

And this brings us back to OCTA’s point that the “challenge” now, in light of the Omicron-fueled surge abroad, is how “to sustain the low number of COVID cases [locally] through better pandemic management using bio-surveillance, testing, contact tracing, localized lockdowns and the cooperation of residents.” Moving forward, in fact, all temporary ad hoc interventions may have to be made permanent, to prepare against future pandemics.

In 2013, about eight years ago, the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago filed Senate Bill 1573 on national preparedness and response to public health emergencies. The bill never became law. Looking back, if it was legislated early on, then we may have been better prepared to deal with COVID-19. Maybe. Just the same, it is not too late to review that bill for consideration.

While interventions since 2020 have been made, all this are ad hoc or temporary. SB 1573 intended the drafting of a National Health Strategy for Public Health Emergencies, and the creation of permanent government units dedicated to such work, including a Task Force on Public Emergencies and a Medical Reserve Corps.

To an extent, maybe Miriam’s proposed model is already outdated, if not already in place under the present system governing the COVID-19 response. However, there is value in her idea of actually institutionalizing a national strategy for public health emergencies, including pandemics; creating and maintaining a reserve corps of medical professionals and health workers; and putting in place a permanent government unit for such concerns. More important, however, is to ensure that such a system will always be protected from corruption.

 

Marvin Tort is a former managing editor of BusinessWorld, and a former chairman of the Philippine Press Council

matort@yahoo.com

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