Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube
Home Blog Page 5770

ERC notes complaints from contestable power customers 

LIMA Estate’s 30-hectare commercial area in Batangas. — BW FILE PHOTO

THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) complaints are rising from contestable customers concerning the alleged improper implementation and unilateral termination of retail supply contracts (RSCs).

In a statement, ERC Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Monalisa C. Dimalanta said the regulator has also received complaints from contestable customers regarding the fuel cost recovery adjustment in fixed-price contracts.

The ERC said that to date, it has logged 16 complaints involving deals covering 123.69-megawatts (MW). Nine of the affected customers are major manufacturers.

“While the letters on file cover 16 complaints with the ERC, it appears that many more contestable customers are affected; thus, this 126 MW is just a fraction of the capacity affected. We are taking this seriously especially since these contestable customers belong to industries which are critical to our economic recovery,” Ms. Dimalanta said.

Contestable customers are large end-users that are able to purchase power directly from retail electricity suppliers (RES) under the retail competition and open access program (RCOA), as authorized by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

RCOA introduces retail competition to the energy industry. It allows consumers with an average monthly consumption of 1 MW to obtain retail supply contracts from RES. Energy consumers can also customize their supply contracts according to dispatch, technology, or power plant.

The ERC said that it has referred the issue to the Department of Energy and the Department of Trade and Industry to determine the steps to be taken to protect the interests of contestable customers.

“The ERC encourages the parties to amicably settle their disputes based on the Complaints Handling Procedures and Dispute Resolutions of the RES, as well as the Dispute Resolution or Arbitration clause incorporated in their respective RSCs,” Ms. Dimalanta said. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

Coastal communities need to be protected for fisheries to thrive — Oceana

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

THE sustainable management of Philippine fisheries will depend largely on protecting the interests of small fishing communities and the health of the waters they depend on for their livelihoods, marine advocacy group Oceana said.

“The state of fisheries has been in the red for decades. It was caused by years of neglect of our marine environment that (made) our small artisanal fisherfolk and their households in coastal communities among the poorest in our society,” Oceana said in a statement.

“While the Philippines is endowed with rich marine and aquatic resources, making us  ‘the center of the center of marine biodiversity in the world,’ in a study among scientists, we have not been very good stewards (of) our fish and marine resources and marine habitats,” Oceana Vice-President Gloria E. Ramos was quoted as saying.

The group said there is a need for science-based fisheries management and the integration of the National Sardine Management Plan in fisheries management areas.

“The passage of the Fisheries Code protects the 15 kilometers of municipal waters from the shoreline and gives municipal fisherfolk preferential rights to its use,” Oceana said.

“This protected zone hosts the coral reefs and seabed grass, the spawning grounds of our young sardines and other fish, thus, should be protected from the aggressive fishing pressure of the commercial fishing sector. However, commercial fishing continues to encroach here, hampering the growth and reproduction of our fish stocks,” it added.

The group also called for transparency in ocean governance via an online platform for reporting illegal fishing, and enforcing the rules on vessel monitoring.

It also recommended focusing on habitat protection, mangrove reforestation, and mitigating plastic pollution. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

Handling the 1% PhilHealth contribution differential — easier said than done

With the end of the year approaching, employers and other direct contributors must take on additional responsibilities related to Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) coverage. PhilHealth has issued guidelines for the 1% contribution differential for the January-May 2022. In compliance with PhilHealth Resolution No. 2713, s. 2022, the contribution differential may be remitted until Dec. 31.

PHILHEALTH CONTRIBUTION INCREASE
In 2019, the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act was signed into law with the objective of providing immediate eligibility for health benefits to every Filipino. Under the UHC Act, PhilHealth contributions are to increase yearly, starting in 2020, when they were due to rise 3%, followed by 3.5% in 2021, 4% in 2022, 4.5% in 2023, until the increases hit 5% in 2024-2025. However, the scheduled hike in contributions for 2021 was suspended on orders former President Rodrigo R. Duterte to ease the burden of PhilHealth members affected by the pandemic.

In May, PhilHealth announced through Advisory No. 2022-0010 that it will implement the scheduled 4% premium rate hike, retroactive to January 2022. All direct contributors are required to pay the retroactive adjustment of 1% contribution differential for those Statements of Premium Account (SPA) that were paid at the 3% rate until Dec. 31, 2022.

As the deadline set by PhilHealth for the payment of the 1% contribution differential draws closer, all employers are strongly encouraged to generate the SPA ahead of the deadline to avoid any inconvenience. Payment may be made through current online payment channels.

It is worth noting that a Senate bill was filed to grant the President the power to suspend the scheduled premium hike. However, the bill is still pending with the committees on health and demography, and finance.

PAYING THE 1% CONTRIBUTION DIFFERENTIAL
On Sept. 23, PHIC finally released Advisory No. 2022-0029 announcing the availability of the enhanced Electronic Payment and Reporting System (EPRS) and the guidelines on the generation of the SPA for the 1% contribution differential.  All employers who have paid their contributions at the 3% premium rate through the EPRS are advised of the following:

1. The corresponding SPA for the 1% contribution differential for the affected months will be automatically generated for all the paid periods within 2022 including those paid in advance.

2. The SPA is computed based on the total amount of premium paid and adjusted accordingly up to the P80,000 ceiling.

3. The SPAs will be editable, specifically for the personal share of the employee, to give the employer the liberty to exclude the personal share of employees who have resigned or been separated prior to the adjustment. With this, only the employer’s is to be included in the remittance of the contribution differential. This is only applicable in case the employer has not deducted the contribution differential prior to the resignation or separation of the employee.

4. For post-audit purposes, employers who have edited the auto-generated SPAs are required to generate the Premium Remittance List from the EPRS and have it signed by the person who prepared and certified the report. The signed copy should be submitted to the assigned account officer via e-mail or to the nearest PHIC local health insurance office.

Employers who have yet to pay the full amount of contributions for the affected months are advised to generate a new SPA with the 4% rate.

ENHANCED EPRS LIMITATIONS
One of the limitations of the enhanced EPRS is the inability of users to edit the monthly basic salary (MBS) reported for the months already paid (i.e., January to May 2022). As such, the 1% contribution differential will not be automatically calculated in case the employer has inputted the previous maximum ceiling of P60,000 instead of the actual MBS. For example, let’s take the case of an employee who has an MBS of P64,500 but the previous ceiling of P60,000 was the MBS inputted in EPRS. This will result in an incorrect computation of the 1% contribution differential since the calculation will be based on the P60,000 MBS instead of the actual MBS.

To address this limitation, PhilHealth issued EPRS Advisory No. 49 on Oct. 5 reminding all employers to declare the actual monthly basic salary of all their employees regardless of whether the amount exceeds the prescribed ceiling for the current year (as stated in PhilHealth Circular No. 2018-0001 Item III. D.). In cases where employers have not used the actual MBS for the months to be adjusted in consideration of the 1% contribution differential, they may seek assistance from their assigned PhilHealth account officer. While it is not expressly stated, I suspect that the account officer will assist to manually correct the salary information on PhilHealth’s end.

Another limitation of the enhanced EPRS is that the edit function can only be used once. Once the employee share of a separated employee is removed (i.e., edited to indicate “0”), this can no longer be undone. Hence, employers need to be careful when editing data prior to saving the edited SPA.

Considering the additional costs and administrative work for employers and other direct contributors, PhilHealth should take steps to prevent this from happening again next year. The agency must provide timely advisories to all its members. As we are less than three months away from 2023, the government should take immediate action and decide before year’s end whether the scheduled 0.5% increase in contributions next year will be implemented or deferred. By doing so, it will make it simpler for members to comply with any rate change and avoid complicated retroactive adjustments.

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.

 

Angelo Gabriel Pascua is a senior associate with the Client Accounting Services group of Isla Lipana & Co., the Philippine member firm of the PwC network.

+63 (2) 845-2728

angelo.gabriel.pascua@pwc.com

Biden doubts Putin would use nuclear weapon

Russian President Vladimir Putin — KREMLIN.RU

KYIV — US President Joseph R. Biden said on Wednesday he doubted whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would use a tactical nuclear weapon as Ukraine pleaded for a rapid increase in Western military aid to defend against missile strikes on its cities.

Explosions rocked the Russian-occupied southern towns of Kherson and Melitopol and air raid sirens blared over Kyiv, two days after Russia unleashed a barrage of missiles on Ukrainian towns in a major escalation of the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, under domestic pressure to ramp up the war as his forces have lost ground since early September, ordered Monday’s missile strikes in response to an alleged Ukrainian attack on Russia’s bridge to annexed Crimea last weekend.

In recent weeks, Moscow moved to annex new tracts of Ukraine after referendums widely denounced as illegal, mobilized hundreds of thousands of Russians to fight, and repeatedly threatened to use nuclear arms, stoking alarm in the West.

Mr. Putin is a “rational actor who has miscalculated significantly,” Mr.Biden said in a CNN interview.

Asked how realistic he believed it would be for Mr. Putin to use a tactical nuclear weapon, Mr. Biden responded: “Well, I don’t think he will.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday the military alliance has not noticed any change in Russia’s nuclear posture following the threats.

Ukraine’s military said its forces drove Russian troops out of several settlements near the Russian-occupied town of Beryslav in the Kherson region.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts in Kherson or Melitopol which were reported by Russian media.

Also in the south, Russian missiles destroyed buildings in the Zaporizhzhia region overnight but there were no reports of casualties, regional Governor Oleksandr Starukh said on the Telegram messaging app.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.

Air raid sirens sounded over Kyiv for a third consecutive day, even as residents cleaned up after Monday’s strikes.

“It is not that they are fighting the military, they are just driven by the desire to destroy, destroy, to destroy us,” said Yulia Datsenko, a 38-year-old paramedic, as she surveyed the damage to her apartment.

Monday’s attacks killed 19 people, wounded more than 100 and knocked out power across the country in Moscow’s biggest aerial offensive since the start of its invasion on Feb. 24.

More missile strikes on Tuesday killed seven people in the southeastern town of Zaporizhzhia, a presidential aide said, and left part of the western city of Lviv without power.

About 30% of the entire Ukrainian energy system had been damaged by Russian missile strikes over the past two days, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko told CNN.

AIR DEFENSE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expects a positive response on Wednesday from Western allies in Brussels to his requests for a rapid increase in military aid as the country’s cities faced more Russian missile strikes.

Mr. Zelensky appealed to the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations on Tuesday for more air defense capabilities. The G7 vowed to support Kyiv for “as long as it takes.”

A US-led coalition of some 50 countries known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group will meet in Brussels on Wednesday on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers meeting.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov celebrated the arrival from the United States of what he said were four additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), whose accuracy and longer range have allowed Ukraine to reduce Russia’s artillery advantage.

“HIMARS time,” he wrote on Twitter, was a “good time for Ukrainians and bad time for the occupiers.”

Ukraine on Tuesday received the first of four IRIS-T air defense systems Germany promised to supply, a German defense ministry source said.

The United States said it was speeding up the shipment of NASAMS air defenses to Ukraine. Washington has already provided more than $16.8 billion worth of security aid to Ukraine during the war.

‘UNCONTROLLED ESCALATION’
The G7 — which groups the United States, Germany, France, Japan, Britain, Italy and Canada — pledged continued “financial, humanitarian, military, diplomatic and legal support … for as long as it takes” to Ukraine, it said in a statement.

It also condemned “indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilian populations” as war crimes and said Mr. Putin would be held to account for them.

Moscow, which calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation” to eliminate dangerous nationalists and protect Russian speakers, has accused the West of escalating and prolonging the conflict by supporting Kyiv.

Kyiv and its Western backers accuse Russia of an unprovoked land grab in Ukraine. And Mr. Zelensky on Tuesday again ruled out peace talks with Mr. Putin.

In an interview on state television, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was open to talks with the United States or with Turkey on ways to end the war, now in its eighth month, but had yet to receive any serious proposal to negotiate.

Washington dismissed such offers as “posturing”. — Reuters

Taiwan says China looking at Ukraine war to develop ‘hybrid warfare’ strategies

XANDREASWORK-UNSPLASH

TAIPEI — China is looking at the experience of the war in Ukraine to develop “hybrid warfare” strategies against Taiwan including using drones and psychological pressure, a senior Taiwanese security official said on Wednesday.

Taiwan has been carefully studying the lessons of the Ukraine war to inform how it may react should China, which views the democratically ruled island as its own territory, ever makes good on threats to use force to enforce its sovereignty claim.

China mounted military exercises around Taiwan in August to express its anger at a visit to Taipei by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and it has maintained its military activities since then, though at a scaled-back pace.

Speaking in parliament, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau Director-General Chen Ming-tong said China was also paying attention to what was happening in Ukraine.

“This year, the communist military has borrowed from the experience of the Russia-Ukraine war to develop ‘hybrid warfare’ against Taiwan and strengthen its combat training and preparation against strong enemies,” he told lawmakers.

After China’s August drills, it expanded its “grey zone” and hybrid activities against Taiwan, especially with the use of drones that have flown both near Taiwan-controlled islands off China’s coast and into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, Mr. Chen said.

Taiwan says China’s “grey-zone” warfare campaign involves irregular tactics to exhaust a foe without resorting to open combat, like frequently flying into Taiwan’s air defense zone and forcing Taiwan’s air force to scramble.

China has released images of Taiwan’s military online to “slander” it and attack the government, he said, referring to video that circulated on Chinese social media in August of Taiwanese soldiers on offshore islands taken by drones.

These activities “highlight that the Chinese communists have increased their cognitive warfare, grey zone activities and other hybrid methods, which have constituted a new form of threat to national security,” Mr. Chen added.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China has blamed Taiwan for the increase in tensions, saying it is “colluding” with foreign forces against Beijing to promote the island’s formal independence.

Mr. Chen said China’s military threats had coalesced support from the United States and its allies for Taiwan to ensure what happened to Ukraine would not be repeated across the Taiwan Strait.

This will enhance Taiwan’s ability to deal with China and deter “their plots to attack Taiwan,” he said.

Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation”. — Reuters

Not ‘lying flat’: China to persist with tough COVID policies

REUTERS

BEIJING — China will persist with its COVID-19 policies to guard against new coronavirus strains and the risks they bring, the official newspaper of the Communist Party warned in a commentary for the third straight day, crushing hopes of any near-term easing.

“Lying flat is not advisable, and to win (the COVID battle) while lying flat is not possible,” People’s Daily wrote on Wednesday, referring to a phrase in China that denotes doing nothing.

China has been grappling with a COVID resurgence after the National Day “Golden Week” holiday this month and the emergence of new Omicron subvariants, including the highly transmissible BF.7, days before a key Party congress where Xi Jinping is expected to extend his leadership.

Some big cities, including Shanghai, have tightened preventive measures such as requiring residents to be tested for the virus more frequently. One city in southwest China has even offered cash rewards to residents who report on individuals attempting to conceal their travel histories.

China’s health authority reported on Wednesday 1,760 new local cases for Oct. 11, down from 2,089 a day earlier. Megacities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Xian all found new cases, though numbers were just in the double digits.

Despite China’s small case load compared with the rest of the world, and the toll its COVID lockdowns and restrictions have exacted on the economy and population, China has urged its people to accept the measures, quashing any speculation that it would relax its policies.

“Only by insisting on dynamically clearing (cases as they arise) could huge losses arising from losing control of the epidemic be avoided to the full extent,” People’s Daily wrote.

“Once epidemic prevention and control is relaxed, a large number of people will be infected within a short period of time, a large number of severe cases and deaths will occur, resulting in a run on medical resources.”

The impact of China’s COVID policies has been felt across the world.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday cut its 2022 and 2023 economic growth forecasts for China to 3.2% and 4.4%, respectively, saying the frequent lockdowns under the country’s zero-COVID policy have taken a toll on its economy.

Due to the size of the Chinese economy and its importance for international supply chains, the COVID disruptions will also weigh on global trade and activity, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook.

NO POLICY EASING
“I can’t believe folks still think it will ease,” said a foreigner working as a teacher in Shanghai, speaking on condition of anonymity. “My partner and I officially gave notice to our employers this week. We will permanently leave China at the end of our current contracts in June 2023.”

The two have been trapped in Xishuangbanna, a popular tourist destination in the subtropical south of Yunnan province, since early October.

At first confined to the district where their hotel was situated, they were later forbidden from even stepping out of their hotel room.

This week, they have been allowed to leave Xishuangbanna if they test negative for at least three days and if they can find a flight back to Shanghai.

But quarantine looms on their return. 

“We cannot go to our apartment because it is sealed off,” he said. “Our neighbors remain in central quarantine for most of this week. Those flying to Shanghai from Xishuangbanna seem to be quarantined in hotels.”

Elsewhere in Yunnan, a city of 5.7 million, Qujing, said on Monday that residents who report on individuals trying to conceal travel to COVID-risky areas such as Tibet and Xinjiang will get a 500 yuan ($70) reward.

Residents who single out close contacts of such travelers will receive 2,000 yuan. If the PCR test result of the reported individual is positive, a “big” reward will be given. — Reuters

‘Flying car’ makes first public flight in Dubai

HEYXPENG.COM

DUBAI — A “flying car” built by Chinese electronic vehicle maker Xpeng, Inc. made its first public flight in the United Arab Emirates, as the company works towards launching the electric aircraft on international markets.

The X2 is a two-seater electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that is lifted by eight propellers — two at each corner of the vehicle.

Monday’s unmanned, 90-minute test flight in Dubai was described by its manufacturer as an “important base for the next generation of flying cars.”

“We are making step-by-step (moves) to the international market,” said Minguan Qiu, general manager of Xpeng Aeroht. “First we selected Dubai city because Dubai is the most innovative city in the world.” — Reuters

Coronation of King Charles to be held in May 2023

ARNAUD BOUISSOU/COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG

LONDON — Britain’s King Charles III will be crowned at London’s Westminster Abbey next May in a ceremony set to follow the traditional pageantry used for anointing monarchs over the last 1,000 years, Buckingham Palace announced on Tuesday.

Charles, 73, automatically became king on the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II last month, but the grand coronation ceremony for him and his wife Camilla, who will be crowned queen, will now take place on Saturday, May 6.

“The coronation will reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry,” the palace said in a statement.

The ceremony, a solemn and religious event which will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, usually comes several months after the accession of the new monarch.

Kings and queens of England, and later Britain and the United Kingdom, have been crowned at Westminster Abbey since William the Conqueror in 1066. Charles is the 41st monarch in a line that traces its origins back to William, and he will be the oldest monarch to be crowned.

His mother, who died aged 96 at her Scottish holiday home, holds the record for the longest reign at 70 years.

British media have reported that Charles wants to scale down some of the customary grandeur around the coronation, mindful that it would come as the country grapples with a cost of living crisis.

The palace said it would maintain the “core elements” of the traditional ceremony “while recognizing the spirit of our times”.

Elizabeth’s coronation as queen on June 2, 1953, was the first to be televised and was regarded as a milestone in modernizing the monarchy, a move that her husband Prince Philip was said to have pushed for strongly.

The Abbey, whose royal links are extensive, was the setting for Elizabeth’s funeral service and it was also where Charles’s son and now heir, Prince William, married his wife Kate.

Charles is king and head of state not only of the United Kingdom but of 14 other realms including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. — Reuters

EV way of life

PRECIOUS MADUBUIKE-UNSPLASH

I read recently a story by Rachel Wolfe in the Wall Street Journal on how she and a companion rented an electric car for a four-day road trip but ended up spending more time charging the vehicle than they did sleeping. Also, their 2,000-mile (3,200 kilometers) round trip to Chicago from New Orleans and back cost them $175 (P10,150 at P58:$1) in charging services.

The distance of their four-day trip is like three round trips to Laoag, Ilocos Norte from Manila (500 kilometers one way or 1,000 kilometers round trip), plus a bit of driving around Northern Luzon. And for such a trip, with a vehicle capable of doing 12 kilometers per liter, fuel consumption will be roughly 270 liters. For a diesel-fed vehicle, total fuel cost at P74 per liter will be around P20,000.

Going over these numbers, an electric vehicle seems to make sense with respect to “energy” cost, considering high fuel prices nowadays. And, with no emission to boot. The turnoff, however, is that while electric vehicles or EVs are now available in the local market, their sticker prices are still high compared to regular vehicles. Worse, there are only a few charging stations operating in and out of the metropolis.

“I figured driving the brand-new Kia EV6 I’d rented would be a piece of cake,” wrote Wolfe. “Over four days, we spent $175 on charging. We estimated the equivalent cost for gas in a Kia Forte would have been $275, based on the AAA average national gas price [at the time]. That $100 savings cost us many hours in waiting time,” she added.

Her main issue was the lack of charging stations, particularly quick chargers, in many places along their way. Secondary to this was the long charging times if and when a charger is actually available. In contrast, here and abroad, fuel stations dot main highways and thoroughfares, and filling up doesn’t usually take more than 10-15 minutes. With EVs to date, the compromise is on one’s time, and its cost.

Based on the EV’s estimated battery range of up to 310 miles, Wolfe initially planned to charge the EV once or twice each day and plug in near the hotel overnight. During the trip, however, they realized that many chargers require around eight hours for a full charge, and only a few fast chargers can do 80% charge in 20 to 30 minutes — way longer than stopping for gas, Wolfe noted.

Thus, Wolfe’s trip was stressful, to say the least. She noted that when they pulled out of New Orleans, the car’s battery level ticked down “15% over 35 miles,” describing the matter as “disconcerting.” So, they decided to pull over and charge. And while a “quick charge” was estimated to take only five minutes, based on their calculations, the car dashboard indicated an hour. In the end, after unplugging, they gained “a measly 13% [charge] in 40 minutes.”

“Our real troubles begin when we can’t find the wall-mounted charger at the Kia dealership in Meridian… Not many people use the charger, the mechanic tells us when we return. We soon see why. Once up and running, our dashboard tells us a full charge, from 18% to 100%, will take three-plus hours,” Wolfe wrote.

Given the long charging times, by the time the pair reached their next charging station, at a Mercedes-Benz dealership outside Birmingham, Alabama, “we’ve already missed our dinner reservations in Nashville — still 200 miles away,” Wolfe wrote. “We are beat when we finally stumble into our Nashville hotel at 12:30 a.m.”

There is no doubt, however, that with EV, one saves a lot on fuel costs. But less money for fuel also means more time spent charging the vehicle. Also, the unpredictability of battery consumption and the limited availability of charging stations make the switch to EV an even more difficult choice.

Apparently, even weather is a factor. Wolfe and company noted that “as intense wind and rain whip around us, the car cautions, ‘Conditions have not been met’ for its cruise-control system. Soon the battery starts bleeding life. What began as a 100-mile cushion between Chicago and our planned first stop in Effingham, Ill., has fallen to 30.” She added, “Back on the road, we can’t even make it 200 miles on a full charge en route to Miner, Mo. Clearly, tornado warnings and electric cars don’t mix. The car’s highway range actually seems worse than its range in cities.”

Wolfe’s article noted that factors that affect fuel consumption in ordinary cars also impact battery drain on EVs. Average speed, altitude changes, and driving on inclines, passenger and cargo weight, and wind resistance as well as rain all affect how an EV and its battery perform. And with EVs, to save on battery charge, some electric accessories must be turned off.

“To save power, we turn off the car’s cooling system and the radio, unplug our phones and lower the windshield wipers to the lowest possible setting while still being able to see. Three miles away from the station, we have one mile of estimated range,” she wrote, with the dashboard reminding the pair to “Charge, Urgently!”

I am curious to read anything written locally about doing a road trip in the Philippine in an EV. While a number of motorists are considering the switch, given high fuel prices, there is still little information on the state of “charging infrastructure” in the country. I am also curious to come across any information on how EVs might perform in Metro Manila’s traffic jams.

I have no doubt that EVs will eventually overtake fossil fuel-fed vehicles as the dominant mode of transportation in the world. How long before this “future” happens locally is anybody’s guess. But I believe only with major improvements in EVs’ battery life, and the battery charging infrastructure, can we expect significant changes in the local motoring landscape. Battery is life.

 

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

matort@yahoo.com

The first 100 days: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

PHILIPPINE STAR/KRIZ JOHN ROSALES

I am pleased to share with readers a post that Christine Tang and I wrote on Oct. 10 for subscribers of Globalsource Partners (globalsourcepartners.com), a New York based network of independent analysts.

One hundred days have passed since Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., the late dictator’s son and namesake, was sworn in as the 17th President of the Philippines. So far, he has behaved as we expected, i.e., not like his father. Although we had said that this is both good and bad, the overall net sentiment of businesses seems to lean towards the former. That his main concern is the redemption of the family name is perhaps the key takeaway during these early days. Below is our assessment of the positives and negatives of his government so far.

THE GOOD
1. The President’s appointments for the economic cluster deserve the first mention. We count here not just the core oversight functions — finance, planning, budget and industry, central bank — but several key agencies (the “++” for lack of a better term) — foreign affairs, public works, transportation, energy, trade and industry, labor and migrant workers. The naming of a five-person private sector advisory council directly in touch with the President seemed to have bolstered confidence that this will be a business-friendly administration.

2. A medium-term fiscal consolidation program containing concrete macro targets that seemed to have convinced markets of the new government’s commitment to fiscal sustainability. The sovereign has continued to maintain its investment grade credit rating and despite current volatile global financial conditions, was able to raise $2 billion worth of global bonds from the international capital markets at relatively tight spreads.

3. Fast-tracking the revision of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law which will help rekindle private sector interest in investing in infrastructure. Keeping public infrastructure investments at 5% of GDP is an important plank of the new administration and the hope is that public-private partnerships will help government overcome its tight budget constraint post-COVID. As it is, the 2023 budget does not explicitly provide budget cover for donor-supported, mass transport projects that are expected to begin construction.

4. Decisiveness in acting on major pending issues that threatened the country’s energy security, including approval of Prime Infrastructure Capital’s acquisition of Shell Philippines Exploration BV’s (SPEX) 45% stake in the Malampaya gas field, as well as determination by the Department of Justice that renewable energy is not covered by 60-40 restriction on foreign equity. Both moves would pave the way for much needed investments in oil exploration and electricity generating capacity to improve energy security. Additionally, there was broad support for the Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision denying the joint petition of Metro Manila’s electricity distributor and one of its power suppliers for fuel pass-through price adjustments that would have contravened the basic terms of the power supply agreement that the two parties entered into voluntarily.

5. Reverting to a more centrist approach to foreign policy after the two previous administrations’ polar positions, i.e., Aquino’s overly pro-US then Duterte’s overly pro-China stances. Unlike his predecessor, the President appears inclined to follow the lead of his foreign affairs secretary, a career diplomat, as gleaned from his well-received speech at the UN General Assembly last month and a constructive meeting with the US President at the sidelines. Observers take this to mean that the balance will likely tilt more towards the US although the President’s personal ties with the neighborhood Goliath will likely mean continuing friendly relations with China.

THE BAD
The President boasted of having put in place a “functional government” in his first 100 days, an achievement that seems to us par for the course. Yet even this we find hard to agree with given his inability to name the key person, i.e., a health secretary, to manage COVID-19’s transition to an endemic disease. When asked, he explained that consultants are still working on a “new structure” of the health department to make it responsive to all aspects of public health. Although the more sympathetic could appreciate the care being taken to choose the health chief, many observers have taken to crossing their fingers in hopes that despite a stalled vaccination program happening alongside the education department’s back-to-school mandate, the immunity wall built up thus far would be strong enough to avert another wave of infections. The critical problem of lack of leadership extends to the scandal-ridden health insurance agency that has an estimated actuarial life of only about five years.

The other disappointment is that the President has yet to convene the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC). The body, which is composed of the leaderships of the executive and legislative branches as well as representatives from public and private sectors, is crucial to ensure that the two branches work in sync and priority reforms are not delayed in congress. As it is, we worry that the gathering global gloom leaves the economic team much less time to deliver on promises and with more and more analysts expecting domestic economic growth to markedly underperform government’s target next year, congress needs to focus soonest on the President’s most urgent tax and expenditure reforms.

THE UGLY
We have written about the leadership vacuum in the Department of Agriculture when the President appointed himself secretary and its early fall out, the sugar crisis, how it was a test of the President’s leadership mettle, and how the mismanaged crisis may have sent the wrong signals to well-meaning technocrats in government. The belated resignation of his executive secretary gives hope that in time, the President would develop better instincts to course correct sooner.

At this time however, his flip-flopping on the issue of importing sugar, a move backed by his point person in the agriculture department and by his economic managers based on data showing production shortfalls, raises the question of how he intends to address the food crisis that he himself brought to the fore. There are several upcoming issues, most important of which are estimated shortfalls in rice outputs and the end-year expiry of Executive Order 171 issued by the previous administration allowing freer importation of major food items and coal.

Year-to-date, food inflation accounted for about a third of the headline inflation rate. Per the latest Pulse Asia survey, controlling inflation which is “the only majority urgent national concern, the plurality opinion among Filipino adults (42%) is one of disapproval for the national administration’s performance.” Given the predominantly supply-driven nature of domestic inflation, the BSP has repeatedly stressed the “importance of urgent non-monetary government interventions to ease domestic supply constraints.” n

Postscript. All told, so far, much more good than bad. The LEDAC was convened the day after we released our GSP report. We hope LEDAC will meet regularly, at least once a month, as it did during President Fidel Ramos’ administration.

 

Romeo L. Bernardo was finance undersecretary from 1990-96. He is a trustee/director of the Foundation for Economic Freedom, the Management Association of the Philippines, and the FINEX Foundation. He also serves as a board director in leading companies in banking and financial services, telecommunication, energy, food and beverage, education, real estate, and others.

globalsourcepartners.com

romeo.lopez.bernard@gmail.com

The Senior Citizen

GERT STOCKMANS-UNSPLASH

Early this month of October, the world observed the International Day of the Older Person. And a few days later, the world celebrated the International Day of the Girl. Other commemorations are held for other sectors throughout the year for various reasons, one of which is to focus on the role of each sector in helping improve the condition of mankind. Another reason is to draw attention to the fact that in many societies, these same sectors are regarded as vulnerable members of society.

We focus on the sector to which we belong, the older person, the elderly, the senior citizen, men and women of more than 60 years.

The Help Age Global Network (the Network) provides some statistics which will be useful in analyzing and discussing the situation of the Filipino older person.

The Network is a diverse group of more than 150 organizations in over 85 countries which supports millions of older people to live safe, dignified, and healthy lives.

According to the Network’s information material, the Help Age International “represents the network supporting member organizations and inspiring a movement for change to improve the older person’s quality of life around the world.” Members can benefit from the Network’s strong reputation and raise the profile of local organizations. Obviously, local organizations are encouraged to leverage Help Age International’s reputation to enhance the former’s proposals, fund raising applications, and public visibility.

Help Age International serves to unite like-minded organizations to collaborate and strengthen national, regional, and global influence. It follows the age-old formula: “We are stronger together.”

What is the situation of older people in the country? Fact: the number of older people is growing rapidly, faster than growth in the total population. The Network states that in 2000, there were 4.6 million senior citizens representing about 6% of the Philippine’s total population. In two decades, this has grown to 9.4 million older people, or about 8.6% of the total population. The World Population Prospects 2019 projects that by 2050, older people will make up around 16.5% of the total population, or about 24 million in absolute terms. It is to be noted that the population of the Philippines was about 26 million in 1960. The 13 year olds then, are about 75 now.

Those of us who belong to the group of older people can empathize and actually feel and experience that the elderly need care and support, more than ever, as if they were infants all over again.

An aging population, as reiterated by the Network, increases demand for health services. Older people suffer from — and do we know this — both degenerative and communicable diseases due to the aging of the body’s immune system. The leading causes of morbidity are infections. Visual impairment, difficulty in walking, chewing, hearing, osteoporosis, arthritis, and incontinence are other common health-related problems.

Aside from the usual health issues, the elderly have to deal with poverty and even extreme hunger: very often, older people are more difficult to employ with a commensurate decent wage.

The Network states that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reports that nearly a third (31%) of older people were living in poverty in 2000. Currently, the number is estimated to be 1.3 million older people.

The Network adds that half of all older people (57.1%) were employed in 2000. More males were employed (63.6%) than women (37.4%). The majority of those employed (41%) were involved in the primary industry or primary economic activities such as farming, forestry work, and fishing. According to the latest World Social Protection Report 2017-19, just 39.8% of people older than the statutory pensionable age in the Philippines receive an old-age pension (contributory, non-contributory, or both).

Different perspectives are offered by other reports of working older persons. ABS-CBN news reported last week that nearly half of Filipino senior citizens are still working and many faces health risks due to poverty. ABS-CBN based its report on research conducted by the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM).

The University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) states that about 46% of the 9.2 million older persons are still engaged in economic activity or have to work for a living. “Almost half the number of older persons are still working and unable to make ends meet for their daily living, more so, for their health needs, said former POPCOM executive director Juan Antonio Perez III.

The UPPI adds that out of 5,958 seniors it polled, 57% reported experiencing “considerable difficulty” in meeting household expenses, while 14% said their households experienced hunger in the past three months.

We were not able to determine the percentage of Filipino older persons in the rural areas which would be an interesting figure to have since the country remains largely agricultural. Data we have seen show that the majority of Filipino farm workers are nearing senior citizen age as they are now in the 57-59 age category. Average monthly income is about P10,500 which translates to about P350 per day, way below the urban minimum daily wage. What is even more alarming and which does not bode well for further training, especially in new farming technology, is that a majority of farmers’ highest educational attainment is grade five. In effect therefore, the country’s food security is dependent on a fairly elderly population that needs rigorous training in technology to catch up with the rest of the world.

While the scenario for Filipino older persons appears gloomy, to be fair, government has enacted laws that respond to the needs of older persons, the latest of which is Republic Act known as the “Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010.” Privileges include discounts on food, medicines, transportation, and healthcare services for poorer older persons such as free medical services on government hospitals, discounted services in private hospitals and clinics, free vaccines, discounted medicines, and mandatory PhilHealth coverage, among others.

While all these benefits are welcomed by older persons, senior citizen rights advocates like election lawyer Romulo Macalintal carefully monitor the compliance by government and private sector with the senior citizen law.

Macalintal has won cases against corporations which have refused to grant the discounts and benefits due the elderly. Macalintal still wonders at the sudden deletion in the expanded senior citizens law of discounts on RFIDs at tollways and expressways.

Amidst all these issues of compliance, certain organizations have been proactive in the exercise of corporate social responsibility and employed the elderly and persons with disabilities. Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures (SPAV) has, through an agreement with the city of Manila, employed seniors in its Manila stores as greeters who meet customers upon arrival at the pizza outlets. These senior greeters escort customers to their tables and make them feel at home before a waiter gets their orders. These older persons are not allowed to wait on tables which require special training. Lamoiyan Corp., on the other hand, employs Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), specifically those with hearing disabilities which is, like SPAVs hiring of older persons, equally noble and meritorious as both assist the vulnerable and abide by the principle of equal opportunity.

There are more examples of the modern day “good Samaritan” and it is hoped that their tribe keeps on increasing for there is just too much work to be done in helping the vulnerable. Every initiative is welcome.

 

Philip Ella Juico’s areas of interest include the protection and promotion of democracy, free markets, sustainable development, social responsibility and sports as a tool for social development. He obtained his doctorate in business at De La Salle University. Dr. Juico served as secretary of Agrarian Reform during the Corazon C. Aquino administration.

Senior moments

KRAKENIMAGES-UNSPLASH

NOT TOO LONG AGO, you only had to remember your PIN number for ATM transactions. (You can now use fingerprints.) Now, with online banking and digital wallets, other usernames and passwords have crowded into your memory bank. And for your safety, passwords need to be changed periodically. (Sir, you’ve used that password before.) Sure, you can write them down somewhere — but will you remember where you kept that file?

“Senior moments” (SM — they’ve got it all) are so readily invoked by those who routinely get discounts from restaurants and drugstores (but not barbershops and spas) and don’t mind being given dagger looks for jumping the queue to the airport check-in. SM’s encompass lapses of memory especially visited on those who routinely dye their hair and skip eyebrows and nose hairs.

Memory loss is not always of the severe Alzheimer variety where a sufferer seems to meet new people every day, even if they look the same. Its more common occurrence has to do with partial recall and momentary lapses.

You attend a reunion where you are supposed to know everyone, and then certain faces draw a blank. Okay, masked people who greet you can understand if you don’t recognize them. But what if they take off the face mask, and they still look unfamiliar?

You try to reconfigure the face and body to shed 30 pounds, not necessarily to be able to put this on a billboard, but just to match it to its high school version that may be more familiar. It becomes embarrassing when a stranger approaches your table and you order coffee, only for this unidentified alien to reveal himself as a high school classmate. This can be embarrassing, unless waiting on tables is really his new job. (Can a sob story be far behind?)

You are walking around in a mall and a familiar rotund figure in a gaudy orange blouse approaches you and vigorously shakes your hand and then hugs you. Clearly, the person knows you enough to exchange body heat, even if only for a moment. You vaguely remember where she works and ask how the company is doing. She is taken aback — you know I was forced to take early retirement; you even attended my farewell party. (Now you are sinking in a memory swamp.) You quickly excuse yourself — Catch you later. I need to get a root canal.

It is at random occasions like funerals that the memory lapse becomes pronounced. If no one looks familiar, including the special guest of honor in sublime repose, is it possible you are in the wrong chapel? It feels like a dream, and you are lying down.

Memory resides in different parts of the brain. Short-term memory (I have this recurring dream of forgetting to return a library book that is racking up fines) resides in the hippocampus, named after the seahorse, as it’s shaped like one. Short-term memory is eventually stored in the larger long-term memory which holds your date of birth, Cassius’ speech to Brutus in Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” (I do not know what you and other men think of this life…), multiplication tables, the seven deadly sins, Latin declensions of nouns, and your first trip abroad.

It is comforting to know that even when having senior moments, information is not irretrievably lost. Partial clues are enough to send you to Google and feed it with verbal clues and partial names. The mobile phone and notebook keep a directory of numbers with their corresponding names. The list has been accumulating over maybe 15 years. This is net of the deletions— and don’t ever call me again.

Although scrolling down this alphabetical list, you are sure to encounter an unfamiliar name (Lola) perhaps encoded (Not granny) — who is this person? It is too dangerous to send a suggestive text message to this unknown entity. It needs to be clearly harmless — Sister, when is our next prayer meeting? One is likely to get an angry — “hu dis?” Sorry, ma’am, wrong send.

What about those in the directory that have already passed away? Does one delete accordingly? What if one gets a call from an uncancelled but already deceased caller? It’s best not to answer.

 

Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda

ar.samson@yahoo.com

1...5,7695,7705,771...14,238Page 5,770 of 14,238
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube