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Youth groups petition for voter registration extension 

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

MORE THAN 60 youth groups have signed a petition asking the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to extend the voter registration period, especially in areas that have been placed on strict lockdown.   

“The aim is that all of us, with no one left behind, would be able to vote in 2022,” Julianna Oropeo from Youth with Senator Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, said in mixed English and Filipino in an online event Thursday.   

Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, was at the forum in support of the youth’s call.   

“When you come of age, voter’s registration becomes one of your first and greatest responsibilities. This is your first opportunity to understand how your voice affects the lives of Filipinos around you, and for generations to come,” said Ms. Hontiveros in mixed English and Filipino.  

The petition was initiated by the First Time Voters Network (FTVN) and Akbayan Youth.    

Comelec has previously announced that the Sept. 30 deadline for registration, which started last year, will not be extended in consideration of other activities under the 2022 election calendar. Filing of candidacies start on Oct. 1.    

The petition proposes several measures such as extending the registration by at least one month, extending registration hours and allow for registration during weekends, provide simplified digital procedures for the revalidation of 6.3 million voters delisted by Comelec, and set clear guidelines that accommodate alternative but legitimate forms of identification for first time voters, especially students and out-of-school youth who may not have easy access to documentary requirements. 

Akbayan Youth Leader RJ Naguit said the entire registration period has not been maximized due to temporary closure of Comelec offices and satellite registration sites during lockdown periods.    

Based on FTVN’s estimate, as many as 13 million voters may be disenfranchised if no extensions are made. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan 

Guillermo Rigondeaux biggest test for ‘Quadro Alas’ Casimero

FILIPINO WBO bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero is seen to be tested hard by Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux in their title fight in California this weekend. — ALVIN S. GO

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

FILIPINO World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion John Riel “Quadro Alas” Casimero is to defend his title against Cuba’s Guillermo Rigondeaux this weekend in what could well be his biggest test as a fighter to date, said one local boxing analyst.

Ormoc City native Mr. Casimero (30-4, 21 KOs) is to battle Mr. Rigondeaux (20-1, 13 KOs) in a scheduled 12-rounder at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, on Sunday, Aug. 15 (Manila time).

It will be the first fight of 31-year-old Mr. Casimero since successfully defending his title against Duke Micah of Ghana in September last year where he won by technical knockout in the third round.

The Rigondeaux fight is the third title defense of Mr. Casimero after he won the WBO title in November 2019.

For boxing analyst Nissi Icasiano, this latest title defense of Mr. Casimero will be a tough one considering the top-quality challenge the 40-year-old Mr. Rigondeaux will be presenting.

“Stylistically, it’s a nightmare for Casimero on paper. It’s going to be an uphill battle for the Filipino, and there is no need to exaggerate it because he is facing a boxer who has been bred differently,” said Mr. Icasiano in an online interview with BusinessWorld.

While Mr. Casimero has logged more action in the ring than the Cuban and the latter has been exposed as a fighter in recent outings, there is still no denying how fluidly and effectively Mr. Rigondeaux, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, has translated his skill set from the amateur ranks, the analyst said.

“Rigondeaux is the more proven fighter, and his evasiveness and boxing savvy will likely be the difference here,” Mr. Icasiano further shared.

But the analyst is not outright counting out Mr. Casimero as he is still the champion and has some things going for him as well.

The Filipino bet, however, has to come out with all he has to successfully fend off Mr. Rigondeaux.

“The talent is there and Casimero has done enough to deserve the chance to share the ring with Rigondeaux. But the truth is we haven’t seen Casimero against an elite competition. You would argue that Zolane Tete or Amnat Ruenroeng are his best competition. This will easily be the biggest test for Casimero,” Mr. Icasiano said.

Adding, “Casimero has never seen anywhere close to the talent of Rigondeaux or somebody who will mesmerize him with the same boxing brilliance like what he’ll face. He has to dig deep into his arsenal to offset Rigondeaux.”

The analyst said Mr. Casimero should take cue from Mr. Rigondeaux’s last fight against Venezuelan Solis in 2020 where the Cuban got hurt early in the contest and just tried to survive for the majority of the time the rest of the way to win by split decision.

“Casimero should look into that (Solis fight) because he has the punch that packs more power between the both of them. He has to be very active as well by pushing the pace and bringing the fight to Rigo,” Mr. Icasiano said.

Predicting the outcome of the fight is not easy, said Mr. Icasiano, just as he noted that “the first four [rounds] of the fight will be crucial.”

But if he is to call it, he said, “Probably, a decision in favor of Rigondeaux. Maybe eight rounds to four.”

The Casimero-Rigondeaux fight is organized by Premier Boxing Champions.

Filipino Paralympians get additional travel allowance 

THE country’s six para athletes are flying to Japan for the Tokyo Paralympic Games with extra motivation to do well.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William I. Ramirez announced on Thursday that each of the para athletes, their coaches, and accompanying officials will be receiving P100,000 additional allowance, hiking to P150,000 their total allowance for the Aug. 24 to Sept. 5 Games.

At the same time, Mr. Ramirez asked Chef de Mission Francis B. Diaz to encourage his colleagues at the University of the Philippines to prepare the athletes mentally and psychologically, stressing this aspect was a proven formula for the success in the recent Tokyo Olympics.

Mr. Ramirez also told the para athletes to “enjoy your game.”

Wheelchair racer Jerrold Mangliwan (para athletics) was designated to carry the country’s colors in the opening ceremony while Ernie Gawilan (swimming) will have the same responsibility in the closing ceremony.

Also on the team are discus thrower Jeanette Aceveda, swimmer Gary Bejino, taekwondo jin Allain Ganapin and powerlifter Achelle Guion.

Mr. Ramirez said that the PSC board of commissioners did not hesitate to approve the additional allowances for the para athletes.

“The PSC also added travel allowances to our athletes in the Olympics because of the high cost of living in Japan,” he said.

The para athletes thanked the PSC chairman and the commissioners, saying they are “happily overwhelmed with the love and care the sports agency has been giving them.”

They also vowed to bring their best game, enjoy the experience and continue to aim for a podium finish.

Chery Tiggo extends PVL finals series

The Chery Tiggo Crossovers took Game Two of their best-of-three PVL Open Conference finals series with the Creamline Cool Smashers in four sets on Thursday to force a rubber match. — PVL MEDIA BUREAU

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

The Premier Volleyball League Open Conference finals will go the full route after the Chery Tiggo Crossovers took Game Two of their best-of-three series with the Creamline Cool Smashers in four sets on Thursday.

Banking on a balanced attack, the Crossovers packed the heat to get the better of the Cool Smashers, 25-18, 17-25, 25-16, 25-21, at the PCV Socio-Civic & Cultural Center in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte, and level the series at a game apiece.

Jaja Santiago led the charge for Chery Tiggo and got ample support from the other stalwarts of the team as well as from the auxiliaries.

The Crossovers used a spirited charge late in the fourth set to close out the Cool Smashers and send the series to a deciding game on Friday.

Down, 15-16, by the second technical break, Ms. Santiago rallied her team in outscoring Creamline, 10-5, the rest of the way to book the win.

Ms. Santiago tallied 25 points — 20 coming from attacks, three blocks and two aces.

Chery Tiggo also got valuable contributions from starters Dindin Santiago-Manabat (18 points), Shaiya Adorador (nine) and Maika Ortiz (six) as well as reserve Joy Dacoron (eight).

Alyssa Valdez paced the Cool Smashers with 18 points, followed by Jema Galanza (17) and Tots Carlos (15).

Game Three of the finals is set at 3 p.m. and can be seen over One Sports and One Sports+.

Economic growth, a question of anchor

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Quarterly Performance (Q2 2021)

All the broadsheets bannered that the Philippines’ second quarter real GDP growth of 11.8% ended the recession here, representing the fastest pace in 32 years. That was a big relief to us because if this momentum is sustained, we should see the revival of business activities, opening of more jobs, and reduction of hunger and poverty in the land.

This was not exactly the whole story.

BusinessWorld’s infographic was most useful to the public’s economic understanding because while the year-on-year growth of 11.8% was truly impressive for its speed, we see a different story when we assess the seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter growth. On this basis, the economy shrank by 1.3%. The website of the Philippine Statistics Authority’ (PSA) shows tables and tables of quarterly output in current and real terms that this important analytical fact is lost.

Most telling in this chart is that economic growth seems to be losing steam. We should look at the 11.8% year-on-year growth only in a historical context against the second quarter last year. That period spans one year; that is history. Monetary Board Member Felipe Medalla would be the first to argue that doing so is not very useful. Base effects would be most pronounced. Instead, comparing the second quarter 2021 with the first quarter 2021 actually shows a drop from a positive 0.7% to a negative 1.3%. Such quarterly drops have been quite obvious since the fourth quarter of last year. This data series is cleansed of seasonal factors and hence a fair basis for discerning trends.

Based on the composition of economic growth, we see an uneven pattern. That 11.8% annual growth was vigorously driven by both industry and services but agriculture actually contracted by 0.1%. Demand-wise, investments rose by a whopping 75.5% while private consumption climbed by 7.2%. But public spending declined by 4.9%. Imports more than dampened exports. The key to achieving inclusive, sustainable, and self-sustaining growth is for all sectors and demand components to be contributing in concert. Consumers obviously continue to chill; they remain fearful of malls and eating places. Perhaps only the brave souls dared to remain mobile because many of them needed to work and eat.

While base effects were initially dismissed, they were used to explain the decline in public spending associated with “the roll-out of the largest ever emergency subsidies in the second quarter of 2020.” Fundamentally, this means the government was correct in spending big last year, but decided to retreat this year while the pandemic has not even relented.

The second quarter growth story without considering future risks is already ominous. First half real GDP growth averaged 3.7%. The PSA’s National Statistician Dennis Mapa did for us the math of what to expect for the whole year. To achieve the lower end of the official target of 6%, Mapa explained the economy has to deliver at least 8.2% for the second half of 2021. If we target the high end of 7%, we need to expand by at least 10.2%.

Whether this is doable is very much premised on how we could work ourselves out of this pandemic.

Needless to say, a singular focus on pandemic management is essential. Medical forecasts of the potency and the speed of the Delta variant are telling us we may not have seen the worst yet. Daily incidence could rise by multiples of what we are seeing today in the tens of thousands.

What is happening in various capitals and many parts in the US confirms to us one important lesson and this is the viciousness of the virus. It does not banter with fever or flu, it dispenses lockdowns and deaths.

Community transmission is surging exponentially in the US due partly to lack of mask mandates and pervasive hesitancy to get the jab. The unvaccinated adults are super spreading the Delta variant now even to the children. There has been an unseasonal spike in respiratory illnesses among children. Children from three-week-olds to 17-year-olds have been infected. This is now the case in Louisiana where hospital bed space has further shrunk and the demand for doctors and nurses has multiplied. In Florida, infections have been reported by Johns Hopkins University to have increased 51% over the previous week with 134,506 new COVID-19 cases from July 30 to Aug. 5 alone. Of this, 4,615 children were hospitalized, further overwhelming the state’s health facilities.

If this is happening in the US where children generally enjoy a higher level of nutrition and quality of life, and medical facilities are more robust, this could also happen in the Philippines.

Here, we are still in conversation whether children should be vaccinated because of supply issues. This much we got from the recent pronouncement of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG). Contrary to the press statement of the economic managers that “we are expecting the arrival of over 148 million doses of the vaccine,” this Group insists that “our vaccines are not yet enough” and that children “are so resilient and have stronger immunity.” Therefore, no vaccines yet for the minors among us.

First, the Group should look again into the profile of those infected with COVID-19. They should realize that those who are getting sick represent all age groups, even those younger than 19 years old.

Second, on the supply issue, our economic managers should look into the Commission on Audit’s report admonishing the Department of Health’s (DoH) inefficient utilization of funds amounting to P67.32 billion intended for pandemic response last year. For instance, P11.89 billion for the procurement of medical equipment and supplies and hiring of additional health workers has remained unobligated or undisbursed. Some P42.41 billion for COVID-19 related programs and procurements was instead transferred to various implementing agencies without the required Memorandum of Agreement and other supporting documents.

If these funds were properly spent to cover our fight against the pandemic, more adults would have been vaccinated fast and the Delta community transmission could have been broken. And NITAG could also do the math: if we have minors numbering 15 million and each two-dose vaccination would cost us around $80 or P4,000, we would need around P60 billion, much less than the disputed P67.32 billions of DoH funds.

Third, it is unnecessary to experience what Bangladesh is going through today. Its healthcare system is hopelessly breaking down under the third, deadliest wave of COVID-19 infections. Hospital facilities are bursting at their seams. Less than 5% of the population has been fully vaccinated. But Bangladesh decided to ease lockdown measures the other day to reopen the economy and permit people to report for work. Various establishments were allowed to open. The country has little choice but to save whatever is left of its economy. Nearly 25 million people have been consigned to unemployment and poverty.

Yes, it is sensible for the Philippines to pursue parallel efforts to neutralize the virus and grow the economy — while we can. What we would like to see is for both the 2021 and 2022 budgets to be properly disbursed based on right priorities: health, economy, social services. The preoccupation against drugs and insurgency should be thrown to the back burner unless we want our choices to narrow down to the Bangladesh dilemma.

Finally, it will be a disservice to the Filipino people if we continue to raise their expectations about growth. The Development Budget Coordination Committee’s (DBCC) decision to keep to the original growth target of 6-7% for 2021 is a Braveheart effect. Therefore, our economic managers’ most recent statement that “the DBCC will review the recent economic data and the risks associated with the Delta variant to fine-tune our growth targets and adjust our recovery strategies” should be an opportunity to anchor our expectations and strategies on more realistic ground.

Anchoring our expectations to that rather ambitious growth target actually deprives us of having a foretaste of the potential cost of bungling this pandemic and economic challenges. A good anchor should motivate our health authorities to work harder to tame this virus and our economic managers to ensure the elephant in the room gets whipped.

 

Diwa C. Guinigundo is the former Deputy Governor for the Monetary and Economics Sector, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). He served the BSP for 41 years. In 2001-2003, he was Alternate Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC. He is the senior pastor of the Fullness of Christ International Ministries in Mandaluyong.

Disorder and confusion

VICE-PRESIDENT Maria Leonor “Leni” Gerona Robredo checks on an elderly person who is getting her COVID-19 vaccine injection. — WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/VPLENIROBREDOPH

Only the words “disordered” and “confused” can do justice to any attempt to describe the state of Philippine governance, politics, and society in these last 10 months of the Duterte regime, and more than a year after COVID-19 began tormenting these troubled isles.

As distressing as the state of affairs in this country of lost hopes has become, the current chaos could lead to an even greater evil.

The “strong government” many thought the country was finally getting in 2016 that could have helped check the Philippine State’s descent into failure, turned out to be a cruel illusion. That government’s seeming strength — its use of force and intimidation against the citizenry to compel obedience — has further weakened the Philippine State. Empowered by President Rodrigo Duterte, in many places across the archipelago the police and the military have become powers in and for themselves, with their personnel immune from State accountability.

In a number of instances, policemen have killed unarmed citizens without compunction and penalty, and so have some units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Air Force of which has also freely bombed supposedly rebel-influenced communities. The impunity or exemption from punishment of security forces is a sure sign of State weakness and imminent failure.

Strongman rule has failed the citizenry in every area of governance, most specially in the life and death imperatives of containing the COVID-19 pandemic and reviving the economy. There is no visible national plan to address the contagion. When it waned early this year, the regime prematurely took down in the National Capital Region (NCR) its usual lockdown response, only to once again impose it, and then to again take it down in the months that followed.

As the number of cases including the Delta variant surged, it reimposed Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) protocols in NCR this August, to the detriment of the poor and of the vaccination program that is already hampered by the shortage of vaccines.

The regime’s hostile response to any suggestion from any sector for the improvement of its reactive anti-COVID program — if it can be called that at all — helps explain its gross inadequacies.

In 2020, an alliance of medical frontliners called for a lockdown in NCR to enable experts to re-evaluate that program. Although he did place the capital under modified ECQ, Mr. Duterte launched a tirade against the alliance, accusing it of involvement in a so-called plot to remove him from power.

In the current ECQ in the NCR and other provinces, three problems reminiscent of those of 2020 are distressingly evident:

1.) the inadequacy, as a number of city and town mayors have pointed out, of the ayuda (economic aid) for those affected, particularly those workers who have lost their sources of livelihood;

2.) the counterproductive impact of the lockdown on those who are anxiously hoping to get vaccinated; and,

3.) the impending crisis in hospital capacity to care for the infected.

The first is due to the regime failure to include in the 2021 budget any provision for such aid. The second, in which large numbers of people overwhelmed vaccination centers on Aug. 5 and probably helped spread the virus, can be explained by some government sources’ threats that they will withhold aid from the unvaccinated, and Mr. Duterte’s rants that he will have those who refuse to be vaccinated arrested.

As for the third, that catastrophe to public health could have been at least mitigated had the regime, more than a year after, learned enough from the 2020 experience to help construct more hospitals or just additional COVID-19 wings in existing ones by using the billions of pesos at its disposal.

The consequences of this ineptitude are the continuing surge in infections, massive unemployment, and economic decline. But even as the regime and its minions were confusing and alarming much of the populace, the peculiar breed of politicians with which this country has been cursed was not giving politics Philippine-style any rest, and in the process further adding to the chaos.

PDP-Laban’s announcement that it will field Mr. Duterte’s confidant, Christopher “Bong” Go, for president and Mr. Duterte himself for vice-president seems to have written-off a father-and-daughter Sara Duterte-Rodrigo Duterte team in the 2022 elections.

But so unpredictably chaotic has Philippine politics become that it could very well be just a reprise of the Duterte 2016 ruse, this time to prevent his daughter’s being subjected to any scrutiny of her qualifications for the post. She could still be a last-minute substitute for Go, as Mr. Duterte was a substitute for someone else five years ago, two years after he had kept denying any interest in the Presidency.

The roster of possible candidates for the country’s highest elective post is long enough for the 2022 elections to have the same results as those of 2016. In addition to Go and Mr. Duterte’s daughter, the list includes Senator cum boxer Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso, and former police chief, now Senator Panfilo Lacson.

Lacson and his running mate, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, claim to be “reformers,” while Moreno and former Duterte ally Pacquiao have distanced themselves from the Duterte camp. Pacquiao criticized the regime policy on the West Philippine Sea and the surge of corruption in the bureaucracy. Moreno has indirectly taken issue with regime claims regarding its vaccination and aid programs. In response, and in another telling indication of regime priorities, the Department of Interior and Local Governments issued but later withdrew a show cause order against Moreno when he was not yet mayor of Manila. Mr. Duterte then threatened to deny “a metro Manila mayor” ayuda assistance.

Meanwhile, neither the 1Sambayan coalition nor the so-called opposition has announced who its candidate for president will be. Both could ideally field Vice-President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, who, however, seems reluctant to run for that post, given the results of the surveys and her lack of enough resources to run a winnable campaign. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. has also been mentioned as another possible candidate for the post his father held for nearly two decades (1965-1986).

If there is anything these worthies are succeeding in doing, it is to further contribute to voter bewilderment and inability to make any sense of what is going on, and to decide who to best vote for except on the usual name-recall basis.

Lacson and Sotto’s pretensions at reform are similar to Mr. Duterte’s in 2016, and are repudiated by their five-year record of basically supporting the Duterte regime. So is Pacquiao’s sudden awakening to the reality of the regime’s acquiescence to Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea and the corruption that has been metastasizing in it.

There is the undoubtedly capable Vice-President Robredo, who, however, has not been doing well in the surveys, and whose resources, compared to those of the Dutertes and company, are severely limited. Should she choose not to run, the only choice in 2022 will be, as in past elections, the lesser evil from among the motley crew of far from ideal, falsely reformist, and blatantly clueless candidates.

Even that already bleak possibility, however, might not even happen. In the confusion generated by the chaos that is in many ways the handiwork of the trolls and media mercenaries in the pay of the current regime, the country could end up with the greater evil of another, and quite likely even worse, dictatorship reprised.

 

Luis V. Teodoro is on Facebook and Twitter (@luisteodoro).

www.luisteodoro.com

Decarbonization can create growth opportunities

VECTORJUICE-FREEPIK

THE CARBON TRANSITION is accelerating, and every company needs to play a role.

COVID-19 has intensified the race to battle climate change, renewing focus on such critical efforts as drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions to reach the generally accepted targets of a 50% reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050. Governments and international organizations are increasing their ambitions, with China committing to carbon neutrality by 2060 and the European Union proposing to raise its target from 40% to 55% reduction by 2030. The United States has pledged to cut emissions at least in half by 2030.

Investors and capital are turning toward green investments. The Transition Pathway Initiative benchmark, which assesses companies’ preparedness for the low-carbon transition as well as their targets against the Paris Agreement, is supported by 104 investors globally, representing more than $26 trillion in combined assets under management and advice. Private equity firms are actively setting carbon reduction targets. And consumers are becoming aware and demanding action — with companies responding. In October, Petronas became the first energy company in Asia to set net zero targets when it declared it would be carbon neutral by 2050. 

TWO GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR DECARBONIZATION
The companies leading the carbon transition follow two guiding principles. They simultaneously play defense and offense, and they view decarbonization as a way to accelerate a full-potential transformation.

Many companies begin their carbon efforts as a way of defending themselves, often by preparing for reporting requirements or anticipating shareholder expectations. They also consider how they will mitigate potential physical risks. Mining companies, for instance, need to anticipate how water scarcity, flooding, and rising temperatures linked to climate change will hurt productivity. Playing defense also means preparing for the issue of stranded assets.

However, carbon transition represents as much upside opportunity as downside risk. Companies are playing offense by taking proactive steps to create new value. Take Bosch, for example. Beyond achieving carbon neutrality itself, the company is developing new products and services to help other companies decarbonize.

Embracing the need for a full strategy overhaul is the second guiding principle. When Bain & Company surveyed 80 business leaders in oil and gas, utilities, new energy, chemicals, agribusiness, mining and minerals services, and financial markets, 60% said that an energy or resource transition was central to the future of their sector, and 35% are starting to change their priorities and create opportunities. Those leaders acknowledge that the climate imperative requires a full-potential transformation that touches every part of the organization.

Companies pursue three types of transformations. Some, like Unilever, have evolved their core business toward sustainability. Others have added a second core. Consider how Finland’s Neste has gone from a traditional oil-driven company to the world’s biggest producer of renewable diesel, dropping the word “oil” from its name in the process. And others have changed their core entirely. Denmark’s Ørsted used the carbon challenge as an opportunity to develop a market for offshore wind.

Regardless of how far along they are in the carbon transition journey, companies typically answer four big questions.

1. How bold and fast should our ambition be? Leading companies are clear about their decision when it comes to the basic trade-off between speed and boldness. Blackstone opted for speed by aiming to reduce emissions by 15%, within three years of ownership, at all new portfolio companies where it can control energy usage. Shell chose boldness by setting a target of becoming a net-zero-emissions energy business by 2050.

2. What are the available levers? In pursuing a carbon transition, companies have three sets of levers to deploy: strategic, operational, and offsets. Ørsted used its strategic lever by shifting away from fossil fuels. (A significant portion of such moves can actually be ROI positive, even without a price on carbon.) Microsoft has led the way in developing the voluntary carbon market and associated offsets, pledging to remove by 2050 all of the carbon it has emitted since its founding in 1975. In addition, the company launched a $1-billion climate innovation fund to accelerate the global development of carbon reduction, capture, and removal technologies.

3. How should we adjust the organization? The price of carbon is a major consideration in capital allocation, with carbon reduction an important factor in operational improvements, manufacturing decisions, and R&D, among other areas. Companies integrate decarbonization into procurement choices and incentives and then communicate these efforts to customers as part of the new value proposition. To be truly serious about decarbonization, it can’t just be a function. It needs to permeate every single process, in every single employee.

4. How do we engage stakeholders? More than any other transformation, decarbonization draws on a company’s ability to assemble and collaborate with an ecosystem of investors, suppliers, governments, NGOs, peers, and other stakeholders. Companies need to learn how to create dialogues with organizations beyond their own walls and seek productive partnerships. For example, Wind Denmark and Hydrogen Denmark, broad-based organizations that support those power alternatives, have formed an alliance to promote the use of renewable energy — powered electrolysis.

In summary, achieving net zero requires companies to identify opportunities to create value through cost reduction or growth, in addition to risk protection. That means prioritizing areas for deployment based on ROI and external requirements and linking the sustainability agenda to business metrics. It is a multiyear journey, and the best companies boost their odds of success by building change muscles in the organization for the long and important ride.

 

Gina Yu-Aquino is a partner based in Manila. Dale Hardcastle is a partner and Co-director of Bain & Company’s Global Sustainability Innovation Center in Singapore. Torsten Lichtenau is based in London and leads Bain & Company’s Carbon Transition Impact Area globally.

As Singapore opens, its social divisions aren’t so clear cut

FAHRUL AZMI-UNSPLASH

SINGAPORE has declared its intent to begin putting the pandemic behind it and rebrand as what the health minister calls a “COVID-resilient nation.” Dismounting from the carousel of closures and reopenings is going to be tough — the city state has had a few false dawns. Even harder will be papering over the social and economic divisions that have deepened because of the disease.

Lockdown-like restrictions began easing Tuesday, with dine-in allowed for groups of up to five, provided they are vaccinated. Work-from-home rules will be relaxed next week. Travel, vital to the republic’s standing as a hub, could become less gnarled by bureaucracy. In many activities, the fully inoculated will enjoy more freedoms, though the hawker centers and mom-and-pop coffee shops beloved by Singaporeans can seat groups of two regardless of shot status.

As welcome as lighter curbs are, Singapore is miles from being fully up and running. The new normal that politicians have been talking about for the better part of a year will require the country to strip out some of its old DNA. Long a haven for trade, finance, and foreign talent, the government says it’s still keen on the first two, though appears ambivalent about the third. Discourse is becoming more sensitive to themes of equality and opportunities for the average citizen. Immigration is a particularly tender point.

While varying degrees of disquiet over the role of foreigners has long existed, the rhetoric has become sharper in the past decade. The number of permanent residency visas granted — roughly equivalent to green cards in the US — has fallen dramatically since the global financial crisis of 2007-2009. Last year’s recession, the worst in the republic’s history, and an election that left a few bruises on the ruling party, made tightening criteria for work papers inevitable. Surveys this year by the Institute of Policy Studies, a Singapore think tank, showed people fretting about job security and opportunities for their children, while favoring strict limits on immigration. The government has responded to the political climate, raising salary thresholds and requiring that dependents who wish to work obtain their own company-sponsored visas.   

Even if Singapore’s total foreign workforce fell to about 1.2 million last year from 1.4 million in 2019, it still represents more than 20% of the population. Employment passes, issued for professional roles that pay at least S$4,500 ($3,323) per month, fell 8.6% from the previous year. The decline is being felt across industries from manufacturing to finance, white- and blue-collar alike. Banks, frequently in the political cross hairs on hiring, are keen to emphasize promotions for locals.

In an Aug. 8 address, on the eve of National Day, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong foreshadowed policy changes that aim to balance the interests of locals and foreign workers. “We have to adjust our policies to manage the quality, numbers and concentrations of foreigners in Singapore,” Lee said. “If we do this well, we can continue to welcome foreign workers and new immigrants, as we must.” Lee also urged citizens not to take social cohesion for granted. A series of race-related incidents and violence have featured prominently in domestic media in recent months.

Expatriate professionals often complain about being watched and subjected to more scrutiny than local residents. But beneath the growing unease with foreigners is a sentiment that gets far less attention: class anxieties. In that light, there may be more common ground between expats and well-to-do locals than the prevailing narrative suggests. I know plenty of Singaporeans who are as frustrated with stop-go pandemic responses and disappointed by apprehensions about reopening as any European or American. They are also just as keen to travel abroad and feel equally targeted by COVID-fighting measures.

Class divisions also need to be seen in the context of Singapore’s long-term economic slowdown. The population is aging, while people are marrying later and having fewer children. The country has one of the highest levels of gross domestic product per capita in the world, but income inequality remains a persistent worry. Most citizens consider themselves working class or lower-middle class. Concerns about social stratification have also arisen amid booming property prices and the towering costs of education.

How the fourth generation of leaders, the cadre of lawmakers vying to succeed Lee in a few years, handles this mix of sentiments will determine whether Singapore continues its ascent as a magnet for business or succumbs to populist-tinged currents. Does the state, already a huge influence on the economy by determining land use, housing, and shares in some of the biggest companies, become more redistributive? The head of the central bank last month gently floated the merits of a wealth tax and minimum wage.*

While the pandemic didn’t create economic and social anxieties, it no doubt brought them to the surface. When the government banned dining-in and restricted social gatherings a few weeks ago, business owners felt they were scapegoated for lapses that allowed clusters to develop at seedy karaoke lounges and a fish market frequented by local seniors. While Singapore once considered tony restaurants a badge of sophistication, their owners describe a more complicated landscape. Some have observed the high level of scrutiny cosmopolitan spots downtown receive relative to the hawker centers and food halls that dot housing estates and suburbs. Safe distancing ambassadors — civilians with red shirts and ID lanyards known as SDAs — have become a constant presence in well-heeled parts of the city, peering through cafe windows and aiming their smart phones at patrons huddling too closely around their cappuccinos.

On the afternoon before the latest clampdown, which began July 22, I enjoyed a late lunch at a food center in Kallang nestled among industrial warehouses and near apartment towers erected by the Housing & Development Board. I saw no SDAs. Nobody asked for my temperature or checked I had signed in using TraceTogether, Singapore’s contact tracing app. I struggled to even locate the barcode on a nondescript girder somewhere in the vicinity of the front of the hall. The only person taking photos as I tucked into a delicious nasi padang plate was me. (The government has since made TraceTogether sign-in mandatory at hawker centers, which makes one wonder why it took so long.)

Leaders concede the economic pressures faced by many Singaporeans. Lee’s speech acknowledged lower-wage workers are finding it tougher to make ends meet. Ministers warn almost daily of the risks of becoming too inward-looking and shutting off from the world. There is no easy solution at hand. In the meantime, officials are trying to provide a decent quality of life as best they can while living with a pandemic that is far from defeated — the high vaccination rates notwithstanding.

Few places will look the same as they did in January 2020, and Singapore won’t be an exception. Core assumptions about its perch as an avatar of capitalism have been challenged. The fissures revealed the past 18 months won’t close so easily.

 

*Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), gave a series of lectures in his capacity as a visiting scholar at the Institute of Policy Studies at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Menon said the content reflects his personal views, not those of the MAS or the government.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

China mahjong dens were superspreader sites, spurring crackdown

UNSPLASH

A FAVORITE PAST-TIME of elderly Asians has been implicated as a major driver of China’s current outbreak of delta virus cases, sparking the shutdown of tens of thousands of mahjong dens across the nation.

The so-called “chess and card rooms,” where hundreds of elderly gather in packed and poorly ventilated spaces primarily to play mahjong, were how a 64-year-old woman surnamed Mao spread the Delta variant in the eastern city of Yangzhou, seeding the biggest single outbreak in China’s ongoing wave of infections.

Local officials in Jiangsu province where Yangzhou is located have now shut down more than 45,000 chess and card rooms, and authorities in Beijing and at least four other hard-hit provinces — Henan, Zhejiang, Hunan and Heilongjiang — have followed suit.

The spread of the virus through these mahjong dens despite China’s rigorous measures and fast vaccine rollout reflects the challenges posed by underground social sites across the region. From hostess bars in Japan, to social dancing clubs in Hong Kong and karaoke parlors in Singapore, these unofficial and sometimes unregistered locales have stymied governments which are some of the most successful in the world at containment.

Ms. Mao traveled from the nearby city of Nanjing, where China’s Delta outbreak first started, to a relative’s home in Yangzhou, where she played mahjong in several chess and card rooms before being diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), said local media reports.

One of the rooms Ms. Mao visited had a nondescript facade and small entrance, but opened into a cavernous basement that could accommodate around 100 mahjong tables.

In the week after her diagnosis, nearly a hundred people in Yangzhou contracted the virus, 64% of whom were exposed in mahjong rooms, and nearly 70% of which are aged 60 and older.

The Yangzhou cluster has escalated in severity because only 40% of local elderly were vaccinated; among the 448 people who have been sickened, 23 have developed severe disease and 12 are in critical condition, raising the prospect of China’s first COVID-related fatality in nearly seven months. 

The mahjong cluster is Yangzhou’s first serious outbreak since the pandemic began, and inexperienced officials have already been punished for mishandling the response. Mass testing efforts — the city’s 4.5 million population has undergone six rounds of testing — resulted in more than 40 people infected while waiting in line to be swabbed.

The current delta outbreak across China has seen more than 1,000 symptomatic infections in less than a month, with cases reaching as far south as Hainan and as far north as Heilongjiang. Though over 60% of the population has been vaccinated, the government has defaulted to targeted lockdowns, transport controls and mass testing, insisting that China must stamp out all infection to protect lives, even as many other countries accept that the virus will be endemic. — Bloomberg

New rich are overtaking old money in South Korea’s billionaire rankings

REUTERS
The Han river park is seen in Seoul, South Korea, April 29, 2021. — REUTERS/KIM HONG-JI

A NEW ELITE of uber-rich entrepreneurs is shooting up the wealth rankings in South Korea, overtaking the families behind the country’s decades-old sprawling conglomerates known as chaebol.

Brian Kim, the founder of mobile-messaging app Kakao Corp., is the most prominent example with a fortune of $12.9 billion, who recently replaced Samsung group heir Jay Y. Lee as the nation’s richest person. But other self-made billionaires abound.

There’s Chang Byung-gyu who completed a listing of game developer Krafton, Inc. just this week, and Bom Kim, a South Korea-born US national who took e-commerce giant Coupang, Inc. public in the US earlier this year. Seo Jung-jin, the founder of biotech firm Celltrion, Inc., is worth about $10 billion.

The changing of the guard is a sign that South Korea’s $1.6 trillion economy is entering a new era of growth, becoming less reliant on the family-controlled corporations that wield immense power in all aspects of life. Some experts say the new wealthy are more aware of rising inequality and are more willing to give back to society. Others question whether they’ll be any different from those who built their old empires using cozy links to politicians and bureaucrats.

“It’s a positive shift for South Korea,” said Kim Kyonghwan, dean of the graduate school of entrepreneurship at Sungkyunkwan University in Suwon, a city near Seoul. “The new rich offer a silver lining for younger folks by showing how fortunes can be made independently, rather than from inheritance.”

For decades, the chaebol have served as pillars of the Asian “miracle economy” that arose from the ashes of the Korean war. Political leaders have relied on conglomerates including Hyundai, Samsung, LG and Hanjin to rebuild the nation, giving them outsized influence. Over the years, some of them shot into the spotlight for scandals and cases of corruption that made international headlines, sparking backlash from the public. President Moon Jae-in has vowed to overhaul chaebol business practices and his government kicked off reforms last year to improve corporate governance and transparency.

That image of South Korea is slowly giving way to one full of booming startups. With the pandemic spurring demand in sectors such as e-commerce, entertainment and biotechnology, an investor frenzy is fueling billions of dollars in fundraising, initial public offerings and acquisitions. Venture capital investment in the country reached 3.07 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in the first half of this year, the most on record for the six-month period, government data show.

CHANGING LANDSCAPE
Some of the newly minted wealthy are getting into philanthropy. Kakao’s Brian Kim and Kim Bong-jin, the founder of food-delivery app Woowa Brothers Corp., have pledged to give away their personal fortunes. That’s in contrast to families behind chaebol, who usually aren’t known to make large personal donations. They’re more likely to give to charity via companies they control.

“A major generational shift is taking place in Korea’s wealthy population,” said Lim Jungwook, managing partner at TBT, a Seoul-based venture capital firm.

Many chaebol have faced criticism for using questionable means to transfer wealth to their scions and retain control, often riding roughshod over minority shareholders, said Park Ju-gun, the head of corporate research firm Leaders Index in Seoul, New-economy businesses that implement such practices need to be scrutinized, Park said.

For now, better capital availability and adoption of digital tools driven by the pandemic are fueling the growth of startups.

“There has never been a better time for startups to grow and raise funds,” said Kim, the professor at Sungkyunkwan University. “We’ll see more cases of these new billionaires overtaking the traditional rich.” — Bloomberg

WHO testing three drugs to treat COVID-19 patients

ZURICH — The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday a clinical trial in 52 countries would study three anti-inflammatory drugs as potential treatments for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.

“These therapies — artesunate, imatinib and infliximab — were selected by an independent expert panel for their potential in reducing the risk of death in hospitalized COVID-19 patients,” it said in a statement on the Solidarity PLUS trial.

The trial involves thousands of researchers at more than 600 hospitals, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing from Geneva.

Finland is one of the first countries to enroll patients in the Solidarity PLUS trial, he added.

“There are many variants, and all variants can appear anywhere on the planet. And so having so many sites in so many different countries and regions will help us get to these answers as fast as possible,” said Marie Pierre Preziosi, co-lead of the research and development blueprint at the WHO.

Artesunate is already used for severe malaria, imatinib for certain cancers, and infliximab for diseases of the immune system such as Crohn’s Disease and rheumatoid arthritis. The WHO warned countries to come together to combat the fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus and urged equitable access to essential countermeasures.

“At the current trajectory, we could pass 300 million reported cases early next year. But we can change that. We’re all in this together, but the world is not acting like it,” Mr. Tedros said.

The WHO last week called for a halt on COVID-19 vaccine boosters until at least the end of September as the gap between vaccinations in wealthy and poor countries widens.

The original Solidarity trial last year found that all four treatments evaluated — remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon — had little or no effect in helping COVID patients. The WHO expects final results from this trial next month.

So far, only corticosteroids have been proven effective against severe and critical COVID-19.

The WHO said artesunate, produced by Ipca, is used to treat malaria. In the trial, it will be administered intravenously for seven days, using the standard dose recommended for the treatment of severe malaria.

Imatinib, produced by Novartis, is used to treat certain cancers. In the trial, it will be administered orally, once daily, for 14 days.

Infliximab, produced by Johnson and Johnson, is used to treat diseases of the immune system. In the trial, it will be administered intravenously as a single dose. — Reuters

Team Lakay’s Pacio eyeing Miao Li Tao-Alex Silva duel at ONE: Battleground II

ONE world strawweight champion Joshua Pacio of the Philippines is keenly eyeing the fight between Miao Li Tao of China and Alex Silva of Brazil at ONE: Battleground II on Friday. — ONE CHAMPIONSHIP

ONE Championship’s “Battleground II” event happens on Friday in Singapore and one individual keenly eyeing it is reigning world strawweight champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio.

Mr. Pacio, 25, is particularly interested in the co-main event featuring fellow strawweights Miao Li Tao of China and Alex Silva of Brazil who are in pursuit of having the title that the Team Lakay stalwart has.

Messrs. Miao and Silva collide in a three-round contest which could determine who Mr. Pacio faces next.

The Filipino champion sees an exciting fight in Battleground II but thinks the outcome leans more on the side of former world champion Mr. Silva.

“The fight between Miao Li Tao and Alex Silva is surely a thrilling bout. Miao is a very aggressive and explosive athlete, but Alex on the other hand is very dangerous, especially on the ground,” Mr. Pacio said.

He was speaking based on experience since his last title defense in January 2020 was against Mr. Silva where he was given a tough time before winning by split decision.

“I learned a lot when I faced Alex last year. He’s always a dangerous opponent and I think if we’d face each other again, I’d have to show more aggression, much loaded striking, and I’d throw a lot of combinations to be able to eke out a decisive win,” he said.

While Mr. Pacio has not fought since he faced Mr. Silva, he said he has been staying active and continuously working on his game.

“The wait continues, but as I wait, I’m continuously improving. I’m very excited and I cannot wait to get back inside the ONE Circle to show how well I have improved,” he said.

Mr. Pacio (17-3) went on to say that the strawweight division has shored up with quality challengers from the field, but he expressed his readiness to take on all comers.

“ONE’s strawweight division just got more stacked because of the athletes’ constant improvement and them continuing to level up their game. They’re all very hungry and with that, the competition just gets tougher and tougher,” he said.

“This is the reason why we are more motivated to train and get better every day.”

ONE: Battleground II is headlined by Mr. Pacio’s teammate Eduard “Landslide” Folayang against ONE-debuting Zhang Leping of China.

It can be seen over One Sports at 9 p.m. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo